Rococo – it was what dominated the latter part of 18th century France, a period of extreme prosperity and extravagance, appearing after the ultra-solemn Baroque with the most frivolous of artistic expressions.
Rococo – due to its ostentation and decadence, it is discarded and lost in history, and is hardly even mentioned in world history textbooks. The critics say the art of this period is too coquettish, insolent, gaudy; obscene, pure decadence.
However, life is like diving to be submerged in a world of dreams; to drown – that is the soul and essence of Rococo.
† Narration from the film Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari). Above: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright ad featuring Kyoko Fukada, who plays Momoko. Below: Versailles scene from the movie.
We're taught to turn our noses at Rococo, the artistic equivalent of Cheez Whiz and Heidi Montag. I fell in with the norm, professing my love for De Stijl or Bauhaus or any avantgarde movement with a manifesto. And then I discovered author Novala Takemoto, who claims to have been born in 1745 and opens his novel Kamikaze Girls (Shimotsuma Monogatari) with a swoon-worthy snapshot of the era. Oh, to be a lady at the court of Versailles... to wear rib-crunching corsets and five-foot tall powdered wigs... to faint into the arms of a dashing aristocrat who cries "KAWAII"!
I decided to give Rococo another shot, so I visited New York's Frick Museum, an intimate round-up of 18th century European art. I wasn't expecting much from painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard, who is rarely more than a sentence in an art history textbook. But then I walked into a drawing room covered floor-to-ceiling with his Four Ages of Love, commissioned by Madame Du Barry (mistress of King Louis XV). I stared with mouth agape for half an hour, then revisited the room at least three times more! Digital reproductions of the paintings cannot begin to capture the tremendous scale and the lush pastels - but I did my best by putting together a few spotlights. (Click on the titles to see the full painting.)
The first row has scenes from The Pursuit: a young man emerges to offer a rose to a maiden. Fragonard frames the encounter with blooming flowers, ripe fruit, sensual statues of mythological beings... the stuff of 99 cent romance novels, but made beautiful with his brush. In The Meeting, the suitor scales the wall to visit his lady-love (it's literally always springtime for these lovers).
We move to their wedding day in The Lover Crowned; the scene is strewed with musical instruments and enough greenery to cause a deadly histamine reaction. The story ends not on Maury Povich, but with the calm contentment of The Love Letters.
In addition to these paintings, the Fragonard Room contained ornate (yet aesthetically pleasing) furniture from the late 18th century. The Frick collection was full of pleasant surprises and made me eager to explore the interconnections between Rococo and Lolita fashion.
I hereby declare that this shall be Rococo Week! I'll do several posts related to the art, fashion, and culture of the time; let me know if you have suggestions. Here is to a life like candy – of sweet self-indulgence and decadent dreams. Mmm.
