Neo-Rococo

Neo-Rococo - the Rococo Revival - emerged in Britain and France in the nineteenth century as the eighteenth century's most graceful style came back into fashion. It surfaced in several waves across decorative objects, paintings, prints, furniture, and interiors; in France especially, rococo was held as a national style whose return recalled old tradition. Regency patronage fed the English revival - the future George IV's taste supported silversmiths such as Paul Storr, whose work swarmed with rococo scrolls - while France's rising bourgeoisie under Louis Philippe bought carved, flowered furniture as a badge of status. Under Napoleon III, Parisian ormolu chased the manner of Louis XV, and in the salons Mariano Fortuny revived eighteenth-century genre painting in the wake of Watteau and Fragonard. In the United States John Henry Belter made rosewood furniture of astonishing carved lightness.

Defining characteristics

• Sinuous C- and S-scroll ornament and rocaille shell motifs
• Delicate foliage, flowers, and fruit carved in relief
• Curved frames, cabriole legs, and tufted upholstery
• Asymmetrical, light compositions with airy negative space
• Gilding, pastel grounds, and polished finishes conveying luxury
• Eighteenth-century genre subjects: courtly leisure and fête galante scenes

Key figures

• Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873) — Court painter whose elegant portraits dressed Europe's royals in revived eighteenth-century grace
• Mariano Fortuny (1838-1874) — Revived eighteenth-century genre painting in Second Empire Paris, in the wake of Watteau and Fragonard
• John Henry Belter (1804-1863) — Leading American Rococo Revival furniture maker, known for laminated rosewood carving

Example works

• Queen Victoria — Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1842)
• The Spanish Wedding — Mariano Fortuny (1870)

Sources

• Neo-Rococo - WikiArt institution
• Rococo Revival - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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