| Lancette Arts Journal Founded in 2000 |
Art Reviews From our Archives |
January 2004 |
Passion & Porcelain, Pre-Revolutionary French Ceramics, Gardiner Museum of Ceramics, to January 18, 2004
By Alidë Kohlhaas
The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art is giving us an chance to gain a new understanding of pre-French Revolution soft-paste porcelain produced at Vincennes and, subsequently, at Sèvres from about 1715 to 1774. The museum's curator, Meredith Chilton, had the good fortune to be allowed to choose 40 items from the vast collection at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT. They all represent the period known as rococo. The items she chose, and the manner in which she displayed them in Toronto, allow us to re-evaluate a style of art that has long been reviled for its excesses.
This lavishly decorative period of European art emanated during Louis XV's reign. The hallmarks of rococo (from the French rocaille, "rock-work") are asymmetry, architectural decoration filled with arabesques, and elaborate curves. Among the most famous painters of the period were Francois Boucher, Honore Fragonard, and Antoine Watteau. The latter is seen as one of the originators of the style along with designer Pierre Lepautre. Of course, rococo turned up in other European countries, especially in the Austrian and German territories, where it blossomed into its most gaudy excesses.
Aside from painting and architectural designs, rococo also affected interior design and left its mark on a multitude of decorative objects, especially those created from soft-paste porcelain decorated with heavy gilding and brilliant colors. The usual . . .
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