DU2394 Rococo and its other life: From Watteau to Cindy Sherman

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Pavel Suchánek, Ph.D.
Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Art History – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 8:00–9:40 K33, except Tue 14. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
Rococo in art is associated with lightness, pastel colors, asymmetrical curves, and an abundance of deformed natural motifs, but it is also linked to superficiality, calculation, and transience. It can be simultaneously graceful and grotesque, yearning for naturalness while also being artificial and morally degraded. Despite changing tastes, Rococo continues to be present in various forms up to the present day. From painting, printmaking, and photography to furniture, fashion, and film, diverse translations of Rococo from the 18th to the 21st century seem to defy the constraints of time and geography. This lecture series will shed light on the ambivalent perception and evaluation of Rococo from its inception. It has been viewed at times as modern and at other times as outdated, decadent, and morally decadent. Rococo is seen as a visual language carrying a wide range of potential meanings and as a surprisingly effective means of resistance against authority, including not only political, religious, or artistic authority but also cultural norms related to class, gender, and race. Far from being merely an artistic style or a short-lived fashion trend, Rococo is a cultural phenomenon with significance that extends far beyond its historical origins.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course the student will be able to:
- identify and summarize important artistic innovations of the Rococo;
- identify and describe contemporary social tendencies and trends associated with the Rococo;
- compare and highlight differences in the evaluation of Rococo from the 18th to the 21st century;
- identify different forms of Rococo inspiration and interpret their wider cultural meanings.
Syllabus
  • Rococo and the consciousness of modernity
  • The rise of the amateur ("the one who loves")
  • Building a new society
  • Luxury and consumption
  • Exoticism and globalisation
  • Rococo concepts of femininity and non-normative masculinity
  • Revivals of Rococo
  • The spirituality of Rococo
  • The subversiveness of Rococo
Literature
  • SCOTT, Katie. The rococo interior : decoration and social spaces in early eighteenth-century Paris. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995, ix, 342. ISBN 0300045824. info
  • HYDE, Melissa Lee. Making up the rococo : François Boucher and his critics. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2006, x, 255. ISBN 0892367431. info
  • Rethinking Boucher. Edited by Melissa Lee Hyde - Mark Ledbury. Los Angeles, Calif.: Getty Research Institute, 2006, xii, 289. ISBN 089236825X. info
  • Women, art and the politics of identity in eighteenth-century Europe. Edited by Melissa Lee Hyde - Jennifer D. Milam. Burlington: Ashgate, 2003, xviii, 310. ISBN 0754607100. info
  • Between luxury and the everyday : decorative arts in eighteenth-century France. Edited by Katie Scott - Deborah Cherry. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2005, v, 185. ISBN 1405131683. info
  • Luxury and pleasure in eighteenth-century Britain. Edited by Maxine Berg. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, xvii, 373. ISBN 0199272085. info
  • Eighteenth-century art worlds : global and local geographies of art. Edited by Stacey Sloboda - Michael Elia Yonan. First published. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019, xvi, 290. ISBN 9781501335488. info
  • BAILEY, Gauvin A. The spiritual rococo : decor and divinity from the salons of Paris to the missions of Patagonia. Farnham: Ashgate, 2014, xxi, 416. ISBN 9781409400639. info
  • Rococo echo : art, history and historiography from Cochin to Coppola. Edited by Melissa Lee Hyde - Katie Scott. Oxford: Voltaire foundation, 2014, xi, 397. ISBN 9780729411585. info
Teaching methods
lectures, final essay
Assessment methods
final essay
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
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