Rococo Revival

Rococo revival epitomized grandeur and luxury in European style and was another expression of 19th century romanticism and the growing interest and fascination with natural landscape.

Revival of the rococo style was not restricted to a specific time period or place, but occurred in several waves throughout the 19th century.

Rococo emerged during the early 18th century as a French mode of interior design and was considered the predominant artistic style in Europe at the time.

[2] The period between 1715-1745, encompassing the reign of Louis XV, is generally accepted as the high point of the Rococo style in French art.

During the Regency era, the Prince Regent (who later became King George IV) patronized makers of high-quality works of rococo silver.

His quality of workmanship and versatility enabled him to create works that suited a wide range of tastes and preferences.

Historically reserved for royalty and aristocrats, industrialization and technological advances in machinery made rococo silver accessible to a broader audience.

Metal works based on Parisian design that were truly rococo were in ormolu, or bronze cover in finely-ground gold.

The rising bourgeoisie in France demanded rococo decorative-art objects as a reflection of status, wealth, and material possession.

[8] The bourgeois consumer purchased objects and furnishings from a variety of revival styles, including rococo, for its significance in historicizing opulence and grandeur.

[12] During this period, a major revival interest was seen in 18th century Paris and genre painting that was practiced by academic artists.

For the increasing bourgeois audience, the rococo-revival paintings presented an optimistic outlook on life and were appropriate to the new Parisian ‘nobility’ of the late Second Empire.

The interest in prerevolutionary art was part of the efforts of Second Empire officialdom to establish legitimacy for itself by connecting with a period when royalty was as yet unchallenged.

However, some contemporary figures were appalled and considered that the exploitation of rococo revival by Italian artists was an inferior body of work.

Interior design and furnishings at the time were generally modest in ornamentation, recalling neoclassical forms of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

[citation needed] The second Rococo was "a product of modern, industrialized Austria and its new middle class of prosperous manufacturers.