Rococo

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Self Portrait in a Straw Hat by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun

Why is art history predominantly focused on male artists? Are there not enough female artists to fill textbooks? Of course, there are enough, but the...

James W Singer 10 March 2024

Rococo

How to Look Fabulous: Rococo Women Beauty Guide

How to look fabulous? That is the question! Let’s refer to the most splendid and opulent period of history: the 18th century. The Enlightenment era...

Kateryna Martynova 7 March 2024

Giambattista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra, 1744, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Artist Stories

Tiepolo: The Last Venetian Master

Mainland Italy is a perfect country for fresco production since it is dominated by a dry climate that preserves frescoes very well. Even though...

Magda Michalska 5 March 2024

Rosalba Carriera, The Allegory of Music, 1712 Bavarian National Museum, Munich, Germany. Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Rococo

Rosalba Carriera: The Accomplished Pastellist

Do you know the great Rococo portraitist Rosalba Carriera? She was one of the most famous painters of the early 18th century. Carriera became known...

Maia Heguiaphal 5 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: La Toilette by François Boucher

The soft rustle of silky cloth and the hard crackling of burning wood echo against the yellow-papered walls of the boudoir. The small room is...

James W Singer 18 February 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Monkey Painter by Jean-Baptiste Chardin

It’s tacky! It’s funny! It’s weird! Yes, Jean-Baptiste Chardin’s The Monkey Painter is definitely not what you would consider in good taste.

James W Singer 29 January 2024

Rococo

6 Greatest Rococo Artists You Should Know

Rococo was the major art movement of the 18th century. Its main characteristics are lightness, decorativeness, and subjects from everyday life of the...

Anastasia Manioudaki 15 January 2024

Women Artists

Anne Vallayer-Coster: A Life of Still Life

The still life genre often seems less interesting than other art forms, so perhaps it is unsurprising that 18th-century French painter Anne...

Catriona Miller 4 December 2023

Women Artists

Madame de Pompadour As an Artist

Madame de Pompadour was the most influential mistress of Louis XV. Even though having influence over a king was no small deal, there is more to De...

Vithória Konzen Dill 9 September 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher

François Boucher (1703–1770) was the most celebrated French painter of the 18th century. His painting Madame de Pompadour captures the beautiful...

James W Singer 9 September 2023

Rococo

Madame de Pompadour: The Queen of Arts in Portraits

Elvis Presley’s famous hairstyle was named after her, a French champagne glass is believed to have been modeled after her breast and, according to...

Magda Michalska 9 September 2023

Fashion

French Elegance – How Did Women Dress in 18th-Century France?

While we can no longer personally experience the splendor of 18th-century fashion, thankfully many painters of the time left us the answer to the...

Pola Otterstein 10 August 2023