Rococo and sentimentalism

In the XVIII century. Western European art is becoming almost the main object of heated debate, a point of collision of various worldviews, reflecting the general picture of the mixing and diversity of forms of its existence. Contemporaries argued about the relationship between art and nature, about the role and purpose of the artist and the viewer, the relationship between truth and fiction. A characteristic feature of this time was the indisputable fact not of a gradual change, but of the simultaneous existence of baroque, rococo and sentimentalism with classicism.

How did classicism and the ideals of the baroque that prevailed for more than half a century coexist in this difficult situation? As already noted, classicism was the first clearly formed direction in European art, which created its own aesthetic program, which developed strict rules for artistic creation. Baroque art, which relied more on intuition than on the rational principle, did not create such a theory. Classicism rejected the fundamental contradictions of the Baroque, boldly rejected its main motto: “He who does not break the rules is not a poet.” Recognizing only harmony and order, classicism “straightened” the bizarre forms of baroque art, ceased to perceive tragically the spiritual world of man, and transferred the main conflict to the sphere of relations between the individual and the state. Baroque,obsolete and coming to a logical conclusion, gave way to classicism and rococo.

In the 20s. XVIII century. in France, a new style of art developed – rococo (fr. rocaille – shell). The name itself revealed the main characteristic feature of this style – a passion for sophisticated and complex shapes, bizarre lines, in many ways reminiscent of the silhouette of a shell. The shell sometimes turned into a complex curl with some strange cuts, then into an ornament in the form of a shield or a half-unfolded scroll with the image of the coat of arms or emblem. In France, interest in the Rococo style waned by the end of the 1760s, but in the countries of Central Europe its influence was noticeable until the end of the 18th century.

Rococo art was formed in the era of the spiritual crisis of the absolutist power in France. Reflecting the ideals and sentiments of the upper strata of French society, it could not but experience the influence of aristocratic customers.

The main goal of the Rococo art is to deliver sensual pleasure (hedonism). Art was supposed to please, touch and entertain, transforming life into a sophisticated masquerade and “gardens of love.” Complex love affairs, the fleetingness of hobbies, daring, risky, defiant actions of the heroes, adventures and fantasies, gallant entertainment and holidays determined the content of works of art.

The following can be recognized as characteristic features of the Rococo style in works of art:

• gracefulness and lightness, intricacy, decorative sophistication and improvisation, pastoralism (shepherd’s idyll), craving for exoticism;
• ornament in the form of stylized shells and curls, arabesques, flower garlands, cupids, torn cartouches, masks;
• a combination of pastel light and delicate colors with a lot of white details and gold;
• the cult of beautiful nakedness, dating back to ancient tradition, sophisticated sensuality, eroticism;
• the cult of small forms, intimacy, diminutiveness (especially in sculpture and architecture), love for trifles and trinkets (“lovely trifles”) that filled the life of a gallant person;
• aesthetics of nuances and hints, an intriguing duality of images, conveyed with the help of light gestures, half-turns, barely noticeable facial movements, a half-smile, a blurred look or a wet shine in the eyes.

The Rococo style reached its greatest flowering in works of decorative and applied art in France (interiors of palaces and costumes of the aristocracy). In Russia, it manifested itself primarily in the architectural decor – in the form of scrolls, shields and intricate shells – rocailles (decorative ornaments imitating the combination of fancy shells and outlandish plants), as well as mascarons (stucco or carved masks in the form of a human face or the head of an animal, placed over windows, doors, arches, fountains, vases and furniture).

Later, the Rococo style was “rehabilitated” by the Romantics, the Impressionists gave it its due, it served as a standard for developing the concept of creative associations of artists “art for art”. For example, in the era of Art Nouveau in Russia, the artists of the World of Art turned their attention to Rococo.

Sentimentalism (fr. Sentiment – feeling) became a new noticeable phenomenon of artistic culture. In terms of worldview, he, like classicism, relied on the ideas of enlightenment, but highlighted its other facets. An important place in the aesthetics of sentimentalism was occupied by the image of the world of human feelings and experiences (hence its name). Feelings, in turn, were perceived as a manifestation of the natural principle in a person, his natural state, which is possible only with close contact with nature. The achievements of civilization, with many temptations that corrupted the soul of the “natural man”, acquired a clearly hostile character. A peculiar ideal of sentimentalism was the image of a villager who followed the laws of pristine nature and lived in absolute harmony with it.

The founder of sentimentalism is considered to be the French enlightener J.J. Rousseau, who proclaimed the cult of natural, natural feelings and human needs, simplicity and cordiality. His ideal was a sensitive, sentimental dreamer, obsessed with the ideas of humanism, a “natural man” with a “beautiful soul”, not corrupted by bourgeois civilization. Rousseau saw the main task of art in teaching people virtue, calling them to a better life. The main pathos of his works is the praise of human feelings, lofty passions that have come into conflict with social, class prejudices.

Sentimentalism did not possess the fullness of the grand style. Certain types of art (for example, architecture) were beyond his control, and his possibilities in certain genres (for example, in historical painting) were very limited. In this regard, it is most legitimate to consider sentimentalism as one of the artistic trends that operated within the framework of classicism. But if Rococo emphasizes the external manifestation of feelings and emotions, then sentimentalism emphasizes the inner, spiritual side of a person’s being.

In Russia, sentimentalism was most vividly embodied in literature and painting, for example, in the work of V.L. Borovikovsky.

There is a lot in common between sentimentalism and pre-romanticism, common to which is the depiction of the conflict of a “natural man” with social and natural elements, with dark storms and upheavals of life, a premonition of which was laid in the entire culture of the 18th century.