Rococo, Neoclassicism and Romanticism are three influential movements
from the eighteenth century, a pluralistic century of "movements"
rather than of period styles (in that respect, much like our own
times). These movements are not sequential developments, but
constantly overlapping reactions and counteractions.
The Rococo style: The art of the first half of the eighteenth century
represents, in some respects, a continuation of the High Baroque
style. It matters little whether Neumann, for example, was a Rococo
or Late Baroque architect. Italy, Southern Germany, and France
remained tied to the Baroque tradition in its last manifestation, the
Rococo, in which the interaction of space and form in movement
remained a basic element of design.
The French architect Germain Boffrand (1667-1754) was one of the most
distinguished designers in Paris of private palaces and town houses
(hotels) for the aristocracy. In his designs for both exteriors and
interiors, an impression of elegance and refinement is given by the
use of smooth, light-colored surfaces, occasionally curved, and
extensive areas of glass (windows and mirrors). Exterior decoration
comprises restrained patterns of horizontal grooves, variations in the
curved crowns of window openings, and occasional accents of sculpture
in low relief. On the interior, mirrors, wall panelling, and window
openings are united by rocaille ornament: a free, curvilinear two-
dimensional pattern of crisp stucco plant and shell forms, in
arabesques and cartouches, open and lively in contour and occasionally
asymmetrical. Furniture and painted panels pick up the rhythms of
this architectural ornament. Such Rococo decoration was particularly
popular in Germany, as represented here by Amalienburg.
Neoclassicism. Eighteenth-century archeological studies combined with
a reaction in taste against the decorative Rococo style, and a desire
to revive certain of the historical connotations of the ancient world
(such as the heroic virtues of the Roman Republic) produced a Neo-
Classical revival in the second half of the eighteenth century in
Europe and the United States--although the brilliant villa at Chiswick
was much earlier. Classicizing works of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries (especially those of Palladio) often served as models. In
general, earlier Neo-Classicism uses Roman models and emphasizes their
republican associations. The Greek Doric order is revived, and we
speak specifically of the Greek Revival style.
Thomas Jefferson (American, 1743-1826), an architect as well as a
statesman and a scholar, was well read in the classicist theories of
architecture and acquainted with the famous models of European
classicism. His desire to establish a sense of cultural tradition in
this new country is reflected in his architecture. For his own
country house (Monticello), he modified a Palladio design to meet
local practical needs, and "translated" it into local materials. He
was one of the first architects to adapt Roman building types to the
functional requirements of public and academic buildings.
Romanticism. Neo-Classicism was one aspect of the wider Romantic
movement (c. 1750-1850), which began, primarily in England and
Germany, as an urge towards simple, sincere feeling and natural
behavior as opposed to court etiquette. All historical styles were
thought to be natural and desirable as antidotes to the unpleasant
reality of Rococo artificiality and the industrial revolution. The
word "romantic" was applied to whatever might call forth "sublime"
associations: ruins and other reminders of past grandeur and of the
melancholy passage of time; manifestations of the forces of nature and
man's impotence before them; and expressions of extreme emotion,
reflecting the uncontrolled forces in man's nature, from passion to
insanity. The Gothic style--used by Horace Walpole at Strawberry
Hill--was considered one to bring out these associations; but there
are buildings reflecting the exotic styles of China, Egypt, and, in
the nineteenth century, North Africa. Although the outward forms of
the revival styles are copied, sometimes fancifully, sometimes
exactly, the content is never that of the original style, but always
"romantic".
Key works:
1. Francois Cuvillies Sr.: Amalienburg, near Munich, 1734--39; figs.
602--603.
2. The Earl of Burlington (Richard Boyle) and William Kent: Chiswick
House, near London, begun 1725 [
128]; colorplate 59
3. Horace Walpole: Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, England, nr. London,
1749--1777 [
290 exterior;
289 view of long hall interior: the vaults
are plaster]; figs. fig. 629.
4. Robert Adam: Syon House nr. London, 1761-76 (see also under
Neoclassical); figs.625--628.
5. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): Monticello, Charlottesville, VA,
1770-84 and 1796-1806; fig. 701
6. Jefferson: Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, 1785-89 [
295 as
photographed by Matthew Brady during the Civil War, showing its
distinct Acropolis effect: cf.
019]; fig. 702
7. Jefferson: University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1814;
1817--1826 [
297 view of lawn leading to Pantheon-like library (cf.
031)]; fig. 703.
8. Abbe Laugier: Essai sur l'architecture (Essay on Architecture),
1753 [
127 frontispiece for 1755 edition, showing the "natural" state
of architecture].
9. Germain Soufflot: The Pantheon, Paris (ex-church of Ste.-
Genevieve), 1755-92 [
300 plan;
299 exterior as modified;
298 interior
view]; fig. 643, 644.
10. Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806): industrial city for the Royal
Saltworks at Chaux (the Salines de Chaux), Arc-et-Senans, France,
1775-79 [
126 Saltworks as built, and as standing today]; fig. 658
(partially as built, partially as developed later into an ideal city
plan); figs. 659-660: gatehouse and director's house, as built and
standing today.
11. Ledoux: house for the Loue River superintendent, c. 1785 (project;
published 1804 and 1847); fig. 654.
12. Etienne-Louis Boulee, Projected cenotaph for Newton, 1783 [
296
interior with nighttime illumination]; figs. 669, 670.
13. Karl Friedrich von Schinkel: Altes Museum, Berlin, 1824-30 [
294
plan;
293 exterior today;
292 interior of the rotunda: cf. with
200,the Pantheon dome;
291 interior corridor view]; figs. 684--687.
Works in context: