Curatorial Statement and Biography
Curatorial Statment
Compared to the long regimes of the Renaissance and the Baroque art movements, which both lasted for hundreds of years, French Rococo only lasted for a little over fifty years. During the late 1780s, the monarchy was reduced to a discourse of despotism, and the Revolution began (Andress 22). The Revolution cut the Rococo movement short, and historians often discuss it only as the last “hoorah” of the Baroque. Though this could be argued when looking at interior design or fashion, Rococo painting is undeniably unique. This exhibit focuses on distinguishing the oil paintings of François Boucher and Jean Honoré Fragonard as its own distinct style by analysing themes and techniques that these artists experimented with. These themes include: the pastoral, the decorative, love and sensuality, and portraiture. Each section includes oil paintings that express the themes of each category while also providing contextualizing information about the artists and the subjects of each painting. Visitors will learn about how both artists used things like the ambiguous background and foreground relationships, color, composition, the arabesque, storytelling, and more in order to fully grasp both the aesthetic merit of these pieces but to also point out the extent to which artists freely experimented with painting.
However, Rococo art was not just about new techniques, but also about freedom. After the death of King Louis XIV and the strict hold he had on the Academy, artists could more freely explore all of these new techniques (Schmitter 401). Additionally, much of the art in the exhibit is about freedom. There are countless paintings of green pastures, of nobility causing mischief, and of explicit sensuality. Even so, what makes Rococo so distinctive is its later association with the despotism of the monarchy, with oppression of the French public. In Fragonard’s later career, the public began to associate Rococo with the frivolity of the monarchy (Schroder 161). The discourse not only pushed it out of fashion, but also distorted scenes of carefree happiness into corrupt scenes of an aloof nobility, one that had no regard for the public. The stifling of Rococo also leads to questions like, “Where would art have progressed to if Rococo was explored to the extent that movements in the past were?” How long would the movement have lasted? Why was a movement filled with such delicacy, freedom, and bliss followed by such violence?
Paintings are carefully selected from The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Louvre’s online collections to represent many themes. Though only two artists are mainly represented, their wide range of art and styles is representative of the freedom and experimentation of Rococo art. Additionally, paintings by Caravaggio, Jean-Antoine Watteau, and Charles LeBrun all make appearances in the exhibit to compare or contextualize the other artwork. Each work is intentionally organized, discussed, and analysed to fully examine the canon of Rococo.
Biography
Welcome to my exhibit! I am Marissa Stuckey, a sophomore at Northern Arizona University. I am currently working on my bachelor’s degree in Studio Art with a minor in Museum Studies. I chose painting as my emphasis, which I fell in love with from a young age. Currently, I am working on a series of religious paintings representing stigmata. I have been featured in three student juried shows at the Beasley Gallery, and interned there for a semester helping curate, install, and advertise exhibits. In my free time, I volunteer at my local food bank whenever possible, and I am training to be a student leader for Chi Alpha, a Christian fellowship on campus. To see some of my work, you can visit my Instagram @mlsartworks. If you have questions or comments about my exhibit, feel free to email me at marstuckey44@gmail.com.