Rococo Exhibitions

Enlightenment & Romanticism · c. 1720–1780

Playful lightness & ornament

An ornate, playful refinement of the Baroque that flourished in 18th-century French aristocratic society. Watteau, Fragonard, and Boucher filled their canvases with pastel-hued idylls, flirtatious scenes, and decorative excess. Rococo embodied the luxurious, escapist spirit of pre-Revolutionary court life.