Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture

by Robert Neuman

Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture is the first in-depth history of one of the great periods of Western art, spanning the years 1585 to 1785. The text treats the major media–painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, and architecture–as well as gardens, furniture, tapestries, costume, jewelry, and ceramics, all in terms of their original function and patronage and with emphasis on the social, political and cultural context. Organized by country and medium, the book contains biographies of the leading creative figures of the time, from Caravaggio and Rembrandt to Watteau and Hogarth. Significantly, Professor Neuman offers the fullest account to date of women artists and the representation of women and families in art. Additionally, drawing from recent scholarship, the text explores such fields as Spanish polychrome sculpture and Viceregal American painting. Baroque and Rococo Art and Architecture reviews traditional and recent strategies for interpreting artworks. It also traces the dissemination of visual ideas through prints and drawings–the forerunners of today’s art reproductions and digital media. In special sections the text raises questions regarding the nature of perception and how artists transfer optical data to the canvas. Artists’ techniques, from painting and printmaking to sculpting in marble and casting in bronze, are explained. Analysis of the institutions of art, such as the royal academies, apprenticeship systems, and artists’ exhibition rooms, complements an examination of collecting at all levels of society. The book is exceptional in considering issues related to authenticity and the relative value of artworks based on attribution. The illustrations comprise a visual resource of unprecedented quality, with some 450 images reproduced in full color and in a large format that ensures high detail and emphasizes recent conservation efforts. Finally, an extensive glossary introduces seventeenth- and eighteenth-century art terms.

Genres: Art History, Architecture, Art, History

480 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2012

Reviews

[syona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thank the lord everyday that this book exists

[Kalliope Ormond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, wow! I really enjoyed this.

I love how this book does such an in-depth look at Baroque and Rococo art and architecture. I'd been looking for a good book on Rococo art for some time, but was rather disappointed by what I found. It seems like art of this period is somewhat marginalized in art books, maybe because its main purpose was to provide pleasure and have a good time. I know the Neo-Classicists felt superior to the titillating and lighthearted art of this short period, and I wonder if nowadays we feel somewhat similar.

Robert Neuman, however, unpacks the stunning art in all of its glory in a way devoid of any snobbery; rather his words are clear and informative, without any of the dull droning that frequently features in books like this. Actually, I got stuck in and lost myself in the twisting story of art and artists: Annibale Carracci, Johannes Vermeer, Boucher and Jean-Honore Fragonard and many, many more besides. There are plenty of attractive photographs, and the author explores French, Spanish, English, Italian, and other types of art, in good detail. You learn so much about life in the past by examining art: political and cultural changes, what people ate, what people wore... Exploring art is like lifting the lid on a chest and finding that it's filled with treasure.

If you are wanting to know more about the art and artists of this period, you can't do much better than to read this book!!