Paris Art Studies –
January-February 2011
Fridays: The
History of Paris with Chris Boïcos
Architecture, Urbanism,
Society - Part 5: Paris under the
Bourbons:
The Age of Enlightenment: The Reigns of Louis XV and Louis
XVI, 1724-1789 *
The official majority of Louis XV at 13 in
1723 coincided with the death of his uncle the Regent , Philippe d’Orléans. The
young King and the court returned to Versailles
opening the last gilded age of the
great palace. The life of ease, pleasure and aristocratic glamour inaugurated
in Paris under the Regency continues through the youth of Louis XV. The dominant decorative and artistic
style of the day is the Rococo. Boucher, Lancret, Pater, Lemoyne,
Natoire and the Van Loo brothers are its main practitioners in painting, Nattier, Drouais, Peronneau and Quentin Latour its main portraitists,
Boffrand, Aubert, Gabriel the Elder the architects and the great ébenistes (cabinet makers) are Sené, the
Foliots, Oeben and van Riesenburgh.
One of the chief art patrons of the age is
the King’s chic and cultivated Parisian mistress the Marquise de Pompadour.Founder of the Sèvres porcelain factory, she will employ all of the great artists
of the day, but also encourage and protect the writers of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire.
Her brother Marigny named Superintendant of
the King’s buildings will be responsible for the return of the classical style
as the crown launches again great building projects like Place Louis XV (Concorde), the Ecole
Militaire and Ste Genevieve (Pantheon).
Gabriel will be the leading
architect of this royal Neoclassicism whose
jewel is the Petit Trianon in
Versailles.
The age of the Bourbons closes with the ill-fated reign of Louis XVI and
his Austrian Queen Marie Antoinette
which opens in 1774. The Queen’s frivolous and pleasure-loving taste is
reflected in the exquisite renovations, the romantic gardens and the fantasy village she commissions from
Mique for her private domain, the Petit Trianon.
Riesener and Jacob are the
masters of the new, more
restrained, but supremely elegant “Louis XVI” style in furniture. A shift,
however, to seriousness and virtue initiated by the Kings’ new Superintendant,
d’Angivilliers, is felt in royal architectural commissions: The School of Surgery, the Odéon Theater and the new Paris city
gates by Ledoux. Greuze, followed by the puritanical David, introduce this new spirit in
genre and history painting. A more relaxed
and sentimental classical
style is introduced in portraiture by Marie Antoinette’s favorite artist, Elisabeth Vigée Lebrun, in an almost
nostalgic attempt to halt the inexorable movement towards Revolution that will
bring the gilded age to its violent end in 1789.
Course Schedule: Fridays 10:30 am – 12:00 noon. Coffee and tea served
at gallery sessions at 10 am.
14 Jan.
- Gallery - Rococo! Paris and
Versailes under Louis XV, Mme de Pompadour and Mme du Barry.
21
Jan. - Visit - Musée du Louvre : Rococo
art and sculpture. Meet inside pyramid by information desk.
28
Jan. - Gallery - Neoclassicism! Paris and Versailles under
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
4 Feb. -Visit - Musée
du Louvre : Neoclassical art.
Meet inside pyramid by information desk.
11
Feb. - Visit - Neoclassical architecture on the Left Bank,
from the Pantheon to the School of Surgery.
Meet on the steps of the Pantheon 75005 (closest metro
RER Luxembourg or buses 84 and 89)
Please bring 8€ in change for Pantheon
ticket and a metro ticket for the bus.
Course fee: 100 € for the 5 sessions or 25 € for one session.
To register for classes
please call 06 86 58 98 09 or send us an
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.
Please note:
Museum admissions are additional to course fees. Exact change is
appreciated.
Nota
Bene: Paris Art Studies suggests that you call
or email in advance for all course registrations.
Unannounced
arrivals can be
refused if the class is full.
Reimbursements will be given only if the class is cancelled.
Paris Art Studies at Galerie Beckel
Odille Boïcos - 1, rue Jacques Cœur 75004 Paris.
Métro Bastille – exit boulevard Henri
IV. Paris Art Studies telephone: 06 86 58 98 09
Email : contactus Website: www.parisartstudies.com
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