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Overseas Trade Influence

Good Essays

How did overseas travel and trade influence taste and design in the eighteenth century? Refer to specific movements in your response.

The 18th century is known today as the ‘European age of Enlightenment’ due to Europe’s change in political values, scientific advances and philosophical views. The 18th century was a time that was very much influenced by class and wealth. Social classes were clearly recognizable due to the taste in which one had. This had an effect on art and music as it had to adapt to societies new fondness for overseas trends. The 18th century is said to be the time in which Britain found itself amongst the rest of Europe as artists created their own unique way of working with influences from their journeys around Europe. …show more content…

The style was highly decorative and tended to use light pastel colours. The designs were typically asymmetrical and featured a lot of gold. The word is known as a combination of the French for ‘stone’ and ‘shell’. Rococo art consisted of elaborate and over the top designs that took a more humorous and light-hearted approach to the arts in comparison to other movements at the time. Rococo was designed to cover an entire room; meaning that all the ornaments and furniture blended together to create a luxurious environment. Rococo is believed to be a product Influenced by interior design when it was actually inspired by Baroque architecture in Europe at the time. Many architects were asked by Bishops and Princes to design and build churches of great heights in the Rococo style. It was by the end of Louis XV’s reign that Bolder and richer styles were giving way to the lighter and softer Rococo designs. The style really started to gain interest in France in the 1730’s when the trend was picked up by painters and sculptures, which is seen in the work of French painters such as Antoine Watteau and François Boucher. It was by this point an art form loved by many and even became known as the ‘’French Taste’’ in Britain. The trend came to Britain more so through interiors and silverwork. Thomas Chippendale was famous for creating wooden furniture that merged this newly found love for Rococo with his already existing eye for design. Many said that …show more content…

This Movement was inspired by the classical arts of Rome and Greece. In the mid 18th-centurty it had spread throughout Europe and had surpassed the well-known trends at the time. Moving on from the lavish and in some ways over the top designs that were prominent in early 18th century, Neoclassical arts were said to be a far more logical and tasteful approach to art. This meant that the uncontrolled need for colours and lavish designs was dying out and people were starting to adapt to a mature and simplistic taste. Greek artifacts were the main inspiration at the time for Neoclassicism and it quickly became the new architectural styles used by governments due to clear link to Roman and Greek democratic society’s. This is clearly portrayed in iconic structures such as The White House which was built in the late 1700’s and Arc De Triomphe in Paris. Neoclassicism was first brought to England by wealthy young students who had studied abroad in Rome. Breaking away from more emotional themes, Neoclassical art is said to be un-emotional and cold when in actual fact numerous paintings depicted a person full of courage and sacrifice. Artists who followed this movement aimed for symmetry and proportion. Composition and accurate detail was an important detail for artists when working this way. Mythological scenes were still produced however they had realistic, contemporary theme to them. Archeology

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