Rococo and Neoclassical Interiors
This installation brings together a diverse group of objects in the Davis collection related to eighteenth-century European interiors. Architecture and interior decoration, like fashion and the print trade, allowed elite consumers in this period to explore and exhibit their knowledge, taste, and sense of self-identity. Rococo and exotic ornament prints were used as models for wall paneling, textiles, and porcelain; pastoral paintings, portraits, and neoclassical furnishings enlivened domestic spaces. Other works on display represent new sorts of environments—auction houses, art galleries, and bath complexes—that were intended to both entertain and instruct the public. Organized in conjunction with the Art Department’s spring 2011 seminar, ARTH 325: Rococo and Neoclassical Interiors, the installation will be accompanied by gallery talks and essays by students in the course.
The installation of the permanent collections galleries is funded by the J. Paul Getty Trust, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Wellesley College Friends of Art, Office of the President of Wellesley College, Office of the Dean of the College, the Davis Museum Program Endowment, and a gift from Jeannette Donovan in memory of her daughter Jean Donovan ’76.
Meredith Martin
Assistant Professor of 18th- and 19th-Century European Art