The Rococo style, which became popular in the mid 18th century, covers the reign of France's King Louis XV. The period is known for an increase in lower, more cushioned furniture that can be gathered into intimate groups, whimsical S- and C-shaped curves, ornate asymmetric flourishes, and a playful pastel palette. The style is preceded by the Baroque style and followed by Neo-Classical.
For more in-depth information about the Rococo style, check out:
• Rococo Loco! The Style of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour
• Style Glossary: The Louis Styles
• ColorTherapy: A Few Notes on Rococo
• Going for Baroque (& Rococo): Ornate Mirrors & Frames
(Images: 1. Alexis Simon Belle, Louis XV, in the Versailles collection via Apartment Therapy, 2. via Apartment Therapy, 3. Nigel's Europe via Apartment Therapy, 4. Metropolitan Museum of Art via Apartment Therapy)
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
White Enamel Flatwa...
Party Recipe: Creamy Crawfish Dip
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
those matching boots are a bit much.
@ninja_neer lol, it's true
the light blue (celeste) and gold room is exquisite. And the boots too. LOL
FYI, the paintings in the photograph of the Frick collection are actually by Fragonard, a student of Boucher. Another room in the museum has a decorative scheme by Boucher. Link to a virtual tour of the Boucher room here: http://www.frick.org/virtual/boucher_tour.htm
Rococo painting as described by my art history teacher is frivilous and over done. I have to agree and is fitting in modern society with the emphasis on billionairs and personal wealth over the strength of the middle class
"Oh my dear God what is that horrible song they're singing'?!"
Chris, no offense, but I think your art history teacher had a pretty ignorant attitude towards what can be (when done well) a charming style. A lot of our modern misunderstanding about the rococo comes from the fact that most of these works have been displaced from the original contexts for which they were made - exquisite decorative settings in which the paintings were just one part of a harmonious unified ensemble. They look extremely frivolous and overdone hanging on the walls of most museums. Of course there is also the matter of modern taste...it was just a different time.
It's going to be the next craze. Wait and see. Now mid century, tomorrow Rococo. Hit those antiques dealers now before prices go up
Rococo is dazzling in it's proper context, like an Austrian Palace. A development in South Florida? Not so much.
Rococo, on the one hand the most completely exquisite, over-the-top, ostentatious expression of absolute wealth and power on the other hand, just remember that none of the palaces where this stuff lived in context had indoor plumbing or climate control and very few, if any, of the people that lived in them ever took baths as we understand the term.
Rococo, no matter how pretty you may find it, is a skunked style. Its fine detail requires labor-intensive handcraftmanship that is either impossible to find or prohibitively expensive; trying to replicate the detail in mass-produced, cost-effective ways results in garishly cheap work that is not worth having. Also, it doesn't mix well with modern styles; you can mix Colonial with Arts and Crafts with Midcentury Modern with Ikea, but in a non-Rococo room, a single Rococo item is going to look "ironic," out of place, and cartoonish. Hence Rococo is a style best reserved for the affluent, who can afford genuine antiques or costly well-done knockoffs, and who have enough money to saturate a room with this style. In addition to the current disdain for "matchy-matchy" and a universal suspicion toward anything that is too formal, there's also the fact that most people would look at the chair shown in pic #4 and say "That looks like it belongs in Donald Trump's wife's shoe boudoir." Donald Trump has made "Rococo" synonymous with "vulgar" for a whole generation.
Right...I am in no way advocating the return of this style to modern architecture, it is totally anathema and I can't imagine a full-blown re-creation of it it by a contemporary designer that wouldn't be in extremely poor taste. Of course, then there's Philippe Stark's witty postmodern reinterpretation of the Louis XV/Louis XVI chairs (Ghost chairs) - that I wholeheartedly approve of. Then Kehinde Wiley, who I just find hilarious.