Wednesday, November 20, 3:30pm – 5:00pm, via Zoom
Jenna Haggett
Dr. Laurel Taylor, Art History
This paper explores the intersection of gender, sexuality, and identity within French Rococo art, focusing on the works of François Boucher (1703-1770) and Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806). The analysis challenges traditional heteronormative interpretations, examining how compositions in key works such as Two Girls on a Bed Playing with Their Dogs (ca. 1770) and Jupiter and Callisto (1769) represent sapphic relationships and gender ambiguity, particularly in mythological and everyday life ‘genre’ scenes. The deliberate erotic innuendos presented in these artworks are juxtaposed with the negative reception from male art critics and much of the Parisian patriarchy, highlighting broader societal anxieties about femininity and illicit sexuality during this period. The research contextualizes these visual elements within the socio-cultural environment of 18th-century France, examining issues such as morality, gender roles, and societal views on sexuality. The impact of Madame de Pompadour as a patron, particularly her relationship with Boucher, is also considered in relation to the development of the Rococo. The presence of influential women in society or the French court, like Pompadour, along with her promotion of Rococo art contributed to the period’s strong association with feminine aesthetics. The thesis builds upon established scholarship while offering new interpretations of how feminine desire and gender fluidity are portrayed in Rococo art through a queer lens, emphasizing the role of female patrons and critics in shaping its reception.