Roger De Piles

Art Theory leading into the 18th Century

The argument of color verses design originated in the Baroque, but extended much further into the eighteenth century in terms of theory. Roger de Piles was the father of this argument based on coloris versus disegno and the Poussinists versus the Rubenists and so on. He joined the Academy in 1699, right on the verge of the Rococo and basically formed the argument for color, rather than classical design in his Cours de Peinture par Principes in 1708. Up until Rubens artwork, the classical style of painting was preferred with a focus mainly on “straight lines, right angles, triangular arrangement of forms, balance, symmetry, and so on” (Minor 367). De Piles believed that color appealed more to human’s emotions and that was what truly great art was meant to do. He therefore obviously chose Ruben’s work as superior to Poussin’s. This
As an artist, Rubens embodied all that de Piles used to define art. Ruben’s fine, loose brushwork and use of light and composition was what de Piles’ whole argument of color was based around. Rubens was an influential painter for de Piles, but was also one for the next generation of painters working in the eighteenth century. His works toward the end of the baroque clearly show the theory behind the art that would dominate the eighteenth century. Many artists used and continued his style changing the face of painting theory. Watteau was one of the first to really pick up the color approach towards painting, but many others followed. Both de Piles work and Rubens turned out to be extremely influential, but not all of de Piles arguments stuck. His rejection of the hierarchy of painting genres didn’t prove to hold true among critics like Diderot, but for the most part his ideas were widely excepted and expounded