Design for a Folding Screen 1686 - 1761

Editor: Here we have Jacques de Lajoüe's "Design for a Folding Screen," created sometime between 1686 and 1761, using pen, ink, and paper. I am really drawn to the delicate, almost whimsical nature of the ornamentation; what does this piece spark in you? Curator: Oh, Lajoüe! He dances on the page, doesn’t he? This drawing, it whispers of lavish salons and powdered wigs, the very air thick with perfume and whispered secrets. What's striking is not just the elaborate ornamentation, but the sheer joy he takes in the line, in the *curve*. The rococo loved asymmetry, and Lajoüe, he just lets it flow like a bubbling spring. Doesn't it make you want to trace those swirling lines with your fingertip, even though you absolutely shouldn’t? Editor: Absolutely. The whole composition feels very light. But what's the significance of leaving the main panel blank? Is it a placeholder? Curator: It's a space pregnant with possibility. Is it waiting for a scene, a mirror, perhaps a painted panel with frolicking cherubs? Who knows! To me, that space represents pure potential; an invitation to imagine yourself within this aristocratic dream. And how clever of Lajoüe to tease us with this "in progress" design; it gives you license to complete his thought! Editor: That’s a wonderful way to think about it! It makes me reconsider how artists design in order to let the audience finish their artwork for them. Curator: Precisely! In the 18th Century, these ornamental frames were just as critical to the decoration scheme as paintings! You are also getting insight into how important the culture of prints and drawings were for disseminating taste! Every time I see these works on paper, I feel that artists today can always stand to appreciate how draftsmen of the past made visual fireworks out of line alone.