Elegant couple c. 1740 - 1770

Francesco Guardi made this drawing of an elegant couple using pen and brown ink. Note how the figures and landscape emerge from a network of delicate, spidery lines, evoking a sense of lightness and airiness. Guardi's fluid, almost improvisational style reflects a departure from the rigid academic conventions of his time. The composition is built upon a series of contrasts: the dark ink against the pale paper, the solid forms of the figures against the gestural landscape. Here we see the use of the Rococo aesthetic, which favoured asymmetry and a playful approach to form. The figures are less about capturing their likeness, and more about their overall relationship with one another. This drawing challenges fixed meanings and invites us to appreciate the beauty of impermanence. It underscores how the structure is less about capturing a definitive image and more about evoking the sensation of a fleeting moment.