What art movement developed in the 18th century as a reaction to the grandeur, symmetry, and strict regulations of the Baroque architectural style?

In the early part of the 18th century, the movement that developed in Paris, France as a reaction against the grandeur, symmetry, and strict regulations of the Baroque architectural style was Rococo. This movement was one that was formed especially as a response to what had occurred with creating the Palace of Versailles.

Experts at the time pointed out that Rococo was a form that allowed artists to opt for a more jocular, florid, and graceful way to create art and architecture. The word Rococo was seen as a combination of the French rocaille, meaning stone, and coquilles, meaning shell. There was great reliance on these objects (stones and shells) as motifs of decoration.

At its heart, Rococo was seen as ornate, and it used light colors, asymmetrical designs, curves, and often had playful themes. To the present, this style has endured harsh rhetoric from some critics who characterize it as superficial and of poor taste. The point was publicly made that some artists were only interested in how their art appeared to others or how their reputations became amplified in the eyes of others.

Rococo as a style was used until the end of the 18th century; it then started to fall out of fashion and was largely supplanted by the Neoclassic style.