Arabesque Design
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Purchased for the Museum by the Advisory Council
Accession Number
1921-6-335-7
About this artwork
Research in Progress
Art Historical Context
### Arabesque Design Created in 1788 by French artist Étienne de Lavallée (1735–1802), *Arabesque Design* is a captivating print that exemplifies the ornate decorative arts of late 18th-century France. Just a year before the French Revolution, this work captures the elegance of the Ancien Régime, when intricate patterns adorned everything from textiles and wallpapers to furniture and architecture. Lavallée, active during the Rococo-to-Neoclassical transition, specialized in such designs, drawing from Renaissance grotesques and exotic influences like Islamic motifs to weave flowing vines, folia...