Art History Final Exam
At the Opera by Cassatt
A creepy man is staring at the wealthy woman who is alone at the opera from afar. A woman at the opera by herself steps outside of her social norms. She is independent and at lest upper middle class living her life and doing things without a man
What is an oba?
A king. The heads had a concept of the inner eye or insight (oji inu) into destiny and to come to terms with it. It emphasizes caution, respect, patience, composure, and insight. It is said that life resides in these heads.
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
American building in Charlottesville, Virginia. Classical elements from antiquity with the pediment, columns from the Greeks, and the circular dome from the Romans
What was Jacques-Louis David's motivation in choosing the subject matter he did?
The need to live with principal and sacrifice was motivation to his political subject matter
Define Romanticism
Increased expressiveness 1770s-1850s
Explain why Yoruban-speaking artists made sculptures of leaders that were disembodied heads or figurative sculpture with disproportionately-large heads.
It was seen that the head was the seat of a person's destiny and persona; their whole being (ase)
Main proponents of Impressionism?
JMW Turner and Eduardo Monet
Who were the two prominent predecessors of the Impressionists?
JMW Turner and Eduardo Monet
Define Neo-classicism
The revival of a classical style or treatment in art, literature, architecture, or music
What kind of subject matter were Realist artists like Courbet and Millet drawn to?
The life of the laborers
Main theme of Romanticism?
The lives of the working class or lower classes
Who was the Western artist who spent most of his life in New York City but is most renowned for his idealized versions of the American West
Thomas Cole who painted landscapes found in the West
Explain why Cezanne is often called the father of Modernism, because of his different approaches to linear and atmospheric perspective.
Through value and vibrant colors he made objects look #d and 2D canvases
What was Monet's intention in his painting Impression, Sunrise?
To create paintings that recorded rality as he saw it.
Van Gogh influence from Ukiyo-e art
"Bridge in the Rain" practically an exact remake of the original; theme of city-life
Cassatt influence from Ukiyo-e art
"Nude Child" same flatness, outlined, wood-cut medium
How can we describe the formal qualities of the 19th century art of the american west?
"Pioneer art" which was usually naturalistic and propagandistic. Romanticist tendencies in landscape and "cowboy and indian" painters usually from a white male perspective. There was a relevance to the time period and an interest in the exotic other. Highly detailed depictions
Degas influence from Ukiyo-e art
"Woman Combing her Hair" same subject matter of daily routines of women inspired by Utamaro. Wood-cut medium
Pointillism
Colored paint applied in a series of small dots
Constable and Turner had two very different approaches to landscape painting. Explain
Constable's approach was more peaceful and calm while Turner's is more vibrant, expressive, abstract, and chaotic
What tendencies in art did romanticist artist signal a definitive shift from?
Constable- subject matter of the middle class and landscape. Friedrich- expressiveness, and landscape. JMW Turner - subject matter of the lower class, expressiveness, and landscape
Who was the late-19th century artist and illustrator who often represented both the joyful and seedy parts of Paris in his posters and paintings?
Edgar Degas
Subject matter of Impressionist paintings?
Everyday scenes of bourgeois life and landscapes
What did Hogarth's work tend towards?
Exposing the difficulties of a loveless marriage of convenience
Explanation of Munch's The Scream
Expresses the personal anxiety by creating a formal tension that reinforces the psychological tension that is the theme. The curving rhythm of the body incorporates itself into the rhythms of the environment. His skull resembling face is a symbol associated with death. The visual manipulations communicate an emotional impact as a symbol of schizophrenic psychological state.
Who is an early-American West artist who is famous for his ethnographic portraits of Native Americans?
George Caitlin
Who was the artists who actually "lived the life" and how is his work different from his NYC counterpart?
George Caleb Bingham who painted the life found in the west
Explain what Van Gogh did for color
He incorporated color contrast to unify his pieces whereas Cezanne incorporated color contrast to depict dimension
Van Gogh's main legacy to subsequent artists, arguably, was his use of color. Describe how he did so, what his priorities were.
He liberated color from pure representation. The contrasting colors he used were meant to express certain emotions within the pieces
What basic tenet of Romanticism (relative to the subject matter), and by extension Modernism, does Gericault's Insane Woman exemplify?
He portrayed an old woman with psychological problems due to the packed population and industrial city-life. People are being placed in unhealthy and foreign environments
Paul Cezanne's main legacy to subsequent artists, arguably, was his representation of pictorial space. Explain.
He used multiple respective paintings and projected movement and the representation of time. Wanted to establish an equilibrium of vivacious color and solid form of 3D objects into a 2D canvas
Describe how Kicking Bear's depiction of Battle of the Little Big Horn is in some ways more descriptive than Paxton's.
His depiction was of the exact historical event from what family the soldiers belonged to, to what they wer wearing and how they died
Manet differed from other Realist painters like Courbet and Bonheur in what respect (think formal qualities)?
His paintings were more idealistic and psychological
What style did Jacques-Louis David work in?
Neoclassical
Rococo formal characteristics
Pastel colors, s-curve, mannerism, and very ornate
Define Ukiyo-e
Pictures of the floating world
JMW Turner's Slave Ship
Plays on the awesomeness and raw power of nature is highly expressive. Reflects the interest of the lower class because of the slaves directly. The artist is forcing the viewer to come face to face with slavery.
Technique by Seurat in La Grande Jatte is what?
Pointillism
What is Seurat known for?
Pointillism and neo-impressionism
What kind of artist was Rosa Bonheur?
Realism
Degas is best known for his Impressionistic paintings of what?
Realities of modern life, dance, and dancers
Main characteristics of Impressionism
Rejected subject matter and style of academic painting, also rejected carefully composed paintings as unreal. Observed light across complex forms. There were representations of the world in a constant flux.
Define Rococo
Rocaille and coquille
Why was Rosa Bonheur unique for her time?
She was the only woman to paint life on the frontier
Theodore Gericault's Raft of Medusa
Ship ran into a reef, the ship gets stranded, fights break out amongst the crew, and cannibalism starts
How did so many African tribal art pieces come to be in western collections?
The Benin Expedition of 1897 had the British divide Africans against their will. Outbreak happened and the British won against Benin, sold their art to western museums, and dispersed the rest.
What were the main themes of ukiyo-e prints?
The world referred to be one of transient pleasures and freedom from the cares and concerns of the world. Majority of the prints depicted aspects of a carefree existence such as the kabuki theatre, nature/landscape, life in the pleasure quarters, and travel
The Cradle by Morisot
There is a noticeable psychological and physical distance between the woman and the baby. Her expression is one of distress and maybe being pulled from her family to do the expected things such as becoming a stay at home mother rather than her having a career in art
25. Post-Impressionism is a relatively non-descriptive word, why is it used to define work made "after-Impressionism" in the late 19th century?
There is no subject matter so it's seen as not having much of an impression
How did neo-Classicists interest in antiquity differ from that of Italian Renaissance artists?
They painted real life instead of religious figures
Rococo main subject matter
Wealthy aristocracy at play
How would Asante akuabe be used?
Woman would carry these dolls in their clothing close to their wombs until she gave birth. It was thought to be help from the deities to have children and was in fact a representation of new babies
What was the usual medium for Japanese ukiyo-e?
Woodblock prints
What subject matter is Utamaro best known for?
Works of everyday women doing everyday activities
