Art History 1750 Test 2
Juan Bautista de Toledo, El Escorial, 1563-84
Centralized government controlling religious doctrine & how it was spread. This was commissioned by Phillip II who had a big hand in the production of art in Spain. Not meant to be a welcome place, very rigid and foreboding.
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768)
- History of the Art of Antiquity (1764) - First to approach the subject of ancient art from a developmental point of view - The artifact's temporal context mattered - Wrote about the history of antiquity. All art originated in Egypt then went to the Greeks. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the difference between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art
Clara Petters
17th century pioneer of still life paintings. Peeters won renown for her depictions of food and flowers together, and for still lifes featuring bread and fruit, known as breakfast pieces. In Still Life with Flowers, Goblet, Dried Fruit, and Pretzels, Peeters's considerable skills are evident.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
A French scholar who was the primary editor of the Encyclopédie, a massive thirty-five-volume compilation of human knowledge in the arts and sciences, along with commentary from a number of Enlightenment thinkers. The Encyclopédie became a prominent symbol of the Enlightenment and helped spread the movement throughout Europe.
"Dutch Golden Age"
A contentious term. Ignores the brutality of the period and those taken advantage of. Included the atlantic slave trade and the capture of indonisia itself. Though the dutch didnt import slaves to their shores, they were instrumental in the production & trade of cattle slavery. Paintings can on one hand show the glory of imperialism and trade, the accessibility of new tools and products, but we should also be aware of what goes on behind the scenes for these things to be possible. The slave trade, harvesting and mining, and the capture and erasure of certain peoples and cultures.
Antonio de Pereda, Still Life with Ebony Chest, 1652
A rich collection of objects of different provinces showing territory. Includes a chocolate pot & whisk shows the discovery of the new world (Mexico) where the food comes from. Ebony was a type of wood which came from India or Indonesia decorated with ivory coming from the tusks of elephants from India or Africa. There is a lustreware bowl from muslim Spain & porcelain from China. Alludes to the wealth of the world coming into Spain through trade
Luisa Roldán, The Entombment of Christ, 1700-1701
Able to be kept in the home & was not meant to be a giant public object. Object to be meditated on, meant to be studied and looked at. Depending on the angle of approach you can recognize different expressions & identify with them. This adheres to religious beliefs seconding as political beliefs in Spain
Benoît Louis Prévost, after Charles Nicolas Cochin, Frontispiece to the Encyclopédie, 1772
Allegorical scene; a nude female figure, entirely covered by a see-through veil stands among the clouds in front of a classical colonnade; next to her, on the right, a crowned figure holding a bit (?), and a kneeling figure holding the Bible; on the left a figure with winged head and crowned by a flame brings a garland of flowers; in the middle part, more allegorical female figures, all sitting among the clouds and holding an attribute; in the lower part, more figures, with man carrying a pot on a plate; frontispiece to Diderot and d'Alembert's 'Encyclopédie', 35 vols (Paris: various publishers, 1751-80). 1772Etching and engraving
Andries Beeckman, The Castle of Batavia, c. 1661
Artists were often the official documenters of places. Highlights the Dutch's strength and was commissioned as such. Shows individuals from all around the world with varying skin tones. Has a somewhat utopian theme
French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture
Antiquity - the ancient past, especially the period before the Middle Ages. !648 Louis the 14th the founding of the French Royal Academy. Louis was able to control painting at the time. Students were competing to study at Rome to paint original ancient works. And those art pieces have a moral message called moral Antiquity.
Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Late Ming Ginger Jar, 1669
As Dutch prosperity increased, precious objects and luxury items made their way into still-life paintings in great numbers. More luxurious than Clara Peeter's still life. Symbols of wealth and attention to surfaces as well (ex. Show of the shine of the silver)
Rachel Ruysch, Flower Still Life, after 1700
As living objects that soon die, flowers, particularly cut blossoms, appeared frequently in vanitas paintings. How-ever, floral painting as a distinct genre also enjoyed great popularity in the Dutch Republic because the Dutch were the leading growers and exporters of flowers in 17th-century Europe.A viewer might simply enjoy the skill of the artist and the luscious arrangement of many different kinds of flowers, some of them not in bloom at the same time in nature. However, Ruysch's floral still lifes are not pictures of real floral arrangements, but idealized groupings of individually studied flowers. A viewer might read a hidden meaning in the image: though captured in full bloom, the flowers will soon wilt and brown, serving as a reminder that beauty fades and all living things must die.
Postcolonialism
Based on after colonies and colonizing powers in terms of Dutch exchange (Global Networks of Trade) The historical period or state of affairs representing the aftermath of western colonialism the term can also be used to describe the concurrent project to reclaim and rethink the history and agency of people subordinated under various forms of imperialism
Jacques Callot, The Peasants Fight Back, from the Miseries of War, 1633
Callot's Miseries of War etchings were among the first realistic pictorial records of the human disaster of military conflict. Hanging Tree depicts a mass execution of thieves in the presence of an army. Les Grandes Misères depict the destruction unleashed on civilians during the Thirty Years' War. Was a series of 18 etchings. Took place in Lorranie
Exemplum virtutis ("Model of virtue")
Classical subjects that teach lessons of civic virtue
Clodion, Nymph with Two Children, 18th c.
Clay was able to capture the texture of hair, skin, fur. What is artful about nature and being able to pair their similarities and differences.
Frans Hals, Archers of Saint Hadrian, c. 1633, oil o/canvas
Commissions still existed but not necessarily by the church but by commission/patron groups. Often informal. One of the many Dutch civic militia groups that claimed credit for liberating the Dutch Republic from Spain. strokes were spontaneous. Gives a sense of relaxation and effortlessness. Captures the moment "smile for the camera" Each figure has its own personality. Group identity but individual.
John Locke (1632-1704)
Connoisseurship was derived from John Locke Essay concerning human understanding, evidence is from what humans can visibly see and prove, at birth our mind is a blank slate and is filled through experiences. Etienne Bonnot de Condillac, Treatise on the Sensations, 1754 Takes John Locke starting point and blows it up. Interested in senses for themselves. Studies on the idea of pleasure, if given the choice between two senses, one of pleasure and one of pain, man will always choose pleasure, we are driven by it & its a pathway to understand the world itself and our own personal bodies.
Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, Covered Tureen on Stand, c. 1735
Designed by one of Louis XV's official architects, this tureen exemplifies the French rococo style, an artistic movement celebrating naturalistic forms that developed in Paris during the early 1700s. In contrast to classical, controlled symmetry, rococo forms morph, twist, and spill into the space around them. Meissonier embellished this tureen in a picturesque arrangement of vegetables and creatures, transforming a utilitarian object into a decadent display of wealth and abundance. This masterpiece comes from a set of two tureens commissioned by the English Duke of Kingston during an extended stay in Paris in the 1730s.
The Sun King (Louis XIV) 1675-1700
Determined to consolidate and expand his power, Louis was a master of political strategy and propaganda. He established a carefully crafted and nuanced relationship with the nobility, granting them sufficient benefits to keep them pacified but simultaneously maintaining rigorous control to avoid insurrection or rebellion. The Sun King's desire for control extended to all realms of French life, including art. He builds a grandiose palace and garden complex at Versailles Christopher Wren designs Saint Paul's Cathedral in London
Bodégones, Ex: Diego Velazquez, the Water Carrier of Seville, c 1619
Diego Velazquez, the Water Carrier of Seville, c 1619 Bodegone - scene from everyday life. Emphasizes great naturalism ( rosy cheeks & winkles of older man) unknown what the painting is meant to be. Maybe an allegory of the 3 ages of man & collaboration between them. Maybe a reference of moral matters & respect for the elderly/poor. The dignity of the lower class. Has ambiguity.
Absolutism (absolute rule, absolute monarchy)
Doctrine and practice of unlimited centralization authority and absolute sovereignty as vested especially in a monarch or a dictator
Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Saying Grace, 1740
During his life and after, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin was venerated as a master of genre painting. Chardin's primary subject was "la vie silencieuse" (or "the silent life")—humble, everyday scenes and vignettes. He painted scenes from family life, domestic interiors, still lifes, and ocassional portraits. Chardin was admired by his peers not only for his distinct approach, but also for his ability to manipulate paint to evoke luminosity and tranquility. Not much is certain about his training, other than the time he spent with Pierre-Jacques Cazes and Noël-Nicolas Coypel; historians believe his career ignited upon his entry to the Royal Academy of Painting as a highly regarded member. He admired Jean-Antoine Watteau, though their sensibilities were drastically different. In Chardin's eulogy, he was remembered for having once said, "One uses colours, but one paints with feeling."
Étienne Bonnot de Condillac
Etienne Bonnot de Condillac, Treatise on the Sensations, 1754 Takes John Looke starting point and blows it up. Interested in senses for themselves. Studies on the idea of pleasure, if given the choice between two senses, one of pleasure and one of pain, man will always choose pleasure, we are driven by it & its a pathway to understand the world itself and our own personal bodies.
Peter Paul Rubens, Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles, 1622-25
Expressive use of color, example of Kladschilderkunst. Marie was among one of Ruben's loyal patrons a high member of Florentine's banking family. She commissioned Rubens to paint a series of huge canvases memorializing and glorifying her career. Between 1622 and 1626, Rubens, work-ing with amazing creative energy, produced with the aid of his many assistants 21 historical-allegorical pictures and three portraits designed to hang in the queen's new palace, the Luxembourg, in Paris. In Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles Marie disembarks at that southern French port after her sea voyage from Italy. An allegorical personification of France, draped in a cloak decorated with the fleur-de-lis (the floral symbol of French royalty), welcomes her. The sea and sky rejoice at the queen's safe arrival. Neptune and the Nereids (daughters of the sea god Nereus) salute her, and the winged and trumpeting personified Fame swoops overhead.
Peter Paul Rubens
Famous 17th century Baroque painter. Known for his originality took inspiration from artists like Michelangelo, Titian, Carracci, and Caravaggio. He became court painter to the dukes of Mantua, friend of King Philip IV and his adviser on collecting art; and permanent court painter to the Spanish governors of Flanders. He also became a highly successful art dealer, buying and selling contemporary artworks and classical antiquities for royal and aristocratic clients
Fijnschilderkunst vs. Kladschilderkunst
Fijischilderkunst: "fine painting" extremely detailed manner of painting By using fine brushes of painting. By using the fine brushes and applying the paint in successive layers the artist makes his/her brushstrokes virtually disappear Kladschilderkunst: "Rough or house painting" - Expressive and gestural (up close you just see the paint but for you might be able to see a person_
Van Leeuwenhoek
First to observe bacteria under a microscope
Pedro Berruguete, Auto da Fe Presided Over by Santo Domingo de Guzman, c. 1495
Forcibly forced jews to Christianity Auto de Fe- act of faith. The prisoners were tied by the neck and burned at the stake. Think of the witch trials. Very intense period of catholicism. Also in 1492 there was a discovery of the americas. What does it mean to be so heavily catholic? Spain and France have all powers invested in the monarch. Absolutism- Doctrine and practice of unlimited centralization authority and absolute sovereignty as vested especially in a monarch or a dictator
French Academy of Painting and Sculpture
France was the artistic center of Europe. Founded in 1648. It was influential in determining artistic success. Had a strict curriculum which required artists to copy ancient art work. They also had to study history, mythology, literature and anatomy. Also known for being competitive.
Femmes savantes
French, "learned woman." The term used to describe the cultured hostesses of Rococo salons.
Germain Boffran, Hôtel de Soubise, Salon de la Princesse, 1737-1740
Has a secular aspect, not about devotion to one (god or government) but to self. Includes large mirrors, not only do they reflect you but they reflect themselves. Light from the outside puts you in the spotlight and also reflects on the mirrors making you feel engulfed in the outside environment. Also due to the candles the light flickers creating movement. Sculptures and ornamentation blurs the difference between the walls and the ceiling making it seem as if the ceiling opens up to the sky. Designs of interior decorations were popularized by print, and collected them as is and appreciated them for the drawings themselves
Antonio Canaletto, Riva degli Schiavoni, c. 1735-40
His compelling views of Venice recorded the city for wealthy tourists of the 1700s
Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia ego, 1628
It depicts a pastoral scene with idealized shepherds from classical antiquity, and a woman, possibly a shepherdess, gathered around an austere tomb that includes this inscription. It is held in the Louvre.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, 1785
In 1783, when Labille-Guiard and Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun were admitted to the Académie Royale, the number of women artists eligible for membership was limited to four. This canvas, shown with great success at the Salon of 1785, has been interpreted as a means of advocating their cause.
Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, 1701
In Hyacinthe Rigaud's most famous portrait, Louis XIV shows the majestic power of an absolute monarch. He is wearing his coronation robe embroidered with the royal fleur de lys along with some key elements of Baroque style such as the cravat, red heels, and the wig. He was commissioned to paint many monarchs
Búcaro
In Spanish a búcaro is a general term for water jars, and a búcaro de Indias ("búcaro from the Indies") is a particular type exported to Europe, made in Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico from the 17th century onwards.[1]
Juan de Pareja, The Calling of St. Matthew, 1661
Included himself (Juan de Pareja) within the painting shows his power & ability of painting nature & refined materials (pearls, beads, cloth) He associates himself with St. Matthew himself being associated with the continent of Africa & the country of Ethiopia
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
It depicts three men, brothers, saluting toward three swords held up by their father as the women behind him grieve—no one had ever seen a painting like it. Similar subjects had always been seen in the Salons before but the physicality and intense emotion of the painting was new and undeniable.
Claude Perrault, Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun, East façade of the Louvre, 1667-70.
It is not immediately obvious why the eastern facade of the Louvre Museum, originally a royal palace, was considered among the most important architectural works in France at the end of the seventeenth century. There is an incongruity today between the grandeur of the building and the ordinariness—and smallness—of the space in front of it, the Place du Louvre. Originally designed to be the main, ceremonial entrance to the palace, the facade repays close attention, despite its unexalted position today. It is a premier example of the rigorous design tradition in French classicism, a revered model for subsequent palace design, and a monument associated with the origins of modernity in architecture.
Francisco de Zurbarán, St. Serapion, 1628
Just been tortured, martyr. British medieval saint participated in the Crusades He was tied to a tree and decapitated for preaching to muslims. The intense dark background is to blend into the darkness of a room at night to have a terrifying and humbling effect as a monk. Meant to draw emotion from the viewer and inspire & instill faith. ""The poor individual preaching to the muslims was killed.""
Albert Eckhout, Series of eight figures, 1641
Life sized couples representing a different cultural/ethnic category in brazil. Collaboration between scientists and artists. Shown as types rather than individuals, we don't know their names or stories. Tapuya Man: the artist conveys the hunter gatherer status of this couple, suggests the people were hunting for people, most primitive. Cannibalism. Moral and cultural stereotypes. Includes sexual references (hyper-sexualizing) Brazilians: Less primitive due to bows & arrows (for hunting humans) and clothing. Behind the woman, you see structure, human nature and natural nature has been tamed by a mission (christianity). Also shows motherhood Africans: fully facing statures yet being depicted as slaves, depiction of sexuality. Larger breasts, carrying basket of fruit showing production abundance, for facing upwards towards female genitalia. The child has lighter skin maybe in reference to the rapes happening against the African slaves. More emphasis on strength. On the ground next to the man there's an elephant tusk and there are also seashells. Is this picture still in Africa? Is it just a commodity? Mixed race: Fully clothed man has higher grade weapons (sword showing civilization, nobility, and decoration and rifle showing modern) showed higher stature. The woman has flowers in her hair shows her opportunity to be ornamental. Also references the goddess Flora. The man almost guards the sugarcane. Advocates for the natural balance of brazil Not accurate images but stereotypes, were considered scientific rather than artistic.
Jean-Baptiste Greuze, Village Bride, 1761
L'Accordée de Village is a painting by the French artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze, first exhibited at the 1761 Salon, where it was unanimously praised by the critics, notably by Diderot. It was the first example of the 'moral painting' genre, to which Greuze often returned. It is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Style: Rococo
Jacob van Ruisdael, View of Haarlem from the Dunes of Overveen, c. 1670
Landscapes became more popular. In specific reference of a place yet generic enough to sit in an average home. The location is identifiable. The majority of the painting is exploration of clouds. Though the scenery is specific, it's only ⅓ or so of the painting for a reason. The specificity of the artist's image—the Saint Bavo church in the background, the numerous windmills that refer to the land reclamation efforts, and the figures in the foreground stretching linen to be bleached (a major industry in Haarlem)—reflects the pride that Dutch painters took in recording their homeland and the activities of their fellow citizens.
Henri-Pierre Danloux, The Baron de Besenval in his Salon, 1791
Looking at a porcelain vase, you can feel an object just by looking at it and it becomes pleasurable. There is pleasure surrounding objects such as this, speaking about it/discussing it. Touching it, hearing and admiring it.
Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Madame de Pompadour in Her Study, 1749-1755
Louis the 15th official mistress. Holding the Encyclopedia which is the internet of the 18th century that contains all the information known during that time. Artists were Denis Diderot, and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.
Etching
Many printmakers adopted etching after its perfection early in the 17th century, because the technique affords greater freedom in drawing the design than engraving does. The etcher covers a copper plate with a layer of wax or varnish and then incises the design into this surface with a pointed tool, exposing the metal below but not cutting into its surface. Next, the artist immerses the plate in acid, which etches, or eats away, the exposed parts of the metal, acting in the same way the burin does in engraving. The wax's softness gives etchers greater carving freedom than woodcutters and engravers have working directly in more resistant wood and metal. If Rembrandt had never painted, he still would be acclaimed, as he principally was in his lifetime, for his prints. Prints were a major source of income for Rembrandt, as they were for Albrecht Dürer, and he often reworked the plates so that they could be used to produce a new issue or edition.
Joseph Marie Vien, The Cupid Sellers, 1763
Market woman is holding cupid and is selling him to her. Based on ancient roman painting. Based on: Fresco with a Cupid Seller, Roman 1-50 bc. One of the earliest and most influential reimaginings of the Roman fresco shown above was Joseph-Marie Vien's 1763 Cupid Seller, reproduced in this engraving by Jacques Firmin Beauvarlet. It was not a copy but rather a re-creation intended to update the ancient original for the taste of 18th-century Paris.
Clara Peeters, Still Life with Flowers, Goblet, Dried Fruit, and Pretzels, 1611
Master of this genre and informs what happens with dutch artists during this era. What's known as a "breakfast piece". Requires no knowledge to understand the painting unlike catholic based paintings and artworks.reveals Peeters's virtuosity in depicting a wide variety of objects convincingly, from the smooth, reflective surfaces of the glass and silver goblets to the soft petals of the blooms in the vase. Peeters often painted the objects in her still lifes against a dark background, thereby negating any sense of deep space Made to be awed at. Calls attention to the surface of each object.
Encyclopédie (encyclopedia) Ex: Madame de Pompadour in her Study
Monumental summary of French Enlightenment ideas, compiled by Diderot Madame de Pompadour in her Study - Louis the 15th official mistress. Holding the Encyclopedia which is the internet of the 18th century that contains all the information known during that time. Artists were Denis Diderot, and Jean le Rond d'Alembert.
Enlightenment
Neoclassicism - Enlightenment and an interest in antiquity Previous to the Enlightenment, the dominant artistic style was Rococo. When the Enlightenment and its new ideals took hold, Rococo was condemned for being immoral, indecent, and indulgent, and a new kind of instructive art was called for, which became known as Neoclassicism.
Antoine Watteau, Gersaint's Shopsign, 1721-22.
People buying paintings (Art show), A shop sign. Shop is at the Notre-Dame bridge. In the corner of the portrait is a painting of Louis the 14th being buried (political). High class individuals depicted in the painting
Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, Allegory of Sight, 1617-18
Peter Paul Rubens and his side hustle for art dealing became the subject of this particular artwork. Images are being woven into clothes and painted onto tiles & walls. There becomes an explosion of image production that becomes more accessible. This becomes a tool to experience the world itself. Example of Fijischilderkunst: "fine painting"
Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage to Cythera, 1717
Pilgrimage to Cythera shows a dream-like landscape depicting the aristocracy on a beautiful love-filled escapade to an island where they can fall in love. It's a very new feel in 1717. As already mentioned, Watteau uses this famous piece for his entrance into the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.
Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier, Madame Geoffrin's Salon, 1755
Place where one would host discussion debates, etc. Often hosted by women who brought within their spaces other classes. Usually people like mathematicians, scientists, philosophers, and more. Similar to dinner parties. Still somewhat private, only there by invitation but still a display of artwork
Pietro Antonio Martini, View of the Salon of 1785, 1785
Prioritizing accuracy in this panoramic view, Martini carefully reproduces the paintings at the Salon of 1785, and includes many of the numbers assigned to the works and printed in the Salon's livret (booklet). Jacques-Louis David's The Oath of the Horatii, which was first exhibited in 1785 and is now in the Musée du Louvre, is depicted at the center of the back wall. Along the right-hand wall is Adélaïde Labille-Guiard's Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, which is in the Metropolitan Museum's Department of European Paintings.
Rococo
Rock work and shell work combined into something artful Knowledge can be developed in your own close looking Ex: Versailles, Bosquet des rocailles Only used in the 19th century to refer back to the art before the french revolution Often about everyday life, works people were bringing into their homes, not so big Organic and dynamic, based on the viewer
Velázquez, Juan de Pareja (1606-1670), 1650
Somewhat unheard of due to the fact that he's black but he's also given a name. Represents a changing point in who is represented in art. Was the enslaved assistant of Velasquez. His father was likely Spanish & his mother likely a slave. He was likely purchased. 75% of the slaves in Spain were black & the other part North African. He was granted freedom in 1650 and put into effect in 1654. He acted as his assistant & his son & law's assistant & worked in the royal court in Spain. He also had his own separate work & was a portraitist and history painter. He painted the calling of St Matthew & included a self portrait of himself
El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópolous), The Burial of Count Orgaz, c. 1586
Spain is devoutly Roman catholic. Meant to unite what is happening on earth to what is happening in heaven. This work of art opens up what is possibly happening above
Hierarchy of Genres
System promoted by the academies in Europe where artistic subjects are ranked in terms of their prestige; in descending order of value were: history, portrait, genre, landscape, animal, and still life painting
Tulip Mania
The Dutch tulip bulb market bubble, also known as 'tulipmania' was one of the most famous market bubbles and crashes of all time. It occurred in Holland during the early to mid-1600s when speculation drove the value of tulip bulbs to extremes. At the height of the market, the rarest tulip bulbs traded for as much as six times the average person's annual salary.
100 gilder print
The Hundred Guilder Print can be counted among Rembrandt's most beautiful and complex compositions. The artist wove together in a horizontal composition individual episodes of the Gospel of St. Matthew to illustrate its full chapter 19. It is an exquisite puzzle of darks against lights and lights against darks that draw the eye across the image. He positioned Christ as a luminous beacon between the lightly etched left side and the sumptuous darkness he created on the right. After the scene was first etched onto the plate, he continued to reposition many of the details; traces of that repositioning can still be seen in Christ's eyes, hands, and feet. The title of the print refers to an early story that Rembrandt paid one hundred guilders to buy back an impression of the print. While the tale is dubious, it does suggest that the print had become rare by the eighteenth century.
The Salon vs salon
The Salon: One of the very first public spaces Inaugurated by Louis the 14th, there was no fee to enter, to demonstrate the French government in Europe and was an institution run by the crown. A way to show off to anyone & everyone traveling through paris. Showed the power of the crown through artwork. The area is extremely crowded with people and paintings. A large mix of many people of different classes, there was a fear of peasantry being spread. Also very stinky Birth of painting criticism because of the mix of classes, Lower class groups of people were able to judge what were considered high class paintings. Portraits showing vanity were deemed "bad". Critics love homely paintings of women that can only raise and bear children. salon = Living Room/Discussion area Place where one would host discussion debates, etc. Often hosted by women who brought within their spaces other classes. Usually people like mathematicians, scientists, philosophers, and more. Similar to dinner parties. Still somewhat private, only there by invitation but still a display of artwork
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, 1775/80
The Swing, which must be counted among the greatest achievements in eighteenth-century French landscape painting, have been associated since their rediscovery in the early nineteenth century. Nearly identical in height, they present similar views of vast and fecund picturesque gardens, peopled with elegantly dressed men, women, and children playing games, conversing, promenading, and dining in an exuberant natural environment. The myriad details in each — bubbling fountains, shadowy sculptures, overgrown flower beds, rushing cascades, soaring trees, and towering cloud-filled skies — put the viewer's eye in constant motion in, around, and between the two compositions.
Pierre Patel, View of the Gardens of Versailles, 1684
The canvas shows a panoramic view of the palace of Versailles and its gardens circa 1667-1668. The artist has placed here with very great precision the different buildings of the Palace at the end of the first embellishment works ordered by Louis XIV from the architect Louis Le Vau who in 1634 had already modernized the brick and stone architecture of the small hunting lodge of Louis XIII. The king still stayed occasionally in Versailles for hunts and festivities. The painter has accentuated the axis of the gardens which were to become the "Grand Perspective" by the invention of steep hills on the sides.
Académie
The first art academies appeared in Italy at the time of the Renaissance. They were groupings of artists whose aim was to improve the social and professional standing of artists, as well as to provide teaching. To this end they sought where possible to have a royal or princely patron.
Angelika Kauffmann, Mother of the Gracchi, 1785
The scene that we see in Kauffmann's painting illustrates one such example of Cornelia's teachings. A visitor has come to her home to show off a wonderful array of jewelry and precious gems, what one might call treasures. To her visitor's chagrin, when she asks Cornelia to reveal her treasures she humbly brings her children forward, instead of running to get her own jewelry box. The message is clear; the most precious treasures of any woman are not material possessions, but the children who are our future. You can almost feel the embarrassment when you look at the face of the visitor, who Kauffmann has smartly painted with a furrowed brow and slightly gaped mouth.
Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait, c. 1630
Thought to be by Frans Hals. Paintings were not always signed so artworks by women were often credited towards their fathers and/or teachers. Given demonstration of her abilities in her personal self portrait on canvas and what her portrait is painting thus invites the viewer to evaluate her skill. Very relaxed, turned around as if she's caught painting. Leyster did not paint herself wearing the traditional artist's smock, as her more famous contemporary Rembrandt did in his 1659—1660 self-portrait. Her mouth is open as if she is laughing or mid smile.
VOC
Trading Routes of the VOC (Dutch East India Trading Company) founded in 1602. First national company (independent) First to issue stock with many investors. Had a governmental status. Had rights to wage war, to negotiate forigen treaties & could also incarcerate people. The seat of the VOC was established in 1619. They had control of many seaways giving them a high position of international trade. In 1630 they conquered Brazil (sugar producing).
Description of Dutch paintings
United Provinces (Dutch) - 1672 Most paintings were used to appeal to dutch merchants, incredible financial success in the middle class. They had excess money to buy paintings & decor. Shifted from baroque. Most of these images were small works. Dutch artists were producing for an open market. No backing of the church, made art for a different market but didnt know who you were painting for. Made artwork in hopes that it would sell well. This also affected style & personal style. The market determined what was painted, not creativity, not genius. The scale of paintings changed drastically due to the size of the walls where they were placed (homes). Making paintings for the average person rather than the public, the wealthy, and the church.
Pedro Berruguete, Beheading of the Baptist, 1450-1504
Use of linear perspective, shows deeper architecture which is Italian in itself
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, 1766
Very erotic painting, also includes a statue of cupid creating an element of secrecy and ambiguity. Swings were often considered a reference to sex and the man below is able to catch a glimpse up the woman's skirt. Huge reference to pleasure sexually and through sensory.
Versailles
Where the king and Queen Stayed Bosquet des rocailles Example of "Rococo" Built a palace and garden complex
Clodion, The Intoxication of Wine (Nymph and Satyr carousing), c. 1780-1790
While often Neoclassical, his manner at times remained quite Rococo, as in the present example.
Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-Portrait, c. 1659-1660
Who is the painter? Wearing a painter's smock, hair tied back. Compared to Judith Leyster's self portrait. He's suggesting there's more poetic about who the artist is. Both rely on tropes of artistic status and success. The circles are in reference to the story of giotto and cimabue where giotto drew a perfect circle to show his talents and skill rather than submitting a painting.
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress, 1783.
With the support of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, Vigée Le Brun became one of fourteen women (among 550 artists) admitted to the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture before the Revolution. At her first Salon, she displayed a number of portraits, including one of the queen in a white muslin dress and straw hat. The characterization of the monarch was admired. However, the pastoral costume was condemned as inappropriate for the public portrayal of royalty and the artist was asked to remove it from the exhibition.
connoisseur/connoisseurship
a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste
Naturalism
any artwork which attempts to render the reality of its subject-matter without concern for the constraints of convention, or for notions of the 'beautiful'.
Formalism
describes the critical position of the most important aspect of a work of art and its form. The way it's made and its purely visual aspects rather than narrative content. Italian paintings are primarily narrative but Dutch paintings are described as descriptive. What is reality itself, what do we experience? Not meant to move the soul of the viewer.
Jardins de la Bagatelle, 1775
in 1775, the Comte d'Artois, Louis XVI's brother, purchased the property from the Prince de Chimay. The Comte soon had the existing house torn down, with plans to rebuild. Famously, Marie-Antoinette wagered against the Comte, her brother-in-law, that the new château could not be completed within three months. The Comte engaged the neoclassical architect François-Joseph Bélanger to design the building that remains in the park today. The Comte won his bet, completing the house, the only residence ever designed and built expressly for him, in sixty-three days, from September 1777. It is estimated that the project, which came to include manicured gardens, employed eight hundred workers and cost over three million livres. Bélanger's brother-in-law, Jean-Démosthène Dugourc, provided much of the decorative detail.
Marie-Guillemine Benoist, Portrait of Madeleine, 1800
is a famous oil painting, originally by French artist Marie-Guillemine Benoist in 1800, with the style of neoclassicism. The painting is now collected by the Musée du Louvre. This kind of portrait oil painting is very common in visual art. Painting in a similar way is other portraits, and had to do with fertility and abundance. Web: Benoist's painting is consistent with the conventions of portraiture and the Neoclassical aesthetic prevailing in France in 1800. The woman's costume recalls the fashionable dress of the period, and her pose is similar to those seen in Jacques-Louis David's portraits, such as Madame Raymond de Verninac. The bared breast underlines the contrast of skin and fabric: in portraits, a convincing rendering of flesh tones was crucial, and in the European tradition, as far back as the sixteenth century, the skin of "Ethiopians"—as Africans were commonly called—was considered especially challenging to paint. Benoist's work is a striking demonstration of her capabilities as a portraitist.
Hameau de la Reine, 1783
is a group of houses and farm structures in the park of the Palace of Versailles in France. The hamlet was designed in 1783 by Richard Mique and Hubert Robert as a play space for Queen Marie Antoinette. It was here that she played the simple country girl in a straw hat and plain dress with her friends.
Group portrait
large canvas commissioned by a civic institution to document or commemorate its membership at a particular time
Picturesque gardens
names a style in which garden designers created gardens in the image of idyllic European landscape paintings. Famous examples of these paintings were by Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorraine, who painted scenes of the Italian countryside in the 1600's.
Grand Tour
refers to the fashionable European trip undertaken by cultural and socially conscious tourists, to the great centuries of classical, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, sculpture and painting: notably, Paris, Florence, Venice, Rome, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Artists and tourist still visited Rome in it ruins and France wanted to do the same to being out is own forms of antiquity
Breakfast piece
seventeenth-century Dutch still life that showed an interrupted meal
Anne-Louis Girodet, Portrait of Citizen Jean-Baptiste Belley, Ex-Representative of the Colonies, 1797
was a Saint Dominican politician. A native of Senegal and former slave from Saint-Domingue, in the French West Indies, he was elected member of the National Convention and the Council of Five Hundred during the French First Republic. He was also known as Mars. Was an argument for emancipation within the colonies of France.
KUNSTKAMMER AND WUNDERKAMMER—CABINETS OF CURIOSITIES
were collections of notable objects. The term cabinet originally described a room rather than a piece of furniture. Modern terminology would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings), and antiquities.
