Art History: Chapter 24
He was the leader of the impressionist movement in fRance. He explores the hanging quality of light and color in different conditions/times of day.
Claude Monet
"The road taken by Goya in Los Caprichos into a fantasy world that allowed his imagination and passions to go wild was most closely followed in Britain by William Blake, who viewed himself as a history painter." A series of draing that Goya put together in the second half of th eseries is whre yu find The sleep of reason produces monsters.
Caprichos
His concern is the passage from the physical way station of earth to the spiritual being of eternity. His landscapes are virtually pantheistic ( seeing gods presence in nature). The lanscapes were deeply metaphorical with humans reduced to almost insignifcant scales.
Caspar David Friedrich
The key to interpreting the picture is knowing Goya meant it to be compared with Velzquez's The Maids of Honor, a picture in the royal collection and known to everyone at court. In each painting, the artist is present and the royal family appears before a shadowy backdrop of two large oils. In addition, Goya's Queen Maria Luisa, standing in the center, strikes the same pose as Velazquez's infanta. Missing from Goya's portrait, however, is the all-important mirror, which in The Maids of Honor reveals the royal parents, the keystone that holds the picture together compositionally and thematically because it not only explains the scene but also establishes the hierarchial order of the figures.
Compare and contrast Francisco Goya's The Family of Charles IV (24.2) and Diego Velázquez' The Maids of Honor (19.38).
• Member of a Turkish harem- Odalisque • As seen from the western perspective- the western look on the eastern world • Exoticness and mysteriousness • Harem is a place that is very secluded and closed off and it is a place not accessible to the public and not accessible for men except for the husband of women in the harem and this is a setting of luxury • Luxurious setting with wonderful nude in this lounging posein front of a very dark background - contrast- there is also great contrast in texture her porcelain skin greatly contrasted with the curtains and other fabrics that have a glaze to them and great shimmer- her skin is rather matte where the drapes are glossy and texture is credibly rendered • As a vieway- a male viewer • We are observed and woman is looking at male observer in a very seductive way and is turning her back to us • He rendered her not entirely anatomically correct but highlighted her gracefulness by elongating her spine- the painting was criticized for having one verterbrae too many- its about how soft and displaced her body looks and how long how limbs are graceful • Highlight gracefulness through the gesture • We can tell this is an exotic setting because hse has a fan in her hand with peacock feathers and theres a water pipe right to the right
Describe Grande Odalisque
• Pantheistic landscape • Didn't need a narrative anymore • Landscape in the 19th century came into its own as a fully independent nd respected genre • Landscapes were now considred picturesque • Were not depictions of nature but were an extension of the artists subjectivity and how the artists would connect to nature • Nature an the artist became one being • Most landscape paintings represented a romantic pantheistic view- meaning god was to be found in painting - goes back to Rousseau • Nature as a being- included totality of existence in unity and harmony- god lived in nature and it was there that the artists found an ideal subject to express the romantic ideas- theme of the soul in union with the natural soul • Tried to express divine truth • Spirituality is a theme • Many emblems of death • Funeral procession that can be seen • Coffin being carried through the gates of the ruins of the gothic church - it is gothic because of the pointed arches and the emblems of death are also present in the stones on the cemetery • The scene is covered in snow - it is winter- dark season of the year also a symbole of death • Trees are bare- skeletal appearance • Ruins- they are a symbol of decay and destruction and death and mortality • The procession - the people in it are all clothed in black in the color of mourning - overall we could call this landscape a meditation on human mortality • Mysterious and mystical - the sky has an awkward shape -oval or elliptical shape in the air and creates a mood that doesn't really tell us whattime of the day it is- it is ambiguous • The scene in the woods is very dark • He looked after in his work was to find the balance of inner and outer experience • The artist should paint not only what he sees before him but also what he sees within him- in his writing he said this. A right of passage direct connection with abbey and the sky. Suggest that there is an afterlife but it does make us dread because we ar enot sure what is gong on. The biggest motif is the gothic ruins because he knew germans would relate to. Gothic/oak trees is germany. Germany falling part, and the mood is dark and cold.
Describe the Abbey in an Oak Forest
• Dramatic actions • Luminious colors • Confusing compositions often crowded with overlapping objects in this case overlapping figures maybe inspired by reubens - bodies are twisting and intertwining • Constrast of color and texture • Lighting can also be confusing • Technically this should be in thef foreground but the way he puts darks and lights in the paintings he creates different focal points than what we are used to seeing • Extreme emotions are part of the romanticism • Nude woman being stabbed by an attacker • Even the horse seems to be frightened • Sardanapalus is lounging he is an asyrian ruler • Setting is in the middle east • Painterly romanticism • Turns classical rule on its head • Paintings with a person who is not a hero • Height of romantic painting - story comes from romantic poet • Asyrian king who is being vanquished in battle but instead of surrendering he is gonna kill everything that is around him including himself • He is looking with supreme indifference at the end of the lives of the women in his life and everything he owns • Corruption • Neoclassicism has great construction of space instead here we have a psace full of objects gold jewels, horses and the sahep isn't constructed it is filled up- all the bodies and everything in are all in curved S shape forms, the womens bodies - everything is snake like and writing movement • King watches in corrupt gaze • Bed is foreshortened • Everything spilling down • Appeal to our emotions • Woman in foreground is being brutally murdered • Horse is being pulled against its will • Scene of death and destruction that is happeneing as close as possible to the viewers space • Crowd used to looking at symmetry and everything is now looking at chaos and everything different • Flesh of the figures is not normal tonal modeling of neoclassicism but see figures where thes ahdows are greens and blues and oranges and golds- color ina more emotional way • Orgy of violence and corruption • Painterly Romanticism
Describe the Death of Saranapalus
Goya shows the families true humanness, their ordinariness. Goya even includes himself in the painting because he wanted to be seen as an intellect and and aristocrat. The question always asked about this picture is what is everyone looking at..it is assumed a mirror.
Describe the Family of Charles IV
Constable recorded the landscape of his hometown in England. He did it in a detail fashion, and he searched for truth, very characteristic of the 19th century. Nature was important in the romanticism. They wanted their personality to be linked with nature. Their art and depiction of nature was seen or took place through their personality, through their personal experience with nature. Famous for his landscapes. However French royal academy thought history painting was the highest of art on the hierarchy, and Constable would make landscape painting higher on the list for genres. He has a sensitive approach to his landscape painting because he reflects how he sees his home land, it is a personal statement, landscape from his point of view, saw landscape form a scientific point of view. He was interested in a ephemera, meaning fleeting in time. This is seen in the wind, clouds, The picture reveals the artists subjectiveness. The mood in this painting is split in two. The right side is a lot of lighter than the left side. The mood is soothing.
Describe the Haywain
• It is not a vast paitinng or body of water that we are seeing now • It is not awe inspring nature • It is not the real thing and he is not trying to copy the real thing - he is trying to give us an impression of him in front of the body of water (Baltic sea) • White caps on the waves • There is a person with orange or red hair with curls and he is wearing the robe of a monk He is standing facing the water turning his back to the viewer and it is in fact friedrich himself in the work - his face is turned a little bit backwards clouds have a lot ore detail than you can see- there are birds in the cloud • Example of the sublime - this is because the work is awe inspiring and mysterious - it creates these feelings by the size of the ocean vs the size of the small person- endless body of water in front of which the figure is standing - the figure may be contemplating eternity • Contemplating about God or death • This is about introspection • How do we relate to this figure?
Describe the Monk
• Portrait • Well known for being a portrai painter and draftsman • No True reflection of light on the skin • Outlines are very sharp • Nothing is left to chance it is extremel y precise • It does not only give a lot of information about the sitter about her personal style • Tells us a lot about her enviornemnt because it looks like a living room setting • Shes not only sumptuous in dress she is also sitting next to a rococo chimney piece with a beautiful vase of chinese origin definitely from the east and there is another fan not looking very European - he creates great contrast between light and dark • Dark background • Background is a mirror and we can see a reflection in the mirror this is aalmost a sculptural approach- when artists use a mirror they are trying to give us 3D effect- they want to give us moer than a two dimensional image
Describe the Portrait of MAdame Ines Moitessier
• Focal point is not the vanishing point and its not the viewers perspective • It is the scene in the back with the man at the very top at the top of the pyramidal shape and we want to follow this movement and see what is happening there • Figures seen from the back invite the viewer to participate in the scene and take the place of the viewer • Focal point is where there is more tension created through lines and light and dark - where there is emphasis • Composition- x shaped compostion with lines crosisn each other- two pyramids- there are different opposing forces at work - the forces of nature definitely- life vs death- with death in the foreground and prominently and shockingly shown - the head look decapitated by the picture frame on bottom right • The man in the foreground is highlighted by red cape and lost in thought and holding onto body of the newly deceased man • Forces of nature are very prominent threathneing the raft • The wind pushing the raft from the right to the left- see how the sail is billowing and how it is full of wind and tension so that the raft would be moving towards the direction of the very very large and dark wave that is building up - threatening nature - only really short moment of hope that is indicated by the light and shimmer on the horizon line • French ship the medusa that carried algerian immigrants and the ship had gone off the west coast of Africa in 1816 and there weren't enough life boats for all the passengers and 150 people had to be on the raft and wait and about two weeks later only a handful of these passengers survived • Very view survivors caused a scandal that was debated in the newspapers and that is where geircaut learned about • He avoided the most horrific scenes of the event like cannibalism and people drowning - this is gruesome enough for us and he gives us a glimpse of hope and it is the moment in which they are eventually going to be saved- dramatic moment but not the most gruesome • Suffering and despair is prominent in the foreground - the corpses piled onto one another and crisscrossing each other- overlapping- extremely pale • Medieval depictions of body fo chirst on cross very pale and gruesome extreme realism and very honest approach to depicting death and Gericault does this here as well • Painterly romanticism- because of wonderful compositon it is almost baroque where the bodies are piling up- it is very much in the manner of Michelangelo in the interest of showing anatomy of human body with different angles- great gradation of light and shade - learned from reubens who used the diamond shape in his compostion with all the diagnols creates a lot of drama whereas a horizon line gives secutiry - there is not much of a horizon line here. Theordore explores the theme of man vs nature.
Describe the Raft of Medusa
• captain of a slave ship threw sick and dying ship overboard and he was really corrupt • no distinct horizon line- everything seems to be cloud and wind and spray and hands reaching out of the water screaming for help and then this ship struggling in the wind in the typhoon. • not smooth not trying to create 3D on flat surface doing 3D by placing paint on top • not trying to replicate the real situation at sea he is tryng to give us an impression of the situation at sea - he is trying to release color from any defying outlines - it is a sea of color and it is extremely awe inspring and very overwhelming and seems to be the artists emotional response to the forces of nature • turner is really godo of giving us an impression of how nature can be so much out of our control and overwhelming • reminds us of the sublime Turner gives us an up-close look at human suffering. The outstretched hands pleading for help, a leg about to disappear into the deep for a last time , the frenzied predatory fish, and the bloodstained water all dominate the foreground. In the background in the ship heading into a fury of the typhoon. This is a horrific scene made a few years after the British banned slavery entirely.
Describe the Slave Ship
The title of the art piece is written on the table. The artist is surrounded by demon like creatures, such as, owls, bats, . In this work he uses his new printmaking technique. He uses etching and aquatint which creates patches or one entire field of one entire shade- the gray in the picture is very uniform almost a drawing quality. The artist is surrounded by darkness and has a great vision. His artwork suggest the cruelty and oppression in spain of his time. It could also be the real nightmares he has or because of how the enlightenment ideas are not in action in spain. The owl is foaly, and the bat is ignorance.
Describe the Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
What is most prominent here: the snowstorm. Color scheme between blues/browns/greens and white/yellow. He would use the impasto technique. He developed historical landscape. the narrative is reduced to a minimum.• first one to carry painting in a distraction where it almost becomes abstract • he treats paint as what it is - a medium- a paste that you apply onto a surface • he developeda genre that is called HISTORY LANDSCAPE PAiNTING • the narrative does not play a major role in this painting it is NATURE that plays the most important role
Describe the Snowstorm
It shows the mass execution of Spanish rebels that took place on May 3 1808 on a hill outside Madrid. The rebel dressed in white and yellow has the pose of Christ on the Cross. The latern could represent the light of reason, it is also exaggerated and could not relaitically lit up in the way it does in the image. Napoleon troops marched intro MAdrid and onquered SPain and his brother became king of Spain. The peoples uprising led to fighting on both sides and fighting lasted for six years. The background is pitch black with interestingly a church in the background- very close to this huge church building an execution is happening- if you are a faithful behavior you dontunderstand these events. The dark background in the V shape gives our gaze towards the center and also the triangular movement from the latern. Strongest direction is to follow the guns/rifles pointing at the victims from the right and eyes rest on the white well lit Christ figure. Records the civil war. Napoleons troop conquered Spain, the peoples uprising led to fighting, this image is Spanish rebels having a mass execution and it happened on May 3. Two opposing groups ( rebels are the disorganized whiel the firing squad who represent hwo mechanically this sad drop is being done). I think the light is used in a very irrational way, the latern would not light this figure in the way it does and the lighting is therefore exaggerated. The soldiers are lined up orderly in geometric shapes and they are not facing us aka anonymous. Whereas the victims, the rebels, are facing in a ¾ view, where the others are either looking away or dead on the ground. The brutality of the war is emphasized by confronting these two groups and by light/shade in the image. The background is pitched black and even a church in the back as well, which contradicts what is going on. Compositionally the dark background in this V shape is leading our gaze toward the central action. The strongest direction is created by the guns pointing to the victim. The central figure is well light and like a Christ figure. Realism can be seen in this image as the rioters in the painting are confronted with their impending deaths, which in turn reminded the viewer of his/her own mortlaity.
Describe the Third of May, 1808
The mood of the painting captures the sultry, clositered feeling of this sensual den. We can almost smell the aroma of the hookah and the flowers. The hues are as sensual as his subject. Delacroix epitomizes the Romantic style, with an emphasis on exotic locations and an undercurrent of tension in his work.
Describe the Women of Algiers
• We read the paintings differently when we look at both of them t the same time • Meditation on death - detah/eternity and the conflict of the two is a scene here
Describe the difference between the Abbey and the Monk
Turner represents the possibility of poetry in paintings where they are really hard to interperet the meaning because the narrative is so far in the background and plays a minor role and he is just seekin dramtic effects. Turners painting were more idealized, focusing on the sublime or infinite. Constable has a different approach and he is trying to keep to the motif a motif that is very personal and has a very scientific approach and insists on honesty and detail. His landscape paintings were more realistic views than the idealized classical landscapes of the neoclassical period. Constable tried to convey a scientific accuracy in which atmospheric effects were documented, while Turners landscapes were symbolic.
Difference between Constable and Turner
French: Delacroiz( realist/romantic,) Jean ( ronatic taste, idealist, revive the past and bring exotic things, neoclassical paintings, ralpheals things) Engsuh: Constable (romantic, passion you see it, subjective, and scientific, nature within ones personality , Turner ( sublime, infintity, poetyr, roantic notion, evoke feelings, German: Fredirch. ( contemplated death, panthestic view, theme of soul in union with nautural soul)
Discuss the varied ways in which French, English, and German nineteenth-century artists expressed Romantic attitudes through their landscape paintings. In your opinion, what accounts for these differences?
Turner: telling evoking emotions from a true event but the event isnt displayed accurately. Narrative isnt that important.
Historical landscapes
Ingres's trademark is a beautiful Classical line, which we can see as he focuses on the odalisque's flesh. Bathed in a caressing chiaroscuro, the body gently swells and recedes with delectable elegance. Its contours languidly undulate with sensuality, the sharply defined edges and tan color contrasting with the objects around it. The opulent color of the objects and the lush fabrics and peacock feathers enhance the sensual aura of the picture. Salon viewers noted the concubine's back had too many vertebrae, and certainly her elbowless right arm is too long; but as far as Ingres was concerned, the sweeping curves of both were essential components of the graceful composition, the line of the right arm even being continued into the folds of the drappery.
How is Ingres' Grande Odalisque (24.13) an example of Orientalism?
It was described after Claude Monets Impression, Sunrise. It meant that the artist did not attempt to disguise their brushstroke. It was the intersection of what artists saw and felt. They were not objective nor subjective. They were sensations, the impressionists subjective and personal responses to nature.
Impressionism
...
In what ways do Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix seemingly represent the opposing forces of early nineteenth-century French painting? What specific works by these artists exemplify their attitudes and artistic philosophies?
JADI was Grande odelsique and The protrait, and experssed orientalism . Idealized. Eugene: realism, romanticism.
In what ways do Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Eugène Delacroix seemingly represent the opposing forces of early nineteenth-century French painting? What specific works by these artists exemplify their attitudes and artistic philosophies?
Continued the tradition of Davids classical form combining the style with romantic themes. This merging of styles can be seen in his themes of odalisques and exotic locations as the subjects of his paintings such as his Grande Odalisque.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Was a British artisit who drew landscapes. He considred drawing landscapes scientific. His paintings were scientific and subjective.
John Constable
Aspired to rival great history painting and consequently invested his views with rich overlay of historical motif. Gave powerful visions to the sublime.
Jospeh Mallord William Turner
Seeing God's presence in nature. These landscapes were detailed, realistic scenes with metaphysical properties that give them an aura of divine presence. Cyclical themes, such as the times of the day or the four seasons.
Panthesitic
type of planographic or surface printing. It is distinguished from letterpress printing and from intaglio printing. It is used in commercial printing and the art process. Daumier would make litographs about the 19 centuy exhibitions in the Salon. He would satire them.
Lithography
His reign further increased the fervor of nationalism initiated by the French press, which proliferated in the opening decades of the century, provided the public with wondrous tales of valor and excitement that fed the Romantic imagination.
Napoleon
Means a female slave. Grande Odalisque: Represents a turkish cocubine and is one of the earliest examples of Orientalism.
Odalisque
Orientalism was a form of Academicism, or Academic painting (Rosenthal, 8), so called for its association with art salons and academies, and was therefore frequently displayed within public art spaces. It is most often associated with a style of paintings popular in the nineteenth century known for their depictions of "exotic" Middle Eastern subject.Paintings made in the Orientalist style were popular with Western artists and audiences during a time in which the Middle East was of interest to a Western world focused on relatively new travel opportunities, as well as colonialism and the expansion of Empire
Orientalism
Delacroix's painting "Death of Sardanapalus" was based on Lord Byron's 1821 unrhymed poem Sardanapalus. Sardanapalus, the last assyrian king, was overthrown by rebels because of his licentiouness and apathy. Too lethargic either to fight or flee, he committed suicide.
Sardanapalus
The German pro-romantic movement. Translated as "storm and stress". It was a rejection of the neoclassical norms. Advocated powerful emotions and extreme passion as an expression of the unique, creative individual, and it likewise called for a return to nature, a pre-civilization state.
Strum and Drang
Defined as obscurity, darkness, power, vastness, and infinity, anything that generated feelings of fright, terror, being overwhelmed, and awe. It produced "the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling."
Sublime
