The Enlightenment and its Legacy: Art of the Late 18th Through the mid-19th Century ("Enlightenment and Revolution: Head vs. Heart")

Figure 28-15; Mrs. Sheridan; by Gainsborough; English colorist; 1787; oil on canvas; Grand Manner Portrait; 7' 2 5/8" by 5' 5/8"

***PORTRAITURE REMAINED THE ONLY CONSTANT SOURCE OF INCOME FOR ENGLISH PAINTERS *He depicts subjects in unpretentious settings; he was first interested in landscape painting and derives his style from Ruisdael—although the upper class did not till the land, the painting conveys the Englishman's closeness to the land, which was a source of their national identity-> THIS ATTACHMENT TO NATURE BECAME THE BASIS FOR ENGLISH LANDSCAPE PAINTING *This painting includes a contrasting blend of "naturalistic" representation and Rococo setting *Informally dressed woman sits in Watteau-esque setting with its soft-hued light and feathery brushwork *Gainsborough intended to match the natural, unspoiled beauty of the landscape with the subject: her dark brown hair flows freely in the wind matching the tree foliage, and her clear "English" complexion and air of sincere sweetness contrast sharply with the contrived sophistication of continental Rococo portraits *Artist originally planned to include sheep for a more pastoral air, but he did not live long enough to paint them in; but still it showed his deep interest in the landscape setting, though he won greater fame for his portraits *This portrait is representative of what became known as Grand Manner portraiture, and he was recognized as one of the leading practitioners of this genre, which clearly depicted individualized people while also elevating the sitters by conveying refinement and elegance—communicated through conventions such as the large scale figures relative to the canvas, the controlled poses, the Arcadian setting, and the low horizon line *Thus he used naturalism tempered with a degree of artifice *Sitter was the professional singer and wife of a celebrated playwright *Shows new Enlightenment belief in goodness of nature

ENLIGHTENMENT Overview

*1763-1790 *A major factor in revolutions coming was the Enlightenment: a new method of thought based on reason, physical experience, and critical analysis of texts, grounded in empirical evidence; promoted the scientific method and questioning of all assertions and unfounded beliefs *England and France were major centers; roots were in work of Descartes, Pascal, Newton, and Locke and spread to U.S. to Jefferson and Franklin among others *Newton encouraged others to avoid metaphysics and the supernatural; Locke went further to say knowledge comes through the senses to be imprinted on a blank slate; our ideas are not innate or God-given *French philosophes believed ills of humanity could be solved by applying reason = the "doctrine of progress" that would lead to the perfectibility of mankind; saw powers of church and state as irrational limits on intellectual freedom *Wanted to democratize knowledge—created first encyclopedias (editor was Diderot) *Explosive consequences led to French, American, and Industrial Revolutions and the doctrine of Manifest Destiny (justification for territorial expansion) *Voltaire (best representative of Enlightenment) hated despotic rule of kings, selfish nobility and church, religious intolerance, and above all the ancient regime ("the old order")—authorities regularly burned his books; he did not intend a revolution *BELIEF: all human affairs ought to be ruled by reason and the common good rather than by tradition and established authority. This rationalist movement turned against the ornate and aristocratic Rococo

Figure 28-32; Drawing of view of Washington, showing Latrobe's Capitol, Washington D.C.; by Latrobe; Neoclassic; 1803-1807

*1852 drawing showing Latrobe's Capitol and Major L'Enfant's plan of the city, created in 1791 *Jefferson carried out his dream of developing a classical style for the official architecture of the United States; his Neoclassicism was an extension of the belief in the perfectibility of human beings and in the power of art to help achieve that perfection *Jefferson was Secretary of State to George Washington and supported the logically ordered city plan for Washington, D.C.; as president in 1803 he selected Latrobe to take over design of federal Capitol to show favorable comparisons with the republics of Greece and Rome—to that end Latrobe transformed the Roman eagle into the American bald eagle and devised a special new Corinthian order that replaced acanthus leaves with corn plants *Also designed the sculpture of Liberty without traditional trappings and instead with a liberty cap in one hand and the other hand on the Constitution *Greek Revivalism was not a flexible style to adapt to modern tasks *After the British gutted the Capitol in the War of 1812, Latrobe repaired the wings and designed a higher dome *The two wings were for House of Representatives and Senate

Figure 28-19; Basin of San Marco; by Canaletto; "Natural" in Italy; 1740; oil on canvas; Italian; vedute (view); vedutisti (painters of scenes); Grand Tour (idea of going all over Europe, considered educational); used camera obscura

*18th century public also sought "naturalness" in artists' depictions of landscapes; documentation of particular places became popular, due in part to growing travel opportunities and the expanding colonial imperative *These depictions also suited the needs of many scientific expeditions and satisfied the desires of tourists who wanted mementos of their journeys (the "Grand Tour" was considered part of every well-bred person's education) *The English were especially eager collectors of pictorial souvenirs, and certain artists in Venice specialized in painting vedute (views) of that city to sell to tourists *Sunny Venice scenes popular to look at back in gray England: here is a panoramic view of a cloud-studded sky, calm harbor, varied water traffic, pedestrians, and well-known Venetian landmarks all painted in scrupulous perspective and minute detail *His mastery of detail, light, and shadow made him one of the most popular "vedutisti" in Venice *Usually he made drawings "on location" to take back to his studio to use as sources for his paintings; he used a camera obscura (darkened chambers with optical lenses fitted into a hole in one wall through which light entered and projected an inverted image onto the opposite wall—ancestor of the modern camera *The camera obscura allowed artists (also Vermeer in 17th century) to create visually convincing paintings that included variable focus of objects at different distances; his paintings gave the impression of capturing every detail with no editing, but he actually used Renaissance perspective and selectivity about which details to include and exclude to create a coherent and engaging picture

Figure 28-56; Sierra Nevada; by Bierstadt; Romanticized; 1868; oil on canvas

*Albert Bierstadt traveled west in 1858 and produced many paintings depicting the Rocky Mountains, Yosemite Valley, and other sites in California *These such works present breathtaking scenery and natural beauty in awe-inspiring panoramic view (6' x 10' wide) *Deer and waterfowl appear at the edge of a placid lake, and steep and rugged mountains soar skyward on the left and in the distance; a stand of uncultivated trees frames the lake on the right *To impress on the viewer the almost transcendental nature of this scene, Bierstadt depicts the sun's rays breaking through the clouds overhead, which suggests a heavenly consecration of the land *His focus on the West reinforces Manifest Destiny *Such artworks muted growing concerns over the realities of conquest, the displacement of the Native Americans, and the exploitation of the environment; he was one of the landscape artists who allegorized nature to touch on spiritual, moral, historical, or philosophical issues *No surprise that people most eager to purchase Bierstadt's paintings were railroad builders, mail-service magnates, and other entrepreneurs involved in westward expansion

Figure 28-17; Death of General Wolfe; by Benjamin West; Neoclassic/history; 1771; American; oil on canvas; first picture of a martyred secular hero

*American artists also addressed the "death in battle of a young military hero" theme, familiar in art and literature since the ancient Greeks *Benjamin West was born in Pennsylvania but studied in Europe and lived in England; became president of the Royal Academy of Arts after Sir Joshua Reynolds *Here is the mortally wounded English commander just after his defeat of the French in the decisive battle of Quebec in 1759, which gave Canada to Great Britain *Chose a contemporary historical subject with contemporary military uniforms, though all uniform details are not accurate—shocked contemporary Neoclassicists who used ancient garb *Blended realism with grand tradition of history painting by arranging figures in a complex and theatrically ordered composition instead of under a tree with only 2 comrades as he actually died; also included a Native American at left to establish American setting, though this is also historically inaccurate since the Native Americans in this battle fought on the side of the French *Modern hero dies among grieving officers on the victorious field of battle, suggesting the death of a great saint—shows death in service of state as a martyrdom charged with religious emotions *His blend of tradition and modernism won fans in his day; influenced history painting into 19th century *THIS PICTURE WAS THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF A MARTYRED SECULAR HERO *West traveled to Rome from Pennsylvania in 1760 and caused a sensation because no recognized American painter had appeared yet in Europe—he relished the role of New World frontiersman: on being shown a famous Greek statue he said: "How like a Mohawk warrior!" He stopped in London on the "way home" but ended up staying and became the President of the Royal Academy while always taking pride in his New World background *This painting expresses a phenomenon basic to modern times: the shift of emotional allegiance from religion to nationalism—this picture had countless successors *European academics long considered history paintings the highest form of art, but British patrons tended to buy them from Italian artists *Lamentation-like scene further suggested by flag in place of cross

Figure 28-20; Cornelia Presenting Her Children as Her Treasures, or Mother of the Gracchi; by Kauffmann; Neoclassical Style; 1785; oil on canvas; exemplum virtutis (example or model of virtue); "good mother" subject

*Angelica Kauffmann was born in Switzerland, trained in Italy, and worked in England; student of Sir Joshua Reynolds and an interior decorator of many homes; also a founding member of the British Royal Academy of Arts in 1768 (after this, no other women were admitted until 1922, and then only as associates) *This is a kind of set piece of early Neoclassicism: its subject is an informative exemplum virtutis (example or model of virtue) drawn from Greek and Roman history and literature; Kauffman replaced the modern setting of the works of Hogarth and Grueze with ancient Roman garb, Roman interiors, and classicizing Roman attitudes *The theme of this painting is the virtue of Cornelia, mother of the future political leaders Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, who attempted to reform the Roman republic in the second century BCE *In this scene, a lady visitor had haughtily shown off her jewelry to Cornelia and requested to see hers; instead, Cornelia shows off her two sons as her jewels *Architectural setting is severely Roman, with simple composition and drawing; the only Rococo elements are in the soft lighting and figure arrangement and the tranquil manner *Unusual for a woman to be a history painter; most specialized in portraits or still lifes *Cornelia exemplified the "good mother," a popular subject among 18th century history painters who, in the reforming spirit of the Enlightenment, often depicted lessons of virtue in their paintings

Figure 28-24; Pantheon (Sainte-Geneviève); by Soufflot; Neoclassic; 1755-1792; in Paris, France; FIRST revelation of Roman grandeur in France; whole effect is Roman but structual principles involved are Gothic

*Architecture served as a vehicle for consolidating authority because of its public presence; early in 18th century, architects turned away from theatricality and ostentation of the Baroque and Rococo and embraced a streamlined classicism *Neoclassical portal of this Parisian church of Sainte-Geneviève is a testament to revived interest in Greek and Roman cultures, especially inspired by Roman ruins at Baalbek in Syria, reproduced with studied archaeological exactitude *This is the first revelation of Roman grandeur in France *Walls are blank except for a repeated garland motif near the top; colonnaded dome (neoclassical version of St. Peter's, St. Paul's, and the Church of the Invalides) stands above a Greek-cross plan *Was built originally as the Church of Sainte-Genevieve but was secularized during the French Revolution *The dome was derived from St. Paul's in London, indicating England's new importance for Continental architects *The huge portico was modeled directly on ancient Roman temples *An interior grid of freestanding Corinthian columns echoes the colonnade of the portico; the whole effect, inside and outside, is Roman, but the structural principles involved are Gothic *Soufflot was the first to suggest that Gothic engineering could be applied to modern buildings—laid foundation for 19th century admiration of Gothic engineering *French architects of the late 18th century considered classicism THE single, true style; the Baroque was associated rightly or wrongly with corrupt and scheming Roman Catholicism, while the Gothic conjured up the superstitions of the medieval period *Original Greek art was hard to see because the region was dominated at the time by the Ottoman Turks, but Roman art was close at hand *Nobel-prize winning chemist (1911) Marie Curie was 1st woman to be enshrined there when ashes were moved in 1995 *In 1851, church was used as a physics lab, where Foucault suspended his pendulum and proved earth rotates counter-clockwise

Figure 28-64; Still Life; by Daguerre; Daguerreotypes; 1837

*Artists themselves were instrumental in the development of this new technology, which could seemingly record reality, truth, and fact with astonishing speed and accuracy *The camera obscura with its enclosed chamber was used in the 18th century and then supplanted by the camera lucida (lighted room): a small prism lens, hung on a stand, was aimed downward at an object so that the lens projected the image onto a sheet of paper; artists using either of these processes found the labor long and arduous, no matter how accurate the resulting work—2 very different scientific inventions that captured the image more directly were announced almost simultaneously in France and England in 1839 *The first new discovery was the daguerreotype process, named for Louis Daguerre; the second (calotype process) is discussed later *Daguerre had trained as an architect and then a theatrical set painter and designer; he then opened with a friend a Diorama, which consisted of "living paintings" created by changing the lighting effects on a "sandwich" composed of a painted backdrop and several layers of painted translucent front curtains *Daguerre used a camera obscura for the Diorama but wanted a more efficient procedure *He worked with Joseph Nièpce, who in 1826 had made a permanent picture of the cityscape outside his window by exposing in a camera obscura a metal plate covered with light-sensitive coating, taking eight hours exposure time to record the subject * Nièpce died in 1833, but Daguerre continued on his own: he discovered latent development (using chemical solutions to bring out the image) and he discovered a better way to "fix" the image chemically by stopping the action of light on the photographic plate, which otherwise would have continued to darken until the image was no longer discernible *Soon people worldwide were taking pictures with the daguerreotype "camera" (name now shortened from camera obscura) in a new process called photography (from the Greek photos (light) and graphos (writing) *Each daguerreotype is a unique work, possessing amazing detail and finely graduated tones from black to white *like a skull and timepiece in a painting, Daguerre's sculptural and architectural fragments and the framed print of an embrace suggest that even art is vanitas and will not last forever *This Still Life in Studio was one of the first successful plates Daguerre produced after perfecting his method *The process captured every detail: the subtle forms, varied textures, and diverse tones of light and shadow in his carefully constructed tableau *The 3D forms of the sculptures, the basket, and the bits of cloth spring into high relief *The composition was inspired by 17th century Dutch vanitas still lifes *Unlike a painter, Daguerre could not alter anything within his arrangement to effect a stronger image; however, he could suggest a symbolic meaning through his choice of objects

REVIVALIST ARCHITECTURE AND PHOTOGRAPHY

*As 19th century scholars gathered the documentary materials of European history in extensive historiographic enterprises, each nation came to value its past as evidence of the validity of its ambitions and claims to greatness *Intellectuals appreciated the art of the remote past as a product of cultural and national genius *Modern nationalism thus prompted a new evaluation of the art in each country's past *RANGE OF STYLES IS GREATEST IN ARCHITECTURE RATHER THAN PAINTING *At the time architects launched the classical revival, they also started a Gothic revival (Romanticism trait) *ENGLAND was in the forefront in the Gothic revival, perhaps because Gothic forms never had completely disappeared

AMERICANS

*At first, Americans were too busy carving out homesteads to pay much attention to nature's changing moods *The wilderness was gradually tamed and seen as the escape from civilization that inspired European painters *Pantheism became virtually a national religion *Nature played a special role in determining American character

Figure 28-5; Cupid a Captive; by Boucher; Rococo; 1754; oil on canvas; LOVE; grisalle (love statues)

*Boucher rose to prominence after Watteau's early death; Boucher was painter for Madame de Pompadour, the influential mistress of Louis XV (she was an amateur artist and took printmaking lessons from Boucher); he was a portraitist as well *Fame rested mostly on his graceful allegories, with Arcadian shepherds, nymphs, and goddesses cavorting in shady glens engulfed in pink and blue light *Here is a rosy pyramid of infant (putti) and female flesh set off against a cool, leafy background; fluttering draperies both hide and reveal the nudity of the figures *Boucher used full range of Italian and French Baroque devices: crisscrossing diagonals, curvilinear forms, slanting recessions *But here he dissected powerful Baroque curves into a multiplicity of decorative arabesques, so that Baroque drama becomes sensual playfulness—his paintings became lively and lighthearted mirrors for his wealthy French patrons to behold the ornamental reflections of their pastimes *In contrast to Watteau's wistful fête gallants (party of the wealthy), Boucher creates a world of sensual pleasure with charming and frivolous Rococo touches *By 1720, even history painting became intimate in scale and delightfully ebullient in style and subject *He raised playful eroticism to the realm of the divine and had an unsurpassed understanding of the world of fantasy in people's lives -diagonals crisscross but are soft, not dramatic like the Baroque

Figure 28-62; Crystal Palace; by Paxton; iron and glass; 1850-1851

*Completely "undraped" construction first became popular in theconservatories (greenhouses) of English country estates; Joseph Paxton built several for his patron, the Duke of Devonshire, and in the largest (300 feet long) he used an experimental system of glass-and-metal roof construction *Encouraged by this success, he submitted a winning glass-and-iron building plan to the design competition for the hall to house the Great Exhibition at the World's Fair of 1851, organized to present "works of industry of all nations" in London *His building the Crystal Palace was built with prefabricated parts, allowing the vast structure to be erected in the unheard-of time of six months and then dismantled at the exhibition's closing to avoid permanent obstruction of the park *The plan borrowed much from ancient Roman and Christian basilicas, with a central flat-roofed "nave" and a barrel-vaulted crossing "transept" *The design provided ample interior space to contain displays of huge machines as well as decorative touches such as large working fountains and giant trees *The public admired the building so much that after it was dismantled, it was reerected on the outskirts of London, where it remained until fire destroyed it in 1936 *The iron-framed glass panes measured 49 by 30 inches, the largest that could then be mass-produced *The triple-tiered edifice was the largest space ever enclosed up to that time—1,851 feet long, covering more than 18 acres, and providing for almost a million square feet of exhibition space; the central vaulted transept rose 108 ft. to accommodate a row of elms dear to Prince Albert

Figure 28-54; Slave Ship; by Turner; English colorist; 1840; oil on canvas

*Constable's contemporary William Turner produced work that also responded to encroaching industrialization; however, where Constable's paintings are serene and precisely painted, Turner's are composed of turbulent swirls of pigment *His passion and energy reveal the Romantic spirit as well as the concept of the sublime: awe mixed with terror *The subject of this painting is an incident that occurred in 1783 and was recorded in a widely read book reprinted in 1839: The History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade by Thomas Clarkson; the incident involved the captain of a slave ship who, on realizing that his insurance company would only reimburse him for slaves lost at sea and not for those who died en route, ordered the sick and dying slaves thrown overboard *Turner's frenzied emotional depiction of this act matches its barbaric nature: the sun is transformed into an incandescent comet amid scarlet clouds *The slave ship moves into the distance leaving a wake of the bodies of slaves sinking to their deaths *The relative scale of the miniscule human forms compared to the vast sea and sky reinforces the sense of the sublime, especially the immense power of nature over humans *The event's particulars are almost overwhelmed by the colors, but the cruelty is evident on close inspection: iron shackles and manacles around the wrists and ankles of the drowning slaves prevented them any chance of saving themselves *Turner's interest in the slave trade indicates his fascination with the effects of the Industrial Revolution, revealing a more inquisitive attitude toward industrialization than Constable did *Constable called Turner's work "airy visions, painted with tinted steam" *Turner began as a watercolorist, preoccupied with colored light *He chose Romantic sites: mountains, seas, or sites linked with historic events *Was first titled: Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying—Typhoon Coming On *Turner released color from any defining outlines so as to express both the forces of nature and the painter's emotional response to them *Turner's methods had an incalculable effect on the development of modern art in his discovery of the aesthetic and emotive power of pure color and his pushing of the medium's fluidity to a point where the paint itself is almost the subject *Often included poetry with his paintings *Relation of typhoon? Nature's retribution for captain's cruelty? It has an apocalyptic quality about to engulf everything *Famous theorist John Ruskin owned the ptg and said it depicts "the true, the beautiful, the intellectual—qualities that raised him above other landscape painters"

Figure 28-18; Paul Revere; by Copley; American portraits; 1768-1770; American; oil on canvas

*Copley matured as a painter in the Massachusetts Bay Colony; like West he later emigrated to England and absorbed the fashionable English portrait style *But unlike Grand Manner portraiture, this conveys a sense of directness and faithfulness to visual fact that marked the American taste for "downrightness" and plainness *When portrait was painted while Copley was still in Boston, Paul Revere was not yet the familiar hero of the American Revolution; here he is working at his everyday profession of silversmithing *The setting is plain and the lighting clear and revealing *Subject sits in his shirtsleeves, bent over a teapot in progress; he pauses to look the observer straight in the eye *Artist treated the reflections in the polished wood of the tabletop with as much care as Revere's figure, his tools, and the teapot, which rests on the leather graver's pillow *Copley gave special prominence to the eyes by reflecting intense reddish light onto the darkened side of the face and hands *The spare style and down-to-earth character differentiate this American work from its British and continental counterparts=> The shipment of tea thrown overboard in the Boston Tea Party belonged to his merchant father-in-law Richard Clarke; reluctant to take sides, Copley sailed to England in June 1774 and never returned; his family joined him there *Copley was torn between his affluent pro-British in-laws and clients and his radical friends Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams

Figure 28-10; Coalbrookedale; by Darby III; First Iron Bridge; 1776-1779; English

*Darby built a bridge over the Severn River at Coalbrookedale in England—a town typical of the new industrial environment, with factories and workers' houses filling the valley—Darby ran his family's cast-iron business there *Bridge itself represents the first use of structural metal on a large scale, with iron replacing the heavy, hand-cut stone voussoirs used to construct earlier bridges *Five pairs of cast-iron, semicircular arches form a strong, economical 100-foot span—materials produce an unintended and revolutionary new aesthetic: the light, open, skeletal structure desired by builders since the 12th century—structure quickly adopted by builders, leading to Eiffel Tower, Crystal Palace, and soaring train stations *The style of the graceful center arc echoes the grand arches of Roman aqueducts (Fig. 10-31)

Figure 28-22; The Death of Marat; by David; Revolution; 1793; oil on canvas; shows Marat to the French people as a tragic martyr who died in service of their state

*David became part of the group called Jacobins, the radical and militant faction of the French Revolution; he accepted the role of minister of propaganda, organizing political pageants and ceremonies—realized that the emphasis on patriotism and civic virtue integral to classicism would prove effective in dramatic, instructive paintings *However, instead of continuing to create art that focused on scenes from antiquity, David began to portray scenes from the French Revolution itself—this is one of those works; it recorded an important event in the revolution and also provided inspiration and encouragement to the revolutionary forces *Jean-Paul Marat was a revolutionary radical, writer, and friend of David—tragically assassinated in 1793; David depicted him after he was stabbed to death in his medicinal bath by Charlotte Corday, a member of a rival political faction *David included several references to identify Marat: the makeshift writing surface, inscription on the writing stand, and the medicinal bath for Marat's skin disease where he conducted business—the desk becomes his tombstone *Scene presented with directness and clarity; cold neutral space above creates a chilling oppressiveness; narrative details such as the knife, the wound, the blood, and the letter the woman used to gain entrance sharpen the sense of pain and outrage and immediacy for viewer *The knife was changed to gilded to imply that royalty killed him *Based on historical events, but also shows David's familiarity with Caravaggio's Entombment and Michelangelo's Pietà; shows Marat to the French people as a tragic martyr who died in service of their state *Functions as an "altarpiece" to the new civic "religion"—designed to inspire viewers *This is David's greatest work; this picture was planned as a public memorial to the martyred hero *In this painting, classical art coincides with devotional image and historical account *Because David supported Robespierre and the Reign of Terror, he was twice imprisoned after its end, but later reemerged as a partisan of Napoleon and reestablished his career

GERIP Overview for Rococo

*Death of Louis XIV in 1715 brought many changes in France: the court of Versailles was abandoned for town life, and there was a resurgence in aristocratic social, political, and economic power. The centralized administrative machine ground to a stop. *The nobility was now freer of royal surveillance, and state-sponsored building activity was declining *New playfulness, pleasure, frivolity, sensuality, fantasy, pale, and pastel colors were a reaction against formality/seriousness of Louis XIV *Rococo marked by a profusion of curving tendrils and sprays of foliage blended with shell forms, giving the effect of freely growing nature *The field of "design for private living" took on a new importance as nobility moved to elegant town houses in Paris known as hotels; these city sites were usually cramped and irregular and had few opportunities for impressive exteriors *These small spaces in hotels demanded a less grandiloquent style than LeBrun's at Versailles—instead required an intimate style that promoted individual fancy over classicist dogma; French designers created the Rococo (or Louis XV style) from Italian gardens and interiors to fulfill this need. Architects became increasingly involved in the decoration of the rooms they designed, and designers and furniture makers were recognized as great artists in their own right *Rococo very evident in small works, such as furniture, utensils, small sculptures, accessories of all kinds (mirror frames, ceramics and silver, "easel" paintings, tapestries = elaborate costumes of satin and brocade, elegant etiquette and wit) *The sparkling gaiety associated with the reign of Louis XV found perfect harmony in Rococo, which began with interior design; French word rocaille means "pebble" and refers to small stones or shells used in decorating; the French exteriors were usually plain while exuberance took over the interior *Rococo was considered the long and lovely twilight at the end of the Baroque era, corresponded with the reign of Louis XV

Figure 28-47; Death of Sardanapalus; by Delacroix; Romantic; 1826; oil on canvas

*Delacroix's works were products of his view that the artist's powers of imagination would in turn capture and inflame the viewer's imagination *In those days, the artists read the poets, and the poets visited the artists *This example of pictorial grand drama was inspired by Lord Byron's 1821 narrative poem Sardanapalus, but the painting does not illustrate the text; instead, Delacroix depicted the last hour of the Assyrian king, who received news of his armies' defeat and the enemies' entry into his city, in a much more crowded setting than Byron described *Here, orgiastic destruction replaces the sacrificial suicide found in the poem *In the painting, the king watches gloomily from his funeral pyre, soon to be set alight while all his possessions—women, slaves, horses, and treasure—are to be destroyed in his sight *His favorite concubine throws herself on the bed, determined to die in flames with her master; most conspicuous are the tortured and dying bodies of the harem women, including the one whose neck is stabbed by a slave in the foreground *The suffering and death is heightened by the daring and difficult poses and by the rich intensities of hue—has exotic and erotic overtones that tap into the fantasies of both the artist and viewers *Delacroix was a Rubeniste of the first order *He and Ingres were rivals in the Parisian artistic scene for 25 years *Delacroix was the most important Romantic painter after the early death of Gericault; others commented on how furiously he worked, working on the whole painting at once

Figure 28-27; Chiswick House; by Boyle (earl of Burlington); Neoclassic English; begun 1725; near London, England; political motivation was important; garden shows Enlightenment emphasis on the natural

*England was considered the birthplace of Neoclassicism in architecture, experienced a Palladian (Renaissance) revival in the 1720's *Classicism's rationality, morality, and integrity as well as its connection to political systems of Athenian democracy and Roman imperial rule appealed to parliamentary England along with revolutionary and imperial France *The complexity and opulence of Baroque art was associated with the showy rule of absolute monarchy, played down in England in favor of clarity and simplicity *Chiswick House is a free variation on the theme of Palladio's Villa Rotunda (Fig. 22-56) *It is compact, simple, and geometric—the antithesis of Baroque pomp *Exterior design provides a clear alternative to the colorful splendors of Versailles: simple symmetry, unadorned planes, right angles, and stiff proportions—looks very classical and "rational" *POLITICAL MOTIVATION WAS IMPORTANT: instead of merely reasserting the superior authority of the ancients, it satisfied reason and was considered more "natural" than the Baroque which was identified with TORY policies by the WHIG opposition-> began an association between Neoclassicism and liberal politics that continued through the French Revolution *Garden includes winding paths, a lake with a cascade, irregular plantings of shrubs, etc. that imitated natural rural landscape *The effect on interior is modified by irregularly shaped informal gardens; the interior design creates a luxurious Late Baroque foil to the stern exterior—style became the well-known English garden due to Enlightenment emphasis on the natural

Figure 28-41; Sleep of Reason; by Goya; Dark romanticism; 1798; etching and aquatint

*Etching and aquatint; Goya was David's contemporary but diametrically opposed in style *Full title is The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters; it shows Goya himself asleep, slumped on a writing table or desk, while threatening creatures converge on him *Seemingly poised to attack him are owls (symbols of folly) and bats (symbols of ignorance); shows the Romantic spirit in the unleashing of imagination, emotions, and even nightmares *This is part of a folio of 80 etchings produced between 1796 and 1798 called Los Caprichos (The Caprices) *Sleep here is personified as Reason (the Goya figure), and the creatures are what are let loose when Reason sleeps—this shows the interpretation of Enlightenment beliefs that Goya first embraced during the French Revolution *The disturbing quality of his portrayal of human folly suggests he was already beginning to feel the despair that would dominate his later work *Goya was David's contemporary and the only artist of the age who may reservedly be called a genius (Spain had produced no painters of significance for over a century) *He surely sympathized with the French Revolution, not with the king of Spain who had joined other monarchs in war against the French Republic *YET, he was esteemed at the Spanish court, appointed painter to the king in 1799 *He abandoned Rococo for the Neo-Baroque style based on Velazquez and Rembrandt, leading to the arrival of Romanticism

Figure 28-6; The Swing; by Fragonard; Rococo intrigue (mystery- the girl and the bishop don't know); 1766; oil on canvas

*Fragonard was Boucher's student, and his skill as a colorist almost surpassed his master's *This is a typical "intrigue" picture: a young gentleman has managed an arrangement whereby an unsuspecting old bishop swings the young man's pretty sweetheart higher and higher, while her lover (and the work's patron), in the lower left corner, stretches out to admire her ardently from a strategic position on the ground *The young lady boldly and flirtatiously kicks off her shoe at the statue of Cupid, who holds a finger to his lips *The landscape setting is out of Watteau, a luxuriant perfumed bower in a park that resembles a stage scene for a comic opera *The sensuality of the theme is also conveyed by the soft light and pastel colors *He produced 14 canvases commissioned by Madame du Barry, Louis XV's last mistress, to decorate her chateau *His rapid brushwork distinguishes his technique; he lived 35 more years, long enough to see Rococo lose its relevance in the newly complicated world of revolutionary France

ENGLISH PAINTING

*Fullest expression was achieved in landscape, not narrative *19th Century had two ways of looking at landscape: --idyllic, aesthetic, picturesque AND --awe-inducing, grandiose

Figure 28-14; Breakfast Scene; by Hogarth; English Satire; 1745; oil on canvas; satire (way of showing people's faults through humor)

*Hogarth expressed newly prosperous and confident middle class in England; satirized contemporary life with comic zest and only a bit of Rococo "indecency" *Established a truly English style of painting; waged a campaign against dependence/inferiority on continental artists: translated satire of writers such as Henry Fielding (Tom Jones) into visual art ***PROBABLY THE FIRST KNOWN ARTIST IN HISTORY TO BECOME A SOCIAL CRITIC IN HIS OWN RIGHT*** *Combines some of Watteau's sparkle; he was an early engraver *His work is so original as to be without precedent; his pictures (and the prints made from them for popular sale) came in sets with details in each scene to unify the sequence; they are set on a "stage" and he wished to be judged as a dramatist *His "morality plays" teach solid middle-class virtues by horrid example; we're entertained so well that we enjoy the sermon without being overwhelmed by the message *His favorite device was to make a series of narrative paintings, in a sequence like chapters in a book, that followed a group of characters in their encounters with some social evil, as in this scene from Marriage á la Mode *This is one of six scenes that satirize the immoralities practiced in a marriage by the moneyed classes in England *Here the marriage of a young viscount is beginning to founder—the morning after a night spent in separate pursuits; the clock on the far right shows that it's afternoon *He has hands thrust deep into empty pockets, and dog sniffs at lacy woman's cap protruding from his pocket *The wife probably also had an affair and is signaling to someone with her pocket mirror while stretching, satisfied; the overturned chair shows that the lover left suddenly *A steward with hands full of bills raises his eyes to heaven in despair -The man has a black spot on his neck which was a symptom of syphilis *The couple's palatial house also contains witty clues about their dubious taste: Pious paintings of saints in other room hang next to a curtained one that covers an erotic subject *So popular that forgers made unauthorized versions as fast as he made originals *Hogarth proceeded as a novelist might, with witty clues in the details whose discovery heightens the comedy *Increased democratization of art and widespread new printing technology made copies feasible

Figure 28-13; Self-Portrait; by Vigee-Lebrun; Nature; 1790; oil on canvas; French

*Important thinker Rousseau believed that the arts, sciences, society, and civilization in general had corrupted "natural man" and that humanity's only salvation lay in a return to the "innocence, ignorance, and happiness" of its original condition; he believed human capacity for feeling, sensibility and emotions came prior to reason—"nature alone must be our guide," and "all our inclinations are right"; Rousseau exalted the peasant's simple life and emotions *Believed man by nature is good and he is depraved and perverted by society; rejected the idea of progress; Rousseau's ideas were largely responsible for the turning away from the Rococo artificial sensibility and toward a taste for the "natural" *In this new mode, Vigee-Lebrun looks directly at viewers and pauses in her work to return their gaze; her lighthearted mood and costume's details echo curves of Rococo art, but her pose/mood do not indicate Rococo frivolity *She is a self-confident woman who has won her independent role in society; worked for the nobility throughout Europe *She was famous for the force and grace of her portraits, especially those of highborn ladies and royalty—she was one of the few women admitted to the Royal Academy (her membership in the Academy was revoked after the French Revolution because women were no longer accepted); she fled to Russia during the French Revolution *Here she works on one of her most famous portraits, that of Marie Antoinette *Her figures are like real-life counterparts to poetic creatures in Watteau's Pilgrimage to Cythera *In comparison to Fragonard and others, she showed women as strong, monumental

Figure 28-43; Third of May; by Goya; Spanish politics; 1814-1815

*In 1786 he was appointed Pintor del Rey (Painter to the King) in Spain *But turmoil increased as the Spanish people began to support Ferdinand VII as opposed to his parents, Charles IV and Maria Luisa, in hopes that he would initiate reform; to overthrow his father and mother Ferdinand enlisted the support of Napoleon Bonaparte, who had designs on the Spanish throne and thus willingly sent French troops to Spain. Unsurprisingly, once Charles IV and Maria Luisa were ousted, Napoleon revealed his plan to rule Spain himself by installing his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne *The Spanish people, finally recognizing the French as invaders, sought a way to expel the foreign troops; on May 2, 1808, the Spanish attacked the French soldiers and in retaliation the French executed numerous Spanish citizens on the next day *This is an emotional depiction of the murderous wall of French soldiers ruthlessly executing the unarmed and terrified Spanish peasants *The Spanish have horrified expressions and anguish on their faces, giving them a humanity absent from the firing squad *The peasant about to be shot throws his arms out in a Christlike gesture *Goya enhanced emotion with the stark use of lights and darks and also used imagery to extend the time frame, showing others already dead at his feet and others lined up to be shot *This was painted for Ferdinand VII who had been restored to the throne after the ouster of the French; he did not install more democratic reforms but imitated his father with an authoritarian monarchy and reinstatement of the Inquisition *When Napoleon's armies occupied Spain in 1808, Goya and other citizens hoped they would bring badly needed liberal reforms, but the barbaric behavior of the French troops soon crushed these hopes *Lighting here is emphatically Neo-Baroque, with all the intensity of religious art *The image was repeated in countless scenes in modern history; the painting became a symbol of our era *When asked why he painted such a brutal scene, Goya responded: "To warn men never to do it again." *But Goya himself was called before the Inquisition in 1815 for the alleged obscenity of an earlier painting of a female nude; though found innocent, he gave up hope in human progress and retired to his home outside Madrid, where he vented his disillusionment in a series of "black paintings" on the walls of his home

Figure 28-45; Raft of Medusa; by Gericault; Romantic colorist; 1818-1819; oil on canvas

*In France, Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix were the artists most closely associated with the Romantic movement; although Gericault retained an interest in the epic and heroic and was trained in classical drawing, he chafed at the rigidity of the Neoclassical style and produced works with drama, visual complexity, and emotional force *This was his most ambitious project: 16 x 23'—a depiction of an actual historical event, a shipwreck that took place in 1816 off the African coast; the French frigate Medusa ran aground on a reef due to the incompetence of the captain, an aristocratic political appointee. As a last-ditch effort to survive, 150 of those remaining built a makeshift raft from the disintegrating ship. The raft drifted 12 days and the number of survivors dwindled to 15 who survived on human flesh in the last days *The painting became political dynamite once it became public knowledge *The painting took him 8 months to complete; he conveyed the horror, chaos, and emotion of the tragedy while invoking the grandeur and impact of large-scale history painting *The few survivors flag down the passing ship on the horizon *Gericault departed from straightforward Neoclassical composition to include a jumble of writhing bodies; survivors and bodies are piled in every attitude of suffering, despair, and death *One light-filled diagonal axis reaches from lower left to upper right man with flag; the cross axis extends from the clouds and sail on upper left to the shadowed upper torso of the body trailing in the open sea *The raft at a diagonal extends into the viewer's space with the jutting corner *Subdued palette and prominent shadows lend an ominous pall to the scene *Striking because it has no mythological or recognizable hero, only anonymous sufferers *Despite the theatricality and Romantic spirit, Gericault went to great lengths to ensure accuracy: visited hospitals and morgues to examine corpses, interviewed the survivors, and had a model of the raft constructed in his studio as well as corpses to create an authentic mood *Artist also inserted a comment on slavery: he was an abolitionist and placed Jean Charles, a black soldier and one of the few survivors, at the top of the pyramidal heap of bodies, showing metaphorically that freedom for all humanity will only occur when the most oppressed member of society is emancipated *Bodies are muscular and ennobled rather than emaciated, exhausted, and close to death

Figure 28-58; House of Parliament; by Barry; Revivalist (gothic); 1835; London, England

*In London, when the old Houses of Parliament burned in 1834 in the fire memorably painted by Turner, the Parliamentary Commission decreed that designs for the new building be either Gothic or Elizabethan to coordinate with nearby Westminster Abbey from the 13th century *Charles Barry and A.W.N. Pugin submitted the winning design *By this time, style had become a matter of selection from the historical past; Barry had traveled widely in Europe, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Palestine to study architecture; he preferred classical Renaissance styles, but Pugin persuaded him to design English Late Gothic—Pugin was one of the English artists and critics who saw moral purity and spiritual authenticity in the religious architecture of the Middle Ages and the artisans who created it *The Industrial Revolution was flooding the market with cheaply made and illdesigned commodities, and machine work was replacing handicraft, and many such as Pugin believed in the necessity of restoring the old artisanship *This design is not purely Gothic, despite its tower groupings (Big Ben clock tower at one end; Victoria Tower at the other) *The building has a formal axial plan beneath its Tudor detail (early 16th century domestic architecture characterized by expansive living spaces with oak paneling and ornamented walls and ceilings) *Barry and Pugin: after 1800, the choice between classical and Gothic most often ended up GOTHIC->largely due to nationalist sentiments. In fact, England, France, and Germany each claimed the origin of the Gothic style) *Some people believed Gothic was superior for religious reasons because it was Christian ***House of Parliament was the largest monument of the Gothic Revival *It is a curious mixture: repetitious symmetry for main body of building and irregularity of silhouette *Many Germans considered the Gothic style an expression of THEIR national genius, including Karl Schinkel who designed the Altes Museum in Berlin; but meanwhile the British claimed the Gothic as part of THEIR patrimony and erected a plethora of Gothic revival buildings in the 19th cent

Figure 28-55; The Oxbow; by Cole; American; 1836; oil on canvas

*In the middle ground between Turner (favoring imagination and feeling) and Constable (favoring down-to-earth sensation) is Cole *He emigrated from England to the U.S. at 17 and by 1820 was working as an itinerant portrait painter *On trips around New York, he sketched and painted the landscape, which became his chief interest, and his paintings launched what became known as the Hudson River School. *He painted this work for exhibition at the National Academy of Design in New York; he believed that a too-close focus on factual accuracy was murderous to art, so he made paintings months after his sketches were complete, the better for memory to "draw a veil" over the scene *Although most of his "view" paintings were small, this one is monumental, suiting the dramatic view from the top of Mount Holyoke in western Massachusetts across an oxbow-shaped bend in the Connecticut River *To Cole, this was one of America's "antiquities"—based in fact but orchestrated to convey its grandeur: he exaggerated the steepness of the mountain and created a dramatic sky *Cole contrasts the two sides of the American landscape: its dense, stormy wilderness and its congenial, pastoral valleys; the fading storm suggests that the wild will give way to the civilized *Cole founded the Hudson River School from 1825-1876 (Centennial Celebration) *American painters invested forests and mountains with power to be symbolic of U.S. *The miniscule artist in the bottom center of the painting (wearing a top hat), dwarfed by the landscape's scale, turns to the viewer as if to ask for input in deciding the country's future course *Cole appealed to the public with his depictions of expansive wilderness incorporating Romantic moods and reflections

Figure 28-31; Monticello; by Jefferson; American; 1770-1806; Charlottesville, United States; Monticello is Italian for "little mountain"

*In the new American republic, Thomas Jefferson spearheaded a movement to adopt Neoclassicism (a style he saw as representative of U.S. democratic qualities) as the national architecture *As a scholar, economist, educational theorist, statesman, and amateur architect, he designed this for his own home; he read Palladio's Four Books of Architecture and studied French 18th century classical architecture and city planning *He first designed Monticello in an English Georgian style but remodeled it after his trip to Europe—the final version is reminiscent of Villa Rotunda and Chiswick House but its materials are local wood and brick used in Virginia *Professional architects did not exist in colonial America; instead, gentleman-architects adapted or copied outright published works in books *Palladianism spread overseas to the American colonies, where it became known as the GEORGIAN STYLE after the English King George *Instead of using the Corinthian order, Jefferson chose the Roman Doric order, a variation of the Greek Doric, but columns are more slender and rest on a base *Later, others favored the more austere, heavier Greek Doric *Monticello is Italian for "little mountain"—Jefferson built his home on a mountaintop near Charlottesville, Virginia

ROMANTICISM

*Jean-Jacques Rousseau's ideas contributed to the rise of Romanticism and stated, "Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains!" *Romanticism emerged from a desire for freedom of thought, feeling, action, worship, speech, taste, and all other freedoms—the right and property of one and all *Romantics believed that the path to freedom was through imagination rather than reason and functioned through feeling rather than thinking, a shift from calculation to intuition—new interest in the medieval period and in the sublime (the feeling of awe mixed with terror) along with the taste for the fantastic, the occult, and the macabre—for the adventures of the soul voyaging into the dangerous reaches of consciousness *Painting was most dominant because it was less expensive and less dependent than sculpture and architecture on public approval *Painting also best accommodated the themes and ideas of Romantic literature, which was an important source of inspiration *In turn, Romantic poets often saw nature with a painter's eye

Figure 28-25; La Madeleine; by Vignon; Neoclassic; 1807-1842; in Paris, France

*La Madeleine was briefly intended as a "temple of glory" for Napoleon's armies and as a monument to the newly won glories of France *It was begun as a church in 1807, three years after Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor and reverted again to a church after his defeat, before it was completed in 1842 *This grandiose temple includes a high podium and broad flight of stairs leading to a deep porch in front; these features, along with the Corinthian columns, recall Roman imperial temples such as Maison Carrée, making La Madeleine a symbolic link between Napoleonic and Roman empires *The building's classical shell surrounds an interior covered by a sequence of 3 domes, a feature found in Byzantine and Romanesque churches

Figure 28-53; The Haywain; by Constable; English landscape; 1821; oil on canvas

*Landscape painting came into its own in the 19th century as a fully independent and respected genre, contributed to by the popularity of tourism and the expanding railway system, after it was briefly eclipsed at the century's beginning by figural composition and history painting *The sensitive Romantic translated landscape vistas, colored by the viewer's mood, into poetry or painting, often using nature as allegory to comment on spiritual, moral, historical, or philosophical issues *The Industrial Revolution completely changed urban centers, technological advances, and factory development, but its effect on the countryside is no less severe: detrimental effect on agrarian product prices and displaced farmers who could no longer afford their small land plots *Constable, the son of a successful miller, declared that the landscape of his youth made him a painter even before he picked up a brush; influenced by 17th century Dutch landscapists; so convinced that artists should study nature afresh that he opposed the establishment of the English National Gallery of Art in 1832, thinking it might unduly distract painters *Here he pictured a placid, picturesque scene of the countryside: small cottage on left, man leads a horse and wagon across a stream in the center foreground *Scene's tranquility is augmented by the muted greens and golds and by the delicacy of Constable's brush strokes; also the figures are not observers but participants in the landscape's being *The picture does not show the civil unrest of the agrarian working class and the outbreaks of violence and arson that resulted; instead it shows Constable's memories of a disappearing rural pastoralism *Constable admired both Ruisdael and Claude Lorrain, but opposed all flights of fancy *He believed in observable facts, a pure appreciation of natural effect *All his works showed familiar views of the English countryside *Constable made countless studies from nature for each canvas, studying it as a meteorologist, which he was by avocation *His special gift was capturing the texture that the atmosphere (climate and weather) gave to landscape; he used tiny dabs of local color, stippled with white to create a vibration suggesting movement *Rarely does he show workers engaged in tedious labor; this nostalgia renders Constable's works Romantic in tone *Haywain: both earth and sky have become "organs of sentiment" informed with poetic sensibility, also an intimacy that reveals his deep love of the countryside; we see the scene through his eyes (ROMANTIC = new, personal style)

NEOCLASSICISM Overview

*Late 18th c: renewed interest in classical antiquity, sparked by the Grand Tour; Neoclassicism was a movement that incorporated the subjects and style of ancient art—encompassed painting, sculpture, architecture, and fashion and home décor *Enlightenment's emphasis on rationality in part fueled this focus: geometric harmony of classical art and architecture seemed to embody Enlightenment ideals, and classical cultures represented the height of civilized society: traditions of liberty, civic virtue, morality, and sacrifice served as models during a period of great political upheaval, so Neoclassicism was especially appealing during the French and American Revolutions, further whetted by excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii *Scholarly attention focused on classical antiquity, including Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (ca. 1776) and the first modern art historian's History of Ancient Art (Winckelmann, 1764) which praised Greek art as the ideal

Figure 28-21; Oath of Horatii; by David; Neoclassic theme; 1784; oil on canvas; was commissioned by Count d'Angiviller (French monarchy) but ironically, became an emblem of the French Revolution

*Lingering echoes of Rococo disappeared in the work of David, the Neoclassic painter-ideologist of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic empire—the revolt prompted in part by the Enlightenment idea of a participatory and knowledgeable citizenry—French liberty and equality. *David rebelled against the "artificial taste" of the Rococo and exalted classical art as the imitation of nature in her most beautiful and perfect form; he also concurred with the Enlightenment belief that subject matter should have a moral *This painting depicts a story from pre-Republican Rome, the heroic phase of Roman history; the story of conflict between love and patriotism was familiar to David's viewing public, due to a play performed in Paris a few years earlier *The story: leaders of warring cities of Rome and Alba sent 3 representatives from each side to resolve their conflicts, the Horatius brothers from Rome vs. the Curatius brothers from Alba; the women were the sisters of both families who had married brothers from the other families *Here the Horatii swear on their swords to win or die for Rome, oblivious to the suffering of their female relatives *The scene is depicted in a shallow, stage-like setting, defined by a severely simple architectural framework; the carefully modeled figures are close to the foreground, like in ancient relief sculpture *The rigid, angular, virile forms of the men on the left contrast with the soft curvilinear shapes of the distraught women on the right, visually pitting the Enlightenment virtues of courage, patriotism, and loyalty to a cause against the emotions of love, sorrow, and despair *Although not intended as a revolutionary statement (commissioned by royal patronage), this painting became the semiofficial voice of the revolution: a program for arousing his audience to patriotic zeal *The work reflects the tastes and values of Louis XVI and his minister of the arts, Count d'Angiviller, who both believed that art should improve public morals *Count d'Angiviller banned nudity from the Salon of 1775 and commissioned a series of didactic history paintings, including this one *This painting's becoming an emblem of the French Revolution was ironic since that movement led to the downfall of the monarchy that had commissioned the work

Figure 28-50; La Marseillaise; by Rude; Romantic; 1833-1836

*Many sculptors of this time produced works that combined both Neoclassical and Romantic elements; this colossal group is mounted on one face of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris *This is a carving of an allegory of the national glories of revolutionary France, depicting the volunteers of 1792 departing to defend the nation's borders against the foreign enemies of the revolution, the Prussian invasion of 1792-93 *The Roman goddess of war, Bellona (who here personifies liberty as well as the revolutionary hymn, now France's national anthem which is also the title of the work La Marseillaise), soars above patriots of all ages, exhorting them forward with her battle cry *The figures recall David's armored figures in Oath of the Horatii, as do the rhetorical gestures of the wide-flung arms and the striding poses *Rude's father had been among these volunteers *Yet the violence of motion, the jagged contours, and the densely packed, overlapping masses relate more to the compositional method of dramatic Romanticism, as found in Gericault and Delacroix *The allegorical figure in La Mareseillaise is the spiritual sister of Delacroix's Liberty, but these figures wear classical costume while those in Delacroix wear modern Parisian costumes *Rude enthusiastically took Napoleon's side after emperor's return from exile *He sought refuge from Bourbon Rule *Knew and revered David *Returned to Paris looking for a new sculptural tradition—a rediscovery of a national sculptural tradition that was like historical portraits and "morally elevating for the public" *This sculptural program had to offer something for every segment of the French political spectrum

Figure 28-3; L'indifferent; by Watteau (Rubeniste); Rococo color; 1716; oil on canvas

*Painter most associated with Rococo is Watteau (contrast with Rigaud's portrait of Louis XIV) *Watteau's painting here is more delicate, not as heavy or staid; shows a languid, gliding dancer whose mincing minuet might be seen as mocking if it were hung next to Rigaud's portrait *Unlike the architecture, curtains, and ermine in the Rigaud, this background is a rainbow shimmer of color, emerging onto the stage of an intimate comic opera *Patronage also reflected: in Rigaud's time (French Baroque) royal patrons dominated, but in time of Louis XV (Rococo), patrons were from the wider aristocracy and high society *Around 1700, the members of the Royal Academy formed two warring factions: Poussinistes, who favored drawing over color because drawing appealed to the mind VS. Rubenistes, who advocated color over drawing as truer to nature—the greatest Rubeniste was Watteau, who elevated human love to the level of mythology *His pictures violated all academic canons; his subjects did not conform to established categories

DEVELOPMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHY

*Response to urge of Romanticism to develop the "true" and "natural"—followed the vogue for silhouette portraits *The 18th century was too devoted to fantasy to be interested in the literalness of photography (Rococo, etc. were interested in FLATTERING images) *Since anyone could have a portrait made cheaply and easily, photography became an outgrowth of the democratic values of the American and French Revolutions!! *Keen competition among photographers existed to get famous people to pose for portraits

Figure 28-9; A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery; by Derby; "Natural" England; 1763- 1765; oil on canvas; orrery

*Scientific investigation and technological invention opened up new possibilities for understanding the world; research into electricity and combustion as well as the discovery of oxygen and steam had enormous consequences: steam power in 1740's replaced human labor => Industrial Revolution *For the first time in history, societies were capable of producing a seemingly limitless supply of goods and services; steel, coal, iron, oil, steam, and electricity changed the world and led to new architecture and photography in the arts *Fascination of ordinary people for new mechanical explanations of wonders of the universe depicted here *Joseph Wright of Derby specialized in the drama of moonlit and candlelit scenes *Here a scholar uses a device called an orrery to demonstrate the theory that the universe operates like a gigantic clockwork mechanism *Light from lamp (which represents sun) pours in to create dramatic light and shadows; awed children crowd close to metal orbits of planets *Earnest listener makes notes; all viewers caught up in wonders of science *An ordinary lecture takes on the qualities of a grand "history painting" *Composition visually reinforces the orrery with an orbital design *His realism appealed to the great industrialists of the day *Dramatic lighting is derived from Caravaggio's religious paintings *Here applied to a secular subject suggests that science brings light into a world of darkness and ignorance

Figure 28-63; Draped Model; by Durieu and Delacroix; photography; 1854

*The camera invented mid-century was a technological device of immense consequence for the modern experience; people have come to assume that a very close correlation exists between the photographic image and the fragment of the visual world it represents, with its authority echoed in driver's license and passport photos and in security cameras *The relative ease of the process was a dream come true for scientists and artists, who for centuries had grappled with less satisfying methods of capturing accurate images of their subjects *Photography was also perfectly suited to an age that saw artistic patronage shift away from the elite few to a broader base of support *Artists were interested in how photography translated 3D objects into a 2D surface and welcomed photography as an auxiliary to painting; other artists, however, saw photography as capable of displacing the painstaking work of skilled painters dedicated to representing the optical truth of their chosen subjects; also some photographers looked to painters for ways to imbue the photographic image with qualities beyond simple reproduction *This collaborative effort between Delacroix and the photographer Eugéne Durieu demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between painters and photographers *Although Delacroix produced in this work a permanent image of the posed female nude model, photographers also attempted to create a mood through careful lighting and draping of cloth *Albumen print

Figure 28-61; Bibliotheque; by Labrouste; Iron in architecture; 1843-1850; Paris, France

*The epoch-making designs were more rational, pragmatic, and functional than the historical designs; toward the end of the 19th century, architects gradually abandoned sentimental and Romantic designs from the historical past (including the Baroque-inspired Beaux Arts style)—they turned to honest expressions of a building's purpose *Since the 18th century, bridges had been built of cast iron as well as most other utility architecture (factories, warehouses, dockyards, mills, etc.), built without ornamentation; iron and other industrial materials permitted engineering advancements in larger, stronger, and more fire-resistant structures than before, esp. the tensile strength of steel, available after 1860 *This library shows an interesting modification of a revived style—here the Renaissance—to accommodate the skeletal cast-iron elements *The row of arched windows in the façade recalls Renaissance buildings; the division of stories marks the stacks below and the reading rooms above, which is comprised of two barrel-vaulted halls, roofed in terracotta and separated by a row of slender cast-iron columns on concrete pedestals *The Corinthian columns support the iron roof arches (a reminder that modern construction technology rests on the accomplishments of the Romans), which are pierced with intricate vine-scroll ornamentation from the Renaissance style *Architects continued to scoff at "engineers' architecture" for many years and clothed their steel-and-concrete structures in the Romantic "drapery" of a historical style *Because of the building's educational function, Labrouste wanted the building to suggest both learning and technololgy *The window arches on the exterior have panels with the names of 810 important contributors to western thought, arranged chronologically

Figure 28-37; Grande Odalisque; by Ingres; Romantic; 1814; oil on canvas; odalisque (a member of a Turkish harem; Turkish for "harem woman")

*The mantle of David passed to Ingres, his pupil *Ingres was too young to share in the political passions of the French Revolution *Studied with David but broke away from him on matters of style: Ingres adopted what he believed to be a truer and purer Greek style, using flat and linear forms found in Greek vase painting; in many of his works, the figure is placed in the foreground, much like a piece of low-relief sculpture—most admired painter was Raphael *This work goes back to Titian and Giorgione and borrows Raphael's type of female head *But not all Neoclassical: her languid pose, small head/elongated body, and cool color scheme show debt to Mannerists such as Parmigiano *By converting the figure to an odalisque (a member of a Turkish harem), he made a strong concession to the contemporary Romantic taste for the exotic *The painting was severely criticized for departing from the official style of Neoclassicism until Delacroix came along and deviated even more *Eventually Ingres was seen as preserver of true and good art and the taste for the ideal *"Odalisque" is from a Turkish word for "harem woman" *The exotic subject is from Thousand and One Nights *Despite his professed worship of Raphael, this nude has no classical proportions of beauty and reminds us more of Parmianino *Her gaze is directly at master but her turned pose makes her both erotic and aloof *She is anatomically incorrect: extra vertebrae in elongated back, widened hip, too-small feet

Figure 28-66; Photo of Delacroix; by Nadar; Photo portrait; 1855

*The second major photographic invention was unveiled less than 3 weeks later in London, an ancestor of the modern negative-print system *William Henry Fox Talbot presented a paper on his "photogenic drawings": he made "negative" images by placing objects on sensitized paper and exposing the arrangement to light, creating a design of light-colored silhouettes recording the places where opaque or translucent objects had blocked light from darkening the paper's emulsion *In his next experiments, he exposed sensitized papers inside simple cameras and with a second sheet created "positive" images; he further improved the process with more lightsensitive chemicals and a chemical development of the negative image, allowing for multiple prints *However, his process he named the calotype (after the Greek kalos, meaning "beautiful") was limited by the fact that his images incorporated the texture of the paper, which produced a slightly blurred, grainy effect very different from the crisp detail and wide tonal range of the daguerreotype *Widespread adoption of the calotype process was prevented by licensing and equipment fees charged after Talbot patented the process in 1841 *Portraiture was one of the first photography genres to use a technology that improved the calotype; the greatest of the early portrait photographers was Nadar, who also was a novelist, journalist, balloonist, caricaturist, and later photographer *So talented was he at capturing the essence of his subjects that the most important people in France, including Delacroix, Daumier, Courbet, and Manet flocked to his studio to have their portraits made *His skill is evident here in the portrait of Delacroix at the height of his painting career: the artist appears with remarkable presence, with a mood and gesture that reveal much about him *This new "wet plate" technology almost at once replaced both the daguerreotype and the calotype and became the universal way of making negatives up to 1880; the drawbacks were that the plates had to be prepared and processed on the spot—meaning to work outdoors meant taking along a dark room of some sort (a wagon, tent, or box with lighttight sleeves for the photographer's arms) *Nadar took the first aerial photographs of Paris from a hot-air balloon equipped with a dark room, including the city's catacombs and sewers *The photograph's documentary powers were immediately realized, especially for producing historical records of the Crimean War and the American Civil War

DAVID

*Very gifted "Neo-Poussiniste"—more Poussiniste than Poussin himself! *Figures are as solid and immobile as statues *He developed his own neo-classical style in Rome in 1775-1781 *Upon return to France, he quickly established himself as the leading Neoclassical painter so that our conception of the movement is largely based on his accomplishments *Dramatic, sharply focused lighting is derived from Caravaggio—lends a lifelike quality *The very harshness of the design suggest that its creator was passionately engaged in the issues of his age

Figure 28-40; Ancient of Days; by Blake; English mystic; 1794

*Visionary English poet, painter, and engraver is classified as a Romantic artist, but his work also incorporates classical references *Blake admired Greek art because it exemplified for him the mathematical and eternal *He did not align himself with the Enlightenment but was drawn to the art of the Middle Ages *He derived the inspiration for many of his poems and paintings from his dreams, the source of the spiritual side of human nature; also believed rules of behavior from orthodox religions killed the individual creative impulse *The vision of the Almighty here combines the concept of the Creator with that of wisdom as a part of God—this is a frontispiece for his book Europe: A Prophecy that begins with the quotation from Proverbs 8:27: "When he set a compass upon the face of the deep" *Energy fills the composition: the Almighty leans forward from a fiery orb, peering toward earth and unleashing power through left arm into twin rays of light, which emerge like an architect's measuring instrument; a mighty wind surges through his hair and beard; his strong, Michelangelesque physique keeps him firmly planted *Here, classical anatomy merges with the inner dark dreams of Romanticism *A metal relief etching, hand colored *Blake cast his visions in pictorial as well as literary form *He had tremendous admiration for the Middle Ages *He produced and published his own books of poems with engraved text and hand-colored illustrations *The Almighty here is radically foreshortened *Blake felt that reason was ultimately destructive—the inner eye was most important!

Figure 28-4; Return from Cythera; by Watteau; Arcadian; 1717-1719; oil on canvas; fete-galante (party of the wealthy); sad tone

*Watteau was responsible for creating a fête galante painting—depicting the outdoor entertainment or amusements of upper-class society *This is an example created for admission to the Royal Academy *Watteau was Flemish, influenced by Rubens and emphasis on COLOR *Royal Academy had two schools of thought: "Poussinistes" who taught that form (drawing) was most important and color was for effect and not essential vs. the "Rubénistes" who proclaimed the natural supremacy of color *This picture depicts a group of lovers preparing to depart from the island of eternal youth and love, sacred to Aphrodite—they are young and elegantly dressed, moving from the protective shade of a woodland park, filled with statues and amorous cupids, toward an awaiting golden barge down a grassy slope *His figural poses combine elegance and sweetness/unparalleled *He observed slow movement from unusual and difficult angles, intending to find the most poised, smooth, and refined attitudes- soft, subtle movement (unlike the fierce Baroque diagonals and poses) *Also creates shimmery silk and other iridescent colors, subtly modeled shapes, gliding motion, suave gentility suited to Rococo's wealthy patrons *Action unfolds in foreground as a continuous narrative from right to left *Figures are slim and graceful without the robust vitality of Rubens *The theme of love and Arcadian happiness (also in Giorgione) is here slightly shadowed with wistfulness or even melancholy, perhaps a meditation on swift passage of youth (he died at age 37 of tuberculosis)- could also relate to the fact that this period of Rococo was very short, ending abruptly with the start of the French Revolution

SCULPTURE

*What ultimately destroyed classicism in sculpture was --the Revolution in France in 1830 (Fall of the Bourbon Dynasty) --the Romantic idealization of the fragmentary and unfinished *Shows how closely sculpture and politics were linked in the 1800's in France, since the state remained the largest single source of commissions for public art

Figure 28-23; Coronation of Napoleon; by David; Neoclassic royalty; 1805-1808; oil on canvas; 20' 4.5" by 32' 1.75"; one of the major paintings David produced for Napoleon as First Painter of the Empire

*When Napoleon approached David and offered him the position of First Painter of the Empire, David seized the opportunity *This is one of the major paintings he produced for Napoleon, a large scale work that documents the pageantry and pomp of Napoleon's coronation in 1804 (canvas is 20' x 32') *This monumental painting reveals interests of both patron and artist *David was present at the coronation and recorded his presence there, as a spectator in one of the tribunes or loges *Also faithfully reproduced the interior of Notre-Dame Cathedral, where ceremony occurred, and those in attendance: Napoleon, his wife Josephine, Pope Pius VII, Joseph and Louis Bonaparte, retinues, and representatives of the clergy *Despite apparent fidelity to historical accuracy, preliminary drawings reveal that David made several changes at Napoleon's request; example: pope's hand raised in blessing, Napoleon's mother prominent in center background, though she refused to attend the coronation *Despite numerous figures and lavish pageantry, David retained the structured composition central to Neoclassical style: presented as if on stage; conceptually divided like Oath of Horatii—popes and priests of Catholic Church on right, Napoleon's imperial court on left *The relationship between church and state was one of the era's most contentious issues; Napoleon emphasized his power by choosing to crown himself and his wife rather than being crowned by pope, as was traditional *Napoleon embraced all links with Neoclassicism and the classical past as sources of symbolic authority for his short-lived state; especially liked connections to Roman Empire

Whereas BAROQUE implied THEATER ON A GRAND SCALE, ROCOCO was:

-smaller, more intimate -lighthearted, tender-minded, with playful whimsy and wistful nostalgia -invokes an enchanted realm that represents a temporary diversion from real life -IMPORTANT: added the "world of love" -Broadened range of human emotion to include the family as a major theme -Gave a new prominence to decorative arts, now considered a fine art in the second half of the 17th century

Rococo was only where?

In France

What happened to the French Academy?

It split into the Poussinistes who thought drawing was the most important, and the Rubenistes who though color was the most important. Rococo is all Rubenistes which their signature pastel, soft colors (blue and golds).

FRANCE (Enlightenment)

Rococo portraits were of women in a society that idolized love and feminine beauty; now with the new Enlightenment thinking, the emphasis became the "natural" attributes of people. Rococo influence is evident in the transience and engaging mood and the exquisite treatment of clothing.

ENGLAND (Enlightenment)

The French Rococo had a decisive effect across the English Channel and helped bring about the first school of English painting since the Middle Ages that had more than local importance.

What does Rocaille mean?

pebble