Art History 18th & 19th Centuries Art 2

Romanticism

19th Century art movement/THis movement was a reaction against the Enlightenment dependence on reason and instead shows a desire to evoke emotion and appeal to things not rational (imagination and creativity)/In works from this period we see a lot of images of anture and its vastnss, glorification of the common man, fascination with cruelty, insanity, probing the inner mind, and a focus on artistic freedom and experiences that science suppressed

Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Lebrun

A French Rococo artist but she broke away from the Rococo style with Self-Portrait/She opened her own portrait studio when she was 15 and at the age of 23 had become so highly regarded that Marie Antoinette summoned her to paint her portrait/She becomes a favorite of the queen (Marie Antoinette) and had to flee France when the French Revolution ebgan/She lived in exile for 15 years

Fasces

A bundle of rods with a projecting axe blade/George Washington rests his left hand on 13 of these in his sculpture/This represents the 13 colonies and shows their strength in unity because they are bound together/This is also a reference to leaders during the Roman Republic because thse were carried by early Roman leaders

Society of the Cincinnati

A secret society formed by officers of the Continental Army/The group was named for George Washington, whose nickname was Cincinnatus, although Washington himself had no involvement in the society/Badge that George Washington is wearing in sculpture represents this

Neoclassicism

Art that are a new look at the Classical period (Greek and Rome)/ARtists in this period believed that great art imitated the Greeks and Romans/Very academic style of painting/This means drawing and crisp lines instead of the painterly style where there are less definitive lines and more visible brush strokes/Arts focus on idealized figures, displaying ROman architecture, references to Greece and Rome, and subject matter from those time period/Lots of leaders and heroes will be shown in this style/This style emerges close to the French Revolution as a symbol for what just society should be like if the absolute monarchy and inequality were eliminated

Francisco de Goya

Artist of And There's Nothing to be Done and The Disasters of War

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Artist of La Grande Odalisque/Was a student of David and absorbed the Neoclassical style from him in the precision of line, invisible brushwork, and classical composition/He transitions to Romanticism as he uses more exotic subject matter/The historical context for this switch in subject matter is that the French discovered the exotic Near East through Napoleon/Upper middle class men were attracted to the institution of the harem, partly as a reaction against the egalitarian demands of women of their class that had been unleashed by the French Revolution

Jacques-Louis David

Artist of the Oath of the Horatii/The preeminent Neoclassical artist and the painter of French Revolution/He was very politically involved and important and went from painting for Louis XVI (Oath of the Horatii), to painting for revolutionaries, and finally becoming the official painter for Napoleon/The Oath of the Horatti was commissioned by Louis XVI five years before the French Revolution but becomes a symbol for the revolutionaries later on because of the message it promotes

Neoclassical traits in George Washington

Being in a contrapposto stance, the use of marble, Roman references, a calm expression, sense of dignity, honor, and civic duty

And There's Nothing to be Done

Caption of Y hai no remedio that is meant to express the helplessness of a witness to such an event taking place

Neoclassical Traits in The Oath of the Horatii

Classical architecture with the columns and arches, teaching a moral lesson, idealized figures, action taking place in the fron and a strong sense of balance

Cool Blues

Colors that Ingres used to heighten the effect of woman's warm skin in La Grande Odalisque

Faceless Firing Squad

Group of people in the back of And There's Nothing to be Done that are robbed of their humanity as they kill a group of people

Anatomy

Ingres sacrifices that general one of these for a human in La Grande Odalisque/Her back is too long and appears to have an extra vertebrae, the hip is widened, left leg is in an anatomically impossible position, and her small feet are so smooth that they appear to be boneless

Historical Context of And There's Nothing to be Done

It is commenting on Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808 which resulted in six years of war between Spanish guerillas and french soldiers/Both of these sides committed horrible atrocities/Goya was sent by a Spanish general to make a visual record of acts of Spanish heroism and noble self-sacrifice, but Goya was so disturbed by brutality on both sides that instead he focused on human suffering that was experienced by all victims of the war/To do this he turns his back on conventional religious and historical depictions of suffering and death that elevated and glorified the suffering

Secular Martyr

Person who is sacrificing themselves for a non-religious cause/Central figure of And There's Nothing to be Done/Is bound, dressed in all white and surrounded by darkness

Alba

Rival city-state of Rome where the Curatti (rival family of the Horatti)

Jean-Antoine Houdon

Sculptor of George Washington/A French Neoclassical sculptor who was chosen and originally tried working in France from an American portrait/He later chose to come sketch Washington in person/Houdon originally produced a classical style bust, but Washington strongly disliked it and insisted that he be shown wearing contemporary clothing/That is why we get Washingotn in his American Revolution uniform/

Uffizi Gallery

Self-Portrait by Vigee-Lebrun was painted to go in here during her first of exhile from France/She was asked to do this self-portrait for their collection which shows her prominence, especially being a female at this time

The Disasters of War

Series of 82 total etchings/Each print had a caption (like Hogarth's works) that reflected Goya's feelings as well as demand that the viewer respond to what they are witnessing

Story of the Oath of the Horatii

The narrative being told is form Rome and involves a fight between Rome (before it was a large empire) and a rival city-state called Alba/In order to avert war, both sides agreed to send their three best fighters to face off and fight to the death with the winning side being declared victorious in the dispute between the two city-states/Rome sends out three brother (the Horatti) to fight three brother from Alba (the Curatii)/The sisters of the families were connected through marriage to each other which is why the omwen on the right are upset... they know their brothers and/or husbands will no return from this fight/The brothers are taking an oath form thei father who is holding swords/The values this is promotin patriotism and loyalty to you country over anything else, including you family/The stance and salute the brothers are in becomes what the fascists under Mussolini will adopt/This is a stance that is associated with extreme nationalism

Realism traits in George Washington

The use of contemporary clothing, basing his depiction on Washington's actual appearance in his 5-0s, not in his prime of life, choosing a life size scale rather than monumental, and by simply standing rather than on horseback as Roman emperors like being depicted

Cincinnatus

This ROman led an army in defending ROme but instead of continuing to rule with his army, he gave up his power and returned to his farming life/ This service to one's country is what the Revolutionary generals, including Washington, aspired to model

Ingres' Skill

This is shown in the depicting of a variety of textures in the fur, feathers, pearls, satin, velvet, and smooth skin

Anti-Rococo Traits in Self-Portrait

Vigee-Lebrun doesn't reflect the artificiality and frivolity of that period/Instead she aims for a new naturalism in portraiture/Here she shows herself at work painting one of her portraits of MArie Antoinette (she always remained fiercely loyal to the queen)/We see her style in the sense of spontaneity as if we are seeing a natural expression/She looks at us with an open, warm, unguarded look suggesting a level off comfort and emotional intimacy between herself and the viewer/She looks confident, happy, and beautiful while making direct eye contact to show her dignity and alert intelligence/We also see her not wearing the powdered wig that was fashionable among the Franch nobility of the day/Instead she chooses to show her natural hair unlike what we see in many Rococo works

Citizen

Washington's role as this is emphasized by his sword not being at his waist/Instead, Washingotn is shown as returning to his life as a farmer which is suggested by the plow that is behind him

Harem

living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household/Ingres was criticized as immoral for using a girl from one of these instead of the traditional female nude of a Venus/He had never seen one of these so he was appealing to what the European man fantasizes one would be like