Modern Art Quiz #1
The Nightmare
Henry Fuseli, England, 1781. Romanticism. Woman lies asleep, an incubus, a demon believed in medieval times to prey, often sexually, on sleeping women, squats ominously on her body. In the background, a ghostly horse with with flaming eyes bursts into the scene from beyond the curtain. Despite the temptation to see the paintings title as a pun because of this horse, the word nightmare in fact derives from "night" and "Mara". Mara was a spirit in Scandinavian mythology who tormented and suffocated sleepers. Fuseli was among the first to attempt to depict the dark terrain of the human subconscious that became fertile ground for later artist's to harvest.
The Village Bride
Jean-Baptiste Greuze, France, 1761. End of Rococo, "Natural Art", Enlightenment?? moving away from frivolousness of Rococo art. The strict social hierarchy that provided the foundation for Rococo art & patronage gave way to a bourgeois economic and social system. Appealed to ordinary hard-working people.
Ancient of Days
William Blake, England, 1794. Romanticism. This painting combines Blake's ideas and interests in a highly individual way. This figure united the concept of the Creator with that of wisdom as a part of god. The Almighty leans forward from a fiery orb, peering toward earth and unleashing power through his outstretched left arm into twin rays of light. These emerge between his spread fingers like an architect's measuring instrument - a conception of creation with precedents in Gothic manuscript painting. Here Blake merged ideal classical anatomy with the inner dark dreams of Romanticism. He believed the rationalist search for material explanations of the world stifled the spiritual side of human nature.
Pest House at Jaffe
Antoine-Jean Gros, France, 1804. Neoclassicism, foreshadowing Romanticism. Napoleon, fearless among the plague-stricken, reaches out to touch one man's sores, portrayed Christlike, implying he possessed miraculous power to heal the sick. Among the dying is a kneeling nude man with left arm extended, his posture recalls that of the dead christ in Michelangelo's Pietà.
Abbey in the Oak
Caspar David Friedrich, Germany, 1810. Romanticism, Landscape painting. This painting serves as a solemn requiem. The emblems of death are everywhere -seasons desolation -leaning crosses & tombstones -people mourning wearing black -skeletal trees -destruction time has wrought on the church It is a kind of meditation on human mortality. Artists sharp focused rendering demonstrates his keen perception of everything in the physical environment relevant to his message. Balances inner and outer experience. Why he chose to paint scenes of death and darkness: "One must submit oneself many times to death in order some day to attain life everlasting"
Cenotaph for Sir Isaac Newton
Etienne-Louis Boullee, France, 1784
The Third of May
Francisco Goya, 1808, Spain, 1814. Romanticism. Napoleon invaded Spain, on May 2, 1808, Spaniards attacked Napoleons soldiers in a chaotic and violent clash. In retaliation and as a show of force, the French responded the next day by rounding up & executing Spanish citizens. The peasant about to be shot throws his arms out in a cruciform gesture reminiscent of Christ's position on the cross. Goya enhanced the emotional drama of the massacre by using stark darks and lights and by extending the time depicted. Also recorded the bloody bodies of others lying dead on the ground like pieces of meat. Commissioned by Ferdinand VII who had reclaimed the throne after the ouster of the French.
Family of Charles IV
Francisco Goya, Spain, 1800. Romanticism. He did not like the rulers of Spain he thought they were dumb, vapid and vein. So to show this he painted him self in the back of the family painting the family, as if he was looking at a reflection in the mirror. Stating that these people starred at themselves in the mirror for hours while getting this painting done, showing how much they love themselves and do not care for anything but money, wealth etc. Also they aren't very good looking people in general, however, he was portraying them accurately; they were nothing special.
Saturn Devouring One of His Children
Francisco Goya, Spain, 1819-23. Romanticism. Depicts the raw carnage and violence of Saturn, (the Greek god KRONOS) wild-eyed and monstrous, as he consumes one of his off spring, Because of the similarity of KRONOS and KHRONOS ( Greek word for "time"), Saturn has come to be associated with time. This has led some to interpret Goya's painting as an expression of the artist's despair over the passage of time. Goya's work, rooted both in personal and national history, presents darkly emotional images well in keeping with Romanticism.
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
Francisco Goya, Spain, ca. 1798. Owls (symbols of folly) & bats (symbols of ignorance) are threatening him. Portrayed as what emerges when reason is suppressed and, therefore, as advocating Enlightenment ideals. However, the print also can interpreted as Goya's commitment to the creative process and the Romantic spirit - the unleashing of imagination, emotions, and even nightmares.
Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David, France, 1784. Neoclassicism, French Revolution. David concurred with the Enlightenment belief that the subject of an artwork should have a moral. Narrative of patriotism and sacrifice excerpted from Roman history, but the painter also employed formal devices to present the image with force and clarity. - similar to stage setting - SIMPLE architecture framework -statuesque figures reminiscent of ancient relief sculpture. -Rigid, angular, virile forms of men juxt. soft curvilinear women -pits men (courage, patriotism, unwavering loyalty) against women (love, sorrow, despair, weak)
Death of Marat
Jacques-Louis David, France, 1793. Neoclassicism, French Revolution. Painting commemorates the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as influential writer & friend of David. Marat in his bathtub after Charlotte Corday, a member of rival political faction, stabbed him to death. Serves as a record of an important event in the struggle to overthrow the monarchy but also to provide inspiration & encouragement to the revolutionary forces. Based Marat's figure on Christ in Michelangelo's "Pieta". Reference of Christ's martyrdom made the painting a kind of "altar-piece" for the new civic "religion", inspiring the French people w/ the saintly dedication of their slain leader.
Portrait Bust of Denis Diderot
Jean-Antoine Houdon, France, 1781. French Enlightenment. Justly known for his naturalistic portraiture and his classic simplicity, Houdon was very successful in capturing his sitter's lively eyes and conveying the determination and intelligence that won Diderot many admirers and some enemies. The slightly parted lips are said to have suggested the brilliance of Diderot's conversation
Queensware
Josiah Wedgewood, England, ca. 1765. A set of dishes & pottery that Wedgewood had made and sold to the Queen. He then changed the name of the set to Qeensware once the Queen bought it and used her as a celebrity endorsement. He sold many of these sets to people stating that the Queen had the exact type.
