art
TY0496
EuropeanAmericanartchapter18.pptEuropean and American Art 1840-1910
Chapter 18
In order to achieve such realism, artists developed various instruments to assist them in their quest for the perfect perspective.
One such instrument used was the camera obscura, a dark room/space in which an inverted image was projected onto a surface.
Camera Obscura
By modern standards, nineteenth-century photography can appear rather primitive. While the stark black and white landscapes and unsmiling people have their own austere beauty, these images also challenge our notions of what defines a work of art.
Photography is a controversial fine art medium, simply because it is difficult to classify—is it an art or a science? Nineteenth century photographers struggled with this distinction, trying to reconcile aesthetics with improvements in technology.
Early Photography
Joseph Nicephore Niepce
- The first to obtain a permanent image by photographic means (ie: the reaction of light on a sensitized surface).
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Niepce, View from the Window at Gras. 1827
- He coated a pewter plate with bitumen. The plate dried to a shiny surface, slightly red in color.
- He then put the plate inside his camera obscura, and aimed it through an open window at his courtyard.
- The light forming the image hardened the bitumen in bright areas, and left it soft and soluable in dark areas.
- After exposing the plate for 8 - 10 hours, he dipped it in a lavendar oil bath which dissolved the bitumen parts that had not been exposed - or exposed very little - to light.
- THE RESULT WAS A NEGATIVE (REVERSED) IMAGE BUT IT WAS PERMANENT.
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Louis Daguerre worked with Niépce in his quest to fix the projected image. Daguerre was a painter of stage sets and illusionistic scenery for The Diorama, a popular visual entertainment in Paris.
Louis Jacques Daguerre
Daguerreotype Portrait of
Louis Daguerre
Photographer: Jean-Baptiste Sabatier-Blot 1844
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Daguerre experimenting in his workshop. He made changes to the process which made it more practical.
- He discarded the bitumen and used iodized SILVER as the light sensitive material. Exposure time is decreased to 1 hour.
- 1834: he discovered that treating the exposed plate with mercury vapor would develop the latent image (the image not yet visible). Exposure time is decreased again to 15-30 mins.
- 1837: he discovered that dissolving salt in hot water would stop the light sensitive materials from continuing to react.
- He named the process Daguerreotype.
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Daguerre, Still Life
1837
Oldest surviving daguerreotype
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Around the same time as the invention of the Daguerreotype, an English scientist called William Henry Fox Talbot developed another type of photograph called the Calotype. The Calotype had one distinct advantage over the Daguerreotype: it could be reproduced as a negative as opposed to being a single, unduplicatable image.
Competition
Antoine Claudet
Portrait of William Henry Fox Talbot
1844
Calotype, 1835
Talbot sensitized paper to light with a silver salt solution. He then exposed the paper to light. The background became black, and the subject was rendered in gradations of grey. This was a negative image, and from the paper negative, photographers could duplicate the image as many times as they wanted.
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1844
calotype {salted paper}
The approaches to photography made available by 1839
- The daguerreotype - a sharp and detailed image, but one-of-a-kind (could not be reproduced), on a polished plate. Called a direct positive.
- The calotype - an image on paper, which was not as sharp but could be reproduced. Became the basis for modern photographic reproduction.
- The photogenic drawing - also on paper. Sometimes referred to as a contact print. Often made using leaves and other sources from nature.
- Bayard’s direct positives on paper. Paper was exposed to light until it darkened. Then soaked in potassium iodide and exposed in the camera. The light bleached the paper and resulted in unique direct positives.
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In terms of mass production, Talbot’s Calotype was far superior. However, it lacked the sharpness and overall quality to a Daguerreotype and this made it less popular in the early years, especially since many European countries and America had adopted Daguerre’s process.
However, the Calotype was improved over time and advances in paper technology led to better processing. Thus, the Calotype soon became the most popular type of photography that is still used today.
A Question of Quality
La Pia De’ Tolomei Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1868-1869 oil on canvas
Pre-Raphaelites
Architecture
- Iron, glass and steel became abundant and masonry was no longer the only constructive element.
- Technology began to affect the design of building serving a more useful purpose
- High-rise buildings were made possible by the erection of a steel cage to which were attached floors and walls and rendered practical for the user by the development of passenger lifts.
Eiffel Tower
1887-1889
Gustave Eiffel
Centerpiece of 1889 Paris Universal Exposition
Innovative elevator swings up diagonally
Also helped with Statue of Liberty and Panama Canal
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Otis invented elevator
Prototype of modern office building
Exterior: decorative terra cotta tiles
“Form follows function” was his motto, now very famous in architecture
Wainwright Building
1890
Louis Sullivan
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Orientalism
- In the 19th century, a trend for the Orient appeared. The artists were inspired by its luxury, its mystery and the supernatural that surrounded this part of the world. But this new craze for Orientalism was also the reflection of several historical events such as:
- -the Egyptian campaign (1798-1799)
- -the Greek war for Independence (1821-1829)
- -the conquest of Algiers by the French (1830)
- -the opening of the Suez Canal (1869)
- -the progressive dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire because of rivalries and of colonial ambitions.
History of the Orientalism
Definition:
- Orientalism refers to the “Orient” + “Occident”.
- “Orient” means “The East”
- “Occident” means “The West”.
- ‘Orientalism’ word’s root word is ‘Oriens’ which means……….
The Eastern Part of the World
The East
The Rising Sun
Daybreak &
Dawn
- Thus Orientalism means styles, aspects or traits considered characteristics of the people of Asia.
The First Orientalists:
- The first "Orientalists" were 19th century scholars who translated the writings of the Orient into English, based on the idea that an effective colonial downfall requires knowledge of the dominated peoples.
- This is the idea of knowledge as a power exposed by Said.
- Said thinks that by knowing the Orient, the West came to own it.
- There is the image of the Orient as passive while the West was active.
- So according to Said, it is imperialism which motivated Orientalism.
Edward Said & Orientalism
- Orientalism had no negative connotation
before Said’s work publication of “Orientalism”.
- Said emphasized the relationship between
power and knowledge.
- Said argued that Orient and Occident worked
as oppositional terms, so that the "Orient" was constructed
as a negative inversion of Western culture.
- The historian Bernard Lewis also criticized Said's theory. He argues that Orient as a negative mirror image of the West is not wholly true.
- Recently, the term Occidentalism has been used to refer to the negative views of the Western world that can sometimes be found in Eastern societies today.
Edward Said—Orientalism
The Orient signifies a system of representations framed by political forces that brought the Orient into Western learning. Western consciousness, and Western Empire. The Orient exists for the West, and is constructed by and in relation to the West. It is a mirror image of what is inferior and alien (“Other”) to the West.
Orientalism is “a manner of regularized (or Orientalized) writing, vision, and study, dominated by imperatives, perspectives, and ideological biases ostensibly suited to the Orient.” It is the image of the “Orient” expressed as an entire system of thought and scholarship.
The Oriental is the person represented by such thinking. The man is depicted as feminine, weak, yet strangely dangerous because he poses a threat to white, Western women. The woman is both eager to be dominated and strikingly exotic. The Oriental is a single image, a sweeping generalization, a stereotype that crosses countless cultural and national boundaries.
The Snake Charmer
Jean-Leon Gerome
Oil on Canvas c. 1870
33” x 48 1/8”
European Realism
Components of the
Realism Movement
- Realism seeks to present the world as it is in its present time
- Dialect is important; regionalism grows out of the realism movement
- Details about the everyday lives of the common man become important
- First criticized as grotesque and uncouth
- Becomes socially critical
The Academy
Academic Art is the painting and sculpture produced under the influence of the European Academies, where many artists received their formal training. It is characterized by its highly finished style, its use of histori cal or mythological subject matter, and its moralistic tone. Neoclassical Art was closely associated with the Academies.
The term "Academic Art" is associated particularly with the French Academy and its influence on the Salons in the 19th century.
Realism
Realism is recognized as the first modern movement in art, which rejected traditional forms of art
Realism is broadly considered the beginning of modern art.
Literally, this is due to its conviction that everyday life and the modern world were suitable subjects for art.
Realism was the first explicitly anti-institutional, nonconformist art movement
Realism: Social & Political Equality
- political context: Marxism
- Communist Manifesto (c. 1850)
thesis: all history was history of class struggles
humanity’s relationship to material wealth
- Darwin theory of evolution
- Comte: positivism…all knowledge comes from tested scientific proof
Realism – Cultural Context
Role of Artist:
no longer to simply reveal beautiful & sublime
aimed to tell the truth
not beholden to higher, idealized reality (i.e., God)
Subjects:
ordinary events and objects
working class & broad panorama of society
psychological motivation of characters
”Show me an angel and I will paint you an angel.”
Gustave Courbet
(1819-1877)
French Realism - Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)
Gustave Courbet Burial at Ornans 1849
Oil on canvas 10' 4" x 21' 11« Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY.
- Outspoken socialist, “A painter should paint only what he can see.”
- https://youtu.be/HNZTmnngqrM
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Millet’s The Gleaners (c. 1857)
Barbizon School of French painting
Poorest of the poor, picking up scraps of grain
Figures become part of landscape
Haystacks and wagon reflect shapes of gleaners
Seen as socialist painting
Eakins’ Gross Clinic (c. 1875)
Triangular composition with Baroque lighting
Eakins worked from photograph of Dr. Gross (medical professor)
Celebrates advances in medical science
Eakins was noted anatomist who taught anatomy & figure drawing, pioneered letting black and female students study and draw nudes
Winslow Homer The Veteran in a New Field 1865 Oil on canvas
Henry O. Tanner
The Banjo Lesson 1893
American realist taught by Eakins
1st noted black painter
Painterly brushwork, monumental forms
Dignity of exchange between generations; answers ugly stereotypes of African Americans
Unsentimental yet affectionate
Edmonia Lewis
Forever Free 1867
Marble
3’5 1/4 “ x 11” x 7”
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Auguste Rodin (1879-1889)
Auguste Rodin The Burghers of Calais
Bronze 1884-95
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Impressionism
It begins in France in the last third of the 19th century.
The art that appears becomes experimental, not interested in the contents of the work but in the impression of the scenes.
It was interested in the brevity of time, which is reflected in distinct moments of the day.
Impressionists paint outdoors.
Impressionism
- Optical realism, continue interest in modern life
- accurate depiction of light and its changing qualities with color,
- painting directly from nature, “en plein air”
- light effects made with many small brushstrokes of color
- color theory (complementary, optical mixing)
- new readily available paint in tubes in many colors
- influenced my Japanese prints’ compositions (cropping)
- Monet, Renoir, Mary Cassatt, Pissarro, Degas
- also applied to music and literature
The Scandalous Realism of Manet
Luncheon on the Grass, Edouard Manet
Napoleon III authorized Exhibition of refused artists from the Salon, such as Manet and Monet
This painting was found scandalous…
Édouard Manet (1832–1883) Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass)
1863 Oil on canvas 7' x 9‘ Musée d'Orsay, Paris
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Olympia, Manet 1863
courtesan stares out at us, not modeled figure.
Olympia confronts the viewer, she is powerful, NOT an accommodating female nude.
Édouard Manet. Olympia, 1863. Oil on canvas, 4' 3" x 6' 3
Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY.
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Compare/contrast Manet & Titian
Olympia, Manet, 1868
Venus of Urbino, Titian, 1538
Claude Monet Impression: Sunrise
1872 Oil on canvas
Claude Monet
Boulevard des Capucines 1873-74
oil on canvas
American Impressionism
Mother and Child
c. 1890
Oil on canvas
Mary Cassatt
Influenced by Japanese prints.
Subjects: Mothers and children, her sister
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Edgar Degas
1834-1917
Considered a father of Impressionism
Degas most famous for ballerinas
more than half of his works depict dancers
Depicted ballet classes in ways that showed their unglamorous character
Depicts visual tension
Masterly in depicting movement, as can be seen in his renditions of dancers, racecourse subjects and female nudes.
The Rehearsal of the Ballet on Stage
c. 1874
Pastel over brush-and-ink drawing on thin, cream colored woven paper, laid on Bristpl board, mounted on canvas
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
1841-1919
Popular Impressionist theme: contemporary middle-class people enjoying outdoor leisure activities
The Industrial Revolution had created an urban middle class with leisure, respect for the new technology, and taste for fashion, and the Impressionists chronicled their lives.
Renoir more interested in human drama
Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Le Moulin de la Galette. 1876
James Whistler
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket 1875
Subtle harmonies of painting comparable to music
Japanese influence
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Post-Impressionism
1885-1905
Product of the Impressionism movement
encompasses a wide range of distinct artistic styles
The movement ushered in an era during which painting transcended its traditional role as a window onto the world and instead became a window into the artist's mind and soul.
Rejecting interest in depicting the observed world, they instead looked to their memories and emotions in order to connect with the viewer on a deeper level.
Post-Impressionism Artists
- Van Gogh- color for expression, emotion, wild brushstrokes
- Paul Gauguin- color as symbol
- Seurat- exaggerated optical color mixing (Pointillism) scientific
- Paul Cezanne- color to depict essential structure
Vincent van Gogh
1853- 1890
Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.
In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life.
They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterized by bold, symbolic colors, and dramatic, impulsive and highly expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art.
He sold only one painting during his lifetime and became famous after his suicide at age 37, which followed years of poverty and mental illness.
Self-Portrait 1887
Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night, 28” x 36”, 1889
View from hospital room in St-Remy
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Georges Seurat 1859-1891
Has subject matter, light and color qualities of Impressionism, but this is not a painting of a fleeting moment
It is a carefully constructed composition of lasting impact
Pointillism
“scientific” technique
Studying the principles of color optics that were being formulated at the time
Georges Seurat. A Sunday on La Grande Jatte. 1884-1886
Paul Gauguin Manaha No Atua (Day of the God)
oil on canvas symbolism (post impressionism) 1894
Painted native peoples in geometric bright colors
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Cezanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire
1887
1902-1904
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Expressionism
- The arrival of Expressionism announced new standards in the creation and judgment of art. Art was now meant to come forth from within the artist, rather than from a depiction of the external visual world, and the standard for assessing the quality of a work of art became the character of the artist's feelings rather than an analysis of the composition.
- Expressionist artists often employed swirling, swaying, and exaggeratedly executed brushstrokes in the depiction of their subjects. These techniques were meant to convey the turgid emotional state of the artist reacting to the anxieties of the modern world.
- Through their confrontation with the urban world of the early twentieth century, Expressionist artists developed a powerful mode of social criticism in their serpentine figural renderings and bold colors. Their representations of the modern city included alienated individuals - a psychological by-product of recent urbanization - as well as prostitutes, who were used to comment on capitalism's role in the emotional distancing of individuals within cities.
Edvard Munch The Scream 1910 tempera on board
1893, Art Nouveau style
Noted graphic designer (Poster designer)
frequented the Moulin Rouge
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Jane Avril
Lithograph
1893
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