MODERN ART
Modern art begins with the changes in the representation of space as introduces
by artist of the late eighteenth century. Unlike the renaissance masters, who
sought to open up endless vistas within the canvas, the artists of the latter 1700s
thrust all of the imagery toward the picture plane. The flatness or twodimensionality of the canvas surface was asserted by the use of planar recession
rather than linear recession. What was modern about the modern art of the
eighteenth century in France was its concept of space.
Neoclassicism
- characterized by harsh sculptural lines, a subdued palette, and for the
most part, planar instead recession into space.
- Subject matter: inspired by the French Revolution and design to heighten
moral standing.
- emphasized restraint of emotion, purity of form, and subject that inspired
morality
Jacques-Louis David
- designed everything from clothing to coiffures
- painting: “The Oath of the Horatii”, portrayed a dramatic event from
Roman history on order to heighten French patriotism and courage
Angelica Kauffman
- she is known for her portraiture, history painting and narrative works such
as “The Artist in the Character of Design Listening to the Inspiration of
Poetry”.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
- his work is a combination of harsh linearity and sculptural smoothness on
the hand, and delicacy and sensuality on the other.
- his “Grande Odalisque” portrays a Turkish harem mistress in the tradition
of the great reclining Venuses of the Venetian Renaissance.
Neoclassical Sculpture
- Its principles were embraces by sculptors working in France, England and
the US. It was the style of choice for official portraits, relief sculptures and
monuments of all sorts.
Antonio Canova: became a sculptor to Napoleon Bonaparte and was
responsible for the numerous portraits of the emperor and members of his
family, including his sister, Pauline Borgese.
“Paulin Borgese as Venus”: Pauline’s face has the character of a portrait,
however modified and improved, and the finely carved details of the elaborate
lounge can almost be described as trompe l’eoil.
Neoclassical Architecture
- also dominated architectural design in France, England and America.
- Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe : was a British-born
American architect best known for his design of the United States Capitol.
He combined elements of the Ionic order for the senate chamber and
Corinthian capitals for the House of Representatives.
Romanticism
- sought extreme of emotion enhanced by virtuoso brushwork and a brilliant
palette
- it is an international artistic and philosophical movement that redefined the
fundamental ways in which people in Western cultures thought about
themselves and about their world.
2 major proponets of the romantic style in France:
1. Théodore Géricault: the depiction of nature as unpredictable and
uncontrollable was his favorite theme
“Raft of the Medusa”: he used to opposed the French Monarchy it to call
attention to the French government; his most controversial and political work
2. Eugène Delacroix: he believed that painting was nothing without drawing;
“The Death of Sarnapalus”: depicts the murder-suicide of an Assyrian king
who rather that surrenders to his attackers, set fire to himself and his
entourage..
Francis Goya
- Considered the greatest painter of the Neoclassical and Romantic period.
- Paintings and prints foreshadowed the art of the nineteenth century
Impressionists.
- Best known for his works with political overtones, ranging from social
satire to savage condemnation of the disasters of war
- “The Third of May”: Goya, focuses on viewers attention on a single
moment in the violent episode
- Devoted much of his life to graphic representation of man’s inhumanity to
man.
The Academy / Academic Art
- the style and subject matter were derived from conventions
- Had maintained a firm grip on artistic production for more than two
centuries
Adolphe William Bouguereau
- one of the more popular and accomplished Academic painters
- paintings are religious and historical in a grand classical manner
-
most famous for his meticulously painted nudes and mythological
subjects.
“Nymphs and Satyr”: nearly photo-graphic in its refined technique and
attention top detail
Realism
The modern artist chose to depict subjects that were evident in everyday life,
They respected the reality of the medium they worked with. Instead of using
pigment merely as a tool to provide an illusion of three-dimensional reality, they
emphasize emphasized two-dimensionality of the canvas and asserted the
painting process itself.
Honoré Daumier
- The Third – Class Carriage
- of all the modern artist of the mid-nineteenth century , he was perhaps the
most concerned with bringing to light the very real subject of the plight of
the masses
- known for his lithographs (is a method for printing using a stone or a metal
plate with a completely smooth surface) although he was also an
important painter
- brought to his works on canvas the technique and style of a caricaturist.
Gustave Cuorbuet
- Father of realist movement
- “The Stone-Breakers”: objects of public derision. Coubet was moved to
paint the work after seeing an old man and a young boy breaking stones
on a road side.
- So common a subject was naturally criticized by contemporary critics, who
favored mythological or idealistic subjects.
Edouard Manet
-
According to some art historians, he is the artist responsible for changing
the course of the history of painting
Instead of beginning with a dark under painting and building up to bright
highlights
Began with a white surface and worked to build up dark tones
Did not model his figures with a traditional chiaroscuro. Instead he applied
his pigments flatly and broadly
“Luncheon on the Grass”: stands as a pivotal work in the rise of the
Impressionist movements; takes place in a woodland setting
Most important influence on the French Impressionist painter, a group of
artist advocated the direct painting of optical impressions.
Rosa Bonheur
-
one of the most successful artists working in the second half of the
nineteenth century
stunned human objects in favor of animals
“The Horse Fair”: panoramic scene of extraordinary power, inspired by the
Parthenon’s horsemen frieze; the dramatic contrast of light and dark
underscore the struggle between man and beast, while the painterly
brash-work heighten the emotional energy in the painting
Impressionism
A group of younger artists were banding together against the French art
establishment, suffering from lack of recognition and vicious criticism nay of them
lived in abject poverty for lack of commissions. Yet they stand today as some of
the most significant and certainly among the most popular artist in the history of
arts. They were called the Impressionists. The word impressionism suggests lack
of realism and realistic representation was the standard of the day.
Through intensive investigation, they arrived at awareness of certain visual
phenomena. The actual color of these objects is altered by different lightning
effect.
Claude Manet
- the most fervent follower of Impressionist techniques
- Impression: Sunrise
- The dissolution of surfaces and the separation of light onto its spectral
components remain central to Monet’s art; dramatically evident in a series
of canvases depicting Rouen Cathedral from variety of angles, during
different seasons and times of day.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- most significant figure painter
- Was interested primarily in the effect of light as it played across the
surface of object.
- Illustrated his preoccupation in one of the most wonderful paintings of the
Impressionist period, Le Moulin de la Gallette.
- Painted all details that imprint such scene
Berthe Morisot
- In Morisot’s Young Girl by the Window surfaces dissolve into an array of
loose brushstrokes, applied, it would seem, at a frantic pace. The vigor of
these strokes contrasts markedly with the tranquility of the woman’s face.
Edgar Degas
- Was a superb draftsman who studies under Ingres
-
While in Italy, he copied the Renaissance masters.
Intrigued by Japanese prints and the new art of photography
Painted “The Rehearsal”
Influences by the developing of art photography, and the camera’s
exclusive visual field served as a model for the way on which he framed
his own paintings.
Photography
The influence of the new medium of photography can readily be seen on may
examples of impressionist painting. Photography improved rapidly for the next 50
or 60 years thereafter - faster emulsions, glass-plate negatives, better camera
lenses – and photographs became more widely available and affordable to the
general public. The concept of visual record drove portraiture and
photojournalism while “art photography” aimed to replicate the pictorial aspects of
painting. The first successful daguerreotype, a still life composition of the artists’
studio, was created by Jacques-Mande Daguerre, a landscape painter.
Portraits
By the 1850s, photographic technology and a growing middle class in the wake
of American and French revolutions came together to create a burgeoning
business on portrait photography. Having likeness of oneself was formerly
reserved for the wealthy, who could afford to commission pained portraits. It
became the democratic equalizer. The rich, the famous and average bourgeois
citizens could now preserve their presence for posterity.
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Nadar: imitated booth nature and the arts, using costumes and props that
recall Romantic paintings or sculpted busts caressed by flowing drapery.
For Sarah Bernharth’s portrait, Nadar arranged a mass of voluptuous
drapery onto a pedestal of sorts of the extraordinary beauty and intellect of
the actress. The smooth textures underscore the pensive, brooding
countenance associated with her dramatic style.
Photo journalism
In the nineteenth century, illustrations in newspapers and magazines were few
and primarily derived from engravings of drawings. Photography revolutionized
the way that news media brought visual images of events to the public. Pioneers
such as Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner user camera to record scenes of
the U.S. Civil War.
Their work focused on staged portraits of officers and soldiers, of daily life on the
camps along the lines and as in Gardner’s Home’s of “Rebel Sharpshooter,
Gettysburg”, of harsh evidence of gruesome death and devastation of war.
It’s unlikely that any of them expected that their more graphic images would
serve any purpose other that n historical record.
Art Photography
Photography as an art form made a significant leap forward with Loius Lumière’s
introduction of the auto chrome color process in 1907. Lumière’s auto chrome
photographs such a ”Young Lady with an Umbrella ”are akin to paintings by
Postimpressionist artist Georges Seurat, an avid student of color theory, as well
as to works by other photographers in the pictorial style. Lumière’s technology
was not replaced until 1932, when Kodak began to produce color film that
applied the same principles to more advanced materials.
Post Impressionism
The Impressionists were united in their rejection of many styles and subjects of
art that preceded them. During the latter years of the nineteenth century a group
of artist that cane to be called Postimpressionists were also united in their
rebellion against that which came before them- in the case, Impressionism. The
postimpressionists were drawn together by their rebellion against what they
considered as an excessive concern for fleeting impressions and a disregard for
the traditional compositional elements.
Georges Segurat
- ”Sunday Afternoon on the Island of on the Island of La Grande Jatte”
- The small brushstrokes are there and also complementary colors. The
subject matter Is entirely acceptable within the framework of
Impressionism.
- The technique he used was pointillism, after his application of pigment in
small dabs, or points of pure color.
Paul Cézanne
- Credited with having led the revolution of abstraction of modern art from
those first steps
- Most significant stride toward Modernism, however, was a drastic
collapsing as space, seen in works such as ”Still Life with Basket of
Apples”.
- He moved around his subject, painting not only the objects but the
relationship among them.
- Asserted flatness the flatness of the two-dimensional canvas by
eliminating the distinction between foreground and background and at
times merging the two. This perhaps the most significant contribution to
future modern movements.
Vincent Van Gogh
- One of the most tragic and best known figures in the history of art
- Most of his beloved canvases were created during his last 29 months
- In ”Starry Night”, an ordinary painted record of a sleepy valley town is
transformed to a cosmic display of swirling fireballs that assault the
-
blackened sky and command the hills and cypresses to undulate to their
sweeping rhythms.
Laden with vibrant yellows, blues, and greens.
Paul Gaugin
- Relied on board areas of intense color to transpose his innermost feeling
to canvas.
- Developed a theory called Synthetism, in which he advocated the use of
broad areas of unnaturalistic color and primitive or symbolic subject
matter.
- His ”Vision after the Sermon”, one of the first canvases to illustration his
theory, combines reality with symbolism.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
- Used his talents to portray life as it was in this cavalcade of cabarets,
theaters, cafes, and bordellos – sort of seamy, but also vibrant
entertaining, and populated by real people
- In ”At the Moulin Rouge”: Japanese inspired oblique perspective we found
earlier in his poster work
- The fabric of the entertainer’s dress is constructed with fluid
Impressionistic brushstrokes, as are the content of the bottles, the lamps
in the background,
- The strong outlining as the entertainer’s face marks the work of the
Impressionist
Expressionism
- A polarity existed in Postimpressionism that was like the polarity of the
Neoclassical – Romantic period
- Artist used color and line to express inner feelings
Edvard Munch
- Abandoned a light palette and lively subject matter in favor of a more
somber style that reflected an anguished preoccupation with fear and
death
- Looked for symbols of isolation that would underscore his own sense of
loneliness, or themes of violence and perverse sexuality that reflected his
own psychological problems
- ”The Scream”: is one of his best-known works
- It portrays the pin and isolation that became is central themes
Käthe Kollwitz
- Sought universal symbols for inhumanity, injustice and humankind’s
destruction of itself
- ”The Outbreak”: represents the sixteenth-century War
American Expatriates
Mary Cassatt
- She was a figure painter whose subjects centered on women and children
- ”The Boating Party”: has flat planes, broad areas of color, and bold lines
and shapes, illustrates Cassatt’s interest and skill in merging French
Impressionism with elements of Japanese art
James Abbott McNeil Whistler
- Painted one of the best-known compositions in the history of art
- ”Arrangement in Black and Gray”: The Artist’s Mother: exhibits a
combination of candid realism and abstraction that indicates two strong
influences on art: Courbet and Japanese prints
Thomas Eakins
- Most important American portrait painter of the nineteenth-century was
Thomas Eakins
- Devoted his career to increasingly realistic portraits
- ”The Gross Clinic”: stems from Eakins’s endeavor to become fully
acquainted with human anatomy by working from live models and
dissecting corpses.
Thomas Cole
- Fond of landscape painting and settles in New York ]
- “The Oxbow”: records a natural oxbow formation in the Connecticut River
Valley
- Combines a vast, sun- drenched space with meticulously detailed foliage
and farmland
Bible Quilt: The Creation of the Animals
- by Harriet Powers
- its 15 squares of cotton appliqué weave together stories from the Bible
with significant events from the family and community of the artist
- demonstrating both African and African American influences; they are
notable for their bold use of these techniques in storytelling.
- left to right: the fourth square: is a symbolic depiction of Adam and Eve in
the garden of Eden. A serpent tempests Eve beneath God’s all-seeing eye
and benevolkant hand.
- Sixth square: Jonah is swallowed by a whale
- Last square: stylized depiction of the Crucification
Unity in the quilt is created by a subtle palette of complementary hues and by
simple, cutout shapes that define celestial orbs, biblical and familial characters
and biblical and local animals.
The quilt has an arresting combination of widely known themes and private
events known to the artist and her family.
Some are records of meaningful days.
Eleventh square: A woman is shown frozen at a gateway while at prayer. All
bluebirds are killed.
Thirteenth square: includes hog that was said to have run 500 miles from
Georgia to Virginia, and the fourteenth square depicts the creation of animals in
pairs.
The Birth of Modern Sculpture
Auguste Rodin
- The Burghers of Calais
- Represents all of the innovations of modernism thrust into three-dimensions. He
work commemorates a historical event in which six prominent citizens of Calais
offered their lives to the conquering English so that their fellow townspeople
might be spared.
- he Preferred modeling soft materials for carving because they enabled him to
achieve highly textures surfaces that captured the play of light, much as in an
Impressionist painting.
Architecture
Nineteenth-century industrialization enabled cast iron and steel to emerge as
widely used building materials. They were two of a number of innovative
structural materials that would change the face of architecture.
Eiffel Tower
- Designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
- It was constructed in Paris in 1889 for another world Exposition.
- Has become the single most recognizable symbol of Paris
Wainwright Building
- is a 10-story red-brick landmark office building at 709 Chestnut Street in
downtown St. Louis, Missouri.
- Architect: Louis Sullivan
- It is described as "a highly influential prototype of the modern office
building" by the National Register of Historic Places
Modern Art
De Claro, Paula
Aquino, Raymond
Perducho, Jim Eric
MMA 1-1