Case study 2: The Body
We have already seen artists representing the world in different ways over time.
Case Study 2 focuses on the body in art. We will observe how various movements
in art described the body through the 20th century, and into contemporary practice.
Jaques-Louis David (French,1748 – 1825) The oath of the
Horatii, 1784, oil on canvas, 326 x 420cm
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (French, 1780 – 1867 ) The
Valpincon Bather, 1808, Oil on canvas , 146 cm × 97 cm
The middle of the 19th century saw
the rise of Realism as a way of
describing the world. The figures are
less idealised, more honestly described,
and roughened brushwork is also now
being seen.
Gustave Courbet (French 1819-1877), The
Stonebreakers, 1849, oil on canvas, 165 x 257
cm
Nothing is ever purely one thing.
Courbet’s image, here, is Realist but it’s
referring back to Neoclassical ideas as
well. The figures are somewhat similar to
those on a Classical frieze.
A Burial at Ornans, 1849-50, oil on canvas,
315 x 668 cm
A more contemporary and realistic approach, and a
Concern with real people can also be seen in
sculpture from this period.
Antonio Canova (Italy, 1757-1852) The Three Graces,
marble, c. 1815, 173 X 97 X 57 cm.
Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917) , Little dancer of 14
years, originally wax with clothes, 1865 -1881,
approx. 108cm,cast in bronze in about 1921 after his
death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-hhIVqOtMY
The work of Eduard Manet (French, 1832 – 1883) was a development of Realism. He
also started to mess around with perspective (which critics and the Academy didn’t
like at all.) This effects the way we look at an artwork, and what we notice. Our
attention is drawn more to the surface of a work, and to the areas of colour and
tonal variation. These are the formal aspects of a work. The ‘window on the world’
style illusion of earlier years has started to crumble.
Execution of Maximilian, 1868-9, oil on
canvas, 252 x 302cm.
Eduard Manet (French 1832-1883), Luncheon
on the Grass, 1862-3, oil on canvas, 208 cm
× 266 cm
Manet’s work was hugely influential. The Impressionist group who followed him
also treated the body in a new way – (or rather, various new ways: they were not
all the same.)
Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926)
Woman with a parasol, 1875, oil on
canvas, 100 x 81cm
Auguste Renoir (French,1841-1919) Luncheon
of the boating party, 1880-81, oil on canvas,
130 x 176cm
Berthe Morisot (French, 1841-1895) Young woman
knitting, c. 1883, oil on canvas, 50 x 60cm.
From here on we start to see some women
artists, however they were still often expected to paint
either indoors or in protected places, rather than
outdoors doing landscapes. (Morisot was quite
unusual.) How could we describe this treatment of the
figure in this work? What kind of world is being
described here?
Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926) Woman Bathing,
1890–91, drypoint and aquatint ( a printing process)
36 x 27 cm.
Cassatt’s work shows the influence of Japonisme, that is, the
influence that Japanese art objects had on Europe and the
USA during the second half of 19th century. These two
images are strongly contrasting in terms of style of the
figure. What can we say about Cassatt’s image?
Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926) Maternal Caress,
1891, Drypoint and soft-ground etching, 37 x 27cm.
Utamaro, (Japanese) Midnight,
Hours of the Rat, mother
and sleepy child,
woodblock print 1791
Uh-oh.
Just when we thought we were starting to understand how things changed in the 19th
century, we find an artist who harked back to Neoclassical art in terms of use of perspective
and the artificial posing of the figures. This kind of ‘looking back’ goes on all the time.
Also, no one art movement describes all the art at any given time.
Seurat’s treatment of the figure though, is very modern. Seurat was interested in the science of
colour (as were many Impressionists) and his works used a technique called ‘pointillism.’ This
involved putting complementary colours side by side in little dots, or points, rather than
mixing a colour you want before putting it on the painting. Seurat called his work
‘Neo-Impressionist’. It is a far cry from the quick, daubing brushstrokes of some Impressionists,
Painting plein air.
How could we describe his treatment
of the figure?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNB9Vm6MoDQ
Georges Seurat (French 18591891) Sunday Afternoon on the
Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884-6,
oil on canvas, 208 x 310 cm