Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
Europe and America, 1700 – 1800
Background
Enlightenment
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No longer was faith the sole factor in constructing a dialog and an analysis of
the world and the environment.
Critical thinking now was based on empirical evidence, questions were asked
and answers were sought.
age of encyclopedias
Experiments were used to create a body of factual knowledge based on
provable evidence.
o Newton: the universe is ruled by mathematical/mechanical laws; God
as watchmaker, universe as watch
o John Locke (English) philosopher:
 If universe is rational society should be as well.
 Doctrine of Empiricism:
 Knowledge and comes to people through their sense
perception of material world.
 Perceptions lead to ideas.
 Humans are born good, not evil!!!
o No Original Sin!!!!
 Nature’s laws grant rights of life, liberty, property, and
freedom of conscience.
 Government is a contract to protect theses rights.
o If government does not fulfill these rights the
people have the right to overthrow the
government.
o Sound Familiar? What do you think the church
thought of this?
o Philosophes: France: Ills of humanity could be fixed by use of reason and
logic. Believed in a doctrine of progress and humans were perfectible.
o Diderot: French. Father of the encyclopedia. Effort to gather all
knowledge in one place.
o Voltaire: French. Introduced French to Locke and Newton. Attacked
arbitrary despotism and privileges of kings and nobles. Humans needed
old order (ancient regime) to vanish for human progress. Paved way for
French Revolution.
o Rousseau: French: Art, science, society, and civilization corrupted man
who is good in his primitive state (“natural man”). Human salvation only
exists by returning to the natural state of feeling. “All our natural
inclinations are right.”
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
Revolutions
 American and French
o Populace not satisfied with poor social and economic conditions
 Industrial:
o Steam engine
o Technological progress
o Greater wealth
o Greater mobility (transportation)
Art:
Two periods:
 Pre-Enlightenment = Rococo
 Enlightenment = Natural Art (genre, everyday life of ordinary people) and
Neoclassicism
Rococo
Louis XIV dies in 1715 and nobles leave Versailles to pleasures of town. Re-established
the political, social, and economic power of aristocracy. Aristocracts were now the
primary patrons in France.
Nobles wanted anew softer, more feminine style of art and architecture for their
Paris townhouses. Art and architecture should show the rich and elegant at play.
Feminine: Many of the most notable patrons of art were noble women.
Architecture:
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Rococo comes from rocaille = small pebbles and shells used to decorate grottoes.
Biggest influence of Rococo was on interiors. Exteriors were plain.
o Interiors were filled with exuberant and intricate designs. Walls melded
into vaults.
o Usually intricate design with sinuous, organic theme such as plants and,
most often, shells.
o Interiors were meant to be intimate places. They were in private (yet
grand) homes.
o Painting, sculpture, and architecture form one piece of art
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Figure 29-2 GERMAIN BOFFRAND, Salon de la Princesse, with painting by
CHARLES-JOSEPH NATOIRE and sculpture by J. B. LEMOINE, Hôtel de
Soubise, Paris, France, 1737–1740.
Versus
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
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Figure 25-33 JULES HARDOUIN-MANSART and CHARLES LE BRUN,
Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), palace of Louis XIV, Versailles, France, ca.
1680.
Figure 29-3 FRANÇOIS DE CUVILLIÉS, Hall of Mirrors, the Amalienburg,
Nymphenburg Palace park, Munich, Germany, early 18th century.
Figure 29-4 BALTHASAR NEUMANN, interior (top) and plan (bottom) of the
pilgrimage church of Vierzehnheiligen, near Staffelstein, Germany, 1743-1772.
o Influenced by Borromini. No straight lines. Lightness and delicacy.
Exterior looks like a traditional nave church but inside is full of surprises
with much designed on oval shapes.
Painting:
Watteau: An originator of Rococo painting style
Figure 29-5 ANTOINE WATTEAU, L’Indifférent, ca. 1716. Oil on canvas, 10” x
7”. Louvre, Paris. (The Indifferent One).
 Louis XIV as languid dancer.
Versus
Figure 25-30 HYACINTHE RIGAUD, Louis XIV, 1701. Oil on canvas, 9’ 2” x 6’
3”. Louvre, Paris.
Figure 29-6 ANTOINE WATTEAU, Return from Cythera, 1717. Oil on canvas, 4’
3” x 6’ 4 1/2”. Louvre, Paris.
 Watteau created a new topic of painting: Fete Galante (Amorous festival)
o Outdoor entertainments of French high society.
o When submitted to the French Royal Academy of Painting and
Sculpture they had to create a new category for the painting.
 Is Watteau a Poussinist or a Rubenist?
 Watteau swung early 18th C. style to Rubenistas side from the Poussinists.
 Luxurious lovers on a pilgrimage to Cythera, the island of eternal youth and
love.
o Voluptuous forms, sweet sentiment, elegant
Boucher
Watteau died young (37) and his dominant place was taken by his student Francois
Boucher.
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Portraitist, but his fame rested on idyllic landscapes full of frolicking shepherds
and mythic characters. Prominence from Madame Pompadour’s patronage.
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
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Figure 29-7 FRANÇOIS BOUCHER, Cupid a Captive, 1754. Oil on canvas, 5’
6” x 2’ 10”. The Wallace Collection, London.
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Baroque diagonal recession
Crisscross diagonals
Drapes play peek-a-boo with nudity.
Fantasy art for patrons living in a fantasy world.
Fragonard
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Boucher’s greatest student
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Figure 29-1 JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD, The Swing, 1766. Oil on canvas,
approx. 2’ 8 5/8” x 2’ 2”. Wallace Collection, London.
o Pastel colors
o Lover is painting’s patron
o Funny: Unsuspecting bishop is swinging girl and giving lover a good look
up her skirt (which she likes)
o Landscape out of Watteau.
Giambattista Tiepolo
Figure 29-8 GIAMBATTISTA TIEPOLO, Apotheosis of the Pisani Family, ceiling
fresco in the Villa Pisani, Stra, Italy, 1761-1762. Fresco, 77’ 1” X 44’ 3”.
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Austrian origin, worked in Italy.
Retained 17th C. illusionism but reduced rhetoric to a softened picture of the
Apotheosis of an entire family.
Monumental but retains bright cheerfulness of Rococo easel paintings.
Clodion
Figure 29-9 CLODION, Satyr Crowning a Bacchante, 1770. Terracotta, 1’ 5/8” high.
Louvre, Paris.
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Small scale (table top) terra cotta (fired clay) works. Good for intimate Rococo
interiors
Themes of Rococo fantasies
Satyr Crowning a Bacchante, pose from Cellini’s salt cellar?
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
Art influenced by Technology and Science
Figure 29-10 JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY, A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the
Orrery, ca. 1763–1765. Oil on canvas, 4’ 10” x 6’ 8”. Derby Museums and Art Gallery,
Derby.
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Note use of tenebrism
Celebration of the inventions of the Industrial Revolution
People composed in a circle around orrery, which is a depiction of the circles
(ellipses really) of planetary orbits.
Realistic, which was preferred style of industrialists (new category or patron).
A scene of excitement about the future (perfectibility of humans).
Figure 29-11 ABRAHAM DARBY III and THOMAS F. PRITCHARD, iron bridge at
Coalbrookdale, England, 1776–1779.
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First use of iron in bridge design.
New materials used for traditional architectural projects
Beginning of the aesthetic of exposed skeletal structure in later centuries (Crystal
Palace and Eiffel Tower).
“Natural” Art: The Influence of Rousseau
If man is most perfect in his “natural” state, it would follow that the decadent lifestyles of
the aristocracy would be one of the most corrupt states of humanity. To paint humanity
at its best (least corrupt), one should paint scenes of simple, uncorrupted people, who are
most in touch with nature. That is peasants and farmers.
Figure 29-12 JEAN-BAPTISTE-SIMÉON CHARDIN, Saying Grace, 1740. Oil on
canvas, 1’ 7” x 1’ 3”. Louvre, Paris.
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Painted scenes of simple life: interior genre, mothers and children
Can see heavy influence of Dutch genre paintings
Yet his patrons were aristocrats and Louis XV!!! He was also a very important
official in the Salon system.
Figure 29-13 JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE, Village Bride, 1761. Oil on canvas, 3’ x 3’
10 1/2”. Louvre, Paris
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Audience and patrons expanded as technology created more wealth. Aristocratic
social hierarchy gave way to bourgeois social system.
More depictions of “natural” virtue of the way of life of simple people.
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
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o Emotional scene of father giving his daughter and her dowry to new
husband
o Happiness is a reward for “natural” virtue.
Again, influence of Dutch genre paintings.
Figure 29-14 ÉLISABETH LOUISE VIGÉE-LEBRUN, Self-Portrait, 1790. Oil on
canvas, 8’ 4” x 6’ 9”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
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Rare woman who was a member of the Academy
o Membership rescinded after French Revolution (no girls allowed, seems
counter-intuitive that rights would be more restricted after the
Revolution).
Stylistically she presents herself in a natural pose, as if she had just turned from
painting to speak to the viewer.
o Portrays herself as independent and confident
Worked for nobility throughout Europe
o Portraits of Marie Antoinette
Influence of “Natural” Art in England
Figure 29-15 WILLIAM HOGARTH, The Marriage Settlement, Breakfast Scene,
from Marriage à la Mode, ca. 1745. Oil on canvas, 2’ 4” x 3’. National Gallery,
London.
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Influenced by Rococo artists in France. Yet he did not extol virtues of aristocracy
but used the style for social criticism of the newly rich in England in his series of
paintings and engravings.
o Paintings and engravings were often made to be seen as a set of images
that would convey a series of narratives to make a moral point.
 Marriage Settlement: Arranged marriage between the heir of a
bankrupt earl and the daughter of a miserly merchant. Can you see
signs that the marriage may not be successful?
 Breakfast Scene: Newly married couple shown after a night of
independent, dubious activity. Note woman’s spread legs,
woman’s cap being pulled out of man’s coat by dog (symbol of
faithfulness).They are going broke and have questionable taste
(dirty picture on wall, covered with curtain – only for men to see).
o Beer Street vs. Gin Lane: Drinking water was dangerous due to poor
sanitation and ignorance of germ theory. Better to drink beer (alcohol
kills germs) than gin (too much alcohol). Compare with Ambrogio
Lorenzetti’s Effects of Good Government.
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
Figure 29-16 THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, 1787. Oil
on canvas, 7’ 2 5/8” x 5’ 5/8”. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Andrew W.
Mellon Collection).
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Contrasting blend of Rococo and “naturalistic” styles.
Portrait of a lovely woman dressed informally (yet clearly of the aristocratic class)
in a rustic setting (like Watteau’s Fete Galante). Wind rustles her scarf.
o Gainsborough preferred landscape painting but was paid better with
portraiture.
Treatment of dress and landscape shows clear influence of French Rococo, but the
understated elegance of the subject brings a naturalness to the image.
Figure 29-17 SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, Lord Heathfield, 1787. Oil on canvas, 4’ 8” x
3’ 9”. National Gallery, London.
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GRAND MANNER PORTRAITURE:
o Late 18th C. portraits of people who participated in great events.
o Individualized portraits but the sitter is elevated through the portrayal of
refinement and elegance.
o Sitter’s grace and class were conveyed by the scale of the sitter in relation
to the size of the canvas, the pose, the landscape, and low horizon line
(looking up at sitter).
More heroic morality than Grueze.
Virtues of honor, valor, and patriotism portrayed as “natural” virtues.
o Produced great people through great deeds
o Nobility is a function of character, not aristocratic birth.
Note cannons of defeated army.
Holds key to Gibraltar which he successfully defended.
Figure 29-18 BENJAMIN WEST, Death of General Wolfe, 1771. Oil on canvas,
approx. 4’ 11” x 7’ National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (gift of the Duke of Westminster,
1918).
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American who studied in Europe and painted in England.
West was co-founder of the Royal Academy of Arts and a president of the
organization.
Official painter of King George III even during the American Revolution.
Death of General Wolfe
o Innovative combination of conventions of traditional heroic painting with
a look of modern realism.
o General Wolfe dies as his troops win the battle.
o Grieving soldiers like a martyrdom of a saint painting.
 Death in service of state is like that of a religious martyr.
Tenebrism
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
Figure 29-19 JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY, Portrait of Paul Revere, ca. 1768–1770.
Oil on canvas, 2’ 11 1/8” x 2’ 4”. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (gift of Joseph W.,
William B., and Edward H. R. Revere).
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American who also emigrated to England after his painting style matured in
Massachusetts.
Portrait of Paul Revere painted before Copley left for England and before Revere
was a famous American patriot.
Unlike Grand Manner Portrait:
o Sense of directness with sitter and faithful to visual facts.
o American taste for plainness and honesty.
o Plain setting, direct eye contact with viewer, in shirt sleeves (informal)
with tools and product of his trade (silversmith).
Figure 29-20 ANTONIO CANALETTO, Riva degli Schiavoni, Venice, ca. 1735-1740.
Oil on canvas, 1’ 6 ½” X 2’ 7/8”. Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo.
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GRAND TOUR:
o Wealthy Europeans and Americans traveled to important cultural sites in
Italy to become more cultured. Lasted for months or years.
o Travelers wanted paintings of the places they had visited to remind them
of their travels and also impress visitors to their homes.
o Wanted “naturalness” in their landscapes.
o Scenic views (vendute) were created by artists as keepsakes of their
travels.
Canaletto used camera obscura (like Vermeer) to create faithful renditions of the
cityscape of Venice. Yet he took liberties to improve the scene by omitting
certain details to give a more pleasing venduta.
Neoclassicism: The Revival of Classicism
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Grand Tour fueled a revived interest in classicism.
Enlightenment’s emphasis on rationality is part of the reason for the focus on
classic art.
o Geometric harmony in art and architecture fit Enlightenment’s ideals.
o Pinnacle of civilized society and political organization.
o Traditions of civic virtue, liberty, morality, and sacrifice fit
Enlightenment’s ideals (e.g. Death of General Wolfe and Lord
Heathfield)
o Very appealing to revolutionaries in France and America.
Excavations of Herculaneum (begun in 1738) and Pompeii (1748) added to
the appetite for all things classic.
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
Figure 29-22 ANGELICA KAUFFMANN, Cornelia Presenting Her Children as Her
Treasures, or Mother of the Gracchi, ca. 1785. Oil on canvas, 3’ 4” x 4’ 2”. Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (the Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund).
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Born in Switzerland, educated in Italy, and worked primarily in England.
Example of exemplum virtutis (model of virture) in that Cornelia recognizes that
true riches are her children not gold.
Replace modern settings for moralizing paintings (Greuze and Hogarth) with
classical settings and costumes.
o Severely Roman setting
o No Rococo motifs
o Composition and drawing are simple and direct.
Figure 29-23 JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID, Oath of the Horatii, 1784. Oil on canvas,
approx. 10’ 10” x 13’ 11”. Louvre, Paris.
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Story from pre-Republican Rome
Rome and Alba agree to let three soldiers from each side fight instead of whole
armies.
Horatius brothers swearing to fight to the death
Swooning Horatius women on right. Either their brothers will die or their
husbands (the Alba warriors they are married to) will die. Subtext: women are
too weak to understand the need for sacrifice.
Symmetrical, classical architectural setting
Poussinist or Rubenist?
Figure 29-24 JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID, The Death of Marat, 1793. Oil on canvas,. 5’
5” x 4’ 2 1/2”. Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels.
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Marat was a revolutionary and friend of David who was stabbed in his bath by an
assassin from a rival political faction.
Simple composition, directly portrayed with details of assassination scene.
Composed to make Marat look like a martyr of the Revolution (based on Christ in
Michelangelo’s Pieta).
Post-Script: David was a member of the Jacobin party (same party as Robespierre) who
ruled the Revolution with the Bloody Terror. Jacobins were ousted and mostly killed.
Marat was spared because Napoleon thought he could make good paintings of/for him
(remember the power of art in conveying power and legitimacy). In the end, David
ended up making paintings that glorified Napoleon. Very different from the political
sentiments he started out with.
Figure 29-25 JACQUES-GERMAIN SOUFFLOT, Pantheon (Sainte-Genevieve), Paris,
France, 1755-1792.
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
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Inspired from ruins discovered in Lebanon at a temple for Jupiter.
Columns of ruins reproduced
Severely blank walls
Colonnaded dome is a neoclassical version of St. Peter’s in Rome.
Based on Greek Cross plan (like St. Paul’s in London)
Figure 29-26 RICHARD BOYLE and WILLIAM KENT, Chiswick House, near
London, England, begun 1725.
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English adopted Neoclassicism too. They liked:
o Rationality and integrity
o Athenian democracy
o Roman imperial rule (England had a king and a parliament).
o Simplicity and directness in contrast to Baroque architecture
MODELED ON PALLADIO’S VILLA ROTUNDA
o Clear alternative to Versailles
o Simple symmetry, unadorned planes, right angles
o “English” informal and irregular gardens soften the severity of the
building.
Figure 29-21 ROBERT ADAM, Etruscan Room, Osterley Park House, Middlesex,
England, begun 1761. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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Based on fresco paintings discovered in Pompeii (3rd and 4th styles)
Figure 29-30 JEAN-ANTOINE HOUDON, George Washington, 1788-1792. Marble, 6’
2” high. State Capitol, Richmond.
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Life-size sculptural equivalent of a Grand Manner portrait of Washington
Contemporary clothes but references to Rome with the column he leans on
o Thirteen rods bound together (fasces) as a symbol of authority.
o Plow behind him alludes to Cincinatus (Roman dictator who retired back
to his farm when the military danger was over).
o Wears a badge of the Society of Cincinatus.
o Washington does not hold a sword.
Figure 29-31 HORATIO GREENOUGH, George Washington, 1840. Marble, 11’ 4”
high. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
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Washington became a mythic character after his death.
Portrayal of Washington as an Olympian god did not go down well.
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Europe and America, 1700 - 1800
Figure 29-28 THOMAS JEFFERSON, Monticello, Charlottesville, United States, 1770–
1806.
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Neoclassical style was called Federal style in U.S.
Jefferson admired Roman architecture while ambassador to France.
Admired Palladio’s work and read his treatises on architecture
MODELED ON PALLADIO’S VILLA ROTUNDA AND CHISWICK
HOUSE BUT USED LOCAL MATERIALS OF WOOD AND BRICK.
Figure 29-29 THOMAS JEFFERSON, Rotunda and Lawn, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, Virginia, 1819-1826.
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Modeled on Pantheon like a Roman temple in a forum. Sits on a platform
overlooking colonnaded lawn.
Jefferson worked to get Neoclassicism adopted as the national style. Why do you think
he wanted this?
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