18th Century Art in Europe and the Americas
CHAPTER 29 NOTES
OBJECTIVES…HOLLA!!!
Grasp the essential intellectual thrusts of the
Enlightenment.
 Become familiar with the basic ideas
underlying Neoclassicism and Romanticism.
 See how Neoclassicism and Romanticism
differ.
 See what elements Neoclassicism and
Romanticism share.

VIVA LA REVOLUTIONS!!
 Scientific
Revolution (16th)
 Glorious Revolution (17th)
 Industrial Revolution (18th)
 American Revolution (18th)
 French Revolution (18th & 19th)
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
 Age
of Reason  Reaches its height in
mid-1700’s
 Influenced by Scientific
Revolution
 Belief in progress 
through reason, a better
society was possible
Voltaire
Civil Liberties
Freedom of
Religion
Freedom of
Speech
THOMAS
HOBBES
ARGUED FOR A
STRONG CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT
Diderot
ENLIGHTENMENT
Encylopedea
John Locke
Natural Rights:
Life, Liberty, and The
Pursuit of Property
Montesquieu
3 Branches of Government
ROCOCO
“Style of Louis XV”
 Rococo = coquillage +rocaille (shells & stones)
 Difference between Baroque & Rococo:

 B:
Theatrical, Grand-Scale, Dramatic
 R: Intimate, Playful, Tender, Whimsical

Pastel Colors predominate art
THE RISE OF ROCOCO

Rise of Rococo when Louis XIV dies  aristocracy
leave Versailles
 Build
elegant town houses (hotels)  Designed for
private living
“Age of Aristocrats”
 Focus on interior layout & décor (decorative arts)
 Concerned with intimate settings & individual
styles
 Spreads to aristocracy throughout Europe

CHURCH OF VIERZEHNHEILIGEN
“14 Auxiliary Saints”
 Complex arrangement of curved shapes
 NO straight lines
 Combination of painting, sculpture, and
architecture

Church of the Vierzehnheiligen
Johann Balthasar Neumann
1743-72
SALON DE LA PRINCESSE
GERMAIN BOFFRAND 1737-1740
BALTHASAR NEUMANN.
THE KAISERSAAL,
RESIDENZ, WURZBURG,
GERMANY. 1719-44.
FRESCOES BY GIOVANNI
TIEPOLO, 1751.
THE KAISERSAAL
CEILING FRESCO (DETAIL) FROM THE KAISERSAAL.
GIOVANNI BATTISTA TIEPOLO. 1751
PILGRIMAGE TO THE ISLAND OF CYTHERA

Jean-Antoine Watteau
 Original
Gangsta of French Rococo
 Studied Rubens and Giorgione
 Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera
 Fete-Galante

Elegant outdoor entertainment
A PILGRIMAGE TO CYTHERA. WATTEAU. 1717
WATTEAU
RUBENS
THE SIGNBOARD OF GERSAINT
WATTEAU.
PIERROT.
C. 1719
TRIUMPH OF VENUS

Francois Boucher
 Worked
in Versailles
 Best known for his mythological scenes
Goddess of love = Center
 Giant Shell
 Style similar to Rubens

Triumph of Venus
Francois Boucher
1740
FRANCOIS
BOUCHER. THE
TOILET OF
VENUS.
1751
THE MEETING

Jean-Honore Fragonard
 Commissioned
 Louis

by Madame du Barry
XV’s last mistress
The Meeting
 Secret
Encounter
 Entertaining Subject
 Lush Painting
The Meeting
Jean-Honore Fragonard
1771-73
THE BATHERS JEAN-HONORE FRAGONARD 1765
THE SWING.
JEAN-HONORE
FRAGONARD.
1766.
SATYR AND
BACCHANTE
CLODION
(CLAUDE MICHEL)
1775
MARIE ANTOINETTE

French Portrait Painters moved towards
naturalistic poses
 Informal

Marie-Louise-Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun
 Queen’s

personal portrait painter
Meant to counter her image as selfish and
extravagant
Portrait of Marie Antoinette
Marie-Louise-Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun
1787
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT

William Hogarth
 Believed
art should contribute to the improvement
of society
 Moralizing tales

Marriage based on love rather than aristocratic
intrigue
 Couple
on the couch
The Marriage Contract
William Hogarth
1743
AN EXPERIMENT
Enlightenment Inspired
 Industrial Revolution Inspired
 Caravaggio Inspired
 Really just inspired!!!

An Experiment
Joseph Wright
1768
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds was the most
important and influential of 18th
century English painters,
specializing in portraits and
promoting the "Grand Style" in
painting which depended on
idealization of the imperfect.
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Miss Elizabeth Ingram. 1757.
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Portrait Of Richard Peers Symons
1770.
ENGLISH NEOCLASSICAL
English
NEOCLASSICAL
Mrs. Richard Brinsley
Thomas Gainsborough
1787.
ROBERT ANDREWS AND HIS WIFE.
THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH. C. 1748-50
(THE GRAND MANNER)
MRS. SIDDONS.
THOMAS
GAINSBOROUGH.
1785
(THE GRAND
MANNER)
Thomas Gainsborough
The Blue Boy
1770
ENGLISH NEOCLASSICAL
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Thomas Gainsborough
EARLY ROMANTICISM AKA NEOCLASSICISM

Rococo

Sensuous

Roughly 1750 to 1850
Art reflects “the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was
Rome” (Poe)
Sought to revive the ideals of ancient Greek and Roman art
Reacted against the ornate, artificiality of the Rococo Period
Reflects reason & logic of Enlightenment
Inspired by Pompeii






1738
V.
Neoclassicism
Simple/Restrained
V.
Romanticism
Imagination/Emotions
NEOCLASSICAL
FRENCH
Jacques Louis David
Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres
Élisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
ENGLISH
William Hogarth
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Thomas Gainsborough
AMERICAN
Benjamin West
John Singleton Copley
Gilbert Stuart
CORNELIA POINTING TO HER CHILDREN AS HER
TREASURES
History Painting = Highest form of artistic
endeavor
 Exemplified “Good Mother”

Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures
Angelica Kauffmann1785.
NEOCLASSICAL
CHISWICK HOUSE
Reaction against Rococo
 Return to moral austerity
 Inspired by Palladio’s Villa Rotunda
 Ornate interior…Ironic???

RICHARD BOYLE AND WILLIAM KENT. CHISWICK
HOUSE. BEGUN 1725.
Andrea Palladio
Villa Rotonda, c1566.
HIGH ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Richard Boyle (Lord Burlington)
Chiswick House, c1729.
ENGLISH NEOCLASSICAL
THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE

Glorifies the British General James Wolfe
 Died
in a British Victory over the French
 7 Years War

A Random Indian???
The Death of General Wolfe
Benjamin West
1770
LATER 18TH CENTURY
Witnessed the fading fortunes of the Rococo
 Denis Diderot considered first art critic

 “To
Inpire virtue and purify manners.”
THE GOVERNESS

Jean-Simeon Chardin
 Still

Lifes and Domestic Scenes
Encourages benevolent exercise of authority
and willing submission
The Governess
Jean-Baptiste Chardin
 1739


DRUNKEN COBLER

Jean-Baptiste Greuz
 Middle

Class Drama
Drunken Father = Unhappy Family
Drunken Cobbler
Jean-Baptiste Greuze
1780-85
OATH OF HORATII

Jacques-Louis David
 Studied
antique sculpture
 Assimilated Principle of NEOclassicism

Inspired by a 17th century drama Horace
 Based
on ancient Roman historical texts
3 Sons of Horace = Rome
 Emotional chicks in the background
 Became an emblem of the French Revolution

Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1787.
DEATH OF MARAT
Jacobin Leader
 Radical Journalist
 Suffered skin ailment
 Stabbed by Charlotte Corday
 Displays quiet aftermath of the death
 Desk = Tombstone
 Martyr

NEOCLASSICAL
Jacques-Louis David
Death of Marat
1793.
DEATH OF MARAT (DETAIL)
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID. DEATH OF SOCRATES. 1787
DEATH OF SOCRATES (DETAIL)
Jacques-Louis David
Coronation of Napoleon & Josephine of 2 Dec 1804, 1806-7.
Palace of Versailles, France
Coronation at
Louvre (Original)
Coronation at
Palace of
Versailles
Coronation at
Louvre (Original)
Coronation at
Palace of
Versailles
NEOCLASSICAL
Jacques-Louis David
Napoleon Crossing
St. Bernard
1800-01.
NEOCLASSICAL
Jacques-Louis David
Napoleon in His Study
1812.
Cupid and Psyche
Antonio Canova
1787
GEORGE WASHINGTON
Jean-Antoine Houdon
 Naturalism
 Carved busts and full-length statues of many
important figures of his era
 Commissioned by Virginia Legislature
 Thirteen Rods = Colonies




George Washington
Jean-Antoine Houdin
1788
MONTICELLO (LITTLE MOUNTAIN)
Thomas Jefferson = Architect
 Based on Ancient Roman Temples
 Charlottesville, VA
 Embodies NEOClassical Stizzzyle

THOMAS
JEFFERSON.
MONTICELLO,
CHARLOTTESVIL
LE, VIRGINIA.
1770-84; 17961806
Thomas Jefferson, Monticello Charlottesville, VA, 1770-1806
AMERICAN NEOCLASSICAL
WATSON AND THE SHARK
John Singleton Copley
 Wealthy Clientele
 Commissioned by Brook Watson

 Wealthy

London Merchant
Pyramidal
John Singleton Copley
Samuel Adams, 1772.