art history

Art Period: 1789-1848 The French Revolution, European revolts.  Freedom in France inspired other revolutions as well Romantics espoused social independence, freedom, individual thought, expression  Opposes Enlightenment: based on emotion rather than reason  Pleasure seeking, audaciousness; extremes of human behaviors Delacroix and Goya most important figures  Romantics enjoyed a state of melancholy; depressed mindset Development of photography; new art form; no academies, formal teachings  Photographs rejected as works of art; marginalized populations used cameras as they were accessible; First instance of equal opportunity in the arts Architecture: Architecture characterized by a revival of nearly every style of the past; modern living corrupted by the Industrial Revolution; nostalgic of medieval times  Medieval art revived, as well as Egyptian, Islamic and Baroque  Bath homes in England done in Islamic style; Opera houses in Paris a...

Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) . London, England. Charles Barry and Augustus W.N. Pugin (architects). 1840–1870 C.E. Limestone masonry and glass. Early Victorian Era, across the River Thames.  Great fire burned down previous palace; competition was held for design of new building Gothic or Elizabethan; Gothic style, won by Charles Berry. Industrialization: modern world unsettled people, not beautiful.  Building uses modern innovation; concerned with ventilation.  Loved to compare Medieval world of faith with the new one revolving around money and fortune.  Regularity, rhythm and balance; symmetrical as opposed to the previous Gothic style.  Example of interest in historical architectural style. 1,1000 rooms, 100 staircases Modern office building inside, Medieval outside

Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On) . Joseph Mallord William Turner. 1840 C.E. Oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Oranges, Reds; Sunsets characteristic of the artist.  Thick sensuality of the paint. Foot, leg; shackles and chains; horror.  Carnage; no longer about a sunset/seascape; Ship carrying slaves.  Typhoon; Captain decided to throw the slaves overboard.  Swirl of waves and colors; mixture of beauty/power of nature; the punishment wreaked by nature is justified on that ship American slavery ends in Civil War; Whites, blues, purples, greys; based upon a poem. Emotional use of color; rapid brushstrokes; bloody sunset; dramatic impact

Still Life in Studio. Louis‐Jacques‐Mandé Daguerre. 1837 C.E. Photograph. However, it was not until the invention of a light sensitive surface by Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce that the basic principle of photography was born.  Louis Daguerre invented a new process he dubbed a daguerreotype in 1839, which significantly reduced exposure time.  Variety of textures: fabric, plaster, metal, wood  Shiny surface, great detail 

The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm). Thomas Cole. 1836 C.E. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hudson River School Painting. Founder of American Landscape painting; landscape ranked very low by the academies in Europe.  Painting not respected in American society; didn’t aim for anything extravagant, no grand, mythological scenes; Americans wanted portraits, or landscapes, or views.  Five or six feet wide: point Cole wanted to make. Landscape painting was considered lowly; made it in a campus comparable to highly renowned paintings.  He tries to use landscapes to say something big, convey a greater meaning; this is seen in his other works. Ambitious; Represents transformation, metamorphosis. It’s about America and what it’ll become. On the right, we see a storm-ravaged landscape; broken trees, rain the background, lightning bolts; birds are frantic.  Lush landscapes represents Eden: America as...

Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People , oil on canvas, September - December, 1830. Musee du Louvre, Paris, France. Romanticism; large canvases usually reserved for history painting, according to the rules of the Academy.  Contemporary; Parisians experienced this. Revolution against King Charles X and installed Louis Philippe.  Fighting on the streets of Paris, towers of Notre Dame; symbol of the monarchy.  Tricolor is the flag of the revolutionaries.  Liberty is an allegorical figure; symbolic. Personification of an idea.  Breasts resemble those of Greek/Roman sculptures; the birth of democracy.  Paris was a medieval city with narrow, winding streets; Liberty calls to move across the barrier, to move forward, move aggressively.  Liberty turns around to call the rebels; perfect classical profile reflects Greek and Roman sculpture.  People of all classes coming together; people in worn, ugly clothing; others in more form...

Yo no hai remedio (And There’s Nothing to Be Done) , from Los Desastres de la Guerra. Francisco de Goya. 1810-1823 C.E. Etching. A man, blind-folded, head downcast, stands bound to a wooden pole. Although the man’s off-kilter posture signifies defeat, he is yet heroic, an Alter Christus —another Christ. On the ground in front of him is a corpse, contorted, the spine twisted, arms and legs sprawled in opposite directions. His grotesque face looks out at us through obscured eyes as blood and brain matter ooze out of his skull and pool around his head. Other men, doubled-over and on their knees, are similarly secured to wooden stakes. To his right we see the cause of the carnage: a neat line of soldiers aim rifles at the men. The barrel of three rifles appear from the right edge of the picture, aimed at our messianic hero. Not only is he about to die, but his executioners are everywhere. There is nothing to be done.  Francisco Goya created the aquatint series The Disasters ...