Age of Revolution Art

Origins of Neoclassicism

Origins of Neoclassicism

• order, symmetry

• throwback to greek and romans

• stuff discovered in pompeii

Neoclassicism

• order

• calm, serious tone

• greek and roman history

• draw with lines not color

• inspirational

• founder = David

Oath of Horatii

• David, Louvre

• Horatii's brothers’ oath to dad that they’ll win fight with rival bros (Alba Longa)

• 3 v 3 fight

• left: 3 hortii, right: sister hortii engaged to curaitli brother

• loyalty of brothers - loyalty to country

• women = passive, males = active

• roman form of painting → neocassical

Death of Marat

• David 1793, neoclassicism

• marat dead in bath

• hero of FR

• killed working in a bathtub

• propaganda - corday = bad, marat = good

• marat - writing a letter

• david saw marat before his death

Napoleon Crossing the Alps

• David, neoclassical

• Nap leading troops across alps

  • against Austria

• comissioned by king Charles IV (Spain)

• not accurate

• davids signature (breast of horse)

La Grande Odalisque

• 1814, Louvre, neoclassicism

• Ingres

• Odalisque - harem girl

• staying in Seraglio - women’s apartments of a sultan

• comissioned by nap’s sister (Ingres never got the money bc nap died) :(

• VERY criticized

  • nude but not god

  • direct eye contact w viewer

  • drugs on her bed (hash pipe)

  • closeup view

• problems w painting

  • rly long back

  • leg not rly attatched to hip

  • no bones??

    • defenders think ingres wasn’t trying realism

Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker

• 1806, Canova, neoclassical

• napoleon roman statue style

• nap didn’t want to be nakey for this

• idealized figure; roman god like

• kinda contrapposto pose

• holding nike in his hand

• nap didn’t want to display this

• people thought he made himself look good on purpose

• nap and french critics hated it

• Canova knew this

  • he was annoyed that napoleon allowed looting of italian art pieces

  • he was a devout catholic and pope supporter - napoleon was against church

Chiswick House, 1725 & Monticello, 1770-1896

• both are neoclassical

• pediment, frieze, colums, domes, symmetry

• Chiswick house - Britain neoclassical

  • symmetry = reaction against baroque

• Thomas Jefferson took neoclassical stuff to colonies when he designed his house Monticello

• neoclassical

Romantic Art

• return to nature

• justice for all

• emotion > reason

• less poised and restrained tan neoclassical

• sublime: nature creates pain in viewer

The Bloody Massacre

• Paul Revere

• propaganda of boston massacre, we hate britain

  not an accurate representation

• british: stoic, colonists: horror

• Crispus Attucks - first person killed

• poem by paul revere

• engraved by PR, someone else drew it

• revolutionary

Third of May

• Goya

• nap marching and conquered spain

• shows massacre of spanish freedom fighters

  • bc they tried to rebel

• propaganda against french

• nap = no mercy, suffering of spanish

• Goya = French > before but now spanish >

  • painting was to “apologize”

• people not at peace with death

• romantic

Liberty Leading the People

• Eugene Delacroix

• notre dame in back

• July Revolution of 1830

• dead ppl: french military, vulnerability of the time

• She leads ppl from all classes (bourgeouise → man in top hat; young student → boy with pistolts)

• bare breast = antiquity

• revolutionary

Rain, Steam, and Speed

• Turner

• industrial revolution → “pushing Europe forward”

  • celebrate railroad, v. fast (contrast btwn old brige and new, modern bridge on right)

  • loose brush strokes → impressionism

• revolutionary

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

• Francisco Goya, romanticism

• “Los Caprichos” series (80 pieces)

  • satire - exposes bad stuff bout spanish society

• Goya asleep @ desk with a nightmare

  • Creatures associated with evil

  • caption: art is reason and imagination

• VERY criticized - disturbing piece

• “aquaint” - resin/wax on metal - not a painting

  • metal dipped in acid

• romantic

Saturn Devouring His Son

• Goya

• not meant for public

• painting on a wall - Goya’s dining room

• Saturn eating sons so they don’t overthrow him

• represents dictators afraid of losing their own power

  • or maybe Goya went insane in old age

• romantic

The Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

• isolated frail man (cane)

• Friedrich

• nature stuff, vast, sublime

• ruckenfigure: person viewed from behind

• maybe self-portrait

• Germany

• romantic

Raft of Medusa

• Gericault

• Survivors of French naval ship

• survivors of boat as ship coming to rescue them (titanic vibes)

• many died; cannibalism

• sailed to safety in africa

• ship in painting passes by them

• criticized by neoclassical artists

• romantic

The Slave Ship

• Turner

• slaves pushed overboard

• capitains are still paid if slaves die from ocean, not if from disease

  • orders sick and dying slaves off

• so much nature, slave insurance money

• humans suck, nature good

• beautiful sunset v. gruesome death → fear, panic

• dehumanization of slave trade

• romantic

Background to Baroque Art

• religious tensions, more science, growth of absolutist monarchies

  • cath v. prot, science and exploration, growth of monarchies

  • church said art should be religious

  • dissection and anatomical realism

  • rich catholics comission paintings

• rough, irregularly shaped

Baroque Art

• extravagant display

• dramatic realism

• everyday realism

• chiaroscuro: light & dark; light adds dimension

• Tenebrism: dark bakground and light from a source outside the painting

The Calling of St. Matthew

• Caravaggio

• Levi the tax collecter

• jasus pointing at levi to follow him

• drama and realism

• looks like a photo

• greedy guy Levi → apostle St. Matthew

• don’t know who Levi is

• baroque

• tenebrism

The Cardsharps

• Caravaggio

• strong cardplayers prey on weaker players

• rich guy playing with “card sharks”

• Car’s first masterpiece

• shady pickpocket guy (finger w/o gloves)

• trying to rob rich player guy in black

• tenebrism from left side = evil

• moment of drama and realism

• boy = repercussions of straying from the church

• baroque

Las Meninas

• “ladies in waiting”

• Velazquez

• painting of king and queen of spain

• princess margaret theresa being attended to by ladies in waiting

• in Madrid at Museo del Prado

• baroque

The Night Watch

• Rembrandt van Rijn

• men of Captain Cocq and Liutenant Ruytenburch

• militia group, action shot

• group paid Rembrandt for a portait; posed

• dead chicken = mascot

• not supposed to be nightime, dark bc of dust and dirt

• baroque

David

• in action, throwing stone at Goliath

• more dramatic, assymetrical → emotion on face

• realism - everyday

• different from michealangelos (his was sstoic

• baroque

St. Theresa of Avila in Ecstasy

• Bernini

• nun, had a vision that angel would stab her in the heart with a flaming arrow → painful ecstasy

• scare people who left catholicism to come back to catholic church

• in Cornaro burial chapel (very detailed, borderline rococo)

• baroque

Baptistère of Saint Louis

• Secular Islamic art

• went from Mamluk Sultanate to the French court - unknown how

• louvre

• detailed

• fleur-de-lis (small round disks or decorative medallions)

• roundels -  symbol of the French royal family

• scenes from the Mamluk court

• not religious

Carpet

• many were prayer rugs

• many secular

• Ardabil carpet - many years to complete

• geometric patterns

• golden medallion

• 2 lamps

• lots of knots