Art History

Rococo

• 18th century (end of Baroque period)

• Decorative and ornamental, gaudy and elaborate styles (stucco), very playful

• Geared towards the rich

Neoclassical

• Around 1740-1900

• “Putting morals back into painting”, serious topics

• Characterized by clarity of form, sober colours, shallow space, strong horizontals and verticals that render a subject matter timeless

Romanticism

• Late 1700s

• “Common human’s story”

• Characterized by: awe of nature, interest in common emotions/feelings/moods/events, telling stories and events of human experiences

• Moving away from painting grand scenes involving religious archetypes/figures, focusing on individualized perspectives and thoughts

• Common painting themes: still life, portrait, landscape, emotion, genre/history

Realism

• 1840s-1890s

• Rural landscapes, working class life, people, cafés, city streets and frankness about the human body can be found in the art of this time period

• Transitions from rural to city and factory life is evident in art in this time period

• Transportation becomes more prominent and people seek life experiences out of the traditional rural setting

• Rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances and some social issues (child labour, 12-18 hours a day)

• People didn’t have access to photography (cameras) before this, so this era was essentially the equivalent to photos of society

Impressionism

• 1867-1886

• Small, thin, visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on light, time of day, passage of time, movement of people

• “En plein air”: outside, completed all in one shot

• Notable artists: Degas, Renoir, Monet, Seurat, Cassatt

18th century (1723-1759)

Rococo time period

1740-1900

Neo-Classicism time period

Late 1700s

Romanticism time period

1840s-1890s

Realism time period

1867-1886

Impressionism time period

1890s-1900s

Post-impressionism time period

1905-ish, short-lived

Fauvism time period

Bossi, The White Room

• 1744/45

• Stucco

• Only a few details are highlighted with colour, most is white against a gray background; embellishments of gold

• Lots of fantasy elements: dragons, cupids, also depicts warriors and fighters

Rococo and Impressionism

These two eras focused on the social aspects of life/society at the time

Post-Impressionism

• 1890s-1900s

• Art gets very distinctive based on the artist → more based on the artist’s vision rather than method

• Characterized by a subjective approach to painting, opting to evoke emotion rather than realism in their work (especially as cameras had been made more accessible to the general public)

  • Distortion of effect, rejected limitations, continued using vivid colours, thick paint, real life subjects

Fauvism

• 1905-ish (very short-lived)

• Way of painting that is very expressive

• Strong colours → non-realistic colour schemes to depict real life, contrast of colours is accentuated → underpaintings are complementary to colours and brushwork

• Fierce brushwork → laying colour side by side with short, staccato brushstrokes (this era came out of Impressionism, the brushwork shows its impact on Fauvism)

• Not worried about blending or mimicking what they’re actually seeing

• Leading artist was Henri Matisse

Cubism

• 1907-ish

• Perspective with a single viewpoint was abandoned and use was made of simple geometric shapes, interlocking planes, and later, collage

  • Should know how to do things by the rules in order to break them → people said that artists during this era didn’t learn traditional techniques, so they turned to this style, however, many were classically trained and decided to break the boundaries instead of staying confined within them

  • One subject from many different viewpoints, all at once

• Evoke emotional impact

Pop Art

• 1950s (post-war)

• Art based on modern culture and the mass media, especially as a critical or ironic comment on traditional fine art values

  • Especially after war, this era was very vibrant, bright, very happy and refreshing, people were drawn to it after such a violent and turbulent time

  • A lot of comments about misogyny

Andy Warhol

• Raised by a single mom

• Made art in New York, lived in a warehouse → grew a community of artists who would rent out space in his warehouse

• Had an obsession with anything popular at the time

• Died in 1962

Stucco

• Mixture of plaster, water, and chalk, used in ornament and decoration

• Splashed across the walls, used in churches as well

• Began to be used in the Baroque Period - 30 years later, the Rococo period used it in more and more decorative and elaborate ways

Antonio Bossi

• Most famous stucco room was created by him (The White Room), he went mad after his work

• His style was lacking in distinct forms and shapes, but played with light (soft, pastel) and involved many fantasy elements (dragons, for example); he just had fun with it and felt the joy and energy

• Fluid shapes; loose and casual

Watteau, Pilgrimage to Cythera

• 1717

Fragonard, The Swing

• 1767/68

David, Oath of the Horatii

• 1784

David, Death of Socrates

• 1787

David, Death of Marat

• 1793

David, The Intervention of the Sabine Women

• 1799

Ingres, Raphael and La Fornarina

• 1813

Ingres, Grande Odalisque

• 1814

Goya, The Third of May

• 1808

Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People

• 1830

Gericault, Raft of the Medusa

• 1818-19

Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere

• 1882

Manet, Olympia

• 1863

Manet, Luncheon on the Grass

• 1862-63

Seurat, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

• 1884-86

Monet, Water Lilies

• 1920

Monet, Cliff Walk at Pourville

• 1882

Degas, The Dance Class

• 1874

Renoir, The Swing

• 1876

Renoir

• Famous for his dappled light technique: he would apply a base colour, followed by dabbing a complementary colour on top

• Also famous for painting social settings

Renoir, The Luncheon of the Boating Party

• 1881

Mary Cassatt

• Impressionist

• American painter and printmaker

• Lived much of her adult life in France, where she befriended Edgar Degas and exhibited with the Impressionists

• Famous for her Impressionist paintings depicting everyday women of the late 19th century

Van Gogh, The Bedroom

• 1888

Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge

• Between 1892 and 1895

Matisse, The Red Room

• 1908

Matisse, The Swimming Pool

• 1952

Henri Matisse

• French painter, draughtsman, printmaker, sculptor

• Co-founder of the Fauvism art style, one of the most influential painters of the twentieth century

• Created art throughout the most decades (him and Picasso)

• At the end of his life, he was medically unwell → he created paper cutouts with an assistant who placed them down

Cezanne, Bathers

• 1906

Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

• 1907

Picasso, Girl Before A Mirror

• 1932

Picasso, Guernica

• 1937

Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans

• 1962

Warhol, The Gold Marilyn

• 1962

Theaster Gates

• A potter by training and a social activist by calling

• Transformed abandoned buildings to create community hubs in Chicago that connect and inspire those who still live there (and draw in those who don't) - a "miniature Versailles"

• Fervent belief that culture can be a catalyst for social transformation in any city, anywhere

• Created the Rebuild Foundation

Notable works: Civil Tapestry series, Black Vessel for a Saint, community hubs

Yayoi Kusama

• Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture - and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts

• Based in conceptual art and shows some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, Art Brut, pop art, and abstract expressionism.

• Works with lots of polka dots, themes of infinity and self-obliteration

Notable works: Infinity Mirror Rooms

Ai WeiWei

• Chinese artist and activist who produces a multifaceted array of creative work, including sculptural installations, architectural projects, photographs, and videos

• Triggered various forms of repression from Chinese authorities.

Notable works: Sunflower Seeds, Ghost Gu, Han Jar Overpainted with Coca-Cola Logo

Takashi Murakami

• Japanese contemporary artist, works in fine arts media (such as painting and sculpture) as well as commercial (such as fashion, merchandise, and animation)

• Known for blurring the line between high and low arts as well as co aesthetic characteristics of the Japanese artistic tradition and the nature of postwar Japanese culture

• Founder and President of Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd.

• Encompasses a wide range of media and is generally described as superflat

• Noted for use of color, incorporation of motifs from Japanese traditional + pop culture, flat/glossy surfaces, and content that could be described at once as "cute", "psychedelic", or "satirical"

Notable works: Take My Lonesome Cowboy