art history final

The term “Renaissance” was coined in the 19th century by Jules Michelet. As we discussed in class, it is not the most appropriate term to define the European cultural period of 1400 to 1600, because:

“Renaissance” suggests a rebirth of culture, but in fact the period resulted from a continuous cultural development rather than a radical break with the previous period.  

What are some of the general characteristics of Renaissance Art? 

Developed across Europe. It is characterized by a Humanist approach to religious and mythological themes, the use of sophisticated symbolism, allegory, and narrative, and an idealized naturalism and beauty, especially in the depiction of the human body. 

lists three artists and architects who were crucial to the development of linear perspective?  

2. Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Albrecht Durer 

Describe Masaccio’s The Tribute Money (1425,)

uses continuous narrative, use of perspective, gestures, and composition to tell a biblical story.

lists the names of key Fifteenth Century Renaissance artists? 

5. Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Masaccio, Paulo Ucello, Piero della Francesca, Ghirlandaio, Sandro Boticelli. 

How did Brunelleschi solve the problem of building the large dome of Santa Maria di Fiore cathedral (Florence Cathedral) without using flying buttresses? 

5. He used a double-shell design and incorporated between the two shells a series of iron and wooden chains to act as belts, countering the outward thrust of the dome and keeping the structure intact.  

Most art historians agree that the “High Renaissance” in Italy developed between the years 1495 and 1520, or 1495 and 1527. These years have been chosen because:

3. Leonardo da Vinci began painting his Last Supper in 1495, Raphael died in 1520, and Rome was sacked in 1527, thus ending this brief period of artistic splendor.  

Provide a detailed interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper (1495-8)

The subtle use of simultaneous narrative to portray several different referenced scenes at once, as well as the use of perspective and visual narrative.

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling frescoes are notable for their use of…..

1. Use of quadratura, perfection in the depiction of bodies, compositional complexity, and narrative sophistication. 

Compare Donatello’s, Verocchio’s, and Michelangelo’s David. What similarities and differences do you see between the three sculptures? Consider theme, narrative, style, and the depiction of the male body.

theme, narrative, style, and the depiction of the male body in a nude form or clothed form.

The “School of Venice,” represented by artists such as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, and Titian, is notable for its prioritizing of….

colorito (color) over disegno (composition). 

Northern Renaissance art is characterized by…

distinct roots and developed from the International Gothic style that was prevalent in northern Europe, as well as from a northern brand of humanism marked by High Gothic culture, the reinterpretation of Christianity, and, later, the Reformation.  

Observe the Mérode Altarpiece (1425-8), attributed to Robert Campin’s workshop (below). List as many iconographical signs and symbols as you can from all three panels, with a brief explanation of their meaning.  

The lone white candle in the middle panel: The holy spirit 

The water basin: Mary’s purity 

White lilies: Mary’s purity 

Joseph making mouse traps: A reference to a verse from the bible of the devil and Jesus and temptation. 

The open window: Light/ holy light/the sky. 

Mary in red: Referencing the blood of christ. 

Little Jesus: A little tiny baby Jesus flying through the window towards Mary’s womb. 

A subtle light on Mary’s Stomach: Referencing Jesus in her Womb. 

the angels liturgical dress

the chimney

who are the three “great masters” of early Northern Renaissance? 

1. Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden. 

Bosch’s great tryptics, such as The Last Judgment (1482), can be interpreted as…

2. Moral warnings of the fate of humanity if humans continue to behave the way they are behaving.  

The term “Baroque” is used by historians to name the Western period of roughly 1600 to 1800.. Is it a period of a style or a cultural period?

4. The Baroque is a cultural period of art that may be identified across different cultural forms, such as fine art, music, architecture, theatre, and literature. 

What are some of the general characteristics of Baroque Art?

Intense drama, deep emotional expression, grand scale, and elaborate ornamentation. Chiaroscuro.

Which of the following lists the names of  “great masters” of Baroque art? 

5. Caravaggio, Bernini, Reubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velásquez. 

Compare Caravaggio’s and Artemisia Gentileschi’s versions of the subject of Judith slaying Holofernes. Note their similarities and differences.

They share an intense use of chiascuro that emphasizes the figures in the scene and creates a focal point that draws the viewer’s attention to the act being committed.  

Caravaggio's piece, one defining difference compared to Artemisia’s peice is the lack of agency seen the female figures committing the violent act.

Artemisia’s depiction, there is a clear sense of weight and pressure in both women, as well as in the atmosphere. Judith’s expression, as well as the suggestion of the physical effort it takes to commit the violent act against Holofernes.  

Describe the stylistic differences between Michelangelo’s David (1501-4), and Bernini’s David (1623-24), focusing on the changes in style from Renaissance to Baroque.

Michelangelo’s David depicts a young adult man –Stable, strong, resolute, contemplating the act he is about to commit in killing goliath. Yet, compared to Bernini’s David, we see David amid his act, in motion and visibly determined.

The main difference between the two sculptures is the urgency and the moment in time.

Bernini’s David contrasts with Michelangelo’s in terms of emotional and physical intensity, Bernini’s sculpture highlighting the growing trend of emotional intensity in facial expression and the theatricality of capturing moments in time and mid movement snapshots. 

Some commentators have seen Artemisia Gentileschi’s paintings of women who exercise power or agency against men as a form of “symbolic vengeance” created in response to the rape that she suffered when she was 18 years old. However, this interpretation is problematic, because: 

5. In painting women who exercise violence and power against men, Artemisia was adhering to a well-established trope, “the power of women”, which many artists before and after her focused on, many of which were men.  

The “Three Great Masters” of 17th Century Flemish Painting are: 

5. Jacob Jordaens, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck.  

Dutch Golden Age painting is characterized by: 

9. Medium and small scale, secular themes, naturalism, attention to detail, frequent ‘genre’ scenes. 

Rembrandt's Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq (1642) is considered one of the greatest achievements of Baroque painting because it:

Its depiction of a civic guard company features a highly dynamic composition that transforms a conventional group portrait into an impromptu scene full of movement, light, symbolism, and psychological engagement. 

what are the names of important Baroque women artists? 

3. Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabetta Sirani, Rosalba Carreira. 

The Spanish Baroque style is characterized by its: 

3. Austerity, sparsity, tenebrism, drama, “purified” iconography in line with Counterreformation. 

José de Ribera’s paintings of Martyrs and his series The Condemned should be interpreted as: 

3. Warnings of the consequences of veering away from the Catholic Church.  

Velásquez’s Las meninas (1656) is celebrated for its sophisticated composition, theme, and intellectualism. Provide a thoughtful and detailed interpretation of this painting, focusing on its implicit or “deep” meaning. 

One interpretation of this specific element of the piece is that it could be a transgressive commentary on the social class and placing a potentially lower-class viewer in the position of the king and queen through their eyes.

This may suggest a sort of philosophical meaning as well; That there cannot be a neutral observer.

The French Baroque style is characterized by its: 

2. Classicism, clarity, Mannerist influence, naturalism, academicism.  

Nicolas Poussin’s painting Et in Arcadia Ego (1650) can be interpreted as:

A memento mori.  

The Rococo style is characterized by its:

2. Elaborate ornamentation, the use of curvy and sinuous lines, pictorial effects, sinuous movement, sentimentalism, and depiction of idyllic themes.  

The “Brooklyn Biombo” (1697-1701) exemplifies that: 

The Baroque is a complex global phenomenon, informed by globalization, colonialism, cultural exchange between the West and other civilizations, and Christian evangelization. 

describe Neoclassicism.

A broad cultural movement that emerged in France in the last decades of the 18th century.

It evolved from the French Baroque and was a reaction against Rococó. Heroic subjects, clarity, harmony, stability, and references to Greek and Roman antiquity, are characteristics of this period that are present in painting, sculpting, and the graphic arts, as well as in music, literature, and drama.

It was appealing to both the French revolutionaries and nobility and embraced the ideals of the Enlightenment. 

Provide an interpretation of Jacques-Louis David’s Oath of the Horatii (1784). Your answer should address the painting’s theme (including the three women and the children to the right), style, and relevance in the context of the French revolution.

Two Italian families are sent to fight each other for a battle. The sisters and wives of either side, no matter who wins or loses, is going to see loss. Everyone is affected by this fight between factions, because either side is going to see loss.

Someone that means something to someone on both sides is going to end up dead. And so, this piece doesn't just display heroism or determination, but also melancholy and despair.

This also represents the French Revolution by showing bravery and willingness to die for their cause despite the ones that may mourn them.

Which of the following lists contains the title of a work that does not belong to Neoclassicism? 

5. Arc de Triómphe, The Raft of the Medusa, Death of Socrates. 

Describe Romanticism.

a cultural movement, rather than an artistic style. It is characterized by focus on clarity, harmony, stability, as well as frequent references to Greek and Roman antiquity

In class, we discussed Immanuel Kant’s concept of the sublime. In Kant’s view, the feeling of the sublime can be divided into two moments. These moments are:

Apprehension caused by a great power or a great extension of nature, and a feeling of elevation or transcendence derived from the intuition that we can rationally understand such phenomena of nature.

Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa (1818-19) depicts the harrowing aftermath of an actual shipwreck that took place off the coast of Western Africa in 1816. This is a political painting, because:

It depicts and highlights a politically controversial event. The captain saved himself before saving his passengers, was not skilled at navigation, and obtained his position through political influence rather than merit. The public used this episode against King Louis XVIII. 

Which of the following interpretations most accurately explains the relationship between Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People (1830) and the July Revolution of 1830?

The painting uses the allegorical figure of Liberty to unite citizens from different social classes in a symbolic representation of the July Revolution, celebrating popular resistance against Charles X while expressing Romantic ideals of freedom, heroism, and national identity. 

Realism was a French artistic movement that developed in the aftermath of the French Revolution. This movement rejected…

Rejected both Romanticism and academic art, sought to give unembellished representations of everyday life and ‘ordinary’ people, and frequently focused on the rural poor and social issues. 

Provide a thoughtful and detailed interpretation of Edouard Manet’s Le dejeneur sur l’herbe (1862-3) that speaks to its thematic ambiguity and formalist tendency.  

the casualness of the scene is because this sort of activity was so normalized. Well... At least to the men.

The naked woman looks directly at us, the viewer, and not engaging in the scene. She does not feel that same casual nature as the men around her and almost calls out the oddness of the scene that's been normalized.

It's normal for the men, but the women feel subjectified and are forced to just feel indifferent about the things happening around them and the way men subject them. 

 

Impressionism is a fine arts movement and style that is characterized by…

1. Short quick brushstrokes, quick execution, representation of scenes from everyday life, plein air painting, and a focus on the effects of light and atmosphere.  

What are the names of four important Postimpressionist artists?

Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne. 

Art Nouveau is:

An international style of art, architecture, applied art, and design. It draws inspiration from organic forms and features asymmetrical compositions, sinuous lines, arabesque motifs, and decorative elements. The style sought to erase the boundary between ‘high’ art and crafts. 

What are some aspects of Modern (Avant-garde) Art?

rejecting realistic representation in favor of abstraction, experimentation with new materials, and a focus on inner emotions, concepts, or social critique rather than strict physical accuracy

Fauvism is…

An early 20th century movement that developed in France. Artists in this movement used intense, non-naturalistic colors, simplified forms, and quick brushstrokes to convey mood and aesthetic pleasure rather than a realistic representation of reality.  

Although the styles and trajectories of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso are very different from one another, these two artists have in common that:

4. Both refused to tie themselves to a single style or movement, exploring instead a variety of styles throughout their careers.  

What are the differences between analytic and synthetic cubism? 

Analytic Cubism  fragmented objects into multiple viewpoints and basic geometric shapes using subdued colors to analyze how we perceive form and make sense of our visual field.

Synthetic Cubism used brighter colors, simpler shapes, and collage to examine how we recognize visual objects. 

Both Fauvism and Expressionism emphasized the depiction of subjective emotions rather than objective reality. However, one important difference between the two movements is that….

Fauvism focused on aesthetic pleasure and conveys a lively and optimistic mood.

Expressionism focused on the expression of anxiety and alienation, as well as the relation between the spiritual and art.

Wassily Kandinsky has been historically designated as the first abstract artist in the Western tradition. However, we now think that view is mistaken, and attribute that title to:

4. Hilma af Klint 

What art movement attempted to convey “pure artistic feeling” by stripping the artwork down to its most fundamental geometric elements: (Hint: shapes are supreme and pure)

Suprematism 

Which of the following best explains why Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) became a defining work of Modern art?  

It questioned the definition of art and the power dynamics of the art world by presenting an ordinary object as art. 

What do Dada and Surrealism have in common and what differentiates them? 

Both emerged in reaction to the crisis of Modernity and shared an interest in challenging conventional art, but Dada embraced absurdity and anarchism, whereas Surrealism sought to transform both the individual and society by accessing the unconscious through dreams and automatism.

Which of the following contains the name of an artist or writer who was not a Surrealist? 

4. René Magritte, Giorgio de Chirico, Joan Miró 

Surrealist artists used techniques like automatic drawing, frottage, exquisite corpse, grattage, and the paranoid-critical method to:

(Hint: Paranoid= crazy, and being crazy is loosing control)

Bypass conscious control over the creative process, allowing the artist to access imagery from the unconscious mind. 

Provide a detailed and thorough interpretation of Picasso’s Guernica (1937). You should address theme, form, and style. 

After hearing about the unjust and horrific massacre of a town in Spain that was bombed by Hitler and his forces in response to the revolution at the time, Picasso created Guernica illustrate the trauma and the destruction of the town through the violence, sharp angles in the figures depicted in his piece.

Animals and people topple over each other in agony, tangled and mangled by an entourage of the bombs and the fire seizing the town.

This painting was a political statement from Picasso, denounciating the act, and depicting an “Image of Despair”

Which of the following statements best describes Constructivism?

rejected artistic intuition and decorative stylization in favor of functional, utilitarian art that could serve social and political purposes, aligning closely with the Bolshevik cause and Soviet socialism. 

Expressionism and New Objectivity are similar… but in what ways are they different?

While Expressionism focused on the expression of feelings and mood about the world, New Objectivity ocused on depicting the harsh realities of the world with a sober and critical eye.

De Stijl artists such as Piet Mondrian sought to create a universal visual language through the use of…

Abstraction, geometric forms, and a restricted color palette of primary colors and black and white. 

Describe Bauhaus/ its views.

“Form follows function” summarizes the school’s rational and utilitarian approach to design and architecture and their belief that there was no essential difference between artist and craftsman.

To what movement did Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros belong to?

Mexican Muralism

Compare

Rivera’s “History of Mexico”,

Orozco’s “Catharsis”,

and Siqueiros’s “Portrait of the Bourgeoisie” How do the styles of these three murals differ from one other?

Rivera’s History of Mexico has a geometrically organized composition and is optimistic in tone;

Orozco’s Catharsis blends expressionism is expressionistic, cathartic, and denunciatory in tone;

Siqueiros’s Portrait of the Bourgeoisie is jarring, radical, and apocalyptic in tone.

Which statement best distinguishes European Informalism from American Abstract Expressionism?

Informalism approached the canvas as a space of raw expression through unconventional materials and techniques,

Abstract Expressionism imagined the canvas as an “arena in which to act,” foregrounding the artist’s spontaneous personal gesture as the event itself.  

What was Helen Frankenthaler’s signature style/ approach to painting?

Soak Stain

What was Jackson Pollock’s approach to painting? (Hint: he was very active with his paintings)

Action Painting

What was Mark Rothko’s approach to painting?

Color field

What was Barnett Newman’s approach to painting? (Hint: What was the name of his big red painting?)

“Zip” painting and sublimity

What was Lee Krasner’s approach to Painting?

All-over and constant variations

Surrealism, Informalism, and Abstract Expressionism have in common that:

They embraced the idea that creativity is rooted in the unconscious mind and that artists should relinquish control to allow the free flow of abstract imagery, impulses, energies, and tensions.

Provide a thorough and detailed explanation of Barnett Newman’s Vir Heroicus Sublimis (1951) that speaks to this artwork’s aesthetics of the sublime.

The flat red background, if viewed in close proximity as it is intended to be viewed, is all encompassing, and the lack of landmarks or recognizable forms can instill a jarring sense of dread or unease in the viewer.

But the lines that bisect through the red infinite red void give the viewer something to cling onto past the vast red of the canvas.

The lines give order and structure to the viewer, mimicking the abilities of man to be able to perceive and give order to the infinite, vast landscape of nature, connecting with the meaning of the sublime.