Art History Notes

Honore Daumier

• Known for political caricatures, including Les Pories (a searing indictment of the French monarch).

• Painted scenes reflecting modern life in Paris.

• Trained as an engraver; befriended Thomas Cole.

Thomas Cole

• Visited Britain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy from April 1840 to June 1841.

• Part of the Hudson River School.

Fredrich Edwin Church

• Best-known representative of the Hudson River School; Cole characterized him as having “the finest eye for drawing in the world”.

• Made excursions to see Niagara Falls, creating endless sketches.

• Inspired by naturalist Alexander von Humbolt, following his footsteps in expeditions to Colombia and Ecuador.

Albert Bierstadt

• A German immigrant who studied painting in Dusseldorf.

• Inspired by Frederick W. Lander, capturing Lander’s Peak in the Nebraska Territory through extensive sketches.

The Creation of Modern Paris

• Napoleon III asked Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann to modernize Paris (clean water/modern sewers, light streets with gas lanterns, construct a central market (Les Halles), build park, schools, hospitals, asylums, prisons and administrative buildings).

• Revolutionaries used barricades effectively, making Paris uncontrollable at times.

Charles Baudelaire

• Author of “The Painter of Modern Life” in 1860.

• Summarizes the new role of the artist.

Eduard Manet

• Painted in his own style between realism and impressionism.

• Became “The” great painter of Modern Paris.

• Rejected the academic style; his work criticized for visible brush strokes.