Art Movements from Romanticism to Impressionism

Romanticism

• Upturned classical hierarchy of subjects and genres.

• Focus on everyday life, landscapes, lower class portraiture, current events, and activism.

• Hierarchy of Genres (Top to Bottom):

  • Allegory

  • Important people

  • Everyday life / Still life

  • Landscape

  • Animal painting

• Key figures: Chopin, Wordsworth (1815-1850); transition to modern (1850-1880).

• Artists: Poussin, Rubens, Ingres, Delacroix, Goya, Gericault, Fantin-Latour.

Industrial Revolution and Landscape

• Early 19th C: 90% agrarian; end 19th C: shift to cities/factories.

• Notable works: Blake's "dark satanic mills"; Constable's "Hay Wain"; Cole's "The Oxbow"; Turner’s landscapes.

• Influence of colonialism and manifest destiny.

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood

• Key members: Millais, Rossetti, Waterhouse, Burne-Jones, Hunt.

• Significance of early photography: Eadweard Muybridge, Nadar.

• Photography's role in portraiture and authenticity.

Realism

• Political and social context: France's revolutionary period, Marx's theories (bourgeoisie, proletariat).

• Major artists: Courbet, Daumier, Millet.

• Realism’s aesthetic expressed social issues and class dynamics.

The Avant Garde

• Emergence in 1850s-1870s; radical artistic expressions.

• Significant impact of class struggle on art movements.

Impressionism

• Emerged from salon de refusés; focused on middle-class experiences.

• Key elements: spontaneity, time, movement; techniques included quick strokes, color patches.

• Major artists: Monet, Renoir, Degas, Sisley, Pissaro.

• Impressionism lasted roughly from 1874 to 1886, emphasizing the artist's prerogative.

Post Impressionism

• Key figure: Cezanne and his exploration of form and structure.

General Notes

• Coverage includes Romanticism to Impressionism and early Post-Impressionism.

• Understand societal reasons for transitions in art movements, key figures, and works reflecting societal changes.