18th Century Post

The Enlightenment

Joseph Wright, The Orrery, 1766

The Scientific Revolution
The development of Royal Societies in the 16 th century – the sharing of knowledge, public demonstrations (Rembrandt, Thomas Wright)
The move away from Ptolemaic astronomy and a heliocentric view of the universe
Understanding Nature from Observation, not from authoritative texts or governing bodies
The Idea that Human Reason can provide for the betterment of human life on earth (as opposed to Faith and Ceremony)
The profound questioning of authority in any guise

The Modern magician Blind Love Questioning Gesture Candle for Light and Skull Fascinated Observer Birdcage – if it lives (or dies) Moonlight and the Enlightenment (reference to the Lunar Society) 2 sisters, torn between curiosity and distress The Philosopher The Bird in a glass Bowl which is about to be sealed and air pumped out The Experiment With An Air Pump Our Invitation

philosophes

philosophes
Thomas Hobbes 1588 - 1679 “social contract”
Rene Descartes 1596 - 1650 “methodological skepticism”
John Locke 1632 - 1704 “tabula rasa”
Gottfried Liebniz 1646-1716 “rationalism, logic & analysis” - also note Baruch Spinoza “biblical criticism”
Voltaire ( François-Marie Arouet ) 1694 - 1778 “civil liberties, individual freedom”
Jean Jacques Rousseau 1712 - 1778 “nature”
Diderot 1713 - 1784 “Encyclopédie ”
Thomas Jefferson 1743 - 1826 “bill of rights”

The Principia
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Offered irrefutable proof – mathematical proof – that Nature had order and meaning that was not based on Faith but on human Reason
The notion of progress in the human mind toward an ultimate end
If definable laws can be discerned to govern Nature, they can be discerned to govern men and society
The notion that bodies at a distance are governed in their motion by a specific force that can be measured (gravity).

The Martyrdom of Saint Agatha c. 1755 Giovanni Battista Tiepolo 1696 -1770

37 Tiepolo_-_Allegory of the Planets and Continents, 1752

Rococo in Italy
Tiepolo, Apotheosis of the Pisani Family, 1761-62
Sense of limitless space
Sunlit brilliance
Dazzling light
Venetian pageantry
Silvery precious colors
Impressive scale
Spiraling forms
Ancient and distinguished Pisani family rise to heaven
Allegory and personification accompany the family
Legs hang freely over the frame, overlapping sides of painting
detail

Egid Quirin Asam, Assumption of the Virgin
1717-25
Mary ascends to heaven from her tomb weightlessly carried aloft by angels; those visiting the tomb are aghast in theatrical amazement
Hard solid forms of the tomb contrast dramatically with the flexible nature of the figures
Painting, sculpture and architecture combined
Use of window light and rays above to indicate God’s glory

Giovanni Antonio Canaletto (1697 –1768)

Francesco Guardi c. 1712-1793

Austria and Germany

Rococo in Germany
De Cuvillies, Amalienburg, Munich
Flowing curving lines of decoration that inch like ivy up the walls, the ceilings and around the mirrors
Ornate frames with silver gilding bordering and entering mirror surfaces
Pale blue and silver color scheme
Ornamental, decorative, sophisticated

Neumann, Church of Fourteen Saints, Staffelstein
3 longitudinal ovals joined by two transverse ovals
Altar of Mercy in the center
Open galleries around, some in half-columns, engaged to piers
Light, airy: this is Heaven
Pastel shades abound
Complex façade inspired by Borromini
Concave and convex shapes, intricate bell towers

The baroque style of architecture flourished in Germany in the 18th century. One of the most outstanding German baroque architects was Balthasar Neumann , who favored circular and oval forms and used undulating lines to lend dynamism to his buildings. The Residenz in Würzburg, designed by Neumann, is considered to be one of the finest examples of the German baroque style. The richly decorated Kaisersaal, or Emperor’s Hall, of the Residenz, shown here, is an oval reception room with a domed ceiling and frescoes painted by Italian master Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Balthasar Neumann (1687 – 1753)

Kaisersaal, the Residenz. Weisburg, Germany. 1719-1744 One major design element was rocaille : fanciful stucco ornaments in the shapes of ribbons, leaves, stems, flowers, arabesques, and elongated curving lines applied to walls and ceilings. The effect was to blur the boundary between walls and ceiling and to make solid surfaces look like fleeting illusions. Mirrors further deceived the senses and chandeliers provided jewel-like lighting. All elements worked together to create a glittering, luxurious setting for an ultra-refined society.

Rococo
Aristocratic, playful, delicate, and often provocative
Considered by subsequent artists as superficial and escapist
Made up of sensuous objects, lavish decoration and intimate interiors

France
The Ancien Regime
Louis XIV dies in 1715 after a 72 year reign

29 Journey to (embarkation from) Cythea

Rococo in France
Watteau, Return from Cythera, 1717
Right: lady listens to a proposition from a pilgrim to Cythera (island of Venus) who is carrying a handbook on love
Cupid tugs at a woman to stay
Cavalier helps a lady to rise
A woman turns her back in hesitation
Country ladies lead the way to the gilded boat
Herm of Venus overlooks the island
Panther hide is an allusion to Bacchus
Clouds are light, dream-like
Slender women in delicate iridescent colors
Water reflects hazy colors
Relationship of figures to landscape
Women turn their backs to the viewer

Watteau, L’Indifferent, 1717
The Indifferent One
Small, intimate scale and subject matter
Dancing pose
Delicate, a bit tired, or touched with ennui
Fancifully dressed in rich satins
Background awash in atmospheric perspective

Signboard of Gersaint (1721)

Antoine Watteau, (1684-1721) Pierrot , 1718

Commedia dell'arte
masked “types” and recurrent “characters”
improvisation
inclusion of actresses
an Italian comedy
27 27

Ancien Regime in 18 th Century
Largely a rural population with tenant and serf conditions
Divine right of rule vs. right of the governed
2 Major classes – wealthy and poor (aristocracy and peasants)
3 Estates – 1.The Clergy 2. The Royalty 3. The peasants (c. 95 – 97%)
King stood outside Estates – He was the State
Liberality promoted by certain members of the nobility and rising merchant classes
Commerce gaining as a provider of wealth vs. land ownership

The 2 nd Estate in the Ancien Regime
The Nobility or Noble Class (aristocracy, wealthy landowners, government workers)
Approximately 1% of the population
Exempt from most forms of taxation
Received certain privileges (showing Court of Arms, etc.) to demonstrate superiority and collected taxes from the 3 rd estate (with promise of protection)
Time for Leisure (Play, Music, Thinking)

43 Francois Boucher (1703 – 1770) The Toilet of Venus , 1758

Fragonard

Rococo in France
Fragonard, The Swing, 1767
An intrigue painting
Bishop swings a woman whose lover hides below
Kicks her shoe at the little statue of Discretion and toward the lover
Glowing color
Delicate femininity in tiny hands and feet and layers of petticoats

Jean Honore Fragonard “ The Meeting” 1771-73

57 Boy Blowing a Bubble , 1739

Jean Baptiste Grueze, 1725 - 1805 The Village Bride 1761

Jean Honore Fragonard 1732 -1806 A Young Girl Reading, 1776

Women Artists of the Rococo
Emphasize Enlightenment opinions on Domestic Harmony
Excelled in formal portraits of aristocratic women
Accepted with Male Counterparts into the Royal Academie

Adelaide Labille-Guiard 1749 – 1803 Self-Portrait w/ Pupils, 1785

He that loves a rosy cheek, Or a coral lip admires, Or from star-like eyes doth seek Fuel to maintain his fires: As old Time makes these decay, So his flames must waste away. But a smooth and steadfast mind, Gentle thoughts, and calm desires, Hearts with equal love combined, Kindle never-dying fires: Where these are not, I despise Lovely cheeks or lips or eyes. Thomas Carew Elizabeth Vigée-Le Brun 1755 - 1842

Vigée-Lebrun, Self-Portrait, 1782
40 exist, all highly idealized
Traditional concept of femininity
Sensuous paint handling and color harmonies
Elegantly attired working artist
Paints her favorite patron, Marie Antoinette

15 Elizabeth Vigée-Le Brun 1755-1842 Marie Antoinette and her children , 1787

England

Angelica Kauffman 1741-1807 “ Cornelia Pointing to her Children as Treasures” 1785

Neoclassicism in England
Kauffmann, Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi
Exemplum virtutis
Ancient Roman setting
Good mother painting
Visitor shows Cornelia her jewels, asks to see her own jewels
Cornelia responds that her children are her jewels
Austere life of a family with children
Jewels momentarily distract one child
Severely simplified costumes

William Hogarth 1697 - 1764 The Marriage Contract 1743-45

Grueze Hogarth

The Marriage Contract
Gout ridden Earl Squander marries his son to the daughter of a wealthy London Merchant
Earl points to Family Tree
Provides money for for the Earl’s crumbling Palladian House
Buys an aristocratic title for the merchant’s daughter
Curvilinear Style parodies the fashionable Rococo style
Garish Interior design betrays lack of taste

Marriage a la Mode 1743 - 45
Paintings in a narrative series from the Marriage Contract to the Lady’s Death
Meant to be read sequentially like a play
“ Novelistic Structure” which focuses on Dress, Décor, and Visual Parody to indict characters and satirize their decadence and pretension

The Breakfast Scene or Tete a Tete

18th Century Art in England
Hogarth, Breakfast Scene from Marriage a la Mode, 1745
Satire in painting a British specialty
Second scene in a series of six, based on a play
The loveless marriage of a bride and groom shortly after their wedding
Groom has been out all night with other women (the dog sniffs at an unfamiliar bonnet)
Broken sword may symbolize a fight, or sexual inadequacy
Bride has been losing at cards, been playing until noon, and seems not to care
Accountant holds a ledger and a stack of unpaid bills and indicates that they have already spent a fortune
Items on mantelpiece illustrate their questionable taste
This is a “Marriage in the Style”
Narrative art

The disharmony in the union of two separate classes is revealed by the clash of 'high art' (in the form of a Roman bust) and 'low art' (in the form of various cheap trinkets on the mantelpiece.) Likewise, in the adjacent room, paintings of saints are placed in blasphemous proximity to another painting so lascivious it must be concealed by a curtain. (The prints were made by Thomas Cook after William Hogarth from 1796 to 1797)

William Hogarth 1697 – 1764 Creates the “Modern Moral Painting” Worked with French Engravers to ensure technical virtuosity Satirizes arranged marriages and fashionable taste, decadence, impiotency of the aristocracy, and crass social striving of the wealthy merchant class

Sir Thomas Lawrence 1769 - 1830 Queen Charlotte 1789-90

Lady Peel, 1827
3 Massive Bracelets
Many rings
Oversized hat with cascading scarlet feathers
Fashion Victim?
Surface Brilliance – the paint
Painting Influence of Rubens and Rembrandt

Pope Pius VII 1819
Presented as a scholar and patron of the Arts
Omits the triple papal tiara in deference of English Protestantism
Transitions of careful detailing to luscious areas of loose paint

Thomas Gainsborough 1727 - 1788
Associated with Hogarth
One of the King’s favorite painters
One of the Founding members of the Royal Academy

Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, 1748

18th Century Art in England
Gainsborough, Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
She married the great playwright, Richard Sheridan, and became manager of his theatre
Serious, but relaxed pose
Dressed informally
Seated in a Watteau landscape
Feathery brushstroke
Hair blows freely
Unspoiled beauty of natural landscape and the sitter
Gracious forms bend to the curve of the trees
A hint of melancholy in the expression of the face
Circular pattern of the painting

Mr and Mrs William Hallett ('The Morning Walk')

Sir Joshua Reynolds 1723 - 1792
First President of the English Royal Academy
Large Proponent of “Correct” Art and formula
Incurs the wrath of William Blake

Sir Joshua Reynolds, Lord Heathfield
1787
Commander of the fortress at Gibraltar
Huge key to fortress in his hands, he holds it thoughtfully
One cannon points down and another barrel lies on its back
Heroic figure
Painted using bravura brushwork
Rich colors and atmospheric detail

Sir Joshua Reynolds Lady Sunderlin

Boyle and Kent, Chiswick House, London
Modeled on the Villa Rotonda
Squat round Palladio-like dome, but octagonal in shape, with semi-circular windows
Four chimney stacks flank each side, shaped like obelisks
Palladian decorative balls decorate projecting wings
Palladio’s statue is on the left
2 grand staircases
Corinthian columns
Main living quarters on second floor
Rusticated first floor
Pedimented windows
Symmetrical ground plan

Wood the Younger, Royal Crescent, Bath
Single continuous Palladian façade
30 residences in a semi-circle, resembles the Colosseum inside-out
March of Ionic columns
English: roofline punctured by chimney pots
English: excessive length
Main residences on second floor for a better view
Columns extend between second and third floors, uniting them
Windows interspersed between columns

The Enlightenment in France
Jacques Louis David

Jaques Louis-David 1748 - 1825, “The Oath of the Horatti” 1784-85

Oath of the Horatti
Taken from Livy
War between Rome and Alba in 669 BC
One Curatii sister is married to a Horatti and vice versa (betrothed)
Patriotism and Stoicism
Rigid poses unlike the swirling compositions of Rococco

Jaques Louis-David 1748 - 1825 “ Death of Marat” 1793

The Terror
Robespierre proposes and carries out Law of 22 Prairial – tribunal court of condemnation
Between June 12 and July 28 (when Robespierre is killed) 1, 285 victims are guillotined

French Revolution
July 14, 1789 – Storming of the Bastille
Jan. 21, 1793 – Louis XVI executed
War declared on France by Austria and most European Powers
July 13, 1793 – Marat Executed
July 27, 1794 – The Thermidorian Reaction
& Robespierre Executed
1794 – David Arrested

The Enlightenment in France NeoClassicism Jaques Louis David 1748 - 1825

4 times tried for Prix de Rome (received it in 1774)
Studied under Boucher
Official artist of the revoltution
Designed all Public Pageants, costumes, celebrations, funerals, etc.
Decreed the removal of wigs, used woolen jackets and linen shirts

Neoclassicism
1748 – Excavation begins at Pompeii renewing interest in classical forms
Publication of The History of Ancient Art by J.J. Winkelmann in 1764
Distinct turn from Rococo toward clarity of line and color
Sharp transitions of area
Retreat from ambiguity and playfulness
Noble Simplicity and grandeur
Classical costume elevated subjects to universal significance (generally)

Timeline of the French Revolution
1774 – Louis XVI coronation
1778 – France enters into the American revolution agianst Canada/England
1789 – Estates General Convoked for first time since 1614
1789 –Third Estate declares itself the National Assembly
The Oath of the Tennis Court
First and Second estates join the Third Estate
Storming of the Bastille
Paris Mob and Women’s march to Versailles to bring Louis and company back to Paris
1790 – Pope Pius condemns the Rights of Man
Nobility abolished by the National Assembly
1791 - Royal family tries to flee and is arrested
1792 – Guillotine becomes official execution tool
Invasion of France by coalition troops

Timeline cont.
1792 – September massacre of bishops and priests
Louis brought to trial, Robespierre declares he must die
1793 – Louis executed
Committee of Public safety established
Assassination of MaratMarie Antoinette executed
Anti-clerical law passed
1794 – Revolutionary Tribunal - The Terror
Robespierre guillotined
1795 – Executive Directory takes power
Rise of Napoleon
1798 Nelson defeats French Navy at Egypt, stranding Napoleon
1799 – The Consulate is established under the leadership of Napoleon

Lictors Bring To Brutus the Bodies of His Sons
Had attempted to overthrow the gov’t and restore monarchy
Father orders their death – Heroic defender of the Republic
Mother, women in anguish
Brutus brooding, but right
Shown during Voltaire’s play Brutus (1790)

Death of Socrates
Discussing the immortality of the Soul
Teaching and Philosophizing to the end
Wide dismissed for her weakness
Plato (not actually present when Socrates dies) is present in the painting

Intervention of the Sabine Women (1794-99)
Love Prevailing Over Conflict
Brings Him to the Attention of Napoleon
Story – Romans abduct duaghters of the sabines. Sabines attack Rome. Hersilia (duahgter of Sabine leader Tatius) married to Romulus. Here is Hersilia between Tatius and Romulus.

Napolean
1769 Born in Corsica
1793 Quickly rises to General (24 yrs old)
1796 Campaigns into Italy against Austrians
1798 Campaigns into Egypt – Fleet is destroyed by the English
1799 Returns, there is a coup, and is elected one of the Triumverate Consulate
1800 Gains dictatorial powers (first consul)
1804 Crowns himself emperor

1812 – war with Russia
1814 – surrenders to Allied Armies, exiled to Island of Elba
1815 – returns to France
1815 – June, Waterloo & second abdication
1815 – Exiled to St. Helena
1821 – Dies at age 51

Coronation of Napoleon I and the Empress Josephine on Dec 2. 1804, 1806-1807

David had originally intended to portray the event faithfully, showing Napoleon crowning himself. The Emperor, remembering the quarrels between the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire, placed the crown on his own head to avoid giving a pledge of obedience of the temporal power to the Pontiff. But he evidently felt that it would not be desirable to perpetuate this somewhat disrespectful action in paint; so David painted the coronation of Josephine by Napoleon, with the Pope blessing the Empress. Grouped round the altar, near Napoleon, are the chief dignitaries — Cambécères, the Lord Chancellor, Marshal Berthier, Grand Veneur, Talleyrand, the Lord Chamberlain, and Lebrun, the Chief Treasurer. Madame de la Rochefoucauld carries the Empress's train; behind her are the Emperor's sisters, and his brothers Louis and Joseph. In front of the central stand are some of the marshals, and in it is Marie Laetitia, Madame Mère (the Emperor's mother), who was in fact not present at the ceremony.

Neoclassicism in France
David, Coronation of Napoleon
Coronation of Empress Josephine by Napoleon
Veronese style draperies
Cf. Rubens, Marie de’Medici
Figures lost in a disparate busy crowd
Pius I lost in crowd but maintains dignity
Pageantry, opulence
Napoleon asked David to rework actual event for this painted version

Social Conditions
Secularization of European Culture
Social Democracy & Scientific progress
Internationalism (global economy)
Art is an open Market
Conscious effort to preserve art and artifacts

1775 - 1815
Great Upheavals
American and French Revolutions
Dictatorship of Napolean who attempts to unify Europe under French Rule

NeoClassicism
A way of Life affecting religion, dress and attitudes of politics
Distaste for the refined, manipulative, and enigmatic feminism
Virtue of moral rectitude associated with physical clarity and social reform

Painting
Apparent rather than suggestive
No obscurity or ambiguity
Heroic masculinity
Clarity of Line, Polished Finish and isolated color
Intolerant, righteous and dogmatic

Jean Antoine Houdon French 1741 - 1828

Napolean, 1806

1788 1784

Antonio Canova

Pauline Borghese as Venus, 1801-08

Neoclassicism in Italy
Canova, Pauline Borghese as Venus
Napoleon’s sister as Venus
She was known for her scandalous and notorious behavior
Cold, classically nude
Marble’s sensitivity to chiaroscuro: soft forms
Possesses Paris’ apple that Venus won in a contest
Very few people allowed to see this work, and then only by torchlight
Pose not realistic, compositional inventiveness

United States of America

Unidentified artist, seventeenth century, Elizabeth Clarke Freake (Mrs. John Freake) and Baby Mary , about 1671 and 1674, oil on canvas, 42 1/2 x 36 3/4 in. Unidentified artist, seventeenth century, John Freake , about 1671 and 1674, oil on canvas, 42 x 36 3/4 in. (108 x 93.3 cm), Worcester Art Museum,

The Death of General Wolfe 1770

Neoclassicism in the United States
West, Death of General Wolfe
Controversy over whether history paintings should be in classical dress or contemporary clothes
Influence of the Greek Hellenistic Dying Gaul and Michelangelo’s Pietà
Three part composition
Tells story of the Battle of Quebec in the background: ships unloaded in the middle of the night at right, guns pulled ashore in morning in center, battle occurs around 10 am at left
Wolfe shot three times in the Battle. West shows us a hand wound and a shot in the side
Indian sets the place as America, none at the battle
Ranger in green comes in to tell West he has won the battle and captured the French flag before he dies
Meticulous handling of paint

The Treaty of Penn with the Indians. 1771-72

John Singleton Copley, 1738-1815 “Watson and the Shark”, 1778

John Singleton Copley Self portrait 1784

Copley, Paul Revere
Seen as an artisan at work
Polished table and engraving tools before him
Silver teapot in one hand, he is seen as a man of thought and action
Takes a measure of us with his glance
Holds teapot as a political act: the tax on tea
Seems to ask us where we stand on this issue
Engraving tools and sand cushion on table
The shine of the table and teapot offers highly reflective surfaces

John Singleton Copley 1738 - 1815 Nicholas Boylston 1767

Charles Wilson Peale 1741 - 1827

Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville, Virginia
Roman Doric style
French doors
Appears as though it were one story with a dome, but actually two
Balustrade masks second floor, in the French style
Octagonal dome
Studied Palladio
Visited Roman ruins in southern France
Columns made of brick, covered in stucco
Symmetrical ground plan

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18th Century Post

by bassmanb on Mar 28, 2010

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18th Century Post — Presentation Transcript