Rococo to Realism (condensed)

1. Rococo to Realism

2. The Enlightenment
Europe started the 18 th century in a
semi-feudal state
Economic and political power was
centrally-based
Aristocratic class held most of the
power
By the end, industrial manufacturing
would shift the economic paradigm

3. The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment pushed
thinkers, philosophes , to improve the
institutions of mankind
Nature is both rational and good
Observation of natural laws could
theoretically lead to happiness for
mankind

4. Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period
from the 18th to the 19th century
where major changes in
agriculture, manufacturing, mining, tra
nsportation, and technology had a
profound effect on the
socioeconomic, and cultural conditions
of the times. It began in the United
Kingdom , then subsequently spread
throughout Europe, North
America, and eventually the world.

5. Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution marks a
major turning point in human history;
almost every aspect of daily life was
influenced in some way. Most
notably, average income and
population began to exhibit
unprecedented sustained growth. In
the two centuries following 1800, the
world's average per capita income
increased over 10-fold, while the
world's population increased over 6-
fold.

7. The Rococo - 1700-1750
• “Rococo” derived from
rocaille, (pebble or shell) and
barocco. Motifs in Rococo art
resemble ornate shell or
pebble work popular in
gardens.
• Refined, fanciful, and often
playful style fashionable in
France at turn of
century, spread thru Europe in
18th century
• Pastel colors, delicately curving
forms, dainty figures, light
hearted
• Reaction against rigidity and
solemnity of 17th century court The Swing , Fragonard, 1766

12. Rococo
Though Rococo originated in the
purely decorative arts, the style
showed clearly in painting. These
painters used delicate colors and
curving forms, decorating their
canvases with cherubs and myths of
love. Portraiture was also popular
among Rococo painters. Some works
show a sort of naughtiness or impurity
in the behavior of their
subjects, showing the historical trend
of departing away from the Baroque's
church/state orientation. Landscapes
were pastoral and often depicted the
leisurely outings of aristocratic
couples.

13. 38
FRANÇOIS DE CUVILLIÉS, Hall of Mirrors, the Amalienburg, Nymphenburg Palace
park, Munich, Germany, early 18th century .

14. 39
ANTOINE WATTEAU, L’Indifférent , ca. 1716.

16. 41ANTOINE WATTEAU, Return from Cythera , 1717.

19. 44
JEAN-HONORÉ FRAGONARD, The
Swing , 1766.

20. 45
FRANÇOIS BOUCHER, Cupid a Captive , 1754.

27. The Drunken Cobbler , Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Oil on canvas, 1785.
“The Natural” : morality painting expressing real sentiment and honest virtue.
Inspired by the writing of Rousseau and Diderot, father of modern art criticism-wrote that art’s
proper function was to improve virtue and purify manners… criticized rococo “immoral” art…

28. 55JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE, Village Bride , 1761.

30. 57WILLIAM HOGARTH, Breakfast Scene, from Marriage à la Mode , ca. 1745.

32. Light = Scientific discovery

33. 60
JOSEPH WRIGHT OF DERBY, A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery , ca. 1763 – 1765.

34. 61
JEAN-BAPTISTE-SIMÉON
CHARDIN, Saying Grace, 1740.

36. 63
BENJAMIN WEST, Death of General Wolfe , 1771.

37. Italy and Classical Revival
• The Grand Tour – the
completion of an aristocratic
education was a tour of the major
cultural sites of Europe
•
•
•
•
•
Paris, Venice, Florence, Naples, a
nd Rome
This heavily inspires the growth
of Neoclassicism during the
Enlightenment
Pleased the senses and taught
moral lessons
Was a reaction to frivolity of
Rococo
Pompeii and Herculaneum
discovered in 1738

38. ANTONIO CANALETTO, Riva degli Schiavoni , Venice, ca. 1735-1740.
65

39. veduta (Italian for "view"; plural vedute ) is a highly detailed, usually large-
scale painting of a cityscape or some other vista.

40. The History of Ancient Art
• Published by Johann
Joachim Winckelmann
• “A noble simplicity and
calm grandeur…”
• Greek art is hailed for its
beauty and moral
character
– Response to Rococo frivolity
• Became the focus and
agenda for Neoclassical
art

41. 1789
French Revolution Causes
• Enlightenment (knowledge
& observation)
• Economic crisis
• Clash between the Third
Estate and the First and
Second Estates
– 3 rd =
peasants, workers, bourgeoisi
e
– 1 st & 2 nd = clergy & nobility
• Fought over issue of
representation in the
legislative body, the Estates-
General
– Convened to discuss taxation

42. Jacques Louis David
• Started as a Rococo
painter (relative of
Boucher)
• Spent time in Italy and
turned to academic
painting
– Declared Rococo “artificial
taste”
– Exalted classical art as the
imitation of nature in the
most beautiful and perfect
form

43. 70
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID, Oath of the Horatii , 1784.

44. •
•
Neoclassicism
A reaction against both the Baroque
and Rococo styles, and as a desire to
return to the perceived "purity" of the
arts of Rome, the more vague
perception ("ideal") of Ancient Greek
arts (where almost no western artist
had actually been) and, to a lesser
extent, 16th century Renaissance
Classicism.
Stimulated by widespread interest and
enthusiasm among the literati for the
findings at archaeological excavations at
Herculaneum and Pompeii and by the
interpretative writings of J. J.
Winckelmann, especially his History of
Ancient Art (1764).

45. 74
JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID, The Death of
Marat , 1793.

46. 1 ”.

47. •
•
Different variations on great slain leaders of the
time
Grandiose vs. sparse

48. Jacques Louis David and Napoleon
• David’s political agenda was
highly successful through the
influence of his art
• Was imprisoned in 1794 after
supporting a regime which fell
out of favor
• Pulled back from center
stage, painted portraits and
classical events
• Napoleon, upon being
crowned emperor in
1804, sought David’s artistic
abilities
• David enthusiastically
accepted, depicted Napoleon
as an invincible hero

52. Napoleon and Art
• Napoleon used art to help
push his ambitious agenda
• Arc de Triomphe was based
on Arch of Titus
• His political order combined
with the art ushered in the
Romantic era of art
• Created a model for how
modern politicians and
leaders could use the power
of art and images for
political means.

54. Jean Auguste Dominique
Ingres
• Spokesman for the traditional
style of painting
• Intellect and draftsmanship
– Never let the brushstroke
show
• His intricate line work
influenced Picasso, Matisse, and
Degas

55. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Large Odalisque

56. “Odalisque”
• Reclining female nude
• Turkish word for “harem girl”
• Found throughout Western art

57. • Mannerist influence
– Small head, elongated head
– Languid pose
– Cool colors

59. •
•
David
Ingres

60. Edmund Burke
• 18th c. English politician and
philosopher
– wrote A Philosophical Enquiry
into the Origins of Our Ideas of
the Sublime and Beautiful
• Sublime = feelings of awe
mixed with terror
• The most intense human
emotions are evoked by pain
or fear and that when these
emotions are distanced they
can be thrilling

61. Romanticism
Literary, artistic, and philosophical
movement that began in Europe in the
18th century and lasted roughly until
the mid-19th century. In its intense
focus on the individual
consciousness, it was both a
continuation of and a reaction against
the Enlightenment. Romanticism
emphasized the individual, the
subjective, the irrational, the
imaginative, the personal, the
spontaneous, the emotional, the
visionary, and the transcendental.

62. Romanticism
Among its attitudes were a deepened
appreciation of the beauties of nature;
a general exaltation of emotion over
reason and of the senses over
intellect; a turning in upon the self and
a heightened examination of human
personality; a preoccupation with the
genius, the hero, and the exceptional
figure; a new view of the artist as a
supremely individual creator; an
emphasis on imagination as a gateway
to transcendent experience and
spiritual truth; a consuming interest in
folk culture, national and ethnic
cultural origins, and the medieval era;
and a predilection for the exotic, the
remote, the mysterious, the weird, the
occult, the monstrous, the
diseased, and even the satanic.

63. Romanticism:
Emerged from a desire to be free
Desire for freedom in: politics; feelings; thought; action; worship;
speech; taste
Freedom is the right and property of all.
Path to freedom was through imagination, not reason
Freedom functioned through feeling not accepted wisdom
Originated among German literary groups (ironically)
Neoclassicism v. Romanticism
Reasons
Calculation
Objective Nature
Interest in Classical
art and literature
Feelings
Intuition
Subjective emotions
Interest in Medieval
and sublime

64. Eugène Delacroix
• French Romantic artist
regarded from the outset of
his career as the leader of the
French Romantic school.
Delacroix's use of expressive
brushstrokes and his study of
the optical effects of color
profoundly shaped the work of
the Impressionists, while his
passion for the exotic inspired
the symbolists.

65. Neoclassicism vs. Romanticism
•
•
•
•
•
•
Neoclassicism
Values: Order
Tone: Rational, calm
Subjects: Greek and Roman
history, myth
Technique: Stressed use of
lines, no trace of
brushstrokes
Role: Morally
uplifting, inspiring
Key Artist: David
Romanticism
• Values: Emotion, imagination
• Tone: Spontaneous
• Subjects:
Legends, exotic, nature, violen
ce
• Technique: Quick
brushstrokes, chiaroscuro, ten
ebrism
• Genre: Heroic
struggle, landscape, wild
animals
• Key Artists:
Gericault, Delacroix

66. •
•
Delacroix in Morocco
Visit to Morocco changed his
life/subject matter, color expression
Renewed his conviction that beauty
exists in the fierceness of
nature, especially animals

67. Eugene Delacroix, THE DEATH OF SARDANAPALUS, 1827.

70. Théodore Géricault

71. THÉODORE GÉRICAULT, Raft of the Medusa, 1818 – 1819.

72. Theodore
Gericault, Insane
Woman , 1822-
1823, Oil on Canvas

74. Henry Fuseli, THE NIGHTMARE, 1802.

76. Henry Fuseli, THE SHEPHERDS DREAM, 1793.

77. William Blake, God Creating the Universe
(Ancient of Days) , Frontispiece of Europe: A
Prophecy , 1794, metal relief etching, hand
colored with watercolor and gouache.

79. William Blake, PITY.

80. Francisco de Goya
• Defines Spanish Romantic
movement
• Started off painting
cartoons for Rococo
tapestries
• French Revolution (1789)
inspired his art
• Political enlightenment and
the freedom of the
individual
• Disillusionment sets in as
reforms in France were
short-lived

84. EUGÈNE DELACROIX, Liberty Leading the People, 1830. Oil on canvas, approx. 8’ 6” x 10’ 8”.
Louvre, Paris.

86. Francisco Goya, Sleep of
Reason Produces
Monsters , from Los
Caprichos (The Caprices)
Plate 43, 1798, etching and
aquatint.

87. Francisco Goya, THE GREAT GOAT, 1797.

88. Francisco Goya, SATURN DEVOURING HIS
SON, 1819-23.

89. Francisco Goya, DUEL WITH
CUDGELS, 1820-23.

90. Romantic Landscapes
• Rather than just
describing the
scene, Romantic artists
colored it by mood and
used nature as allegory
• Artists comment on
spiritual, moral, historical,
or philosophical issues
– Allows the artist to
“naturalize” conditions –
make them appear
normal, acceptable, or
inevitable

91. Caspar David Friedrich, TWO MEN BY THE SEA.

92. “

94. John Martin, MANFRED AND THE ALPINE WITCH, 1837.

97. Orientalism
• European art patrons wanted
landscapes of more
exotic, unfamiliar places
• The lands of the east tended
to capture the imagination of
Western Europeans
• Romantic fascination with
foreign culture
• Oriental subjects engaged
both Romantic and
Neoclassical artists
• Stressed sex and violence
• Who is depicting whom?

99. Realism

100. The Realist Era
• Typically associated with the
1850 ’s
• Scientific method is used
rather than accept dogma
• Develops the “Age of Reason”
• Industrial Revolution takes
shape as factories produce
goods cheaper and faster
• Migration from rural areas into
cities
(urbanization), economies
change from agrarian to
industrial
• Major inventions are the train
and photography

101. What is Realism?
• Enlightenment put focus on
scientific method and
observation
• Empiricism – knowledge
based on what can be
measured and directly
experienced
• What can actually be
seen/experienced in the
world
• Realists only painted
subjects they themselves
could experience (personal
experience)

102. Realism
• context: cultural
– role of artist:
• no longer to simply reveal
beautiful & sublime
• aimed to tell the truth
• not beholden to higher,
idealized reality (i.e., God)
– subjects:
• ordinary events and
objects
• working class & broad
panorama of society
• psychological motivation of
characters

103. Realism: Exploring human evolution &
social equality
• political context: Marxism
• Communist Manifesto (c. 1850)
– thesis: all history was history
of class struggles
– determined by humanity ’s
relationship to material
wealth
• Darwin: theory of evolution
• Comte: positivism …all
knowledge comes from
tested scientific proof

104. 10
GUSTAVE COURBET, The Stone Breakers , 1849.

105. 11GUSTAVE COURBET, Burial at Ornans , 1849.

107. 14JEAN-FRANÇOIS MILLET, The Gleaners , 1857.

109. 16
HONORÉ DAUMIER, Rue Transnonain , 1834.

112. 19
HONORÉ DAUMIER, Third-Class Carriage , ca. 1862.

113. 23
THOMAS EAKINS, The Gross
Clinic , 1875.

114. Eakins vs. Rembrandt…

116. 29
JOHN SINGER SARGENT, The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit , 1882.

117. The Problem of
Photography
What is the purpose of art in the face
of photography?
Vermeer used the camera obscura
Some artists reacted against
photography
Some embraced it – much like
Vermeer
First surviving photograph dates to
1826, by 1880s portable cameras
available

120. 43
NADAR, Eugène Delacroix , ca.
1855.

121. 62
ÉDOUARD MANET, Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe ( Luncheon on the Grass ), 1863.

122. 63
ÉDOUARD MANET, Olympia , 1863.