2. Why Curate an Exhibition
for an online Art History II course?
n Sunlight, firelight, the light of spirit and even
neon light are subjects and media in the history
of art.
n In this Curated Exhibition we look at how several
artists use the element of light.
n We consider the symbolism of light and how the
historical period and culture affects the artistic
expression.
3. Early in European art, light was used symbolically to
create the aura of holiness.
Influenced by Masaccio, Fra Angelico expressed his
reverence for God in a series of frescoes on the
walls of his convent.
The light coming over Angel Gabriel’s shoulder
glows diagonally onto the kneeling Mary
emphasizing this important moment.
Annunciation, by Fra Angelico, 1440-41
Fresco, San Marco Convent, Florence, Italy
4. Light in landscapes
creates drama in
The Romantic Period
Albert Bierstadt
Sunrise, Yosemie Valley
Oil on canvas, 36” x 52”
Joseph Mallord WilliamTurner
The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her
Last Berth to Be Broken Up
1838,oil on canvas, 35” x 49”
The Romantic era championed the sublime and
natural wildness
and man’s relative smallness in relation to it.
5. Light carries mystery and surprises.
If we focus on the yellowish sun in the Breugel, we miss Icarus who is drowning in the water as his wings were
melted by the very same sun.
In the Fragonard, the soft misty light is far enough in the background to keep the seductive lady and her lover in
the shadows.
Pieter Breugel the Elder
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
c.1555, oil on panel, 2’5” x 3’8”
Breugel ‘s passion for landscape reflects his era: 16th century global
exploration, and the Humanist approach of Petrarch.
Fragonard
The Swing
1766, oil on canvas, 35” x 32”
This seductive painting refers to the leisure
class in Paris of the 18th century.
6. Light painted with texture, turmoil, and fire.
Claude Monet
J.W Turner
El Greco
7. by Henry Tanner
1898, 4’9” x 5’11”
oil on canvas
Light
symbolically
“replaces” the
Angel Gabriel
in this
Annunciation
.
Since he was a “Realist”
he wouldn’t paint an
angel!
8. DAN FLAVIN
UNTITLED (in Honor of Harold Joachim),
1977. Fluorescent light fixtures, 8 ft square across the corner.
“Flavin describes this work as a “corner installation...intended to be beautiful, to produce color the color
mix of a lovely illusion...”
Art Across Time, 4th ed. page 927
Much of the Art of the later 20th century
and early 21st investigates
new technologies and media.
