19th century art in europe and the us: part 2

19th Century Art in Europe and the United States (1800’s): PART II

Now we are going to look at art in the SECOND half of the 19th century

•Called the “positivist age” – faith in the positive consequences of close observation of the natural and human realms•We’ll see a decline in Romanticism•New emphasis on accurate, objective descriptions of the ordinary, observable world (we’ll see this a lot in REALISM)•We’ll see an of Japanese art on painting•We’ll see “plein-air” painting (in IMPRESSIONISM)•We’ll see SYMBOLIST painters try to portray mystical personal visions in their art•We’ll see sky scrapers and elevators! •We’ll see ART NOUVEAU combine painting, architecture, and sculpture in organic motifs

Movements we will look at:

• Realism• Impressionism• Post-Impressionism• Symbolism• Art Nouveau

• Exploration of theories about human evolution and social equality

• New inventions: telephone, movies, bicycles, automobile – all open communications to a wider audience

• Artists respond to changes around them – traditional beliefs replaced by “avant-garde” ones (term coined at this time)

• Art academies abandoned• Artists used past for inspiration, but rejected traditional

subject matter• Goodbye religious subject matter, aristocratic portraits,

history paintings, and classical myths. • Hello MODERNISM! Artists represent peasant scenes,

landscapes, and still life

What are artists up to?

• Artists rejected by the Salon of Paris set up their own exhibitions – achieve fame by being anti-establishment (They’re punks!) – Impressionist exhibit is one of these exhibitions

• Art galleries begin to open – much more “friendly” than the Salon (just the art lover w/ the dealer)

• Artists influenced by influx of Japanese art = JAPONISME

• Artists paint PLEIN-AIR – paint outdoors to capture effects of atmosphere and light on a subject

• LITHOGRAPHY introduced – new form of printmaking• Artists can be categorized into movements…

REALSIM movement•Inspired by positivism •Artists believe in painting things that one could experience with the five senses•Painted the lower class in their environment•Peasants depicted with dignity – living their daily lives with basic honesty and sincerity (things seen to be missing among middle and upper class people)•Shown as one with the earth•Brown and ochre are dominant colors

Burial at OrnansGustave Courbet, 1849, oil on canvas

•Funeral in a drab country setting•Massive painting, but it doesn’t glorify any aspect of life (10’x21’)•Composition has s-curve, only the cross rises above the group•Unflattering depictions of provincial officials•Mood of funeral/death not like what we’ve seen before•Even the dog looks distracted (as are many of the people!)

•Courbet was inspired to paint this by his grandfather’s funeral•Not a record of any particular funeral•Attacked by conservative critics – objected to its presentation of such a mundane provincial funeral on the same scale (size-wise) as paintings of major historical events – also didn’t like the composition (No pyramids?! No hierarchy?!) – more democratic composition – everyone lined up •Critics – No suggestion of an afterlife?! Death and burial presented as mere facts, as a positivist might regard them

The Stone BreakersGustave Courbet, 1849, oil on canvas

•Two haggard men labor to produce gravel used for roadbeds – complete expression of poverty•“first” socialist piece ever painted – a satire of industrialized society – industry creates wonderful machines, and yet men still have to do back-breaking work like this!•A depiction of injustice on a 5’x8’ canvas – How scandalous!

The GleanersJean-Francois Millet, 1857, oil on canvas

•Gleaners were the poorest people – picking up scraps after the general harvest – this work was therefore controversial and made people nervous•Nobility of the poor, nobility of hard work•Figures are horizontal- blend into the landscape, their backs like rolling hills, don’t interfere with the horizon

•Haystacks in background mimic shapes of gleaners•Seen by the public as a socialist painting – suspicious that the lower class might rise up after the revolutions of 1848 in France

Third Class CarriageHonore Daumier, 1862, oil on canvas

•Poor people huddled in 3rd-class compartment of a horse-drawn bus in Paris – separated from middle class passengers emotionally and physically (their heads are turned behind them)•Anonymous people going about their daily business•Modern take on the Holy Family – Grandmother sits peacefully, mother nurses, grandchild sleeps

•Lower class portrayed as hardworking and earnest•Humanizes lower class similar to novels of Charles Dickens

Rue TransnonainHonore Daumier, 1834, lithograph

•Workers rebel in Lyon, France, and government troops suppressed them (aka: killed them)•A soldier was shot from a workers’ apartment complex, so troops came in and killed everyone in the building for revenge•Disorderly room – symbol of the attack•Three generations – middle-aged man on top of a child, elderly on extreme right•Meant to stir the emotions of the viewer – antiestablishment

•LITHOGRAPH prints used to mass-produce and circulate as many prints as possible•French government tried to suppress distribution

OlympiaEdouard Manet, 1863, oil on canvas

•Created SUCH a scandal at the Paris Salon of 1865! •Inspired by Titian’s Venus of Urbino•Figure is cold and uninviting, no mystery or joy•Maid delivers flower from an admirer•Olympia is a common name for prostitutes of the time•Her frank, direct, uncaring, unnerving look startled viewers•Simplified modeling, stark contrast of colors

•This piece was rejected from every Salon show, so Manet rented a nearby hall and staged a solo exhibition!

• Angular, flattened figure• Cold, indifferent stare• Cat arches its back at us• Stares down at us, in the

position of power – we are subordinate, like the black servant

• Non-conservative nude•Curvaceous, softly rounded figure•Looks lovingly at male spectator•Sleeping dog looks peaceful•Looking up at us•Beautiful nude

MANET

TITIAN

Luncheon on the GrassEdouard Manet, 1863, oil on canvas

•Manet entered this one in the Salon too, but it was rejected – became a “success de scandal” in the Salon des Refuses – established Manet as a radical artist•Figures obviously posing, no unity with landscape, awkward•Surprising juxtaposition of nude woman with clothed men in contemporary dress – immoral theme! – audience assumed the women were prostitutes , men clients•Presents nudity in the context of contemporary life. Nude or naked? What’s the difference?

•Distortion of perspective•Stark lighting on the female figures, flat, cut-out quality – also shocking•Debate about the subject matter here – theme of modern alienation? Figures don’t connect•Rejection of warm colors, near absence of modeling, figures look flat – stand out against their natural environment

MANET GIORGIONE’S “Pastoral Concert”

Snap the WhipWinslow Homer, 1872, oil on canvas

•Ideal vision of life in rural America•Simple scene that evokes thought and concentration•Monumentality of the forms•Hints at the American Civil War (chain of boys is a broken union)•Reaction against industrialization of America

•Homer believed that unadorned realism was the most appropriate style for American-type democratic values•Born in Boston, moved to a tiny English fishing village, saw common people struggle against common adversity

The Life LineWinslow Homer, 1884, oil on canvas

•Homer moved on to more dramatic themes of human struggle against natural adversity•Impressed with modern breeches buoy –used to rescue people on sinking ships•A coast guardsman using the breeches buoy to rescue an unconscious woman•Shows human bravery and ingenuity

Plowing in the NivernaisRosa Bonheur, 1849, oil on canvas

•Bonheur concentrated on painting animals (usually domesticated farm animals) in natural settings•Read zoology books, made detailed studies in stockyards and slaughterhouses (she had to get police permission to enter this all-male industry)•Influenced by modern ideals expressed in positivism•Large canvas (nearly 6’x9’) – brings grandeur to animals

•Powerful beasts, anonymous workers, fertile soil – reassuring image of agrarian life – simple country living •Movement of people and animals echoes scenes of processions found in classical art•Compositional harmony – shape of hill continued by backs of animals – sweeping panorama of figures left to right•Broke conventions of female painters who dabbled in miniatures•Bonheur dressed in men’s clothes, smoked cigars, and painted on a large scale

The Horse FairRosa Bonheur, 1853-1855, oil on canvas

•Smooth illusionism and conservative themes made her work very appealing to the public and critics•Received France’s highest award, membership in the Legion of Honor – first woman awarded its Grand Cross

The Gross ClinicThomas Eakins

1875oil on canvas

•Dr. Samuel Gross lecturing while performing an operation on a patient with osteomyelitis (bacterial infection of the bones)•Anesthesiologist applies chloroform on gauze to the patient’s unseen head

•Operation is in a glass-domed amphitheater• Students gathered around taking notes on the procedure/lecture•No surgical garb? Gross is in a business suit!•Patient’s mother covers her face•Rembrandt-like use of light on Gross’s face – heightens intensity of gaze, focal point is his brain•Sharpest focus is on blood-stained hands•Celebrates advances in medical science

•Took photos of Gross, who was too busy to pose live•Eakins often criticized for his controversial subjects•This painting was highly criticized (surgery isn’t a fit subject matter for art!)•Eakins saw Dr. Gross as a hero and depicted him memorably •Painting hung in the Jefferson Medical College, not at a museum

The Banjo LessonHenry O. Tanner 1893

oil on canvas

•Tanner was a student of Eakins•Painterly brushwork•Monumentality of forms•Values passed down from one generation to another •Poverty doesn’t prevent a life with dignity•Majesty of simple, everyday events•Deep emotional experience – unsentimental yet affectionate, intimate•Tanner wanted to address the stereotype of African-Americans as people who boisterously played on folk instruments – this is instead a serious exchange

Horse JumpingEadweard Muybridge, 1878, photograph

•Photography is so advanced now that it can capture moments the human eye cannot! - used a “zoopraxiscope” •Cameras snap shots at evenly-spaced points in time – effect of things happening in a sequence•Motion studies like this one inspired the creation of moving pictures (movies)•Great influence on painters like Degas, Eakins, Duchamp, and Boccioni (could photograph their subjects

IMPRESSIONISM• A true modernist movement started by avant-garde artists • Capture the dappled light across surfaces• Realized shadows contain color• Realized times of day and seasons of the year affect the

appearance of objects• Often worked in plein-air• Used a broad range of colors• Concentrate on landscapes and still life, some paint figures• Majorly influenced by Japanese art – liked how Japanese artists

showed figures from the back, used solid blocks of color without gradations (flatness), and off-center compositions

• Prided themselves on being anti-academic

The Japanese influence - JAPONISME

• Non-western art was a constant influence on Modern art (artists thought of their own tradition as outdated or in need of reform) – look to other cultures for inspiration

• Japanese influence began around 1850 – trade agreements promote exchange of Japanese goods

• Became fashionable to collect Japanese objects • Paris hosts first exhibit of Japanese prints in Europe• French interest in Japanese art was at its peak in

1872 – art critics called it JAPONISME• Japanese art greatly impacted Western art …

• Simplicity• Flatness• Decorative

elements• Asymmetrical

compositions• Smooth elegance• Bold design• Overwhelming

beauty of nature

Plum Orchard, KameidoHiroshige, 1857Woodblock print from Japan

Japonaiserie: Flowering Plum TreeVincent van Gogh, 1887Oil on canvas

The Princess from the Land of Porcelain

James Whistler1863-1865

Oil on canvas

Japanese stuff is fashionable!

Haystack at the Sunset near GivernyClaude Monet, 1891, oil on canvas

•Impressionists like Monet often did a series of paintings of the same subject done at different times of day/year•Subtle gradations of light on the surface•Forms dissolve and dematerialize – color overwhelms the forms•Meant to hang together for effect•Haystacks were the first series to hang as a group (about 30 of them, 15 hung in exhibition)

Same subject, different times of day/seasons

Rouen Cathedral Claude Monet, 1894

oil on canvas

Same subject, different times of day/seasons

The Water Lilies – Setting SunClaude Monet, 1914-1926, oil on canvas

I KNOW these are from the 1900’s, but I couldn’t let you leave this class without seeing Monet’s water lilies, and they’re not in the book!

Painted at his home in Giverny

Monet’s house and gardens. He did all of his own landscaping!

Four Poplar Trees

Claude Monet1891

oil on canvas

Same subject painted multiple times (different

times of day/seasons)

Le Moulin de la GalettePierre Auguste Renoir, 1876, oil on canvas

•Dappling effect of fleeting light on given subjects, light coming through the moving trees•People go about their business, not posed•Outdoor leisure activities of the middle class•Cropped figures on edges – suggest a photographic randomness (just point and shoot!)•Child in lower left- relaxed and innocent atmosphere

•A Sunday afternoon dance hall in Paris (short walk to Moulin Rouge)•Attractive people look relaxed, happy, dancing, chatting, flirting •Overall mood of a good time!

“For me a picture should be a pleasant thing, joyful and pretty – yes pretty! There are quite enough unpleasant things in life without the need for us to manufacture more.” - Renoir

The Rehearsal On StageEdgar Degas, 1874, oil on canvas

•Degas worked mostly indoors and focused on subjects that suggest movement, such as ballet dancers•Asymmetrical compositions (Japonisme)•Firmly drawn bodies contrast with feathery brushstrokes of costumes and setting

Figures often seen from the back, cut off at the edges, or marginalized

Degas had a “thing” for ballerinas

Degas also had a “thing” for females bathing

Bar at the Folies BergereEdouard Manet, 1881-1882, oil on canvas

•Barmaid seems bored by her customer, faraway look in her eyes – one of the many shallow interactions that urban life enables •Disappointing reality of an ordinary existence – theme directly confronts viewer•Mirror behind her reflects into the viewer’s world•What is the mirror reflecting? Is that her back, or another barmaid and another customer? •Trapeze act in far upper left corner – no one is paying attention to it!

•Barmaid’s wide hips, strong neck, and smooth golden hair are echoed in the champagne bottles•Goods are pushed forward in the composition – modern sales technique of putting products next to pretty salesgirl

Paris Street, Rainy DayGustave Caillebotte, 1877, oil on canvas

•Caillebotte was fascinated by the new urban geometry of Haussmann’s street grids•Shows an unconventional composition (gaping hole in center where the street vanishes to infinity•Somewhat exaggerated perspective –emphasizes Haussmann’s carving- up of Paris streets•Figures in right half •Lamppost divides canvas in two

•Subject and composition completely modern

Villa at the SeasideBerthe Morisot, 1874, oil on canvas

•Morisot was sister-in-law of Manet and granddaugter of Fragonard•Figures informally placed•Sketchy, painterly brushstrokes•Instantaneous moment caught with spontaneity of expression

•Shows habits of middle class women at the time – carefully wrap themselves up before going in the sun•Sharing a private, intimate moment, despite being in the vast outdoors•Asymmetrical composition

Summer’s DayBerthe Morisot, 1879, oil on canvas

•Morisot usually painted the lives of bourgeois women•Loose and painterly style – pushes the “sketch” of Impressionism to the limits here•Flurry of feathery brushstrokes•Modern urban leisure in a large park on the fashionable west side of Paris•Viewer occupies seat opposite women in boat •Enjoying pleasant surroundings and nice weather

Mother and Child with a Rose Scarf

Mary Cassatt1908

oil on canvas

•Mother-and-child theme is a specialty of Cassatt’s, figures from everyday life•Tenderness like this not seen in other Impressionist work•Cassatt’s work usually depicts women as independent and not needing men to complete themselves – women who enjoy the company of other women•No posing or acting – figures have natural charm•Decorative charm influenced by Japanese art

Maternal CaressMary Cassatt, 1891

•Japanese art influence•Solid forms, off-balance composition•Clashing patterns, tipped “horizon” from bed seen at an angle – all influenced by Japanese art

Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket

James Whistler

1875, oil on wood

•Subtle harmonies in painting like harmonies in music •Japanese-style signature in bottom right corner•Atmospheric effects of fireworks over a riverbank – not realistic, but a study in the harmonies of colors, shapes, and light•Looks at first like a completely abstract painting •Whistler sued an art critic over this painting – claimed the critic’s review ruined his reputation•Whistler won the trial, but was forced into bankruptcy in paying the court fees

The birth of modern art:•Manet and the impressionists are the initiators of MODERN ART (began around 1860 and lasted just over 100 years)•Broke with long-standing traditions – thought that tradition had been “used up” and there was nothing else to do with it, or that tradition was irrelevant in the fast-changing world of urbanization and industrialization•Also rejected the structure of academic training, Salon exhibitions, and the taste of the public•Many artists were poor – could have made more money if their art had “fit the mold” better

• Artists rejected four main part of artistic tradition:CUSTOM: dictated how artists do things

TECHNIQUES: perspective, drawing nudes, etc. CONVENTIONS: satisfying the viewer RULES: obscenity laws, restrictionsModernization of society also caused MODERN art – urban

middle class flock to see new, scandalous artArtists are AVANT-GARDE – a term initially used in military

context (a unit of soldiers would scout territory the rest of the troops would soon occupy) – Modern artists were “working ahead” of the public’s ability to comprehend

REJECTION OF TRADITION and AVANT-GARDE are the TWO MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPTS for understanding and explaining MODERN ART

POST-IMPRESSIONISM•The next generation after Impressionism•Combined the Impressionists’ goals (light, shading, color) with an analysis of the structure of a given subject•Wanted to make Impressionism more “solid and durable”•Move toward abstraction, but retain solid forms, explore underlying structure, preserve perspective despite slight abstraction

In Post-Impressionism, Paul Cezanne is the MAN! •Innovative qualities of his work brought him fame later in life•Dedicated himself to the objective transcription of what he called “sensations” of nature•Didn’t want to capture transitory effects of light like the Impressionists•Wanted to create a sense of order in nature through a methodical application of color – blended drawing and modeling into one process- wanted to make Impressionism more solid and durable

Mount Saint-VictoirePaul Cezanne, 1902-1904, oil on canvas

•Cezanne painted this view 11 times•Wanted rounded and firm objects, but ones that were geometric and made from splashes of undiluted color•Created perspective and depth through juxtaposing warm (forward) and cool (receding) colors•His landscapes rarely contain humans•Not the countryside of Impressionism – more interested in geometric forms than dappled sunlight

•NOT a momentary glimpse•Solid and firmly constructed mountain and foreground •Landscape seen from an elevation•Invited to look at space, but not enter

A Basket of ApplesPaul Cezanne, 1893, oil on canvas

•Depicts the solid nature of the forms•Contrasting nature of round objects, flat objects, and drapery falling into viewer’s space•Strong painterly brushstrokes•Contrast between 2-D nature of painting and 3-D nature of real objects•Objects tilt towards us but remain fixed on table top

•Objects seem incorrectly drawn- table higher on right•Wine bottle is uneven, tilted and head-on objects •Disregard of perspective – see objects from different perspectives all at once – a “construction after nature”•We’ll see how this translates into CUBISM not too far in the future!

The Large BathersPaul Cezanne, 1906, oil on canvas

•Cezanne admired this subject matter from prior art periods•Worked from earlier drawings, photos, and memory•Bathers have been simplified, schematic forms•Two pyramid groups under a canopy of trees, expanse of water, landscape, and sky•Figures are motionless and statue-like•Seems timeless

•Cezanne made his own rules – his legacy in Modern art

Sunday Afternoon on the Grand JatteGeorges Seurat, 1884-1886, oil on canvas

•POINTILLIST technique – small dots of pure color applied to canvas, the viewer’s eye blends them from a distance. For example, red and yellow dots interspersed would appear orange. It’s science!

•Analysis of color relationships•Traditional perspective, alternating light and dark increase the sense of depth•Figures are like statues… uncommunicative, faceless, anonymous (even in a park full of people, no one is really interacting (damn modern society)•Seems frozen in time•Afternoon activity of the middle class on a Sunday•A fan of musicals? Check out Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George”

•Stiff formality and calculated geometry seem totally different from the casual naturalism of earlier Impressionism•Depicts contemporary subject in a highly formal style, almost like ancient Egypt!

•Seurat is showing how tranquil the park SHOULD be (it was actually noisy and chaotic)•Satirizing the Parisian middle class (Seurat also made cartoons for anarchist magazines at this time)

The Starry NightVincent van Gogh, 1889, oil on canvas

•Van Gogh’s style – thick, short brushstrokes•Mountains in the distance that Van Gogh could see at his hospital room in St. Remy•Exaggerated the steepness of the landscape•Composite landscape: Dutch church (he was Dutch), crescent moon, Mediterranean cypress trees•At one with the forces of nature

•Parts of the canvas can be seen through the brushwork – didn’t fill every space•Though stylistic, the arrangement of stars is accurate to exactly when Van Gogh painted this (astronomers have compared it to what would have been visible during the exact days during which he painted this!)

•Left to right wave-like composition•Sky broken up by tree and church steeple•Tree looks like flames reaching into sky•Stars exploding over calm village•Cypress tree a symbol of death and eternal life (they are really really old)

Paint is heavily applied, texture is visible – IMPASTO technique

These brushstrokes = Van Gogh

Café Terrace at NightVincent van Gogh,

1888(in Arles, France)

Vincent van Gogh self portraits(he was Dutch but painted mostly in France)

Visions After the SermonPaul Gauguin, 1888, oil on canvas

•After a sermon about Jacob wrestling an angel, the worshippers exit the church and envision the scene•Tree trunk separates reality from the miraculous vision•Red heat of sermon – red earth•Tilted perspective•Priest a lower right looks like Gauguin

•Apple tree symbolizes tree of knowledge (Gauguin’s idea, not in story)•Cow symbolizes man’s redemption (sacrifice)•Broad areas of flat color (Japan?) – subtle variations of hue within color planes

Manhana No Atua (Day of the God)Paul Gauguin, 1894, oil on canvas

•Gauguin called his anti-Impressionist style “Synthetism” because it synthesized the subject in nature with the artist’s feeling about the subject – expressed this through abstracted line, shape, space, and color

•Tahitian subject, but painted in France after he returned from the South Pacific •Went to Tahiti to find paradise, live and work cheaply and naturally•Discovered a culture disappearing under the pressures of Westernization – oh no!•Gauguin ignored this and depicted his ideal of Tahiti

•Upper is most realistic, with statue of a god•Middle zone –three figures on beach, non-naturalistic colors•Two figures are curled up like fetuses (symbols of birth, life, death?)•Central figure looks at viewer•Bottom zone- abstract pool of puzzle-like colors –mysterious water

•Divided into three areas

SYMBOLISM•Artists of this movement wanted to depict the unseen forces of life – things that are deeply felt more than seen•Embraced a mystical philosophy – dreams and inner experiences of an artists life are the inspiration •Variety of painting styles, more about the inspiration behind the works than about visual cohesiveness among them

The ScreamEdvard Munch

1893 tempera on cardboard

•Human figure walking along the wharf, boats at sea in distance•Long, thick brushstrokes•Swirling composition•Figure cries out in horrifying scream!•Landscape echoes figure’s emotions•Colors symbolize anguish•Emaciated twisted stick figure with scull-like head•Hints of Expressionism (theme) and Art Nouveau (swirling patterns)•Painted as part of a series called “The Frieze of Life”

The IntrigueJames Ensor, 1890, oil on canvas

•Ensor was inspired by the grotesque papier-mache masks his family sold during carnival•Disturbing masks come to life and reveal the character of the people wearing them – comical, stupid, hideous•Acidic colors, crude handling of form, roughly applied paint•Violent application of paint records Ensor’s feelings about the subject matter

The Sleeping GypsyHenri Rousseau, 1897, oil on canvas

•Rousseau had no formal training: “Primitive” or “Naive” artist•Strange ambiguities and juxtapositions

•Desert-like landscape, sterile looking•Lion (a jungle animal) sniffing a gypsy like a curious cat•Tilted perspective of gypsy pose•Repeated stripes in composition (clothing AND in landscape)•Is the lion a dream? Is the gypsy sleeping? How is she holding the walking stick then? •Inscription (not shown): “The feline, though ferocious, is loathe to leap upon its prey, who, overcome by fatigue, lies in a deep sleep.”

The Dream, Henri Rousseau

The ApparitionGustave Moreau

1874-1876watercolor on paper

•Seductive Salome confronts a vision of John the Baptist’s severed head (dripping blood, holy light) – Salome was responsible for his death – Demanded his head in return for doing an erotic dance for King Herod, her stepfather (I know, gross)

•Macabre subject shown in exotic architectural setting •Elaborate detail, jewel-tone colors•Voluptuous decadence – exaggerates Salome’s role as a femme fatale (fatal woman) – temps and destroys her male victim•A fantasy that haunted male Symbolists – maybe in response to late 19th century feminism?

Sculpture break! Let’s look at some late 19th century sculpture..

•Auguste Rodin is the MAN! - most successful and influential European sculptor of the late 1800’s•Rodin’s work incorporates Symbolism and Expressionist hints (Expressionism is coming!)•Mature style, vigorously modeled figures, unconventional poses•His sculptures were hand-modeled in clay, then cast in bronze or cut in marble, usually by a workshop (then Rodin added finishing touches by hand)•Imprint of the hand on the sculptures = visible brushstroke in an Impressionist painting

Burghers of CalaisAuguste Rodin, 1884-1886, bronze

•Scene from the Hundred Years’ War•Six burghers offer their lives to the English king in return for saving their besieged city •Burgher = a citizen of a town•English king insists they wear sack cloths and carry the key to the city

Parallel: Paris besieged ruing Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and Calais besieged by English in 1347

•Figures sculpted individually, then arranged by Rodin as he thought best•Figures suffer, week and emaciated•Each has a different emotion (fearful, resigned, hopeless)

•Hand gestures emphasized•Noose around neck•Details slightly reduced (especially lower half) to emphasize overall impression of the piece

The ThinkerAuguste Rodin1904, bronze

•Nude male figure (over life-size) sitting on a rock with his chin resting on one hand as though deep in thought, •Often used as an image to represent philosophy•About 28 full-size castings exist•Originally part of a commission for a sculptural interpretation of Dante’s “The Gates of Hell”

SMO CAM

The WaltzCamille Claudel

1892-1905bronze

•Claudel was Rodin’s pupil and worked in his studio•Became his mistress, stormy relationship lasted 15 years•Spent last 30 years of her life in an asylum for psychological problems•Dancing couple, male nude, female semi-nude•Body in long flowing gown (originally both nude, didn’t pass censors)

•Conveys illusion of fluid motion•Dancing partners whirl in space – rhythm and music•Spiraling motion enhanced by gown•Encourages viewer to walk around it – increases dynamic effect•Facial expressions reveal no passion or sexual desire •Shows love as more of a spiritual union than a physical one

Adams MemorialAugustus Saint-Gaudens, 1891, bronze

•In Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington D.C.•Memorial not marked•Dedicated to wife of Henry Adams, who committed suicide•No dates, no artist signature, figure unnamed•Eyes of figure hardly open, hooded like an Eastern mystical figure•Serene, contemplating life•Shrouded face•Placed outdoors in cemetery, surrounded by high bushes, largely hidden, for private contemplation

Shaw MemorialAugustus Saint-Gaudens, 1897, bronze

•One of many U.S. Civil War memorials•Very high relief sculpture•Colonel Shaw leading first regiment of African-American soldiers into battle•Great range of soldiers ages

•Military details emphasized: march in unison, weapons parallel•Realism of military march contrasts with allegorical figure of Peace above

ART NOUVEAU•Developed in Brussels, Barcelona, Paris, and Vienna•1890-1914•Combines painting, sculpture, and architecture into one unified experience•Art Nouveau buildings were designed, furnished, and decorated by the same artist/team – integrated whole•Natural, floral patterns, complex designs, undulating surfaces (no hard edges or straight lines)•Curvilinear designs in ironwork, balconies, fences, railings, structural elements, etc. •Rejected modern industrial society – sought new aesthetic forms with preindustrial beauty, but fresh and innovative

The KissGustav Klimt, 1907-1908,

oil on canvas

•We see little of the human form, just the heads, hands, and feet•Bodies are suggested under a blanket of richly designed patterning

•Male figure has large rectangular patterns, female has circular forms•All-consuming love, passion, eroticism•What sort of space is this? Who knows!? Location is against a flat background. Are they standing, kneeling, or reclining???

•Abundance of ornamentation and decoration – typical Art Nouveau•Klimt perfected his “golden style”- couple embraces in a golden aura•Are they kneeling close to the edge of a cliff?

And just because Klimt is awesome…

Stairway, Tassel House

BrusselsVictor Horta 1892-

1893•Horta was most responsible for introducing the Art Nouveau style in architecture•Private house for a professor•Wall decoration, iron work, floor tile all designed with intricate series of long graceful curves

Casa Mila, Antonio Gaudi, 1907, Barcelona, Spain

•Apartment building (people still live in them!) – garage for carriages below, elevators to take people up to their apartments•Undulating, twisting forms of hand-cut stone

•Embellishments of wrought iron (balconies) – typical in Barcelona’s Art Nouveau architecture (most of which was done by Gaudi)•Interior walls are not straight or flat –walls of infinite shape

Balconies (exterior) and atrium (interior)

Casa Mila’s roof and chimneys

(SMO cam)

Serpentine Bench, Guell Park, BarcelonaAntonio Gaudi, 1900-

1914

•Architecture and sculpture combined in this serpentine bench (also serves as a boundary wall)•Surface is glittering mosaic of broken pottery and tiles – hints at long tradition of pottery in Spain

Jane AvrilHenri de

Toulouse-Lautrec 1893, lithograph

LITHOGRAPH is a newly introduced printmaking technique – artist draws on flat stone surface with a special crayon that attracts ink, paper absorbs the ink, a print is made!

•Toulouse-Lautrec is the most famous 19th century poster designer•Part of a community of bohemian artists in Paris’s Montmartre neighborhood (where Moulin Rouge is)

•Depicted Paris’s social life in cafes, theaters, dance halls, and brothels (went to all these places a lot)•Portrays dancer Jane Avril•Bold foreshortening of stage, bass player in foreground•Instrument’s head merges into frame around the scene- connects Avril with the music•Radical simplification of forms•Flattened shapes, no modeling•Blank paper part of color scheme•All influence of Japanese woodblock prints•Curving lines = Art Nouveau

LATE 19TH CENTURY ARCHITECTURE•Movement toward skeletal architecture •Architects and engineers work together•Design “curtain wall” – the building is held up by an interior framework called a SKELETON – exterior wall looks like a curtain made of glass or steel that keeps out the weather•Emphasis on vertical – had to go vertical since land prices soared in modern cities•Emphasized height of buildings by adding pilasters and setting back the windows behind them•Architects consider their buildings works of art, covered them in terra-cotta or ironwork

•Big advances made in architecture, especially in Chicago (the Chicago School)•1871 fire burned much of Chicago to the ground – proved that iron and wood are not reliable in fire – only ceramic and steel or iron wrapped in terra cotta survived – hmmmm….•Chicago began that trend•Buildings have open and wide window spaces for light and air – allows people to admire window displays•“Chicago window” developed- one big central window flanked by two smaller double-hung windows for ventilation•Elevator invented! Buildings can be much higher now!

The birth of window shopping

Marshall Field Warehouse (Wholesale Store)Henry H. Richardson, 1885-1887, Chicago

Palazzo Medici-RiccardiMichelozzo

1444Florence, Italy

(Early Renaissance in Italy, remember?)

•Heavy rounded arches resemble Romanesque architecture•Self-bearing masonry exterior walls with rusticated stone•Masonry gets “lighter” and less rusticated as it goes up – heavy at bottom floor and flat and light at top

•Iron columns used for interior support•Interior arranged around a central court•Few historical influences – no capitals, columns, pediments, undecorated entrance•Subtle groupings of windows as building rises•Solid massive appearance topped by flat cornice•Masculine image of warehouse vs. feminine image of department store•Closed in 1930

Carson Pirie Scott Building

Louis Sullivan, 1899-1904, Chicago

•For retail purposes•A Chicago landmark•Horizontal emphasis symbolizes continuous flow of floor space•Maximum window areas to admit light – also to display merchandise•Exterior is non-supportive (curtain)•Cast iron decorative elements – a beautiful place to buy beautiful things•Art Nouveau decorative touches•Sullivan’s motto: “form follows function”

Decorated in 1909 to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s 100th birthday

Northwest entrance

(Art Nouveau, anyone?)

The Guaranty Building

Louis Sullivan, 1894-1896, Buffalo, NY

•Prototype of modern office building•Accent on vertical thrust, windows placed back in space so pilasters stretch up entire building uninterrupted

•Exterior coated in decorative terra cotta tiles – nice to look at AND fireproof•Interior ornament elaborately arranged around lobby area, hallways, elevator, and areas under staircases•Historical touches – round entrance arches, heavy cornice at top, columns on ground floor with fancy capitals

The Eiffel TowerGustave Eiffel,

1887-1889, Paris

SMO CAM (I kid you not)

Do not waste your time and money on the

elevator. Climb the stairs!

•Built as the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Universal Exposition (showcase of modern advances in science and industry, fine and applied arts too)•Eiffel specialized in building metal structures like railway bridges (bottom story looks like a railroad bridge)•Eiffel also helped in the construction of the Statue of Liberty and the Panama Canal (not a bad résumé!)•Triumph of wrought-iron design•Assembled from limited number of shapes – symbolizes interlocking members of a democratic society •Symbol of technological innovation and human aspiration•Embodies 19th century belief in the progress and ultimate perfection of civilization through science and technology

•Made of iron•984 feet•Tallest structure in the world at that time (bigger than pyramids and Gothic cathedrals!)

Vocabulary for ALL of the 19th Century: •CAMERA OBSCURA: a box with a lens which captures light and casts an image on the opposite side or wall•DAGUERREOTYPE: a type of early photography, developed by Louis Daguerre, that is characterized by a shiny surface, meticulous finish, and clarity of detail – unique photographs that have no negative•PHOTOGRAM: image made by placing objects on photosensitive paper and exposing them to light to capture their silhouette•RUCKENFIGUR: in German Romantic painting, a figure seen from the back, often in the contemplation of nature

•SCHOOL: a group of artist who share the same philosophy, work around the same time, but not necessarily together•THE SUBLIME: any cathartic experience from the catastrophic to the intellectual that causes the viewer to marvel in awe, wonder, and passion •AVANT-GARDE: An innovative group of artists who generally reject traditional approaches in favor of a more experimental technique•JAPONISME: an attraction for Japanese art and artifacts that were imported into Europe in the late 19th century•LITHOGRAPHY: a printmaking technique that uses a flat stone surface as a base – Artist draws an image with a special crayon that attracts ink – paper that absorbs ink is applied to the surface, and a print is made

•MODERNISM: a late 19th century movement- artists embraced the current at the expense of traditional subject matter and media – seek to question the very nature of art •PLEIN-AIR: painting in the outdoors to directly capture the effects of light and atmosphere on a given object•POINTELLISM: a painting technique that uses small dots of color that are combined by the eye at a given distance (“optical blending”)•POSITIVISM: theory that expresses that all knowledge must come from proven ideas based on science or scientific theory •PRIMITIVE or NAÏVE ARTIST: artist without formal training; a folk artist (like Henri Rousseau)•SKELETON: the supporting interior framework of a building

FIN