Art Appreciation

18th to 19th centuries

Neoclassical Art

• The neoclassical period lasted from about 1750 to 1850. Neoclassical artists revived and honored the classical art of ancient Greece and Rome. Neoclassical works of art showed a return to more traditional times, and encouraged order, reason, and discipline. Painting show heroic people in scenes from or inspired by ancient history, figures look idealized or perfect. Literature stresses the world’s harmony and a view of human nature based on reason. Music (classical) the mood is moderate; does not describe any extreme emotion

Romantic Art

• The romantic period lasted form about 1800-1850’s. Romantic artists believed in the importance of returning to nature. Romantic works of art showed strong imagination and emotion. Painting shows scenes of family, nature, heroism, religious, and emotional subjects. Literature stresses human emotions over the rational mind, common themes are heroes, childhood, the past, and passionate love. Music is emotional, with a wide variety of rhythms, melody is dramatic.

Realist Art• The realist period lasted from about the 1830’s to 1900.

Realist artists emphasized the importance of showing people and their lives as they really are. Realistic works of art depict situations from daily life, no matter how unpleasant or unheroic they might be. Painting shows scenes of common people and the human body is not idealized. Photography when introduced was another form of realist art. Literature describes the hardships of everyday life and criticizes the greed and bad manners of the middle class. Music (verismo). Opera is a play with its text set to music, melody imitates human speech and voice and conveys realistic emotions.

Impressionism

• The French school of impressionism began in the 1860’s as a reaction against the realist style. Instead of showing life as it really is, they tried giving their impression of a subject of a moment in time. Artists were fascinated with light, and used pure, shimmering colors to capture a moment seen at a glance. Impressionists showed a more positive view of the new urban society in Western Europe, and commonly portrayed performers, or people involved in leisure activities. They glorified the delights of the life of the rising middle class.

The Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, Jacques-Louis David, 1789.

Moonrise over the Sea, Caspar David Friedrich, 1821

The Gleaners, Jean-Francois Millet, 1857

Croquet, Edouard Manet

Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Joseph M.W. Turner, 1832

The Death of Socrates, Jacques-Louis David, 1787

Lily Pond, Claude Monet

The March of the Weavers, Kathe Kollwitz, 1897.

The Apotheosis of Homer, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1827.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881.

Liberty Leading the People, Eugene Delacroix, 1830.

Women Ironing, Edgar Degas, 1884-1886

An Essay on Man, Alexander Pope

• Let Power or Knowledge, Gold or Glory, please,

• Or (oft more strong than all) the love of ease;• Through life it is followed, even at life’s

expense;• The merchant’s toil, the sage’s indolence,• The monk’s humility, the hero’s pride,• All, all alike, find Reason on their side

The Tables Turned, William Wordsworth

• Up!up! My Friend, and quit your books;• Or surely you’ll grow double:• Up! Up! My Friend, and clear your looks;• Why all this toil and trouble?

• Books! ‘tis a dull and endless strife:• Come, here the woodland linnet,• How sweet his music! On my life,• There’s more of wisdom in it.

Germinal, Emile Zola• The four colliers had spread themselves out, one above

the other, to cover the whole coal-face. Each one occupied about four metres of the seam, and there were hooked planks between them to catch the coal as it fell. The seam was so thin, hardly more than fifty centimetres through at this point, that they were flattened between roof and wall, dragging themselves along by their knees and elbows unable to turn without grazing their shoulders. In order to get the coal, they had to lie on one side with twisted neck, arms above their heads, and wield their short-handled picks slantways.