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

1800’s = a lot of artWe are going to divide the 1800’s in halves so we don’t get overwhelmed. This PowerPoint is roughly the FIRST HALF of the 1800’s We’ll break it down into “movements” as best we can to keep it organized

• Neoclassicism (we already covered that, but it’s still around)

• Romanticism• Early photography

19th century history…• The enlightenment transforms life in Europe and

the US • Advances in manufacturing, transportation,

communications, new products, etc.• Thriving cities, urban centers, better living

conditions, poor work conditions (factories)• “Progress” is the height of human achievement• Inventions and advances: Telegraph, telephone,

radio, electric lights, motors, trams, railways, medicines, explosives, steel, pasteurization, vaccines, etc. = healthier, more efficient people!

• Darwin’s scientific discoveries challenge biblical account of creation

• “Survival of the fittest” was thought to apply to the human race (“Social Darwinism”)

• Anglo-Saxon upper class = at the top of social evolution

• Working class = less evolved people• Underdeveloped parts of the world = not as evolved• Power of the church and monarchies declines = less

influence on art production• Capitalist bourgeoisie (middle class), nation-states,

and national academies become largest patrons of the arts

A word about Neoclassicism…

• We just covered it! • Remained popular in early 19th century

(sculpture, painting, and architecture)• Greek/Roman influences recall

democracy• We covered a lot of Neoclassicism, so

we’re going to move on…

Let’s start with ROMANTICISM (began in late 1700’s and ended around 1850)

• Focuses on feelings and imagination rather than thoughts – individuality and freedom!

• Humans long for self-expression, understanding, and identification from other

• Dramatic and emotional subject matter drawn from literature, sublime landscape, current events, or the artist’s imagination

• Explore political revolution• Unconscious world of dreams and fantasies

• French Revolution strengthens the Romantic spirit• Romantics like social independence,

freedom of individual thought, and the ability to express oneself openly• Trust your heart, not your head!• Photography invented in the

Romantic period (more about that later)

Let’s talk about Romantic artists…• Romantic artists are brilliant, troubled,

temperamental, critical, exhausted, emotional, gloomy, depressed, pensive, melancholy, thoughtful• Romantics liked the “extremes” of being a

human, daredevils, adventurous, pleasure-seeking, fought for important causes• Romantics love the “anti-hero” (underdog) –

shuns society, quiet, but capable of heroic deeds

Let’s get the architecture over with…• Iron becomes more prominent in Romantic period –

hide iron frameworks under “skin” of a building to maintain outer beauty

• Some architects get daring and expose the iron, or even mix in walls of glass

• Large-scale iron structures introduced (engineers realize this is the face of the future)

• Romantic architecture is a revival of all past styles• Nostalgia for old styles (like medieval) – They even

built “ruins” so Romantics could ponder the loss of civilization when they saw them

•Medieval art was the favorite revival style, but they also incorporated Egyptian, Islamic, Gothic, and Baroque styles• Let’s look at some ROMANTIC

architecture…

The Houses of ParliamentCharles Barry and Augustus Pugin, 1836-1860, London

•The winning design for the new Houses of Parliament in 1835 (the old one burned down)•Designed in the England Perpendicular Gothic style (Gothic revival) – had to be in this style so it would look consistent with Westminster Abbey (13th century church) next to it – where English monarchs are crowned•Massive structure: 1100 rooms, 100 staircases, 2 miles of hallways

Westminster Abbey

•It’s basically a modern office building in a medieval costume•Barry was a classical architect- we can see this in his symmetrical, classical plan•Pugin was a Gothic architect- provides intricate Gothic decorative touches (this design is even more ornamented than the original building!)

Here’s Big Ben, the “village clock” for all of England

Oooooo, it’s pretty at night

The OperaCharles Garnier, 1861-1874, Paris

•Baroque revival – check out all the ornamentation on the exterior!•Elaborate entrances•You don’t go to the opera to SEE the opera. You go to BE seen•Iron used throughout, but hidden by outer skin of stone•Part of a large project to rebuild the neighborhood after damage from riots

•Pairs of columns above an arcade•Similar to the Louvre in style•Celebrates devotion to wealth and pleasure of Romanic period•Elaborate decoration mirrors the type of entertainment there – elaborate opera. Let’s go inside!

The Opera (interior) - called the “temple of pleasure” by critics

The grand staircase has alcoves and balconies where ladies can “perch” and show off their outfits. Garnier said the staircase IS the opera

• Mirrors throughout – reflect light from gas lamps, allow people to check their appearance

This is where you watch the opera, but no one cares!

Bibliotheque Saint-Genevieve, Henri Labrouste, 1843-1850, Paris

The exterior (meh)•Arches on exterior mimic interior arches

•1st attempt to incorporate structural iron into architecture (seen)•Labrouste was a radical – wanted to incorporate new technology and innovations

•1st library to be open at night – used gas lamps (needed to be a fireproof building, have big windows to allow natural light, and be centrally heated (how modern!)

•Iron arches symbolize mechanically set lines of print•Patterned arched spaces – two large barrel vaults represent two columns on a printed page (like two pages of an open book with the columns acting as a book spine)

•810 authors’ names carved into exterior (in chronological order)•Starts with Moses, ends with a Swedish chemist (Berzelous)•Letters were originally deep red to look like printing on paper

The Crystal PalaceJoseph Paxton, 1850-1851, London

•1st World’s Fair held here (called the London Great Exhibition)•Revolutionary construction – leads to the development of modern architecture•Skeleton of cast iron holding in iron-framed glass panes (each one 49”x30”- the largest-sized glass panes that could be mass-produced then)

•About a million square feet of exhibition space! – The largest enclosed space up to that time (covers more than 18 acres!)•1,851 feet long (symbolic of the year it was built)•Built in 39 weeks (one week less than a pregnancy!), under budget, and ahead of schedule! •Critics considered It a great work of engineering, but not legit architecture because it didn’t allude to any past styles. God forbid!

• No interior lighting required – all natural light• Barrel-vaulted interior high enough to cover trees already growing on the property! • Huge open interior space for displays of products

• Paxton was an expert in building greenhouses- see the connection? Walls are like a glass curtain

• First monumental building out of factory-produced parts. Yay industry!

•Meant to be temporary, economical, simple, capable of fast assembly/disassembly (GREAT example of the industrial revolution’s impact on art/architecture)•Also meant to be fire proof, but it burned down in the 1936 sorry

Yay time for paintings!•Artists are inspired by the “sublime” – didn’t like the ordered, symmetrical, logical, scientific elements of prior styles. For example… The Tyger by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright,In the forests of the night:What immortal hand or eye,Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

•Since when does “symmetry” rhyme with “eye”? Ah ha! The rhythm of the poem seems to want it to rhyme, and Blake is pointing out that there is a “fearful symmetry” in the old Neoclassical ideal. Bring on progress and change and the unexpected! The heck with symmetry! •PS: William Blake was a poet AND artist. Remember him?

• Artists want to capture images that are fantastic, unconscious, haunting, and insane!

• Gericault and Goya (painters) actually visited asylums and depicted the people there

• The birth of photography has an impact on painting – some painters give up – why bother if you can take a photo that captures things perfectly?

• Other artists saw photography as a great tool – no need to have a live model pose for an eternity – can use photos as reference!

• Photography never becomes the enemy of painting, though. They remain separate art forms.

• Painters include political themes – express support of social movements and political positions

• Even landscapes make contemporary statements (about the industrial revolution, pollution, etc.)

Let’s start in Spain

The Sleep of Reason Produces

MonstersFrancisco de Goya

1799 etching

(Spanish)

•“Reason” falls asleep while at work•Haunted by dreams of bats and owls (night creatures)•Monsters haunt even the most rational mind•A response to the Spanish inquisition, which stopped French-inspired reforms•Goya disliked the inquisition’s disregard of human emotion•Goya’s work = despair

Family of Charles IVFrancisco de Goya 1800, oil on canvas

•Goya makes the royal family look a little ridiculous, accentuated costumes•King looks dazed and bloated, many metals•Queen has double chin, was having an open affair with prime minister•Relatives stare off into space, look dazed, confused, surprised•Despite all this, the royal family was ok with this realistic depiction

•Painter stands behind easel on the left (Las Meninas?) – obviously not part of the royal family•Everyone is perhaps looking in a huge mirror as he paints, admiring themselves, arranged in three groupings •Authority of Spanish aristocracy crumbling

Third of MayFrancisco de Goya, 1808, oil on canvas

•Napoleon conquered Spain, Spanish citizens (including Goya) welcomed the French, liked their new liberal constitution•But then French are supposedly going to kill royal family… makes the Spanish people mad! •Bloody street fights arise, hundreds of Spaniards herded into a convent, executed by French firing squad (on March 3)

•French are faceless robots, repetitive•Central Spanish figure is Christ-like (arms in crucifixion pose)•Church is silent, powerless in background•Brutal inhumanity, bloody foreground

• Even his hands suggest crucifixion-like wounds

•What’s ROMANTIC about this painting?

•Current event•Loose brushwork•Poses based on reality•Off-balance composition•Dramatic lighting

•Blind destruction of defenseless humanity•Goya said he painted it “To warn men to never do it again.”

• One of his “black paintings” (he did these after giving up hope in human progress – vented his disillusionment by painting nightmarish scenes on the walls of his home)

• Somewhat damaged after crumbling plaster under murals were transferred to canvas

• Never meant for public view

Saturn Devouring One of His ChildrenFrancisco de Goya

1819-1823, oil on canvas

• Mythical scene: Saturn eats each of his children because of a prophecy that one of them would grow up to be greater than he

• Sinister blackness, bulging eyes

• Human self-destruction• Time destroys all its

creations• A country eating its young

in pointless, bloody wars

Moving on to France…

Napoleon Crossing the Saint-Bernard

Jacques-Louis David1800-1801

oil on canvas•Nap. commissioned David to document his good deeds as a ruler – to glorify him•Idealized portrait – Nap. leading his troops across the Alps into Italy in 1800•Napoleon actually made the crossing on a donkey (haha)

•Looks calm on the rearing horse, telling us to follow him!•Windblown cloak mimics his extended arm•Dramatic diagonal composition (very Baroque)

The Raft of the Medusa, Theodore Gericault, 1819-1819, oil on canvas

It’s in the Louvre in Paris!

Dr. Smo!

• Shows story of a shipwrecked vessel off the coast of Africa in 1816 – not enough room on lifeboats, captain made rafts from shattered ship (The Medusa) and put 150 people on it – set adrift in the Atlantic. 15 people survived 2 weeks on the raft (ate each other, ewww)

•This shows the point when the raft is spotted by a rescue ship, the Argus (on right)•Ocean wave tilts raft towards us so we get the best view of the scene

• Piece of raft drift – suggest it’s breaking• Body on extreme left has no torso (cannibalism!)• X-shaped composition and triangle shapes• Suspended between salvation and death• Black figure at top of pyramid of survivors – he has the power to save his

friends (metaphor: freedom will only happen when the most oppressed member of society is emancipated)

•Excitement at top, mourning in lower figures•Figures have heroic musculature (in reality, they were emaciated, sunburned, and close to death – he wanted to elevate their appearance so it wasn’t “about” a shipwreck and MORE about humanity, hope, and life vs. death

Napoleon in the Pesthouse of JaffaAntoine-Jean Gros, 1804, oil on canvas

(Gros became an official chronicler of Napoleon’s military campaigns)

•The plague strikes Napoleon’s troops in Jaffa, Israel (sick are in a converted mosque)•Napoleon touches the open sore of a soldier to prove the disease isn’t contagious, comforts, them, unafraid, calms their fears

•Napoleon- parallel with Christ healing the sick, and Doubting Thomas (put his hand in Christ’s side)•Napoleon actually ordered the sick to be poisoned so he didn’t have to take them back to France (THAT’S not in the painting!)•Figures scattered around canvas in semidarkness, in various states of disarray

•Inspired by Oath of the Horatii, but columns don’t frame the figures (figures overlap columns)•Definitely an idealized account of what actually happened! - Napoleon is depicted as practically divine!

The Grand OdalisqueJean-Auguste Ingres, 1814, oil on canvas

Go see it at the Louvre!

• Raphael-like face• Turkish elements: incense burner, peacock fan, tapestry-like turban, hashish pipe• Inconsistent arrangement of limbs – rubbery arm, elongated back, left leg awkwardly placed over

right leg, one arm longer than the other • Influenced by Italian Mannerism• Odalisque = a female slave or concubine in a sultan’s harem

• Turns her body away from her master’s gaze (erotic and aloof)• Cool blues of couch and curtain contrast her warm skin• Tight, angular crumples of sheets contrast her smooth contours• Inaccurate proportions (look at those tiny feet!) – incorrect but aesthetically

compelling

Liberty Leading the PeopleEugene Delacroix, 1830Oil on canvas

• July Revolution of 1830 – people revolt against new conservative government imposed by the monarchy

• “Liberty” with French flag marches over barricades to overthrow govt. soldiers (can’t you just hear the music from “Les Miserables” playing in your head?)

•Red, white, and blue used throughout painting•Pyramid composition•Sums up the destiny of France after the fall of Napoleon in 1815•Revolutionaries were all walks of life (students, children, day laborers, etc.)

• Figures stumble forward through the smoke of battle, cross barricade and dead bodies

• Leader is allegorical “Liberty” – muscular woman w/ French flag and bayoneted rifle

•Not an exact depiction of the actual event – it IS faithful to the emotional climate of the event as the artist felt it. THAT is the essence of Romanticism

Now on to the Britain…

The Fighting TemeraireJoseph M.W. Turner, 1838, oil on canvas

•Admiral Nelson’s ship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 being brought to a berth (a stopping-point close to shore) to be dismantled •Turner liked extremes in nature- avalanches, storms, whirlwinds, etc.•Color is dominant motif•His paintings include a sort of “vortex” concept (you’ll see more….)

•Warm and cool colors•Tall, white, glorious ship of the past in sharp contrast to small, black, modern tugboat of the future•Symbolic sunset: last days of sailboats, historical changes

The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834By Joseph M.W. Turner, 1834, oil on canvas

•Tragic fire damaged London’s Parliament building in 1834•Depicts accounts of the fire “lighting up the night sky”, crowds gather to watch •Turner was AT the scene, sketching quickly in watercolor (later translated sketches into this painting)•More faithful to feeling than fact (Romanticism!)•Loosest and most painterly brushwork ever seen in Western art up to this point

•Fascination mixed with fear•Witnessing something far bigger than ourselves•Sublime aspect of nature

Snowstorm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the AlpsJoseph M. W. Turner, 1812, oil on canvas

• Romantic view of nature’s awesomeness• Vortex of win, mist, and snow – threatens to overcome soldiers below and

obliterate the sun• Hannibal (Carthaginian general) led his troops through he Alps to defeat Roman

armies in 218 BCE (shout out to Napoleon who also crossed the Alps w/ troops)• Storm symbolizes their eventual defeat

So do you think you could recognize a Turner painting now?

The Hay Wain, John Constable, 1821, oil on canvas

• “Hay wain” is a horse-drawn cart used in agriculture• Painted the English countryside as a reaction against the Industrial Revolution (neg.

impact on the landscape)• Oneness w/ nature, man actively participates but doesn’t disturb• Clouds fill the sky – captures a fleeting moment

• Cottage blends into countryside – nestled into trees• Wain easily crosses the river, dappled reflections on water’s surface• Shimmering, vibrant paint applied w/ careful rendering of atmospheric

effects• Everything and everyone in harmony w/ nature, ideal state

The White Horse, John Constable, 1819, oil on canvas

• Similar concept here• Fresh early summer day, sunlight plays off of water and foliage• Captures time of day, humidity, smell of wet earth• Used unmixed dabs of pure color on the canvas

The Oxbow, Thomas Cole, 1836, oil on canvas

•Cole = founder of the Hudson River School (art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters (Romantic) – paintings depict the Hudson River Valley and surrounding areas•Hudson River School paintings depict three main themes of America in the 19th century: discovery, exploration, and settlement •Humans and nature coexist peacefully

•This view is actually in MA (view from the top of Mt. Holyoke)•Cole divides landscape into 2 sections – Romantic on left and idealized pastoral valley on right•Human touch shown on right (lit up) – cultivated fields, boats drifting down CT river•Painted as a reply to British book that alleged that Americans had destroyed a wilderness with industry

•Cole’s self portrait in foreground amid dense forest with broken trees•Wild landscape, sublime nature

Two Men Gazing at the MoonCaspar David Friedrich, 1819, oil on canvas

•Sublime nature•Moon is symbolic to Romantics: nocturnal, ghostly, unknowable, romance, etc.•Sentimental longing, melancholic mood

• RUCKENFIGUR: in Romantic painting, a figure seen from the back, often in the contemplation of nature (German word….German painting)

•Friedrich thought landscapes and panoramas were windows through which one could experience God•That’s Friedrich in the cap, cloak, and walking cane, enjoying the sunset•He’s accompanied by August Heinrich, his student, who died young – painting memorializes their friendship – oak tree with moss symbolizes Friedrich, young cut-down tree in foreground symbolizes Heinrich, awww

Departure of the Volunteers of 1792

Frencois Rude, 1833-1836Arc de Triomphe, Paris

•Also known as The Marseillaise•1833 commission added to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris•Represents volunteers who protected France during the Austrian-Prussian invasion of 1792•France/Victory/Bellona (god of war) helmeted and winged, giving a war cry•Volunteers surge forward in a tangle

• Crowded, excited grouping of figures stirred patriotism of French viewers

• None of the figures look ready for war (some old, some young)

• Leader on ground wears Roman armor, encourages a nude boy to join in

• Scene raised to mythic proportions

Jaguar Devouring a HareAntoine-Louis Barye, 1850, bronze

• Jaguar mercilessly feeding on the living entrails of a hare

• The moment of the hare’s death

• A study of animal anatomy

• Survival of the fittest, Origin of the Species – ideas relatively new in early 19th century, yay science!

Early Photography!!!• What WE know as “photography” arose around

1840• Artists since the late Renaissance tried a previous

method called a CAMERA OBSCURA (“dark chamber”) – a dark box with a lens through which light passes, project onto the opposite wall an upside-down image the artist can trace

• Photography developed (haha, developed) as a way to make the CAMERA OBSCURA images permanent (on light-sensitive material)

• Light comes through the lens and produces an image on the mirror. The artist traces the image onto tracing paper, and then uses that as reference for paintings

• PHOTOGRAMS came next – photosensitive paper with silhouette of an object on it (primitive, though, nothing but outlines)

• Photography was invented in 2 places at the same time: England and France

• Louis Daguerre invents an advanced lens that projects a scene onto a treated metal plate for 30 minutes to produce an image with great clarity and detail – called this a DAGUERREOTYPE

The Artist’s StudioLouis Daguerre, 1837

Daguerreotype

• Still life inspired by painted still lives – new art form inspired by old art form

• Variety of textures: fabric, wicker, plaster, framed print, etc.

• Daguerreotypes have shiny surface with good detail

•Over the next 20 years, there are better lenses, smaller cameras, and shorter exposure time. Photography is so portable! •How might short vs. long exposure time influence portrait photography?

The Two Paths of LifeOscar Rejlander, 1857, combination albumen print

• Photographers like Rejlander argue that photography should be accepted alongside painting and sculpture

• Wanted to create photographic equivalents of paintings• This image combines 30 negatives

• Allegory of good and evil, work and idleness• Loosely based on School of Athens• Not well-received as art• Mechanical nature of photography- criticism- it’s not “high art”

And old sage brings two young men into lifeThis guy moves toward religion, charity, virtue, industry, etc.

This guy moves toward enticements of pleasure

Early Portraiture

• Julia Cameron: photographed great mena nd women of Britis arts, letter, and sciences

• Cameron rejected sharp stylistic precision, liked blurring the details to draw attention to the lighting of her subjects and their inner character

Portrait of Thomas CarlyleJulia Cameron, 1867, silver print

• Nadar (aka: Gapard-Felix Tournachon)

• Photographed well-known Parisians – documentary and commercial potential to this!

• Opened a portrait studio• Liked photography because he

could capture people in their surroundings exactly

• Avoided props and formal poses• Liked informal ones chosen by the

sitter• Wanted a factual record of a

sitters characteristic appearance and personality

Portrait of Charles Baudelaire1863

Other Nadar photos…

Portrait of Theophile Gautier Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt Nadar in a Balloon

•Nadar floated over Paris in a hot air balloon to take the first aerial photographs in history•Controlled camera angles, sitters determine their poses, concentration on figures•Highlight on forehead (typical Nadar), eyes often left in shadow (more mysterious)

FIN