A Brief History of Modern Art

A Brief History of Modern ArtLecture I: The Origins of Modern Art

Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)Reaction to the opulence of the Baroque and Rococo periodsCoincides with the 18th centurys Age of EnlightenmentNeo-Classicism is recognizable in all media-the decorative arts, literature, painting, sculpture, theatre, and music.It dominates Europe and America in the second half of the 18th century.

Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1784. Oil on canvas 1010 x 14. Muse du Louvre, Paris. Commissioned by Louis XVI, painted in Rome, exhibited at the salon of 1785.

Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)Neo-Classicism revives antiquity.Artists are inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, aesthetics, and style.Art is cerebral, not sensual.Characteristics of Neo-Classicism:Jacques-Louis David, The Intervention of the Sabine Women, 1799. Oil on canvas, 12 8 x 17 Muse du Louvre, Paris.

Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)Neo-Classical artists look to certain predecessors, Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) in particular, because of his clarity, sculptural treatment of the form, and rich colors.Modern artists who favor this style are often called Poussinistes.

Nicolas Poussin, Holy Family on the Steps, 1648. Oil on canvas, 28x44. Cleveland Museum o Art.Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)Neo-Classicism is a revival of classicism.Neo-Classical painters favored a finished and polished look- crisp lines, strongly delineated forms, clear drawing and modeling.They believed good draughtsmanship (strong drawing) was rational, thus morally superior.

Characteristics of Neo-Classicism:Jacques-Louis David, Death of Socrates, 1787. Oil on canvas, 51 x 77 . Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)A student of David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), inherits his teachers Neo-Classical style and vows to defend the Davidian classical style from the influence of Romanticism.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Oedipus and the Sphinx, 1808. Oil on canvas, 6.9 x 5.4. The National Gallery, London.Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)Perhaps more than his predecessor, Ingres was heavily influenced by the Renaissance tradition of Italian Renaissance painter, Raphael (1483-1520).His Apotheosis of Homer, exhibited in the 1827 Salon, is his greatest expression of the classical ideal.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Apotheosis of Homer, 1827. Oil on canvas, 152 x 202. Louvre, ParisNeo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)Ingres Apotheosis is modern homage to Raphaels School of Athens.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Apotheosis of Homer, 1827. Oil on canvas, 152 x 202. Louvre, Paris

Raphael, Philosophy (School of Athens), 15091511. Fresco, 26 x 18. Papal apartment, Vatican, Rome.Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)Although deeply committed to the Davidian style, Ingres did flirt with Romanticism.In Le Grande Odalisque, Ingres uses a brilliant, yet delicate palette and sensuous line to marry the color of Romanticism and the clarity of Neo-Classicism.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Le Grande Odalisque, 1814. Oil on canvas, 36 x 64. Louvre, Paris. Neo-Classicism (18th-early 19th century)

Neo-Classical SculptureThe Neo-Classical style remained dominant in sculpture well into the 19th century.Neo-Classical sculptors modeled their work primarily from the Roman copies of ancient Greek sculpture available.Neo-Classical sculpture, especially public sculpture, was meant to educate the viewer and inspire the audience for nobility.

Antonio Canova, Cupid and Psyche, 1796. Marble, 61 high. Louvre, Paris.

Neo-Classicism and America (1750- 1900)In America, Neo-Classical sculpture is represented best in the works of Hiram Powers (1805-1873) and Horatio Greenough (1805-1852).Hiram Powers, The Greek Slave, 1851. Marble. 165.7 53.3 46.4 cm. New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Art GalleryHoratio Greenough, George Washington, 1832. Marble, 1136 63 . National Museum of American History.

Neo-Classicism and America (1750- 1900)The Neo-Classical style shaped early American sculpture and architecture.Americans embraced Neo-Classicism for 150 years.Neo-Classicism became the style that shaped a burgeoning nation, representative of its democratic ideals.A transatlantic phenomenon, American Neo-Classicism was originally a byproduct of Americas close cultural ties to London.

Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, 1770-1806. Neo-Classicism and America (1750- 1900)This Neo-Classicism style became closely associated with Americas Federal Period (1789-1901).The style came to represent democracy and as a result became the dominant style of many public American buildings including banks, state houses, univerisities, and courts.

Alexander Jackson Davis, 1827 drawing of the Massachusetts State House, built 1798. Pencil on paper, dimensions unpublished.Neo-Classicism and America (1750- 1900)Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the University of Virginia also takes its architectural style from Neo-Classicism.Inspired by the Pantheon (125 CE) in Rome, The Rotunda represents "authority of nature and power of reason"

Thomas Jefferson, Rotunda, 1822-1826. Charlottesville, VA. Neo-Classicism and America (1750- 1900)

Jefferson designed the universitys rotunda in the style of his own home, Monticello, which was based on the Palladian model. The three buildings look strikingly similar.

Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, 1770-1806. Charlottesville, VA.Thomas Jefferson, Rotunda, 1822-1826. Charlottesville, VA. Andrea Palladio, Villa Capra (La Rotonda), 1566-1571, Vicenza, Italy.

Romanticism (1800-1880)Romanticism is essentially a reaction to Neo-Classicism.As a style it is highly individualistic, emotionally charged, exotic, and aesthetically poetic.European artists closely associated with the movement include J.M.W. Turner, Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable, and William Blake.These artists shared an interest in the sublime and mans relationship with nature.

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Slavers Throwing overboard the Dead and Dying Typhon coming on or The Slave Ship, 1840. Oil on canvas 35 3/4 x 48 . Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.Romanticism (1800-1880)Characteristics of Romanticism:Elevation of the artist, emphasis on artistic imagination and individuality.Awe of nature and the sublime.It permitted the evocation of strong emotion, including trepidation, awe, and horror, as legitimate aesthetic experiences.Interest in the common man.Strong senses, emotion, and feelings.Interest in the exotic.Celebration of the individual.Successors of Romanticism include the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the Symbolists. But Impressionism, and through it almost all of 20th century art, is also firmly rooted in the Romantic tradition.

Romanticism (1800-1880)Stylistically, artists begin to loosen control of the brush; the artists hand becomes evident.Artists introduce new and innovative subject matter or re-conceptualize old themes

William Blake, The spiritual form of Nelson guiding Leviathan, in whose wreathings are infolded the Nations of the Earth, c. 1805-9. Tempera on canvas 30" x 24. Tate Britain, London.Characteristics of Romanticism:

Romanticism (1800-1880)In the United States, the leading Romantic movement was the Hudson River School of dramatic landscape painting.Romanticism is heavily associated with Manifest Destiny.

Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836. Oil on canvas, 51 x 76. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.Romanticism (1800-1880)In France, Romanticism is dominated by the French painter, Eugne Delacroix (1798-1863).In opposition to the Davidian style inherited by Ingres, Delacroix promoted the influence and styling of Baroque artist, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640).Rubenism vs. PoussinismeIn contrast to Poussinisme, Rubenism views color to be equally important to drawing for a successful paintingEugne Delacroix, Odalisque, 1825-1827. Oil on canvas, 14.9 x 18.3. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK.

Eugne Delacroix, Odalisque, 1825-1827. Oil on canvas, 14.9 x 18.3. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK.

Rubenism vs. PoussinismePainted approximately 11 years apart, take note of the stylistic variations of Delacroixs Odalisque in comparison to Ingres Odalisque.Delacroixs rejection of academic standards represented in the work of Ingres earned him the moniker apostle of ugliness given to him by Ingres.His style also won him swift rejection by the art establishment.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Le Grande Odalisque, 1814. Oil on canvas, 36 x 64. Louvre, Paris. Romanticism (1800-1880)Romantics artists begin to capture the contemporary moment.Delacroix's iconic painting represents the mounting civil unrest in France.

Eugne Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830. Oil on canvas, 128x102.4. Muse du Louvre, ParisRomanticism (1800-1880)Delacroixs legacy, however, lie in his application of paint-specifically his juxtaposition of colors in blocks of charged and complimentary color.His strokes were sometimes longer, resonating chords and other times quick, independent brushstrokes. his style of painting would influence the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists of the late 19th century.

Eugne Delacroix, The Lion Hunt, 1861. Oil on canvas, 30 1/8 x 38 . Art Institute of Chicago.Romanticism (1800-1880)Romanticism in Germany explored landscapes facility to communicate the natural sublime, spiritual and cultural values. His paintings reject Renaissance order as demonstrated here in the unconventional application of the 1:1.6 ratio (golden ratio) of the monk in relationship to his natural environment.

Casper David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea, 1808. Oil on canvas 43.31" x 67.52". Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin. Friedrich drew on the natural world around him, oftenreturning to the same area again and again.Here, man is dwarfed by the remains of Gothic architecture and the frame of nature.Casper David Friedrich, Cloister Graveyard in the Snow, 1819. Oil on canvas 48x67. Formerly Nationalgalerie, Berlin (destroyed WWII).

Romanticism and its LegacyFriedrichs work, with its interest in the sublime, would go on to interest the most modern of artists including Abstract Expressionist Barnet Newman.

Casper David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea, 1808. Oil on canvas 43.31" x 67.52". Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

Barnett Newman, Onement I, 1948. Oil on canvas, 27 x 16 . Museum of Modern Art, NY.