Biographical Criticism

Psychological: the painting is an expression of the state of mind and the personality of the author

Psychoanalytical: the forbidden, sometimes sexual wishes of a person come into conflict with the standards of society and are expressed in the conscious realm of the artist;’s mind, and in the works of art

Psychobiographical: an artist’s development is manifest in his psychological state as seen in his works of art

Post-Impressionism

Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge• Zigzag composition• Pitiless representation of figures• Gauguin’s influence in the large areas of flat color• Joyless, oppressive; people out to have a good time, but

achieve none• Self-portrait as a short bearded man in background with his

very tall cousin• Off-key colors• Tilted perspective of Japanese prints• People tend to be aging, flabby, cynical

Vincent Van Gogh 1853 - 1890

       Tactile surface of painting        Brushstrokes conveying emotion and inner

reality        Not an imitation of nature        Forerunner of expressionism        Major emphasis on texture, line and color        Colors were vivid, bright and strong        Deeply impressed by Millet and Social art

• Missionary zeal

Post-Impressionism

Van Gogh, The Starry Night• Painted from his room at the hospital at St-Rémy• Mountains of the Lapillus could be seen from his window• Steepness of the mountains is exaggerated• Deep forces of the universe playing out on the canvas• Visionary sense of power• Discordant colors• Thick, swirling paint strokes• Unconventional perspective• Strong waves splashing from left to right• Sky movement echoed in mountains and trees• Two verticals interrupt flow: cypress tree and church steeple• A religious message?

Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903)       Emphasizes the use of bright, non-naturalistic colors

       Emphasizes the use of flat planes of color

       Rejected notions of Western naturalism

       Often employs symbolic or primitive subjects

       Interested in the primitive man, a removal from the norms and mores of society

       Rejected notions of Western naturalism

       Uses nature as a starting point from to abstract figures and symbols

       Stressed linear patterns and color harmonies

       Tried to include a profound sense of mystery

BOTH strength and intensity over the slick and

superficial

Post-ImpressionismGauguin, The Vision after the Sermon• After hearing an impassioned sermon on the Biblical account of Jacob

wrestling with the angel, the pious rural people envision the struggle• Tree trunk separates the real from the vision• Red heat of sermon matches red coloring• Color used as an emotional response not as a physical description• Rejection of perspective• Priest at lower right is a self-portrait• Heavily enclosed forms• Renounced Impressionism• Many sharply drawn black outlines• Broad areas of color, relatively flatly applied, containing some subtly

that gives it a rich glow

1888

Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?1897

Post ImpressionismSeurat, La Grande Jatte• Analyzed color relationships in a pictorial space• Small brush strokes of complementary color: reds and greens, violets

and yellows, blues and oranges• Pointillist technique• Result is sort of a mosaic like quality with a geometric structure• Accent on the loneliness of modern life, figures together yet in isolation• Most are faceless• Conventional perspective used• Reduced intensity of color to give effect of distance• Interest in geometric shapes• An Egyptian stillness: figures are posed to run but become frozen

statues

Paul Cezanne (1839 – 1906)

• The “Father of Modern Art” – an artist’s artist

• Obsessed with form over content

• Development of planes to comprise the surface

• Forunner of Cubism

Post Impressionism

Cezanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire• Broad splashes of color in suggestive rather

than descriptive passages• Areas of the canvas left unpainted• No human figures• Not a countryside of Impressionism,

lacking in human contact• Aim is to create a unity within the picture

in which each element has a clearly defined role and a relationship to the elements around it

• Solidity achieved through massing of shapes

• Grand and monumental form of the mountain

• Worked in color patches

1902-06

1889

Cezanne, The Basket of Apples

•Each form round and solid

•Sought to represent each shape as if it were a geometric principle

•Geometric forms determine shapes of apples, bottle, biscuits

•Studied forms in volumes and solids

•Breaking down of objects into its basic shapes

The SymbolistsRousseau, The Sleeping Gypsy• Displays the characteristics of primitive artists: flat surfaces, minute detail,

stiff and frontally posed figures and arbitrary proportions• Influence of Japanese prints and Persian manuscripts• Frame inscription: “The feline, though ferocious, is loathe to leap upon its

prey, who, overcome by fatigue, lies in a deep sleep”• Vase for drinking water in the desert• Play of light on the lion• Lion is not ferocious, but curious, a cat with its tail up• Where is gypsy’s left hand?• Hair of gypsy forms a pattern with the dress• Cut out moon and landscape• What is the lion doing in the desert?• Is the lion the gypsy’s dream?

1897

The Symbolists

Munch, The Scream• Lengthy brushstrokes• Linear pattern of diagonal movement• Straight and curving patterns• Exaggerated perspective• Figure twists like a worm• Unnerving impression on viewer• Scream echoed in the composition• Sexless emasculating figure• Final painting on a series about love• Represents a closing scene in a battle between the mind and sex, out of

which sex comes through triumphant

1893