Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
93 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Portrait of Louis XIV |
Louis XIV brought the academy of art and literature to France. Art and theory were discussed there. By bringing in under the control of the monarchy, art essentially became royal propaganda. The artist talents of the academy would be used to admire Louis and his regime. These actions testified to Louis' belief in the power of art
This portrait was used to present the king in a variety of ways: - Embodiment of the state consolidated into absolute power in one person - High heels and wig = height - Stance is regal and confident - Theatrically posed
|
|
Engraving of the Salon of 1785 |
Held in the Louvre, not a museum at the time but a royal palace of the french monarchy. Was the site of the state run art exhibitions. Paintings were presented in the 'heirarchy of the genres.' 1. Large scale history paintings 2. Portraits 3. Landscapes 4. Still life Ordered from most to least ambitious, the heirarchy privileges the human figure and stories with which man is at their center. The salon, however, wanted to appeal to all levels of audiences so all genres were accessible. |
|
Portrait of Antoine Watteau |
Watteau was the first very important Rococo artist. Was influential, tremendously admired, and was not typical among other artists of his time. He wasn't majorly commissioned by the government or the church. His work was small scaled. |
|
Watteau, Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera |
In parks, theatrical acting out of performances by the nobility. This is a painting of the private pleasures and past times of the french nobility. Cythera is the mythological home of Aphrodite/Venus = Pilgrimage to the values of love, desire, and beauty. In the work there is a series of couples engaged in seduction, flirtation, etc, guiding us from one chain to another. Loose flowing brushwork, light and decorative palette. The foliage flows and spills enclosing the characters in this environment. There is an emphasis on luxurious fabric and texture - seductive surfaces (appealing to the touch). There isn't tremendous difference between male and females.
A celebration of private pleasures and erotism, of pleasure seeking and taking and theatrical activities that the nobility put on.
These values dominated Rococo painting and what people felt described the monarchy/nobility (and what later came under such scrutiny) |
|
Watteau, Venetian Pleasures |
Work presided over by the voluptuous venus at the top, actively making her come to life. Also a celebration of the exclusive pleasures, intimate and elicit. There are visual subtleties - work was meant to be seen/looked at up close. Emphasis on luxurious fabric and fashion and textures. Not clearly ordered space, but very organic and nature. The lush space is defined by a sensuous line meant to heighten the sense of fantasy and erotism. |
|
Watteau, Gathering in a Park |
No narrative unfolding. Not a portrayal of dramatic important moments but everyday pleasure. Erotic advances - erotic love and pleasure. Intimate, using delicate subtleties. |
|
Watteau, Respite from War & Bivouac |
Extremely unlike most military paintings at the time making an unremarkable work actually remarkable. Doesn't celebrate power, battle, or triumph but rather the everyday. Choosing to focus on small intimate actions and activity. |
|
Watteau, Gersaint’s Shop Sign |
The actual store shop sign. The shop sold paintings and other luxurious objects. The sign was so admired that it had to be taken down and was sold to a major collector and later Frederick the great. Places like this shop sold a wide variety of objects for wealthy customers. Growth of these kinds of stores and private art collectors would also start to change what kind of works were being produced. |
|
Boucher, Madame de Pompadour |
The official mistress of Louis XIV. She was an admirer of Rococo art and became somewhat of a symbol. She openly celebrated material luxury and indulgence. This work pays close attention to fashion and decorative surfaces. There is a lush open space, everything merging with the other, objects spilling out everywhere, the area filled the decorative stuff. Was extremely adept in using visual elements to heighten her perceived reputation/influence — had the task of self definition |
|
Boucher, Venus and Mars Surprised by Vulcan |
A story of adultery and questionable morality. Though was not painting to criticize this behavior, instead a celebration of erotic pleasure and sensuality. Selecting mythological subjects as a pretext for the display of erotic/sensual visuals. The flesh blends with the fabric which blends with the clouds. There is a soft appealing color scheme. |
|
Boucher, The Toilette of Venus |
A work of self adornment. There is a focus of luxury material objects. It is a painting about the pleasure of the senses. The work itself if a visual delight for the viewer. It values beauty and love (what Venus represents). Just a year before this was painted, Madame de Pompadour played Venus in a play. The was an homage to her. |
|
Francois Boucher |
Had a sense of unmatched stature during his time. Was vulnerable to a lot of criticism -- By the 1760s & 70s Boucher was seen as a “feminine painter” (a criticism/weakness). Criticizing the over emphasis in his work on beauty/womanly things, that his work was frivolous, out of poor taste, unappealing to men, etc. Criticized that Madame de Pompadour had too much influence on Boucher and French society as a whole “Seducer that will lead young men astray” |
|
Boucher, Vulcan Presenting Venus with Arms for Aeneas, 1732 |
Very visible, evident brushwork. Clarity and simplicity. A sharpness. Subject of classical mythology. Venus's posture has an unusual direct nature to it. Erotic quality (unusually direct for its time). A pretext for presenting a sensual human body. |
|
Boucher, Madame de Pompadour at her Toilette, 1758 |
Shown seated at a dressing table, covered by ribbons. Shades of pink and white and red. Drawing specific attention to her bracelet (on which there is a mini portrait of the king). This affirms her power and authority, reminding the viewer of her relationship to the king. The brush in her hand -- portraying make up and possibly the act of painting -- asserts the collaboration of Boucher and Pompadour. |
|
Boucher, The Toilette of Venus, 1751 + Boucher, The Bath of Venus, 1751 |
Intended to decorate a washroom of the madame and the king. There is an erotic nature of the subject matter -- a reflection of the private intimate nature for the place it was intended to be put. These works compare Pompadour to Venus. They reflect theater, artifice, and private aristocratic pleasures. Also reflect the importance of self beautification. |
|
Michelangelo, Temptation and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden & Titian, Danae, c.1552-1553 |
The Coloristic Vs. Linear Painting Debate Titian = colorist painting. Less attention to edges and contours. Composition treated more to masses of colors rather than clearly delineated objects and figures. More attention to flesh and skin. An address to the senses.
Michelangelo = Linear painting. Emphasis on edges and contouring. Rational, objective. An address to the mind. |
|
Rubens, Allegory of Four Corners of the World, c. 1615 & Poussin, Death of Germanicus, 1627 |
Rubens = Colorist painting. Skin, flesh, surfaces. Relationship between colors. Incredible variety and subtlety in the representation of skin, a richness and nuance in the tones. Nothing to do with the narrative or means to convey a moral. Instead to portray a delightful color aesthetic.
Poussin = Linear painting. Details used specifically to articulate particular ideas and emotion. Use of primary colors, historical subject, arrangement of the figures. |
|
Boucher, Shepard and Shepherdess Reposing, 1761 |
Figures form together an oval that reflects the shape of the painting itself. The light, and idealized state. Rest, calm, pleasure, leisure. Foliage, flowers, folds of clothing, lush landscape all used to create a visual delight. Possible excess of details, the space is crammed. |
|
Fragonard, The Swing, 1766 |
An iconic work of the Rococo period. Seen as embodying the central characteristics of Rococo art. Swing signifies play, indulgence, erotic abandonment. Sexual indulgence, secrecy -- a celebration of it. Shoe flying off the food like the women has a sexual abandon to it. Males and females don't differ drastically. Foliage and detail of fabric appeal to the senses. |
|
Fragonard, The Progress of Love: The Pursuit, 1771-1773 & Fragonard, The Progress of Love: Love Letters, 1771-1773 |
Created to decorate the home of Madame de Barry. Activities of courtship. Influences by previous works. Pairs, couples, in lush settings. Flirting, engaged in private conversations. Interaction between the painting and their settings |
|
Fragonard, The Progress of Love: The Meeting, 1771-1773 & Fragonard, The Progress of Love: The Lover Crowned, 1771-1773 |
Created to decorate the home of Madame de Barry. Activities of courtship. Influences by previous works. Pairs, couples, in lush settings. Flirting, engaged in private conversations. Interaction between the painting and their settings |
|
Fragonard, The Bathers, c. 1765 |
Similar to Boucher's mythological subjects, though these aren't mythological they're just bathers. Almost subjectless art. Pleasures -- of the body and looking at it. Visible brushwork and loose style of painting brings sense of touch forward the artist caressing these figures into being. |
|
Greuze, A Father Reading the Bible to his Children, 1755 |
Virtuous father surrounded by his family members gathered around him. Distracted children playing. One child looking down, hands clasped = theme of authority (parental or religious).
Gives visual form to France's peasantry. Meant to reflect the lack of material refinement -- humbleness, moral righteousness, frugality, etc.
The model family - father at the head, family submitting to his authority, wife listening to him submitting to his authority (model feminine good conduct) |
|
Greuze, The Marriage Contract, 1761 |
Conclusion of a contract in which the terms of the couple's marriage have been worked out and agreed upon. Takes place right before religious ceremony. Relatable and accessible subject. The emotion of the mother and sister clinging to the bride, conveying the bride is about to leave the family, helps elicit the sympathy and create connection with the viewer.
Moral message -- Bride = image of moral modesty, virtuous love. Father is animated, possible lecture of morality and marriage, also virtuous. Authority (general but also economic) being passed on between generations.
Male and female zones split in the work. Male = order, finance, public sphere (dark colors, angular forms). Female - emotional, private sphere (lighter tones, circular forms). Shows conventional gender roles.
Greuze brings his figures to life by placing them in a shallow space, with a plain background, setting off the figures actions and gestures -- sharpens the emotional and moral message. Vaguely triangular composition (setting the focus), and used color and line to map out the scene. |
|
Greuze, Filial Piety, 1763 |
Less about moral authority of the father and more about those attending to him -- father son relationship. Depicting a key moment of life -- the place between life and death (not sitting up or laying down). Virtues of family and affection, caring for elders -- proof of wall raised children, father rewarded of his family's care and love, rewards of a virtuous life. Dog also nurturing puppies -- cycle of life. Meant to be a nostalgic image. |
|
Greuze, Ungrateful Son, c. 1777 + Prodigal Son, 1777-78 |
Fractured and broken family. Abandonment of the father, soldier in the door way, son escaping responsibilities and family obligations. Profound sentiment, melodramatic gestures. Themes are “wavey.” Excessive drapery of their clothing. |
|
Greuze, The Well-Loved Mother, 1769 |
Similar yet different of Greuze's work up to this time. Mother is the central character instead of the father figure. Displayed as a hyper-maternalistic figure, object of intense admiration and love. Uses lighting to heighten moral message and the drama. Filled with seemingly insignificant details -- shows possibly higher status. A model of the idea young family, restoring the family order. Odd gesture of the father goes with the excess affection of the mother. Melodramatic/embellished gestures meant to heighten the emotion of the work. |
|
Greuze, Septimus Severus Reproaching Caracalla, 1769 + Poussin, Death of Germanicus, 1627 |
Greuze looked to Poussin's painting for inspiration. This was his attempt at history painting. It was ambitious but poorly received, a failure, "the picture is worth nothing." Awkward figures, facial expressions are odd, no clarity, muddy colors, no clear narrative, etc. The composition is split dramatically, a gap in the picture. The subject was a purely verbal moment in time which is a difficult thing to portray in a picture.
Shows how different genre and history paintings are. Just because Greuze was a successful genre painter doesn't mean he would be successful otherwise. |
|
Louis-Michel van Loo, Portrait of Denis Diderot, 1767 |
New kind of writing emerged in the 18th century. Salon reviews / art criticism. |
|
Chardin, Self Portrait at Easel, 1779 |
Chardin known for virtuous, highly ordered, socially stable, traditional work In terms of still life — represents an exemplary figure in the practice of still life painting (essentially a master at bad art) “Nature itself,” “objects free themselves from the canvas and are brought to life” Other genre works — pattern of almost expanding a still life scene to include the people/figures around it Had a distinct tendency to portray children in his work |
|
Chardin, The Ray, 1727 + Chardin, The Kitchen Table, 1735 |
Directed to a middle class audience and their domestic environment. Objects portrayed usually used for personal consumption. Picture divided into different areas. Some views as "disgusting," others enjoyed the ugliness with the lusciousness that he painting it. Subtle light. |
|
Chardin, Soap Bubbles, c. 1735-40 |
Boy absorbed in his task. Portrays "vanitas" in the sense that they boy is amidst the transition between childhood and adult life. |
|
Frans Hals, Merrymakers at Shrovetide, c. 1616-17 |
Rise of genre painting -- Showing a Mardi Gras celebration. Shows one aspect in the very broad category of genre painting. |
|
Johannes Vermeer, The Milkmade, c. 1658-1660 |
Vermeer's work seen as a very important model for Chardin's work. Very different from Frans Hal's work. A spare interior space -- room is almost empty. It is a simple subject with a deliberate action -- the woman is absorbed in her simple task. Representation of the window is given quite a bit of prominence. Shows his profound interest with the subtlety of light (the full range of how light can illuminate objects in the world). This is essentially an allegory of painting -- a picture not just of a scene but actually about the act of painting itself. The clothing of the servant -- made up of primary colors -- is unusually bright, which is another hint to how it is an allegory.
|
|
Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, c. 1665 |
Elicits many questions -- the answer is that this painting is also an allegory of painting. The subtle play of light and dark, the light against the pearl earring. |
|
Vermeer, Woman Reading a Letter at an Open Window, c. 1658 |
One of several representations of letters in his work. Here, too, a window plays a prominent role -- the light source of the scene. Subtle reflections in the glass show the incredible delicacy in work. The character is also situated in her own world. Not much of a narrative, a very silent painting. Very subtle and descriptive. |
|
Chardin, Young Student Drawing, 1733-8 |
Very small 8in by 8in work -- viewing experience demands close proximity. This is parallel with the character's closeness with the work he is engaged in painting. He is copying the drawing in front of him. Chardin is possibly meditating on the different ways of training artists and producing art. His ideas going against the traditional way -- explicitly contrasting what is the academic focus (what is linear) when his work is far more coloristic. |
|
Chardin, The Return from Market, 1739 + Chardin, Saying Grace, 1740 |
Themes that celebrate the middle and upper class (family, hard work, etc.) Praised for how the objects in the room mirror the objects in the real world. Honesty and simplicity mirrored in his work. Has a pattern of portraying children with their governesses/maids and not their mothers -- seen as more sense to portray the people that actually taught them manners and such. No drama or emotion in the work. |
|
Chardin, Morning Toilette, 1741 |
More unusual -- mother seen, not the governess -- never seen with male characters. On their way to church -- subject of raising and educating the child is very prevalent. Extinguish candle -- vanitas -- beauty and human life (subtle warning/caution to the viewer) |
|
Chardin, Diligent Mother, 1740 |
Another child focuses domestic scene. Pattern of portraying the instillation of children with morals and skills. |
|
Chardin, The Laundress, 1733 |
Unusual -- servant seen with her own child instead of the one she takes care of. Both immersed in their own activities. Mother is at work, child is at play -- transient, different stages of life. |
|
Chardin, The Governess, 1739 |
Governess and child, child with a book. Child being scolded. Subtle messages of play vs. work. Elevated, affluent family though interior suggests they're not overly indulgent. |
|
Jacque-Louis David, Self-Portrait, 1794 |
A representative of neoclassical painting in France. Painter closely aligned with the revolution in France. Head of a studio with many students and followers. |
|
David, Battle Between Minerva and Mars |
One of his earliest and ambitious pictures. Influence of the Rococo felt here -- playing with gender roles, dominance of curvilinear forms, sensuous female figure on a cloud. Spacing not very clear. |
|
David, Antiochus and Stratonice |
Neoclassicism starts to take shape -- restrained, linear, spaces clearly portrayed and organized. Arranged as if frozen on a horizontal plane, making it more fluid for the viewer. Distinct gestures and poses. Love story, love and desire (rococo in its essence). Reference to classical history and architecture.
David won the Rome Prize for this work as an art student. This is an indication to just how revered classical history painting was. The idea that great art should constitute and emulate the great art of the past. |
|
Frescoes, Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, 2nd-1st century BC |
Pompeii was covered by a volcanic eruption. Was later archived. These discoveries sparked the interest in classical history. |
|
Laocoon and His Sons, c. 50 BC + Apollo Belvedere, c. 350-325 BC |
Influenced the classical revival. Strong appreciation for classical history and society. "Imitating the ancients" was the one way for the moderns to become great. The pinnacle of western culture. The only way to achieve greatness was to model themselves of the classical past. |
|
Charles-Nicholas Cochin, The Three States in the Study of Drawing, 1763 |
Tremendous amount of copying involved at the academy of the arts. Huge part of training was copying other artist's work. Were immersed for a tremendous amount of their training in the art of the past. |
|
David, Belisarius Begging for Alms, 1781 |
Tremendous simplicity, the strength, and the starkness. Influence of classical restraint and simplicity. Emergence of David's neoclassical style. Exemplifies history and neoclassical history. The subject is the unjust rule against the leader Belisarius who was thought to have committed treason and was blinded as punishment. This is both a criticism and a story of a ruler that came to his senses and later ruled with reason. This exemplifies the idea of painting historical subjects to speak to elements in the present.
The human body -- the central focus in the painting -- is responsible for conveying the central messages of the work. The gestures, the poses. Though it is a reduced painting with few figures, it maintains a strong message with the specific gestures of the characters featured. The spacing is also clearly mapped out.
The directness and simplicity of David's style, what represents the message he communicates, is a rejection of the frivolity and over dramatic, overdone works we have seen previously in the rococo period. |
|
David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1784-1785 |
One of the prime examples of neoclassical history painting. Horatii brothers taking an oath administered by their father to defend Rome. The brothers fight, but only one returns to find his brother's wife in mourning. He kills her for mourning her husband and not the fall of Rome. A message of public vs. private loyalty. Allegiance to the state should take priority over the family. Public virtue and one's responsibility as a citizen should supersede one's private loyalties.
Very clear expressions and poses. Geometric forms -- speaking to the brothers' stoicism.
Binary notion of gender at play - clear separation of male and female. Physical separation in the painting separating the masculine and feminine values and behaviors. Women associated with private loyalty, primary allegiance to their families, associated with emotion. Men associated with public loyalty, allegiance to the state, strength and stoicism. |
|
Fragonard, The Swing, 1766 + David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1784-1785 |
Stark opposites. Swing portrays leisure and private pleasures, meant for private viewing. Oath portrays the pure sacrifice of thats things for the greater good -- for public viewing -- forthrightness in the painting for the forthrightness of the message of the painting. |
|
David, The Death of Socrates, 1787 |
Another brilliant example of neoclassical painting. Socrates was charged for corrupting the youth of Athens, and was sentenced to death. This is a story of male ideal virtue and principle. The central figure bathed in light. There is a clearly delineated pictorial space. Human gesture conveys central message of the work. The portrayal of human gestures often determine the success or failure of a history painting. Idealized male form -- depiction of the ideal beauty, virtue, morality, the bearer of meaning. |
|
Jaques- Louis David, Lictors Bringing Brutus the Bodies of His Sons, 1789 |
Rather than allegorically speaking to the present, he shifted to directly addressing the present. Brutus and his sons. Brutus was the first leader of the roman republic. His own sons conspired against him to overthrow his rule and restore the monarchy. Brutus felt the need to uphold the sentence even though they were his sons. Emphasis on public loyalty and allegiance -- father willing to sacrifice his sons for the good of the state. The cost of this loyalty is very clearly and powerfully demonstrated by the women in all of David's painting displaying strong senses of pain, loss, and suffering. These women communicate the price paid when public duties take priority of the private.
Composition -- the primary protagonist and figures have been pushed to the edges, the center has a very substantial gap. This emptiness in the center of the work demonstrates the breaking apart of the family. The men and women are also divided in their respective spheres. Brutus in the dark showing him stoic and detached from his emotion. His figure angular in comparison from the curvilinear women forms. There is also no specific allusion to the violence within the story. |
|
David, Sketch of Marie-Antoinette on Her Way to the Guillotine, 1793 |
Marie-Antoinette about to be executed -- represents the last moments of the last queen of France. The revolutionaries abolished the state run academy of art and created a central museum which housed art confiscated from aristocratic collections. They established the Louvre, previously a royal palace, and made it a public museum. David was not just a neutral bystander to this moment in history, he himself had voted to condemn her, was a central figure. |
|
David, Oath of the Tennis Court (Sketch), 1791 + David, Oath of the Tennis Court (Painting), c. 1792 |
The first Salon after the revolution began. A new kind of history painting -- depicting contemporary events and not using allegories of the classical past. Subject is a meeting of the 3rd estate (all of the people of France except the clergy and aristocracy). Shows an incredible moment of fervent public power in the hands of the people. The outstretched arm, visualized in so many aspects in the painting, is demonstrating the will of the people. All united in one common purpose. The curtains are billowing showing the winds of change sweeping through France.
The painting, however, was never finished. David encountered many fundamental challenges in depicting this scene. Who could he depict? Who was alive? Who was on which side? The political moment was far too unstable to be a permanent work. |
|
David, Death of Marat, 1793 |
A work in the efforts of finding a visual language for heroism or martyrdom. Marat's body language recalls images of Jesus from other works -- purposely echoing -- though it is the secular worship of a revolutionary hero instead of a religious icon. David did not want to feed into the uproar of his death and therefore made the work quiet, sparing, simplistic, focusing only on the body and few details. Not only is it a picture of Marat but a dedication to him. Idealized male figure -- representation of ideal character, virtue, and citizenship. |
|
David, Oath of the Tennis Court (Sketch), 1791 + David, Death of Marat, 1793 |
Both works were created (though tennis court was never finished) during the time of the revolution. In the tennis quart, the 3rd estate, everyone except the aristocrats and clergyman, joined in an old tennis quart. The outstretched arm, a significant pattern in the work, demonstrates the will of the people. The curtains billow in the background representing the winds of change blowing through France. This is a chaotic composition, though very detailed. There are certain focuses such as the three men from opposite areas in french society coming together in the forefront shaking hands.
Marat was created both of him and for him. David actually writes a message in the piece, 'To Marat, David' in the forefront. This work was made to celebrate Marat as a hero. David purposely bathes him in light, picturing him as somewhat of a secular Jesus. He purposefully removes some of the more violent aspects of the subject (Marat being murdered in his bathtub) in respect of Marat. Marat is instead pictured with an idealized body, what represents ideal morals and virtue, his face relaxed almost smiling. David uses a vertical canvas possibly to present the shape of a gravestone.
|
|
David, Death of Bara, 1793 |
Considered an unfinished work. Innocence and youth -- portraying a sense of innocence and purity of the revolution. Ideal physical form maintains, no wounds shown, only hint to an injury is his twisted body. |
|
David, Intervention of the Sabine Women, 1799 |
A return to the portrayal of classical subjections. Two armies, sabine and roman, fight for their women. Women are pleading for reconciliation for the sakes of their families and the public. Why this subject? Especially as the first work after he was imprisoned. Was a fitting allegory for the French revolution. The reconciliation of the factions within France.
David displayed this painting in his studio with a mirror facing it in order to incorporate the viewer/audience making them literally see themselves as a figure in the painting making the feel and understand the message even more. |
|
David, Portrait of Madame Recamier, 1800 |
After the revolution David became well known as a portraiture. Like his pre-revolutionary images -- very horizontal, planer, clean and simple, restrained. Subject depicted as a classical figure though she isn't one. Similar style as Marat and Bara -- sketchy quality, low level finish.
Important difference -- neoclassicism now used and directed to convey beauty and elegance rather than to communicate a particular set of political values, virtues, or ethics -- a depoliticized version of Neoclassicism |
|
David, Napoleon Crossing the Saint Bernard Pass, 1800 |
David not only survived the tumult of the revolution but prospered under the revolutionary government. When that government fell, David managed to survive through it. He was able to achieve great success under many different political regimes.
Napoleon was extremely invested in the arts and contacted David to be a part and basically celebrate the rule of Napoleon and the victories of the military in his work. Napoleon took art during his military feats and brought it back to France and put it in the Louvre.
The work depicts Napoleon crossed the alps on a military campaign. He is portrayed to be in absolute control -- a propaganda type image.
This painting is a departure from David's previous work -- dramatic, baroque quality, conveys a sense of movement, dynamism -- key difference between his work now and the earlier parts of his career. |
|
David, Portrait of Napoleon in His Study, 1812 |
Depicted as a representative of the French state. Details portray his military accomplishments and qualities of a great leader. Scrolls referencing the Napoleonic code. David references his military efforts in combination to his civil ones. There is a high level of detail. Precise paintwork, photographic quality. |
|
David, Coronation of Napoleon and Josephine, 1806-07 |
For the coronation of Napoleon, this gothic building was transformed with props and such to show qualities of the Roman empire. In the picture Josephine was being crowned empress by the pope. Napoleon took the crown and instead put it on himself asserting absolute power and authority.
Planer arrangement of space (like his old work) but is high detailed and is pretty spectacular. Depicting the actual figures and detail of the setting with much specificity -- very different from his old work. |
|
David, Leonidas at Thermopylae, 1814 |
Heroic Greek resistance against the Persian army. Shows the hero in his moment before his victory. David was drawn to this subject of the leader who very noble-y sacrificed himself for the greater good. He started this work in 1802, stopped, and then restarted and finished it in 1814 when it read differently than it had in the past. Napoleons rule had just come to an end. This work gained resonance.
The ideal forms of men or portrayed. Ideal external = ideal morals, ethics, and behavior.
After the fall of Napoleon David was exiled to Brussels |
|
David, Cupid and Psyche, 1817 + David, Mars Disarmed by Venus and the Graces, 1824 |
David comes back into the realm of classical mythology and other past topics. Coming full circle and returns to the qualities he embodied at the beginning of his career. |
|
Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, 1785 |
A work of Neoclassicism. A style against frivolity and based in simple, forward subject matter against materialism. This work was commissioned by the french monarchy precisely to counteract their reputation for frivolity and self indulgence. In that sense this work was created specifically for public viewing. The woman in red is showing off her material goods, in response she shows off her children as her own prized possessions. Ideal exemplar of feminine virtue. The sense of morality is abundant. Promotes family values, anti-materialistic, modest, direct, of ideal virtue, etc. Kauffman was also one of the most popular female painters of her time. |
|
Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Marie Antoinette and Her CHildren, 1787 |
Incredibly prominent and successful portrait painter. Commissioned by Marie Antoinette — They were close friends, same age, and Elisabeth became her favorite portraitist. Wanted to be portrayed as a carer for her children — hoping to repel criticism of her luxurious excess. Did not have its intended effect. |
|
Girodet, Sleep of Endymion, 1791 |
A story from Greek mythology. Girodet taking distance from classical history and goes into classical mythology. The male body of Endymion in a passive and erotic pose, smooth and elongated, ideal physical beauty. Male bodies are the paradigm of ideal beauty at this time. |
|
Girodet, Revolt of Cairo, 1810 |
Chaotic scene. A wild imagining and stereotyping of the non westernized European world. Less advanced. This piece represents an actual battle but is a wild life fantasy of what this world actually looked like. Many visual and tactile delights. Nudes, silk, lush, highly decorative but also untamed barbarism. |
|
Girodet, Cupid and Psyche, 1798 |
A retreat from revolutionary subject matter into mythological subjects. Sense of innocence and eroticism. Gender binaries -- two androgynous bodies, sexual difference minimized rather than heightened. High level porcelain finish. The scene suspended in time. Neoclassicism now watered town, stripped of its public and political resonance, now employed for beauty and aesthetic. |
|
Guerin, The Return of Marcus Sextus, 1799 |
A story from ancient roman history. Sextus was exiled, banished from Rome. He returns to find his wife had died. The picture has a stage like space, and a sense of simplicity. It was incredibly well received and was treated like a shrine. The story was seen as a fitting allegory for the pain caused by the revolution. Those who were exiled during the reign of terror now returning. Seen as an acknowledgement of all the people who were forced out and now returned. A sense of healing. |
|
Guerin, Aurora and Cephalus, 1811 |
Clear erotic overtone. Nude figures. Painting about desire. A Neo-rococo quality. |
|
Antoine-Jean Gros, Self Portrait, n.d. + Theodore Gericault, Self Portrait, 1818-1819 |
Artistically speaking both artists really came of age under napoleon, both identified with him and worked sympathetic to his rule and his military exports depicted in their images. Their work represents a key shift. The rise of Romanticism — their works constitute the birth and development of romanticism in France. |
|
Gros, General Bonaparte at the Bridge of Arcole, 1796-97 |
Marks the beginning of Romantic painting in France. Closely aligned with Napoleon, commissioned by him to create works of his military feats. Picture shows Napoleon as a leader in the army -- pre-leader of France. Depicts the key battle in Italy against Austrian troops. Napoleon grabs the flag and leads the troops across the bridge of Arcole.
There is an intensity and immediacy in the work. Intense expression, loose brushwork -- all features combine for an emotional impact, a direct experience. |
|
Gros, General Bonaparte at the Bridge of Arcole, 1796-97 + David, Napoleon Crossing the Saint Bernard Pass, 1800 |
In comparison to David's Napoleon they are similar kinds of work. In the same aspect there are also many key differences. Gros' is less resolved, with a slight instability. Stylistically Gros' is much brushier with energetic active brushwork. |
|
Gros, Sketch for Battle of Nazareth, 1801 |
Subject is the French troops defeating a forrest of Turkish troops. Uncivilized. Assertions of superiority of eastern European authority -- the greatness of France under Napoleon rule. A propagandist picture. Wants to convey immediacy but also needs to compose grand heroic history paintings. Communicating a sense of actual experience and immediacy. This sketch came with very severe criticism. There is no real visual focus, fails to reconcile the journalistic and the symbolic, never finalized. |
|
Gros, Napoleon Visiting the Pest-House at Jaffa, 1804 |
This is a history painting of a contemporary event. During Napoleons campaigns in Palestine, some of his soldiers were infected with the plague. Napoleon was leaving them behind so they wouldn't slow them down.
Gros is depicting Napoleon here touching the infected soldier's wounds with his bare hand. Portrays him as fearless. Referencing Jesus healing the sick. French myth of kings being able to heal the sick. Situates Napoleon almost as a religious figure, one with the power to heal.
Gros, here, successfully reconciles the contemporary with the mythological and allegorical. He succeeds here in what he was unable to do in his Nazareth painting.
He employs thicker more material brushwork. A stage like space but detail going far out in the background. The composition is centered on Napoleon. Dying bodies chaotically piled in the bottom front. The body here used as a mortal object in this picture. It is still somewhat idealized but the concept is beginning to change -- no longer a means to convey a certain set of ideal beliefs. Its 'body-ness' and vulnerability to death and disease comes to the forefront here. |
|
Gros, Battle of Aboukir, 1806 |
Bodies of dead and dying found in the immediate foreground. The french general is attacking a figure who is offering his sword in submission. This composition at the center of the work condenses the message. The top section of the work is a landscape, identifying the location. Gros sympathizing and being patriotic of Napoleon's regime. |
|
Gros, Napoleon on the Battlefield at Eylau, 1808 |
Incredible loss of life. Notion of Napoleon as undefeated leader is shaken. Napoleon shows a Jesus like gesture of mercy. A chaotic composition. Much more visible and physical handling of the paint.
Gros' work is quite a significant departure from David's work. This paved the way and was a model for younger upcoming artists. |
|
Gericault, Charging Cavalryman, 1812 |
Symbolizes Napoleonic victory and defeat. Both works alter traditional values of painting. Hard to categorize this work by a particular genre. Was classified as a portrait in the salon -- this blurring of genre distinctions weakened the heirarchy of the genres. This was Gericault's refusal to conform to a specific genre category.
Officer in the imperial guard is heading to battle turning back in his saddle about to give an order to attack. Raw sense of energy. Visible, loose, energetic brushwork -- sense of energy and immediacy. Was criticized for inaccurate anatomy of the man and the horse. The male body is off balanced, not fully in control or composed. The representation of the body undergoing transformation. Meant to convey the excitement and the venture of the Napoleonic era.
|
|
Gericault, Wounded Cavalryman, 1814 |
Retreating from battle, no longer on his horse -- brought down by defeat. This becomes a metaphor for the fall of Napoleon. Gericault mourned this in his picture.
Not in a distinct category of genre painting -- the weakening of the distinction in the heirarchy. This mixing of the genres becomes embedded in the term Romanticism. |
|
Gericault, Charging Cavalryman, 1812 + Gericault, Wounded Cavalryman, 1814 |
Don't occupy a place in a single category of subject matter. The blurring of the genre categories -- rejection of the wholeness/symmetry/integrity of 'ideal' traditional form was celebrated by Romantic artists.
An obvious fragmentary nature of these pictorial compositions (individually they are fragments of larger scenes) -- the main characters are looking past the frames of the pictures. In this sense something is withheld from the viewer. This never would have been the case in a classical painting. |
|
Gericault, Start of the Barberi Race, Rome 1817 |
Gericault was drawn throughout his career to horses. He saw them as unbridled forces/beasts. A force that human beings couldn't fully control. The struggle between man and nature, man not fully being in control. Very much part of his Romantic outlook. |
|
Gericault, Butchers of the Rome Cattle Market, 1817 |
Battle between people and nature. The power of nature is very much in evidence in these works. |
|
Gericault, Mounted Trumpeter of Hussars, 1814-1815 |
Motif of the horse for Gericault seemed to evoke the raw force and energy of the natural world, untamed nature, the struggle between man and nature, etc.
Here is another military figure riding on horse back. Gericault was closely affiliated with Napoleons military campaigns. This picture was created at the time of Napoleons fall — melancholy quality to the picture in its colors and overall tone. |
|
Gericault, Portrait of a Caribinier, 1814-1815 + Gericault, Caribinier with Horse, 1814-1815 |
Created at the time of the fall of Napoleon. Not identified by name, identified by their status in the french military — veterans of the Napoleonic army. Portrayed in noble stoicism even in the face of defeat and loss. A melancholy yet dignified tone. |
|
Gericault, Raft of the Medusa, 1819 |
Narrative - in 1816 a ship called Medusa crashed off the west coast of Africa. The captain, an aristocrat who fled and returned during the restoration, was appointed by the king not for skill but for political reasons. A raft was fashioned by the passengers. The captain, an incompetent navigator, cut the raft of people loose. Most, 150 passengers, died. Few survived after 2 weeks on the raft before being rescued. The captain was severely criticized. Gericault immersed himself in the reports of the event -- history painting transformed into contemporary reportage taken to new heights. Departs from the conventions of history painting:
Was a giant piece of work, 16' tall 24' wide. All figures are turned away from the viewer -- the focus of the characters looking towards the rescuing ship (which isn't available for the viewer to see). The composition is a literal pyramid of bodies, rather than a very narratively intelligible space from left to right so the meaning is accessible. The arrangement is instead unstable, not stage-like like traditional work. The raft is atop a thrashing sea. The bodies in the foreground spill out into the water, into the viewers space -- creating no separation between the painting and the viewer.
The subject matter is also very unconventional. A dramatic departure of traditional history painting. Gericault's retelling of the story in this work could be seen as a criticism of the king and the monarchy.
Also depicts a chaotic event about basic human survival -- extreme mental and physical states being portrayed. No real hero is depicted. Consists of invigorating brushwork.
|
|
Gericault, Study of Two Severed Heads, 1818-1819 + Gericault, Study of Severed Limbs, 1818-1819 |
Went to the morgue. Reflects a new notion of the human body as dead matter. Flesh, brute matter, vulnerable to decay — new view of the human body. Large paintings. Exceeding the previous limits of subject matter in painting. |
|
Gros, Napoleon Visiting the Pest-House at Jaffa, 1804 + Gericault, Raft of the Medusa, 1819 |
Pervasive senses of bodily illness, fragility of the body. Foreground covered in bodies -- speaking to the suffering. Both are history paintings though created for different purposes. Pest house is an image of propaganda while Medusa is contemporary reportage. Pest house composition much more clear cut, a narrative based, stage like space. Medusa is chaotic, unstable, no clear center, no hero. Pest house also depicts a clear landscape giving clear narrative location. AThe light is also used to specifically highlight Napoleon, adding to the narrative depicting him somewhat like Jesus healing the sick. Medusa is unlike most classical history paintings in its fragmentary sense. The characters are looking off in the distance to the rescue ship that pictorially is unavailable to the viewer. Medusa is also chaotic as its based upon a thrashing sea with dark surroundings. In pest house the brushwork is material and thick, in medusa the brushwork is energetic and invigorating.
|
|
Gericault, Epsom Downs Derby, 1821 |
Retreated from producing in large ambitious statement works. Worked off inheritance, didn’t need to market his art — helps us understand why the vast majority of his work had a much more experimental, personal, nonpublic quality to it. Produced very few finished paintings that were for public sale. |
|
Gericault, Portrait of a Kleptomaniac, 1822 + Gericault, Portrait of a Man with Delusions of Military Grandeur, 1822 |
Fascination with outcast figures, interest in extreme states of mind, those in the margins of society — all a reflection of his Romanticism In terms of genre these works are hard to categorize. Paint handling becomes a mark of the artist like a signature — active brushwork gives the feel of a sketch. Fragmentary quality. |
|
Gericault, Portrait of a Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy |
Figures defined by their intense subjectivity |
|
Gericault, Study for African Slave Trade, 1823 |
An abolitionist image. An image that could very easily be understood as a work of opposition of the restoration government. Sense of chaos in the composition. |
