Author: Oliver Beardsley (Page 2 of 3)

Class 14 

In class we discussed the new idea of the Hotel particulier… essentially a townhouse with the idea of private living in mind. The idea of this building idea is in opposition to something like the Palace of Versailles where the entire construction is created for the purpose of bringing people too it and showing it off. 

The exterior of these townhouses had no extreme facade. The furniture in the rooms was smaller and more individual, easier to move around to be able to re arrange the set up of a room. With smaller rooms came light furnishings on the walls as to not overpower the space. C schools and arabesque adornment are used in these rooms. The name Rococo comes from rock gardens as many natural forms inspire the frilly natural adornment style.  In the 1700’s Rubenists are on top as they are color and emotion people which is flourishing in paintings. As posed to Poussinists who leaned into line and intellect within art. As art is displayed more artists start using titles as they are hog in Salon style(main pieces of art completely covering the wall. Rococo art has prominent pastel colors. There are more paintings made for private consumption as well to accompany smaller private rooms. More intimate things like a man getting a look under a woman’s dress. 

Class 13

We started class 13 by reviewing the ideas behind landscapes. A smaller scale will provide more information within the landscape, like zooming out on a camera, you will capture more and less. The field of view will be wider and capture more but the detail will lessen. This same idea goes the other way as well. These landscapes are often found in a 1/3 POV  2/3 of which are usually sky… (skyscapes) the light from these skys shown in patches that would potentially shift in paintings adds a baroque mood as it shows spontaneity.  Within still lifes, another category of paintings. Imperfect details were added to comment on the transience of life and the idea that you can’t bring material items with you when you die. In France, an attempt to remove the king’s power essentially backfired, so the kings got paranoid and seized complete control. This resulted in an absolute monarchy and absolutism. This was reflected in the construction of the Palace of Versailles. A grandly modified hunting home away from homes outside Paris, it became a grand palace surrounded by seemingly large grounds filled with gardens statues, fountains, and canals. Loui the 14th was known as the sun king, the palace was oriented east to west and had a strong axis. Claude Lorrain paints landscapes with some small figures with perfect proportions in 1/3 composition. Nicolar Puassion made similar paints but with more education behind them. 

Class 12 

Today in class we discussed Baroque art in Flanders and Holland. The Netherlands we know now was divided. The north was protestant and the south portion was Catholic this created a strong catholic pride along the border creating a strong concentration of churches along the northern border of the southern region. Peter Paul Rubens was a distinguished artist from Antwerp at age 13 he learned to live in high society while being a page for the windowed countess. He then traveled to Rome where he learned and observed Caravaggio he was a very learned person, studying archeology, the study of coins as well as knowing 5 languages. He painted religious and non-religiously with dynamic body and spatial movement. 

Frans Hals paints the jolly topper and dynamic non-graded like group portraits from studies and wax figures. He would go back through after completing the complex spontaneous-looking compositions and add brush marks that looked like they were applied with a heist to create the illusion of how quickly the paint was made. He called them his writing, as this move was a signature. 

Rembrandt paints many self-portraits and portraits. He shows an element of self-exploration. 

A new idea is the specification of painters. Some would focus on one subject and perfect that to create a niche in the open art market for themselves. 

Class 11

Today in class we discussed the different versions of printmaking and how the differing techniques affected the style of the prints. As well as how when moving forward from one form of printmaking to another, the beginning stages of the new printmaking method would always be trying to replicate the printmaking method that predeceased it. 

Wood blocks were cheap and simple, but not detailed, moving to engraving, more detail was achievable, but it is a difficult process so forms are still reserved and very calculated reflecting the process. Moving from engraving to etching, things loosen up, the ability to sketch is achieved by using ground to draw on with a liquid more like pen and ink, but still, at first it is made to look like engraving by varying the thickness of a single line. But eventually moves into its own more loose sketchy natural look. This looser look is used to portray a baroque ideal of spontaneity, the print looks like it was done quickly, showing a short concise specific time frame of a space. 

Class ten 3-11-2024

We started class ten by with Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a child prodigy sculptor who started sculpting at age ten (lots of ten in this write-up) and by 17 was receiving commissions for his sculpture work. He worked at fast speeds with stones which are words usually separate. He spent his career in Rome working for a total of eight popes over his lifetime. Bernini’s sculpture seems to capture a single moment in time, that still appears to be happening as you view his work. A baroque ideal is that the art involves the viewer, in a church interior, Bernini created the statue of St Herrera’s vision of ecstasy. From other points in the church, he made statues that tape rot be watching the statue in the center. This affirms the truth of the scene implying that people saw it happen. This idea is called a coextensive space. Aligning with this idea is the book of spiritual exercises that asks you to imagine a biblical scene and then step into it. Francesco Borromini creates a church with no strong wall planes, consisting of a pinched oval and concave/convex surfaces in stark contrast to St Peters’s Basilica. 

Class nine 

In our ninth class, we discussed an array of topics. Pieter Bruegel the elder who was known for producing for the open market posed for commission. He sometimes brought humor and statements into his work, making visual interpretations of proverbs and large landscapes showing daily peasant life. From the foreground to deep in the painting you can see the northern attention to detail in the work. To accrue interest on the open market he also would paint themes such as the four seasons or the five senses that people could buy a set of and have a set of decorations for their house. In Italy, the protestant reformation fueled baroque art. As the protestant religion veered away from visuals in their churches, the Catholics saw this as something to capitalize on to secure interest from people. It was also a movement in response to mannerisms lack of artistic rules and drawing. In Bologna, a school of art focused on drawing to give a solid foundation for artists. Within baroque art, lighting is an important feature, leading and illuminating the most important moments… that also appear to be instantaneous. 

class eight-4-march

Today in class we discussed how paintings were often seen as a conversation piece especially when held by a person higher up on society like a king or other royalty. Mannerism paintings with confusing combinations of people and actions provide a combination of deep meanings that are still up for debate today serve as these conversation piece painting. Dürer was known as the German Leonardo for his renaissance man qualities. He was particularly skilled with engravings (He was skilled as a engraver because his father ws a goldsmith and he learned that trade as a young person… similar skills are needed to be an engraver)

which he printed with a signed monogram to stamp his identity on the prints. The prints were sold throughout Europe giving Dürer wide spread fame. He was an extremely skilled engraver, weaving all kinds of balance in composition extreme detail and complex meaning into his master engravings. With the 15th century just starting, Dürer sold apocalyptic themed engravings printed from silver sheets. The apocalyptic themed prints sold well at the turn of the century, playing into Popeyes fear and interest. Dürer also does detailed drawings and watercolors, (bunny, weeds extreme detail and natural beauty) observing the natural world like Leonardo, but instead of focused on the details and how everything looks and not the broad patterns spanning multiple focuses zoomed out on earth. He also pints a self portrait with his monogram and a signature. He ends up depicting himself looking like christ, possibly signifying he sees himself as a

class seven-28-feb

In class today we discussed how the idea of the “universal man” came to popularity during the renaissance… this is not to say that this kind of person, with multiple talents and areas of interest was not existent before the renaissance but the popularity is what blew up during the time. Michelangelo was an example of a renaissance man. Michelangelo also was a follower of the ideals of  Neoplatonism (the world is imperfect but ideals can be perfect and are above the world. This set of beliefs interlocks with the idea of Christianity that earth is a shit show and we are trying to get to the perfect heaven.) these ideals tie into Michelangelo thinking stone carving was the peek of art as he is refining something rough and full of flaws, (stone/marble) and making it “perfect” 

Another thing we discussed is the key features off the renaissance, being balance, harmony and ideal forms and compositions. 

Mannerism is what faded in towards the end of the high renaissance. Its defining parts are human forms in motion, they are often elongated and it is unclear who what age, gender they are and where they are standing in the painting. Because of the image being moistly filled with people the moment the painting is depicting can be unclear as well. The transition to mannerism is possibly from a time of upheaval in Florence and the sacking of Rome. 

Class six-21-feb

In class today we started with breaking down the birth of Venus. And how packed with different actions of Botticelli and from the less naturalistic approach in the the paintings by introducing patterns such as in the ocean or in the organic trees that also alluded to the Medici Family. 

Leonardo looked at the macro or wide angle of the world and the micro or the close up. And looked for patterns with these differing areas of the world.  Leonardo thought if earth was one working organism or being we were small little cogs or parts of it. An idea was wondering where we belonged in the world… and woking off of that. From reading Galen’s anatomical books to Vitruvius the architect who inspired the drawing by Leonardo, “the Vitruvian man” based on the proportions of the human body to create the “perfect” square and circle. He also made advancements in painting, creating a pyramid shaped composition that remained interesting while also stable and not stagnant. He also used sfumato to create haze in the backgrounds of painting to create unity from the foreground to the background. A swell as the extremely fine laying of glazes to create the affect of glowing skin adding emphasis in a subtle way. 

Class five-21-feb-2024

In class we discussed the amount of effort an artist has to put into research, specifically in the Bible to create a work of art that is used on biblical events if the painting in question is not a common painting that has been reproduced countless times. An example of this is the tribute money by Masaccio. This painting also reflects the time in which it was made. By referencing the political scene in Florenc through the inclusion of taxing in the painting. The tax collector in the painting. Is also wearing current garb as posed to christ and the apostles who are wearing woolen garbs, akin to togas. This difference in clothing makes the connection that the old biblical scene is making commentary on the present day political scene. 

We also discussed the nuance of creating a painting of the holy trinity (the father the son and the holy spirit. The most successful person we looked at used linear perspective to separate the three intertwined individuals from the front of the paint to the back. As well as top to bottom on a flat plain. This creates distinction between the three separate but keeps them together visually.