Category: Uncategorized (Page 25 of 48)

We began class by wrapping up our study of Dutch Baroque art. We spent time discussing the different areas of specialization that were prominent among Dutch artists. These included landscapes, church interiors, still-life, and genre scenes. Different artists would focus on different specialized subjects. This reflects the changing art economy, which shifted from largely commission-based to a free market. Specialization allowed artists to differentiate themselves from their competitors. One thing that stuck out to me was the still life by Rachel Ruysch, especially as the painting constructed this “impossible” bouquet. Still-life paintings allowed the artist to combine elements to create an ideal arrangement. In this case, not all of the flowers within Ruysch’s painting would have been blooming at the same time.

We later transitioned into studying Baroque Art in France, taking a closer look at works created to project the absolutism of Louis XIV. The Palace of Versailles is an example of how art and architecture embodied Louis XIV’s sense of absolute power and divine right. I was particularly fascinated by the axis on which the palace was built, and how the movement of the sun was taken into account when placing the King’s bedroom on the central axis.

I was unable to attend the museum due to an illness, but I did some research myself, as well as went back to the textbook, and here are some of my thoughts.

I found it incredibly interesting how ideas such as tenebrism, chiaroscuro, and the usage of deeper tones were not exclusive to the artistic mediums we often associate them with (painting). It is incredible that 17th century printmakers created new techniques to replicate the contemporary artistic trends seen in paintings, such as the usage of Japanese and Chinese papers and drypoint picking (which both allowed for darker blacks), as well as the experimentation of different textures of paper, which allowed artists to have a wider variety of tones.

Techniques like selective wiping and mezzotint helped printmakers to attain a primarily dark print, further embracing the darker tonalities seen in art at this time.

I found it particularly interesting looking at Hendrick Goltzius’ Farnese Hercules, and comparing it to some of Rembrandt’s prints. Because Goltzius’ scholarly trip to Italy took place just before the rise of Caravaggio and the Baroque, there is a greater emphasis on the grandeur of the art of antiquity, versus the contemporary chiaroscuro and the experimentation of light and dark that I see in a lot of Rembrandt’s works.

In class on Tuesday we first covered Baroque Art in France and Holland and then moved North to look at the work produced in the Dutch Republic (The Netherlands). We first considered some background factors that would have been influencing the works produced, such as the Reformation which led to a split in the Netherlands between North and South (Protestant and Catholicism, respectively). We spent a chunk of time talking about the work of Rubens, whose works captured essential Baroque themes such as instantaneous movement and powerful diagonal lines. In our transition to Northern artists, we looked at the works of Frans Hals, including his lively group portrait Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Civic Guard. This work strayed from previous group portraits in that it achieved in making every figure visible, while also creating a composition that was not boring. Like Rubens, Hals also used strong diagonal lines. After Hals, we looked at Rembrandt, who was prolific with his painting of self-portraits. At the end of class, we shifted to the “Little Masters” and the emerging trend of specialization.

Today’s class focused on the Baroque period in France and England. I found today’s class particularly interesting, particularly the discussion of absolutism and King Louis XIV. I was not familiar with the concept of a king having gained their power from God himself and found that to be an interesting concept. King Louis played a major role in developing this ideology, likely due to his own insecurities. In his youth he had seen the power of the King challenged and sought to make sure that would not happen again. This then led to the expansion of the palace of Versailles which still stands today.

The sheer scale of Versailles stuck out to me. As a class, we were lucky to be able to look at Ariel and imagine how sprawling the whole complex was. It struck me that people in the period experienced the sheer size differently. Though some would argue that having boots on the ground is the best way to see the expanding complex, an aeriel view does a better job of capturing the scene.

In today’s class, we finished talking about the baroque art style in Flanders. We talked about many artists such as Jan van Goyen, Pieter Saenredam, William Heda, and Jan Vermeer. After wrapping up the style in Flanders we moved to France. We started with Louis the Fourteenth and his absolutism ideology. We talked about French artists such as Pierre Patel who created a visual of the Palace of Versailles in 1668. We also discussed the ways we found the Baroque style in other art genres like history, landscape, still-life, and genre painting. After emphasizing the artists and their many artworks we then talked about the Caravaggio and the Baroque influence on the French architecture and artists style. After elaborating on how artists used natural lighting in many varieties like Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain in their landscape portraits. 

Today we discussed the Baroque in the Netherlands, and broke the class up into discussing about artwork in the Spanish Netherlands and artwork in the Dutch Republic, which is present-day Netherlands. In the 16th century, European countries had to choose which religion they would embrace, as the influence of the Reformation was huge. The Netherlands was split between the north and south, with the north embracing Calvinism and the south embracing Catholicism. The Treaty of Westphalia granted autonomy in the north. The most influential artist in the Spanish Netherlands was Peter Paul Rubens. He was born in Germany, then moved to Antwerp, where he converted to Catholicism. This area was under Spanish rule, and he learned to behave in an upper-class society at a young age. He was impressed by Caravaggio’s artwork when visiting Rome in 1601, and many of his artworks were inspired by Caravaggio’s light and darkness contrast.

One of Peter Paul’s most influential pieces was his “Elevation of the Cross,” which was constructed from 1610 to 1611 in Antwerp. The format of the work is old fashioned, and based on the “Merode Triptych” structure in 1425. The triptych displayed in the artwork was decided by the commissioners, not Peter Paul himself. The work calls to mind things the way they were before the Reformation, a time when Catholicism dominated Europe. Only one scene is depicted despite, three different panels, so there is not a continuous narrative. The left side represents people who are friends of Christ, the “good guys.” The right ide represents the “bad guys.” This is an instantaneous action, with the Cross being elevated, which is representative of the nature of baroque art.

In class on Tuesday, we began by discussing some contextual information about Europe in the 17th century. As the Reformation spread, countries started to associate with one religion. A country’s religious alignment contextualized the art produced in that region during this time. In class, we looked at art from the Netherlands which was split into southern and northern regions where the north became Protestant and the south remained Catholic. The first artist we looked at was Peter Paul Rubens who we learned would go on to influence art for decades and was a catalyst for impressionism in France. Although Rubens converted to Protestantism at one point in his life, he ultimately converted back to Catholicism when he moved back to Flanders. This contextualizes his work The Elevation of the Cross which is not only an altarpiece with religious subject matter but was made in the style of a triptych so as to call upon historical Catholic traditions. We’ve discussed in previous classes that the Counter-Reformation employed religious imagery as a strategy to differentiate themselves from Protestantism which was a fairly anti-iconic religion. In terms of style, Rubens’ Marie de Medici Queen of France Landing in Marseilles is an example of Rubens’ painterly technique which became very influential. In addition to the painterly brushstrokes which add a sense of movement and spontaneity, Rubens constructs a dynamic composition (diagonals and figures in motion).

In Northern Holland, while the subject matter was not religious, the dynamic Baroque style is still present. We looked at Frans Hals’ The Jolly Toper. The work is animated as the figure holds his hand out toward the viewer as if to offer his glass. He looks as though he has been caught in mid-action which is a quintessential element of Baroque style. Additionally, much like in Rubens’ work in the southern Netherlands, there are visible brushstrokes that add a sense of spontaneity. However, we learned that Hals added these brushstrokes after painting an otherwise traditional portrait. He called these added loose brushstrokes his “handwriting”. I think it is interesting that while the goal was to make the work look spontaneous and quick, it was very calculated.

In class today we went to the museum to learn about different methods of printing. It was a very special experience to learn about printing alongside works by famous printmakers. We learned about two primary processes: relief and intaglio. We were able to interact with the works up close and observe the differences between these processes. We observed that while woodcut prints cannot achieve crosshatching or variations in line width across the same line, engravings are recognizable through these finer details that can be achieved. I took a wood carving class in high school so I have an understanding of what this process is like. Looking at some of the relief prints made from wood carving was especially striking as I am familiar with how difficult this process is, especially when it comes to achieving fine detail. Once again, interacting with these works at the museum allowed us to examine fine differences between these processes. My favorite observation was the realization that many etchings we saw were made to look like engravings. At first glance, they were very similar in style, but with the ability to look at the works up close, we saw that the etchings consisted of “imperfections” or evidence of penmanship whereas engravings are characterized by smooth and consistent lines that are achieved by moving the burin across the medium.

Today we began discussing Baroque art in Flanders and Holland. The first artist we learned about was Peter Paul Rubens, a highly educated man working in Antwerp. We looked at his triptych, The Elevation of the Cross. A particularly notable feature of this painting is its scale; it was originally over 35 feet high. We then looked at his painting of Marie de’ Medici. It seems like Rubens and Marie de’ Medici were quite close; she stayed with him in Flanders during her exile. We also examined the works of Anthony van Dyck, Frans Hals, and Rembrandt van Rijn.

In today’s class we discussed the Baroque in the Netherlands, focusing primarily on the works of Peter Paul Rubens. We discussed Rubens’ Elevation of the Cross, which was clearly influenced by previous triptychs and the Sistine Chapel paintings by Michelangelo. We covered the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns, which was an argument between the Poussinists and the Rubenists long after both were dead. It was interesting to see the massive influence of Caravaggio in the works of Rubens as well, as he lived such a short life and yet had a huge influence over many famous painters in the decades after his death. Rubens’ choice to show the brushwork in his painting was an interesting change from the normal, and it was cool to see that technique be prevalent in the works of other artists such as Hals and other Dutch artists.