In today’s online lecture, we wrapped up our discussion on Realism by discussing photography. This is important in the mid-19th century. It took multiple hours, about 8, to take the first photos. The material hardened when exposed to light, initially known as Heliography. The Parisians loved pictures as they were real-life versions of still-life paintings. Photo refers to light and graphy relates to writing. We looked at the Photo of John Brown, a famous American abolitionist. He is in a confrontational pose vowing and holding a flag. There is symbolism present in photos as well as paintings. Next, we looked at the Harvest of Death. This was a photo of Gettysburg after the battle. Photos had to be exhibited at this time, just as paintings, because they could not be mass-produced.

We then began our discussion on Impressionism. Light and visible brushstrokes were fundamental to this style. The goal was to capture the transitory feel of modern life, a continuation of a form of realism. We then talked about Eduard Manet, an artist who acted as a hinge between Realism and Impressionism. He painted Falneur, a man of a new attitude and intelligence. We then looked at his Luncheon on the Grass. This painting has no depth, and it concentrates on the foreground. The subject alludes to previous paintings by Titian and Giorgione but is more modernized. There is a white naked woman that contrasts sharply against the black clothes of men. Despite rejections, it supported modern art and the visible brushwork and irregularities in the representations. We then looked at his work Olympia, which depicts a more contemporary subject, a prostitute in Paris. This is a scandalous theme, yet it is again a modern representation of Titian’s work. It directly engages the viewer in her view, flat composition and modern reality. We then talked about Claude Monet, who enjoyed painting outside straight on a canvas or en plein air. The works of Claude captured contemporary life outside. Claude utilized divided brushstrokes, each using an individual color. The eye blends them instead of blending them on the canvas. His painting gave off impressions of scenes such as Impression and Sunrise. The public initially mocked him for its shapelessness; there were no real forms, and the work was flat, with colors blending. He is also known for his Haystack series.

In today’s class, we began our discussion on Realism by observing Francisco de Goya’s work, The Third of May, 1808. This work marked the shift towards Realism. It depicts the execution of Spanish civilians and is a very powerful work. Next, we discussed Jean-Francois Millet’s work, The Sower, 1850. This work is of a peasant working in a field. This work relates to a different class of people, the working class. During this time, it was desirable to have many children, as many were dying, and it also provided more workers. Peasantry was the backbone to France. This work expresses the importance of peasants and their dignity. We also notice the lack of light, highlighting their long working days as the start at dawn and likely finish at sunset. We also cannot see the face of this worker; this allows for the universality and relatability of all peasants to be explored. The work consists of many earth tones depicting the gritty coarseness; it is also not very neat. Another work we explored was Gustave Courbert’s, A Burial at Ornans. This is referred to as the most critical work in this period. There is a desire to tell us this is a generic burial. The individuals are dressed in an old manner and arranged in a fueze. They are entirely horizontally parallel. There is a cliff to emphasize this. This work also has a feel of art from the past; Piero della Francesca has a staged feel. This work also exemplifies that history is essentially contemporary. The public poorly deceived this work as it feels very flat and lacks depth. There is also a lack of subject matter. This is precisely what Gustave Courbert wanted, something that was generic. Next, we discussed Rosa Bonheur’s Ploughing in the Nivernais: The Dressing of Vines. Her father was a painter and a socialist and believed women should be treated equally. She challenged traditional societal norms by painting nontraditional subjects for women. She paints exotic cows in this work, highlighting that these are work animals, not pets. She took time to study the animals and the peasant life. This allowed her work to be accurate and very relatable. This is a little different from Courbert. I found this work very intriguing as I almost looks as if a camera takes it.

In this online video lecture we finished discussing Realism and then moved on to Impressionism. We first looked at photography, and spoke about how it developed. As well as the documentary power from the realistic nature of the photographs. Moving on to Impressionism, which was a continuation of Realism that wanted to express the transitory feel of modern life. It was characterized by light and visible brushstrokes. We first spoke about Édouard Manet, who was the hinge between Realism and Impressionism. He notably painted images of a more intellectual contemporary man. He also had more controversial paintings, specifically Olympia, which depicted a prostitute in Paris. This work also calls back to the work of Titian with its scandalous theme. Then we moved on to Claude Monet, who chose to paint with divided brushstrokes, forcing the viewer to blend the image with their eyes, rather than blending with the paintbrush.

Class 18

In this lecture, we started by looking at the first photograph and how it was made. The first photographs were made in a one-off style where you could only produce one positive from the negative and that was it. This used metal, and resin that hardened when exposed to light. Then, self and more complicated chemical process. To make a process that allowed for the reproduction of the same image. America embraced photography and its ability to capture life exactly. This idea aligned well with realism. 

Then we moved into impressionism. Key ideas are as follows. Less clarity within the paintings. Paintings show daily observations but with more importance with a royal look given to these daily scenes. These daily scenes are also painted with less depth of field, emphasizing the subject in the foreground more. The foreground is often cast in a more frontal displaying lighting that shows off points of contrast and everything there to see. each brushstroke takes on its color, letting the viewer’s eye blend everything. This gave more emphasis to color especially when most emphasis was placed on the foreground. More contrasting subject matter is found in these paintings as well. For example, Olympia, a painting by Manet of a prostate lying in bed nude. The lines used to define the edge of her body are in charcoal giving her body a strong emphasis in the scene. A maid brings flowers to her bedside and a black cat is arching ing its back as if surprised with its tail pointed directly upright. The presence of the cat which is often associated with women’s sexuality negatively speaks to the shaking subject matter and the position the cat is in. 

Simple compositions also emphasize color. Japonsime, the influence of Japanese art is seen in impressionism with people having strong outlines, and being painted from a somewhat downward angle—Japanese prints which didn’t focus on depth of field aligned with the focus on the foreground as well. Moving out of impressionism, Whistler began looking into the idea of bringing inspiration for painting from music. Music being abstract it’s no mystery where this idea leads. 

This past Monday we were back in the classroom talking about Realism. This was an art movement that I really had no prior experience with, and I had no idea that Impressionism was essentially a branch of Realism.

Spawned in France at the start of the Second Republic, realist artists were tired of classically informed arts and chose to represent the ever-changing world as they saw it. We looked at the works of Millet and Courbet, two painters who turned to their bucolic roots to magnify and elevate the lives of provincial folks. Unembellished and unidealized, early Realist paintings depict figures and settings as plainly and truthfully as possible with contrasting overtones of timelessness and change. Millet’s The Sower is at once a life-like depiction of a provincial peasant sowing seeds at dawn and at the same time a glorification of the peasantry at large that affirms their role as the backbone of French society even in the wake of the Industrial Revolution.

From here we went on to look at other French paintings that captured the beauty and simplicity of the province through artists like Bonheur, and realism applied to the urban landscapes through the cartoons and paintings of Honore Daumier. We ended by crossing the pond to discuss the prominent American Realists, Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. Homer, like Millet, used his bucolic and nostalgic “genre scenes” to grapple with the changing political landscape and comment on America’s ‘loss of innocence’ following the Civil War. Eakins, on the other hand, was more concerned with capturing the changing landscapes of America and the activities of the growing middle class.

This is coming a bit late (I initially didn’t know we needed to record a journal entry for our online class) but last week we had a long-form seminar video covering Romanticism.

I think stylistically this is a really important and visually interesting movement. I like how it grew alongside Neoclassicism and that both movements share an interest in the sublime — this intangible, overpowering reaction to the world around us.

Romantic paintings, more so than any other period we’ve looked at thus far, have a lot to say about the nineteenth-century Zeitgeist. Romantic paintings capture the emotion of important events and political movements, but not in a very uniform way. German Romantic paintings look very different from, say, English ones because German painters were reacting to and engaging different social/intellectual stimuli than the British were.

Our next period we discussed and centered our class around the Neoclassic period and Neoclassicism. Beginning by touching on the importance of the enlightenment for the world of art at the time, specifically the importance of these works finding reason and logic through ideals and ways of life. Our class talked about the importance of the Grand Tour, an event in history representing young individuals who were of upper class statues and traveled across the world to study politics and philosophy within other countries and studying people in varying countries. Each of these people and communities held different values, beliefs, and rights.

We continued class and Neoclassicism by focusing on the architectural geometric details of the Chiswick House and the Kenwood House Library. We began to see common themes and elements through Neoclassicm, such as idealized, simple form, symmetry, heroism, and a nod to historical works, ultimately drawing inspiration for many artists at the time. Toward the end of class, we focused on Jacques-Louis David’s The Oath of the Horatii and Michelangelo’s Pietà. The Oath of the Horatii displays an oil on canvas, resembling Jacques-Louis David. The moral of the painting shows decision-making, all through the rivalry between Alban versus Roman societies. Each of these works present similar, dark, primary colors and the human figure in a dramatic, intense form.

Following Spring Break, April 1st brings us to the beginning of our study of the Rococo period. We see multiple themes of the Rococo period throughout the works we looked at. Most profoundly, though, Jean-Antoine Watteau’s 1717 A Pilgrimage to Cythera (fig. 4) reflects Rococo themes of theatricality, illusion, sensuality, nature, and playfulness to create a world of fantasy. Moving on in the class, we looked at Jean-Antoine Watteau’s Gersaint’s Signboard and Seated Young Woman, both workings typical of Watteau — intricate use of light and dark along with details referencing beauty and a sense of sensuality.

Next, we looked at François Boucher, Portrait of Madame de Pompadour and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing. The Swing in particular presents a baron lying in a pastoral scene below his swinging mistress, with “fantasy, flirtatiousness, and licentiousness” (Janson 22.1) all coming together amid vibrant colors and gentle light. Continuing class, we looked at Jean-Baptiste Honoré Chardin, Back from the Market, Chardin, Boy Soap Bubbles, Chardin, La Brioche, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Village Bride or The Marriage: The Moment When a Father Gives His Son-in-Law a Dowry, and lastly, William Hogarth, The Orgy, scene III of The Rake’s Progress. Ultimately, while I only speak about a few works, the Rococo period provokes sensuality, drama, a sense of escapism, and wealth, and these themes are portrayed though the works we focused on during class.

Wednesday, March 20th, we continued with the Baroque period, specifically focusing the Baroque influence and growth in France and England. During this class period, we looked at a few artists consisting of Jacob Van Ruisdael and his Bleaching ground near Haarlem, Rachel Ruysch, Jan Vermeer, Charles le Brun, and
Claude Lorrain. The works of each artists varied quite significantly, yet we continue to see themes of Baroque art, including a distancing from the harmony and idealized beauty of Mannerism, a turn to naturalism, and the turbulent subject matter that reflected the conflict between Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation.

This class focused on the casts of light drawn on each painting, along with the shadows and sunlight in the natural world. Not only did we look at various works of paintings, we also focused on Louis XIV and his architectural guidance which ultimately grew the Palace of Versaille. I found this part of the class particularly interesting, specifically learning about the role power and hierarchy had over the art industry in France at the time of Louis XIV and the sheer scale and brilliance the architects sought through the large foundations and structures that were being built.

Monday, March 18, our class focused on the Baroque period, specifically in the Netherlands. The Netherlands underwent a split between Catholicism and Protestantism — Flanders leading Catholic and Holland to be Protestant.

In class, we focused on three major artists during this period. The first being a Flemish artist and Catholic, Peter Paul Rubens. Reuben’s travelled across Rome, taking inspiration and learning from Italian artists, Titian and Caravaggio. Reuben’s took his knowledge to show others what they can do, opening a successful workshop of many young, talented artists, one being Portrait of Charles I of England Hunting painter, Anthony van Dyck. We looked at a few of his works, including his first well-known oil on panel, Elevation of the Cross and Marie de Medici. The cross, in particular, draws my eye as it casts a stark contrast and separates the light and dark scenes of the panel. This work in particular shows the intricate brushstrokes sweeping across the canvas, along with vibrant colors.

Moving on, our class looked at two works by Dutch Golden Age Painter, Frans Hals. Hals’s inique talent and fascination green through painting portraits for the wealthy middle class. The two portraits we focused on consisted of The Jolly Topper and Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Civic Guard. Hals works were dynamic and eye catching for the viewer. The last artist we focused was the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. van Reign soon came known to express intense emotions, realism, oftentimes displayed through his self-portraits. van Rijn’s last work we looked at, The Night Watch, catches my eye through his depiction of the militia beginning to march in a parade. van Rijn’s willingness to make a stand and portray the troubled parts of society through his works perhaps opens doors to other artists to protest through art.