Art Movements (1750's-1800's)
Rococo- It succeeded Baroque art in Europe. It especially gained much popularity in France and is associated with the reign of Louis XV. Rococo art is characterized particularly by its loose brush strokes, pastel colors, and flowing lines and forms in their compositions, regardless of the subject matter of the painting. Many Rococo paintings are asymmetrical, meaning the design or overall composition is off-center. Each of these elements helps to create a sense of motion and playfulness within a painting. Some very prominent Rococo artists include Jean-Honore Fragonard, François Boucher, Jean-Antoine Watteau and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
Neoclassical Art- It is a severe and unemotional form of art that brought back the grandeur of ancient Greece and Rome. Its rigidity was a reaction to the flamboyancy of Rococo style and Baroque style. The rise of Neoclassical Art was part of a revival of interest in classical thought (the Enlightenment), which contributed to the American and French revolutions and Napoleon's reign. Prominent Neoclassicists include the architects Robert Smirke and Robert Adam, the sculptors Antonio Canova,Jean-Antoine Houdon and Bertel Thorvaldsen, and painters J.A.D. Ingres, Jacques-Louis David and Anton Raphael Mengs.
Oath of the horatii- Louis David (1784)
this painting depicts 3 men, who are brothers, saluting towards 3 swords held up by their father while women behind him grieve. the story/ idea of the painting comes from a roman legend where there is a conflict between the romans and a group from alba. in order to settle their dispute in combat, they elected the horatti brothers to show their oath to protect rome.
Art in the 1800's
Romanticism- It may be best described as anticlassicism. It was a reaction against Neoclassicism, and is a deeply-felt style where individualism, exoticism, beauty and emotions are portrayed. Artists might work in both styles at different times or even combine elements from different movements, such as creating an intellectually Romantic work using a Neoclassical visual style, for example. Great artists closely associated with Romanticism include Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable, J.M.W. Turner and William Blake. Romanticism didn't only stay contained in Europe. It diffused to many different places. For instance, in the North America, the leading artists involved in the Romantic movement were the Hudson River School of dramatic landscape painting artists.
La Grande odalisque- dominique ingres (1814)
it laid the foundation for romanticism, which shows emotive expressiveness and sensuality. the figure is not set in a classical setting and instead exudes a cool aloof eroticism shown by its exotic context. it is controversial because the subject of the painting was a female nude that wasn't a goddess and was also thought to be in a harem.
Ukiyo-e- It was a popular form of printed art in Japan during the Edo period, and was inexpensive and usually depicted scenes from everyday life. Ukiyo was the name given to the lifestyle in Japan's urban centers of this period - the fashions, the entertainments, and the materialistic pleasures. It is especially known for its exceptional woodblock prints. After Japan opened trade with the West after 1867, these prints became very well-known and influential in Europe, especially in France.It influenced such artists as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, and Whistler. The pioneer of Ukiyo-e is considered to be Hishikawa Moronobu. Among the many famous artists who followed soon after were Ando Hiroshige, Hokusai Katsukika, Kitagawa Utamaro and Toshusai Sharaku.
Under the Wave off Kanagawa- Katsushika Hokusai (1832)
it is considered to be one of the most iconic works of japanese art in the art world, under the wave off kanagawa is seen as a great business investment since it is easily mass-produced and sold at cheap prices. it depicts a sacred mountain to the japanese that many admire.
art in the 1850's-1900's
Realism- It is an approach to art in which subjects are depicted in as straightforward a manner as possible, without idealizing them and without following rules of formal artistic theory. The earliest Realist work began to appear in the 18th century, as a reaction to the excesses of Romanticism and Neoclassicism. However, the peak of the Realist era was the middle of the 19th century, as artists became disillusioned with the influence of the Academies and Salons. Realism became a prominent movement in France, with artists such as Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Jean-Francois Millet and the Barbizon School of landscape painters taking the lead. The movement also took hold in America, including painters like Thomas Eakins, Henry Ossawa Tanner, the Ashcan School artists, and the American Scene painters.
The Stone Breakers- Gustave Courbet (1850)
the artwork shows two workers, one young, one old, and presents both a realist snapshot of everyday life and an allegory to the nature of poverty. more attention is given to their dirty, worn work clothes, their strong, weathered hands, and their relationship to the land than to their recognizability.
Impressionism- It is a light, spontaneous manner of painting which also began in France as a reaction against the restrictions and conventions of the dominant Academic art. Its naturalistic and down-to-earth treatment of its subject matter, most commonly landscapes, has its roots in the French Realism of Camille Corot and others. The movement's name was derived from Monet's early work, Impression: Sunrise. The hallmark of the style is the attempt to capture the subjective impression of light in a scene. Impressionists aimed to capture the momentary, sensory effect of a scene - the impression objects made on the eye in a fleeting instant. The core of the earliest Impressionist group was made up of Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Others associated with this period were Camille Pissarro, Frederic Bazille, Edgar Degas, Gustave Caillebotte, Edouard Manet, and the American Mary Cassatt.
Symbolism- It is a 19th-century movement in which art became infused with exaggerated sensitivity and a spooky undertone of mysticism. It continued the Romantic tradition, which included such artists as John Henry Fuseli and Caspar David Friedrich. The Symbolists mined mythology and dream imagery to convey the visual language of the soul. It was more of a philosophical approach than an actual style of art. The leading Symbolists included Gustave Moreau, Puvis de Chavannes, and Odilon Redon.
The Scream- Edvard Munch (1893)
"I was walking along the road with two friends—the sun went down—I felt a gust of melancholy—suddenly the sky turned a bloody red. I stopped, leaned against the railing, tired to death—as the flaming skies hung like blood and sword over the blue-black fjord and the city—My friends went on—I stood there trembling with anxiety—and I felt a vast infinite scream [tear] through nature." (Munch)
Post-Impressionism- It is a broad term that encompasses a variety of artists who were influenced by Impressionism but took their art in other directions. There is no single well-defined style of Post-Impressionism, but in general it is less idyllic and more emotionally charged than Impressionist work. It came a bit after Impressionism.The classic Post-Impressionists are Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Rousseau and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
Cafe Terrace At Night- Van gogh (1888)
it was one of the first scenes van gogh painted during his stay in arles, france and also is the first painting where he used a nocturnal background. by using contrasting colors and tones, he achieved a vibrant surface that pulsates with an interior light, in defiance of the night sky. the brushstrokes imbue the image with a spiritual and psychological tone that echoed his individual and personal reaction and excitement while passionately painting.
POLYNESIAn Art
Polynesian- During the nineteenth century, European and American cultural and political influences continued to spread throughout the widely separated islands of Polynesia. Due to this, in the first half of the century, there is a notable marked increase in the intensity and extent of missionary activity across the region as the first missionaries arrive in New Zealand, Tonga, Hawai’i, Samoa, and Fiji. In addition to the growing cultural changes brought about directly by European and American sailors, missionaries, and traders, many of the indigenous Polynesian peoples in the nineteenth century were devastated by epidemics of introduced diseases, which, in some places, killed as much as 90 percent of the population. This drastic depopulation severely disrupted many Polynesian societies and in turn, interrupted the continuity of many of the region’s cultural and artistic traditions. However, with the growing Western influences, these tumultuous events had profound effects on Polynesian art. The conversion of Polynesian peoples to Christianity resulted in the destruction of much of Polynesia’s rich sculptural heritage, which missionaries and recent converts condemned as “idols.” While the sculptural traditions associated with Polynesia’s indigenous religions declined or ceased altogether, many more secular artistic traditions continued. These included important women’s art forms such as barkcloth and elaborately plaited mats as well as men’s art forms such as the carving of headrests, food pounders, and bowls. The introduction of Western technology also sparked a brief renewal of Polynesian art. Equipped with newly acquired steel carving tools, many artists created exquisitely detailed works of immense artistic ability and technical complexity, such as the carved paddles of the Austral Islands, the adorned works of nineteenth-century Maori artists, and the ceremonial adzes of the Cook Islands. In other cases, new art forms evolved combining Polynesian and Western materials and techniques, such as the bold painting tradition of the Maori or the rank insignia and luxury goods of the Hawaiian monarchy.
Hiapo- niue (1850-1900)
tapa traditions were regionally unique and historically widespread throughout the polynesian islands. eastern polynesia did not experience a continuous tradition of tapa production, however, the art form is still produced today, particularly in the hawaiian and the marquesas islands.
african art
When the control of the Belgian Free State transferred from King Leopold to the Belgian republican government in 1908, all of Central Africa fell under the rule of many European countries by the early twentieth century. France, Belgium, Portugal, and Germany implemented new political and economic structures to consolidate their control over Central Africa’s immense resources. The exploitative abuses of these countries' colonial rule, especially Belgium, were experienced by local populations and were especially brutal and traumatic. During and after the colonial era, African artists and musicians such as Samuel Fosso, Grand Kallé, and Cheri Samba incorporated European techniques into their own creative processes, and produced works that addressed the friction between traditional and colonial/postcolonial ways of life and spoke to the aspirations of the slowly emerging urban class. The europeans’ increased exposure to African societies and material culture, cultivated by museum expeditions and the rapidly developing field of anthropology, inspired famous artists from Pablo Picasso and Paul Gaugin to the British Vorticists to explore new subjects and methods of visual representation.
Reliquary figure (byeri)- Fang peoples (1800- 1900)
it was created to honor clan heads, special warriors, craftsmen, women who had given birth many times, or people of other important or high status, and was believed to protect from evil and bring good luck. the belly button and genitals are emphasized, displaying the life of the figure, which contrasts with the figure's use to guard the dead. the figure is also in a prayerful stance and looks somber, emphasizing death.
"Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter's soul." - Vincent van gogh
Credits:
Created with images by Christopher S. Penn - "Van Gogh's Starry Night" • nathanh100 - "The Wallace Collection, London, 1983" • Institutnationaldhistoiredelart - "Jacques-Louis David, <i>Le Serment des Horaces</i>" • rzrxtion (pronounced resurrection) - "36 Views of Mount Fuji: Back of a Wave on the Open Sea off Kanagawa" • zaphad1 - "The Scream"