18th Century Art

18th Century Art

Theme: “Feminine vs. Masculine”

Interest in the small, delicate, and decorative was thought to be a feminine Rococo quality.  Ultimately, Neoclassicism emerged as a reaction to Rococo’s effeminate style. Neoclassicism is couched as a masculine celebration of the stoicism and restraint of classicism.

Historical Context (1700s)

• Louis XIV’s court grew tired of the opulence after his death and left for Paris townhouses.
• Bourgeoisie grew and so did the interest in art
• 18^th century Enlightenment
• Rejection of royal authority
• Discovery of ruins at Herculaneum and Pompeii
• 1750s: Beginnings of English Industrial Revolution

Artistic Innovations

Multiple styles emerged during this time. The French Royal Academy (Académie) dominated painting, training, and exhibitions (Salons). There was the initial triumph of Rubenistes over Poussinistes.

In 1768 the British Academy was created. Artists trained by drawing from live models.

Architecture retained interest in classicism. Landscape architects were popular.

Interior design featured furniture, clocks, and china.

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a new philosophy and movement in Europe and the American colonies during the late 17^th and early 18^th century. (Age of Enlightenment, Age of Reason, emphasized rationalism)

• Dominated by Neoclassicism drawing from ancient Greece and Rome
• Neoclassicism started in 1760 and was opposite to the decadence of Baroque and Rococo styles
• Neoclassism was especially dominant in architecture and sculpture for which artist had plenty to directly reference

Rococo: 18^th century late art also known as Late Baroque. Rococo was once the most common art style. Later it was deemed frivolous and indulgent. Think artists Jean-Honoré Fragonard and François Boucher.

Neoclassicism:  a Western movement influenced by ancient Greek and Rome within the decorative and visual arts, literature, theater, music, and architecture. Think artist Nicolas Poussin.

Enlightenment used:

• The power of reason
• Philosophies sought to reform society
• Intellectual exchange
• A change from previous system such as the church or tradition
• Science which started to displace the authority of religion
• Chemistry
• Astronomy

 Neoclassism used:

• Clarity of Form
• Sober colors
• Strong horizontal lines
• Shallow space

Late Baroque

• The Baroque style’s popularity spread across Europe
• Technically, the Baroque style began as a reaction to Mannerism in the 16^th century, though it is typically associated with the 17^th
• The Baroque style “ends” at the beginning of the 18^th

 

(3) 96. Fruit and Insects.

Rachel Ruysch. Dutch. 1711 CE. Late Baroque.

Learning Objective: Late Baroque (Dutch) still life

Themes:

Still life
Nature
Science
Status
Religion
Iconography

Museum: Uffizi, Florence, Italy

This painting entitled Fruits and Insects by Rachel Ruysch is a small oil on wood artwork, measuring just 1 foot 4 by 2 feet.  Still lifes were valued for their extreme realism.

This work shows a profusion of scientifically accurate floral details. Look closely at the petals, stems, leaves. Tips are crinkled and brittle, with an emphasis of implied texture in the work.

Ruysch was known for her lively, informal arrangements. Most artists made symmetrical and formal compositions. Also, notice her use of the treatment of light she employs using tenebrism:

Scenes, like this one, were a collective observation of many plants and fruit, imaginatively compiled together to create a full composition. Historians know this because many of the components displayed together in still lifes, would not have been grown in the same season.

The Harvest Scene

The scene from Fruit and Insects is a harvest.  It features corn, squash, chestnuts, peaches, plum, grapes, wheat, eggs, and a butterfly. Looking at more minute details, one can also see a snail and a fly.

Christians would have seen the wheat as a reference to Eucharist, while the grapes as a symbol of alcohol. Insects play up on the fascination with science and microscopes at the time.

The Meaning Behind the Work  

Fruit and Insects was painted for Bavarian Prince Johann Wilhelm. He gave it as a gift to Cosimo de’ Medici III as a gift.

• Represents scientific interest in categorizing the natural world which was becoming popular.
• Statement of status (implication is that patron owns all of this)
• New affluent middle class desired new kinds of subjects.
• They wanted art genres that would reflect their success with genre scenes, still lifes, portraits or landscapes.
• No monarchy or Catholic Church in the Netherlands to commission religious or political art
• Religious/moral message: vanitas (all of this is fleeting)
• A reminder that relationship with God is the most important thing of all.
• Flowers are iconographic statements of fleeting beauty and shortness of life.
• Wealthy Dutch consumers were reminded to not be too attached to their material possessions and worldly pleasures.

 Hierarchy of Genre 

Still lifes were considered the lowest in the artistic world’s Hierarchy of Genre. It was the first genre students were expected to master. Artist rarely specialized in it. This was not so for female artists. This was as high as they were expected to go. Male counterparts believed they did not have the mental capacity for anything higher!

Painting was considered a hobby for women and not a profession. When women did learn how to paint they were often taught by their husbands or fathers. When they did succeed commercially, they were referred to as “lady painters.”

Career and Family 

Ruysch was enormously successful in a 60-year career, producing over 250 paintings. For eight of those years, she was a court painter to the Bavarian court for eight years.

She also raised 10 children!

Ruysch grew up in Amsterdam, in a family of Dutch artists and scientist. Her father was a prominent scientist and specialized in botany. He possessed a collection of rare specimens, which she helped him catalogue and record.

The Dutch Golden Age, in the 17^th century, fueled an interest in exotic plants and flowers including “Tulip Mania”. Her paintings filled with observations and realistic replications were extremely popular.  And her works sold for double that which Rembrandt’s did at the time!

 

Rococo 

• Term derived from the French word rocaille (“shell”) and referred to the small shells used to decorate interiors.
• After death of Louis XIV in 1715, French nobility left Versailles and reestablished themselves in Parisian townhouses
• Reaction against severe, stuffy formality of Versailles
• Secular Rococo interiors were purely intended to delight
• Incorporated interior design for private viewings: small sculptures, mirrors, tapestries, elegant furniture, paintings
• Decorative; playful, light; graceful; delicate; often erotic
• Colors: white, silver, gold, light pinks, light blues, light greens
• Main artists: Watteau (begins Rococo with fête galante), Boucher, Fragonard

 

As the Rococo went out of style, women and femininity were blamed for “weakening” and effeminizing men and France at large.

This political cartoon depicts the frilly, effeminized Rococo painter who foolishly stands up to the strong, masculine, virile Neoclassical painters who represented the next artistic style to develop.

(4) 101. The Swing.  

Jean-Honoré Fragonard. 1767. Rococo.

Learning Objective: 18^th century Rococo painting

Themes:

 Sexuality
Male-female relationships
Nature
Iconography
Status

Museum: Wallace Collection, London

The Swing, artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s much beloved oil on canvas painting measures 2 feet 8 inches by 2 feet. 

The work shows multiple characteristics of Rococo style.

• Scenes of love
• Aristocrats at play (fête galante)
• Pastels
• Decorative and extravagant scenes
• Delicate figures
• Soft feathery brushstrokes (no crisp clarity like Caravaggio)
• Curving lines
• Diagonal compositions
• Female figure in the middle is the emphasis (achieved through contrast)
  • The frilly luxury and pastel color of her dress push her forward
• Atmospheric perspective

Function

 In 1767 a painter named Doyen was approached by an unknown gentleman who asked the artist if he would come to meet him at his “pleasure house”. These were spaces for men to be with their mistresses. Upon arrival, the gentleman asked Doyen if he would paint his mistress on a swing that a bishop would push. The gentleman would be placed in such a way that he would be able to see up the skirt of his mistress.

Doyen declined by saying “well…thank you for thinking of me but I don’t really paint things like this. However, I know someone who does, and his name is Fragonard.”

This painting was the result!

It has been speculated that the patron may have been Baron de Saint-Julien.

Fun and Frivolity

This work celebrates the leisure of the upper class. It was painted to be erotically tantalizing. It was meant to represent a game. Gardens are for play. The couple is playing a game. We are playing the game by interpreting the painting.

Upon Closer Inspection

 There is a lot going on in this work, which makes it an intrigue painting. A scene of scandal, playfulness, and flirtation, suggests a secret love affair. The patron/lover in lower left is looking up the skirt at the young lady who swings while a Bishop pushes her. This could be a possible comment on the corruption of the church.

The garden is fertile, abundant, growing out of control.  This is based on an English garden, with controlled and constructed outdoor spaces but have the appearance of being wild and natural, despite still being planned and arranged. Here the figures seem to be in a private park, hidden away.

Iconographic interpretation

Swinging is an association with fickleness and female inconstancy. It is in reference to the act of lovemaking, but swinging is also a reference to a cheating lover.

The barking dog might be alluding us to the fact that the scene should be quiet and calm.  The dog does not symbolize fidelity here, rather impatience, carnal desire, animalistic urges, and arousal.

The pink roses are a symbol of female genitalia, as is the pink dress and shape of the opening.

Shoe coming off is a common indication of lost virginity and one who has succumbed to passion.

Man’s hat off at the end of a long slim arm, is a symbol of an erection.

The man is embedded in rose bush is a symbol of sex.

Rake on the ground is similar to a crass term for male genitalia in French.

The shushing cupid is based on a statue that was in Madame de Pompadour’s home (a famous woman known for love) and heightens the illicit nature of the scene.

Dolphins are a reference to Venus because she was pulled to the shore by dolphins.

Putti is Cupid’s friends sitting on top of the dolphin.

The garden is fertile, abundant, and wild with unbridled passion.

Leisure of the French Aristocracy

 Indulgences that characterized the French aristocracy before the Revolution included the pursuit of pleasure, and playfulness. Games were very popular. This calls attention to the amount of leisure time they had. Games were also symbols of the poor. It was trendy to “play” poor and simple, like farm girls and peasant boys.

The strict rules of conduct were loosened in these societal situations. Additionally, by participating in these activities, aristocrats believed they received health benefits or relaxation, while stimulating both their senses and intellect. This combated boredom!

Public parks and private gardens were increasingly popular. These were places where flirtatious physical interactions were allowed.

Aristocrats, Status and Art

Artistic renderings of aristocrats playing and being frivolous were very popular. Showcasing such works was a sign of status. By definition, aristocrats did not have jobs. They existed to express their status.

There was also a new element of freedom. After the French Revolution and the death of Louis XIV the aristocrats who had previously lived in the rigid ceremonial world of the king, were now free to celebrate themselves.

Enlightenment

• Philosophical and intellectual movement in Europe
• Main ideas:
  • Use of reason, rather than tradition or authority
  • Importance of governmental protection of human rights
  • Dislike of traditional beliefs based in divine intervention
  • Importance of scientific questioning
  • Democratization of knowledge, a deep-seated belief in education and the individual à Encyclopédie
• Revolutionary concepts of intellectualism, individualism and progress led to the Industrial Revolution and the French and American Revolutions.

 

(4) 100. A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery.

 Joseph Wright of Derby. English. 1763-1765. 18^th century (Enlightenment).

Learning Objective: 18^th century Enlightenment painting

Themes:

Science
Light
Didactic

Museum: Derby Museum and Art Gallery

A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery by artist Joseph Wright of Derby, is an oil on canvas large work measuring 4 feet 10 inches by six feet eight inches. We would expect to see a history painting in this size, but here the artist is trying to aggrandize the sitters.

Tenebrism is used for dramatic effect, although it is not religious in content. There is dramatic lighting and scale in a closely packed space, with a Strong internal light source

Figures are painted with extreme realism. (He was criticized for painting people too realistically!) The figures are pushed forward on a picture plane and tightly packed. The philosopher in the middle is obvious, in the center, with the brightest lighting and wearing deep red. Often, conversation portraits (images of people sitting around together) were popular and were formally arranged. Wright of Derby was famous for his natural and informal arrangements.

Function

This work promotes a belief in science. It is an empirical observation grounded in science and reason that could best advance society. This is still about conversion (light symbolizes conversion) and transformation, but rather unlike Calling of St. Matthew where the conversion is to religion, we are witnessing a conversion to science.

This makes the argument that art and science go together. Artwork shows the power of science. Rachel Ruysch’s work did the same.

The artist took a history painting (large, noble, aggrandizing method) and applied it to a composition with a contemporary secular subject.

Content

 A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery, depicts the moment of epiphany or transformation. Here people are witnessing the truth of science. The message is that science is for everyone – look at the wide variety of people who witness this event.

Notice all the figures are seated in a circle around the orrery which emits a central light source.

• All faces represent different phases of the moon – clever reference to the Lunar Society.
• Two young boys gaze over the edge.
• A teenage girl rests on the machine, concentrating.
• A young man shields his eyes.
• A woman stares intently.
• A standing man takes notes.
• The philosopher stands over the orrery (likely based on Sir Isaac Newton’s portrait – who had died in 1727). Notice the formal devices that make him stand out to us.
• Bookshelves in the back indicates he is very educated.
• An orrery is a mechanical model of the solar system
  • A miniature clockwork planetarium.
  • Each planet with its moons is a sphere attached to an arm that rotates around the sun when cranked by hand.
  • Can simulate eclipses and illustrate the rotation of the planets.

Enlightenment

Enlightenment was an 18^th century philosophical movement that shifted Europe away from traditional religious models and moved towards an empirical, scientific approach.

• Science > religion
• Knowledge is for everyone, and knowledge should be democratic.

About the Artist

English painter Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 – 1829) added the region he was born to his professional name, because there was another painter named Joseph Wright, who also lived close by.

Joseph Wright of Derby became the unofficial painter of the Enlightenment. He was known for depicting scientists and philosophers in ways previously reserved for Biblical heroes and Greek gods. The artist belonged to a scientific group called the Lunar Society of Birmingham. This was an informal group that met to talk about scientific topics of the day (Erasmus Darwin – grandfather of Charles Darwin was a member of this group).

 

(3)  97. Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo.

Attributed to Juan Rodríguez Juárez. New Spain. 1715.

Learning Objective: 18^th century. Enlightenment casta painting

Themes:

Status
Cross-cultural
Science
Family
Race
Interpretation of history

Museum: Breamore House, Hampshire, UK

Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo is an oil on canvas work, attributed to Juan Rodríguez Juárez. This is an example of an early casta painting, depicting inter ethnic mixing of the Europeans and indigenous people of New Spain. It belongs to a larger series of works.

These are not portraits, but characters from the artist’s imagination. The artwork helps to illustrate life in the New World. In the artist earlier works, from which this is an example, he depicts the figures as wealthy and distinguished.

The space in the painting is not defined. This allows the viewer to focus on the figures entirely. These are painted naturally and realistically.

Marketplace for Casta Paintings 

These works were commissioned by elite Europeans. Many series were commissioned by viceroys. These were to be given to Spanish rulers to illustrate the racial and ethnic mixings in the New World.

Racism in Art

 A series of casta paintings usually contained 16 paintings or even 16 vignettes within one painting. The first in a series showed a European man with an elite indigenous woman and their child or mestizo, or racial mix.

As the family trees progressed in additional paintings and races continued to mix, the figures appeared less prominent and wealthy, and they appeared to have a darker skin tone.

Clothing, accoutrements, activities all aid in racially labeling the people in the work. All are numbered with text inscriptions, on the front or back, that label the races in the work.

All the above indicated society’s notion that social status, wealth, and overall worth were directly tied to race.

A Plus B Equals C

This image is the first in the series, depicting a husband, wife, and child. This is modeled after depictions of the Holy Family showing the Virgin, St. Joseph, and Christ.

The European father wears French-style European clothing complete with a powdered wig. The indigenous mother is dressed in a huipl, a traditional woman’s garment worn by indigenous women from central Mexico. It has lace sleeves. Her sumptuous jewelry indicates to the viewer that she is an aristocratic native. The two types of dress styles help to carry the subject matter of blended families forward.

The child is a racial mix of both parents. The family appears calm, harmonious, and loving. A young servant holds the child while looking up to the baby’s father.

Historical Context

Sociedad de Castas was the racial hierarchy developed in the New World to alleviate social anxieties over mixed-race people. European whites, New World whites, mestizos, indigenous peoples, mulattos, zambos, and African, were some of the descriptions used.

 Casta paintings spoke to Enlightenment concerns, or specifically, the notion that people can be categorized racially based on ethnic makeup and appearance.

 

The Taste for the Natural

The taste for the natural was promoted by the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. There was an

interest in the ‘natural’ as opposed to the ‘artificial’. This was a rejection of Baroque artificiality,

and emphasized relaxed, elegant poses and  tall figures with low horizon lines.

The taste for natural promoted the “cult of sensibility” and “cult of domesticity”. Values included sentimentality, emotion, naturalism, and virtue.

Grand Manner portraits dominated, especially in England. This combined Rococo delicacy with classical allusions.

 

(4) 105. Self-portrait. 

Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun. French. 1790. 18^th century (Natural).

 Learning Objective: 18^th century. “Natural” self-portrait

Themes:

Portrait
Status
Propaganda
Ideal woman

Museum: Uffizi

Self-portrait by French artist Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun is an oil on canvas work measuring 3 feet 2 inches by 2 feet 6 inches.

 What does by “The Natural” mean?

This is not a real style but rather a way of thinking about a trend in portraiture. In fact, these images were designed to look as relaxed, natural, and effortless as possible. This was becoming enormously popular as artists and patrons disliked the pomp, circumstance, and opulence of the Baroque era.

Here you will observe:

• Casual elegance
• Precise nonchalance or contrived to look effortless
• Idealized (she was much older here than she appears)
• Self-portrait
• Well lit, up front towards the picture plane, attention to fabrics is great

This “Natural” work also uses Grand Manner Portraiture. This helps to:

• Aggrandize the sitter
• Make them large, in the forefront
• Appear gently idealized
• Casual yet composed (“studied nonchalance”)

Function

This work was created after Vigée-Lebrun had fled France, following the French Revolution. She was in danger as a well-known royalist. She painted it for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence as an addition to their collection of well-known artists’ self-portraits. This put her in league with male painters.

She was able to occupy in a non-threatening manner both worlds–the world of artists, dominated by men, and the world of femininity.  She shows she can paint just as well as men, and is even friendly with royalty. But, she is not a threat because of her great femininity. She is pretty, demure, soft, gentle, and sophisticated.

Female artists had to traverse a very fine line of showing their talent to be equal to a man, but consoling men and calming them by reminding them that their genders were quite different.

Critics called the artist vain and self-important.

Content

 Vigée-Lebrun was 35 when this was painted. She is looking at the viewer as she paints a portrait of Marie Antoinette. She was Queen Marie Antoinette’s official court painter and personal friend.

In the painting she sits in a relaxed pose at her easel. She looks very pretty. Her skin looks soft, with rosy cheeks, gentle curls, piercing eyes, and flowing silk. She wears a white turban and dark dress with a soft white ruffled collar – in the free-flowing Grecian style. This was inspired by the style that Marie-Antoinette had made popular at the French court. Certainly, not an outfit a painter would paint in. Yet, the brushes are ready along with a palette.

Context

In 1783, Vigée-Lebrun, who specialized in portraiture, was admitted to the French Royal Academy, as the first female member.  Her entrance however was orchestrated by her most important patron– Marie Antoinette! Now, she certainly deserved to be there, but to many men, it looked like one corrupt woman pulling strings for another woman.

Marie Antoinette was deeply disliked at this point in France. Many artists and writers argued that it was Rococo, and by extension women in general, who were leading France down the road to decay.

Marie Antoinette, the Rococo excesses, indeed femininity in general, was criticized for having made France and men effeminate. This was blamed for all of France’s problems (debt, corruption, a weak Louis XVI, and a deeply disliked Marie Antoinette). Many believed the only way to end this was revolution.

When the French Revolution occurred, Vigée-Lebrun, had to flee and escape. This work was created soon after her departure from France.

The artist ended up traveling to Italy and Russia to paint nobility and royalty. She was enormously famous in her life and ended up writing an autobiography.

 

(4) 99. Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

 Miguel Cabrera. New Spain. 1750.

Learning Objective: 18^th century. Natural / New Spanish portrait

Themes:

Commemoration
Portrait
Status
Ideal woman
Appropriation
Religion

Museum : Museo Nacional de Historia, Mexico

Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz by artist Miguel Cabrera is an oil on canvas work set in realistic space. There is a naturalistic treatment of the body, and it is well-proportioned.   Note the use of variety in the background with color and implied texture.

Once again, we see the “Natural” style with some Grand Manner techniques mixed in. The work is casual, relaxed, and elegant, with a low horizon line, pushed forward, and a larger figure.

We can see the quality of artists have improved over works such Angel with Arquebus.

Function

This portrait insists on her status as an intellectual as well as a nun. It ennobles her as an intelligent and pious woman. The work also commemorates Sor Juana 55 years after her death, for admirers, who were likely supporters of Jeronymite order. She was obviously quite a famous Jeronymite nun.

Content

This is a famous depiction of the esteemed Mexican nun and writer. Cabrera modeled this painting on images of male scholars seated at their desks.

She wears the habit of her religious order and an escudo de monja (nun’s badge) on her chest (similar to Sin Sukju). This displayed the Virgin Mary during the Annunciation.

Her left-hand toys with her rosary, while she turns a page of an open book with her right hand. The book is a text by St. Jerome. This is a contrast between her religious life (rosary) and her intellectual life (books).

She looks towards us, her gaze direct and assertive, as she sits at a desk in her library. We see books on philosophy, natural science, theology, mythology and history.

Context

 Sor Juana was born a creole (Europeans born in New World) in 1648.

• At age 15, she amazed people at court by excelling at an oral exam that tested physics, philosophy, theology, math, poetry and plays.
• Her reward was to live as a lady in waiting at the Viceroy’s House
  • She hated it and soon became a nun to avoid a wedding
  • Joined Jeronymite order in 1669 as a nun (named for St. Jerome)
  • In privileged Mexican convents, nuns lived in comfort with servants and households
• She corresponded with scientists, theologians, and other intellectuals, and was a writer
• In 1690, she became involved in an ecclesiastical dispute between the bishops of Mexico City and Puebla.
  • She told them they were both wrong and proposed an answer and garnered criticism.
  • She responded to the criticism she received as a woman writer in a text called The Answer which defended her right as a woman to write.
• Despite her eloquent defence, the Church forced her to relinquish her literary pursuits and library.
  • She was forced to sell her library, musical and scientific instruments.
  • She had to write a document that renounced her learning which ended with “I, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the worst in the world” and signed it with her own blood.
• She fell sick and passed away in 1695 after caring for plague victims.

 

(3) 98. The Tête à Tête from Marriage à la Mode.

William Hogarth. English. 1743 CE.

Learning Objective: 18^th century English satire

 Themes:

Male-female relationships
Satire
Status
Propaganda
Print
Iconography
Family

Museum: National Gallery in London

The Tête à Tête from Marriage à la Mode is an oil on canvas painting by artist William Hogarth, measuring  2 feet and 2 inches by 3 feet. Hogarth made these oil paintings with an intent to turn them into prints that could be sold to the masses at a reduced rate.

He used satire or humor to make a criticism of contemporary lifestyles of the upper classes. He could do this because his was selling the prints to the middle classes.

Marriage à la Mode means Marriage of the Day or Modern Marriage

Image 1 (Marriage Contract)

Lord Squanderfield has a title but no money. He has squandered  his aristocratic fortunes. Pointing to his family tree, with a medieval knight suggesting a great lineage, he sits with a gout-ridden foot made worse with inactivity. There are Old Master’s paintings on the walls and construction going on outdoors in the new Palladian style.

Here, also sits a wealthy merchant without a title. Lord Squanderfield’s son and the merchant’s daughter are going to marry.

Young Squanderfield is picking snuff out of a box, while looking in the mirror at his own reflection. He has his back turned toward his soon to be bride, with disinterest. Black velvet patches cover syphilis marks.

The daughter sits frumpily and slumped over to show a lack of intelligence, while being wooed by Silvertongue, her father’s lawyer.

 Image 2 (The Tete a Tete)

Tete to Tete means “head-to-head” or “face to face”.

Shortly after the marriage, each partner has been pursuing pleasures without the other. The husband has been out all night with another woman and gambling. The dog sniffs at a bonnet in his jacket, as if assessing what the husband has been up to. The man looks tired and upset. There is a broken sword underneath him indicating a loss.

The wife has been playing cards all night. Her bodice is undone. She is yawning. Slyly she is looking out of the corner of her eye to see if he notices. Her lover has just left in a hurry! Notice the turned over chair. The violin player has made a hasty retreat. Violins were symbols of sexual pleasure, in old medieval reference, alluding to what has just taken place.

The accountant wears a frustrated expression. He throws his hands up in the air. She has lost a fortune at cards. He just cannot get this couple to take their finances seriously.

The chandelier’s candles have just gone out. They have been burning all evening.  A sculpture with a broken nose has been knocked over on the fireplace mantle. This indicates that although the couple have nice things, they do not bother to take care of them.

There is a nude painting on the back wall, next to three paintings of saints. The nude is covered with a cloth, but it is still visible. It has been covered in a haphazardly way, just like her affair!

A servant is yawning in the back room, while rearranging the chairs.

Image 3 (The Inspection)

 Young Squanderfield, suffering from syphilis, makes a visit to a doctor. Notice the black patches on his neck. Brandishing his cane, he shows the doctor the black mercury pills that do not work.

A sickly girl stands in front of him weeping. They both have the disease. The tall woman may be her mother or a madame.

The doctor too is riddled with disease.  His office is full of curiosities, including a skull. This could be symbolizing that the disease can cause death.

Image 4 (The Toilette)  

Lord Squanderfield has died. Young Squandefield is now the Earl, and his wife is now the Countess.

In keeping with the height of fashion, Countess holds a toilette. Lawyer Silvertongue lounges, with his shoes off and feet up looking comfortable.

Silvertongue tries to get Countess to attend a masquerade with him because no one will know who they are. Beside him is a book called The Sofa, which was a common erotic novel of the day. There is a coral rope used for teething on the chair where the Countess sits. The baby is not in the artwork to illustrate her poor maternal skills.

The Old Masters’ paintings hanging depict Lot and His Daughters (incest), Jupiter and Io (seduction), and Rape of Ganymede (homosexual seduction).

Image 5 (The Bagnio)

Squanderfield catches his wife with her lover, Silvertongue, in a bagnio, or inn, where rooms could be taken without questions asked. The Earl has burst into the room to find an unmade bed, recently used.

Squanderfield is fatally wounded by Silvertongue, who escapes.  A sword is on the floor The Earl is now dying, while Countess pleads for forgiveness.

The noise has awakened the inn. The Judgment of Solomon on the wall foreshadowing the inevitable destruction of all involved.

Image 6 (The Lady’s Death)

Countess returns after her husband’s murder only to commit suicide after Silvertongue is hung for murder. The newspapers on the floor tell the viewer of the hanging.

The child’s legs have braces indicating she has rickets. This was understood at the time to be associated with overindulgence. She also has a black patch, indicating her misfortune of contracting syphilis from her parents. This family tree will come to a tragic end.

The merchant removes the rings from his daughter’s fingers before rigor mortis sets in.

Social History of the Period

 Marriages in the past had been arranged for economic benefits. However, with the 18^th century marriages started to be based around love and affection.  This collection of works showed the downfall of an arranged marriage.

In the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, the landed aristocracy was losing power to a new upper-middle merchant class or bourgeoisie.  An increasingly large middle class wanted to buy art  prints.

About the Artist

English artist William Hogarth (1697-1764) trained as a silver engraver and print maker before becoming an artist. His work in oils was self taught.

Hogarth was known for tackling controversial topics. Beer Street and Gin Street were two engraving prints that drew focus to society’s alcoholism.

 

Neoclassicism

 Neoclassicism is a style of art and architecture that emerged in the later 18^th century as part of a general revival of interest in classical cultures.

• Parallel to the picture plane
• Symmetrical
• Linear perspective
• invisible brushwork
• Clarity of detail

 

Neoclassical artists adopted themes and styles from ancient Greece and Rome.  This was Taught within academies, and it returned to Poussinistes.

Grand Tours promoted the value of studying in Italy (Naples, Rome, Florence, Venice)

Why?

• Based on the precepts of the Enlightenment
• Johann Winckelmann’s books of art theory
• 1748: Excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii which were Roman cities destroyed by volcanic eruption in 79 CE.
• 1764: Johann Winckelmann’s History of Ancient Art criticized the excesses of Rococo and celebrated the ancients for their clarity and restraint.

(4) 103. Oath of the Horatii.

Jacques-Louis David. French.  1784. Neoclassical.

Learning Objective: 18^th century Neoclassical painting

 Themes:

Oaths

male-female relationships
war
violence
politics
propaganda
ideal man
didactic
 

Museum: Louvre

Oath of the Horatii an oil on canvas Neoclassical work by Jacques-Louis David measures 10 feet and 8 inches by 14 feet.

Characteristics of Neoclassicism include:

• Classical subject AKA history painting
• Classical setting and architecture and clothing
• Figures are parallel to picture plane, pushed forward like a Roman relief, set in a Roman atrium dominated by three arches at the back, and uses Doric order.
• Idealized
• Linear perspective
• Licked finish using invisible brushstrokes so small it is as if a cat licked it.
• History painting is large size, low horizon line, idealized and large figures, didactic, historical subject.
• Tripartite composition
• Men: vigorous, powerful, animated, emphatic, muscled arms in rigid salute; comprised of straight strong lines
• Women are curvilinear, soft, rounded, collapsed, slumped

Made for a King

The patron was Louis XVI. France was on the brink of revolution. Louis wanted this to be a statement of loyalty to the monarchy, and he loved this work when it was exhibited.

Fixing Society Through Art

David had other ideas – he wanted it to rally republicans as opposed to monarchists. He painted this in Rome after looking at ancient Roman sculpture, paintings, and friezes.  He believed the classics were superior. David wanted to return ancient masculinity and strength to France to reject the frilly, decadent Rococo.

Political Self-Sacrifice

• Great change will take great sacrifice and great loss. It is still necessary
• Must make sacrifices for the greater good
• Willingness to die for a principal

 Content

 Exemplum virtutis is a painting that depicts a bold or powerful model of virtue or a didactic moral message.

The story of Oath of Horatii is a legend that was discussed by Roman historian Livy. It is about a conflict between the Romans and rivals in the nearby Alba. The warring had reached a stalemate. To prevent further deaths, three combatants from both sides pledged to fight on behalf of the cities. The Romans selects the three Horatii brothers while the Albans choose the three Curatii brothers.

One of the women on the right is a Horatii engaged to marry a Curatii. One of the sisters of the Curatii is married to a Horatii.

The message is there will be inevitable loss, but you still must make these sacrifices.

 Context

This is the first Neoclassical painting and the birth of Neoclassicism.

In 1774, David won the Prix de Rome, the prize awarded to the best Academy artist. He was able to go to Rome for five years, and study art— all expenses paid!

After returning, his work was severely undecorated, anti-Rococo, extolled virtues of stoicism, masculinity, patriotism and honor. This was the reaction against the femininity, vanity, lasciviousness, and pleasure pursuing of Rococo.

He exhibited this in at the Salon of 1785 and people were amazed. They had never seen anything like it.

As part of the Neoclassical revival of classical antiquity, David arranged his figures parallel to the picture plane in the manner of a Greek frieze as seen here with Plaque of the Ergastines.

More About the Artist

Jacques-Louis David (1746-1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassical style. He was an active supporter of the French Revolution.  He was essentially an art mercenary! He would paint for whoever was in power at that moment. The work above was commissioned for Louis XVI. The artists painted it even though he personally agreed with revolutionaries. Ultimately, he painted Napoléon!

 

18^th Century American Art 

• Early American portraits poorly trained in the English Elizabethan style.
  • Freake Portrait, 1671, oil on canvas
  • 18^th-century American art dominated by portraiture; blended with psychology, classical study, and republicanism.
• Main artists: John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West
  • Samuel Adams. 1770-72.
  • Narrative painting in both Neoclassical and proto-Romantic styles was pioneered in the late eighteenth century.

 

(4) 104. George Washington.

 Jean-Antoine Houdon. American. 1788-1792. American Neoclassicism.

 Learning Objective: 18^th century American Neoclassical sculpture

Themes:

Status
Ideal man
Politics
Propaganda
Commemoration
Public
Duality
Iconography

Museum: State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia  

George Washington a marble work by Jean-Antoine Houdon is a life-sized sculpture standing 6 feet 2 inches.  It is Neoclassical in style, but the American version is “down to earth,” simple, and less dramatic.

Based on Polykleitos’ Doryphoros

• Revives the restraint and idealism and control of classical Greek art (rationalism)
• His stance mimics that of the contrapposto; sculpture in the round
• Idealized, noble, casual pose
• Alternation of tense/relaxed; straight/bent
• Left as bare marble à recalls the idealization and simplicity of classical statuary

Function

This work was designed to commemorate George Washington. Its aim was to show that a legendary leader was also an ideal leader, capturing the duality. He was a humble private citizen and an honorable public servant.

This was commissioned by the Virginia legislature and installed in the capitol rotunda in 1796. This was the year Washington gave his farewell address.

Content

This shows George Washington as a public servant. He does not wear a toga or other classical garment, but instead wears his military uniform.

Left arm rests atop a fasces (where the word fascism comes from). This is meant to invoke a classical column. Fasces was given to Roman slaves to symbolize their freedom.

The bundle of 13 rods symbolizes the original colonies. His hand rests on top showing that he unifies these colonies but also that he draws strength from them. This visually represents the concept of E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One. (Congress approved this in 1782)

Does not hold his officer’s sword, it hangs on the outside of the fasces, just outside his reach. This signifies he can be strong but should not immediately resort to this.

He is a private citizen. The plow rests behind Washington and reminds us that he is a simple man tied to the earth. This refers to the story of Roman dictator Cincinnatus, who resigned when his leadership, so he could return to his farm (rather than Caesar who created absolute power for himself). This parallel shows how Washington turned down the office and stepped away from the Presidency.

The walking stick symbolizes that Washington was well-known as a man who loved to stroll his estate. This is evidence that power does not have to corrupt

 Context

• After the end of the Revolutionary War, the new American government turned to public art to commemorate the occasion and develop an American identity
• European sculptor had to be sought out since there was a lack of artistic talent in US colonies
  • Jefferson, ambassador to France, suggested Jean-Antoine Houdon
  • Houdon went to the Academy in Paris and won the Prix de Rome in 1761. He was famous neoclassical sculptor
• How do you create a new nation’s imagery/symbols? What is art’s role in this?
• Houdon created an idealized, classical bust of Washington
• Washington didn’t like it and insisted on being shown in contemporary attire

 Making Comparisons

Doryphoros by Polykleitos vs  George Washington by Houdon

Idealized
Rational
Contrapposto
Alternation of tense/relaxed
Alternation of straight/bent
Bare marble

French Neoclassicism vs American Neoclassicism

American Neoclassicism will be slightly more restrained and down-to-earth than French Neoclassicism which is dramatic and intense.

 Sculpture

 

Greek (Classical)/Early Renaissance/ Baroque/ American Neoclassicism

 

(4) 102. Monticello.

 Thomas Jefferson. American. American Neoclassicism.  

Learning Objective: 18^th century American Neoclassical architecture

Themes:

 Appropriation
Status
Private
Domestic
Politics
Propaganda
Didactic

Monticello created by Thomas Jefferson is a structure crafted with brick, glass, stone, and wood. It is in Virginia, US. The floor plan is not very Neoclassical. Jefferson planned this part before he was influenced by Neoclassicism, but by then it had already been built.

Monticello was inspired by Palladian classicism (Villa Rotunda) and Pantheon.

The west garden façade view has:

• Symmetrical three-story brick home, balanced
• Doric entablature; two-column extended portico; four Doric columns wide
• Triangular pediment decorated by a semi-circular window
• Octagonal drum and shallow dome
• Wooden balustrade that circles roofline
• Brick building, stucco applied to give the look of marble

Made from Scratch

Jefferson chose to make his own bricks from the clay on his land. He used local timber, stone, and locally made nails. This saved him a great deal of money— as did the slave labor!

Symmetrical Interior Design

The numerous, tall French doors and windows allow for circulation in humid Virginia.

Jefferson was obsessed with saving space. There is a very narrow spiral staircase. Beds are in alcoves or in walls.

As he disliked dark and cold corners, he preferred a nice octagonal room.

Function

 This was both a domestic space and a private space, as it was a plantation home.  It was built for comfort, entertainment, personal style. These were new ideas. The fact that architecture could display these things was a new and very modern idea in the 18^th century.

Picking A Style

 Jefferson’s choice was sure to display religious and political ideas. He needed to choose carefully and avoid certain styles.

French Baroque would have connections to Louis XIV and absolutism. Jefferson felt English Baroque was too British for an American audience.  Italian Baroque was considered too Catholic and religious, and Jefferson did not want to set a religious precedent. Rococo was too frilly, playful, and lacked seriousness.

Neoclassicism embodied democracy, aspirations, the classics, freedom, and civic pride. It symbolized a return to democratic traditions.

• Jefferson believed art was a powerful tool and could encourage American aspirations.
• Classics symbolized aspirations of the new American republic.
• Classics symbolized America was the inheritor of classical democracy.
• Classics invoked ideas regarding freedom, self-determination, prosperity, education, democracy, and civic responsibility.

Influences on Monticello

Content

 Monticello means “Little Mountain” in Italian, as the house sits atop a hill outside of Charlottesville, Virginia.

• This is Jefferson’s plantation home.

Context

 Jefferson was one of the earliest supporters of Neoclassical architecture in US. He was considered a “gentleman architect”, who was not a professional but highly educated.

Timeline

1768: Construction begins. The hill was cleared and leveled through slave labor.

1771:  First phase (foundation) was completed (Neoclassicism hasn’t been invented yet).

1784-1789: Jefferson left for France as an American minister. He observed Neoclassicism in France/Italy.

1789:

Returned to Monticello and began to redesign it along French neoclassicism lines. He was already stuck with a floorplan which is not very Neoclassical. But he changed the interior and exterior design to add Neoclassical elements

1809: The house was finished.