Early 19th Century Art

EARLY 19^th CENTURY ART

Theme: “PINE”

An acronym to recall the main characteristics of Romanticism, the dominant artistic style in the first half of the 19^th century:

• Past
• Irrational/Insanity
• Nature
• Emotion/Exotic/Erotic.

Historical Context (1800s)

Enlightenment set in motion powerful forces that would dramatically transform life in Europe and the U.S. There was a belief in “progress” and the ultimate perfectibility of human civilization. Advances in manufacturing, transportation, and communications created new products for consumers and new wealth for entrepreneurs

The fueling rise of urban centers began. Living conditions also improved.

Artistic Innovations

• Lingering interest in Neoclassicism because of Napoleon’s interest
• Romanticism (PINE)
  • Past / Intensity or Irrationality / Nature / Emotion or Exotic
  • Promotion of the ideal form of the body
  • Celebration of the sublime/intense/dreams
  • Major artists: Ingres; Goya; Delacroix; Gericault
  • Landscapes: dramatic; Hudson River School
  • Industrialization; Urbanization; the “Barbizon” school

Neoclassicism in Napoleonic Era

Napoleon was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the later stage of the French Revolution. He was a self-absorbed man, with a great ego, who was the Emperor of France from 1804 to 1815.

During his rule, Napoleon had multiple portraits made.  He used the classical past as sources of symbolic authority for his short-lived imperial state.

Meanwhile, David’s prominence as an artist and his commitment to classicism attracted three pupils:

• Gros
• Girodet
• Ingres

All three were deeply influenced by David. This moved art beyond the confines of Neoclassicism.

Jacques-Louis David. Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass. 1801. Oil on canvas.

Antoine-Jean Gros. Pest House at Jaffa. 1804. Oil on canvas.

Jacques-Louis David. Coronation of Napoleon. 1805-1808. Oil on canvas.

 

(4) 107. La Grande Odalisque.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. French. 1814. Neoclassical/ Romanticism

Learning Objective: 19^th century. Neoclassical/Romantic painting

 Themes:

Female nude
Sexuality
Cross-cultural
Ideal woman
West vs Nonwest
Stylized bodies
Exotic

Museum: Louvre

La Grande Odalisque painted by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, is an oil on canvas work measuring 2 feet 9 inches by 5 feet 5 inches. It encompasses elements of both Neoclassical/ Romanticism.

Neoclassical Elements  

La Grande Odalisque  shows a glossy, enamel-like crispness, with a licked finish and no visible brushwork. This is an influence from David. It is as if someone has sucked all the air out of the image and it is full of precision.

The woman is arranged parallel to the picture plane. She is well-lit and pushed forward. There is Interest in the line. We can follow the line made by the curve of her back.

Idealization and stylization are part of the work. She was painted “ideal” and sexual in Ingres’ mind, but this has required an unnatural elongation and stylization of her back. He claimed while painting that “he couldn’t stop himself” with her back. In fact, one may argue there are extra vertebrae in her back.  He believed a woman’s back was the most sensual part of the body. Additionally, placed her left leg in an impossible position, all to achieve a languidness and sense of curvature.  This reminds us of Mannerist elongation. Mannerism was Ingres’ favorite style.

Compositionally, she is very large and touches nearly all four edges. This is a voluptuous and sensuous expression of the body. It was idealized to be erotic.

Color Evoking Emotion

She is icy, aloof, and has a distant look in her eye.  Use of blues makes the image cool with an association with the Middle East (lapis lazuli). Only warm spots are on her back and fan.

A Romantic Function 

This work was commissioned by Caroline Murat, Napoleon’s sister, and Queen of Naples. She was interested in the Middle East, due to Naples’ trade connections with that area. The painting was an experiment with new Romantic ideas using exoticism and eroticism.

It examines a reclining female nude in a new context that is no longer mythological, but real and exotic. The work also celebrates French imperialism, while objectifying the fetishize of the Orient. The French had a sexual and cultural fascination with this region.

The Scandal

This work was shown in the Salon of 1819, and it caused a scandal. Viewers were surprised by the frank gaze and sensuality of the nude. This exotic context was new and shocking. There was no way to connect this woman to Venus. Also, the elongation of the body struck viewers as odd.

Content: Romantic

Romantic content has P.I.N.E 

• P is for Past
• I is for Irrationality/Insanity
• N is for Nature,
• E is for Erotic/Exotic

Life in a Harem

This work depicts an odalisque. This is a woman in a harem, as a concubine, companion, and source of entertainment. Ingres had never been in a harem. This was a western/French fantasy of what a harem would be.

Historically, this is completely inaccurate. The woman in the portrait is a white-washed version of an Oriental woman.

The Reclining Female Nude

This work plays into the tradition of the reclining female nude—going back to Titian. The previous nudes were all said to be Venus, or they could at least be interpreted as Venus.

With Ingres’ La Grande Odalisque, there is no way to interpret her as a Venus – she is a harem girl. This is not in a classical setting. This is exotic and Oriental which at time was commonly used to refer to Near East and North Africa, not the Far East. Look at the peacock fan, turban, enormous pearls and hookah, a pipe for opium.

Her body is shocking to the viewer. This is not Venus but a girl whose occupation is sex. She isn’t an ideal, imaginary goddess, but she is a real woman! She gazes directly at us. Her body is bizarrely elongated, seemingly rejecting all classical idealization.

Her body is made acceptable to French culture for two reasons. Ingres turns her over and away from the viewer. She is not as pornographic as she could have been. Also, she is geographically distant not a European woman. This is what makes her exotic instead of scandalous.

Orientalism

Orientalism was an interest in the Orient (Middle East and Asia) because of colonialism. France was a huge colonial power. The interest in non-western cultures was growing. This fascination with other cultures was paired with the belief that the French were civilized and superior.

 Oriential elements in this work include: 

A turbon with enormous pearls…

A peacock fan…

A hookah for opium…

A Comparison of Two Paintings

Let’s compare Venus of Urbino with La Grande Odalisque

Similarities:

• Reclining female nude
• Appear to be ethnically European
• Sexual
• Gaze at the viewer
• Each is stylized to be “idealized”

Differences:

Venus of Urbino

• Turned towards us
• Private
• Venus(?)
• European

La Grande Odalisque

• Turned away from us
• Public
• Not a Venus
• Exotic and Oriental

About Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1864)  was a student of David. He absorbed his teacher’s Neoclassical vision but reinterpreted it. Ingres won the Prix de Rome and lived in Italy from 1806 – 24. In 1814, he traveled to Naples where he was employed by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, and Napoleon’s sister. Naples, because of its proximity to the Middle East and its connections with trade, was interested in Orientalism and exoticism.

The artist returned to serve as the French Academy’s director, in Rome, from 1835 – 1841

When Ingres painted La Grande Odalisque, he had started to reject neoclassical subject matter as too stuffy, dull, and arrogant in its moral instruction.

Romanticism: P.I.N.E

P stands for past. There was a longing for medieval, pre-industrial Europe, especially about nature. Also think Gothic architecture, Shakespeare, and classical antiquity.

I stands for irrational and insanity. This was a time for the human psyche and topics that transcended the use of reason. Examples include Gericault’s portraits of insane asylum patients.

N stands for nature. There was a longing for the purity of nature, which defies rationality.

E is for both emotion and the exotic. Emotion and passion. Reason. Exotic themes were popular and did not adhere to the European emphasis on rationality. This was the result of European colonialism and interest in harems.

 

(4) 106. Y no hai remedio (And There’s Nothing to Be Done).

 Francisco de Goya. Spanish.1810-1823; published 1863.  Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War). Romanticism.

Learning Objective: 19^th century Spanish Romantic drypoint etching

Themes:

Print
War
Violence
Propaganda
Politics

Museum: Prado

Y no hai remedio (And There’s Nothing to Be Done) by Francisco de Goya uses etching, drypoint, burin, and burnishing. The work measures 5 feet by 6.5 feet.

Uses the etching technique:

• A metal plate is covered with wax.
• (Drypoint method happens here) An image is carved (incised) into the surface of the wax using a burin, revealing the plate underneath (the printing part is cut into, while the non-printing parts are left uncut).
• The plate is put into acid and eats away at the exposed metal parts, leaving holes.
• The plate is heated so all wax melts off.
• (Burnishing technique happens here) Surface of sheet is covered with ink, so that the ink will pool into the incised areas.
• Ink will be wiped away from the rest of the plate
• Paper is applied to top to transfer image using pressure

Drypoint technique is used in the second step listed above.

• Incise lines directly into the surface of the plate with a stylus while applying lots of pressure.
• This results in uneven, jagged lines where shavings curl up on either side and makes ridges.
• Rather than blowing or wiping those shavings off, they are left to give extra texture to the printing.
• Because the ridges/shavings are delicate and will be flattened through printmaking, the earliest prints in a series are more expensive and highly valued.

Burnishing technique is used in the fifth step listed above

• You can see this where the smoke comes out of the gun à the burnishing makes this spot look transparent, wispy, and smoky.
• Plate is rubbed with a burnisher to polish it, giving it a shiny or slick look once the ink is applied.
• The plate is polished to lighten it.

 Function

A general in the Spanish army asked Goya to record the horrors imposed on the country by Napoleon’s troops. It needed to be Pro-Spanish and Anti-French.

Propaganda

It draws attention to the abuses and injustices of Napoleon’s rule in Spain by criminalizing and protesting the French occupation. Thus, Goya made his into prints for easy distribution. Yet, it was not printed until 35 years after Goya’s death. Before this, it was dangerous to publish these political views.

Content

 Remember PINE (Past, Irrationality/Insanity, Nature, Emotion/Exotic)

This is part of a series called The Disasters of War that focused on Napoleonic abuses against the Spanish.

Original title of the series was: Fatal Consequences of Spain’s Bloody War with Bonaparte and other Emphatic Caprices

• 1^st group showed the consequences of violence between Spain and France
• 2^nd group showed the effects of a famine under French rule
• 3^rd group showed the disappointment of Spanish rebels
• 82 images total

A man, blind-folded, head downcast, stands bound to a wooden pole. He wears all white, with rips and tears. He reminds us of Christ, broken but still heroic.

A man on the ground has been murdered. Blood and brain ooze out of his skull.

Other men are similarly secured to stakes in the background. We wonder if all these men are civilians. Or soldiers? It is intentionally ambiguous. Does it matter? Darkness crowds us.

The cause of the violence is Napoleon’s soldiers, all in a neat row on the sides. All we can see is the barrels of their guns pointed at the main figure. This cannot be stopped. His death is inevitable.

Context

Napoleon seized control of Spain in 1807.  He did this under the guise of helping Spanish King Charles IV invade Portugal. Charles agreed. Napoleon moved all his troops into Spain. Then, he swiftly overthrew Charles IV.  Napoleon took the throne and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as ruler of Spain.

The result was the Peninsular Wars (1807-1814). A bloody rebellion ensured with tremendous loss on Spanish side.

Goya had originally been the court artist to Charles IV. Then court artist for Joseph Bonaparte!

Goya could not publish this during his life, and his family waited for 35 years, until after his death to do so. They wanted to be sure that the Napoleonic influence was gone.

France was expelled in the Peninsular Wars.

This work was inspiration for Goya’s most famous image: Third of May.

Making Comparisons

When armies are depicted as regimented, ordered, and repetitive, the viewer interprets the army as powerful, strong, and efficient.

Previously, we saw this in Standard of Ur.

However, Y no hai remedio criticizes a ruler’s brutal use of military might, whereas in Standard of Ur, we are meant to be in awe of this ruler who uses military might to create peace.

About Goya

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) was a Spanish artist known for creating paintings, drawings, and engravings. His work reflected the times in which he lived.

 

(4) 108. Liberty Leading the People. 

Eugène Delacroix. French. 1830. Romanticism.

Learning Objective: 19^th century French Romantic painting

Themes:

Violence
Politics
Allegory
Propaganda
Status
Commemoration

Museum: Louvre

Liberty Leading the People by French artist Eugène Delacroix is an oil on canvas work measuring 8 feet 6 inches by 10 feet 8 inches.

Delacroix believed color was more important than precise academic drawing (He would have agreed with Rubens on this point.) In Liberty Leading the People note the contrast and emphasis on Liberty, the clouds behind her are white and grey and do not distract us from her face. This is a pyramidal composition with Liberty at the apex.

The work was completed in history painting style with a large canvas size and monumental figures. What is unusual however is that the figures are not calm, academic models or even models that are ennobled. Instead, while we do see urgency and power, we also see low class, death, and grittiness.

Delacroix’s Purpose

• Pro-republican/anti-monarchist statement
• Showing France in an honorable light
• Visual commemoration of July 1830 Revolution
• Manifesto that celebrates Parisians and their revolutionary drive

Initial Reaction  

Liberty Leading the People caused an immediate scandal. It seemed like it was trying to be a history painting, but this was not an appropriate subject because it was too modern. Even though one could argue the Marie de’ Medici series was a “modern history painting,” these had been painted in the Grand Manner, and these figures were gritty, unglamorous, and dead!

The realism of the dead and dirty bodies, combined with the figures’ distance from academic models provoked harsh criticism. Critics said Liberty looked like a prostitute and insurgents looked like criminals.

The French government bought this to remind Louis-Philippe of how he came to power. After the 1848 Revolution, when Louis-Philippe was overthrown, it was taken down for being too inflammatory and kept out of view. Paris was concerned about inciting yet another violent revolution.

The work was moved to the Louvre to exhibit in 1863.

Content

Liberty Leading the People depicts the July Revolution of 1830. It uses the conventions of a history painting, but it was painted this the same year the event happened.

Marianne is represented as an allegory or a human who represents a moral or political idea. Here, the idea is Liberty. Here, she wears the Phrygian cap, a classical signifier of freedom from ancient Rome for freed slaves.

Delacroix was inspired by Michelangelo’s nudes for the figure of Liberty. Marianne is monumental, and nude to the waist, in reference to classical nudes.  He painted her in yellow to allude to that classical nudity. Vibrant, rebellious, victorious, and fiery, she represents the will of the people. She holds a bayonetted musket in one hand and the tricolor flag in the other.

Men around her represent the different types of people who participate in the revolution. We see that all classes are united in this revolution

Gavroche is a symbol of youthful revolt against injustice. He is based on the character of Gavroche in Victor Hugo’s Les Mis (Hugo and Delacroix were friends). Wearing a black velvet beret, worn by students, he has a cartridge pouch slung across his shoulder. There is a war cry on his lips, urging others to fight, while brandishing a weapon.

Bourgeoisie is the kneeling figure with a top hat that may be based on Delacroix himself. Notice the loose-fitting trousers and elegantly tailored jacket. This represents that the revolution is for the affluent.

A worker wears and apron, shirt, and sailor’s trousers. From his dirty body, we can see he is a laborer.

The ground is littered with the dead. One figure lacks pants. This is intentional with the aim of showing savagery, while also demonstrating Delacroix’s knowledge of the male nude.

Chaos, fervor, and passion is captured.

Notre Dame situates the action in Paris (also another reference to Victor Hugo and his book the Hunchback of Notre Dame).

Remember: Romanticism shoes PINE (Past, Irrationality/Insanity, Nature, Emotion/Exotic) and is full of emotion.

A Brief French Royal History Recap

• Henry IV (the painting with Marie de’ Medici)
• Louis XIII (of 3 Musketeers fame!)
• Louis XIV (1643-1715) (Versailles)
• Louis XV (1710-1774) (Rococo patron with Madame de Pompadour)
• Louis XVI (1774-1791) (married to Marie Antoinette; beheaded in French Revolution)
• Louis XVII (imprisoned from 1792-1795 when he died at 10 from illness and never ruled)

The French Revolution  

• National Convention (1792-1795)
• French Directory (1795-1799)
• French Consulate (1799-1804)
• Napoleon as 1^st Consul
• French Empire (1804-1814)
• Napoleon as Emperor

Bourbon Restoration  

• Louis XVIII (1814-March 1815) (brother of Louis XVI)
• French Empire (March 1815 – June 1815)
  • 2^nd reign of Napoleon, 100 Days
• Louis XVIII (July 1815 – 1824)
• Charles X (1824-1830) (other brother of Louis XVI)

July Revolution of 1830  

• July Monarchy with Louis Philippe (1830-1848)

1848 Revolution  

• Napoleon III (1852-1870)
• Charles X was a deeply disliked king who had, among other things, severely restricted the press and parliament. This launched the July Revolution of 1830 (and is what Les Mis is about)
• July Revolution of 1830 (July 27 – 29, 1830) concluded with King Charles X being replaced with Louis Philippe, the Citizen King
  • Nicknamed the Citizen King because he was a king selected by the people
  • He was called “King of the French,” not “King of France”
  • Louis Philippe selected the tricolor flag as the flag of France

About the Artist

Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) was an exceptionally trained French Romantic artist. He was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, which was not associated with the state Academy, but a rival.

Delacroix lived in Paris during this event. He began his allegorical interpretation of this moment in September 1830. It was exhibited in May 1831.

(4) 111. Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On).

 Joseph Mallord William Turner. British. 1840. Romanticism.

Learning Objective: 19^th century British Romantic painting

Themes:

Man v. nature
Propaganda
Race
Politics

Museum: MFA Boston

 Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On) by artist Joseph Mallord William Turner is an oil on canvas work measuring 3 feet by 4 feet in size.

The painting has an emotive power of color due to the wide range being used. Look at the enormous, deep red sunset (Turner sunset) over brown sea. The sun seems to slice open the sky. The colors are fiery and rageful. (Imagine what this would look like if David painted this – far more restrained.)

There is a thick sensuality of paint. This later had a huge effect on modern art.

Clarity and scale are not important here – Turner is willing to let them go.

Function

In 1840, at the first World Congress meeting of the anti-slavery league (Crown Prince Albert, a well-known abolitionist, was present at this meeting). Turner’s painting was exhibited. Turner was deeply moved by this story and might have wished to impress Crown Prince Albert at this World Congress meeting.

The work was exhibited with lines from a poem that Turner himself had written:

Aloft all hands, strike the top-masts and belay,

Yon angry setting sun and fierce-edged clouds

Declare the typhon’s coming. Before it sweeps your decks, throw

Overboard the dead and dying – ne’er heed their chains

Hope, hope, fallacious hope! Where is thy market now?

 

Transcendentalism is the awe and amazement at the brutal and indiscriminate power of nature.

This work is also a criticism of society and questions the viewer. Is this worth the profits?

The viewer sees the magnitude of man’s cruelty vs. the magnitude of nature’s power. The moral of the story is that the power of nature is greater than the power of man. Remember, this is during the Industrial Revolution when the arrogance of man (industry, science, technology) is starting to worry people.

Content

PINE (Past, Irrationality/Insanity, Nature, Emotion/Exotic) à Past, Irrationality/Insanity, Nature, Emotion

Drama is more important than accuracy. The artist takes liberties by adding in a storm to heighten the drama of the story. Turner was inspired by the Zong, but not documenting it.

There is a sailing ship on the horizon going towards the left. There are body parts, chains, fish, and sea monsters sticking up out of the water. Hands and legs sticking out of the water are dark-skinned. We see chains evident (even though they would not float with these on).

Sea gulls are encircling. Sails of the ship are not unfurled as sea spray flies everywhere.  The storm is coming in.

This is an allegory of the fight of humankind with the elements. Is this a biblical metaphor? Christians often utilized a ship in a storm as a metaphor.

The Story of The Zong

The Zong was a British slave ship that sailed for Jamaica in 1783. It was the captain’s last journey and he wanted to collect a great profit for retirement. He sailed with 470 slaves and 17 crew. Many had begun to die from sickness in the Doldrums of the Atlantic (an area where the winds are so calm, there are hardly any winds at all). Seven of the 17 crew died, along with 50 of the slaves.

The slaves got sicker and sicker, and water was running out. The only way to collect insurance on dead slaves and not take a loss is to claim accidental drowning (not sickness). This was intended to encourage captains to treat slaves humanely, by not letting them starve, or not having enough water.

The ship captain doubts the likelihood of them all making it–not just alive, but healthy enough that he could sell them for a profit. So, he decided to throw them overboard and collect insurance. This way he could collect 30 pounds per slave.

He threw 132 slaves overboard.  Most were women and children. Some did not sink and struggled, trying to climb back up on the boat. The crew then attached cannonballs to them and then threw them over.

This left 288 slaves on the boat. These were sold to slave traders in Jamaica for 36 pounds each.

Once in Jamaica, the ship’s owner filed for insurance. The captain said his actions of throwing slaves overboard was the humane thing to do and necessary because of his concerns over lack of water.

The insurance company refused, so the ship owner and captain went to court to make the insurance company pay. The court case was not about the morality of throwing these slaves overboard.

The court ruled in favor of the owner/captain making the insurers pay 30 pounds per slave.

Judge said: “What is this claim that human people have been thrown overboard? This is a case of goods. Blacks are goods and property – it is madness to accuse these well-serving men of murder. They acted out of necessity and in the most appropriate manner. The late Captain Collingwood acted in the interest of his ship to protect the safety of his crew. The case is the same as if wood had been thrown overboard.”

The case was brought to attention of abolitionists who decried the injustice.

Timeline

• The trip that took 60 days normally ended up taking 108 days.
• 288 slaves left and 10 crew; down from 470 slaves and 17 crew
• 1787: Anti-Slavery Committee founded
• 1807: Parliament prohibited British participation in slave trade
• 1833: British law prohibits slavery in British Empire
• 1839: London Times essay re: Zong, poem says ship threatened by storm

Making Comparisons

 

Both Slave Ship and Under the Wave off Kanagawa depict humans who are at the mercy at nature.

Unlike Under the Wave off Kanagawa, in Slave Ship, the humans are in this predicament because of human cruelty.

Additional Works

Here are some additional Turner to view

J.M.W. Turner. The Fighting Temeraire. 1835.  Oil on canvas.

J.M.W. Turner. Rain, Steam, and Speed. 1844. Oil on canvas.

About Turner 

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) was a well-loved English Romantic artist. When he was just 14 years old, he entered the Royal Academy of Art school in 1789. Turner was known as the painter of light. His work includes oils, watercolors, and engravings.

(4) 109. The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm).

 Thomas Cole. American. 1836. American Romanticism.

Learning Objective: 19^th century American Romantic painting

Themes:

Man vs. nature
Politics
Landscape
Propaganda
Interpretation of history
Duality

Museum: Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm) by artist Thomas Cole is an oil on canvas work measuring 4 feet 4 inches by 6 feet 3.  

The artists during this time did not paint outdoors, but only sketched. Cole’s innovation was to lift landscape painting to the history painting level, with a large size and a grand and noble treatment. The diagonal line from top left to bottom right divides the image. We literally see an East and a West.

Function

This was intended to be a marketable painting. There was no patron. It shows the potential and possibility of the national landscape. The landscape encapsulates the uniqueness of America. The expansion is divinely ordained (Manifest Destiny).

While the Western expansion positively altered the land, tension is created as wild landscape is eliminated. When does this become too much?

Content

 When examining PINE (Past, Irrationality/Insanity, Nature, Emotion/Exotic) we understand this work illustrates nature.  The work depicts the Connecticut River near Northampton, Massachusetts after a thunderstorm, with a recognizable bend in the river, that the locals call “The Oxbow”.

Sublime, intense, dramatic, grand, and incomprehensible. This landscape is vast, and beyond our ability to grasp.

To the west/left side a huge storm is rolling away on a virginal landscape that is unruly and untamed. A blasted tree on the bottom left shows the indiscriminate power of nature.  So too does the lightening.

Thomas Cole includes his self-portrait in the lower part. He is an American making American art in the American wilderness. Artists can bridge the gap between these two worlds. Wearing a coat and hat, he stands before a stretched canvas placed on his easel.

To the east/right side is a peaceful, pastoral landscape. Man has made this landscape productive and civilized. What was once wild has been overtaken is becoming productive and orderly. Animals, crops, chimneys, and boats are illustrated, while the sun shines brightly.

On the hill, logging scars are visible which form two Hebrew letters.

• If you read them right side up, they say “Noah”.
• If you read them upside down, they say “Almighty”.
• Does the beauty of the land reveal God? Is human intrusion sacrilege? Is civilization linked to God? Historians are not sure what Cole meant by these inclusions.

Context

Landscape by the early 19^th century had become synonymous with American pride.

• Westward expansion – westward goes the course of empire
• Discussions of political expansion dominated western discourse
• Louisiana Purchase had recently doubled the size of the US

Landscapes were popular

• Captured American uniqueness/potential (Manifest Destiny)
• Remedy for urban life/industrialization (Transcendentalism was a popular philosophy and ideology promoted the immersion into nature as healing, powerful and good.)
• Capture life/state that is vanishing

The Course of the Empire Series

Cole painted The Course of the Empire Series which shows five stages of landscapes that detailed the fall and rise of civilization.  Included here are additional works for you to enjoy!

The Course of the Empire Series

Cole painted The Course of the Empire Series which shows five stages of landscapes that detailed the fall and rise of civilization.  Included here are additional works for you to enjoy!

 

The Savage State

• Valley from the shore opposite the crag
• Hunter clad in skins hastens through the wilderness, pursuing a deer
• On the far shore can be seen a clearing with a cluster of teepees around a fire
• Visual references are those of aboriginal North American life.
• This painting depicts the ideal state of the natural world. It is a healthy world, unchanged by humanity.

 

The Pastoral State  

• Wilderness has given way to settled lands, with plowed fields and lawns visible.
• A temple has been built, and smoke (presumably from sacrifices) arises from it.
• The images reflect an idealized, pre-urban ancient Greece.

This work shows humanity at peace with the land. The environment has been altered, but not so much so that it or its inhabitants are in danger

 

The Consummation 

• Both sides of the river valley are now covered in colonnaded marble structures.
• Ships with lateen sails go out to the sea beyond.
• A joyous crowd throngs the balconies and terraces as a king crosses a bridge in a triumphant procession.
• The look of the painting suggests the height of ancient Rome.
• This work shows humanity controlling the land. The environment has been altered a great deal.

 

The Destruction

• The city is under attack amid war.
• The bridge across which the triumphant procession had crossed is broken
• Columns are broken, fire breaks from the upper floors of a palace on the riverbank.
• In the foreground a statue of some venerable hero stands headless, still striding forward into the uncertain future.
• Humanity itself is unstable and is destroying itself. Nature is at its mercy.

 

The Desolation

• All that is left is the remains of the city.
• The landscape has begun to return to wilderness, and no humans are to be seen
• Remnants of humans emerge
• A single column looms in the foreground, now a nesting place for birds.
• This gloomy picture suggests how all empires could be after their fall.

It is a harsh possible future in which humanity has been destroyed by its own hand

About the Artist

Thomas Cole (years) was a member of the Hudson River School (not an actual school but a group of New York city-based landscape painters).

Cole was British and moved to Philadelphia when he was 17. Then, he moved to Steubenville, Ohio which was literally on the edge of the American West.

 

Revivalist Styles in Architecture

• In the nineteenth century, nations came to value their past as evidence of the validity of their ambitions and claims to greatness.
• Art and architecture of the past came to be regarded as a product of cultural and national genius, and something worthy of returning to.
• Gothic revival (Neo-Gothic): England
• Baroque revival (Neo-Baroque): France

Neo-Elizabethan

Neo-Classicism

Neo-Gothic

Industrial

While we might associate the Gothic with the French, the English made the style their own with brilliant fan vaults.

Take a look at Cambridge Kings College Chapel

 

(4) 112. Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament).

Charles Barry and Augustus W. N. Pugin (architects). British. 1840-1870. Neo-Gothic.

Learning Objective: Revivalist (Neo-Gothic) architecture

Themes:

Power
Politics
Status
Appropriation
Architecture
Propaganda
Revival of tradition

Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) by architects Charles Barry and Augustus W. N. Pugin, located in London, England is constructed from limestone masonry and glass in Perpendicular Gothic style. This emphasizes the verticality, as well as Gothic ornamentation with pinnacles decorating the top, large towers, and large windows that emphasis the vertical tracery.

The horizontal balance and rhythm of the façade is a classical component. The architects wanted to balance the horizontal with the vertical.

Function

• Original palace of Westminster here burned down; royal family used to reside here
• Seat of House of Commons and House of Lords = Houses of Parliament
• Show the prestigious and beautiful past (Gothic focus on craftsmanship; ignore industrial architecture)
• Show pride and power and status of British government

SUB-IMAGE 1 (Central Lobby)

This is the meeting place for members of both houses and where members of parliament can meet their constituents. It is a lofty stone octagon with an intricately tiled floor.

Arches/exits include the patron saint of each of the four constituent countries of the UK.

• England: St. George
• Wales: St. David
• Scotland: St. Andrew
• Northern Ireland: St. Patrick

 

In the windows, there are metal grilles, which were placed here after the fire of 1834. These were built to cover the windows in the Ladies’ Gallery in the House of Commons to ensure MPs were not distracted by the women while at work. This area was not accessible to all women (only well-connected, elite women) and was difficult to see and hear out of. This made the room hot and stuffy and when wearing corsets, some women fainted. These women became a powerful symbol of women’s exclusion from Parliament.

Suffragettes targeted the gallery during the campaign for the vote in the early 20^th century. In 1908, two suffragettes chained themselves to the grille as a protest. It had to be removed from the window for the women to be cut off. The grilles were removed permanently from the gallery following a house vote in 1917.

 

SUB-IMAGE 2 (Westminster Hall)

This was built in 1097-1099 under William II, son of William the Conqueror (from Bayeux Tapestry!). He wanted to impress his new subjects with his power and majesty. This was the largest hall in England (and Europe) at the time and measured 240 by 67 feet.

The hammerbeam roof a decorative open timber roof typical of English Gothic architecture. The roof is still mysterious to historians. This predates the point where builders could create roofs wider than the available timber. Because of this, it has been assumed that there must have been columns to support the ceiling but there is no evidence of any.

The room is used for banquets, ceremonies, coronations, law courts, funerals.

Context

Pre-1834: English kings lived in Palace of Westminster.

In 1834 the Great Fire destroyed much of Palace of Westminster, both houses of Parliament as well as most other buildings. Westminster Hall was saved through a change of the wind and heroic fire-fighting efforts. Wooden tally sticks (voting system) were burned in the basement when the fire started.

Queen Victoria had to vacate and build a new palace (Buckingham Palace).

A competition was held to see who would build the new Houses of Parliament. The stipulation was that the new structure had to be in one of two historical, or what were called Revivalist styles: Neo-Elizabethan (Shakespearean times) or Neo-Gothic. Industrialization unsettled people as modernity seemed ugly. When they looked to the past, it seemed beautiful and traditional. Both were styles associated with the pre-Industrial era and English ingenuity and craftsmanship, even though Gothic wasn’t English, it was adopted in England.

Neoclassicism was popular but was associated with revolution and republicanism. These were associations which Britain did not want to have, as it is one of a few European countries that did not have a revolution in the 19^th century.

There were 97 entries that included 91 in Gothic and 6 in Elizabethan.

Charles Barry, famous English architect, won the competition. He estimated it would take 6 years to build but took more than 30 years and cost over 2 million pounds back then.

Barry turned to Augustus Welby Pugin, a 23-year-old architect who was an expert in Gothic style.

Barry designed the overall layout and Pugin added in the decoration on the interior and exterior.

Early Photography

In the nineteenth century, artists and scientists alike sought a mechanical way to capture an image.

Daguerre is (arguably) the first to come up with a photographic technique.

A debate ensured regarding photography’s artistic merit. If it is mechanical, does it involve artistic expertise or creation? If it does not, how can photography be art? On the other hand, if photography is mechanical and a “true” representation of what you see, can photography always be believed?

 

Early photography was subject to a great deal of criticism. People wondered what it was good for. It seemed as if it had no use in the sciences and it was a “lazy” way to make art that removed the artist’s hand.

Early photographers aimed to legitimize photography by likening photography to painting. In these early photographs, they are commonly still lifes with classical allusions.

 

(4) 110. Still Life in Studio.

 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. French. 1837. 19^th century. Photography.

Themes:

Innovation
Technology
Still life
Science

Still Life in Studio by artist Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre is a work of photography.

What is a Daguerreotype?

Each produced a single image (the “negative” is the plate/photo). These images are one of a kind, and there is no way to reproduce them.

The Process

The artist took a plate of silver-plated copper and exposed it to iodine to make it light sensitive. Then he exposed it to light in the camera.

Initially, this light exposure took about eight hours. Later technology improved and ranged depending on how much light was present. The stronger the light, the less the exposure needed. For example, in the middle of the day there was ample light.

At this point, mercury fumes would develop. This was stabilized with salt water (hypo)*. This step was added after they realized the plates continued to develop through being exposed to light. Many early images have simply turned black.

Function

This work was experimentation only and not made for a patron. The artist wanted to make a permanent image using light and chemistry.

Art or Science

A medium of artistic expression?  A powerful scientific tool? What use could it possibly be for? It could be so easily manipulated and wasn’t powerful enough yet to capture great details or small objects.

Content

Still lifes were common.  This was not point and click photography! With an exposure time of up to eight hours, anything other than still lifes was difficult to take photos of.  Even sitting completely still for ten to fifteen minutes without moving was challenging.

The earliest daguerreotypes were still lifes with plaster casts of antique sculpture. For practical reasons white casts reflected light well. Still lifes were immobile during long exposures.

For symbolic reasons white casts lent an aura of “art” and “classicism” to photos and helped to legitimize them.

Context

 The principle of a camera had been discussed since antiquity, but it wasn’t discovered until 19^th century. Think of Vermeer’s camera obscura.

About the Artist

Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre’s (1787-1852) had been searching since the mid-1820s for a way to take a photo using light and chemistry. By 1829, he showed his new medium at both the Science Academy and Fine Arts Academy in Paris. Even from the start, it was unclear where photography would fit best.

This is one of only about 25 of Daguerre’s images to survive.