European Art and Culture 1750-1850 Icy Perfection: Antonio Canova And
Diploma Lecture Series 2013 Revolution to Romanticism: European Art and Culture 1750-1850 Icy Perfection: Antonio Canova and Neoclassical Sculpture Brian Ladd 24 / 25 April 2013 Lecture summary: The Italian sculptor Antonio Canova worked for patrons as eminent as the Pope, Napoleon, the Austrian Habsburgs and the Most Serene Republic of Venice. It is surprising then that this once celebrated artist is largely ignored today. Is it simply a case of an individual artist being out of fashion? Or was an entire art movement discredited for most of the twentieth century, with neoclassical art falling victim to the changing avant-garde? This lecture will explore the development of neoclassical sculpture in Europe during the late 18th century and early 19th century. It will examine how this art came to be associated with political power and authority. A focus will be on the outstanding oeuvre of Antonio Canova (1757-1822), undoubtedly the leading exponent of this movement. Other sculptors will also be discussed, including Jean-Antoine Houdon (French 1741- 1828); Bertel Thorvaldsen (Danish 1770-1844); Johann Gottfried Schadow (Prussian 1764-1850), and John Flaxman (English 1755-1826). Slide list: N.B. Sculptures are made of marble unless otherwise stated. 1. Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Antonio Canova in his studio with artist Henry Tresham 2. and a plaster model of ‘Psyche revived by Cupid’s kiss’. 1788-91, pastel on paper, V & A Museum 3. Antonio Canova, Self-portrait, 1790, oil on canvas, Uffizi Museum, Florence 4. Giuseppe Bernardi, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, c. 1750s, terracotta, Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama 5.
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