Chapter 28 Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Syypmbolism: Europe and America, 1870 to 1900 Selections from: Chapter 34 Japan, 1336 to 1980 3rd quarter of 19th century – 2nd Industrial Revolution. 1st – textiles, steam, iron 2nd – steel,,y,, electricity, chemicals, oil: foundation for plastics, machinery, building construction, and automobiles. Inventions of radio, electric light, telephone, and electric streetcar shortly followed. URBANIZATION – farmers with less land were squeezed from properties. Work opportunities in factories, improved health/living conditions in cities. MARXISM and DARWINISM 19th century empiricists, believed scientific, rational law governed nature. Marx –economic forces based on cl ass st ruggl e iidnduced hihitstori cal change. Germans living in Paris, Marx and Engles wrote the communist Manifesto in 1848, advocating the creation of a socialist state – working class seized power and destroyed capitalism. Darwin challenged religious beliefs by postulating a competitive system where only fittest survive – contributed to growing secularism. SOCIAL DARWINISM: Herbert Spencer applied Darwinism to rapidly developing socioeconomic realm – justified colonization of less advanced peoples and cultures. By 1900 major economic and political powers divided up much of the world. French colonized N. Africa and Indochina; Br itish occupied India, Australia, Nigeria, Egypt , Sudan, Rhodesia, Union of South Africa; Dutch were a majjpor presence in Pacific . . . MODERNISM: Darwin’s ideas of evolution, Marx’s emphasis on continuing sequence of conflicts – acute sense of world’s impermanence and constantlyygy shifting reality. Modernists transcend simple depiction of contemporary world (Realism), they examine premises of art itself (Manet in Le Dejejner l’Herbe). 20th century art critic Clement Greenberg wrote, “The limitations that constitute the medium of painting – the flat surface, the shape of the support, the properties of the pigment . . . Modernist painting has come to regard . . . as positive factors that are to be acknowledged openly.” Japanese art had a profound impact on late 19th century painting Plein-air painting dominates much of Impressionist art Post-Impressionists reacted against what they saw as the ephemeral quality of Impressionist painting. Symbolist painters seek to portray mystical personal visions. In the 19th century the skyscraper was born as a result of new technologg,ical advances, the invention of the elevator, and the rise of land values. Art Nouveau seeks to create a unified artistic experience combining painting, sculpture, and architecture; it relies on organic forms and motif s.
Movement Dates Impressionism 1872-1880s Post-Impressionism 1880s-1890s Symbolism 1890s Art Nouveau 1890s-1914 Avant-garde: an innovative group of artists who generally reject traditional approaches in favor of a more experimental technique Japonisme: an attraction for Japanese art and artifacts that were imported into Europe in the late nineteenth century Modernism: a movement begun in the late 19th century in which artists. embraced the current at the expense of the traditional in both subject matter and in media. Modernist artist often seek to question the very nature of art itself. Plein-air: painting in the outdoors to directly capture the effects of light and atmosphere on a give object Pointillism: a painting technique that uses small dots of color that are combined by the eye at a given distance. Primitive or naïve artist: an artist without formal training; a folk ar tis t. Henri Rousseau is a pri miti ve arti st Skeleton: the supporting interior framework of a building Zoopraxiscope: a device created by Eadweard Muybridge that projects sequences of photographs to give the illusion of movement Hostile critic named movement in response to Monet’s ppgainting in 1st Imppyressionist show in 1874. By 3rd show in 1878, the artists embraced their title. Before the term was used for sketches, whose qualities apply to Impressionist paintings: abbreviation, speed, spontaneity, sensation, impermanence, and the “fleeting moment” – artists’ sensations, subjective and personal responses to nature. Modernist art opposed to academic art, Royal Academies. Membership and annual exhibitions, “Salons,” were highly competitive. Government subsidized – traditional subjects and polished technique. Dissatisfaction jurors led Napoleon III to establish Salon de Refuses (Rejected). Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass was displayed, entire exhibit was panned by public. In 1867 after more rejections, Manet mounted private exhibit outside World’s Fair. 6 years later, Monet and Impressionists formed own society and held exhibitions from 1874 – 1886. In 1884 Salon of Independent Artists was founded. Venues increased, along with new art forms/styles. Painting en plein air – focus on light and color – instantaneous representation of atmosphere and climate. Scientific studies of light and chemically synthesized pigments increased artists’ sensitivity to multiplicity of colors in nature. Local color is modified by light shining on it, reflections of other objects. Shadows do not appear gray or black, but are modified by reflections . . . Series of paintings of the same subject done at different times of day/days of the year. Meant to hang together for effect. Haystacks were the first series paintings to hang as a group; some thirty were painted, fifteen hung in the original exhibition. Complementary colors side by side intensify. “Mixed” by juxtaposing colors – more intense. Short choppy brushstrokes captured the vibrating quality of lihlight. Subtle gradations of light on the surface Forms dissolve and dematerialize, color overwhelms the forms Juries rejected modernist work – challenge to established artistic conventions, preventing public to see art that was not officially sanctioned. A student of Monet describes his approach, “. . . try to forget what objects you have bef ore you . . . Merel y think , here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, . . . and paint it just as it looks to you . .” In The Painter of Modern Life,1860 BdliBaudelaire wrote, “Modernity is the transitory, the fugitive, the contingent.” In 1872 Monet moved to Argenteuil, prosperous industrial town on Seine; leisure destination of Parisians. With funds from painting sales, Monet bought a boat to use as a floating studio.
Leisure activities of bourgeoisie and industrialization. Manet is painting modern life (as defined by Baudelaire). Adopted younger artist’s subject matter, short brushstrokes and reflected light on water. Cue Card Monet created more than 3 dozen paintings of the Rouen Cathedral from the same view at different times of day, under various climatic conditions. With scientific precision, he carefully recorded the passing of time as seen in the movement of light over identical forms. Focused on light and color to reach a greater understanding of appearance of form. World's first socialist working class The Paris Commune: March – May 1871 uprising. The workers of Paris, joined by insubordinate National Guardsmen, seized the city and set about re-orggganizing the government. The Commune occurred after France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War and Napoleon III was exiled. Caused by disaster of war and growing discontent of French workers. Between 25 – 35,000 people lost their lives during the street massacres of the Commune’s last days. Painting symbolizes Paris recuperated for the bourgeoisie. Rain on the cobblestones symbolized purification of the streets after the war and uprising of the communards. (A Social history of Modern Art Volume 4: Art in an Age of Civil Struggle 1848 – 1871 by Albert Boime) Redesigning of Paris began in began in 1852, ordered by Napoleon III, to accommodate increased population (1.5 million) and to facilitate movement of troops in case of another revolution. Boulevards widened, new water/sewer systems, street lights, buildings. Transformed medieval Paris, thousands of buildings/streets demolished. Informal/ asymmetrical composition, frame seems to crop figures randomly – suggesting transitory nature of street scene. Set working hours enabled people to plan pastimes. Renoir painted en plein air with Monet and Manet at Argenteuil. Dappled with sunlight and shade, blurred into figures – floating and fleeting light. Outdoor leisure activities of the middle class Clipped figures on extremes of painting suggest photographic randomness
Cue Card Child in lower left suggests a relaxed and innocent atmosphere. Casual unposed placement of figures and continuity of space – viewer as participant. People going about their business, they do not pose Classical arts – universal and timeless qualities, Impressionism the opposite – incidental, momentary, and passing aspects of reality. Cue Card Faraway look in the eyes of a bidbarmaid who seems bbdored by her customer. Mirror reflects into our world Uncertainty as to what the mirror is reflecting: is it her back listening to a customer, or is this another barmaid? Trapeze act in far upper left corner, largely ignored by customers Composition pushes goods up close to the cust omers Modern sales technique of placing the products next to a pretty salesgirl. More formal leisure activities – Paris Opera and ballet school. Diverg ing lines lea d v iewer into picture. Figures not centrally placed. 3 similar versions: largest, in grisaille, shown in 1st Impressionist exhibition in 1874. Worked mostly indoors on subjects that suggest movement such as ballet dances PtPreparatory didrawings exiitst for almost every figure; Degas also used photography for preliminary studies. Influence of Japanese prints in compositional elements Figures often seen from the back, cut off at edges of composition, or marginalized Cue Card Degas was a master of line; studies of figures in rapid and informal action – impression of arrested motion. Pastels, outlined objects, covered with hatch marks. Shelf on right tilted, seems parallel to picture plane, from Japanese prints – visual complexity for viewer.
Due to simppyplicity of printing gp process, ,p Japanese prints feature flat color, limited gradation. Flatness interested modernists who sought ways to call attention to picture surface. Degas owned a print by Torii Kiyonaga depicting 8 women at a bath in various poses and states of undress. Japan avoided Western intrusion until 1853 – 1854 when Commodore Matthew Perry and American naval forces exacted trading and diplomatic privileges from Japan. Japonisme – French term to describe Japanese aesthetic; appealed to Fashionable segment of Parisian society. Japanese kimonos, fans, lacquer cabinets, tea caddies, folding screens, tea services and jjyewelry flooded Paris. During Edo period in Japan woodblock prints became very popular. Prints were sold for the cost of a bowl of noodles – efficient production system. Artists designed the prints and sold drawings to publishers – name of both appeared on print s, bbtut not blblkock carvers and printers. Utilized the Chinese syygggstem for suggesting perspective which is different from Western art: lines stay parallel as they recede into the background – they do not converge. This technique created diagonal planes that was later employed by the French Impressionists. No shadows are used because they convey a temporal experience. The word ukiyo-e means a picture of “the floating world”. Derived from Buddh ist religious interpretation that described life on earth as unhappy, a stage to go through on the road to salvation. Portrays the pleasures that helped to relieve the restraints of urban Japanese life. Growing urbanization in Japanese cities led to increase of pursuit of sensual pleasure in popular theaters and pleasure houses by Ukiyo-e priitnts usually te ll a st ory with scenes from life in the houses of merchants and samurai prostitution or in the theater, posed as a (whose families remained in tableau or scene. home territories). Details such as fabric and hair style had Also admirers of literature, to reflect the current fashions of the time. music, and art. Late 18th century designer, played key role in developing multicolored prints – highest quality paper and costly pigments. Most Japanese prints were susceptible to fading, sued inexpensive dies from plants. Known for depicting activities of daily lives of beautiful young women. Elevated point of view. Drying after bath with maid turning to face chiming clock.
18 Used European synthetic dyes – Prussian blue. Low horizon typical of Western Painting, in foreground wave’s more traditional flat and powerful graphic form. Van Gogh collected and copied Japanese prints. Hiroshige depppicted places of leisure and natural beauty where Japanese escaped city life. Bold abstract pattern resembling calligraphy. Red sky enhances abstract effect, flattening pictorial space – completely foreign to Western notion of perspective. Japanese compositional style and distinctive angles to represent figures, translated into Impressionist mode. Daughter of Philadelphia banker, although family objected, began training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art at 15, but not satisfied with the instruction: "There was no teaching" at the Academy. Female students could not use ldl[lhl]live models [until somewhat later] and the principal training was primarily drawing from casts.” Later moved to Europe to study master- works in France and Italy. Also studied with Gerome (Eakins also a student). Degas admired her work and befriended her. Could not frequent cafes with male artists – had to care for aging parents whhdho had moved to Europe to join h er. Subjects frequently women and children. Mix of objecti vit y & genui ne senti ment . Compositional devices of Degas and Japanese prints. Cue Card American expatriate, spent time in Paris before settling in London “Arrangements” or “nocturnes” – harmonies parallel those in music. Japanese signature in lower right corner Whistler – “Nature contains the elements, in color and form, . . . as the keyboard contains the notes of all music. But the artist is born to pick, and choose, . . . that the result may be beautiful – as the musician gathers his notes and forms his chords . . .” British critic John Ruskin accused Whistler of “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.” Whistler sued him for libel. He claimed damaged his reputation; He won the trial but was forced into bankruptcy in paying court costs.
Atmospheric effects of fireworks over a riverbank; not a realistic depiction but a study in the harmonies of colors, shapes, and light.
Cue Card By 1886 mos t cr itics an d much of the publi c accept ed the Impressionists as serious artist. Some painters along with a group of younger artists felt the movement neglltected too many ttditiraditional elltements of picture making while attempting to capture momentary sensations of light and color. By the 1880s ar tis ts were aga in exam in ing the properties and expressive qualities of line, pattern, form, and color. Van GGhogh (D(Dthutch-b)born) and GGiauguin (Fh)(French) – expressive capabilities of formal elements. Seurat and Cezanne (French) – more analytical. Known as Post Impressionism, roots in Impressionist precepts and methods, but not stylistically homogeneous. Genetic defects stunted growth, partially crippled, self-exile from high society offf famil y. Reveled in Paris’ music halls, cafes, bordellos. Influence of Degas, Japanese prints (tilted perspective), and photography with asymmetry, diagonals, strong linear patterns, and harsh colors. Zigzag composition Scenes from earlier Impressionist paintings – he exaggerated or emphasized elements so tone is new, satirical edge, borders on caricature. Cue Card Glaring artificial light, brassy music, corrupt, cruel, and masklike faces – distortions by simplification of figures and faces anticipated Expressionism with even brighter and bolder lines. Large area of flat color, Figures are out to have a good time, but everything appears to be joyless. Tiny bearded man in back is self-portrait Afternoon activity of the middle class on a Sunday Frozen quality Cue Card Figgq,,ures are statuesque, uncommunicative, almost all are faceless, as if expressing the anonymity of modern society Color: hue (red, yellow), saturation (hue’s brightness or dullness), value (hue’s lightness or darkness) Chemist Michel-Eugene Chevreul – law of simultaneous contrasts of colors: juxtaposed colors affect the eye’s reception of each, making the colors as dissimilar as possible – in hue and value. Art critic Charles Blanc, discovered optical mixing: the smaller the areas of juxtaposed complementary colors, the greater the tendency for the eye to “mix” the colors – grayish or neutral tint. Physicist Ogden Rood suggested graduation could be achieved by placing small dots/lines of color side by side, blend from a distance. Georges Seurat calculated painstaking system of painting based on scientific color theory. PitilliPointillism or diiiidivisionism –obibserving color and separati ng it itinto component parts, pure component colors are applied in dots/ daubs. Impressionist recreational theme subject – shifting social class relationships – people from various classes. Repeated motifs create patterns, rhythm and suggest spatial depth and movement. Light, air, people, landscape – elements in abstract design. Van Gogh explored capabilities of colors and distorted forms to express his emotions as he encountered nature. Son of Dutch Protestant pastor, Vincent believed he had a religious calling, did missionary work with coal- miners in Belgium. Repeated professional and personal failures brought him close to despair. Paintinggy was a way to communicate his experiences. Painted The Potato Eaters at 32 years old. Five yy,ears later, considering himself a failure as an artist and an outcast from society at large, he fatally shot himself. Sold only one painting during his lifetime; even though his brother, Theo, was a Parisian art dealer. Fauves and German Expressionists built on his expressive use of color. Influence is an important factor in determining artistic significance; today Van Gogh is one of the most revered artists in history. 1888. Oil on canvas, 2’ 4” x 3’. Cue Card •1886 – Van Gogg,h moved to Paris, collected and copied Japanese prints. •1888 – relocated to Arles in southern France where he painted Night Café. He also lived with Gauguin for a short period of time there. •He wrote letters to his brother Theo about his work and stated he wanted the Night Café to convey an oppressive atmosphere – “a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad, or commit a crime.” •Communicated the “madness” of the place with juxtaposed vivid hues to amplify their intensity. •Known for expressive value of both color and paint application. •Communicates electrifying vastness of the universe, with earth huddling beneath. Perhaps church expresses or reconciles his conflicted views about religion. “In both my life and in my painti ng, I can very well d o with out G od b u t I canno t, ill as I am, d o with out somethi ng which is greater than I, . . . The power to create.” Another seemingly contradictory quote, "a great starlit vault of heaven...one can only call God." Thick short brushstrokes Starry Night painted a year before his death at an asylum in Saint-Remy, near Arles. Mountains in the distance that Van Gogh could see at his hospital room in St. Remy, steepness exaggerated. Cypress trees and placement of constellations confirmed as matching the view from his room at the asylum. Composite landscape: Dutch church, crescent moon, Mediterranean cypress tree At one with the forces of nature Parts of the canvas can be seen through the brushwork; artist need not fill in every space of the “Why . . . shouldn’t the shining dots of the composition. sky be as accessible as the black dots on Strong le ft-to-rig ht wavelike ilimpulse the map of France? Just as we take the in the work, broken only by tree and train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take church steeple. death to reach a star.” Tree looks like green flames reaching into the sky exploding with stars over – Van Gogh a placid village; cypress tree a traditional symbol of death and eternal Cue Card life. •Self-taught painter, later took lessons with Impressionist Pissarro, resigned from brokerage business at aggpe 35 to paint full time. •3 years later, attracted by Brittany’s supposedly unspoiled culture, Gauguin left his wife and 5 children and moved to Pont-Aven •Painting shows Breton women in their Sunday clothes, visualizing the sermon they just heard. Biblical account includes the renaming of Jacob as “Israel”, literallyygg “He who struggles with God.” •Women pray as they would before roadside crucifix shrines, characteristic of Breton countryside. Red heat of the sermon matches the red earth •Determining colors was Gauguin's central element of creativity. Twisted perspective emphasized innocent faith of women, shrank Jacob and the angel. Wrestling matches were regular entertainment after high mass. •Gauguin admired Japanese prints, stained glass, and cloisonné metal work – abstract, expressive patterns of line, shape, and pure color. •After brief period with Van Gogh in Arles, moved to Tahiti searching for a life far removed from materialistic Europe, to reconnect with nature, search for provocative subjects, and an economical place to live. Tahiti – French colony since 1842, so Gauguin moved to countryside. •Tree trunk separates the real from the miracle. Apple tree (tree of knowledge) not in story, Gauguin addition •Cow symbolizes man’s redemption, Ezekiel’s sacrifice •Broad areas of relatively flat color, subtle variations of hue within color planes. Cue Card Gauguin's Tahitian girlfriend Tehura, 14 years old, who one night, according to GiGauguin, was lilying in fear when he arrived late home: "immobile, naked, lying face downward on the bed with the eyyyges inordinately large with fear . . . Might she not with her frightened face take me for one of the demons and spirits of the Tupapaus, with which the legends of her race people sleepless nights?“ The spirit she fears, personified by the old woman seated at left. The strong colors are symbolic of the Polynesian belief that phosphorescent lights were manifestations of the spirits of the dead. Phosphorescent lights were in fact a type of fungus that grows on dead trees. Girl's fear also might have been in response to Gauguin's aggressive behavior; consistent with his known physical abuse of women. Cue Card
Fascinated with primitive life – native motifs, colors from tropical flora. In Gauguin’s judgment, most important painting – summary of artistic methods and views on life. Tropical landscape; broad areas of flat color – lushness and intensity. Gauguin in a letter to a friend, “Where are we going? Near to death an old woman . . . . What are we? Day to day existence. . . . Where do we come from? Source. Child. Life begins. . . .” Tried to commit suicide after completion of painting, died a few years later in Marquesas Islands – his artistic genius unrecognized. Allied with Impressionists, especially Pisarro, but studies of Old Masters in Louvre persuaded him Impressionist paintings lacked form and structure. Cezanne declared he wanted to “make of Impressionism something solid and durable like the art of the museums.” Sought a lasting structure behind formless and fleeting visual information eyes absorb. More analltilytical stltyle –order lines, p lanes, and col ors compri iising nature. Constantly checked his painting against the part of the scene, he called “motif” he was studying at the moment. Sought to achieve Poussin’s effects of distance, depth, structure, and solidity not by using traditional perspective and chiaroscuro, but by recording the color patterns he deduced from an optical analysis. Explored properties of line, plane, color and interrelationships. Understood visual properties of colors: hues, saturation, value, cool colors recede, warm colors advance and juxtaposed colors to create volume and depth. Presents thhhe viewer with 2-dlddimensional and 3-dldimensional images simultaneously – profoundly influenced the development of Cubism in the early 20th century. One of eleven canvases of this view, series dominates Cezanne’s mature period Had contempt for flat painting, wanted rounded and firm objects, but ones that were ggpeometric constructions made from splashes of undiluted color Used perspective through juxtaposing forward warm colors with receding cool colors. Landscape rarely contains humans Not the countryside of Impressionism, more interest in geometric forms rather than dappled effects of light Not a momentary glimpse of atmosphere as in the Impressionists, but a solid and firmly constructed mountain and foreground. Landscape seen from an elevation Invited to look at space, but Cue Card not enter. Painting process was so analytical and slow that Cezanne abandoned using real frfruituit – ttheyhey tetendednded to rrot.ot. Not optically realistic: disjunctures in painting – table edges are discontinuous, objects depicted from different view points. Cezanne’s methods never allow viewer to disregards the 2-dimensi ona lity of the pic ture plane. Contrasts between 2- dimensionality of the painting surface and 3-dimensionality of objec ts; object s tilt towar d us yet remain fixed on the tabletop. An exercise in the solidity of forms; the contrasting nature of round objects, flat objects, and the drapery falling into our own space Strongly painterly brushstrokes Cue Card Impressionists and Post-Impressionists used their sensations and emotions to interpret nature. Symbolists concerned with expressing their individual spirit/free interpretations of nature – rejected optical world for fantasy world. Artists spoke in signs and symbols, as if they were prophets. Symbolists disdained Realism as trivial – see through things to a significance far deeper than superficial appearance. Poet Arthur Rimbaud insisted, artists became beings of extraordinary insight. In his Letter from a Seer (1871) he explained that to achieve the seer’s insight, artists must become deranged – unhinge/confuse everyday faculties of sense and reason. Artists’ mystical vision – convert objects of world into symbols of reality beyond this world, from within the individual. Elements of Symbolism in Van Gogh and Gauguin’s work; differed from mainst ream SSbymboli st s in ththtat they portrayed unseen powers linked to a physical reality instead of depicting a wholly interior life. Against materialism/conventions of industrial/middle-class society. Subjects: esoteric, exotic, mysterious, visionary, dreamlike, fantastic. Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis was a contemporary – introduced world to unconscious experience. Subjects inspired by dreaming. Known for sensuous design, gorgeous color, intricate line, rich details, opulent settings. Submitted The Apparition to Salon of 1876 – pppopular contem porar y theme of femme fatale (fatal woman) who destroyed men. Salome (Mark 6:21-28) danced entic ing ly for st epf ath er/ great -uncle, King Herod, who promised her any wish. Mother told her to ask for head of John the Baptist. He had condemned Herod for marrying Salome’s mother (who was his brother's former wife and Herod's niece) in violation of Old Testament law. Herodbkdd sits in background –clllassical columnar hall resembles Roman triumphal arch. Halo-framed head of John the Baptist drips with blood – hallucinatory imagery Foreshadows work of Surrealists. “Primitive” without lileaving PiParis –self taught amateur, started painting full- time after retirement from service in French government. 1st exhibited in Sal on of 1885 when he was 41. Derided by critics, he then started exhibiting in Salon des Independants in 1886 until his death. Unfavorable reviews – lack formal training, imperfect perspective, doll-like figures, settings resembling constructed theater sets not landscapes. Natural talent for design and imagination teeming with exotic images of mysterious tropical landscapes. Uneasiness of subconscious self during sleep – subject of contemporary Sigmund Freud; influenced the development of Surrealism. Sterile and desertlike environment with lion,lion, a jujunglengle animal, sniffing at a gypsy like a Snake Charmer Tropical Forest Cue Card with Monkeys curious cat Tilted perspective of gypsy pose Recurrent use of stripes in composition Is the lion a dream? Is the gypsy really sleeping as she holds onto a walking stick? Inscription: “The feline, though ferocious, is loathe to leap upon its ppy,rey, who, overcome by Henri Rousseau The Sleeping Gypsy, 1897, Oil on fatigue, lies in a deep sleep.” canvas, 4’3” X 6’7” Originally conceived by Norwegian Munch as part of his epic Frieze of Life series, which explored the progression of modern life by ffocusingocusing oonn tthehe tthemeshemes ooff llove,ove, aangst,ngst, aandnd death. He believed humans were powerless before natural forces of death an love and emotions associated with them – jealousy, loneliness, fear, desire, despair became themes of his art. His goal was to describe the conditions of “mod ern psychic lif”life.” Expressive color, line, and distortion. Influenced by Gauguin and would inspire Germ an Exp ress io nists in ea rly 20 th centu ry . Art Nouveau swirling patterns Figure walking along a wharf, boats are at sea in the distance Long thithikck bbhtkrushstrokes swi ilrl around composition Figure cries out in a horrifying scream, the landscape echoes his emotion, discordant colors symbolize anguish Emaciated twisting stick figure with skull- like head Cue Card Historians have adopted the term fin-de-siecle which means “end of the century” for the spirit of dissolution, boredom, cynicism, pessimism, anxiety, and a widespread belief that civilization leads to decadence; characteristic of European, especially Austrian culture. Middle classes aspired to advantages of aristocracy – to lead “the good life.” This evolved into culture of indulgence. Also immersed in exploring the unconscious – Sigmund Freud. Determination to enjoy life masked anxiety prompted by significant political upheaval and an uncertain future. Viennese artist Klimt captured period’s flamboyance in work, tempered with unsettling undertones. The Kiss has an ambiguous setting apart from space and time. Shimmer ing ex travagan t fla t patt erni ng with ties to Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movement. Conflict between 2 and 3 dimensionality central to work of modernists. Patterns signify gender contrasts while simultaneously uniting the lovers into a single formal entity. Little of the human form is actually seen; two heads, four hands, two feet The bodies are suggested under a sea of richly designed patterning Male figure has large rectangular boxes; female figure has circular forms. Suggests all-consuming love; passion; eroticism Spaced in an indeterminate location against flattened background
Cue Card Cue Card Tangibility and solidity of sculpture suggests permanence, so it could not capture the “fl“fltieeting moment” of Impressionist painters. In France, Carpeaux combined Realism with love of ancient, Renaissance, and Baroque sculpture. Based on Dante’s Inferno where Count Ugolino with 4 sons starve to death while shut up in tower. In Hell, Ugolino tells Dante how in despair he bit both his hands in grief. His children thought he was hungry and offered him their own flesh as food. Studied Michelangelo’s male figures and also had Hellenistic Laocoon group in mind, early 1st century CE, 7’ 10” hig h. Vivid reality of anatomy – life studies. Rejected from Ecole des Beaux-Arts, enrolled in French school of decorative arts, “Petit Ecole,” lesser version of prestigious school. Attention for early sculptures, 1880 government commission to design doors for Museum of Decorative Arts (never built). Doors were cast in bronze after his death. Rodin did not use photographs, “I have always endeavored to express the inner feelings by the mobility of the muscles. . . . photographs, . . . seem suddenly fixed in midair, . . . there is no progressive development of movement as there is in art. . . . [I]t is the artist who is truthful and it is photography which lies, for in reality time does not stop.” Primarily worked in pliable material – model would move around for him for preliminary sculptures in clay. Influence of Impressionism – concern for effect of light on surfaces.
Cue Card Rodin depicts a headless Walking Man, Auguste Rodin and armless figure in midstride – It dedemonstratesmonstrates hihiss mmasteryastery of anatomy and ability to capture transitory motion. Mastery of realistic detail in his meticulous rendition of muscle, bone, and tendon. Rodin said, “The scultlpture mus t learn to reproduce the surface, which means all that vibrates on the surface, soul, love passi on, life. ”
AUGUSTE RODIN, The Thinker, 1346, English King Edward III surrounded French port of Calais,,g cutting off essential supplies. 11 months later, he demanded surrender of 6 of the town’s leading men, burghers, in return for sparing citizens. Rodin’s sculpture emphasizes internal struggle of men walking toward their fate wearing a sackcloth, rope halter. Later spared by intervention of English queen feared their deaths would bring bad luck to her unborn child. Figures sculpted individually, each has different emotions, some fearful, resigned, or forlorn Meant to be placed at ground level so that people could see it close up Name from a shop in Paris Considered an important transition between the eclectic historic revival styles of the 19th-century and Modernism. Art based on natural forms that could be reproduced for a large audience. Sinuous lines and "whiplash" curves were derived, in part, from botanical studies and illustrations of deep- sea organisms such as those by German biologist Ernst Heinrich Haecklkel Undulating twisting forms of hand-cut stone Conservative in its use of cut stone, modern in its design Modern apartment building for its time: garage for carriages below, elevators to take people up to their Cue Card apartments Antonio Gaudi, trained as an ironworker, inspired by Moorish and simple architecture from his native Catalonia. Conceived of buildings as a whole, like sculptures; invented new structural techniques. Casa Mila features: lacy iron railings, dormer windows on undulating roof, fantastic writhing chimneys, surface like worn rock, entrance like sea cave. 1879 discovery of Paleolithic cave paintings at Altamira. Realist impulse – architectural designs that honestly expressed a building’s purpose, rather than elaborately disguise its function. Eiffel tower responded to this idea and contributed to development of 20th century skyscraper. Eiffel designed exhibition halls, bridges, and interior armature of Statue of Liberty, France’s anniversary gift to UUS.S. Designed for an exhibition in 1889 as a symbol of modern Paris; still considered a symbol of 19th century civilization. Tallest structure in the world at time of construction. 4 giant supports, connected by arching open framed skirts, mask heavy horizontal girders strengthen the legs. Transparency of structure blurs distinction between interior and exterior never before achieved or attempted. Interpenetration of inner and outer space – hallmark of 20th-centryuy art and architecture. Innovative elevator swings diagonally up ramplike sides of tower Assembled from a limited number of shapes, symbolizing the interlocking members of a democratic society – Triumph of wrought-iron design Cue Card Greater speed and economy in building (especially commercial), reduction in fire hazards, use of cast and wrought iron. Disastrous fires in 1870s proved cast iron by itself was not resistant to fire. Started encasing metal (for strength) in masonry (for fire resistance). In cities increase property values forced architects to build upwards. 1st elevators used in Equitable Building in New York in 1868 – 1871. HENRY HOBSON RICHARDSON one of 1st to design modern commercial structures. Marshall Field store occupied entire city block. Respect for Romanesque architecture of Auvergne area in France – heavy round arches, massive masonry walls. Tripartite elevation of a Renaissance palace. No classical ornamentation, massive courses of masonry, strong horizontals of window sills. Glazed arcades opened up walls, led to modern total penetration of walls. Cue Card
1st truly modern architect; synthesized industrial structure and ornamentation.
Expressed the spirit of late-19th-century commerce – light filled, well ventilated office buildings. Regularity of window placements expressed large-scale, refined, and orderly office work taking place within. Sullivan’s dictum, “form follows function,” became slogan of early 20th century architects. Exterior and interior – free and flexible relationship, as his p up il Frank Lloyd Wright described, similar to bones and hands. Carson, Pirie, Scott Building – minimal structural steel skeleton for broad open display spaces. Lower 2 levels – elaborate ornamental cast iron frame display windows. Horizontal emphasis symbolizes continuous flow of floor space Cast iron decorative elements transformed the store into a beautiful place to buy beautiful things.