Realism

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Realism And Impressionism 1850-1895
The Artist as Himself
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• Industrial Revolution spread to the US and
  throughout Europe-plastics, machinery, chemicals,
  and oil- URBANIZATION-improving health and living
  conditions in the cities
• Increased emphasis on science- Darwinism- the
  theory of natural selection-highly controversial-
  contributed to secularism
• Became a social issue to justify racism,
  imperialism, nationalism, and militarism-by this
  time, most of the world was sectioned off and
  colonized
• Marx and Engels-goal was to create a socialist
  state- seizure of power by working class and the
  destruction of capitalism- emphasized class
  conflict and was instrumental in the rise of
  Labor Unions
• Technological change and exposure to other
  cultures brought about modernism-western
  cultures lack of permanence
• Modernist artists seek to capture the images and
  sensibility of their age, critical examination of
  the idea of art itself
• Realism- reevaluation of reality- sights and
  experiences of everyday contemporary life- from
  the idea of empiricism- subject matter was
  expanded-peasants and working class
• Realism-departed from illusionism- paintings were
  defined by the paints application as well as the
  subject matter

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Courbet, The Stone Breakers, 1849 (destroyed 1945)

• Courbet- proud of his rural background,
  socialist- believed that Romanticism was too much
  of an escape from reality I cannot paint an
  angel because I have never seen one. - strong
  link with Caravaggio
• Stone Breakers- used real workmen as models
• Dignity rather than sympathy

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Courbet, Studio of a Painter A Real Allegory
Summarizing My Seven Years of Life as an Artist,
1854-55

• Allegory must not conflict with the real identity
  of the figures
• Scene much like Velazquez and Goya- people were
  invited to view his painting-the artists
  hometown people on the left, and intellectuals on
  the right- a social environment rather than an
  audience

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Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1863

• Extremely controversial subject matter- an
  unidealized nude model posing with everyday
  people- her face is at ease and comfortable
• Tribute to older artists- classical subject
  matter- nether real life or an allegory
• Visual manifesto of artistic freedom-painters
  freedom to combine whatever elements he chooses
  for aesthetic affect alone
• Manet was the first to grasp Courbets mission

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Manet, Olympia, 1863

• Even more scandalous- shameless prostitute,
  defiant look
• Saw the inclusion of a black woman and a
  prostitute as an image of depravity
• Rough brushstrokes and rapid shifts in tonality -
  very defiant of the academy

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• The World of painting has natural laws that are
  distinct from reality-painters first loyalty is
  to his canvas-beginning of Art for Arts Sake
• Brushstrokes and color patches alone are most
  important, not what they stand for
• Courbet thought that Manets paintings were too
  flat
• The Fifer has almost no depth, almost no value-
  reality of the figure is caused by foreshortening
• Canvas is no longer a window, but flat patches of
  color
• Very revolutionary way of painting

Manet, The Fifer, 1866
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• Impressionism-
• Not just pretty pictures!!
• An Art Revolution of Epic Proportions!!
• Reaction against the invention of the camera
• the Renaissance idea of the canvas being a window
  is dead
• Canvas is now a surface covered with
  pigments-Manet first decided this but he refused
  to call his artwork Impressionist
• New technology brought need for change- the
  camera, the railroad system, the all-important
  paint tube!!

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Monet, Bathing, 1869

• Critics said that it hurt their eyes to look at
  this painting
• Monet adapted Manets color patch idea and
  applied it to outside scenes painted outside!

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Monet, ImpressionSunrise, 1872

• Hostile critic applied the term Impressionism
  after viewing this painting
• First show of this work was in 1872
• Incorporated the quality of sketches-abbreviation,
  speed, spontaneity-no polish or reworking
• Monet made no attempt to blend pigments-
  acknowledged the paint and the canvas

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Renoir, Le Moulin de la Galette, 1876

• Leisure activities of Paris were common subject
  matter- Parisian dance hal
• Dappled light, full of sensual experience
• Viewers are participants in the fun
• Sought to capture the moment- passing, momentary
  events- the opposite of Neo-Classicism and
  Romanticism

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Manet, A Bar at the Folies-Bergeres, 1881-82

• Lost in thought- separated from viewers and from
  patrons
• Brushstrokes are blurred and roughly applied,
  modeling and perspective are minimal
• Causes viewer to search the picture- there are
  discrepancies-reflection doesnt make sense-
  proves that he really is the first modernist
  artist

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• Design seems as unstudied as a snapshot but is
  really very ordered and organized-sets Degas
  apart from other Impressionists
• Distance from the viewer emphasizes the
  loneliness of the viewers

Degas, The Glass of Absinthe, 1876
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Degas, The Rehearsal, 1876

• Large off-center empty space creates the illusion
  that the viewer is in the room
• Arbitrarily cuts off figures- indicates the
  artists interest in reproducing single moments
  and show the artists interest in photography-
  used for preliminary studies for his paintings

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• Influenced by Manet (later married his brother)
  and he was influenced by her work as well
• Paintings centered around her mother and her
  sister
• Birth of her child changed her work entirely-
  omitted non-essential details, figure is fully
  integrated into scene

Morisot, Reading, 1888
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• Joined the Impressionists in 1877
• Able to pursue her career as an artist in France
  because she was independently wealthy
• Instrumental in bringing Impressionism to United
  States through social contacts
• Maternity was her number one subject matter
• Influenced by Degas and by Japanese woodblock
  prints
• Flat forms and simplified colors, patterns

Cassatt, The Bath, 1891
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• Japonisme-
• 1853- Commodore Matthew Perry became 1st
  westerner to establish trade with Japan
• Japanese aesthetic became in vogue
• Japanese began export business, Japan became
  industrialized
• Japanese art influenced Impressionists and
  Post-Impressionists

Suzuki Harunobi
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Katsushika Hokusai

• Artists were attracted to the simplicity, areas
  of flat color, two-dimensional quality, limited
  amount of gradation.

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Monet, Waterlilies, 1907

• Around 1890, began to paint in series- same
  subject under different conditions
• Importance of brushstroke and rhythm
• Created an estate (given to him by the
  government)- a self-contained world for his
  personal enjoyment
• Reflections of both reality and his imagination

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• American Realism
• Eakins studied both painting and anatomy
• Melded well for the 19th century American ideal
  of the search for the truth
• Very brutal realism- was rejected by the
  Philadelphia exhibition for the centennial
• Reflects the publics faith in scientific and
  medical technology
• Viewers found it difficult to look at the
  painting in great detail

Thomas Eakins, The Gross Clinic, 1875
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• Desire to depict the lives of ordinary people
• Son of an African American minister- quiet
  devotion and intimate look at everyday life
• Influenced by Rembrandt and the Dutch way of
  observing everyday events with great sanctity

Henry Osawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson, 1894
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Winslow Homer, Dressing for the Carnival, c. 1870

• Painted in Paris, but left before Impressionism
  made an impact
• Reporter and magazine illustrator during the
  civil war
• Made regular people look beautiful, one of the
  first artist to document the lives of newly-freed
  former slaves

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• Realism in England
• Portrayed the heroism of everyday life in a more
  dramatic fashion than Courbet
• Emigrants- subject taken from contemporary times
• Theatrically treated
• Medieval type style of painting-both photographic
  and unreal

Ford Maddox Brown, The Last of England, 1852-55
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• This medieval model was used by the
  Pre-Raphaelites- inspiration from the Medieval
  primitives- to return to the freshness of art
  before Raphael
• Fictional arrangements using realistic techniques
• Urge to reform the ills of modern civilization
  through their art
• Rosetti did not want to change social problems,
  but rather reform aesthetic sensibilities of the
  masters.
• Repressed eroticism

Dante Rosetti, The Annunciation, 1849-50
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• American ex-patriot who settled in England
• Interesting mix of Impressionism and a personal
  style
• Shared interest in contemporary life and
  sensations of color
• Interested in creating harmonies of color like in
  music
• Called his paintings nocturnes or arrangements
• This painting represents an exploding rocket-
  color splatters represent fireworks
• Interest in creating a harmonious arrangement of
  shapes and colors on his canvas

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturn in Black
and Gold, 1875
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• Impressionism revitalized sculpture
• Rodin- rejected because the finished bronzes look
  like sketches
• Made unfinishedness an aesthetic principle
• The Thinker was meant for the entrance of the
  Ecole des Arts in Paris- influenced by early
  christian pose and Michelangelo action in repose
• Form and meaning are one

Rodin, The Thinker, 1879-89
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• Artful unfinishedness- reminiscent of a
  Michelangelo sculpture
• Becomes a symbol for earthbound, carnal love

Rodin, The Kiss, 1886-98
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• Remained as a plaster cast for years because it
  was a rejected commission
• Spiritually and physically larger than life
• Genius of the man overpowers the surroundings
• Cloak creates the sense of an inner agony

Rodin, Monument to Balzac, 1897-98
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Camille Claudel, Ripe Age, 1907

• Was an assistant to Rodin and became his
  collaborator and mistres
• Style is much more smooth and lyrical
• Created when she was being replaced by another
  woman- a self-portrait of personal struggle

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Henri Labrouste, Bibliotheque Ste- Genevieve,
1843-50

• Gradual introduction of new materials and
  techniques in the field of architecture, most
  importantly iron
• Cast iron columns and supports became standard
  for large spaces
• Outside style is drawn from Renaissance
  libraries, inscribed the names of great writers
  to identify building as a library
• Reading room recalls gothic interiors- reading
  takes us on journeys of the mind