The 19th Century: Birth of the

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The 19th Century Birth of the isms

• Neoclassic Art
• Romantic Art
• Realist Art

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Preface

• Instead of one style dominating for centuries, as
  in the Renaissance and Baroque, movements were
  quick to appear. What had been eras became
  isms, each representing a trend in art.
• For most of the 19th Century, three major styles
  competed with one another
• Neoclassicism 1750-1820
• Romanticism 1790-1863
• Realism 1830-1874

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Neoclassic Art

• Neoclassic means new Classic
• Influenced by the discovery of ruins in the
  Pompeii, an ancient Italian town preserved under
  volcanic ash for centuries.
• The revival of painting, sculpture, architecture
  and furniture from ancient Greece and Rome was a
  clear reaction against the ornate Rococo style.

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How to recognize Neoclassical art

• Brushwork Smooth so that the surface seemed
  polished
• Compositions Simple in order to avoid Rococo
  melodrama. Backgrounds often included Roman
  touches like arches or columns
• Subjects Greek and Roman history, mythology
• Role of art Morally uplifting, inspirational

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Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784

• 3 sons swear to their father that they will
  defend Rome or die in attempt.
• A typical Neoclassic painting it has a serious
  theme and its figures are posed stiffly in a
  formal composition and Classical setting

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Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, 1768 - 1809

• Exterior decoration recalls the frieze (a
  decorative horizontal band usually placed along
  the upper end of a wall) of the Parthenon
• Columns recall the simplicity of Greek Doric
  columns
• Arches and Dome reflect Roman designs

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Romantic Art

• Romantic art doesn't mean art that deals with
  love. Rather it means art that is imaginative,
  exciting, colourful, and filled with movement
  storm-tossed ships, exotic scenes and rearing
  horses.
• Romantic art dominated Europe and North America
  for much of the 19th C. It stood in contrast to
  the Neoclassic style which had little movement or
  colour.
• The artist should paint not only what he sees
  before him, but also what he sees in him.

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How to recognize Romantic art

• Inspiration Medieval and Baroque eras, Middle
  and Far East
• Colour Unrestrained - deep, rich shades
• Subjects Legends, exotica, nature, violence
• Technique Quick brushstrokes, strong light and
  shade contrast

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• Romaticism was launched with this painting
• Based on current events of that time period. The
  subject was a government ship, Medusa, carrying
  French colonists to Senegal that sank off the
  west coast of Africa due to the incompetence of
  the captain. The captain and crew were the first
  to evacuate. They towed a raft of 149 passengers
  and then cut them loose (12 days without food or
  water). Only 15 lived.
• Dedication of the artist - interviewed
  survivors, built a lifesized model in his
  studio, visited the morgue, and even lashed
  himself to the mast of a small boat in a storm.

Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa,
18181819
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Eugene Delacroix, Death of Sardanapalus, 1827, 12
ft 1 in x 16 ft 3 in.

• based on a play by English romantic poet Lord
  Byron. It depicts the moment Sardanapalus ordered
  his possessions destroyed and concubines murdered
  before he sets himself on fire, once he learns
  that he is faced with military defeat.
• Intense colours, vivid light/dark contrasts,
  brilliant red background

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Review

• The Neoclassical style derived from the art and
  culture of ancient Greece and Rome and imitated
  this periods architecture and fascination for
  order and simplicity.

• Romanticism emphasized the personal, emotional
  and dramatic aspects of exotic, literary and
  historical subject matter.

Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa,
18181819
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784
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Realism Art

• Occurred during the second half of the 19th
  century (the Machine Age)
• Neoclassic and Romantic painting continued
  through the period, but some European artists
  felt that neither showed life as it was really
  lived.
• Realist painters were interested not necessarily
  in painting realistically (which they did) but in
  realistic subject matter real life. Before this,
  artists had always idealized their subjects.
• They made workers and the poor important enough
  for fine art.

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How to recognize Realist art

• Subject peasants and the urban working class
• Composition precise imitation without alteration
• Colour muted

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Jean-Francois Millet, The Gleaners, 1857

• Millet presented farm workers as dignified
  people.
• The composition is devoted to the rigors of the
  working class. It depicts women stooping in the
  fields to glean the leftovers from the harvest.
  He does not glorify or unnecessarily embellish
  the women.
• In the background we see the main harvesting
  activity.

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Honore Daumier, The Third Class Carriage, 1862

• Daumier was known as Paris greatest social
  caricaturist (in newspaper). In his drawings he
  took pot shots at the Royalists, politicians,
  judges and lawyers and he was briefly imprisoned
  for his biting satire.
• In this painting he deals with the public where
  he finds them in their urban environment. His
  subjects did not pose for him in his studio.
• This painting depicsts working-class passengers
  as dignified, despite being crammed together.
• Because he used thin washes of muted colour, the
  grid lines are often visible (he used grid lines
  to enlarge his smaller sketches onto canvas).

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Gustave Courbet, Burial at Ornans, 1849

• Courbet was the most effective spokesperson for
  Realism. He is quoted as saying, The art of
  painting should consist only in the
  representation of objects which the artist can
  see and touch. This was the credo of Realism.
• Depicts a provincial funeral. The scene shows
  ordinary people doing ordinary things at a sad
  time.
• Never before had a scene of plain folk been
  painted in the epic size (painting was 22 feet
  long) reserved for grandiose history paintings.
  Critics complained it was vulgar.
• The mood is sombre and the colours and bleak.
• At the 1855 Universal Exposition in Paris this
  work was rejected so Courbet built a special shed
  he called the Pavilion of Realism to show only
  his work. This became the first modern-day,
  one-artist exhibition.

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