Post on 16-Jan-2016
Baroque ArtGrade 11
"An art-historical term used both as an adjective and a noun to denote, principally, the style that originated in Rome at the beginning of the 17th century superseding Mannerism.
Baroque
Religious background
Economics: “style of absolutism”
Warfare: “Thirty Years War”
Science: Descartes, Galileo Galilei
Architecture: religious, secular
Art: painting and sculpture
Religious background
Division between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism: Counter-Reformation: a response to the Protestant Reformation (which introduced Protestantism) by the Catholic Church reinforcing its power
Catholics used art to encourage piety/faithfulness and devotion into the church
Politics/ Economics: “style of absolutism”
Middle class emerged with money
Europe ruled by autocrats (one ruler with absolute power…likened today to ‘despot’, ‘dictator’, ‘tyrant’)
France: Louis XIV
Austria: Hapsburgs
England: Henry VIII
“Thirty Years War”
Europe is in a time of political unrest: constant warfare
Thirty Years War: 1618-48
Started with the conflict between Protestants and Catholics
French kings wanting to control all of Europe and battling with the Hapsburg dynasty
Science: Descartes, Galileo Galilei
Discoveries in biology, physics, astronomy, philosophy changed the artistic view
Centre of universe is sun (Galileo); human anatomy studies; law of gravity (Newton); questioning and reasoning (Descartes)
Opposite from the Renaissance ideal and idea of humanism
Now about light, movement, logic
Architecture
Religious: churches are becoming more and more elaborate and decorative and decadent to encourage a faithful following
Secular (non religious): palaces and mansion (by emerging powerful middle class), theatres, stage sets are all elaborate and visually seductive
Bourgeois and the monarchy/ autocracy battle for stylistic victory (i.e. one-up manship)
Art: painting and sculpture
• Types:
Religious
Scientific drawings for texts
Historical paintings (e.g. of battles, betrayals, of coronation)
Portraiture
Still life
Genre painting (of everyday)
Baroque Style
Open composition with diagonal movement
High contrast: extreme light shrouded in extreme dark
Loose and free technique
Naturalistic rather than idealization of Renaissance: verisimilitude
• Media: (thin glazes to heavy impastos)
Picture factories: concept was more revered than the actual ‘original’ copy; therefore, many copies could exist of any one design
The Viewer in Baroque Art
More emotionally and physically engaged in the work
• E.g. Bernini’s David: the viewer expects David to throw the rock into her space and past to the awaiting (imagined) Goliath
Emotionally involved:
• E.g. Ecstasy of Saint Teresa of Avila: a scene of martyrdom & ecstasy: renew faith in Catholics
Caravaggio. “The Calling of St. Matthew”
1599-1602. Oil on Canvas
Italy
Caravaggio (1573-1610). Probably the most revolutionary artist of his time, the Italian painter Caravaggio abandoned the rules that had guided a century of artists before him. They had idealized the human and religious experience.
Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da (1573-1610)
Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes c. 1598; Oil on canvas, 56 3/4 x 76 3/4 in; Galleria Nazionale dell'Arte Antica, Rome
Caravaggio, The Crucifixion of Saint Peter 1600-01; Oil on canvas, 90 1/2 x 70 in; Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popola, Rome
Gentileschi 1620
Caravaggio 1598
Gentileschi 1620
Artemisia Gentileschi (Italian, 1593-1651/53), “Judith and Her Maidservant with the
Head of Holofernes”c. 1625, oil on canvas, 1.8 x
1.4 m (72 1/2 x 55 3/4 inches)
Gentileschi, ArtemisiaJudith and her maidservantc. 1612-1613 Oil on canvas44 7/8 x 36 13/16 in (114 x 93.5 cm)Pitti Gallery, Florence
Gianlorenzo Bernini“David”. 1623. Marble, life size.
Galleria Borghese, Rome
Italy
Gianlorenzo Bernini“David”. 1623. Marble, life-size. Galleria Borghese, Rome
Italy
Gianlorenzo Bernini“Ecstasy of St. Teresa” 1645-52
Marble, life-size. Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
Italy
Diego Velazquez. “The Maids of Honor (Las Meninas)”. 1656. Oil on canvas. 10’5”x 9’
Spain
Peter Paul Rubens.“Venus at a Mirror” c. 1615
Oil on panel, 124 x 98 cmCollection of the Prince of Lichtenstein,
Vienna
Flanders & Holland
Peter Paul Rubens. “The Three Graces” 1639. Oil on wood
87 x 71 1/4 in. (221 x 181 cm Prado, Madrid
Flanders & Holland
Rembrandt van Rijn “The Night Watch (The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq). 1642. Oil on Canvas. 12’2” x 14’7”
Rembrandt van RijnAristotle contemplating a bust of Homer1653 Oil on canvas143.5 x 136.5 cmMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Rembrandt van Rijn "The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" 1632. Oil on Canvas
Rembrandt van RijnPortrait of the Artist at His Easel 1660Oil on canvas43 1/2 x 35 1/2" (111 x 90 cm)Musee du Louvre, Paris
Rembrandt van Rijn “Self-Portrait”. 1658. Oil
on canvas
Jacob van Ruisdael. “The Jewish Cemetery”. 1655-60. Oil on canvas. 4’6” x 6’21/2 “
Jan Vermeer“The Letter”
1666. Oil on canvas. 17 ¼ “ x 15 ¼ “
Jan Vermeer“Girl with a Pearl Earring”.
1666. Oil on Canvas.
Nicolas Poussin “The Rape of the Sabine Women” 1633-34 Oil on canvas
60 7/8 x 82 5/8 in.
France & England
Claude Lorraine. “A Pastoral Landscape”. 1650. Oil on copper. 15 ½ “ x 21 “
France & England
Pierre-Paul Puget. “Milo of Cortona”. 1671-83. Marble,
height: 8’10 ½ “
France & England
Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Garden front of Palace of Versailles. 1669-85.
France & England
Palace of Versailles. 1669-85
France & England
Hall of Mirrors.Palace of Versailles. 1669-85
The RococoGrade 11
Rococo
An l8th century style, principally associated with the decorative arts, deriving its name from the French, rocaille, meaning 'rock work'. The name was first used in the early 19th century as a pejorative term, denoting the frivolous over-elaboration which contemporary critics considered the salient feature of the style. Rococo evolved in France from, and as a reaction against, the formal and somewhat ponderous style centred on the court of Louis XIV at Versailles. Following Louis XIV's death in 1715 the court moved to Paris and Rococo reflected the new taste for lighter, more delicate decoration suitable for the smaller, more comfortable and intimate interiors of town houses.
Jean-Antoine Watteau“A Pilgrimage to Cythera” 1717. Oil on Canvas
Jean-Antoine Watteau“Gilles and Four Other Characters
from the Commedia dell’Arte (Pierrot) c. 1719. Oil on Canvas
Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin.“Back from the Market” 1739
Oil on Canvas
Francois Boucher.“The Toilet of Venus”
1751Oil on Canvas
Baptiste Chardin. “The Ray”. 1750. Oil on canvas.
Sir Joshua Reynolds.“Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse”
1784Oil on Canvas
Thomas Gainsborough“Mr. And Mrs. Andrews” 1750. Oil oncanvas.
Gainsborough, ThomasMrs. Peter William Bake 1781 Oil on canvas89 5/8 x 59 3/4 in. (227.6 x 151.8 cm)Frick Collection, New York
GAINSBOROUGH, ThomasThe Blue Boy c. 1770Oil on canvas70 x 48 in. (177.8 x 112.1 cm)The Huntington Art Collections, San Marino, California
Oil on Canvas Completed in 1767
Original dimensions: 65.0cm x 81.0cm (25.6in x 31.9in)
Original Painting held in Wallace Collection , London England
Jean-Honoré Fragonard