Chapter

p 28
Impressionism, Post-Impressionism,
Symbolism:
y Europe
p and America,
1870 to 1900
p
Selections from: Chapter 34
Japan, 1336 to 1980
 3rd quarter of 19th century – 2nd
ƒ3
Industrial Revolution.
ƒ1st – textiles, steam, iron
ƒ2nd – steel,, electricity,
y, chemicals,, oil:
foundation for plastics, machinery,
building construction, and automobiles.
Inventions of radio, electric light,
telephone and electric streetcar shortly
telephone,
followed.
ƒURBANIZATION – farmers with less land were squeezed from properties.
Work opportunities in factories,
ƒWork factories improved health/living conditions in cities.
cities
MARXISM and DARWINISM
ƒ19th century empiricists, believed scientific, rational law governed nature.
M
ƒMarx – economici fforces based
b d on class
l struggle
t l induced
i d d historical
hi t i l change.
h
ƒGermans 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.
capitalism
ƒDarwin 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.
ƒBy 1900 major economic and political
powers divided up much of the world.
French colonized N. Africa and
Indochina B
Indochina; British
itish occ
occupied
pied India
India,
Australia, Nigeria, Egypt , Sudan,
Rhodesia, Union of South Africa; Dutch
were a major
j p presence in Pacific . . .
MODERNISM: Darwin’s ideas of evolution, Marx’s emphasis on continuing
sequence of conflicts – acute sense of world’s impermanence and
constantlyy shifting
g reality.
y
ƒModernists transcend simple depiction of contemporary world (Realism),
they examine premises of art itself (Manet in Le Dejejner l’Herbe).
ƒ20th 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
technological
g 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
i fforms andd motifs.
tif

Movement Dates
Impressionism 1872 1880s
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
f lk artist.
folk ti t Henri
H iR
Rousseau iis a primitive
i iti artist
ti t
„ 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
ƒHostile critic named movement in response to Monet’s
painting
p g in 1st Impressionist
p show in 1874. Byy 3rd
show in 1878, the artists embraced their title.
ƒBefore the term was used for sketches, whose
qualities apply to Impressionist paintings:
abbreviation speed,
abbreviation, speed spontaneity
spontaneity, sensation,
sensation
impermanence, and the “fleeting moment” – artists’
sensations, subjective and personal responses to
nature.
ƒModernist art opposed to academic art,
art Royal
Academies. Membership and annual exhibitions,
“Salons,” were highly competitive. Government
subsidized – traditional subjects and polished
technique.
technique
ƒDissatisfaction jurors led Napoleon III to establish Salon de Refuses (Rejected).
Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass was displayed, entire exhibit was panned by public.
ƒIn 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
ƒPainting
atmosphere and climate. Scientific studies of light and chemically synthesized
pigments increased artists’ sensitivity to multiplicity of colors in nature.
ƒLocal color is modified by light shining on it, reflections of other objects.
ƒShadows do not appear gray or black, but are
modified by reflections . . .
ƒSeries of paintings of the same subject done at
different times of day/days of the year.
ƒMeant to hang together for effect.
effect Haystacks were
the first series paintings to hang as a group; some
thirty were painted, fifteen hung in the original
exhibition.
ƒComplementary colors side by side intensify.
“Mixed” by juxtaposing colors – more intense.
ƒShort choppy brushstrokes captured the vibrating
quality
li off li
light.
h
ƒSubtle gradations of light on the surface
ƒForms dissolve and dematerialize, color overwhelms the forms
ƒJuries rejected modernist work – challenge to established artistic
conventions, preventing public to see art that was not officially sanctioned.
ƒA student of Monet describes his approach, “. . . try to forget what objects
you have
h before
b f you . . . Merely
M l think,
thi k here
h is
i a little
littl square off blue,
bl here
h an
oblong of pink, . . . and paint it just as it looks to you . .”
ƒIn The Painter of
Modern Life,1860
B d l i wrote,
Baudelaire
“Modernity is the
transitory, the
fugitive, the
contingent.”
ƒIn 1872 Monet
moved to Argenteuil,
prosperous industrial
town on Seine;
leisure destination of
Parisians.
ƒWith funds from
painting sales, Monet
bought a boat to use
as a floating studio.

ƒLeisure activities of bourgeoisie and industrialization.

ƒManet is painting modern life (as defined by Baudelaire).
Baudelaire) Adopted younger
artist’s subject matter, short brushstrokes and reflected light on water.
 Cue Card
Monet created more than 3 dozen
ƒMonet
paintings of the Rouen Cathedral from
the same view at different times of
day, under various climatic conditions.
ƒWith scientific precision, he carefully
recorded the passing of time as seen
in the movement of light over
identical forms.
ƒFocused on light and color to reach a
greater understanding of appearance
of form.
ƒWorld's first socialist working class The Paris Commune: March – May 1871
uprising. The workers of Paris, joined by
insubordinate National Guardsmen, seized
the city
y and set about re-organizing
g g the
government.
ƒThe Commune occurred after France was
defeated in the Franco-Prussian War and
Napoleon
p III was exiled.
ƒCaused 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. y
ƒPainting symbolizes Paris recuperated for
the bourgeoisie.
ƒRain on the cobblestones symbolized
purification of the streets after the war and
p
uprising of the communards. (A Social
history of Modern Art Volume 4: Art in an
Age of Civil Struggle 1848 – 1871 by Albert
Boime))
ƒRedesigning 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.
ƒBoulevards widened, new water/sewer systems, street lights, buildings. Transformed medieval Paris,
thousands of buildings/streets demolished.
ƒInformal/ asymmetrical composition, frame seems to crop figures randomly – suggesting transitory
nature of street scene.
ƒSet working hours enabled
people to plan pastimes.
pastimes
ƒRenoir painted en plein air with
Monet and Manet at Argenteuil.
ƒDappled with sunlight and
shade, blurred into figures –
floating and fleeting light.
ƒOutdoor leisure activities of the
middle class
ƒClipped figures on extremes of
painting suggest photographic
randomness
d

Cue Card
ƒChild in lower left suggests a relaxed and innocent atmosphere.
atmosphere
ƒCasual unposed placement of figures and continuity of space – viewer as
participant. People going about their business, they do not pose
ƒClassical arts – universal and timeless qualities,
qualities Impressionism the
opposite – incidental, momentary, and passing aspects of reality.
 Cue Card
ƒFaraway look in the eyes of a
b
barmaid
id who
h seems bored
b d by
b
her customer.
ƒMirror reflects into our world
Uncertainty as to what the
ƒUncertainty
mirror is reflecting: is it her
back listening to a customer, or
is this another barmaid?
ƒTrapeze act in far upper left
corner, largely ignored by
customers
ƒComposition pushes goods up
close
l tto the
th customers
t
ƒModern sales technique of
placing the products next to a
pretty salesgirl.
ƒMore formal leisure activities
– Paris Opera and ballet
school.
Di i
ƒDiverging li
lines llead
d viewer
i
into picture.
ƒFigures not centrally placed.
3 similar versions: largest, in
ƒ3
grisaille, shown in 1st
Impressionist exhibition in
1874.
ƒWorked mostly indoors on
subjects that suggest
movement such as ballet
dances
P t
ƒPreparatory d
drawings
i exist
i t ffor
almost every figure; Degas
also used photography for
preliminary studies.
ƒInfluence of Japanese prints in
compositional elements
ƒFigures often seen from the
back, cut off at edges of
composition, or marginalized
Cue Card
ƒDegas was a master of line;
studies of figures in rapid and
p
informal action – impression
of arrested motion.
ƒPastels, outlined objects,
covered with hatch marks.
ƒShelf on right tilted, seems
parallel to picture plane, from
Japanese prints – visual
complexity for viewer.
viewer

ƒDue to simplicity
p y of printing
p g process,
p , Japanese
p
prints feature flat color, limited gradation.
ƒFlatness interested modernists who sought ways
to call attention to picture surface.
ƒDegas owned a print by Torii Kiyonaga depicting
8 women at a bath in various poses and states of
undress.
ƒJapan avoided Western intrusion until
1853 – 1854 when Commodore Matthew
Perry and American naval forces exacted
trading and diplomatic privileges from
Japan.
ƒJaponisme – French term to describe
Japanese aesthetic; appealed to
Fashionable segment of Parisian society.
society
ƒJapanese kimonos, fans, lacquer
cabinets, tea caddies, folding screens,
tea services and jjewelry
y flooded Paris.
ƒDuring Edo period in Japan woodblock
prints became very popular.
ƒPrints were sold for the cost of a bowl of
noodles – efficient production system.
ƒArtists designed the prints and sold
drawings to publishers – name of both
appeared d on prints,
i t but
b t nott block
bl k carvers
and printers.
„ Utilized the Chinese
y
system for suggesting
gg g
perspective which is
different from Western
art: lines stay parallel
as they recede into the
background – they do
not converge.
„ This technique
q created
diagonal planes that
was later employed by
the French
Impressionists.
Impressionists
„ No shadows are used
because they convey a
temporal experience.
„ The word ukiyo-e means a
picture of “the floating
world”.
„ Derivedd ffrom Buddhist
ddh
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 „ Uki
Ukiyo-e prints
i t usually
ll ttell
ll a story
t with
ith
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).
territories) „ Details such as fabric and hair style had
„ Also admirers of literature, to reflect the current fashions of the time.
music, and art.
ƒLate 18th century designer,
played key role in developing
multicolored prints – highest
quality paper and costly
pigments.
ƒMost Japanese prints were
susceptible to fading, sued
inexpensive dies from plants.
ƒKnown for depicting
activities of daily lives of
beautiful young women.
ƒElevated point of view.
view
ƒDrying after bath with maid
turning to face chiming
clock.
o

18
 Used European synthetic dyes – Prussian blue.
ƒUsed blue
ƒLow horizon typical of Western Painting, in foreground wave’s more
traditional flat and powerful graphic form.
ƒVan Gogh
collected and
copied Japanese
prints.
ƒHiroshige
p
depicted p
places of
leisure and
natural beauty
where Japanese
escaped city life.
life
ƒBold abstract
pattern
resembling
calligraphy.
ƒRed sky
enhances abstract
effect, flattening
pictorial space –
completely
foreign to
Western notion of
perspective.
ƒJapanese compositional style and
distinctive angles to represent figures,
translated into Impressionist mode.
ƒDaughter 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 live
l models
d l [[untill somewhat
h llater]]
and the principal training was primarily
drawing from casts.”
ƒLater moved to Europe to study master-
works in France and Italy. Also studied
with Gerome (Eakins also a student).
g admired her work and befriended
ƒDegas
her.
ƒCould not frequent cafes with male
artists – had to care for aging parents
who
h hadh d movedd to Europe to join her.
h
ƒSubjects frequently women and
children.
Mi off objectivity
ƒMix bj ti it & genuinei sentiment.
ti t
ƒCompositional devices of Degas and
Japanese prints. Cue Card
ƒAmerican expatriate, spent time in Paris before
settling in London
ƒ“Arrangements” or “nocturnes” – harmonies parallel
those in music.
music
ƒJapanese signature in lower right corner
ƒWhistler – “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
ƒBritish 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
courtt costs
cou costs.

ƒAtmospheric effects of
fireworks over a riverbank;
not a realistic depiction but
a study in the harmonies of
colors, shapes, and light.

Cue Card
„ B
By 1886 mostt critics
iti andd much h off the
th public
bli accepted
t d
the Impressionists as serious artist.
„ Some painters along with a group of younger artists felt
th movementt neglected
the l t d too
t many traditional
t diti l elements
l t
of picture making while attempting to capture
momentary sensations of light and color.
„ By
B the
th 1880s
1880 artists
ti t were again i examining
i i th
the
properties and expressive qualities of line, pattern,
form, and color.
„ Van
V Gogh
G h (Dutch-born)
(D t h b ) and d Gauguin
G i (F
(French)h) –
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.
 ƒGenetic defects stunted
growth, partially crippled,
self-exile from high society
off family.
f l
ƒReveled in Paris’ music
halls, cafes, bordellos.
Influence of Degas,
ƒInfluence Degas
Japanese prints (tilted
perspective), and
photography with
asymmetry, diagonals,
strong linear patterns, and
harsh colors. Zigzag
composition
ƒScenes from earlier
Impressionist paintings – he
exaggerated or emphasized
elements so tone is new,
satirical edge,
edge borders on
caricature. Cue Card
ƒGlaring artificial light, brassy music, corrupt, cruel, and masklike faces – distortions
by simplification of figures and faces anticipated Expressionism with even brighter and
bolder lines.
ƒLarge 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
ƒAfternoon activity of the middle class on a Sunday
ƒFrozen quality Cue Card
g
ƒFigures are statuesque,
q , uncommunicative,, almost all are faceless,, as if
expressing the anonymity of modern society
ƒColor: hue (red, yellow), saturation (hue’s brightness
or dullness), value (hue’s lightness or darkness)
ƒChemist 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
ƒArt
of juxtaposed complementary colors, the greater the tendency for the eye
to “mix” the colors – grayish or neutral tint.
ƒPhysicist Ogden Rood suggested graduation could be achieved by placing
small dots/lines of color side by side, blend from a distance.
ƒGeorges Seurat calculated painstaking system of painting based on
scientific color theory.
P i tilli
ƒPointillism or di
divisionism
i i i – observing
b i color
l andd separating
ti it iinto
t
component parts, pure component colors are applied in dots/ daubs.
ƒImpressionist recreational theme subject – shifting social class
relationships – people from various classes.
classes
ƒRepeated motifs create patterns, rhythm and suggest spatial depth and
movement. Light, air, people, landscape – elements in abstract design.
ƒVan Gogh explored capabilities
of colors and distorted forms to
p
express his emotions as he
encountered nature.
ƒSon of Dutch Protestant
pastor, Vincent believed he had
a religious calling, did
missionary work with coal-
miners in Belgium.
ƒRepeated professional and
personal failures brought him
close to despair.
ƒPaintingg was a way y to
communicate his experiences.
ƒPainted The Potato Eaters at 32 years old.
ƒFive y
years later,, considering
g himself a failure as an artist and an outcast
from society at large, he fatally shot himself.
ƒSold only one painting during his lifetime; even though his brother, Theo,
was a Parisian art dealer.
ƒFauves and German Expressionists built on his expressive use of color.
ƒInfluence 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 Goghg 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”
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 painting,
i ti I can very well ll do
d without
ith t God
G d but
b t I cannot,
t ill as I am, do
d without
ith t something
thi
which is greater than I, . . . The power to create.” Another seemingly contradictory quote,
"a great starlit vault of heaven...one can only call God."
ƒThick short brushstrokes
ƒStarry Night painted a year before his
death at an asylum in Saint-Remy,
near Arles.
Arles Mountains in the distance
that Van Gogh could see at his hospital
room in St. Remy, steepness
exaggerated.
C
ƒCypress ttrees and
d placement
l t off
constellations confirmed as matching
the view from his room at the asylum.
ƒComposite landscape: Dutch church,
crescent moon, Mediterranean cypress
tree
ƒAt one with the forces of nature
ƒParts 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
St
ƒStrong lleft-to-right
ft t i ht wavelike
lik iimpulse
l 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.”
ƒTree 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 age
g 35 to p 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 renamingg of Jacob as “Israel”, literallyy “He who struggles
gg 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
ƒGauguin's Tahitian girlfriend Tehura, 14
years old, who one night, according to
G
Gauguin,i was llying
i iin ffear when
h he
h
arrived late home: "immobile, naked,
lying face downward on the bed with the
eyes
y inordinately y large
g 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?“
ƒ 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.
ƒPhosphorescent lights were in fact a
type of fungus that grows on dead trees.
ƒGirl's fear also might have been in
response to Gauguin
Gauguin's s aggressive
behavior; consistent with his known
physical abuse of women.
 Cue Card

ƒFascinated with primitive life – native motifs, colors from tropical flora.
ƒIn Gauguin’s judgment, most important painting – summary of artistic
methods and views on life.
ƒTropical landscape; broad areas of flat color – lushness and intensity.
ƒGauguin 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. . . .”
ƒTried 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
M analytical
l ti l style
t l – order
d li lines, planes,
l andd colors
l comprising
i i
nature. Constantly checked his painting against the part of the
scene, he called “motif” he was studying at the moment.
„ Sought to achieve Poussin
Poussin’ss effects of distance
distance, depth,
depth structure,
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 the
h viewer with h 2-dimensional
d l and
d 3-dimensional
d l images
simultaneously – profoundly influenced the development of Cubism in
the early 20th century.
ƒOne of eleven canvases of this view, series dominates Cezanne’s mature period
ƒHad contempt for flat painting, wanted rounded and firm objects, but ones that were
geometric constructions made from splashes
g p of undiluted color
ƒUsed perspective through
juxtaposing forward warm
colors with receding cool
colors.
colors
ƒLandscape rarely contains
humans
y
ƒNot the countryside of
Impressionism, more interest
in geometric forms rather
than dappled effects of light
Not a momentary glimpse of
ƒNot
atmosphere as in the
Impressionists, but a solid
and firmly constructed
mountain and foreground.
ƒLandscape seen from an
elevation
ƒInvited to look at space, but
not enter.
Cue Card
ƒPainting process was so
analytical and slow that
Cezanne abandoned using real
fruit – they tended to rot.
ƒNot optically realistic:
disjunctures in painting – table
edges are discontinuous,
objects depicted from different
view points.
ƒCezanne’s methods never
allow viewer to disregards the
2 di
2-dimensionality
i lit off th
the picture
i t
plane. Contrasts between 2-
dimensionality of the painting
surface and 3-dimensionality of
objects;
bj t objects
bj t tilt ttowardd us
yet remain fixed on the
tabletop.
ƒAn exercise in the solidity of
forms; the contrasting nature
of round objects, flat objects,
and the drapery falling into our
own space
ƒStrongly 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,
symbols as if they were prophets.
prophets
„ Symbolists disdained Realism as trivial – see through things to a
significance far deeper than superficial appearance.
„ Poet Arthur Rimbaud insisted
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
f
from mainstream
i t Symbolists
S b li t in
i that
th t they
th portrayed
t d unseen powers
linked to a physical reality instead of depicting a wholly interior life.
„ Against materialism/conventions of industrial/middle-class society.
„ Subjects: esoteric,
esoteric exotic,
exotic mysterious,
mysterious visionary,
visionary dreamlike,
dreamlike fantastic.
fantastic
„ Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis was a contemporary –
introduced world to unconscious experience.
ƒSubjects inspired by dreaming.
ƒKnown for sensuous design, gorgeous
color intricate line,
color, line rich details,
details opulent
settings.
ƒSubmitted The Apparition to Salon of
1876 – p popular
p contemporary
p y theme of
femme fatale (fatal woman) who
destroyed men.
ƒSalome (Mark 6:21-28) danced
enticingly
ti i l ffor stepfather/great-uncle,
t f th / t l
King Herod, who promised her any wish.
Mother told her to ask for head of John
the Baptist.
p 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.
ƒHerod d sits in b
background
k d – classical
l l
columnar hall resembles Roman
triumphal arch.
ƒHalo-framed head of John the Baptist
drips with blood – hallucinatory imagery
ƒForeshadows work of Surrealists.
ƒ“Primitive” without
l
leaving
i P
Paris
i – self
lf
taught amateur,
started painting full-
time after retirement
from service in
French government.
ƒ1st exhibited in
S l
Salon off 1885 when
h
he was 41. Derided
by critics, he then
started exhibiting in
Salon des
Independants in
1886 until his death.
ƒUnfavorable reviews – lack formal training, imperfect perspective, doll-like
figures, settings resembling constructed theater sets not landscapes.
ƒNatural talent for design and imagination teeming with exotic images of
mysterious tropical landscapes.
landscapes
ƒUneasiness of subconscious self during sleep – subject of contemporary
Sigmund Freud; influenced the development of Surrealism.
 ƒSterile and
desertlike
environment with
lion, a jungle
animal, sniffing at
a gypsy like a
Snake Charmer Tropical Forest Cue Card curious cat
with Monkeys
ƒTilted perspective
of gypsy pose
ƒRecurrent use of
stripes in
composition
iti
ƒIs the lion a
dream? Is the
gypsy really
sleeping as she
holds onto a
walking stick?
p
ƒInscription: “The
feline, though
ferocious, is loathe
to leap upon its
prey,
p y, who,,
overcome by
Henri Rousseau The Sleeping Gypsy, 1897, Oil on fatigue, lies in a
deep sleep.”
canvas, 4’3” X 6’7”
ƒOriginally conceived by Norwegian Munch as
part of his epic Frieze of Life series, which
explored the progression of modern life by
focusing on the themes of love, angst, and
death.
ƒHe believed humans were powerless before
natural forces of death an love and emotions
associated with them – jealousy,
jealousy loneliness,
loneliness
fear, desire, despair became themes of his
art.
ƒHis goal was to describe the conditions of
“
“modern
d psychic
hi lif
life.””
ƒExpressive color, line, and distortion.
ƒInfluenced by Gauguin and would inspire
German
Ge a Expressionists
p ess o sts in early
ea y 20
0th ce
century.
tu y
Art Nouveau swirling patterns
ƒFigure walking along a wharf, boats are at
sea in the distance
L
ƒLong thick
thi k brushstrokes
b h t k swirl
i l around
d
composition
ƒFigure cries out in a horrifying scream, the
landscape echoes his emotion, discordant
colors symbolize anguish
ƒEmaciated twisting stick figure with skull-
like head
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„ 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.
„ Shimmering
Shi i extravagant
t t fl
flatt patterning
tt i with
ith ti
ties tto A
Artt Nouveau
N and
d
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.
ƒLittle of the human form
is actually seen; two
heads, four hands, two
feet
ƒThe bodies are
suggested under a sea of
richly designed
patterning
ƒMale figure has large
rectangular boxes;
female figure has circular
forms.
forms
ƒSuggests all-consuming
love; passion; eroticism
ƒSpaced in an
indeterminate location
against flattened
background

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ƒTangibility and solidity of sculpture
suggests permanence, so it could not
capture
t th “fleeting
the “fl ti moment” t” off
Impressionist painters.
ƒIn France, Carpeaux combined Realism
with love of ancient
ancient, Renaissance,
Renaissance and
Baroque sculpture.
ƒBased on Dante’s Inferno where Count
Ugolino
g 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.
ƒStudied
Michelangelo’s male
figures and also had
Hellenistic Laocoon
group in mind, early
1st century CE, 7’ 10”
hi h
high.
ƒVivid reality of
anatomy – life studies.
ƒRejected from Ecole des Beaux-Arts, enrolled
in French school of decorative arts, “Petit
Ecole,” lesser version of prestigious school.
ƒAttention for early sculptures, 1880
government commission to design doors for
Museum of Decorative Arts (never built).
ƒDoors were cast in bronze after his death.
ƒRodin did not use photographs, “I have
always endeavored to express the inner
feelings by the mobility of the muscles.
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
ƒPrimarily
would move around for him for preliminary
sculptures in clay. Influence of Impressionism
– concern for effect of light
g on surfaces.

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ƒRodin depicts a headless Walking Man, Auguste Rodin
and armless figure in
midstride – It
demonstrates his mastery
of anatomy and ability to
capture transitory motion.
ƒMastery of realistic detail
in his meticulous rendition
of muscle, bone, and
tendon.
ƒRodin said, “The
sculpture
l t mustt llearn tto
reproduce the surface,
which means all that
vibrates on the surface,
soul,
l llove passion,
i lif
life.””

AUGUSTE
RODIN,
The
Thinker,
ƒ1346, English King Edward III
surrounded French port of
Calais,, cutting
g off essential
supplies. 11 months later, he
demanded surrender of 6 of the
town’s leading men, burghers,
in return for sparing citizens.
citizens
ƒRodin’s sculpture emphasizes
internal struggle of men
walking toward their fate
wearing a sackcloth, rope
halter.
ƒLater spared by intervention of
English queen feared their
deaths would bring bad luck to
her unborn child.
ƒFigures sculpted individually,
individually
each has different emotions,
some fearful, resigned, or
forlorn
ƒMeant to be placed at ground
level so that people could see it
close up
ƒName from a shop in Paris
Considered an important transition between the
ƒConsidered
eclectic historic revival styles of the 19th-century and
Modernism.
ƒArt based on natural forms that could be reproduced
for a large audience.
audience
ƒSinuous 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
h Haeckel
k l
ƒUndulating twisting forms of hand-cut stone
ƒConservative in its use of cut stone, modern in its
design
ƒModern apartment building for its time: garage for
carriages below, elevators to take people up to their Cue Card
apartments
ƒAntonio Gaudi, trained as an ironworker, inspired by Moorish and simple architecture
from his native Catalonia.
ƒConceived of buildings as a whole, like sculptures; invented new structural
techniques.
ƒCasa Mila features: lacy iron railings, dormer windows on undulating roof, fantastic
writhing chimneys, surface like worn rock, entrance like sea cave.
ƒ1879 discovery of Paleolithic cave paintings at Altamira.
ƒRealist impulse – architectural designs that honestly
expressed a building’s purpose, rather than elaborately
disguise its function.
ƒEiffel tower responded to this idea and contributed to
development of 20th century skyscraper.
ƒEiffel designed exhibition halls, bridges, and interior
armature of Statue of Liberty, France’s anniversary gift
t U
to U.S.
S
ƒDesigned for an exhibition in 1889 as a symbol of
modern Paris; still considered a symbol of 19th century
civilization.
ƒTallest structure in the world at time of construction.
ƒ4 giant supports, connected by arching open framed
skirts, mask heavy horizontal girders strengthen the
legs.
legs
ƒTransparency of structure blurs distinction between
interior and exterior never before achieved or
attempted.
ƒInterpenetration of inner and outer space – hallmark
of 20th-centryuy art and architecture.
ƒInnovative elevator swings diagonally up ramplike
sides of tower
ƒAssembled from a limited number of shapes,
symbolizing the interlocking members of a democratic
society – Triumph of wrought-iron design Cue Card
ƒGreater speed and economy in building
(especially commercial), reduction in fire
hazards, use of cast and wrought iron.
ƒDisastrous fires in 1870s proved cast
iron by itself was not resistant to fire.
ƒStarted encasing metal (for strength) in
masonry (for fire resistance).
ƒIn cities increase property values forced
architects to build upwards.
upwards
ƒ1st elevators used in Equitable Building
in New York in 1868 – 1871.
ƒHENRY HOBSON RICHARDSON one of
1st to design modern commercial
structures. Marshall Field store occupied
entire city block.
ƒRespect for Romanesque architecture
of Auvergne area in France – heavy
round arches, massive masonry walls.
ƒTripartite elevation of a Renaissance palace
palace. No classical ornamentation,
ornamentation
massive courses of masonry, strong horizontals of window sills.
ƒGlazed arcades opened up walls, led to modern total penetration of walls.
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ƒ1st truly modern

architect; synthesized
industrial structure
and ornamentation.

ƒExpressed 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.
ƒSullivan’s dictum, “form follows function,” became slogan of early 20th century
architects. Exterior and interior – free and flexible relationship,
p, as his pupil
p p Frank
Lloyd Wright described, similar to bones and hands.
ƒ Carson, Pirie, Scott Building – minimal structural steel skeleton for broad open
display spaces.
ƒLower 2 levels – elaborate ornamental cast iron frame display windows.
windows
ƒHorizontal emphasis symbolizes continuous flow of floor space
ƒCast iron decorative elements transformed the store into a beautiful place to buy
beautiful things.