Monet to Matisse River Lobby Timeline Texts

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1 Monet to Matisse River Lobby Timeline Texts Intro Panel: Between 1789 and 1950, Europe s basic idea of government changed from one where a monarch and aristocrats ruled huge territories to one that insisted on majority representation, regardless of a citizen s wealth or position. The transition was not easy: even after the French Revolution, the continent was shaken by revolutions, uprisings, and wars throughout the 1800s and 1900s. Changes in industry, religion, and science drove these revolutions. They also transformed the art world. Artists no longer worked primarily for either government or religious leaders, but for museum goers and private collectors. Subject matter also changed many artists stopped depicting kings or great moments in history. Instead, they represented modern people and places. They also painted and sculpted in new ways. No longer concerned with creating accurate depictions of reality, artists invented new ways to depict life around them. Old rules suddenly seemed made to be broken. The modern world had created modern art. Art Events: 1793 Louvre Palace Opened as Museum During the French Revolution, the Louvre palace changed from a royal residence into a public museum. Likewise, the royal art collection became national property. Throughout the 19th century, artists from France, Europe, and America flocked to the museum to study and draw the Louvre s famous paintings and sculptures Invention of Photography In 1839, Jacques Daguerre invented the daguerreotype photographic process, in which he permanently fixed a reflected image onto a metal plate. The invention of the daguerreotype not only led to the new art of photography but also changed drawing, painting, and sculpture. For centuries, artists had aimed to make the most realistic representations of humans and objects as possible. Now that photographs could do this perfectly, many artists felt free to explore other possibilities Académie Julian Founded

2 The Académie Julian a private Parisian art school was founded in 1868 to compete with the government-sponsored school, the École des Beaux-Arts. At both the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts, students spent years learning to draw before learning to paint or sculpt. The Académie Julian was particularly popular with foreigners studying art in Paris, including Americans. Dozens of 19th- and 20th-century American artists studied there Manet s Olympia Exhibited at Paris Salon Édouard Manet s Olympia is widely considered to be the first modern work of art. The painting which created widespread controversy when it was displayed at Paris annual art exhibition featured a reclining nude woman. Unlike traditional paintings of female nudes, however, Manet s painting showed a contemporary Parisian prostitute rather than a goddess from Greek mythology. Manet s depiction of Paris seedy underbelly revolutionized the art world. Olympia inspired other artists to reject traditional subject matter and paint contemporary life First Impressionist Exhibition In 1874, a group of young artists rejected from Paris official art show held their own exhibition. The artists included Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro. Although each artist had his own distinctive style, they also shared important similarities: each painted scenes of modern French life in bright colors with short, broken brushstrokes. Their subject matter and styles prompted strong reactions some viewers loved their paintings, while others found them jarring and offensive. One art critic called the group impressionists after the title of Claude Monet s painting Impression, Sunrise. The term stuck Monet Moves to Giverny In 1883, Claude Monet moved to Giverny, a picturesque farming village in northern France. (Monet painted many of his most important works including dozens of images of his garden and waterlily pond in Giverny.) Attracted by Monet s legendary status, other artists followed. Giverny was particularly popular among Americans. American painters Theodore Robinson, Theodore Earl Butler, and Frederick Carl Frieseke all lived and worked in the village First Exhibition of the Salon d Automne (The Autumn Show) Like the impressionist exhibitions, the Salon d Automne was founded in response to the conventional and restrictive exhibition practices of the official Salon Paris annual government-sponsored art show. The first Salon d Automne showed works by artists including Matisse and Bonnard. In the following years,

3 the exhibition grew in size and popularity, and introduced several key art movements to the public. The Salon exhibited the fauves artists such as Matisse and Derain known for their bold use of color in In 1910, the Salon held the first public exhibition of cubist art Picasso Paints Les Demoiselles d Avignon Picasso s radical painting Les Demoiselles d Avignon features many key characteristics of cubism and other modern art movements. In Les Demoiselles d Avignon, five women stare out of the canvas at the viewer. However, their bodies are not painted realistically. Instead, Picasso turns them into flat shapes that look almost like blocks or cubes. In the following decades, artists would embrace abstraction painting or sculpting works that were not meant to accurately depict the way a person or place looked in reality The Armory Show The Armory Show a modern art survey exhibition opened in New York City in 1913 and introduced many Americans to European modern art for the first time. The exhibition shocked visitors many works on display featured bold and abstract uses of color and shape. For many, American modern art seemed tame in comparison Museum of Modern Art Founded America s first museum dedicated to modern art opened in New York City in In the museum s first year, curator Alfred H. Barr organized an exhibition called Painting in Paris, which included the work of Matisse, Picasso, and other groundbreaking French artists. Later, Barr famously wrote that modern artists had grown bored with painting facts. By a common and powerful impulse they were driven to abandon the imitation of natural appearance. France/World Events: 1789 French Revolution A 10-year war that lasted from 1789 to 1799, the French Revolution overthrew France s royal family and established a republic. Its central idea was that the regular people of France, not aristocrats, were the center of the nation and deserved fair representation and taxation. While certainly not Europe s first popular uprising, it was ultimately the most successful: the 1789 Revolution initiated the decline of monarchies around the world Declaration of the Rights of Woman

4 Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman in response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed by the French Revolution. De Gouges Declaration argued that in a free and equal society, women should have the right to vote, hold office, and own property. For this and other activist writings, de Gouges was executed by the French Revolutionary Government. French women would not win the right to vote until Napoleon Bonaparte Becomes Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte began his political career as an ambitious young soldier from Corsica, a French territory in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite his humble beginnings, he rose quickly through the ranks of the revolutionary army with a combination of military genius and political shrewdness. By 1800, France was under his sole control. In 1804, Napoleon named himself emperor. As emperor, he conquered territory from Spain to Poland. A contradictory figure, Napoleon was both a military dictator and a reformer who enacted certain revolutionary ideals French Monarchy Reinstated After Napoleon s defeat in 1814, European leaders passed laws attempting to undo the effects of the French Revolution and Napoleon s conquest of Europe. They removed Napoleon s family and friends from power. They also reinstated repressive governmental systems that limited freedoms of the press and assembly while strengthening police powers. In France, the dead king s brother was placed on the throne July Revolution in France The July Revolution removed Charles X brother of Louis XVI, the king executed by revolutionaries in 1793 in favor of his cousin, Louis-Philippe. Although Louis- Philippe was chosen for his centrist positions, he was ultimately not the people s king the middle class had hoped for. (The Paris Uprising of 1832 in which Parisians protested Louis-Philippe s government forms the basis of Victor Hugo s famous 1862 novel Les Misérables.) 1848 The Springtime of Nations and The Communist Manifesto During the Springtime of Nations, revolution swept across Europe as the middle class fought for tax relief and voting rights. Most of these uprisings were immediately defeated, but their number and scope threatened the political status quo. These revolutions prompted philosopher Karl Marx to publish his first major work, The Communist Manifesto. The Communist Manifesto claimed that

5 human life in every time and place was characterized by class struggle, with the haves oppressing the have nots Revolution in France In the course of the tumultuous summer of 1848, unpopular King Louis-Philippe was forced out. For the first time, France chose its next leader through popular election. The people elected Napoleon s nephew, Louis Napoleon, as president Napoleon III Establishes New French Empire Refusing to comply with the mandatory term limit that would have expelled him from government, Louis Napoleon staged a government take-over in order to retain the presidency. Soon, however, Louis Napoleon decided the presidency was not enough. In 1852, he claimed his uncle s old title of Emperor. Calling himself Napoleon III, he inaugurated the French Second Empire Renovation of Paris Begins Spearheaded by Emperor Napoleon III and implemented by Baron Georges- Eugene Haussmann, a vast public works program remodeled Paris. The demolition of medieval neighborhoods called overcrowded, unhealthy, and full of crime made way for wide avenues, parks, bridges, and city buildings. Haussmannisation gave Paris its distinctive appearance of broad streets lined by tall trees and limestone apartment buildings. However, the renovation was controversial. Many claimed that it unfairly displaced the poor Paris World s Fair Much like a state fair, but on an international scale, the 1855 Universal Exposition was the first international exhibition held in Paris. The event aimed to surpass London s Great Exhibition of 1851 and boost the prestige of France under Napoleon III Darwin Publishes On the Origin of Species Darwin s pioneering work on evolutionary biology introduced the idea of natural selection that inherited traits change in plants and animals over time in order to ensure the survival of a species. Darwin s work challenged traditional religious, scientific, and philosophical ideas United States Civil War The American Civil War broke out as a result of the long-standing controversy over slavery. Shortly after the inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln, seven states in the American south withdrew from the United States and formed their

6 own government. The new Confederate States of America declared their right to maintain and expand slavery. Four years of fighting resulted in the death of nearly 750,000 people. The Confederacy ultimately collapsed, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, and nearly four million people were freed Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon III Exiled, French Third Republic Begins Worried that Germany wanted to expand its territory, Napoleon III declared war on the North German Confederation and the Kingdom of Prussia. After the crushing defeat by the Prussian army and the collapse of the Second French Empire, the remaining National Assembly leaders announced the formation of the Third French Republic. The Third French Republic would last until WWII Eiffel Tower and 1889 Paris World s Fair Held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution, the 1889 Universal Exposition brought 32 million people to Paris. The main symbol exposition was the Eiffel Tower, which stood at the entrance to the fairgrounds First Model T Sold The first affordable car, the Model T opened travel to middle-class Americans World War I In 1914, a diplomatic crisis in southeastern Europe where a terrorist group killed the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne touched off tensions that had been brewing in Europe for 50 years. The conflict continued for four years of unprecedented bloodshed. Both sides had access to machine guns and other inventions of modern warfare, but military strategy had not fully considered their effects. The new weaponry quickly produced a stalemate, and both sides dug into muddy, unstable trenches. On the Western front, death tolls were high. Conservative estimates of French deaths suggest that more than 1/3 of the male workforce died during the war. The senseless deadlock of trench warfare seemed pointless and absurd. Many of the soldiers returning home found their faith shaken in the stable order of government, religion, and family Charles Lindbergh Makes First Nonstop Transatlantic Flight An American pilot, Lindbergh became an international celebrity after completing his nonstop transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis. Flying from New York to Paris, he covered 3,600 miles in about 33 1/2 hours Great Depression Begins with Stock Market Crash

7 On October 29, 1929 the American stock market crashed. Because U.S. money financed recovery in post-wwi Europe, the crisis quickly spun into a worldwide disaster. The costs were more than economic: Europe was full of new democracies created in the aftermath of WWI. However, the human suffering caused by the Great Depression called into question the ability of these new democracies to handle crisis. Although many economies had begun to recover by the early 1930s, the Great Depression encouraged many Europeans to consider radical political ideas Adolf Hitler Elected Chancellor of Germany In 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany a position roughly equivalent to America s president. In the aftermath of the Great Depression, German support for its democratic government was weak. Germans, like others throughout Europe in the 20s and 30s, increasingly believed that democratic governments were not strong enough to solve contemporary problems. In this environment, the German right wing grew. As the German government struggled to form coalitions, a group of right-wing politicians not Nazis themselves appointed Hitler chancellor. They hoped that he would provide a popular face for their policies, which were more moderate than Hitler s own. However, Hitler and the Nazi party quickly proved to be uncontrollable. Within a year, Hitler had established emergency powers for himself, taken over the German government, and outlawed opposition parties. His political adversaries were the first occupants of his concentration camps, which were later filled with Jews. Five years after his appointment, Europe was again at war World War II After Hitler became German chancellor in 1933, Germany immediately began violating treaties the country had signed after WWI. At first, however, Europe did not worry too much about these violations. Many diplomats and leaders agreed that America, Great Britain, and France had been unfairly harsh on Germany after the end of WWI. By 1938, however, the situation had changed. Under Hitler, Germany expanded its military, forcibly united with Austria, and took over a large portion of Czechoslovakia. When Hitler conquered Poland, France and Britain finally declared war. Although some reports mentioned the treatment of the Jews, they were not taken seriously until Allied armies began to advance into Poland and find the concentration camps. At the end of the war, Americans and Europeans looked back in shock. The horror of the Holocaust and fear of nuclear power persuaded leaders that WWII was the worst conflict humans had ever seen, with civilization itself at risk. New steps were taken to create a stable, democratic Europe.

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