From Architectural Revivals to Architectural Modernism

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "From Architectural Revivals to Architectural Modernism"

Elijah O’Neal’
6 years ago
Views:

From Architectural Revivals to Architectural Modernism Charles Barry and A.W.N.

spiritual values, values of handcraft, and a seeming rejection of the age of industry and the machine. All the same, how could a building of this scale have been made without industry and machines?

But this was a period of colonialization and imperialistic trends, and a taste for the exotic east was popular in countries that were building colonies in the east.

1 From Architectural Revivals to Architectural Modernism Charles Barry and A.W.N. Pugin, Houses of Parliament, , London, England The British Houses of Parliament are an example of the revival of the English gothic style, popular at this time for its association with spiritual values, values of handcraft, and a seeming rejection of the age of industry and the machine. All the same, how could a building of this scale have been made without industry and machines? Clearly, Nash did not revive anything British. But this was a period of colonialization and imperialistic trends, and a taste for the exotic east was popular in countries that were building colonies in the east. Making buildings look Indian in England was probably benign; making India look like Britain may have been less benign. John Nash: Royal Pavilion, Brighton, An opera house should be theatrical and baroque, as this one was. Garnier applied true principles of classical beaux-arts design to this building. But what can't be seen is that the architecture is masking new cast-iron construction -- new principles and materials of construction but "oldfashioned" clothing. Charles Garnier, Paris Opera House, ImagePage 1 of 5

Henri Labrouste: Bibliotheque (Library) Sainte-Genevieve, Paris, 1843-50 Unlike Garnier, Labrouste did not hide the new

that new developments are more acceptable when they conform in some respect to the familiar past.

Architecturally, it was an early example of a glass and cast-iron structure designed by a gardener (who had designed

2 Henri Labrouste: Bibliotheque (Library) Sainte-Genevieve, Paris, Unlike Garnier, Labrouste did not hide the new structural materials, and in his daring decision to reveal the iron and glass structure, he was considerably more modern than Garnier. The exterior, in contrast, was an example of Renaissance revival not because he was timid but because he probably realized that new developments are more acceptable when they conform in some respect to the familiar past. Joseph Paxton: Crystal Palace, London, Crystal Palace marked the beginning of industrial expositions. Architecturally, it was an early example of a glass and cast-iron structure designed by a gardener (who had designed hothouses). It was made from prefabricated parts that were shipped to the site and then assembled in place and it was so large that entire trees remained on the inside. After the expo ended, it was reassembled on another site where it burned in a fire in ImagePage 2 of 5

Test yourself: Which are true for Realism? for Romanticism? 1. History as something exotic; an alien memory 2. History as the actions of ordinary individuals in everyday life 3.

Viewers reject the subject matter PART II: PHOTOGRAPHY The interest in a mechanical means of reproduction came long before the invention of photography.

3 Test yourself: Which are true for Realism? for Romanticism? 1. History as something exotic; an alien memory 2. History as the actions of ordinary individuals in everyday life 3. Rejection of allegory 4. Centralization of the sublime 5. Viewers reject the subject matter PART II: PHOTOGRAPHY The interest in a mechanical means of reproduction came long before the invention of photography. Artists themselves wanted to be able to draw without actually being able to draw, and even those who could draw well wanted to be able to improve their work with an optical tool that would let them see better. But this reason alone would not have led to the invention of the camera. The early 19th century development of photography should be seen as a response to the beginning of modern times: industrialization, new ideas about nature and man, the invention of electric lights, the goal of being of one s time all of these factors come together. It is true that there were individuals who were more intereted in the chemical processes of producing a picture through the effect of light alone, but the desire to invent a camera comes later, rather than sooner. Optics and the Reproduction of Images 1. camera obscura 2. camera lucida Other factors leading to photography: the growing middle class consumer of art wanted portraits and wanted them to be affordable; there was an increased demand for naturalism in art; a desire to eliminate human error in the process of reproduction the camera obscura somewhat more portable ImagePage 3 of 5

the camera lucida, then and "now" as David Hockney demonstrates its use a daguerreotype of Louis Jacques

sheet of copper it is placed in iodine particles this produces silver iodide which is light-sensitive the

plate is then placed in a box containing heated mercury then it is bathed in a salt solution and the

Studio 1837, Daguerreotype, 16.5x21.6cm. warning: this is very dangerous!

multiples) time-consuming and demanding: absolute immobility required for a long period of time very

4 the camera lucida, then and "now" as David Hockney demonstrates its use a daguerreotype of Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre (made by Jean Baptiste Sabatier-Blot), 1844 the daguerreotype: uses a polished silver-plated sheet of copper it is placed in iodine particles this produces silver iodide which is light-sensitive the copper sheet can be exposed to light in the camera intense light reduces the silver iodide to silver the plate is then placed in a box containing heated mercury then it is bathed in a salt solution and the unexposed areas of silver iodide become somewhat resistant to light Daguerre: Still Life in the Artist's Studio 1837, Daguerreotype, 16.5x21.6cm. warning: this is very dangerous!!! the daguerreotype is: a positive image and one-of-a-kind (there are no negatives; it cannot produce multiples) time-consuming and demanding: absolute immobility required for a long period of time very detailed small, with reflective metallic surface: unity of reflection and materiality William Talbot Fox: Courtyard Scene c.1844, a calotype print, 5 7/8x7 3/4" ImagePage 4 of 5

Unlike the daguerreotype, the calotype used a negative/positive process which used paper, making it more adaptable and influential.

artistic liberty with decisions about tonality, texture of the paper, and later application of color - this made it more promising for the person who was interested in photography as a creative

The next stage was the development of a calotype that used a process that involved coating paper with albumen and another emulsion, producing a glossy print rather than a grainy calotype.

5 Unlike the daguerreotype, the calotype used a negative/positive process which used paper, making it more adaptable and influential. it took longer to make than the daguerreotype the paper which the image was made on might coarsen the image because it involved making a print from a negative, it allowed the calotypist to exercise artistic liberty with decisions about tonality, texture of the paper, and later application of color - this made it more promising for the person who was interested in photography as a creative endeavor but at the same time, it made the calotype less popular than the daguerreotype. Truth, not art, was the goal of early photographers. The next stage was the development of a calotype that used a process that involved coating paper with albumen and another emulsion, producing a glossy print rather than a grainy calotype. The use of collodion or the wet plate process was the next step; albumen prints became the most commonly practiced form of photography from the middle of the 19th century until the end, and it was especially popular with people who were amateurs, rather than people who used photography as a means of earning a living. Julia Margaret Cameron was one of these amateurs. Ophelia Study No. 2 Julia Margaret Cameron 1867 albumen print (1'1" x 11") Cameron took up photography at the age of her daughter-in-law gave her a camera as a gift; from a hobby, it became a passionate pursuit. She wrote in her memoirs, that I longed to arrest all beauty that came before me, and at length the longing has been satisfied. Its difficulty enhanced the value of the pursuit. In her book, she goes on to describe all her mistakes, how she learned from them, how she eventually turned her coal-house into a dark room and her glazed fowl-house into her glass house. Eventually she began photographing her friends, who included poets, painters, and lovely maidens -- the latter were often friends and relatives who dressed up for the photographs as women from legends and historical romances. The painting in the previous slide, Beata Beatrix, was by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a pre-raphaelite artist. (The painting is an allusion to the original Dante's Beatrice.) Cameron's photographs appear to have a lot in common with the goals of the pre-raphaelites, with whom she was friendly. The Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood was a group of artists who wanted to return art to the purity of the early Renaissance, the years before Raphael. They usually chose religious subject matter as an anti- Victorian, anti-materialist statement rather than as a pious one. As a result, their work might be mystical, but not religious. They shared in the British reclamation of medieval and mythological imagery and meaning. They anticipate the symbolist movement and its search for an art which will resonate with mystical spiritual systems. Also like many of the symbolists, they use naturalistic detail although their paintings are not realist. ImagePage 5 of 5

Chapter 9-2: The Invention of Photography

Chapter 9-2: The Invention of Photography Ancient times: Camera Obscura used to form images on walls in darkened rooms; image formation via a pinhole The Inventors of Photography The Camera Obscura: (Latin: