LATE 19TH CENTURY: MODERNITY

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Malcolm Skinner
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1 LATE 19TH CENTURY: MODERNITY This section concentrates on the second half of the nineteenth century in Europe and America. In the third quarter of the nineteenth century, the so-called Second Industrial Revolution in the fields of steel, electricity, chemicals, and oil, provided the foundation for developments in plastics, machinery, building construction, and automobile manufacturing and paved the way for the invention of the radio, electric light, telephone, and electric streetcar. Industrialization and the migration of rural dwellers to urban centers led to growth in the number and size of cities. Late 19th Century American and European Architecture and Sculpture he Industrial Age: Mid 19th century Europe and America Architecture witnessed a series of revival styles, including classical, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque. In the mid- 19th century, advances in technology, such as the steel frame, ferroconcrete construction, and cantilevering, hastened the development of building construction. Skyscrapers proliferated and led to an international style of architecture that was later challenged by postmodernism. Classical/Palladian Revival Jefferson, Monticello, Virginia US Capitol, Washington, DC Gothic Revival Trinity Church, New York City Palace of Westminster, London Auguste Rodin, T Late 19th Century European Sculpture Many of Rodin's most notable sculptures were roundly criticized during his lifetime. They clashed with the predominant figure sculpture tradition, in which works were decorative, formulaic, or highly thematic. Rodin's most original work departed from traditional themes of mythology and allegory, modeled the human body with realism, and celebrated individual character and physicality.

2 Photography Early Photography Most people embraced this new technology with great enthusiasm. A few religious zealots, however, claimed that it was the work of the devil. Many artists who had trained for years in the techniques of portrait painting were also to find it a threat to their livelihood. Some painters dubbed the new invention "the foe- to- graphic art. A number of artists turned to photography for their livelihood, while others cashed in on the fact that the images were in monochrome, and began coloring them in. Some painters also used photography to assist them in painting (some of these artists were Gauguin, Cezanne, Courbet, Lautrec, Delacroix and Degas). Photography would eventually change the purpose of painting from one which focused on outward facts of reality to more emphasis on personal vision. Types of Early Photography Travel Photography Portrait Photography War Photography Documentary Photography Motion Photography One of the greatest pioneers of motion photography was Edweard Muybridge. Muybridge did an his exhaustive study of movement of both animals and humans. The story goes that an owner of race horses bet a friend that when a horse gallops all four feet are, at one point, off the ground simultaneously. He hired Muybridge to prove the claim was true. Using twenty- four cameras, Muybridge was able to photograph a horse galloping, each triggered off by the breaking of a trip- wire on the course. In the 2nd and 3rd frame of the photograph, you can see that the horse- owner was right. Impressionism, Post Impressionism and Symbolism In the 19 th century, artists were initially bonded by sanctioned academies and pursued inclusion in juried salons for their work to be displayed. Later, when this system broke down, they joined together in self-defined groups, often on the margins of the mainstream art world, and they often published manifestos of their beliefs. Change and innovation dominated this era and became goals in their own right. Women artists slowly gained recognition as many artists competed for admiration of their individuality and genius.

3 Societal changes prompted a greater consciousness of and interest in modernity, which resulted in the development of modernism in art in the second half of the nineteenth century. Modernist artists seek to capture the images and sensibilities of their age while also subjecting the premises of art itself to critical examination. The two major modernist art movements of the later nineteenth century are Realism and Impressionism. Toward the end of the century, modernism led to the development of the avant-garde (artists whose work emphatically rejected the past and transgressed the boundaries of conventional artistic practice). Impressionism: French Art Movement Subjects: Varied widely among artists: Outdoors, Sea Sides, Dancers, Parisian Streets and cafes Purpose: To portray immediate visual sensations of a scene First total artistic revolution since the Renaissance Incorporated new theories of light and color Radically departed from tradition Rejected Renaissance perspective, balanced composition and chiaroscuro Used opposite colors to depict shadows not black Wanted to record scenes of Modern Life Some Impressionist Artists: Edouard Manet- o never called himself an Impressionist, o more of a bridge between old and new o borrowed from the old masters o translated traditional painting into modern terms Claude Monet o studied Constable and Turner o obsessed with painting outside o recorded changes in light o painted the same scenes in all types of weather and seasons August Renoir o celebrator of beauty, especially the female form o more interested in people than landscapes o portray people in happy scenes

4 Edgar Degas o not really a true Impressionist o painted scenes of workers, dancers and horses o admired Delacroix and Ingres o off center compositions/cropping o also was a sculptor Mary Cassatt o American woman artist in a male dominated world o instrumental in bringing Impressionists painting to the US o painted intimate scenes of family life, mothers and children o very influenced by Japanese wood block print Post Impressionism: French Art Movement Subjects: portraits, figures, landscapes, seascapes, still lifes, genre paintings Purpose: to capture artist s conception of reality Built on Impressionist ideas but went beyond them Interested in more than just capturing a moment Moved toward greater abstraction and expression Interested in the artist s vision of the world Can be split into two distinct groups similar to Neoclassical vs. Romantic: Formal more scientific painters Seurat Cezanne Expressive more emotional painters Lautrec Gauguin Van Gogh Some Post Impressionist Artists: Georges Seurat Ultimate example of artist as scientist Very interested in color theory and mixing Pointillism Paul Cezanne Used a very systemic approach Interested in planes of color Precursor to Cubism Worked alone in French countryside near his home Repeatedly painted the same subject

5 Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec Innovative framing, lighting and perspective Keen observer of Parisian nightlife Admired the work of Degas Paul Gauguin Interested in his own conception of reality Interested in primal emotions Pursued a primitive style in painting Lived and worked for many years in Tahiti Very influential to next generation of abstract painters One of the founders of Modern Art Vincent van Gogh Began with social realism switched to sunny landscapes Very interested in Japanese Art Worked with short linear or swirling brushstrokes Alternated between depression and hyperactivity Pioneer of Expressionism Symbolism The forerunner of surrealism it thrived in the late 19th century. By the end of the 19th century, most artists were no longer interested in reproducing nature s sensations in the Impressionist manner. In Symbolism, visual reality was rejected in favor of an exploration of feelings, fantasy, dreams, imagination. Color line and shape were used as symbols of personal emotions or responses to the world. Signs and symbols are used to convey ideas. Key artists: Henri Rousseau Edvard Munch. Related artists: Pierre Bonnard Gustav Klimt. Rousseau : French Painter the Naive or Primitive manner. His best known paintings depict jungle scenes, even though he never left France or saw a jungle. Klimt : Austrian o Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism o Many of his paintings from this period utilized gold leaf

6 Munch: Norwegian painter, printmaker Bonnard : French o Important forerunner of Expressionistic art o While stylistically influenced by the Post Impressionists, Munch's subject matter is o Symbolist in content, depicting a state of mind rather than an external reality. o Munch was interested in portraying not a random slice of reality, but situations o Brimming with emotional content and expressive energy, carefully calculating his compositions to create a tense atmosphere. o His often complex compositions, typically of sunlit interiors of rooms and gardens populated with friends and family members, are both narrative and autobiographical. o His wife Marthe was an ever present subject over the course of several decades.

AP ART HISTORY CHAPTER 31: EUROPE AND AMERICA, Mrs. Dill, La Jolla High School

AP ART HISTORY CHAPTER 31: EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1870-1900 Mrs. Dill, La Jolla High School List three 19th-century phenomena that author believes contriubuted to the greater consciousness of modernity, the