History of Art Final Paper I think the most important part of art Is understanding how styles developed over the years and what Influenced those developments. Some art movements develop based on political context, while others are created as a contrast to the current popular art movement. From a historical standpoint, I feel that portraiture is the best way to capture the essence of everything throughout the past. If I were an art director, I would choose to a portraiture display to show the progression of styles through time.
Since my exhibition has to do with historical context, I would arrange my pieces In very strict chronological order. The dates of the paintings themselves would not have to be in chronological order, but the order in which the different art styles came about would have to be followed exactly. My exhibit would start off with The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo dad Vinci. This was painted c. 1503-1519 during the High Renaissance in Italy. It is considered to be one of the most popular and well-recognized examples of portraiture In the world, so It would only seem logical to Include it in the exalt.
The High Renaissances mall focus was returning to classical antiquity, such as the beauty of the art from ancient mimes and a rebirth of the classical culture. This spawning of new intellectual ideas came after the Middle Ages in Europe, which were generally considered a very dark time. The Renaissance evoked in people nostalgia for the culture of the classical ages. A focus of the Renaissance was the growing interest in humanism, as opposed to strictly religious works.
The Mona Lisa is a perfect example of the encompassed of all of those Ideals, as It reflects the beauty of a normal woman, as opposed to that of a religious figure. It also embodies the new Renaissance art discoveries, such as respective and overall composition of the artwork. Mannerism came after the Renaissance. Because the Renaissance was considered the peak of artistic perfection, artists almost believed that they could never reach the same heights as that, so the mannerist style was born. Moreover, the loss of dad Vinci and Raphael Influenced the downfall of Renaissance work into mannerist styles.
Historically, the Holy Roman Empire was starting to take form as well, and the Holy Roman Emperor had little interest in sponsoring artists too. The main point of mannerism was a sense of artifice instead of realism and nature. Its style contrasted the graceful style of the Renaissance, and instead focused on emotion and stretched proportions in order to see how far they could go and still make their paintings “work”. The Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo and Her Son, painted in 1545 by Canola Bronzing Is a prime example of mannerist Ideals.
The torso and arms In the work have been slightly elongated, as per mannerist styles. The Baroque movement came as a result of both the Renaissance techniques and mannerism techniques. As the Renaissance gained popularity, artists from all over Europe came to study the techniques of the Renaissance. Baroque was considered the most ornate art movement. Diego Velazquez was a very important part of the Baroque movement. His most famous portrait painting was Lass Meanings, painted in You can see multiple figures in the portrait, including Velazquez himself which technically makes it a self-portrait as well.
The Infant Margarita is the central figure in the portrait, though. This work uses a many clever ways of including figures in the portrait, including using a mirror to reflect faces. Rococo spawned as a response to Baroque styles. While Baroque was heavy and ornate, Rococo was the opposite and soused on bright colors, details, and ornamentation. The movement began partially over an argument over the importance of color versus the importance of drawing and the artwork itself. It focused on pastel colors, curves, and ornamental designs.
François Boucher encompasses Rococo ideals in his art, and often did portraits of his patroness Madame De Pompadour. In Portrait of Madame De Pompadour, c. 1721-1764, reflected rococo ideas. The furniture in the portrait is very ornate in the rococo style, her dress is very lacy and flowery, and the detail of the fugue and the lush on her cheeks is very dainty and almost fantasy-like. Neoclassicism came about as a response to the short-lived Rococo movement. It rejected the frivolity of Rococo instead choosing art that recaptured Greece-Roman grace and grandeur.
It coincided with the Age of Enlightenment during the 18th century. Majority of the subject matter of neoclassical paintings were of classical subjects or stories. Jacques Louis Davit’s Portrait of Madame Racier in 1800 exemplified neoclassical ideals. She was positioned in pose common in ancient times, the room was bare, and she is wearing a light, flowing dress, all of which are important aspects of neoclassicism. Romanticism focused on emotions and the evocation of emotions from the artwork. It was influenced by Neoclassicism as well as a reaction to that movement.
While it appreciated the rational and almost mathematical elements of Classical and Neoclassical art, it found it too restricting. Joseph Turner was a member of the Romanticism movement who was known as “the painter of light”. His Self Portrait, painted in 1799, is a good example of Romanticism ideals. He kept in suit with Romanticism, which kept the same respect to perspective and proportion as Neoclassicism. The portrait respects that, but is also more interested in evoking emotion from the viewer than strictly following rules of the style.
Impressionism’s main goal was to capture light on surfaces, and capture the fleeting effects of the natural lighting. It reflected a modern world, with a fast paced environment. The style used short brushstrokes and appeared to be painted quickly. The colors weren’t blended, but instead let the eye blend them itself. During this time, the Academic valued historical works, religious works, and portraits, while Netscape and still life were looked down upon. Impressionism partially spawned as a response to the Academia’s rules.
Pierre-Augusta Rennin’s Girl with a Hoop, painted in 1885 is a good example of Impressionist style painting. Classically, portraits were painted indoors in the studio, but Impressionists preferred the sunlight outdoors. This is obviously an outdoor scene, possibly in a garden. It is of the Impressionist style, with colors that aren’t entirely blended together, but instead almost blotchy looking. It was a modern painting of everyday life. Just from the name, you can tell that Post-Impressionism was influenced by the Impressionist movement.
In general, this movement had no defining characteristics, them. It continued off where Impressionism couldn’t, surpassing those limitations. It used vivid color, distinct strokes, and arbitrary colors. Henry De Toulouse-Latter’s Portrait of Emilee Bernard in 1886 would be my choice for the exhibition. Fauvism was influenced directly by the Post-Impressionism movement. Many Fauvist painters directly knew Post-Impressionist painters, and therefore took many of the qualities of Post-Impressionism. The key characteristics of Fauvism are color, simple forms, strong expression, and ordinary subjects.
The number one attribute of Fauvist art was color, so much so where it defined the entire painting. Colors were rarely realistic and objects were rarely painted in their proper color. Henry Matisse Nas a Fauvist leader and therefore I would include his portrait The Green Line painted in 1905. The portrait of his wife is a prime example of Fauvism, especially in the unnatural colors of the face and background. Surrealism was influenced greatly by psychoanalyst Freud, and therefore focused n painting ridiculous subjects, mainly those of dreams and the unconscious mind. Cause of this, it was willing to depict scenes that pushed social boundaries, such as sexuality, death, decay, and violence, which also were some of humanity most basic drives. Paintings in this genre were abstracted, mixing real objects with abstract shapes. A good example of this is Salvador Dalais Soft Self-portrait with Fried Bacon, painted in 1941. This is a very good example of surrealism because it pushed the boundaries of what a self-portrait was traditionally supposed to be. The portrait (as Nell as the title) was ambiguous and a bit odd, which were also goals of the surrealism movement.
Art movements are very intertwined and the progression of art and styles come about because people are unsatisfied with the current art movements, and strive for innovation and strive to do something new. Styles can either choose to build upon the techniques of the previous movements, such as Neoclassicism and Romanticism, or they can completely reject the previous style and create something new, like the opposing Baroque and Rococo styles. My exhibition would strive to make that injection between different styles clear.
I think it is very important to understand the historical context going on at the time that influenced the current style because the progression of art styles through time are very intertwined and dependent upon one another. Without an understanding of the styles and how they related to one another, it would be impossible to appreciate or even fully understand the context of the pieces of the time. This is why I would organize my pieces this way. I chose portraiture because it seems to be a uniform and common subject across al artistic movements.