History of art

GREEK ART

Known as the ancestors of Western civilization (Greeks)

Thought of the world in dualistic terms: fate vs. free will, order vs. chaos, reason vs. irrationality.

Geometric-Style Pottery

The Dipylon vase was used as funerary markers over burials.

“Kore and Kouros” (stone)

Vase Paintings (used in symposia)

“Women at a Fountain”

“Dancing Revelers”

The Classical Age

The Greeks were attacked by the Persians (Darius and Xerxes).

Extends from the end of Persian wars to the death of Alexander the Great.

Characterized by visual harmony and heightened naturalism in human form.

“Kritios Boy”

Calculated assymetry, standing at ease

Polished marble, sensuousness, indirect gaze

Representation of movement (hallmark)

“Zeus” (bronze)

“Discus Thrower” - Myron

“Spear Bearer” - Polykleitos

Harmony and beauty based on proportion

Contemplation of harmonious proportions is a contemplation of virtue.

“Aphrodite” - Praxiteles

Viewer's role changed, became more complex and invited physical and emotional engagement instead of merely respect.

Portraiture emerged/ individual likeness.

The Hellenistic Period extended from the death of Alexander the Great until Roman rule.

ROMAN ART

Drew heavily on Greek art. Featured “syncreticism”, an art that brings

together diverse elements to produce something new with a powerful message-bearing potential.

Greek sculptures became symbols of wealth and status.

Gave rise to “historical relief”, which represented actual events.

“Brutus”

Portrait sculptures were in the veristic style.

Made of stone and represented men at an advanced age with the distinguishing marks played up.

“Funerary Relief of the Gesii”

Tombs were the focus of funerary rituals.

Stages for displaying feats to elevate family status.

Painted portraits were attached the faces of embalmed mummies.

Wooden panels done in the encaustic technique.

“Augustus of Primaporta”

Octavian became the first Roman emperor.

Wall Paintings

Paint and stucco were used to imitate expensive colored marble paneling.

This technique is called “incrustation”.

Architectural technique was used to suggest another world beyond the room.

Relief sculpture was found in marble sarcophagi.

Biographical scenes and Greek mythology were popular subjects.

“Horror Vacuii”

RENAISSANCE

Interested in reviving the classical approach to art.

New emphasis on glorifying the human figure. Artists were considered celebrities and

geniuses, even divine.

“David” - Donatello

“Portrait of Ginevra de Benci” - Leonard da Vinci

“Embryo in a Womb” and “Vitruvian Man”

“David” by Michelangelo

“Awakening Prisoner”

BAROQUE

A style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance and grandeur.

Dynamic movement and energy in human forms. Came from the word “barroco” which means contorted

or grotesque. Dramatic lighting and sweeping emotions.

“Self-Portrait” and “Medusa” - Caravaggio

“The Rape of Proserpina” - Bernini

“Santa Cecilia” - Stefano Maderno

“David” - Bernini

ROCOCO

Preference for gayer, lighter and more decorative effects in sculpture and arts.

Statues were created as pleasant ornaments.

Diversion from real life.

NEOCLASSICISM

Deliberate return to classical subject matter and style.

Focused on progress and improvement of life through science and knowledge.

Desire to control nature through science. Rational and emotional survived side by

side in art. Aggressively rejected Rococo art.

“Andromache Bewailing the Death of Hector”- Gavin Hamilton

ROMANTICISM

- The enlightenment seems to have failed.

- Marked by social turmoil and poverty.

- “Cult of the Invidual” (in art)

- Not really a style but an attitude to follow one's genius.

“The Family of Charles IV” - Francisco Goya

“The Black Paintings” - Goya

“The Third of May 1808”

Realism and Impressionism

Realism depicted contemporary or modern life which was unembellished and unidealized.

Subjet matter included peasant life and urban poor.

Impressionism was characterized by bold brushstrokes and strong colors. The sketchiness of the works reflects the impermanence of a changing contemporary world.

“Burial at Ornans” - Gustave Courbet

“The Stone Breakers” - Gustave Courbet

Courbet wanted to create an art of the people, not the academy. For Courbet, contemporary social conditions were valid subjects for painting.

“Luncheon on the Grass” - Edouard Manet

“Olympia” - Edouard Manet

“Impression, Sunrise” - Claude Monet

Impressionism has a sketchy unfinished look to express the feeling of the moment.

“A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” - Edouard Manet

SYMBOLISM AND ART NOVEAU

- Coincides with the rise of psychology, which influenced key artists.

- Decadenced and focused on personal aesthetic.

“The Potato Eaters” - Vincent Van Gogh

“Starry Night” - Vincent Van Gogh

“The Thinker” - Auguste Rodin

“The Walking Man” - Auguste Rodin

“Burghers of Calais” - Auguste Rodin

ABSTRACT/MODERNIST

Fauvism was the first major style of the 20th century. Described as an “orgy of pure colors/wild beasts”.

“Woman With a Hat” - Henri Matisse

Cubism presented a new of thinking about the purpose of art and the language of painting. It aimed to present a new way of seeing.

“The Weeping Woman” - Pablo Picasso

“The Young Ladies of Avignon” - Pablo Picasso

What is art and how does art function?

– Marcel Duchamp

“Nude Descending a Staircase” - Marcel Duchamp

“Bicycle Wheel” - Marcel Duchamp

“The Newborn” and “Bird in Space” - Constantin Brancusi

The Fountain by Marcel Duchamp

Dadaism

“Logic and reason only led to war”.

The movement was committed to challenging the status quo in politics as well in culture.

Surrealism

Surrealism seeked to “express the true functioning of thought in the absence of control exerted by reason.”

“Dreams are road to the unconscious.” (Sigmund Freud)

“The Lovers” - Rene Magritte

“The Persistence of Memory” - Salvador Dali

By Claes Oldenburg

“Untitled” - Kiki Smith

Source:

Janson, H W, Penelope J. E. Davies, and H W. Janson. Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.