Republic of the Philippines

EASTERN VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

TANAUAN CAMPUS
Tanauan, Leyte
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

NARRATIVE
REPORT
IN
ART
APPRECIATION
TOPICS:
History and Development of Art
(I.) Art History and Development

Prepared by:
Villasante, Jelbert
Solitario, Maria Teresa
BSEd Math-2

1
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF ART

Introduction
The history of art is the history of any activity or product made by humans in a visual
form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a
worldview. Over time visual art has been classified in diverse ways, from the medieval
distinction between liberal arts and mechanical arts, to the modem distinction between fine
arts and applied arts, or to the many contemporary definitions, in which art is seen as a
manifestation of human creativity. The subsequent expansion of the list of principal arts in
the 20th century reached to nine: architecture, dance, sculpture, music, painting poetry
(described broadly as a form of literature with aesthetic purpose or function, which also
includes the distinct genres of theater and narrative), film, photography, and graphic arts. In
addition to the old forms of artistic expression such as fashion and gastronomy, new modes of
expression are being considered as arts such as video, computer art, performance, advertising,
animation, television, and videogames. Art historical scholarship depends greatly on the
broad experience, intuitive judgment, and critical sensitivity of the scholar in making correct
attributions. An extensive knowledge of the historical context in which the artist lived and
worked is also necessary, as well as empathy with and understanding of a particular artist's
ideas, experiences, and insights.

I. Art History and Development

Introduction

Art history, also called art historiography, is the historical study of the visual arts.
concerned with identifying, classifying, describing, evaluating, interpreting, and
understanding the art products and historic development of the fields of painting, sculpture,
architecture, and decorative arts, drawing, printmaking, photography, interior design, etc.

In the mid-19th century, art history was raised to the status of an academic discipline
by the Swiss Jacob Burckhardt, who related art to its cultural environment, and the German
idealists Alois Riegl, Heinrich Wölfflin, and Wilhelm Worringer. The latter three saw art
history as the analysis of forms, and viewed art apart from any function it serves in
expressing the spirit. of its age. Major 20th-century art historians include Henri Focillon,
Bernard Berenson, and Aby Warburg, Émile Mâle, Erwin Panofsky, and Ernst Gombrich; the
succeeding generation has included Michael Fried, Rosalind Krauss, Donald Kuspit, and
Giselda Pollack. Modern art history is a broad field of inquiry embracing formal questions of
stylistic development as well as considerations of social and cultural context. Since the
1970s, a heightened awareness of gender, ethnicity, and environmental issues have marked
the work of many art historians.

Art History

Cave paintings are also known as "parietal art." They are painted drawings on cave
walls or ceilings, mainly of prehistoric origin, dated to some 40,000 years ago (around 38,000
BCE) in Eurasia. The exact purpose of the Paleolithic cave paintings is not known.

2
 The paintings are remarkably similar around the world, with animals being common.
subjects that give the most impressive images. Humans mainly appear as images of hands,
mostly hand stencils made by blowing pigment on a hand held to the wall.

The earliest known cave paintings and drawings of animals are at least 35,000 years
old and were found in caves in the district of Maros, located in Bantimurung district, South
Sulawesi, Indonesia, according to dates announced in 2014. Previously, it was believed that
the earliest figurative paintings were in Europe (Ghosh, 2003). The earliest figurative
paintings in Europe date back to the Aurignacian period, approximately 30,000 to 32,000
years ago, and are found in the Chauvet Cave in France, and in the Coliboaia Cave in
Romania.

The oldest known cave painting is a red hand stencil in Maltravieso Cave, Cáceres,
Spain. It was said to have been made by a Neanderthal. The oldest date given to an animal
cave painting is now a pig that has a minimum age of 35,400 years old at Timpuseng cave in
Sulawesi, an Indonesian island.

At UKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, South Africa, it is now thought to be some 3,00

years old. The paintings by the San people who settled in the area some 8,000 years ago
depict animals. and humans, and are thought to represent religious beliefs. Human figures are
much more common in the rock art of Africa than in Europe (Jaroff, 2007).

Several cave paintings were also seen in Asia, Europe, and North and South America.
The Padah-Lin Caves in Burma contain 11,000-year-old paintings and many rock tools. In
the Philippines at Tabon Caves the oldest artwork may be a relief of a shark above the cave
entrance, it was partially disfigured by a later jar burial scene.

Ancient Civilization

Art Ancient Civilization first started in Mesopotamia. As the region attained its
development, other city states existed. Famous of which is the Sumerian- City state.
Religious buildings and temples were established and their cultural arts flourished. The
beginnings of monumental architecture in Mesopotamia are usually considered to have been
contemporary with the founding of the Sumerian Cities and the invention of writing, about
3100 BCE.

The Egyptian Art

For more than 2,000 years, Egypt was one of the richest and most civilized lands in
the ancient world. Much of what we know about this great civilization has been
learned from its art and architecture. In particular, the ruins of tombs and temples have
provided a valuable record of Egyptian life. Egyptian history is usually divided into different
dynasties. The first ruler was King Menes also called King Narmer, who united Egypt under
one government and founded the capital city of Memphis. In the Narmer palette, the human
form is portrayed in a way that became standard in Egyptian art. The head and legs are shown
from the side, while the eye and shoulders are shown from the front.

3
 Other conventions make statues of males darker than female ones. Very
conventionalized portrait statues apprar from as early as Dynasty II, before 2,780 BC, and
with the exception of the art of the Amarna period of Ahkenaten, and some other periods
such as Dynasty XII, the idealized features of rulers, like other Egyptian artistic conventions,
changed little until after the Greek conquest.

The first great period of Egyptian civilization, called the Old Kingdom, began during
the rule of King Joser. The advances of the period were due mainly to Imhotep, the king's
first minister. He was a skilled architect, statesman, and scholar. He was probably the
architect of the famous Step Pyramid at Saqgara. The Step Pyramid was the first stone
building in history and the first of the many pyramids to appear during the 1,000 years.

The Great Pyramid of Giza also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops
is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering what
is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the
only one to remain largely intact. The pyramids were meant to house the pharaohs' bodies
and serve as reminders of their almighty power.
One of the important changes in architecture was the disappearance of the pyramid.
The pyramids had failed to protect the royal burial from robbery. Kings and queens were
now buried in tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, Lone corridors with relief
sculpture and religious writing on the walls led to a hall with columns, There the royal
mummy rested in a great stone coffin. The temples were built separately on the edge of the
desert, taing the Nile. Even today, their ruins aye a beautiful sight.
The most beautiful of these is the temple of Deir el-Bahari. It was built about 1470
by the famous Queen Hatshepsut. A series of terraces was surrounded by colonnades and
connected by ramps. This temple was built entirely of fine limestone. In contrast, the nearby
temple of Ramses II was built (about 1250 entirely of sandstone -a coarse material that is
easy to work with.

The gods, too, needed proper care. Their temples were built as great palaces, with
stables, orchards, farmlands, and a staff of attendants. Daily rituals and seasonal festivals
were pictured on the temple walls. Rulers prided themselves on what they had done to
improve the shrines of the gods. There are fifteen major ancient Egyptian gods and
goddesses.

4
 Temple
Palette of
of Deir
Kingel-Bahari
Narmer TheThe
StepPyramid
Pyramidof Giza

The Ancient
Greek Art
In around 450
B.C., the
Athenian
general Pericles tried to consolidate his by using public money, the dues paid to Athens by its
allies in the Delian League coalition, to support the citystate's artists and thinkers. Most of
all, Pericles paid artisans to build temples and other public buildings in the city of Athens.
He reasoned that this way he could win the support of the Athenian people by doling out
plenty of construction jobs; at the same time, by building public monuments so grand that
people would come from far and wide to see them, he could increase Athens' prestige as well
as his own.
In 331 B.C., Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great, the King of Macedonia.
He founded a new capital city, Alexandria, on the Mediterranean coast. After Alexander's
death in 323, Egypt fell to one of his generals, Ptolemy, who founded the Ptolemaic Dynasty.
The Ptolemaic rulers governed Egypt for 300 years, carrying on the traditions of the
pharaohs. Huge temples were constructed at state expense. Indeed, most of the surviving
temples of Egypt belong to the Ptolemaic period. Famous ones remain at Edfu, Kom Ombo,
and Dendera. They were built on the site of earlier temples, the remains of which were used
in the new buildings.
The Architecture of Classical Greece
The most noteworthy result of Pericles' public-works campaign was the magnificent
Parthenon, a temple in honor of the city's patron goddess Athena. The Parthenon was built
atop the Acropolis, a natural pedestal made of rock that was the site of the earliest settlements
in Athens, and Pericles invited other people to build there as well. In 437 BC, for example,
the architect Mnesikles started to build a grand gateway known as the Propylaia at its western
end, and at the end of the century, artisans added a smaller temple for Athena- this one in
honor of her role as the goddess of victory, Athena Nike-along with one for Athena and
Erechtheus, an Athenian king. Still, the Parthenon remained the site's main attraction.

5
 The temples of classical Greece all shared the same general form: rows of columns
supporting a horizontal entablature (a kind of decorative molding) and a triangular roof. At
each end of the roof, above the entablature, was a triangular space known as the pediment,
into which sculptors squeezed elaborate scenes. On the Parthenon, for example, the pediment
sculptures show the birth of Athena on one end and a battle between Athena and Poseidon on
the other. So that people standing on the ground could see them, these pediment sculptures
were usually painted bright colors and were arrayed on a solid blue or red background. This
paint has faded with age; as a result, the pieces of classical temples that survive today appear
to be made of white marble alone.
Sculpture
Not many classical statues or sculptures survive today. (Stone statues broke eastly,
and metal ones were often melted for re-use.) However, we know that sculptors such as
Phidias, and Polykleitos in the 5th century and Praxiteles, Skopas, and Lysippos in the 4th
century had figured out how to apply the rules of anatomy and perspective to the human form
just as their counterparts applied them to buildings. Earlier statues of people had looked
awkward and fake, but by the classical period they looked natural, almost at ease. They even
had realistic- looking facial expressions.

The Parthenon Temple

Pottery

Classical Greek pottery was perhaps the most utilitarian of the era's art forms. People
offered small terra cotta figurines as gifts to gods and goddesses, buried them with the dead
and gave them to their children as toys. They also used clay pots, jars and vases for almost
everything. These were painted with religious or mythological scenes that, like the era's
statues, grew more sophisticated and realistic over time.

Much of our knowledge of classical Greek art comes from objects made of stone and
clay that have survived for thousands of years. However, we can infer that the themes we see
in these works- an emphasis on pattern and order, perspective and proportion, and man
himself- appeared as well in less-durable creations such as drawings and paintings.

6
The Roman Arts and Architecture

The Romans wanted their art and architecture to be useful. They planned their
cities and built bridges, aqueducts, public baths, and marketplaces, apartment houses, and
harbors. When a Roman official ordered sculpture for a public square, he wanted it to tell
future generations of the greatness of Rome. Although the practical uses of art were
distinctly Roman, the art forms themselves were influenced by the ancient Greeks and
Etrusçans.
The Romans put the lessons of the Etruscans to practical use. The baths and arenas
are tributes to the skill of Rome's great builders. Because of the use of the arch, the Romans
could build on a greater scale than the Greeks, who used the post and lintel (a beam supported
by two columns). The arch can support much more weight than the post and lintel. Roman
aqueducts were often three levels of arches piled one on top of another. And their buildings,
such as the Baths of Caracalla, enclosed huge open areas.
The Romans used a great deal of sculpted decoration to embellish their architecture.
Columns were often placed on the walls of buildings as part of the decoration. (They actually
supported no weight themselves.) Many of these decorations were copied from Greek styles.
In fact, many Greek forms were simply placed on the facades of Roman buildings without
any practical reason for being there.
The Tomb of Caecilia Metella is ancient Roman ananus that at the SeM constructed
end of the Roman republican period. It is basically cylindrical in shape and is faced with
travertine that an entablature azau surrounded has with skulls of bulls and garlands.
In portraying their gods, the Greeks had been. influenced by their ideas of form and
beauty. Roman sculptors influenced by the Greeks. But the Romans showed their skill and
originality in their portraits. They portrayed there greatly were emperors, generals, and
senators with a degree of realism unknown to the Greeks. Thinning hair, double chins,
crooked noses - all the physical traits that make one person look different from another - can
be found in Roman portraiture.
In A.D. 79, an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii,
covering it with layers of lava that hardened into rock. The wall paintings preserved in this
rock tell us nearly everything we know about Roman painting. Painting was usually done as a
form of decoration. In Pompeii, for example. paintings were executed on the inside walls of
the houses in fresco (painting on wet plaster). Often these murals were used to make the
room seem larger, by giving the illusion of depth, or to create a pastoral landscape where
there was no window or view.
Columns and other forms of architecture were often painted into the compositions or used to
frame the murals and add to the feeling of depth. A system of perspective was known and
used by the Romans. Red, black, and cream-white were among the most popular colors.

7
 Roman painting achieved a high degree of naturalism through the artists'
understanding of perspective and use of light and shade. The Romans painted many
charming scenes from nature and portraits of children and beautiful young men and women.
Religion, too, inspired their art.

Tomb of Caecilia Metella

Chinese Art and Painting

China has one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The beginnings
of Chinese art can be traced to 5000 B.C., when Stone Age people made decorated objects of
bone, stone, and pottery.
Earliest Chinese painting was ornamental, not representational. That is, it consisted
of patterns or designs, not pictures. Stone Age pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags,
dots, and lines. Very rarely was pottery painted with human figures or animals. It was only
during the Warring States period (403-221 B.C.) that artists began to represent the world
around them.
Artists from the Han (202 B.C.-A.D. 220) to the Tang (6l8-906) dynasties mainly
painted the human figure. Much of what we know of early Chinese figure painting comes
from burial sites, where paintings were preserved on silk banners lacquered objects, and tomb
walls. Many early tomb paintings were meant to protect the dead or help their souls get to
paradise. Others illustrated the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius or showed
scenes of daily life. During the Six Dynasties period (220-589), people began to appreciate
painting for its own beauty. They also began to write about art. From this time, we begin to
know about individual artists, such as Gu Kaizhi. Even when these artists illustrated
Confucian moral themes (such as the proper behavior of a wife to her husband or of children
to their parents), they tried to make their figures graceful.
Many critics consider landscape to be the highest form of Chinese painting. The time from
the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period (907-1127) is known as the Great Age
of Chinese Landscape. In the north, artists such as Jing Hau, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted
pictures of towering mountains. Ihey used strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted
brushstrokes to suggest rough stone. In the south, Dong Yuan, Ju Ran, and other artists
painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with

8
softer, rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical
styles of Chinese landscape painting.

Some painters of the Ming dynasty continued the traditions of the Yuan scholar-
painters. This group of painters was known as the Wu School. It was led by the artist Shen
Zhou. Another group of painters was known as the Zhe School. It revived and transformed
the styles of the Song court.

In the late 1800's and 1900's, Chinese painters were increasingly exposed to the art of
Western cultures. Some artists who studied in Europe rejected Chinese painting. Other
artists tried to combine the best of both traditions. Perhaps the most beloved modern painter
was Qi Baishi. He began life as a poor peasant and became a great master, His most famous
works depict flowers and small animals.
The Chinese were masters of bronze, jade, and ceramics. Decorative objects made of
these materials are among China's greatest contributions to world art. Bronze metalwork is
the greatest art form of ancient China. The Great Bronze Age of China lasted from the Shang
(1523- 1000's B.C.) to the Han dynasty. During the Shang dynasty, bronzes were used for
ritual purposes. Bronze shapes and designs became more and more elaborate, especially
those produced at the northern city of Anyang, the last Shang capital.

Jade is a hard, beautiful stone that was highly valued by the Chinese. Jade ornaments
and sculptures are found at many early burial sites. Because jade is brittle and difficult to
work with, the earliest jades were very simply carved. During the Eastern Zhou period (770–
221 B.C.), improved tools allowed artists to produce exquisite jades with complicated shapes
and curved, complex patterns. Jade working continues to be one of the main handicraft
traditions of modern Jade in Ancient China (Courtesy of Joya Life).

Over many centuries, Chinese potters learned to control the temperatures of their
kilns (special ovens for firing pottery), to refine clays, and to perfect glazes. (A glaze is a
glassy coat that helps make ceramics waterproof and enhances their appearance.) These
techniques enabled them to produce ceramics that were admired worldwide. The classical
age of Chinese ceramics is the Song dynasty, when beautiful wares were produced for the
royal court. Among the most valued ceramics are a group glazed in different shades of green.
These are known in the West as celadons. The blue and white wares of the Ming dynasty are
also widely admired.
Some of the earliest known examples of Chinese sculpture are objects made to be
buried with the dead. The most impressive collection of sculptures was found near the tomb
of Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China (reigned 221-210 B.C.). Pits near the tomb held
some 7,000 life-size terra cotta pottery sculptures of foot soldiers, charioteers, officers, and
horses. The sculptures were intended to protect the emperor after death.
Many critics believe the Tang dynasty was the golden age of Buddhist sculpture.
Later sculptors continued to follow the traditions of both Buddhist and non-religious

9
sculpture. During the 1900's, Western realistic styles were used in sculptures honoring
important persons and events. emperor after death.

Chinese Figure Painting

10
 Chinese Landscape
Painting

Qi Baishi Painting
Japanese Art
In traditional Japan, no distinction was made between the fine arts of painting and
sculpture and the decorative arts- ceramics, lacquer, textiles, and the like. All were thought
to be equally valid forms of artistic expression. Even an everyday object, if finely designed
and crafted, was considered a work of art.
Today, this emphasis on design and craftsmanship continues. Many Japanese artists
have adopted styles and techniques popular in Europe and the United States. But traditional
art forms such as those discussed in this article remain important. Exceptionally talented
artists working within these traditions are honored as "Living National Treasures." They are
encouraged to teach their skills to a new generation of artists.
Sculpture
Most sculptures made before the mid-1800's were objects of worship displayed in
temples and shrines. Statues of the gods of Buddhism and of the native Shinto religion were
most common. (Buddhism is a religion of Indian origin introduced to Japan from China and
Korea.) But likenesses of famous monks and powerful rulers appeared after the 1200's.
The earliest sculptures were made of clay. Small clay figurines resembling humans
and animals have been found in Neolithic sites (dating from 10,000-3,000 B.C.) throughout
the country. From the 300’s to the 500’s A.D. large clay figures were placed around the
great mounded tombs of powerful rulers. These figures were of The Jomon Clay Figure
men, women, animals, and even boats and houses.
The introduction of Buddhism to Japan in the 500's influenced sculpture techniques,
styles, and subjects. The 500's to the 700's are known as the classical era of Buddhist
sculpture. During this time, temple sculptures of the Buddha and other gods were often made
of gilt (goldcovered) bronze because of its value and aweinspiring appearance. One of the
most impressive gilt bronze statues from this period is a 52-foot (16-meter) seated Buddha in
the Todaiji, a temple in the city of Nara. It was made in a lifelike style typical of the arts of
the 700's.
Most statues of the 800's were carved of wood, a material that could be readily
obtained throughout Japan. At first, statues were carved from solid blocks of wood. But they
were heavy and tended to crack over time. Gradually, sculptors developed a better method.
Many small pieces of wood were joined together like a jigsaw puzzle. They were then
covered with thin layers of lacquer, gold leaf, and paint. The sculptor Jocho is thought to

11
have perfected this technique in the 1000's, His masterpiece is a graceful figure of the
Buddha Amida. It is the main object of worship in the Byodoin, a temple near Kyoto. The
joined wood block technique developed by Jocho continued to be used by sculptors until the
1800's.

The Jomon Clay Figure men,

Paintings
Beginning in the 900's, paintings with
nonreligious themes were increasingly
collected by wealthy aristocrats. Especially
popular were handscrolls. These were
long narrative scrolls that contained both text and paintings. Sections of text, written in
calligraphy (beautiful writing), were alternated with pictures illustrating the story,
Handscrolls were about 12 inches (30 centimeters) high and up to 50 feet (15 meters)
long. They were held horizontally in the hands and unrolled to reveal the story little by
little.
The subject matter of handscrolls ranged from moving romantic tales to historical
battle stories. Screen painting is often thought of as one of the most characteristic forms of
Japanese art. Painted screens were a feature of Japanese residential architecture as early as
the 700's. Traditional Japanese houses do not have fixed walls. Instead they have sliding
doors that may be opened or closed depending on whether a large or small space is needed.
Folding screens, made up of several panels each, serve as additional, portable room dividers.
Both sliding doors and folding screens are used as painting surfaces.

12
Woodblocks Print

Woodblocks were first used in Japan to reproduce religious texts and images By the
1600's they were widely used to print inexpensive pictures and illustrated books that were
eagerly collected by members of all social classes. Costly scroll and screen paintings were
owned by the rich. But anyone could afford to buy woodblock prints. The variety of subjects
found in prints reflects the wide-ranging interests and experiences of this new audience. sive
pictures and illustrated books that were eagerly collected by members of all social classes.
Costly scroll and screen paintings were owned by the rich. But anyone could afford to buy
woodblock prints. The variety of subjects found in prints reflects the wide-ranging interests
and experiences of this new audience.

Prints showing famous actors in their favorite roles and beautiful women dressed in
luxurious kimonos (robes) were much in demand. Some printmakers, such as those of the
Torii and Kaigetsudo choola, specialized in these two categories. The artists Hokusai and
Hiroshige are acknowledged as the greatest masters of the landscape prince. Their works,
generally, feature views of scenic national landmarks such as Mount Fuji.

Ceramics
Japan has one of the oldest ceramic traditions in the world. Earthenware vessels
called Jomon, or "cord-marked," after their distinctive surface decoration, are believed to
have been made as early as 10,000 B.C. Until either earthenware or stoneware.
Earthenware is a reddish, non-waterproof ware that is fired at low temperatures. Stoneware
is a harder ware that is fired at a high temperature and often glazed (given a glossy finish
for beauty and resistance to water).
The rise during the 1500's of a tea-drinking ritual known as the tea ceremony
stimulated the growth of ceramic production. A wide range of shapes, sizes, and glazes
developed in response to the requirements of the tea ceremony. The centerpiece of the tea
ceremony is a beautiful tea bowl, from which guests take turns sipping a special green tea.
Other ceramic wares are used for preparing the tea and serving the accompanying meal.

13
The Ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th
centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female
beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes
and landscapes; flora and fauna; and erotica. The term ukiyo-e translates as "picture (s] of
the floating world".
By combining 'uki' for sadness and 'yo' for life, the word "ukiyo-e" originally
reflected the Buddhist concept of life as a transitory illusion, involving a cycle of birth,
suffering, death, and rebirth. But ironically, during the early Edo period, another ideograph
which meant "to float," similarly pronounced as 'uki,' came into usage, and the term became
associated with wafting on life's worldly pleasures.
Images of everyday Japan, mass-produced for popular consumption in the Edo period
(1615-1868), they represent one of the highpoints of Japanese cultural achievement. Popular
themes include famous beauties and well-known actors, renowned landscapes, heroic tales
and folk stories.
The art of ukiyo-e is most frequently associated with color woodblock prints, popular
in Japan from their development in 1765 until the closing decades of the Meiji period
(18681912).
The earliest prints were simple black and white prints taken from a single
block.
Sometimes these prints were colored by hand, but this process was expensive. In the 1740s,
additional woodblocks were used to print the colors pink and it wasn't until 1765 that the
technique of using multiple color woodblocks was perfected. The glorious full color prints
that resulted were known as nishiki-e or “brocade pictures”.
The team involved in the production of ukiyo-e has famously been called the 'ukiyo-e
quartet'. It comprised the publisher (who usually had overall control of the process), the
designer, the block cutter and the printer.
Once the design was complete, an exact copy was made and placed face down on a
cherry wood block. The block cutter then carved directly through the copy to produce what is
known as the key-block.

14
Popular Themes
Prints could be produced quite cheaply and in large numbers. While only the wealthy
could afford paintings by the artists of the day, ukiyo-e prints were enjoyed by a much wider
audience. The subjects depicted in these prints reflect the interests and aspirations of the
people who bought them. ‘Pictures of the Floating World’, the literal translation of ukiyo-e,
refers to the licensed brothel and theater districts of Japan's major cities during the Edo
period. Inhabited by prostitutes and Kabuki actors, these were the playgrounds of the newly
wealthy merchant class.
Landscape
Perhaps the most iconic of all ukiyo-e prints, Hokusai's "Great Wave off the Coast of
Kanagawa 'is an arresting example of a landscape print. Centuries of peace during the Edo
period, and the development of a sophisticated highway network, fostered a culture of mass
travel in Japan.
Prints of famous and beautiful places served as cheap and easy souvenirs. Also, new
ways of looking at the world, imported from the West through Dutch and Chinese traders,
awoke an interest in drawing from life.
Ukiyo-e was one of the first forms of Japanese art that found its way across the seas
to Europe and America with the opening of trade between the countries. The influence that
this exposure had upon the West became known as Japonism, defined by an interest in the
aesthetics of the style that would go on to profoundly influence many Western artists and
movements such as Impressionism, Art Nouveau, and Modernism.

From the Age of Renaissance to Realism

Introduction
Written histories of European art often begin with the art of the Ancient Middle East and the
Ancient Aegean civilizations, dating from the 3rd millennium B.C. Parallel with these significant
cultures, art of one form or another existed all over Europe, wherever there were people, leaving signs
such as carvings, decorated artifacts and huge standing stones. However, a consistent pattern of
artistic development within Europe becomes clear only with the art of Ancient Greece, adopted and
transformed by Rome and carried with the Empire, across much of Europe, North Africa and the
Middle East.

The Renaissance Art

The origins of Renaissance art can be traced to Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
During this so-called "proto-Renaissance" period (1280-1400), Italian scholars and artists saw
themselves as reawakening to the ideals and achievements of classical Roman culture. Writers such
as Petrarch (1304-1374) and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) looked back to ancient Greece and
Rome and sought to revive the languages, values and intellectual traditions of those cultures after the
long period of stagnation that had followed the fall of the Roman Empire in the sixth century.
Renaissance art, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and literature produced during the
14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Europe under the combined influences of an increased awareness of

15
nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more individualistic view of man. Scholars no longer
believe that the Renaissance marked an abrupt break with medieval values, as is suggested by the
French word 'renaissance,' literally "rebirth." Rather, historical sources suggest that interest in nature,
humanistic learning, and individualism were already present in the late medieval period and became
dominant in 15th- and 16th-century Italy concurrently with social and economic changes such as the
secularization of daily life, the rise of a rational money credit economy, and greatly increased social
mobility.
The Florentine painter Giotto (1267-1337), the most famous artist of the proto- Renaissance, made
enormous advances in the technique of representing the human body realistically, His frescoes were
said to have decorated cathedrals at Assisi, Rome, Padua, Florence and Naples, though there has been
difficulty attributing such works with certainty.
In the later 14th century, the proto-Renaissance was stifled by plague and war, and its
influences did not emerge again until the first years of the next century. In 1401, the sculptor Lorenzo
Ghiberti (c. 1378-1455) won a major competition to design a new set of bronze doors for the
Baptistery of the Cathedral of Florence, beating out contemporaries such as the architect Filippo
Brunelleschi (1377-1446) and the young Donatello (c. 1386- 1466), who would later emerge as the
master of early Renaissance sculpture.

Florence in the Renaissance

Though the Catholic Church remained a major patron of the arts during the Renaissance -
from popes and other prelates to convents, monasteries and other religious organizations - works of
art were increasingly commissioned by civil government, courts and wealthy individuals. Much of
the art produced during the early Renaissance were commissioned by the wealthy merchant families
of Florence, most notably the Medici.

High Renaissance Art (1490 - 1527)

By the end of the 15th century, Rome had displaced Florence as the principal center of
Renaissance art, reaching a high point under the powerful and ambitious Pope Leo X (a son of
Lorenzo de 'Medici). Three great masters - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael dominated
the period known as the High Renaissance, which lasted roughly from the early 1490s until the sack
of Rome by the troops of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain in 1527. Leonardo (1452 -
1519) was the ultimate "Renaissance man" for the breadth of his intellect, interest and talent and his
expression of humanist and classical values. Leonardo's best-known works, including the "Mona
Lisa" (1503-05), "The Virgin of the Rocks" (1485) and the fresco "The Last Supper" (1495-98),
showcase his unparalleled ability to portray light and shadow, as well as the physical relationship
between figures - humans, animals and objects alike - and the landscape around them.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) drew on the human body for inspiration and created
works on a vast scale. He was the dominant sculptor of the High Renaissance, producing pieces such
as the Pietà in St. Peter's Cathedral (1499) and the David in his native Florence (150104). He carved
the latter by hand from an enormous marble block; the famous statue measures five meters high
including its base. Though Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor first and foremost, he
achieved greatness as a painter as well, notably with his giant fresco covering the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel, completed over four years (1508-12) and depicting various scenes from Genesis.

Renaissance Art in Practice

The Italian Renaissance was noted for four things: (1) A reverent revival of Classical
Greek/Roman art forms and styles; (2) A faith in the nobility of Man (Humanism ); (3) The
mastery of illusionistic painting techniques, maximizing 'depth' in a picture, including: linear
perspective, foreshortening and, later, quadratura; and (4) The naturalistic realism of its faces
and figures, enhanced by oil painting techniques like sfumato.
Many works of Renaissance art depicted religious images, including subjects such as
the Virgin Mary, or Madonna, and were encountered by contemporary audiences of the
period in the context of religious rituals. Today, they are viewed as great works of art, but at
the time they were seen and used mostly as devotional objects. Many Renaissance works

16
were painted as altarpieces for incorporation into rituals associated with Catholic mass and
donated by patrons who sponsored the mass itself.

Expansion and Decline

Over the course of the 15th and 16th centuries, the spirit of the Renaissance spread
throughout Italy and into France, northern Europe and Spain. In Venice, artists such as
Giorgione (1477/78-1510) and Titian (1488/90-1576) further developed a method of painting
in oil directly on canvas; this technique of oil painting allowed the artist to rework an image -
as fresco painting (on plaster) did not - and it would dominate Western art to the present day.
Oil painting during the Renaissance can be traced back even further, however, to the Flemish
painter Jan van Eyck (died 1441), who painted a masterful altarpiece in the Cathedral at
Ghent (c. 1432). Van Eyck was one of the most important artists of the Northern Renaissance;
later masters included the German painters Albrecht Durer (1471- 1528) and Hans Holbein
the Younger (1497/98- 1543).
By the later 1500s, the Mannerist style, with its emphasis on artificiality, had
developed in opposition to the idealized naturalism of High Renaissance art, and Mannerism
spread from Florence and Rome to become the dominant style in Europe.

Mannerism Art
The Mona Lisa The Sistine Chapel
In
fine art,
the term

"Mannerism" (derived from the Italian word 'maniera' meaning style or stylishness) refers to
a style of painting, sculpture and architecture, that emerged in Rome and Florence between
1510 and 1520, during the later years of the High Renaissance. Mannerism acts as a bridge
between the idealized style of Renaissance art and the dramatic theatricality of the Baroque.

17
 The School of Athens
Characteristics of Mannerist Painting

Early Mannerism (c.1520-35) is known for its "anticlassical", or "anti- Renaissance"

style, which then developed into High Mannerism (c.1535-1580), a more intricate, inward
looking and intellectual style, designed to appeal to more sophisticated patrons.
As a whole, Mannerist painting tends to be more artificial and less naturalistic than
Renaissance painting. This exaggerated idiom is typically associated with attributes such as
emotionalism, elongated human figures, strained poses, unusual effects of scale, lighting or
perspective, vivid often garish colors.
Origin and Development of Mannerism
The development of Mannerism was brought about by the religious turmoil in Italy.
Based on Martin Luther's Wittenberg Theses, for the Protestants, the papacy had become the
epitome of universal moral and religious decadence. The chief bone of contention was the
sale of so-called 'indulgences', with which the faithful could buy forgiveness from the Pope.
The rapid growth of the Reformation movement demonstrated the need for fundamental
reforms within the Church. The unity of the church broke down; its authority was
increasingly called into question.
This heliocentric view of the world entirely contradicted the Church's view of itself,
and its claims to domination, since the idea that the representative of God did not sit at the
center of cosmic events was far from attractive. In addition, the spectacular
circumnavigation of the world by Ferdinand de Magellan and Christopher Columbus'
discovery of America bore out the suspicion that the earth was round not flat, nor was central
Europe the center of the world (Encyclopedia Britannica).
To this extent, the art of this period Mannerism is the art of a world undergoing
radical change, impelled by the quest for a new pictorial language. Mannerism reflects the
new uncertainty.
The young generation of artists reacted against the perfection of the Renaissance. For
this reason, the Mannerists sought new goals, and like many of the avantgarde artists of
Modernism hundreds of years later, they turned against the traditional artistic canon,
distorting the formal repertoire of the new classical pictorial language. Even the great
Michelangelo himself turned to Mannerism, notably in the vestibule to the Laurentian
Library, in the figures on his Medici tombs, and especially in his Last Judgment fresco
painting in the Sistine Chapel (Cheney, 2004). Mannerist painters stressed the individual way
of painting, the personal vision and pictorial understanding of things. They discovered the
symbolic content of visual structure, the expressive element of painting. They consistently
resisted equilibrium. So, the circular and pyramidal compositions typical of the Renaissance
disappeared.

18
 Jacopo Pontormo combined the influences of his teachers Andrea del Sarto and
Leonardo with impulses from Raphael's late work, as well as the painting of Michelangelo,
arriving at a pictorial language which, for all its realism, still seems other worldly.
In Parmigianino's painting of the Madonna dal Colla Lungo (1535, Uffizi Gallery,
Florence) the immediate foreground and the distant background appear without transition,
almost fragmentarily juxtaposed. The pictorial weights distributed. On the left-hand side of
the picture, the painter places a cramped band of angels, while spatial depth opens up on the
right-hand side, its only focus being a brightly-lit row of columns, behind which there
stretches a broad, dark landscape.

The Mannerist Reality

The Mannerists took the illusionistic picture space, with its imitation of reality, and
transformed it into an 'intellectual' picture space, showing what was really invisible and
accessible only to the inner eye. Modern art has its roots in this approach, in which the
artist's individual vision and view of things becomes the sole yardstick. Small wonder, then,
that a painter like El Greco, one of the great masters of Mannerism, was discovered by artists
at the beginning of the 20th century as a key forerunner of modern art.
Domenikos The otocopoulos, who was only ever referred to as EI Greco at the
Spanish court where he spent most of his life along with Tintoretto, from the school of
Venetian painting is one of the most important painters of the second half of the 16th century.
Both painters wanted, like Parmigianino, to create something new. But their paintings were
not a refined game with new artistic media; rather, above all they wanted to show intellectual
content in their religious art, which would reveal the invisible.
Tintoretto also admired the Renaissance masters, particularly Michelangelo and
Titian. By his own account, he aimed to "unite the drawing of Michelangelo with the color
of Titian", in order to reveal the impossible, the transcendent which Could not be represented.
He sought a pictorial language which made it possible to sense the spiritual content, the
divine. Please see, for instance: The Disrobing of Christ.
The Mannerist illusionistic painting led the movement into the Baroque from about
1600. The intellectual pictorial worlds, crated by the Mannerists as early as the l6th century,
reach their peak.

Virgin and the Child Descent from the Cross

19
The Baroque Art
Baroque art and architecture, the, visual arts and building design and construction
produced during the era in the history of Western art that roughly coincides with the 17th
century. The earliest manifestations, which occurred in Italy, date from the latter decades of
the 16th century, while in some regions, notably Germany and colonial South America,
certain culminating achievements of Baroque did not occur until the 18th century. The work
that distinguishes the Baroque period is stylistically complex, even contradictory. In general,
however, the desire to evoke emotional states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic
ways, underlies its manifestations. Some of the qualities most frequently associated with the
Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, vitality, movement, tension, emotional
exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinctions among the various arts.

The Origin of the Term

The term Baroque probably ultimately derived from the Italian word "barocco",
which philosophers used during the Middle Ages to describe an obstacle in schematic logic.
Subsequently the word came to denote any contorted idea or involuted process of thought.
Another possible source is the Portuguese word barroco (Spanish burrueco), used to describe
an irregular or imperfectly shaped pearl, and this usage still survives in the jeweler's term
baroque pearl.
In art criticism the word 'Baroque' came to be used to describe anything irregular,
bizarre, or otherwise departing from established rules and this biased view of 17th-century art
styles was held with few modifications by critics from Johann Winckelmann to John Ruskin
and Jacob Burckhardt, and until the late 19th century the term always carried the implication
of odd, grotesque, exaggerated, and over decorated. It was only with Heinrich Wölfflin's
pioneer study "Renaissance und Barock" (1888) that the term Baroque 'was used as a stylistic
designation rather than as a term of thinly veiled abuse, and a systematic formulation of the
characteristics of Baroque style was achieved. proportions.

The Main Tendency of the Era

Three broader cultural and intellectual tendencies had a profound impact on Baroque
art as well as Baroque music. The first of these was the Counter-Reformation and the
expansion of its domain, both territorially and intellectually.
The Roman Catholic Church after the Council of Trent (1545-1563) adopted a
propagandistic stance in which art was to serve as a means of extending and stimulating the
public's faith in the church. To this end the church adopted a conscious artistic program
whose art products would make an overtly emotional and sensory appeal to the faithful. The
Baroque style that evolved from this program was paradoxically both sensuous and spiritual;
while a naturalistic treatment rendered the religious image more accessible to the average
churchgoer, dramatic and illusory effects were used to stimulate piety and devotion and
convey an impression of the splendor of the divine. Baroque church ceilings thus dissolved
in painted scenes that presented vivid views of the infinite to the observer and directed the
senses toward heavenly concerns.
The second tendency was the consolidation of absolute monarchies, accompanied by
a simultaneous crystallization of a prominent and powerful middle class, which now came to

20
play a role in art patronage. Baroque palaces were built on an expanded and monumental
scale in order to display the power and grandeur of the centralized state, a phenomenon best
displayed in the royal palace and gardens at Versailles.
The third tendency was a new interest in nature and a general broadening of human
intellectual horizons, spurred by developments in science and by explorations of the globe.
These simultaneously produced a new sense both of human insignificance (particularly
abetted by the Copernican displacement of the Earth from the center of the universe) and of
the unsuspected complexity and infinitude of the natural world.

Baldachin, St. Peter’s Basilica, Baroque coffered Ceiling of Cupola of San Carlo
Vatican City, By Gian Lorenzo
Bernini at Fontane, Rome

Architecture, Painting, and Sculpture

The arts present an unusual diversity in the Baroque period, chiefly because currents
of naturalism coexisted and intermingled with the typical Baroque style. Indeed, Annibale
Carracci and Caravaggio, the two Italian painters who decisively broke with Mannerism in
the 1590s and thus, helped usher in the classicism respectively, in classicist and realist
modes. A specifically Baroque style of painting arose in Rome in the 1620s and culminated
in the monumental painted ceilings and other church decorations of Pietro da Cortona, Guido
Reni, II Guercino, Domenichino and countless lesser artists. The greatest of the Baroque
sculptor-architects was Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who designed both the Baldachin with spiral
columns above the altar of St. Peters in Rome and the vast colonnade fronting that church.
Baroque architecture as developed by Bernini, Carlo Maderno, Francesco Borromini. and
Guarino Guarini emphasized massiveness and monumentality, movement, dramatic spatial
and lighting sequences, and a rich interior decoration using contrasting surface textures, vivid
colors, and luxurious materials to heighten the structure's physical immediacy and evoke
sensual delight.

French architecture is even less recognizably Baroque in its pronounced qualities of

subtlety, elegance, and restraint. Baroque tenets were enthusiastically adopted in staunchly
Roman Catholic Spain, however, particularly in architecture, The greatest of the Spanish
builders, José Benito Churriguera, shows most fully the Spanish interest in surface textures

21
and lush detail. He attracted many followers, and their adaptations of his style, labeled
Churrigueresque, spread throughout Spain's colonies in the Americas and elsewhere.

The Baroque made only limited inroads into northern Europe, notably in what is now
Belgium. That Spanish-ruled, largely Roman Catholic region's greatest master was the
painter Peter Paul Rubens, whose tempestuous diagonal compositions and ample, full-
blooded figures are the epitome of Baroque painting. The elegant portraits of Anthony van
Dyck and the robust figurative works of Jacob Jordaens emulated Rubens' example. Art in
the Netherlands was conditioned by the realist tastes of its dominant middle-class patrons,
and thus both the innumerable genre and landscape painters of that country and such
towering masters as Rembrandt and Frans Hals remained independent of the Baroque style in
important respect. The Baroque did have a notable impact in England, however, particularly
in the churches and palaces designed, respectively, by Sir Christopher Wren and Sir John
Vanbrugh.

The last flowering of the Baroque was in largely Roman Catholic southern Germany
and Austria, where the native architects broke away from Italian building models in the
1720s. In ornate churches, monasteries, and palaces designed by J.B. Fischer von Erlach,
J.L. von Hildebrandt, Balthasar Neumann, Dominikus Zimmermann, and brothers Cosmas
Damian Asam and Egid Quirin Asam, an extraordinarily rich but delicate style of stucco
decoration was used in combination with painted surfaces to evoke subtle illusionistic effects.

Rococo Art
Rococo painting, which originated in early 18th century Paris, is characterized by soft
colors and curvy lines, and depicts scenes of love, nature, amorous encounters, light-hearted
entertainment, and youth. The word "rococo" derives from rocaille, which is French for
rubble or rock. Rocaille refers to the shell-work in garden grottoes and is used as a,
descriptive word for the serpentine patterns seen in the Decorative Arts of the Rococo period
(Hopkins, 2014).
After the death of Louis XIV, the French court moved from Versailles back to their old
Parisian mansions, redecorating their homes using softer designs and more modest materials
than that of the King's grand baroque style. Instead of surrounding themselves with precious
metals and

22
 Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage on the Isle of Cythera

rich colors, the French aristocracy now lived in intimate interiors made with stucco
adornments, boiserie, and mirrored glass. This new style is characterized by its asymmetry,
graceful curves, elegance, and the delightful new paintings of daily life and courtly love,
which decorated the walls within these spaces.
The exteriors of Rococo buildings are often simple, while the interiors are entirely
dominated by their ornament. The style was highly theatrical, designed to impress and awe
at first sight. Floor plans of churches were often complex, featuring interlocking ovals; In
palaces, grand stairways became centerpieces, and offered different points of view of the
decoration (Hopkins, 2014).

Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732-1806) was one such painter who attempted to
adapt his style to the artistic changes of the period; unlike Watteau, Fragonard's skill wasn't
recognized until well after his death. Today, Fragonard is best known for his Rococo-style
paintings like La coquette fixée (The Fascinated Coquette), which depicts an amorous
encounter between a female and two males. The lustful male gazes establish the female
figure as the focal point of the painting. As a work of light-hearted entertainment, there is no
complex meaning or story behind the piece. It is a bright, cheerful scene meant for
amusement and delight.

Sculpture and Porcelain

Religious sculpture followed the Italian baroque style, as exemplified in the theatrical
altarpiece of the Karlskirche in Vienna. However, much of Rococo sculpture was lighter and
offered more movement than the classical style of Louis XIV. It was encouraged in
particular by Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, who commissioned many works
for her chateaux and gardens. The sculptor Edmé Bouchardon represented Cupid engaged in
carving his darts of love from the club of Hercules Rococo style — the demigod is
transformed into the soft child, the bone-shattering club becomes the heart-scathing arrows,
just as marble is so freely replaced by stucco. Etienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-1791) was

23
another leading French sculptor during the period. The French sculptors, Jean-Louis
Lemoyne, JeanBaptiste Lemoyne; Louis- Simon Boizot, Michel Clodion, and Pigalle were
also active. In Italy, Antonio Corradini was among the leading sculptors of the Rococo style.
A Venetian, he traveled around Europe, working for Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, for the
imperial courts in Austria and Naples, He preferred sentimental themes, and made several
skilled works of women with faces covered by veils, one of which is now in the Louvre.
A new form of small-scale sculpture appeared, made of porcelain, mounted on bronze
or marble pedestals and displayed on console tables and dining room tables. The Swiss-born
German sculptor Franz Anton Bustelli produced a wide variety of colorful figures for the
Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory in Bavaria, which were sold throughout Europe. The
French sculptor Etierne. Maurice Falconet (1716-1791) followed this example. While also
making large. scale works, he became director of the Sevres Porcelain manufactory and
produced smallscale works, usually about love and gaiety, for production in series. The
Rococo was characterized by elegant and refined yet playful subject matters. Boucher's style
became the epitome of the court of Louis XV. His style consisted of delicate colors and
gentle forms painted within a frivolous subject matter. His works typically utilized delightful
and decorative designs to illustrate graceful stories with Arcadian shepherds, goddesses and
cupids playing against a pink and blue sky. These works mirrored the frolicsome, artificial
and ornamented decadence of the French aristocracy of the time.
Rococo style developed first in the decorative arts and interior design, and its
influence later spread to architecture, sculpture, theater design, painting, and music. Rococo
style is characterized by elaborate omamentation, asymmetrical values, pastel color palette,
and curved or serpentine lines. The Veiled Dame by Antonio Corradini.

The Veiled Dame

by Antonio Corradini High Altar of the Karlskriche in
Vienna (1737)

Rococo Fashion

24
 The Rococo fashion was based on extravagance, elegance, refinement and
decoration. Women's fashion of the seventeenth-century was contrasted by the fashion of the
eighteenth-century, which was ornate and sophisticated, the true style of Rococo (Fukui, et,
al, 2012). This time was known as the 'Enlightenment, which valued reason over authority,
The influence for art, culture, and fashion shifted its center from Versailles to Paris. The
exuberant, playful, elegant style of decoration and design that we now know to be Rococo
'was then known as' le style rocaille ', le style modern', le gout (Coffin, 2008). A style that
appeared in the early eighteenth century was the 'robe volante' a flowing gown, that became
popular towards the end of King Louis XIV's reign. This gown had the features of a bodice
with large pleats flowing down the back to the ground over a rounded petticoat. The color
palate was rich, dark fabrics accompanied by elaborate, heavy design features.

The beginning of the end for Rococo came in the early 1760s as figures like Voltaire
pue Jacques-François Blondel began to criticism of the superficiality and degeneracy of the
art. Blondel decried the "ridicule of shells, dragons, reeds, palm- trees and plants" in
contemporary interiors (Kimbal, 1980). By 1785, Rococo had passed out of fashion in
France, replaced by the order and seriousness of Neoclassical artists like Jacques-Louis
David. In Germany, late 18th century Rococo was ridiculed as Zopf und Perücke ("pigtail
and periwig"), and this phase is sometimes referred to as Zopfstil. Rococo remained popular
in the provinces and in Italy, until the second phase of neoclassicism, "Empire style", arrived
Napoleonic governments and swept Rococo away.

Neo Classicism

As the term implies, neoclassicism is a revival of the classical past. The movement
began around the middle of the 18th century, marking a time in art history when artists began
to imitate Greek and Roman antiquity and the artists of the Renaissance.
Neoclassicism grew to encompass all of the arts, including painting, sculpture, the decorative
arts, theater, literature, music, and architecture. The style can generally be identified by its
use of straight lines, minimal use of color, simplicity of form and, of course, its adherence to
classical values and techniques.
Johann Joachim Winckelmann, founder of modern archeology and art history, praised
the Greeks and believed them to be as close to perfection as possible. Following
Winckelmann's words, many artists began to study Greek architecture and create classically
inspired works of art. In 1738, excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum led to the finding
of well-preserved, colorful paintings, mosaics, and pottery. These discoveries only fueled
artistic fascination and curiosity for antiquity, and artists began to use this new knowledge of
the past in their art, creating their own "new" classical style that was extremely different from
the Rococo -a style popular during the early to mid- 18th century. One such artist was Jean-
Auguste- Dominique Ingres (French, 1780- 1867). His painting of Oedipus and the Sphinx
(1808) represents a scene from the classical Greek plays of Sophocles.
The discovery of preserved ancient artifacts also played a huge role in the Decorative
Arts of the time. Josiah Wedgwood (British, 1730-1795), one of the most famous English
ceramic manufacturers of the 18th century, founded the Wedgwood company in 1759, which
produced classically inspired jasperware, creamware, and black basalts, formed using simple
geometric lines, and decorated with frieze-like scenes reminiscent of ancient Greek and
Roman pottery.
Flaxman (British, 1755-1826), prominent neoclassical sculptor, illustrator, and
designer, began working for Wedgwood around 1775, His oeuvre includes literature like the
Odyssey, and designs for classically inspired decorative works of art produced by

25
Wedgwood, and monuments for military heroes and nobles. illustrations classical. In music,
the period saw the rise of classical music and in painting, the works of Jaques Louis David
became synonymous with the classical revival. However, Neoclassicism was felt most
strongly in architecture, sculpture, and the decorative arts, where classical models in the same
medium were fairly numerous and accessible. Sculpture in particular had a great wealth of
ancient models from which to learn, however, most were Roman copies of Greek originals.
Neoclassical architecture was modeled after the classical style and, as with other art forms,
was in many ways a reaction against the exuberant Rococo style. The architecture of the
Italian architect Andrea Palladio became very popular in the mid18th century. Additionally,
archaeological ruins found in Pompeii and Herculaneum informed many of the stylistic
values of Neoclassical interior design based on the ancient Roman rediscoveries.

Oedipus and the

Neoclassicism-Characteristic Sphinx

Neoclassical works (paintings and sculptures) were serious, unemotional, and sternly
heroic. Neoclassical painters depicted subjects from Classical literature and history, as used
in earlier Greek art and Republican Roman art, using somber colors with occasional brilliant
highlights, to convey moral narratives of self-denial and self-sacrifice fully in keeping with
the supposed ethical superiority of antiquity. Neoclassical sculpture dealt with the same
subjects, and was more restrained than the more theatrical Baroque sculpture, less whimsical
than the indulgent Rococo. Neoclassical architecture was more ordered and less grandiose
than Baroque, although the dividing line between the two can sometimes be blurred. It bore
close external resemblance to the Greek Orders of architecture, with one obvious exception -
there were no domes in ancient Greece. Most roofs were flat.
The most recent phase of neoclassicism- the Classical Revival in modern art- emerged
between about 1900 and 1930, with active participants including Pablo Picasso (1881-1973),
Fernand Leger (1881-1955) and Giorgio de Chirico (1888- 1978).

26
 Buckingham Palace, London Arc de Triomphe, Paris
Romantic Art
Despite the early efforts of pioneers like El Greco (Domenikos Theotocopoulos)
(15411614), Adam Elsheimer (1578-1610 ) and Claude Lorrain (1604-82), the style we know
as Romanticism did not gather momentum until the end of the 18th century when the heroic
element in Neoclassicism was given a central role in painting. This heroic element combined
with revolutionary idealism to produce an emotive Romantic style, which emerged in the
wake of the French Revolution as a reaction against the restrained academic art of the arts
establishment.
The tenets of romanticism included: a return to nature - exemplified by an emphasis
on spontaneous plain -air painting - a belief in the goodness of humanity, the promotion of
justice for all, and a strong belief in the senses and emotions, rather than reason and intellect.
Romantic painters and sculptors tended to express an emotional personal response to life, in
contrast to the restraint and universal values advocated by Neoclassical art. 19th Century
architects, too, sought to express a sense of Romanticism in their building designs.

Origins
After the French Revolution of 1789, a significant social change occurred within a
single generation. Europe was shaken by political crises, revolutions and wars. When
leaders met at the Congress of Vienna (1815) to reorganize European affairs after the
Napoleonic Wars, it became clear that the peoples' hopes for 'liberty, equality and fraternity'
had not been realized. However, during the course of those agitated 25 years, new ideas and
attitudes had taken hold in the minds of men.
Respect for the individual, the responsible human being, which was already a key
element in Neoclassical painting, had given rise to a new but related phenomenon - emotional
intuition. Thus cool, rational Neoclassicism was now confronted with emotion and the
individual imagination which sprang from it. Instead of praising the stoicism and intellectual
discipline of the individual (Neoclassicism), artists now also began to celebrate the emotional
intuition and perception of the individual (Romanticism). Thus, at the beginning of the 19 th
century, a variety of styles began to emerge - each shaped by national characteristics all
falling under the heading of 'Romanticism'. The movement began in Germany where it was
motivated largely by a sense of world weariness ("Weltschmerz"), a feeling of isolation and a
yearning for nature. Later, Romantic tendencies also appeared in English and French
painting.

German Romanticism

27
 In Germany, the young generation of artists reacted
to the changing times by a process of introspection:
they retreated into the world of the emotions -
inspired by a sentimental yearning now seen as a
time in which men had lived in harmony with
themselves and the world. In this context, the
painting Gothic Cathedral by the Water by Karl
Friedrich Schinkel was just as important as the
works of the 'Nazarenes' - Friedrich Overbeck,
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld and Franz Pforr -
who took their lead from the pictorial traditions of
the Italian Early Renaissance and the German art of
the age of Albrecht Durer.
The Romantic movement promoted 'creative
intuition and imagination' as the basis of all art.
Thus, the work of art became an expression of a
'voice from within', as the leading Romantic
Hagan and the Rhine Daughters
By Moritz Von Schwind
painter Caspar David Friedrich (17741840) put it.
The preferred genre among Romanticists was
landscape painting. Nature was seen as the mirror of the soul, while in politically restricted
Germany it was also regarded as a symbol of freedom and boundlessness. Thus, the
iconography of Romantic art includes solitary figures set in the countryside, gazing longingly
into the distance, as well as vanitas motifs such as dead trees and overgrown ruins,
symbolizing the transience and finite nature of life.
With the European Restoration set in motion and the persecution of the demagogue, the
enthusiasm for German romanticism had faded. German Romanticism were set aside in
favor of those of the Restoration, In the face of
such political conservatism, the artist-citizen
withdrew into his private idyll, ushering in the
Biedermeier period (1815-1848) of Late
Romanticism, exemplified by the works of Moritz
von Schwind (1804-71), Adrian Ludwig Richter
(1803-1884), and Carl Spitzweg (1805-1885).
Spitzweg was perhaps the outstanding
representative of the Biedermeier style: narrative,
anecdotal family scenes were among his favorite
pictorial themes, although his cheerful and
peaceful paintings have a deeper meaning. View of the Copper Mill in Vietri
Behind his innocent prettiness, he is satirizing the by Adrian Ludwig Richter
materialism of the German bourgeoisie.
Spanish Romanticism (1810-30)
Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) was the undisputed leader of the Romantic art
movement in Spain, demonstrating a natural flair for works of irrationality, imagination,
fantasy and terror. By 1789, he was firmly established as official painter to the Spanish
Royal court. Unfortunately, about 1793, he was afflicted by some kind of serious illness,
which left him deaf and caused him to become withdrawn.
Goya produced one of his greatest masterpieces- The Third of May, 1808 (1814,
Prado, Madrid). Another masterpiece is The Colossus (1808-12, Prado, Madrid). After 1815

28
Goya became increasingly withdrawn. His series of 14 pictures known as the Black
Paintings (182023), including Saturn Devouring His Son (1821, Prado, Madrid), offer an
extraordinary insight into his world of personal fantasy and imagination. The Third of May -
Francis Goya (Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Third of May – Francis Goya

French Romanticism (1815-50)

In France, as in much of Europe, the Napoleonic

Wars ended in exile for Napoleon and a reactionary wave
of Restoration Policies. The French republic once again
became a monarchy. In fine art terms, all this led to a
huge boost for Romanticism, hitherto restrained by the
domination of Neoclassicists such as the political painter
Jacques Louis David (1748-1825) and other ruling
members of the French Academy who had reigned
unchallenged. Broader in outlook than their German
counterparts, French Romantic artists did not restrict
themselves to landscape and the occasional genre
painting but also explored portrait art and history
painting.
Another strand -19th century
Romanticism explored by French artists was Orientalist Napoleon Crossing the Alps by David
painting. Typically, of genre scenes in North Africa. Jaques Louis
Among the finest exponents where the academician Jean-
Leon Geroma (1824-1904) and more maverick Eugene Delacroix.
Theodore Gericault (1791-1524) was an important pioneer of the Romantic art
movement in France. His masterpiece Raft of the Medusa (1819, Louvre) was the scandal of
the 1820 Paris Salon. No painter until then had depicted horror so graphically. The impact
of the painting was all the more effective for being based on a true-life disaster.
Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863), who later became the leader of French Romanticism,
followed in Gericault's footsteps after the latter's early demise, painting pictures whose vivid
colors and impetuous brushwork were designed to stimulate the emotions and stir the soul.
In doing this he deliberately rekindled the centuries- old argument about the primacy of
drawing or color composition. His masterpiece in the Romantic style is Liberty Leading the
People (1830, Louvre), painted on the occasion of the 1830 Revolution.

29
 Other French artists who worked in the tradition of Romanticism include: Pierre-Paul
Prud'hon (1758-1823), Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson (1767-1824). Francois Gerard (1770-
1837), George Michel (1763-1843), Antoine-Jean Gros (1771- 1835) and Jean-Baptiste-
Camille Corot (1796-1875). An unusual case is the classical history painter Paul Delaroche
(1797-1856), who specialized in melodramatic historical scenes typically featuring English
royalty, such as the Execution of Lady Jane Gray (1833, National Gallery, London).
Immensely popular during his life, he made a fortune from selling engravings of his pictures.

Romanticism in England (1820-1850)

This emancipation of color is particularly characteristic of the painting of William
Turner (1775-1851). For Turner, arguably the greatest of all English painters of
Romanticism, observation of nature is merely one element in the realization of his own
pictorial ambitions. The mood of his paintings is created less by what hu painted than by
how he painted, especially how he employed color and his paint brush. Many of his canvases
are painted with rapid slashes.
Other English Romantic painters include William Blake (1757-1827) and John Martin
(1789-1854).

Impact of Romanticism
The Romantic style of painting stimulated the emergence of numerous schools, such as:
the Barbizon school of plein air landscapes, the Norwich school of landscape painters; the
Nazarenes, a group of Catholic German and Austrian painters; Symbolism like Arnold
Bocklin (1827-1901) and the Aestheticism movement.

The Art of Realism

From 1400 to 1800, Western art was dominated by Renaissance-inspired academic
theories of idealized painting and high art executed in the Grand Manner. Thereafter, caused
partly by the huge social changes triggered by the Industrial Revolution, there was a greater
focus on realism of subject - that is. subject matter outside the high art tradition. The term
Realism was promoted by the French novelist Champfleury during the 1840s, although it
began in earnest in 1855, with an Exposition by the French painter Gustave Courbet (1819-
77), after one of his paintings (The Artist's Studio) had been rejected by the World Fair in
Paris, Courbet set up his own marquee nearby and issued a manifesto to accompany his
personal exhibition. It was entitled "Le Realisme."

Characteristics: Genres and Subject Matter

The style of Realist painting spread to almost all genres, including history painting,
portraits, genre-painting, and landscapes, for example, landscape artists went out to the
provinces in search of the 'real France, setting up artistic colonies in places like Barbizon, and
later at GrezSur-Loing, Pont-Aven, and Concarneau.
Favorite subject matter for Realist artists included genre scenes of rural and urban
working-class life, scenes of street-life, cafes and night clubs, as well as increasing frankness
in the treatment of the body, nudity and sensual subjects. Not surprisingly, this gritty
approach shocked many of the upper- and middle-class patrons of the arts, both in France and
in the Victorian art of England, where Realism was never fully embraced.
A general trend, as well as a specific style of art, Realism heralded a general move
away from the 'ideal (as typified by the art of Classical mythology, so beloved by
Renaissance artists and sculptors) towards the ordinary. Thus, in their figure drawing and
figure painting, Realists portrayed real people not idealized types. From now on, artists felt
increasingly free to depict real-life situations stripped of aesthetics and universal truth. (No

30
more cute-looking child beggars, picturesque streets and views, healthy-looking contented
peasants and so on.) In this sense, Realism reflected a progressive and highly influential shift
in the significance and function of art in general, including literature as well as fine art. It
influenced Impressionism - see, for instance, Realism to Impressionism (1830- 1900) - and
several other modern art styles, such as Pop Art. The style retains its influence on the visual
arts to this day.

Realist Artist
Realist artists, strongly associated with the 19th century movement include: Jean-
Francois Millet (1814-75), Gustave Courbet (1819-77), Honore Daumier (1808-79).
However, many more were influenced by Realism without allowing it to dominate their work.
An interesting example is the Russian painter llya Repin (1844-1930), who produced
outstanding realist style works such as Bargemen on the Volga (1870), as well as Krestny
Khod (Religious Procession) in Kursk Gubermia (1883). Another example is Jules Bastien-
Lepage (1848-84), whose naturalism was a strong influence on the conservative strand of
Impressionist painting.
The realist style was taken up and adapted by French Impressionists like Edgar Degas
(for example, in his picture The Absinthe Drinker (1830-1900). The Germanic Biedermeier
style of Romantic realism - a comforting domestic idiom popular in Germany, Austria and
Denmark, not unlike the seventeenth century Dutch Realism School - is discussed in German
Art, 19th Century.

Famous 19th Century Realist Painting

The main schools of Realism during the nineteenth century included the English Figurative
School, the French School (led by Gustave Courbet), the Russian School (led by Ilya Repin),
the German School (led by Adolph von Menzel), and the American School (led by Thomas
Eakins).In addition, numerous artists produced paintings in the realist style, including the
Romantic Theodo re Gericault (notably his asylum portraits), the Impressionist Edgar Degas
(notably his ballet pictures).

Harvesters Resting and the Gleaners by Millet

Stone Breakers by Corbet

31
Realism in the 20th-Century
With two horrific world wars, a worldwide depression, the holocaust, the Vietnam
War and the appearance of nuclear weapons, twentieth century realist artists had no shortage
of subjects. Indeed, modern realism appeared in a wide variety of forms. Here is a short
introduction to a selection of realist schools and themes in fine art painting and sculpture
(Encyclopedia Art History).
1. Verismo (1890s/1900s) -This Italian term implies extreme raw realism, without
any interpretation. The word first appeared in the violent melodramatic operas of
Mascagnie, such as Cavalleria Rusticana (1890), and was taken up by Italian
artists like Telemaco Signorini (1835-1901).
2. Ashcan School (c.1908-1913) painters who strove to chronicle everyday life in
New York City during the pre-war period, producing realistic and unvarnished
pictures and etchings of urban streetscapes and genre scenes. Led by Robert
Henri (1865-1929), who was influenced by the strong unglamorous realism of
Thomas Eakins and Thomas Anshutz, the Ashcan school included other painters
like Everett Shinn (1876-1953), George Luks (1866-1933), George Wesley
Bellows (1882-1925), William Glackens (1870-1938) and John Sloan (1871-
1951). The legacy of the Ashcan School endured in the American Social Realism
scene painting of the 1920s and 1930s, thanks to Edward Hopper (1882-1967):
see, in particular, his House by the Railroad (1925, MOMA) and Lighthouse at
Two Lights (1929, Metropolitan Museum).
3. Precisionism (1920s) - An American painting movement which depicted
urban/industrial landscapes often in a Cubist/Futurist manner, its members were
known by a variety of labels such as "Cubist -Realists", "Immaculates".
"Sterilists" or "modern classicists". The style was also known as "sharp-focus
realism." The best-known exponents of Precisionism were Charles Sheeler (1883-
1965), Charles Demuth (1883-1935), and Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).
4. Social Realism (1920s/1930s) - The term Social Realists describes the urban
American Scene artists who worked during the Depression era. Social Realism is
a naturalistic style of realism which focuses exclusively on social issues and
everyday hardships. Best known members of the Social Realism school include
Ben Shahn (1898-1969),
Jack Levine and Jacob Lawrence. All were significantly influenced by the earlier
Ashcan School of New York city.
5. Surrealism (1920s/1930s) -A bizarre art -form, Surrealism was founded in Paris
in 1924 following the publication of Andre Breton's manifesto. Based on the
psychoanalytical ideas of Sigmund Freud, Surrealism sought to release the
creative potential of the unconscious mind. Two broad types of Surrealist art
emerged. The fantasy-like paintings of Salvador Dali (1904-89) Rene Magritte
(1898-1967), and the automatism of Joan Miro (1893-1983).
6. American Contemporary Realism (1960s/Early 1970s) - This term describes
the relatively straightforward realistic approach to representation taken by artists
in the post -abstract era. Well aware of modern abstract concepts of art,
contemporary realists nevertheless prefer to paint or sculpt in a more traditional
manner. Among the famous painters associated with this approach to fine art are
William Bailey, Neil Welliver and Philip Pearlstein. Note that Contemporary
Realism differs from Photorealism owing to the latter's somewhat exaggerated
and ironic tone.

32
 7. Cynical Realism (China) (1990s) -Cynical Realism is a satirical style of Chinese
contemporary painting which appeared in the 1990s following the suppression -
The Ashcan School was a small group of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.
Cynical
Realists borrowed imagery from various traditions, including Surrealism and
Symbolism, as well as. classical figure painting.
Art of the Impressionist
Impressionism can be considered the first distinctly modern movement in painting.
Developing in Paris in the 1860s, its influence spread throughout Europe and eventually the
United States. Its originators were artists who rejected the official, government-sanctioned
exhibitions, or salons, and were consequently shunned by powerful academic art institutions.
In turning away from the fine finish and detail to which most artists of their day aspired, the
Impressionists aimed to capture the momentary, sensory effect of a scene - the impression
objects made on the eye in a fleeting instant. To achieve this effect, many Impressionist
artists moved from the studio to the streets and countryside, painting in plein air.

Key Features
The Impressionists loosened their brushwork and lightened their palettes to include
pure, intense colors. They abandoned traditional linear perspective and avoided the clarity of
form that had previously served to distinguish the more important elements of a picture from
the lesser ones. For this reason, many critics faulted Impressionist paintings for their
unfinished appearance and seemingly amateurish quality.
Picking up on the ideas of Gustave Courbet, the Impressionists aimed to be painters
of the real - they aimed to extend the possible subjects for paintings. Getting away from
depictions of idealized forms and perfect symmetry, but rather concentrating on the world as
they saw it, imperfect in a myriad of ways.
At the time, there were many ideas of what constituted modernity, Part of the Impressionist
idea was to capture a split second of life, an ephemeral moment in time on the canvas: the
impression.
Scientific thought at the time was beginning to recognize that what the eye perceived
and what the brain understood were two different things. The Impressionists sought to
capture the former - the optical effects of light - to convey the passage of time, changes in
weather, and other shifts in the atmosphere in their canvases. Their art did not necessarily
rely on realistic depictions.
Impressionism records the effects of the massive mid-19th-century renovation of
Paris led by civic planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann, which included the city’s newly
constructed railway stations; wide tree-lined boulevards that replaced the formerly narrow,
crowded streets; and large, deluxe apartment buildings. The works that focused on scenes of
public leisure - especially scenes of cafés and cabarets- conveyed the new sense of alienation
experienced by the inhabitants of the first modern metropolis.
The Realist movement, championed by Gustave Courbet, first- confronted the official
Parisian art establishment in the middle of the 19th century, Courbet was an anarchist that
thought the art of his time closed its eyes on realities of life. The French were ruled by an
oppressive regime and much of the public was in the throes of poverty. Instead of depicting
such scenes, the artists of the time. concentrated on idealized nudes and glorious depictions
of nature. In his protest, Courbet financed an exhibition of his work right opposite the
Universal Exposition in Paris of 1855, a bold act that led to the emergence of future artists
that would challenge the status quo.

33
Exhibitions in Paris and the Salon des Refusés
In 1863, at the official annual art salon, the all-important event of the French art
world, a large number of artists were not allowed to participate, leading to public outery. The
same year, the Saion des Refusés ("Salon of the Refused") was formed in response to allow
the exhibition of works by artists who had previously been refused entrance to the official
salon. Some of the exhibitors were Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, James Whistler, and the
early iconoclast Édouard Manet. Although promoted by authorities and sanctioned by
Emperor Napoleon. III, the 1863 exhibition caused a scandal, due largely to the
unconventional themes and styles of works such as Manet's Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (1863),
which featured clothed men and naked women enjoying an afternoon picnic (the women
were not classical depictions of a nude, but rather women that took off their clothes).

Edouard Manet and the Painting

Revolution
Edouard Manet was among the first and most
important innovators to emerge in the public
exhibition scene in Paris. Although he grew up in
admiration of the Old Masters, he began to
incorporate an innovative, looser painting style and brighter
palette in the early 1860s. He also started to focus on
images of everyday life, such as scenes in cafés,
boudoirs, and out in the street. His anti-academic style
and quintessentially modern subject matter soon attracted
the attention of artists on the fringes and
influenced a new type of painting that would diverge
from the standards of the official salon. Similar to Le
dėjeuner sur l'herbe, his other works such as Olympia
(1863) gave the emerging group ideas to depict that
were not previously considered art worthy. Olympia
is a painting by Edouard Manet, first exhibited at the 1865 Paris Salon, which shows a nude
woman lying on a bed being brought flowers by a servant. Olympia was modeled by
Victorine Meurent and Olympia's servant by the art model Laure.

Post Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is a term used to describe the reaction in the 1880s against
Impressionism. It was led by Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh and Georges
Seurat. The Post-Impressionists rejected Impressionism's concern with the spontaneous and
naturalistic rendering of light and color.
Post-Impressionists extended Impressionism while rejecting its limitations: they
continued using vivid colors, often thick application of paint, and real-life subject matter, but
were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, distort form for expressive effect, and use
unnatural or arbitrary color.
Expressionist art tried to convey emotion and meaning rather than reality. Each artist had his
own unique way of "expressing" his emotions in his art. In order to express emotion, the
subjects are often distorted or exaggerated. At the same time, colors are often vivid and
shocking.
Known for their diverse yet distinctive styles and their subjective perceptions of the
world around them, the post-Impressionists pioneered a new approach to painting at the turn
of the century. Post-Impressionist artists were not unified by a single aesthetic approach.

34
Rather, what brought them together was a shared interest in openly exploring the mind of the
artist.
Characteristics of Post Impressionism
1. Emotional Symbolism- As fry
explained, post-Impressionists
believed that a work of art should not
revolve around style, process, or
aesthetic approach. Instead, it should
place emphasis on symbolism,
communicating messages from the
artist's own subconscious. Rather than
employ subject Pyramid of Skulls
(1901) by Paul Cezanne end, post-
Impressionists perceived it as a way to
convey feelings. According to Paul
Cézanne, "a work of art which did not
Pyramid of Skulls by Paul Cezanne
begin in emotion is not a work of art."
2. Evocative Color- Unlike the to capture natural
light's effect on tonality, post-Impressionists
purposely employed an artificial color palette as
a way to portray their emotion- drive
perceptions of the world around them.
Saturated hues, multicolored shadows, and rich
ranges of color are evident most post-
Impressionist paintings, proving the artists'
innovative and imaginative approach to
representation.
3. Distinctive Brushstroke - Like works
completed in the Impressionist style,
most post-Impressionist pieces feature
discernible, broad brushstrokes. In addition to
adding texture and a sense of depth to a work of
art, these marks also point to the painterly Yellow Christ by Paul Gauguin
qualities of the piece, making it clear that it is
not intended to be a realistic representation of its
subject. Yellow Christ by Paul Gauguin the
Bathers by Paul Cezanne

The Bathers by Paul Cezanne

35
36