Early American House Styles

History of Art and Architecture

Medieval Period

• Half-timbering was a characteristic feature of medieval houses
• Early houses were small, one-roomed with a loft
• New England Hall and Parlor plan had an overhanging second story, small windows, and a central chimney
• Garrison Colonial style had steep pitched roofs to allow rain and snow to run off easily
• New England Saltbox style developed from the Hall and Parlor style with an additional ell or lean-to on the back

Federal Style

• Named after the American historical period (1783-1815)
• Characterized by neoclassicism, with a stricter version of the style
• Features of domestic architecture include:
  • Low-pitched or flat roofs, often concealed behind a balustrade
  • Moldings of low relief and delicate ornamentation
  • Classical orders (Doric, Ionic, etc.) with diminutive capitals and slender columns
  • Emphasis on central entrance, with a small portico, crowning fan-light, and narrow sidelights
  • Curved lines, Palladian windows, and circular or elliptical windows

Thomas Jefferson

• American founding father, principal author of The Declaration of Independence, and third president
• Had a significant influence on the architecture of the period
• Involved in the design and construction of the US Capitol Building and urban planning in Washington DC
• Enthusiast of neoclassical art, which influenced the development of 19th-century architecture in America

Architectural Landmarks

• The Rotunda at the University of Virginia
  • Housed the library, with professors' pavilions representing individual disciplines
  • Each pavilion demonstrated the correct use of a different Roman order
• US Capitol Building
  • Neoclassic domes symbolize democracy

Victorian Architecture

• Characterized by:
  • Cast-iron framing
  • Utilitarian structures often lacking traditional ornamentation
• Examples:
  • Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton
    • Made of prefabricated iron and glass panels
  • National Library, Paris by Henri Labrouste
    • Use of slender cast-iron columns and nine vaulted sky-lit domes
  • Eiffel Tower by Gustav Eiffel
    • Iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris
  • Paris Opera House (1874) by Charles Garnier
    • Ornate building with friezes, columns, and winged figures among other statues and embellishments

The Monticello

• Thomas Jefferson's house outside Charlottesville
• Features neoclassical touch and style
• Domesticated the Pantheon in the great tradition of residential Pantheons

Victorian Era

• Historical background:
  • Industrialization brought innovations in architecture
  • Victorian styles include Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick, Eastlake, Queen Anne, Romanesque, and Second Empire
• Characterized by:
  • Rapid changes in style due to aesthetic controversy and technological innovations
  • Frequent presence of ostentatious ornamentation
  • Trend from classicism to Romanticism and eclecticism

Eclecticism in the US

• Greek Revival:
  • First true national style in the United States
  • Found in all regions of the country
  • Originated in the late 18th century with classical tradition and democracy
• Gothic Revival:
  • Characterized by the use of elements of medieval architecture
  • Often used for churches and universities
• Romanesque Revival:
  • Based on the architecture of the 11th and 12th centuries
  • Characterized by round arches and massive stone walls
  • Often used for churches and public buildings
• Italianate Style:
  • Characterized by the use of elements of Italian Renaissance architecture
  • Often used for commercial buildings and houses
• Second Empire Style:
  • Characterized by the use of elements of French Second Empire architecture
  • Often used for houses and public buildings
• Queen Anne Style:
  • Characterized by the use of a variety of elements from different historical styles
  • Often used for houses

Realism

• Rejected imaginative idealization of nature or contemporary life
• Featured honestly everyday people and situations
• Focus on scientific concepts of vision and the study of optical effects of light
• Artists:
  • John Singleton Copley
  • Gustav Courbet
  • Hilaire Germaine Edgar Degas
  • Edouard Manet
• Schools:
  • Barbizon School
  • Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
  • Hudson River School

Honore Daumier

• Lithographer and cartoonist
• Satirized Parisian life and the classical tradition
• Famous for his satirical caricatures

Claude Monet

• Landscape impressionist and leader of the pleinairists
• Adapted the practice of painting a single subject a number of times in varying lights and seasons
• Works:
  • Autumn Effect on Argenteuil
  • Les Bassin de Nympheas
  • Impression: Sunrise

Transitional (from Realism to Impressionism) Painters

• Edouard Manet
  • Statement in form of the artist's individual freedom
  • Use of shallow perspective
  • Works:
    • Dejeuner sur l'herb
    • Olympia
    • Dead Toreador

Impressionism

• Movement in French painting
• Characteristics:
  • Light and its reflection
  • Quickly painted surfaces
  • Dots, dashes, commas, and other short brushstrokes
  • Bright pure colors and separating them
  • Modern life as the subject matter
• Important artists:
  • Monet
  • Edouard Manet
  • Edgar Degas
  • Pierre August Renoir
  • Rodin

Neo-Impressionism

• Movement in French painting
• Characteristics:
  • Systematic calculation and scientific theory
  • Pointillism technique
  • Artists:
    • George Pierre Seurat

Symbolism

• Movement providing an intellectual alternative to the purely visual painting of the Impressionists
• Artists:
  • Paul Gaugain
  • Edvard Munch
  • James Ensor
  • Gustav Klimt

Synthetism

• Theory of art that posted works of art ought to blend three primary elements:
  • The outward appearance of the subject
  • The artist's emotional reaction to the subject
  • Artistic choices of color, form, and line
• Artists:
  • Paul Cezanne

Fauvism

• Movement in French painting
• Characteristics:
  • Use of bold and spontaneous brushstrokes
  • Brilliant colors
  • Depiction of wild animals
• Artists:
  • Henri Matisse
  • André Derain

Arts and Crafts Movement

• Reaction against the poor quality of mass-produced goods
• Valuing craftsmanship over mass production
• Key characteristics:
  • Rejection of machine frames and steel frames
  • Use of wood, stone, and other natural materials
  • Designs were often simple and functional
• Architectural landmarks:
  • The Glasgow School of Art by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
  • The Red House by Philip Webb

Art Nouveau

• Style of fine and applied arts
• Characteristics:
  • Fluid and undulating motifs often derived from nature
  • Use of sinuous, organic lines
• Versions:
  • Style Guimard in France
  • Stile Floreale in Italy
  • Stile Liberty in Great Britain
  • Modernismo in Spain
  • Sezessionsstil in Austria
  • Jugendstijl in German-speaking countries
• Architectural landmarks:
  • Hotel Tassel, Brussels by Victor Horta
  • Casa Mila, Barcelona by Antoni Gaudi

Art Deco

• Style of decorative art
• Characteristics:
  • Geometric motifs
  • Streamlined and curvilinear forms
  • Sharply-defined outlines
  • Often bold colors
  • Use of synthetic materials
• Architectural landmarks:
  • The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona by Antoni Gaudi
  • Paris Metro Entrances by Hector Guimard
  • Chrysler Building, New York City
  • The Empire State Building, New York City

Expressionism

• Opposition to academic standards
• Emphasized artists' subjective emotion
• General features:
  • Representational accuracy is sacrificed
  • Strong outlines and bold colors
  • Compositions tend to be simpler and more direct
  • Thick impasto paint, loose, freely applied brushstrokes, and occasional symbolism
• Important artists:
  • Vincent Van Gogh
  • Edward Munch
  • Egon Schiele
  • Franz Marc

Abstraction

• Movement of conscious and methodological destruction of particular and recognizable in appearance
• Artistic elimination of rational visual association
• Important artists:
  • Wassily Kandinsky
  • Kazimir Malevich
  • Piet Mondrian

Cubism

• Showed objects in their basic geometric shapes
• Important artists:
  • Georges Braque
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Juan Gris