Art History: Key Artworks and Analysis | Study Guide

1. Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing ​ Date: 1767​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Loose brushstrokes, soft blending, delicate color transitions​ ​ Culture: French Rococo​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Created in pre-Revolutionary France during a time of aristocratic ex...

1. Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing ​ Date: 1767​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Loose brushstrokes, soft blending, delicate color transitions​ ​ Culture: French Rococo​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Created in pre-Revolutionary France during a time of aristocratic excess.​ ○​ Reflects the courtly life and pleasures of the elite under King Louis XV.​ ○​ Commissioned by a nobleman; this art catered to a narrow, elite audience.​ ○​ Part of a growing tension between social classes, as peasants and intellectuals criticized such decadence.​ ○​ Had little moral function—celebrated erotic playfulness, which Enlightenment thinkers saw as shallow.​ ​ Visual Elements: Pastel color palette, overgrown lush garden, exaggerated movement (diagonals), sensuous forms​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Rococo—light, playful, ornamental; influenced by Baroque dynamism but stripped of moral weight​ ​ Content - Narrative: A woman swings in a lush garden while her lover secretly watches; an older man pushes the swing unknowingly​ ​ Function: Commissioned private work to indulge fantasy and eroticism​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Abandoned Baroque religious and dramatic themes; replaced them with light-hearted romance, reflecting elite disconnection from the public’s struggles.​ 2. William Hogarth, Marriage à la Mode (focus: Tête-à-Tête)  ​ Date: 1743–1745​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Sequential narrative painting, detailed realism, symbolic layering​ ​ Culture: British Enlightenment​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Created during the rise of the British middle class, who valued moral clarity and rational thought.​ ○​ Reflects Enlightenment ideals—satire as a tool of reform.​ ○​ Marriage was becoming a social contract rather than a romantic bond—Hogarth criticizes marriages of convenience.​ ○​ Highly influential in forming a British tradition of narrative moral art.​ ○​ Shows how Enlightenment ideals like reason and critique were applied to everyday life.​ ​ Visual Elements: Naturalistic interior, ironic details (broken sword, dog sniffing bonnet), figures shown in mid-gesture​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Dutch genre painting (Vermeer, Steen); satire and realism combined​ ​ Content - Narrative: A young couple married for money and status, already estranged; hints of infidelity and boredom​ ​ Function: To warn against the corruption of aristocratic lifestyles; early example of art as public moral education​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Shift from aristocratic self-glorification (Rococo) to middle-class moral critique and realism.​ 3. Joseph Wright of Derby, A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery  ​ Date: 1763–1765​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Dramatic chiaroscuro, tight composition, theatrical light from the orrery​ ​ Culture: English Enlightenment​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Created during the Age of Reason—science was displacing religion as a source of truth.​ ○​ Derby was a center of the Industrial Revolution; Wright was fascinated by technology, machines, and scientific curiosity.​ ○​ Wright portrayed scientists like other artists depicted saints—elevating science to a spiritual level.​ ○​ Influential in redefining the hero—not a soldier or noble, but a thinker or teacher.​ ​ Visual Elements: Focal light source from the orrery, emotional faces of children and adults, scientific instruments​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Caravaggio’s lighting adapted to secular Enlightenment themes​ ​ Content - Narrative: A lecturer demonstrates planetary motion to a group of curious students​ ​ Function: Celebrate scientific discovery and rational thinking; inspire the viewer to seek knowledge​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Art no longer glorified monarchy or the church but everyday people engaging with truth.​ 4. Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii ​ Date: 1784​  ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Crisp linearity, controlled brushwork, staged architecture​ ​ Culture: French Neoclassicism​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Painted in Rome before the French Revolution, but became a symbol of Republican virtue.​ ○​ Commissioned by the French monarchy—but interpreted by the public as a call to patriotism and sacrifice.​ ○​ Echoed Enlightenment ideals like duty to the state over personal desire.​ ○​ Later used as propaganda during the Revolution and Napoleonic era.​ ​ Visual Elements: Arched backdrop, rigid masculine figures vs. emotional, slumped women; spotlight on central gesture​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Ancient Roman history and architecture; Stoic poses echo Classical statuary​ ​ Content - Narrative: Roman brothers swear loyalty to Rome in a moment of solemn duty​ ​ Function: Moral inspiration: loyalty, sacrifice, civic virtue​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Reaction against Rococo leisure and frivolity—serious art for a serious political moment.​ 5. Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington ​ Date: 1788–1792​ ​ Medium: Marble​ ​ Technique: Naturalistic carving, contrapposto, classical stylization​  ​ Culture: American Neoclassicism​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Commissioned after the American Revolution; embodies Republican ideals and Enlightenment rationalism.​ ○​ Houdon traveled to Virginia and made a life mask of Washington—this statue is both idealized and rooted in realism.​ ○​ Fasces and plow reference Roman Republic and American values of civic duty.​ ○​ Helped define how the new American state would represent its leaders: not as kings, but as citizens.​ ​ Visual Elements: Calm stance, military uniform, Roman fasces by leg, plow behind​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Roman Republican sculpture; idealized body with realistic head​ ​ Content - Narrative: George Washington presented as a statesman-warrior who chooses service over power​ ​ Function: Public monument for civic admiration and inspiration​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Breaks with monarchic glorification; fuses Classical symbols with modern Republican identity.​ 6. Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait ​ Date: 1790​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Smooth, naturalistic brushwork with warm tones​ ​ Culture: French Neoclassical​  ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Painted during Vigée Le Brun’s exile after the start of the French Revolution; she had been Marie Antoinette’s court painter.​ ○​ She was one of the few female members of the Royal Academy, breaking gender boundaries in art.​ ○​ Reflects Enlightenment ideas about individual identity, women’s capabilities, and self-expression.​ ​ Visual Elements: Confident pose, engaging eye contact, painting a portrait (likely of the queen), rich textures​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Neoclassical clarity + Rococo warmth; resembles portraits by Rubens and Van Dyck​ ​ Content - Narrative: A female artist painting herself, asserting her professionalism​ ​ Function: Public self-promotion as an artist; expression of dignity, intelligence, and status​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Moves away from passive female subjects—empowers the female artist as the creator, not just the muse.​ 7. Ogata Korin, White and Red Plum Blossoms ​ Date: c. 1710–1716​ ​ Medium: Ink, watercolor, gold leaf on paper​ ​ Technique: Tarashikomi (wet-on-wet ink application for soft textures)​ ​ Culture: Japanese (Edo Period)​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Created during a time of peace and prosperity under the Tokugawa shogunate, when art became highly refined and decorative.​  ○​ Part of the Rinpa school, which emphasized elegance, nature, and stylization.​ ○​ Reflects Japanese aesthetic ideals such as wabi-sabi (transience) and mono no aware (gentle sadness of things).​ ​ Visual Elements: Stylized trees, flowing stream, use of empty space, asymmetry, shimmering gold​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Inspired by classical Japanese court art (Heian period), but reimagined with abstract minimalism​ ​ Content - Narrative: Seasonal beauty; no overt narrative—focus is on the mood of nature​ ​ Function: Decorative screen for elite home or temple, meditative and luxurious​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Unlike Western narrative art, this piece is non-narrative, symbolic, and celebrates abstract naturalism.​ 8. Katsushika Hokusai, The Great Wave off Kanagawa ​ Date: 1830–1833​ ​ Medium: Polychrome woodblock print​ ​ Technique: Woodblock print with ink and color​ ​ Culture: Japanese (Edo Period)​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ From Hokusai’s famous Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji series​ ○​ Produced during a period of urbanization and leisure class growth in Edo Japan; art became affordable and widely circulated.​ ○​ Shows Japanese exposure to Western ideas like linear perspective, combined with traditional Japanese aesthetic.​  ​ Visual Elements: Dramatic wave curling like a claw, tiny boats, distant Mt. Fuji, dynamic diagonals​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world); inspired later Impressionists like Monet​ ​ Content - Narrative: Nature’s immense power vs. human fragility; Mt. Fuji as a sacred but distant anchor​ ​ Function: Affordable art print for common citizens; visual beauty with deep symbolic meaning​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Combines traditional Japanese design with Western perspective and narrative force.​ 9. Francisco Goya, And There’s Nothing to Be Done (Y no hay remedio) ​ Date: 1810–1820​ ​ Medium: Etching, drypoint, aquatint (print)​ ​ Technique: Printmaking with tonal depth and stark contrasts​ ​ Culture: Spanish Romantic​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Part of Goya’s Disasters of War series, a personal response to the Napoleonic invasion of Spain.​ ○​ Reflects the brutality and despair of guerrilla warfare and political oppression.​ ○​ Not intended for public release in his lifetime—it was too raw and damning.​ ​ Visual Elements: Bound, blindfolded man in crucifixion-like pose; off-frame rifles imply his imminent death​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Romanticism’s emotional power + documentary realism​ ​ Content - Narrative: The horrors of political execution; humanity stripped of dignity​  ​ Function: Anti-war visual testimony; emotional truth over heroic myth​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Breaks with neoclassical glorification of war—this is personal, emotional, and horrifying.​ 10. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, La Grande Odalisque ​ Date: 1814​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Precise linearity, smooth surface, anatomical elongation​ ​ Culture: French Romanticism with Neoclassical training​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Painted during Napoleon’s empire, when interest in exotic "Oriental" subjects was widespread in Europe.​ ○​ Commissioned by Napoleon’s sister, Queen of Naples.​ ○​ Criticized at first for anatomical inaccuracy, but became iconic for its sensual abstraction.​ ○​ Reflects colonialist fantasies of the "Other"—not a real harem woman, but a European idea of one.​ ​ Visual Elements: Elongated back, rich fabrics, cool tones, direct gaze (yet submissive posture)​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Classical technique + Romantic exoticism; inspired by Titian, Raphael, and Turkish themes​ ​ Content - Narrative: Idealized nude female reclining in an imagined Eastern harem​ ​ Function: Erotic and decorative art for elite taste; European control over the exoticized female body​  ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Combines Neoclassical form with Romantic themes of sensuality and exotic fantasy.​ 11. Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People ​ Date: 1830​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Painterly brushstrokes, vibrant color contrasts, dynamic composition​ ​ Culture: French Romanticism​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Created in response to the July Revolution of 1830, which overthrew King Charles X and led to the rise of the constitutional monarchy.​ ○​ Liberty is portrayed as an allegorical female figure (Marianne), a symbol of France and the people’s freedom.​ ○​ Blends historical record and idealism; was both a nationalist rallying cry and Romantic tribute to revolution.​ ○​ Banned from public view for years for being too politically charged.​ ​ Visual Elements: Tri-color flag, dead bodies in the foreground, figures from various classes (bourgeois, workers, child), pyramid composition​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Romantic; influenced by Rubens’ energy and Goya’s realism; anti-academic, emotionally raw​ ​ Content - Narrative: Personification of Liberty leading the people to freedom over fallen enemies​ ​ Function: Political allegory and revolutionary tribute; inspires patriotic resistance​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Combines classical allegory with modern political immediacy; romanticizes revolution with emotion and inclusivity.​ 12. Théodore Géricault, Raft of the Medusa ​ Date: 1818–1819​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Painterly realism, dark tonal palette, diagonal tension​ ​ Culture: French Romanticism​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Based on a real shipwreck of a French naval vessel, where government incompetence led to starvation, cannibalism, and death.​ ○​ Géricault interviewed survivors, studied cadavers, and constructed a raft replica in his studio for accuracy.​ ○​ A critique of government corruption, hidden in allegorical form.​ ​ Visual Elements: Dead and dying bodies, stormy sea, one figure signals for help at the farthest diagonal​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Romanticism; inspired by Michelangelo’s bodies and Caravaggio’s realism​ ​ Content - Narrative: Desperation and fragile hope in a moment of human suffering at sea​ ​ Function: Political and moral critique; redefines heroism as survival​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Took Neoclassical technique but rejected stoicism for emotion and real-life horror.​ 13. Thomas Cole, The Oxbow ​ Date: 1836​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​  ​ Technique: Landscape realism with symbolic elements​ ​ Culture: American Romanticism / Hudson River School​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Painted in the U.S. during a time of westward expansion and Manifest Destiny.​ ○​ Shows the tension between untamed wilderness and cultivated land, reflecting on man's role in shaping nature.​ ○​ Cole inserts himself into the painting, questioning progress and preservation.​ ​ Visual Elements: Storm over wild forest (left), calm farmland in a literal oxbow-shaped bend (right), river as boundary​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Inspired by European Romanticism but rooted in American landscape nationalism​ ​ Content - Narrative: A symbolic journey of civilization from wild to ordered land​ ​ Function: Promote American land as both sublime and sacred; document the nation’s growing identity​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Shift from European history painting to landscape as a spiritual-political message.​ 14. J.M.W. Turner, The Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On) ​ Date: 1840​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Vivid, swirling brushwork; emotionally charged abstraction​ ​ Culture: British Romanticism​ ​ Contextual Information:​  ○​ Inspired by the real-life Zong massacre, where enslaved Africans were thrown overboard for insurance fraud.​ ○​ Exhibited during the anti-slavery movement in Britain.​ ○​ Prioritized emotional truth over physical accuracy—Turner wanted viewers to feel the horror.​ ​ Visual Elements: Drowning bodies, stormy sea, red sun, indistinct slaver ship​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Romantic sublime; loose and abstracted, foreshadowing Impressionism​ ​ Content - Narrative: Nature’s fury responding to man’s cruelty​ ​ Function: Anti-slavery statement; political and emotional impact through sublime beauty​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: From narrative clarity to overwhelming emotion and abstraction as protest.​ 15. Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog ​ Date: 1818​ ​ Medium: Oil on canvas​ ​ Technique: Fine, controlled brushwork; soft atmospheric perspective​ ​ Culture: German Romanticism​ ​ Contextual Information:​ ○​ Created during a time of philosophical Romanticism in Germany (Kant, Hegel); nature seen as a path to the sublime and divine.​ ○​ Friedrich was a devout Lutheran and saw landscape as spiritual self-reflection.​ ○​ Reflects nationalistic pride and introspective solitude following Napoleonic occupation.​ ​ Visual Elements: Figure with back turned (Rückenfigur), misty mountains, steep precipice​ ​ Style (Was inspired by/Used): Romantic sublime; influenced by Gothic and spiritual landscape traditions​ ​ Content - Narrative: A lone man confronts nature’s immensity; metaphor for self-contemplation​ ​ Function: Inspire awe, reflection, spiritual awe—the viewer becomes the wanderer​ ​ How it Evolved from Past Characteristics: Replaces historical narrative with emotionally internal experience—nature becomes the story.