Art of Emerging Europe PDF

# Art of Emerging Europe ## Ancient Greece - Greeks were known to place prime importance in the use of reason. - Man was at the center of society. - Greeks were passionate about natural phenomenon and believed that nature should be in perfect order. - The development of Greek art can be divided in...

# Art of Emerging Europe ## Ancient Greece - Greeks were known to place prime importance in the use of reason. - Man was at the center of society. - Greeks were passionate about natural phenomenon and believed that nature should be in perfect order. - The development of Greek art can be divided into four periods: Geometric, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic. ### "Lacoon and His Sons" This is an example of work wherein the Greeks emphasized the details of the body. Most subjects of their work included those of the gods from Greek mythology. The image shows a sculpture of a large, muscular, nude man with two smaller men. They are entangled in a snake. ## Ancient Rome - The Romans were fond of the Greeks and their achievements in the arts. The fusion of Greek and Roman cultures can be seen in most Roman artworks. ## Middle Ages - Period characterized by ignorance and darkness. - Church was the central figure and authority of the period. - Since the Church was the most important figure, the most important products of the early Middle Ages would have to be copies of the Christian scriptures. - Great cathedrals were also built during this time: Romanesque and Gothic. ### "Poseidon and Medusa" Just like the Greeks, the Romans valued their gods and this was evident with their sculptures and artworks. The image shows a sculpture of a man, possibly the figure of Poseidon, holding the head of Medusa, a woman with snakes for hair. ## Renaissance Art - During the Renaissance Period, artists valued the "individual" as a subject of arts. The influence of humanism shifted the focus of some artworks during the Renaissance Period to empower the "individual." Most artworks emphasized **naturalism**, which was also an influence of humanism since there was a great emphasis on the proportionality of the human body. ## Mannerism - Mannerism was a period in art history which was a product of the Renaissance Period. During the Renaissance, artists would observe nature and try their best to emulate it based on their observations. As the Renaissance ended, artists started directly copying subjects from existing works of art. Most artworks during this period displayed distorted figures, two-dimensional spaces, discordant hues and colors, and lack of defined focal point. ### Michelangelo, "David." This sculpture is an example of how humanism was a dominant belief system during the Renaissance. There is emphasis on the details of the body of the human being. The image shows a sculpture of a nude, muscular man. ## Baroque and Rococo - The term "baroque" is derived from the Portuguese term barocco which is translated as "irregularly shaped pearl." This is a suitable description that Rome was the birthplace of the Baroque Period, which according to some historians was a response to Protestantism. - The term "Baroque" is thought to have emerged from the Italian word barocco, which was used by medieval philosophers to refer to an "obstacle in schematic logic." Barocco later became a term for any contorted idea or complex thought process. ### Baroque Art Characteristics - Compared to the more classicist motifs and a passive space in Renaissance works, Baroque art was perhaps "contorted" in that it was shockingly different. Baroque paintings were illusionistic (sharing physical space with the viewer, and providing multiple, changing views), while sculptures and architecture were adorned with illustrations. Together, Baroque works created a decorative unity in the churches and other spaces in which they were commonly seen. ### Baroque Art Definition - Active dates: c. 1600-1750 - Stemmed from Italian word for "contorted idea" - Arose mainly as a means to promote the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation - Emphasizes faith in church and power in state - Dramatic contrasts of lights and darks  - Emotional, often religious depictions  - Feelings of grandeur, awe, movement and tension - Hidden sources of light  - Various contrasting textures - All encompassing works (illusionistic) - Materials: bronzes, gildings, plaster, marble, stucco - Focal point in architecture: entrance axis, pavilion  ### Caravaggio (1571-1610) "Saint Jerome Writing," - Italian painter - Known for: dramatic use of lighting in Baroque paintings. The image shows a man, possibly Saint Jerome, illuminated by light from a window, sitting and writing in a room. ### Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) - Italian sculptor and architect - Known for: creating the Baroque style of sculpture. The image shows a large, ornate, gold structure inside a church. ### "The Assumption of the Virgin" The Biblical event in the painting shows how the Baroque Period reverted to having religious subjects in their works. The image shows a painting in an arched frame that portrays the ascension of a woman into the heavens surrounded by many angels. ## Rococo - The term "Rococo" likely stemmed from the French word rocaille, which means "pebbles" and refers to the stones and shells that were used to decorate interiors of caves. Shells and similar forms eventually became the primary Rococo motif. ### Rococo Art Characteristics - Though Rococo emerged from Baroque art, Rococo artists turned away from Baroque's dramatic symbolism of the church's power. Instead, they honed in on elegantly elevating the power and class of French aristocrats. Rococo represented "secular high fashion." - The Rococo art movement, which primarily came about through interior decoration, saw pastels replacing Baroque's vivid light and shadow; light became present and scattered, not hidden. Rococo paintings often show jovial scenes of society's elite, whether at home or out frolicking in open green pastures. Symbols of play, romance, beauty, sex, and mythology are often apparent in artworks of the period. ### Rococo Definition - Active Dates: c. 1715-1789 - Stemmed from French word for shells and pebbles - Often characterized by shell motifs - Emerged during the Enlightenment  - Emphasizes goals of knowledge, freedom, happiness - Pastel, light, soft colors - Ethereal, delicate, graceful scenes of elite - Feelings of playfulness, happiness, romance  - Scattered light - Typically non-religious - Symbols of sex, beauty, courtship, mythology - Materials: bronzes, gildings, marble, carved wood, stucco - Asymmetrical, curved forms and shapes  ### Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) "The Feast of Love," 1718-19 - French painter - Known for: founding the French Rococo style. The image shows a scene of a pastoral landscape, with a group of men and women interacting in the foreground. ## Neoclassicism - Neoclassicism was a movement in Europe that transpired during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was the dominant art movement that time which basically aimed to revive and rekindle the influences of Greek and Roman into art and architecture. - Neoclassicism is the 18th and 19th century movement that developed in Europe as a reaction to the excesses of Baroque and Rococo. The movement sought to return to the classical beauty and magnificence of the Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. Neoclassical art is based on simplicity and symmetry and takes its inspiration from the German art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann who believed that art should aim at the ideal forms and beauty of Greek art. As he wrote: > "The one way for us to become great, perhaps inimitable, is by imitating the ancients." ### Antonio Canova, "Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix" The image shows a reclining nude woman on a chaise lounge. - Neoclassical painters wanted to depict the beauty and the harmony of a subject. They combine an idealistic style, using perspective with drama and forcefulness according to Winckelmann's definition of the movement as "noble simplicity and calm grandeur". Neoclassical works, therefore, are serious, unemotional, and heroic. Restraint and simplicity, along with precise depiction and close congruence of clear form and noble content, are the main characteristics of Neoclassicism. ## Romanticism - Romanticism, as an art movement, used the central themes of Neoclassicist artworks as a springboard. Romanticists have highlighted heroic elements into their work. - One of the major revolutions in history would be the French Revolution. Such revolutionary moments became the focal point of most Romantic works. - The major and central themes of Romanticism movement include the emphasis on the **goodness of mankind**. Most works also promoted **justice, equality, and social order**. Artists also emphasized emotions and feelings of man, which was a deviation from the humanist principles of rationalism. ### "The Raft of Medusa" The image shows a painting of a raft filled with people in a stormy sea. ## Realism - Realism as a style of work focuses on the accuracy of details that depicts and somehow mirrors reality. There is little room for imagination in this movement since emphasis is placed in observable traits that can concretize through artworks. Realism was heavily influenced by Hellenistic Greek culture since most artworks during that period placed emphasis on the human body. - Realism as a modern movement in art veered away from traditional forms of art. - Since artists worked within the context of revolutions and social change, artistic works began to depict real life events. Idealistic concepts and images were replaced by real manifestations of society. There is a move to combine both art and life in artistic works since the modern world were suitable subjects of art. This movement also re-examined existing belief systems and traditions. ### Gustave Courbet, "Burial at Ornans" The image shows a painting with a group of people gathered in a field. ## Impressionism - The Impressionism movement started in France, which led to a break from the tradition in European painting. Impressionism is a style of painting that emerged in the mid- to late 1800s. Impressionist artists incorporated scientific principles to achieve a more distinct representation of color. - The distinctive characteristic of this style is that it allows the artist to emphasize the immediate impression he has of a particular event or scene. The said impression is communicated by the artist through his work and can be seen through the brushstrokes, distinction of colors, and the lights and shadows used by the artist. - capture natural light's affect on tonality - hazy forms  ### Berthe Morisot, "The Harbor at Lorient" (1869) Impressionist artists started moving art outdoors which aimed to include the shifting light they wanted to capture in their works. The image shows a painting of a waterscape with a woman sitting by the water's edge. ## Post-Impressionism - It is an art movement that emerged in France, which is a result of both the influence and rejection of Impressionism. - Post-Impressionism is an art movement that developed in the 1890s. It is characterized by a subjective approach to painting, as artists opted to *evoke emotion rather than realism* in their work. While their styles, therefore, wildly varied, paintings completed in the Post-Impressionist manner share some similar qualities. These include symbolic motifs, unnatural color, and painterly brushstrokes. ### Vincent van Gogh, 'The Starry Night' (1889) The image shows a painting of a night sky with a village in the background. ### Defining Characteristics of Post-Impressionism **Emotional Symbolism** - 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 matter as a visual tool or means to an end, Post-Impressionists perceived it as a way to convey feelings. According to Paul Cézanne, "a work of art which did not begin in emotion is not a work of art." ### Paul Cézanne, 'Pyramid of Skulls' (1901) The image shows a painting of four skulls on a table. ### Evocative Color - "Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams." -Paul Gauguin - Unlike the Impressionists who strived to capture natural light's affect 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 in most Post-Impressionist paintings, proving the artists' innovative and imaginative approach to representation. ### Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 'At the Moulin Rouge' (1892-1895) The image shows a painting of a crowded scene inside a nightclub. ### Distinctive Brushstrokes - 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 qualities of the piece, making it clear that it is not intended to be a realistic representation of its subject. ### Vincent van Gogh, 'Undergrowth with Two Figures' (1890) The image shows a painting of two people in a green forest. ## Neo-Impressionism - As an art movement, neo-impressionism is considered as a response to empirical realism of impressionism. Most painters who subscribe to such movement rely on a systematic and scientific techniques that have a predetermined visual effects not only on the artwork itself but also how the audience perceive the art. - The term Neo-Impressionism refers to a pictorial technique where color pigments are no longer mixed either on the palette or directly on canvas, but instead placed as small dots side by side. Mixing of colors takes place from a suitable distance, in the observer's eye, as an "optical mixture". - In the early 1880s, French painter Georges Seurat studied writings on color theory by French chemists Eugène Chevreul (1786-1889), Charles Henry, and American physicist Ogden Rood, and invented a new painting technique that he named "separation of color" or "Divisionism," the main advantage of which is to give a greater vibrancy of color. - Seurat's first large painting (206x305cm) "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" - 1884-1886 may be considered as the founding masterpiece of Divisionism. ### "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" - Georges Seurat, 1884-86 The image shows a painting of a group of people in a park on an island in a river. - The terms **divisionism** and **pointillism** originated in descriptions of Seurat's painting technique, in which paint was applied to the canvas in dots of contrasting pigment. A calculated arrangement of colored dots, based on optical science, was intended to be perceived by the retina as a single hue. The entire canvas was covered with these dots, which defined form without the use of lines and bathed all objects in an intense, vibrating light. In each picture, the dots were of a uniform size, calculated to harmonize with the overall size of the painting. In place of the hazy forms of Impressionism, those of Neo-Impressionism had solidity and clarity and were simplified to reveal the carefully composed relationships between them. Though the light quality was as brilliant as that of Impressionism, the general effect was of immobile, harmonious monumentality, a crystallization of the fleeting light of Impressionism. ## Art Nouveau - Between 1890 and 1910, countries from Europe and the United States witnessed the emergence and flourishing of a new art style. This **ornamental style of art** was a break from the **conservative historicism**, which was the prevailing and dominant theme of most Western artworks.  - This ornamental style uses long and organic lines that are concretely manifested in architecture, jewelry, glass design, among others. - In most works, the defining characteristic of Art Nouveau is the asymmetrical line that usually is in the form of insect wings or flower stalks. The line is done in such a graceful and elegant manner that somehow evokes a certain power to it. ### (Image of 1900s Art Nouveau Art) The image shows a depiction of a woman's face inprofile. The image is surrounded by an ornate design featuring zodiac symbols. ## Fauvism - This is a style of painting that emerged in France around the turn of the 20th century. What makes Fauvists revolutionary is that they used pure and vibrant colors by applying straight from the paint tubes directly to the canvas. ## Cubism - Between 1907 and 1914, French artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque introduced a new visual arts style called cubism. This style would later on have a huge influence on artists during the 20th century. Cubists highlighted the two-dimensional surface of the picture plane. ### (Image of Cubist Painting) The image shows a split painting. The left side shows a woman playing a guitar with a geometric pattern. The right side shows a person playing a guitar through a geometric pattern.  ## Futurism - It is an early 20th century art movement that started in Italy, which highlighted the speed, energy, dynamism, and power of machines. In addition, common themes for works in this movement are restlessness and the fast-pace of modern life. ## Greek Art Periods - The **Geometric Period** was when geometric shapes and patterns have taken the spotlight in most of the artworks.  - The **Archaic Period**, on the other hand, placed importance on human figures. This was primarily a result of Greece's trading activities with other civilizations. - The peak of Greek sculpture and architecture was during the **Classical Period**. - The time of Alexander the Great was called the **Hellenistic Period.** During this time, art was primarily focused on showcasing emotions and depicting reality. **(Image of geometric, abstract painting - maybe Fauvist or Cubist)**