Art & Architecture Movements in France PDF

Artistic talent has been around for a long time in France for about 35,000 years in fact ! Carbon dated cave drawings: charcoal and a type of red pigment. Grotte Chauvet, Ardèche (département)  The canyons/gorges of the river Ardèche Chauvet 2 Musée...

Artistic talent has been around for a long time in France for about 35,000 years in fact ! Carbon dated cave drawings: charcoal and a type of red pigment. Grotte Chauvet, Ardèche (département)  The canyons/gorges of the river Ardèche Chauvet 2 Musée NB. Homo sapiens (modern humans) enters Europe around 47,000 years ago. 1. Turkey, Danube. 2. Mediterranean coast Late Mousterian = Neanderthals (in Europe 350,000 years ago) Neanderthals were hominins (humans or directly related to humans), who disappeared around 40,000 years ago after relatively brief contact with Homo sapiens. 1-4 % of European DNA. Musée des Confluences  Grotte Mandrin (Rhône Valley). 2022 : A homo sapiens ? tooth found, mixed up with a lot of Neanderthal bones: 56,000 years old ! Doubts about the the tooth, but if it is a Sapiens tooth, homo sapiens entered Western Europe 10,000 years earlier than currently thought ! CELTIC ART. FROM AROUND 450 BC. Circular, floral, animals, no straight lines. Brooches (pin attachments) No written records (Druids) A. Classical Greek and Roman art and architecture Roman art and sculpture in France. 81BC – 500 AD Frescoes and mosaics best represent the 'art' of the period It is through the sculptures and statues, and through the remaining Roman buildings, that the artistic capabilities of the Romans are best seen : decoration and artistry. Columns : Greek column types used by Greeks and Romans: Doric, Ionic, & Corinthian Column Capitals Roman statue. Aphrodite (Venus) Saint- Romain-en- Gal (Vienne) 2nd century AD Roman Mosaic. Saint Romain-en-Gal (Vienne). Poseidon (Neptune)  NB. Lyon: Gothic style houses : 28 et 36 rue Saint-Jean, 8 rue Juiverie, 18 rue Lainerie, 2 montée du Gourguillon. The persistence of French religious art Mary Magdalen was a prostitute who repented and followed Jesus. The Penitent Magdalen (1640) by Georges de Latour is rich in religious symbolism. Mirror (vanity) skull (mortality), candles (Mary’s enlightenment) C. Classicism Classicism, or Renaissance Classicism is a term used to describe art that replicates the style of classical antiquity found in Roman/Greek paintings, buildings and sculptures. It emerged from the Italian Renaissance (c.1340-1550), and artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo found inspiration from the formal harmony of Greek and Roman art Renaissance Classicism : perfection through order, proportion, balance and precision. Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1484-1486) from the Early Renaissance in Italy, pictures a naked Venus, a prominent goddess from Roman mythology (Greek Aphrodite) rising out of the sea. Leonardo da Vinci Vetruvian man, 1490, on the ideal human proportions that the Roman architect Vitruvius laid out in a book on architecture from the 1st century BCE. The drawing illustrates Vitruvius’s theory that the ideal human could fit within a circle and a square, two irreconcilable shapes  Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo knew each other when they all lived and worked in Florence around 1500. Religious objection to nude statues Art or pornography ? Italian Renaissance classicism soon found its way to France : Renaissance architecture in Lyon : Galerie Philibert de L’Orme. 8, rue Juiverie 69005, LYON, 1536 (at the end of a passageway) North facade of the Henry IV building, 4 rue Juiverie ; parties hautes du Musée Gadagne ; Maison des Avocats, à l’angle de la rue Saint- Jean et de la rue de la Bombarde ; escalier du 6 rue des Trois Maries ; Tour-rose, 16 rue du Boeuf. 2 rue Saint-Georges et le 31 rue du Boeuf. Les Chateaux de la Loire : Château d'Azay-le-Rideau 1518 -Lyon: some remarkable Renaissance stairwells : 10bis rue Lainerie, 9 et 11 rue Saint-Jean, twisted core, ramp cut into the wall. les escaliers Mairie annexe du Ve arrondissement et du 17 montée St Barthélémy.  The finality of French classicism was to glorify the ‘Sun King’, Louis XIV, and artists had to work towards this political end. The beginnings of ‘State Art’ ? French Classicism was heavily rules-based, controlling and theoretical: Artistic production was institutionalized and regulated by - the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, founded in 1648 - Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) was the director of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture The Palais Royal where the Académie Royale de la Peinture et de Sculpture was located. Etching by Nicolas Langlois (1640-1703). Symbolism, mostly concerned with religious subjects, began to include the identification and glorification of the King and the State : Charles Le Brun. Colbert presenting the members of the Royal Academy of painting and sculpture to Louis XIV in 1667  The architecture of French classicism is characterised by the rigour of its perfectly symmetrical facades and the monumentality of its colonnaded porticoes. Gigantic columns were often used to magnify the buildings. Inside, majestic rows of ceremonial rooms were lavishly decorated with marble and illusionist paintings Versailles is the perfect embodiment of the Louis XIV French classical style, with the ‘grandeur’ of its ordered façades, immense galleries, sumptuous decor and French-style gardens with symmetrical gardens D. Baroque art and architecture Started in Europe around the end of the 16th (late 1500’s) Baroque was not a clean break from Renaissance classicism, it was a development, a new type of ‘effusive’ classicism. Classicism going a bit over the top, or too far ? Emotional classicism ? Baroque, as a new development of classicism, often exaggerated by intense light and shadow, dramatic perspectives, and a sometimes exuberant use of colour. Baroque emphasised emotions, apprehension, movement and vitality This new Baroque style spread throughout Europe, primarily supported by the Catholic Church led by the Pope in Rome and Catholic rulers in Italy, France, Spain, and Flanders. The aim was to fight against the Protestant Reformation (1515 Martin Luther) with art, music, colour and vitality. (Counter Reformation) Baroque style. Classicism as a base, but more vitality and expression Baroque art The French painter George de Latour (1593-1652), Sometime called "the French Caravaggio" painted mostly small canvasses showing intimate candle-lit scenes with intense light and shade. Georges de Latour French classicism avoided the extreme exuberance of baroque, but did include some baroque works : The Hall of Mirrors, Versailles : Mirrors run along one side, windows the other. Mirrors and lighting effects were a favorite device of Baroque artists. Baroque music. Formalism, Harmony (harpsicord, a favoured instrument). Much religious music. Some Baroque composers : Vivaldi (Italian, The 4 seasons ) Jean-Philippe Rameau (French) Georg Philipp Telemann (German) Johan Sebastien Bach (German), Georg Friedrich Haendel (German, The ‘Halleluja Chorus’ from the Messiah) E. ROCOCO The rococo style (or ‘rocaille’ style, rock or broken shell) developed in France during the reign of Louis XV (1715-1774). It was art inspired by nature. French Rococo art, Honoré Fragonard ( 1732 - 1806 ) Interior decorators created a new, exuberant décor in the wealthy homes of Paris. This décor included rocks, shells and plants, as in the gardens of the period. Furniture makers, architects, sculptors and painters The frivolity and lightness of rococo was linked to the lifestyles and tastes of the rich of the Ancien Regime (often involving idealised gardens or parkland). By 1785 Rococo was over, rejected by the new thinkers of the Enlightenment and victim to a return to classicism in art and architecture known as neoclassicism The serious thinkers of the Enlightenment The Enlightenment (17th and 18th centuries, c.1685-1800) (Strong Influence on the French revolution : the beginnings of Liberal Humanism) A. Rationalism. Rational modes of thought rejecting irrationalities of myth, religion and political tyranny. Strong French influence : Voltaire Political. Justice, tolerance. Descartes : Developing objective science. Cartesianism (rigour, method, logic, mathematics) Diderot : Classification. Massive encyclopedia. Other aspects of the Enlightenment : B. The movement from feudalism towards capitalism and the market economy. Economic liberalism, industrialization, urbanization and secularization C. Prioritization of individualism, freedom and equality. The evolution of political liberalism (parliamentary democracy) D. The development of the modern nation-state (rationalization of public education, modern bureaucracy) “The intellectual context of the French and American Revolutions was the philosophical movement of the Enlightenment. Descending from the Humanism of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment questioned all traditional values, customs, and accepted truths, and transferred faith in god and king to the modern belief in the certainty of “Reason” and “Science.” The Enlightenment also challenged the ancient tradition of Absolute Monarchy, and a social system based on birth rights” Voltaire, who wrote the books Candide and Zadig Voltaire exposed the corruption and inequality of the Ancien Régime. He sought justice, and believed in humanism and reason. He was against what he saw as the injustice, corruption and bigotry of the Church, and was thus anti- clerical (anti-clericalism) ‘Candide, ou l'Optimisme’ is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an idealized paradise and who is indoctrinated by the optimism by his mentor, Professor Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt ending of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow and painful disillusionment as he goes out into the world and witnesses and experiences great hardships. Voltaire concludes Candide with, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", instead of the mantra of Doctor Pangloss, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds“, a philosophy which makes it possible to accept terrible events as being ‘for the best’. Candide is characterized by its tone as well as by its erratic, fantastical, and fast-moving plot. It is a kind of coming-of-age narrative which parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is bitter and matter-of-fact. The events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Voltaire deals with the question of good and evil from a theological standpoint, using a humerous and direct approach. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers. Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned to the public because it contained religious blasphemy, and political sedition hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it. Today, Candide is considered as Voltaire's magnum opus. It is among the most frequently taught works of French literature. The British poet and literary critic Martin Seymour-Smith listed Candide as one of the 100 most influential books ever written.  Impacts of the Enlightenment - Enlightenment ideas influenced the writers of the American Constitution, such as Thomas Jefferson - The Enlightenment was at the intellectual basis of the French Revolution - In the long-term the Enlightenment contributed to the establishment of liberalism, social democracy, representative government and human rights (Western social democracy) Enlightenment art (art illustrating the new rationalising and scientific approach) : Copper engraving from: Diderot & d'Alembert 'Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers’ Diderot F. The Neoclassical style This is used to describe any piece of art or architecture, from the 18th Century onwards, which takes inspiration from Greek and Roman Classical culture: the use of motifs and ideas from Classical art, or outright copying of it Neoclassicism : ‘Classicism revisited or revived’ - Classicism : As from the Italian Renaissance (c.1340-1550) - Neoclassicism : 18th century onwards  Neoclassical architecture stretches from the late 18th-19th century (c. 1790’s - 1890’s) in Europe, The United States and Latin America. It thus concerns the periods of the French Revolution and the First and Second Empires in France. Neoclassical architecture : Back to classical Greek and Roman : grand scale volumes, simple geometric forms, dramatic Greek columns, Roman detailing and domed roofs. Early French Neoclassical architecture. Le Panthéon, Paris. Finished in 1790, Soufflot. Known as the “Panthéon” because of its clear reference to Rome’s ancient Pantheon (126 AD.). Like the Rome Pantheon, le Panthéon has a triangular pediment, a row of Corinthian columns and a wide entabulation with a written inscription. Different domes : Flatter Roman dome on the Pantheon. Le Panthéon began as a church but became the national mausoleum, which it still is today….. Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Jean Moulin, Jean Monnet, Pierre et Marie Curie (radioactivity), and André Malraux are buried there….. Neoclassicism in Lyon : Loge du Change, Place du Change – 69005 The Hôtel-Dieu, (Architect –Soufflot, also Panthéon) On the Rhône, near Bellecour. (Hospital). French Neoclassical art. The Oath of the Horatii, in The Louvre. Jacques-Louis David G. French revolutionary art Highly political. A glorified representation of the people. Thus, the images of the Revolution made way for the construction of the national myth of the sovereign people Winners : The people Losers : The aristocrats The king-eating people, 1789 Carnavalet museum Unknown artist In 1792, the Convention régime decided to represent the young French Republic as a woman wearing a Phrygian cap, the symbol of freedom, and to give her a name of Marianne. Eugène Delacroix, 1830. A painting inspired by the revolution of 1789 La Liberté guidant le Peuple H. Le Premier Empire (1804-1814). Napoléon Bonaparte. Art used to glorify and enhance the Emperor. ‘State art’  The Arc de Triomphe of the Place de l'Étoile, Paris, one of the most famous examples of First Empire architecture, commissioned in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon I (neoclassical style) I. Le Second Empire (1852-1870). Napoléon III Whilst 2nd Empire facades and exteriors tend to be neoclassical, interiors and other things such as furniture tend to borrow from different styles : Greco- Roman, the Renaissance, Baroque, Louis XV (Rococo) and Gothic. Eclectic 2nd Empire interior : Grand Café des Négociants (1864), 1 Place Francisque Régaud, 69002 Lyon 2nd Empire. Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, 2,5 km long, started in 1857 by Baron Haussmann. Neoclassical influence. Haussmann undertook a whole urbanisation project : creation of new streets and avenues, erecting prestigious buildings, creating water and wastewater networks, sewers, gas lighting, new markets (ironwork), landscaping parks, etc. Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. Fontaine Bartholdi. 1892, Place des Terreaux, Lyon. La Seine, la Loire, le Rhône, la Garonne + Marianne. Neoclassical style. made of lead (metal) NB. The French Criminal Code : The destruction, degradation or deterioration of a listed or registered building or movable object is an serious offence ‘délit’ punishable under article 322-3-1 of the French Criminal Code. Contraventions (petty offence) are punishable by fines of up to €3,000, depending on the category they fall into (from 1 to 5). They are dealt with by the Police Court Délit (serious offence) : The penalty is a fine of at least €3,750. Prison sentences of up to 10 years.. Crimes (major crime, very serious offence) are tried in the Assize Court. These are the most serious offences punishable by a sentence ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. Fines of at least 3, 370 Euros. J. Art Nouveau It was popular between 1890 and 1910, and was a reaction against the formalism and historicism of 19th century neoclassicism in architecture and decorative art. often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves (volutes) of plants and flowers (Celtic art, Rococo). a sense of dynamism and movement. The use of modern materials, particularly iron, glass, ceramics and later concrete, to create unusual forms. Art Nouveau style in Lyon. Villa Lumière, 25 rue du Premier Film - Lyon 08. Floral decoration. Institut Lumière. Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, (Gaudi). Started 1882. Neo-Gothic style, Oriental techniques and the decorative style of Art Nouveau architecture,  K. Neo-Gothic 1150-1500 Gothic Rayonnant 1200-1280 - verticality. Verticle lines draw eyes upwards La Sainte-Chapelle, Paris Neo-Gothic : 1750’s - end 19th century. Began in England 1280- 1500 Flamboyant gothic (curvilinear) The British Houses of - Flying buttresses – curved wall Parliament reinforcements 1840-60 Notre-Dame, Paris Sagrada Familia Cathedral 1882 : Clear Flamboyant Gothic Neo-Gothic in Lyon, Eglise influence Sainte-Blandine, 1856, 2 rue Smith 69002 Lyon K. Art Deco (from around 1920 – World War 2) The exuberance and exhaggeration of Art Nouveau was followed by Art Deco, which was more ordered Art Deco returned to more geometric and refined lines; straight lines and angles were used in furniture and facades Overall effect of sophistication, glamour, extravagance The Empire State Building 1930 An Art Deco masterpiece. Sophistication and exuberance Art Deco c. 1930: angles and curves Art Deco pottery. Decorative, floral. Influences : (Art Nouveau, Rococo….  L. Modernism Started as an architectural movement around 1920 Functionalism and space more important that the decoration of Art Nouveau and Art Deco rue Henri-Barbusse, Villeurbanne. Helped by advances in building technologies such as the steel frame and the curtain wall (external covering of a building which is non-structural) In the mid-to-late 20th century this style manifested itself in clean-lined, unadorned glass skyscrapers, and mass housing projects (like Villeurbanne) Seagram Building, New York, (1958), designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe :  OBSERVATIONS Like fashion, art and architecture affect us consciously and subconsciously. Sensitivity to art and architecture is thus important (construction of identity). Changes in style often result from emotional reactions to the styles in place. For example, artists and architects got bored with the over-exuberance of Rococo and Art Nouveau and sought more classical models. Artistic and architectural styles morph into one another, and styles are thus rarely mutually exclusive. So, French classicism morphs into Neo-Classicism and elements of the former are retained in the latter. There are Floral designs in both Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Styles thus borrow from previous styles, perhaps trending back hundreds of years : Art Deco contains elements of Egyptian and Celtic art, for example, and Art Nouveau borrows from Rococo. Like fashion, art and architectural styles tend to occur in cyclical patterns ; Classicism reemerges as Neo-Classicism, Gothic as Neo-Gothic, etc.