European Art

1. European Art 1815-1914

2. Realism • Era reflects age in which art is now created for art’s sake • Leads to artistic freedom • Paintings sold to general public • Patron no longer the primary focus • Realists portrayed life as it was, not idealized • Many topics viewed as mundane and rejected by formal art world

3. Gustave Courbet’s The Stone Breakers Courbet’s piece shows ordinary road workers. Those critical of this painting felt it portrayed a moral and artistic decline by using trivial subject matter. Courbet was accused of creating a “cult of ugliness.” Many blamed photography for the growth of realism. When shown at a salon 1850, this piece was labeled crude and socialistic. Courbet set up his own exhibits from then on, setting the stage for others to follow.

4. Francois Millet’s The Gleaners Millet unveiled this painting in 1857 and it was greeted with derision as many claimed it glorified the lower class worker. It wasn’t until after Millet’s death that this painting and others gained further fame.

5. Honore Daumier’sThird Class Carriage Known primarily as a political and social satirist, Daumier not only painted, but also sculpted and created caricatures. The piece above shows his pre-occupation with the people, especially the under-priviledged.

6. Impressionism • Characteristics • Begin in France • A reaction to photography • Goal of artist is to create a momentary impression or feeling of light falling on a real-life scene • Focus on landscapes • Brushstrokes completed very quickly • Advent of oil paints in tubes made painting outside more of a reality

7. Edgar Degas’ Laundry Girls Ironing Degas is viewed as one of the artists who bridge the era of Realism and Impressionism as evidenced in this painting.

8. Edgar Degas’Dance class at the Opera Degas was an outspoken proponent of Impressionism and encouraged those artists to join together to promote their new art form. He also encouraged the study and painting of contemporary life.

9. EdouardManet’sA Bar at the Folies-Bergere Like Degas, Manet is considered to be a bridge artist between Realism and Impressionism art. Many of his works are considered watershed paintings that helped to usher in a new age.

10. Manet’sLuncheon on the Grass Probably one of his most controversial paintings, Luncheon on the Grass was rejected by mainstream Parisian Salons, and eventually showed at the Salon of the Rejected in 1863.

11. Claude Monet’sImpression, Sunrise This is the painting from which the movement takes its name, and is considered to by many to be the very first impressionist painting.

12. Monet’sSaint Lazare Train This particular painting was one of a series of seven that highlighted Monet’s use of quick, sketch-like brushstrokes. He used the light from the glass ceiling of the train station to emphasize the light and atmosphere so common among Impressionists.

13. Monet’sLondon Fog Monet focuses on the House of Parliament in this 1904 painting.

14. Monet’sHaystack Series

15. Post-Impressionism • Characteristics • Artists sought to know and portray worlds other than the visible world of fact • Similar to Romantics in this aspect • Hoped to portray unseen, inner worlds of imagination and emotion • Expressed psychological view of reality • Focused on form, not art • Included • Cubism • Non-representational Art

16. Vincent Van Gogh’sStarry Night Although Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime, this painting is one of the most recognizable of modern culture. This painting, and several others, was painted while Van Gogh was in an asylum.

17. Van Gogh’sSelf-Portrait Van Gogh painted over 30 self-portraits which is not surprising since he did not have money to pay models as did other artists.

18. Paul Gaugin’sWhere Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? Gaugin became famous for his paintings of the South Pacific. He felt that European art had become too imitative and lacked symbolic depth. Many of his paintings eventually ended up in the Pushkin Museum in Russia.