-
Pilgrimage to Cythera
This oil on canvas by Antoine Watteau is a specific type of Rococo painting, the fete galante which shows entertainments of the nobles of France. The subtle color differences, well-modeled figures, and the gliding feel of the people all were characteristic of Watteau's painting.
Source: Gardner's Art through the Ages, 13th Edition -
Salon de la Princesse
This is a typical French Rococo room. It is located in the Hotel de Soubise in Paris. Designed by Germain Boffrand, the room shows the curves and reflections characteristic of the rococo style. The design carries a very light and delicate feeling to it. The sculpture, painting, and architecture all blend together to form one entity.
Source: Gardner's Art through the Ages, 13th Edition -
Saying Grace
The importance of this oil painting and Chardin himself was that both broke away from the Rococo tradition of superficiality and into something deeper. Saying Grace is a portrayal of a mother and an older sister telling the youngest one how to give thanks. Chardin thus glorifies the common people intead of the degenerate subjects of the Rococo. Chardin was a huge naturalist.
Source: Gardner's Art through the Ages, 13th Edition -
Death of General Wolfe
Benjamin West was an American painter who worked in Europe. He painted this oil on canvas in 1771. The great accomplishment marked by this painting is that contemporary history was mixed in with contemporary garb which was never done before. This defended the facts of the events. Wolfe is compared to a saint in the way he is positioned.
Source: Gardner's Art through the Ages, 13th Edition -
The Nightmare
This oil painting by Henry Fuseli is one of the first of the Romantic period. This painting depicts an incubus squating on a young sleeping woman. The importance of this painting is that it is one of the first to show the darkness of the human subconscious. Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
Oath of the Horatii
David painted the Oath of the Horatii, an oil on canvas. This is the prime example of Neoclassicism. First of all, it promotes patriotism and sacrifice from the story of the Horatii versus the Curatii. Second, the figures are like reliefs on sculpture and are modeled like they would be in the classical times. Also, there was simple architecture in the background. The men represent with their form manly virtues and the women, womanly virtues.
Source: Gardner's Art through the Ages 13th Edition -
Raft of the Medusa
This oil on canvas by Gericault depicts a tragedy of the survivors of a shipwreck. It critizes freely the governmental policies of France and the racism of the people. He arranges the people of the painting in an X to accentuate the theatricality of the painting, an integral attribute to Romantic paintings.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
Saturn
Goya painted this fresco on the walls of one of his farmhouses. This was produced later in life when he was disillusioned about old age. The interesting part about this painting is that it was only painted for private viewing and for his own sake so he could portray anything he wanted. The result is a gruesome depiction of Kronos.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
Haywain
This oil on canvas by John Constable is a landscape painting showing the countryside and farming. He does an exceptional job of creating the feel of the "oneness" of nature whether it is the color usage or the figures themselves. This painting is marked with nostalgia for the farming of the previous times. He commented on the painting that "painting is but another word for feeling" which shows that it really belongs to the Romantic period.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (La Marseillaise)
This sculptural group relief by Francois Rude adorns the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It depicts those volunteers of 1792 departing to fight for France and the Roman goddess of war, Bellona, cheering them on. They are portrayed in classical nudity or classical armor but with a romantic, nationalistic spirit. Thus this incorporates elements of both Neoclassicism and Romanticism. -
Impression: Sunrise
This painting became the Impressionist's namesake. Painted by Claude Monet as an oil on canvas, it was the first of all Impressionism Paintings. The brush strokes are not disguised and the pigments are not blended. The sensation of the sunrise is truly felt in this painting.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Georges Seurat painted this oil on canvas. This painting is special because the color system that it is painted by is known as pointillism or divisionism. He depicted the bourgeosie on a Sunday afternoon. He also unsually painted his own frame around his painting. He used many formal elements in this painting.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
The Tub
This pastel by Degas is an impressionist painting inspired from a Japanese painting which in turn shows Japan's influence in Europe. Moreover, Degas's skill with line is evident in this painting. The pastels create moer of a feeling of a fleeting moemnt and are fresher and breighter. Lastly, there is visual conflict between the two dimensional table and the three dimensional woman which marks it as ever more modern.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
The Bath
The Bath is an oil on canvas by a woman, Mary Cassatt. The importance of this painting is that it shows the influence of society on a woman and her painting style. Because she could not go to the cafes and had to take care of her parents, she mainly depicted women and children. The sharp diagonal viewpoints show the impressionistic attributes of the painting.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition -
At the Moulin Rouge
This oil on canvas is by Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec who depicted modern life. This satirized society in that it showed the masklike faces that gave a sinsiter feel. The cropping shows the Japanese influence on his works.
Source: Gardner's Art Through the Ages 13th Edition
