Art Appreciation

Renaissance to Impressionism

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Renaissance → Mannerism→ 16th Century Printmaking and Painting→ Baroque→ Rococo→ American Painting→ Neoclassicism→ Romanticism→ Realism→ Impressionism

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Early Renaissance 1. Spiritual mysticism of Gothic era challenged by logical thought 2. Humanism revived 3. Scientific naturalism 4. Individualism

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High Renaissance       

Cultural center moves from Florence to Rome Stable without being static/dull Varied without being confused Harmony, order, clarity Lucidity, proportion, balance Calm, rational, idealized Set standards that were followed in European art for almost 400 years

 Donatello

(Early)  Leonardo da Vinci (High)  Michelangelo Buanarroti (High)  Raphael Sanzio (High)  Titian (High/Venetian)

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Characteristics  Sophistication, elegance, poise  Art of the human figure, almost exclusively Emphasis on hands and feet Compositions with numerous figures: crowded, intricate Figures willfully distorted and elongated Elegant, complex, twisted (strained) poses, juxtaposition Positions and actions have little to do with subject matter (emotional affect)

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Discrepancies of scale; unusual spatial effects Unnatural color: vivid, pastel, often harsh

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Sudden awareness of advances made by Italian Renaissance Desire to assimilate this new style as rapidly as possible

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Taste for dramatic action and violent narrative scenes Color and light dramatically contrasted and surfaces are richly textured Compositions are usually asymmetrical, sharp diagonals Landscape, genre, and still life become more numerous

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Age of Enlightenment Style expression of wit and frivolity, with somber and satirical under currents Typical picture depicts the aristocracy gathered in parks and gardens. Classical gods and goddess in amorous pursuits World of fantasy and grace

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New (neo) investigation of classical art of Rome and Greece Correctness: following the rules established by the academics Message of high moral order Sharpness of drawing, crisp lines, firm outlines Formal, restrained compositions Style and subject matter: Classical Greece and Rome Reaction to earlier art styles( and courtly life-style) Time of revolutions, American and French

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Subject matter: biblical and literary themes, the exotic and remote Emphasis on:   

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Emotion (not reason) Drama turbulent emotion Complex compositions, asymmetry Individual interpretations Color

First artists to totally reject servitude to a patron of any kind, influenced by themes from literature and or far away places, including escapism, exciting-subjective color, swirling diagonals, intense and sometimes violent and unpredictable, aggressive-painterly brushstrokes, hazy outlines

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Time of conflicts between the classes Time of Industrial Revolution in England Urban areas and their social ills Time of Marx and Engels Realist movement in art reaction against exotic escapism of Romantics

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They preferred genre subjects, like leisure activities, entertainment, landscape and cityscapes They were influenced by Japanese prints and photography more so than political events They were more concerned with optical realism and the natural properties of light Watched light and how it changed with time of day and during different weather conditions, and seasons They also studied artificial light They were at first rejected by the French Academy and the public. In response, held their own eight exhibitions between 1874-1886

Georgia O’Keeffe: Early Abstraction Pablo Picasso: Cubism and between the wars Vincent Van Gogh: PostImpressionism Salvador Dali: Surrealism