Origins of Modern Art Chapter 1 “What is Art?”

“I have seen and heard much of cockney impudence before now, but never expected a coxcomb to ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.” John Ruskin, 1877

Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket James McNeill Whistler c1875 Oil on Panel 23 x 18 inches Detroit Institute of Art

Art for art’s sake The value of “true” art has no didactic, moral or utilitarian function. Théophile Gautier “everything useful is ugly”

Truth in Nature To promote moral value as well as aesthetic pleasure. John Ruskin “Art is not a study of positive reality, it is the seeking for ideal truth.”

The Changing Art Experience Prior to the 18 th century Only seen in the galleries of the wealthy Common people saw art in the Church During the 18 th century Art Dealers Salons Critics Art Dealers Collectors

The Modern Artist Prior to the 18 th century Emulation Inventiveness within the tradition During the 18 th century Artist’s unique vision, unconstrained by academic practice and freed from the pictorial conventions that had been obeyed since the Renaissance.

Economic Changes Mercantilism Capitalism Bourgeoisie

Le Salon Carré au Musée du Louvre Giuseppe Castiglione 1861 Oil on Canvas 69 x 103 cm Musee du Louvre Paris, France

Oath of the Horatii Jacques-Louis David 1784 Oil on Canvas 10 feet 10 inches x 14 feet Musee du Louvre Paris, France

Holy Family on the Steps Nicolas Puussin 1648 Oil on Canvas 28 x 44 inches Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland, OH

Grande Odalisque Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 1814 Oil on Canvas 36 x 64 inches Musee du Louvre Paris, France

The Disasters of War Plate 30 Francisco de Goya y Lucientes Etching 5 x 6 1/8 inches Hispanic Society of America New York, NY

The Lion Hunt Eugene Delacriox 1861 Oil on Canvas 30 1/8 x 38 ¾ inches The Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL

Cloister Graveyard in the Snow Caspar David Friederich 1819 Oil on Canvas 48 x 67 Formerly at the Nationalgalerie Berlin Germany Destroyed during World War II

The Burning of the Houses of Parliment Joseph Mallord William Turner Oil on Canvas Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland, OH

The Edge of the Woods at Monts-Girard, Fontainebleau Forest Théodore Rousseau 1854 Oil on wood 31 1/2 x 48 inches The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, NY

The Angelus Jean-François Millet Oil on Canvas 21 ½ x 25 7/8 inches Musée d'Orsay Paris, France

Nocturne James McNeill Whistler 1878 Lithotint with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground 6 3/4 x 10 1/8 inches Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, NY

For Tuesday Read Chapter 2