$18TH CENTURY 18th Century art, while still firmly within the formal rules of the Grand Manner of the High Renaissance developed in different directions in different countries. In France, the Rococo artists attempted to break away from the predominant seriousness of Baroque by creating a sense of lightness and frivolity in their works. They helped make Paris the centre of fashion, relaxation and enjoyment. The main Rococo artists were Fragonard, Chardin and Watteau. In England and Italy artists remained firmly within the Grand Manner. In England a strong tradition of landscape painting and portraiture developed with works by Gainsborough and Reynolds for the gentry and nobility. Hogarth on the other hand captured the life of the commoners. By the end of the century Constable had made English landscape painting supreme. In Italy, the Townscapes of Canaletto in Venice, were attempts to escape from Baroque, while Tiepolo continued to explore new ways to give life to the Grand Manner. By the end of the century the force of the French Revolution directly influenced the painters in France and Spain. In France, David and Ingres reflected the revolutionary ideas in their choice of political subject matter and searched for a more terse and understated style called Neo-Classicism. In Spain, Goya developed a highly personal style reflecting both the corruption of the Spanish court and the impact of the Napoleonic wars on the Spanish people. The political and industrial revolutions in the 19th Century also affected patronage and the status of the artist. The tradition patronage of the Church and nobility was virtually swept away by the Revolution. The age of family portraits, decorative wall painting, and church altarpieces had past. Artists became increasingly individualistic in their work with a new freedom of expression. By the end of the 18th Century the groundwork was laid for the individual imaginative and social expressions of the 19th Century Romantics. #FRAGONARD 1732-1806 Jean Honore Fragonard was the last of the great French Rococo painters of the 18th Century. His spirit was spontaneous and his temperament unpredictable. Because of this he would be perhaps the least consistent of all artists. His fame is perhaps unfortunately founded in his lively erotic works, which he created for a keen Parisian bourgeoisie. But in the main body of his work, the artist attempted to reconcile his Rubenesque love of colour and joie de vivre with the demands of the Poussin school of measured dramatic treatments. In the 1770's, he produced perhaps his greatest masterpieces, just before the outbreak of the French Revolution. Of course, after this event, his seemingly frivolous works lost great favour and Fragonard died poor and neglected. *701 Fragonard THE SWING 1766 Wallace Collection, New York. This painting was commissioned by the Baron de Saint-Julian. The subject matter was to be a portrait of his mistress, seated on a swing and being pushed by a bishop. The Baron also wished to appear in the painting where, he requested, he could easily see the lovely legs of his mistress. The resulting painting has both wit and frivolity, and delightful details like the slipper flying up into the air. The rich, overgrown garden with its misty fountains, cupids and summerhouses is a statement of Fragonard's skilful brushwork and fantastic imagination. *702 Fragonard BATHERS 1750 Louvre, Paris. Works by Fragonard such as this sensuously titillating scene were very popular: erotic, colourful, joyful. #CHARDIN 1699-1779 Although Jean Baptiste Chardin was a contemporary of Fragonard and Watteau, he did not become entranced by the art of the 18th Century Rococo style. He was a great individualist who painted with frankness and a simplicity which greatly appealed to his audience. But his subject matter was always secondary to his search for harmony of colour, tone and compositional balance. This preoccupation with purely painterly concerns marks Chardin as a modern in his time. Chardin spent his whole life in Paris. At the age of 20, Chardin already was recognized for his skill as a still-life painter. At the age of 29 he was accepted into the Academy. His painting developed to include figures, never more than three. These genre scenes were a delight for Parisians who had tired of the artificiality of Rococo. *703 Chardin STILL-LIFE 1734 Louvre, Paris. Chardin's still-lifes are akin to the Dutch tradition: familiar objects of domestic use, often well-worn and solidly made. They stand as symbols of plain living. His composition is very crisp and tight. The diagonal lines created by the handles on the rich copper pot and the pottery jug soften the stronger horizontal and vertical lines of the sides of the pot and the stone table. The shape of the three white eggs becomes the focal point, but do not dominate the composition. The spring onion breaks the strong horizontal of the stone table with its soft diagonal. His colours are rich and complementary and glow. Each object is linked to the rest in rhythmic harmony. *704 Chardin GIRL RETURNING FROM MARKET 1739 Louvre, Paris. Chardin's genre paintings depict scenes from simple domestic happiness. Here a girl returns from the market with loaves of bread and poultry, a typical Parisian middle-class household. It is painted with feeling for the beauty of the commonplace and a clear sense of spatial order. His concern for analytical order does not override his painterly style for rendering the soft creamy light and warm empty shadows familiar in his work. His palette is rich but subdued and references to each colour dance across the canvas unifying or exemplifying his pure compositional elements. *705 Chardin GRAPES AND POMEGRANATES 1763 Louvre, Paris. Chardin enjoyed painting still-lifes on everyday objects. Here he draws attention to the contrasting textures of the grapes, the vase, and the pomegranates. *706 Chardin BLOWING BUBBLES 1760 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Chardin draws attention to the play of light on a bubble as well as the everyday middle-class person, an increasingly important class of patron in the mid-18th Century. #WATTEAU 1684-1721 Though he had a short life due to recurring tuberculosis, Antononi Watteau helped shape the development of the 18th Century Rococo style in Paris. As a young assistant to Claude Gillot, he was introduced to the world of improvised Italian comedy performed at Parisian fairs. These had a great impact on the artist. The other great influence on his work was felt while working in Luxemburg Palace where he absorbed himself in sketching and studying Ruben's majestic Marie de Medici cycle. His popularity was set alight with his acceptance into the Academy. But Watteau had a difficult temperament and a restless soul he was constantly on the move. *707 Watteau PILGRIMAGE TO THE ISLAND CYTHERA 1717 Louvre, Paris. The theme for this painting was probably taken from Dancourt's play, Le Trois Cousines, in which a crowd of young men and women embark on a trip to Cythera, the island of Venus, in search of love. Watteau has painted a mood rather than an event. A statue of Venus, on the right watches over the couple, so engrossed in each other they seem to miss the signal for departure. The group move slowly, stopping and turning back, as if reluctant to leave, now they have found each other. Watteau painted this to present to the Royal Academy in 1717. This was his second attempt and the result earned a new classification in the Academy: fete galante. Watteau had already developed an entirely personal technique by this time. His colour harmony of tiny brushstrokes gives luminosity and vibration to the surface of the canvas. He did not paint solid areas. The lovers and the landscape through which they stroll are richly yet subtly coloured. A haze hangs over the middle and background, softening the lines. *708 Watteau THE FOURSOME 1713 Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco. Watteau liked to paint groups of people in gardens, especially actors in costume. This little scene draws attention to the actor or musician with his back to the viewer. *709 Watteau ACTORS OF THE ITALIAN COMEDY 1718 Staatliche Museum, Berlin. The artist was impressed by subjects surrounding drama and theatre. Here he uses the torch to capture the mood of the night performance. #CANALETTO 1697-1708 Life in Venice, in the 18th Century period was centred around pleasure and tourism drawn from northern Europe and Britain. Antonio Canaletto used a copying device, the camera obscura, to check the accuracy of his drawings which would become fascinating paintings from numerous views of the most popular sites. Through his work, the architectural beauty of Venice was immortalized. Canaletto also spent almost a decade in England painting the River Thames and country estates. Canaletto was very business-like and never tired of painting the same view in a dozen visions. *734 Canaletto THE HORSES OF SAN MARCO 1743 Royal Collection, London. This painting was called a Capriccio, or imaginary view, and is composed of a recognizable location accurately rendered but combined or altered in a bizarre or startling way. Canaletto has removed the horses from the front facade of San Marco and placed them on elaborate pedestals in front of the Doge's Palace. Canaletto has altered the piazzetta as well, to suit its composition. The dramatic perspective created by the repeated circles and the receding pedestals carrying the horses, draw the viewer's eyes to the winged lion on the column of St Mark, which in reality, stands at the other end of the piazzetta. *733 Canaletto GRAND CANAL 1720 Private Collection, Lugano. This scene, The Grand Canal Looking East, is made to appear recognizable but it is quite theatrical and picturesque. The number of windows or columns might alter from one painting to the next. His brushwork was swift and painterly. Dramatic contrasts of light and shadow are juxtaposed with brilliant rendering of the sunlight dancing on the surface of the water. *735 Canaletto BUCINTORO RETURNING 1730 Private Collection, Milan. Venice celebrated its origins as the city of the sea by commemorating a sea battle victory. After a ceremony at sea the citizens in gondolas would accompany the Doge in his barge back to Venice. Entitled 'The Bucintoro returning to the Molo on Ascension Day,' this very popular event was painted many times. Here the artist creates a detailed landscape of the majesty of the event. #TIEPOLO 1678-1770 Tiepolo's works in the 18th Century, represent the end of the great Venetian tradition of majestic works of art. He was an exponent of unusual perspectives and exploited the effects of light on the subject. *736 Tiepolo JUDGEMENT OF SOLOMON 1727 Archepiscopal Palace, Udine. The Biblical Solomon judges the ownership of a child. Solomon tests the mothers by demanding that the child be cut into equal parts. The real mother is found by her giving up her claim to save the child. This is a huge fresco, 24' by 11', on a low ceiling. The artist exploits space and depth and uses illusionistic effects of the perspective from the low angle of the viewer. #GAINSBOROUGH 1727-1788 The main body of Thomas Gainsborough's paintings, of which more than 1000 survive, are portraits or landscapes. He was perhaps the best loved of 18th Century British portrait painters. He began and finished his career in London, but his time in Bath set his reputation alight. This city was at the peak of its popularity and Gainsborough enjoyed the patronage of not only local patrons but also wealthy visitors. Had he been able to choose, Gainsborough would have preferred to paint landscapes. He admired greatly the landscapes of Rubens and his paintings could not help but exemplify his own highly strung, sensitive personality. *710 Gainsborough THE BLUE BOY 1770 Huntington Art Gallery. This is a portrait of John Buttall, the young son of a friend of the artist. The shimmering blue fabric and gold detailing contrasts with the sombre landscape behind and frames a handsome face. The success and popularity of this painting had much to do with the legend that Gainsborough painted this to disprove an accepted tradition among artists that the predominant colour in every picture should never be cool: blues are reserved for backgrounds and subordinate parts. *711 Gainsborough MRS SARAH SIDDENS 1785 National Gallery, London. Mrs Siddens was a famous actress. This portrait, is very sensual, rather than dramatic as Reynolds' version, accenting the grace of her delicate features. Gainsborough worked often with thin glazes of paint in a rather sketchy manner. He did not employ specialists to complete the drapery, so Mrs Siddens' dress seems almost flimsy with no substance. But the suggestion of textures is exemplified in the contrasting elements of fur feathers, silk and satin. *712 Gainsborough MR & MRS ANDREWS 1748 National Gallery, London. The Andrews wedding is celebrated by a display of their possessions: the estate, the gun, the wife, and the dog; an unusual combination of landscape and portraiture. #REYNOLDS 1723-1792 For the English painter, portraiture remained the main and only constant source of income. In the 18th Century, portrait painting developed in a different way from the continental tradition. Sir Joshua Reynolds became the most distinguished and successful English portraitist of his time. He also harboured, all his life a reputation as a writer. He held a keen appreciation of the scholarly mastering of the great painters Rubens, Raphael and Michelangelo. In his trip to Italy at the age of 27, he immersed himself in the study and appreciation of the artists and the sculptures of antiquity. On his return, he determined to not only be a "face painter" but to combine the portrait with historic reference and a sensitivity for tradition. He was very disciplined in his work, and was thus enormously productive. He had an astonishing ability to alter his technique with his subject matter. He employed assistants to finish many of his paintings, often only completing the face. *713 Reynolds NELLY O'BRIEN 1762 Private Collection, London. This woman was one of the great beauties and mistresses to many a prominent man, in her time. Reynolds has painted her with the directness and pleasure of one who knew her face well. Nelly is outside in a garden. A soft natural light highlights her delicate skin while a hat shades her face. His rendering of textures and surfaces caught in the light recall Rembrandt and the Dutch masters. *714 Reynolds LORD HEATHFIELD 1787 National Gallery, London. As Governor of Gibraltar, Baron Heathfield successfully defended it against a Spanish siege in 1779-83. This portly general is presented in a most sympathetic light for his age omitting the lower torso and legs, the artist uses a simple circular motion. The key to the gates of Gibraltar completes the lines carrying the eye back to the general's face. The upturned canon to the left directs a diagonal line to Heathfield's confident expression. The dark background frames his highlighted face. *715 Reynolds LADY CAROLINE SCOTT 1777 Private Collection, U.K. Reynolds was a great painter of children. His delightful rendering in a natural setting in this case, a cold, wintery landscape, is completed without sentimentality. The strong tonal contrasts create a harsh framework in which the innocent face of this three-year-old girl is held. The dark brim of her hat encircles her direct unabashed gaze. Even the small dog focuses his attention on this marvellous face and unforgettable charm. *716 Reynolds THE THREE GRACES 1775 Tate Gallery, London. Hymen was the god of marriage in Classical mythology. The daughters of Sir William Montgomery, Barbara, Elizabeth and Anne, adorn a pedestal to Hymen in celebration of marriage. Reynolds uses the Classical myth setting to create an interesting grouping along a strong line linking the three figures. #HOGARTH 1697-1764 In 18th Century England, power, wealth and a love of the arts overrode religious fervour. London, at the time was a treacherous place, a city of opportunity but also of squalor and misery for many. William Hogarth lived and died in London. His beginnings were poor, but he was apprenticed in the silverplate engraving business quite young with the help of his uncle. In 1720 he set up on his own, and began to learn to paint. By 1731 he was painting and engraving his own works which were immediate successes, engravings being the core of his work. *717 Hogarth THE TAVERN SCENE 1735 Sir John Soane's Museum, London. Tom Rakewell is seen drunken and disorderly surrounded by whores, wasting his inheritance on riotous living. There were eight paintings in this narrative series, The Rake's Progress. Hogarth was able to play on the Puritanism of the 18th Century English middle-class. He encouraged them to moralize on the follies of high society. Rather than painting lessons from Classical mythology or ancient history, Hogarth painted in the viewer's own environment. The painting is full of social comments on various details and visual clues. But the result is a lively, sparkling narrative in rich and sumptuous colour. *718 Hogarth GIN LANE 1751 Engraving, British Museum, London. Distilling of alcohol, and especially cheap gin, became a problem in 18th Century England among the poor. The Gin Laws were passed restricting the supply. Hogarth's engraving here is part of set satirizing the moral delinquency of public life in England. #CONSTABLE 1776-1837 The second English landscape painter of importance in the 18th Century was John Constable. The peaceful, familiarity of his canvases stood in contrast to the fervours and energy of Turner's Romantic works. Constable grew up in the English countryside of Suffolk and was determined as an artist to capture its beauty. His genius lay in his ability to present light and atmosphere, as well as the colour and shape of the land it absorbed. He spent hours out of doors making sketches in watercolour and oil to record the exact colorations of different hours of the day. He developed a technique of applying his paint without blending it first, to express the vibrations of light. He used complementary colours, particularly areas of red against green, to heighten the effect and make colours more vivid. The flickering of light on wet or shiny surfaces is indicated by white flecks of paint. *719 Constable THE HAY WAIN 1821 National Gallery, London. Constable's shows the Flatford Mill on the River Stour in the midday sun. It was first exhibited in Paris in 1824 and created a stir. It was an inspiration to the French Romantics. The most impressionable aspect of this work is the atmosphere it creates for the viewer. Half sky, half land: the two find their union in the reflected light in the water and shimmering leaves of the trees. Note the splash of red at the focal point of the canvas which lifts the greens in its complement. *720 Constable SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 1826 Private Collection, New York. The Bishop of Salisbury commissioned this view of the Cathedral from his garden. He is pictured at the left with his wife pointing to the Cathedral. The first version, 1823, presented a darker sky with the trees meeting in an arch over the Cathedral spire. The bishop requested a lighter sky with the spire rising unrestricted through the trees to the heavens above. *721 Constable THE CORNFIELD 1826 National Gallery, London. Constable made pictures like this and the Hay Wain from sketches he made on the spot. But he never lost the feeling of spontaneity in the final rendering. This view shows a narrow lane leading to Dedham, which Constable walked as a schoolboy. The church tower in the distance is, however, invented. The splash of red in a predominantly green landscape lifts the visual excitement and draws attention to the young boy drinking from the pond at the left. The corridor created by the trees draws the viewer's eye through the painting past the cornfield to the horizon and skyscape beyond. #DAVID 1748-1825 Jacques Louis David was a French Neo-Classical painter of the late 18th Century. While Fragonard pleased a frivolous audience of Parisian gentlemen with his erotic beauties, David, with his austere and academic style, became the official art of the French Revolution. His influence changed the course of painting in the modern world. Ever since there has been a continual series of artistic revolutions and counter revolutions, happening so quickly and frequently as to be often juxtaposed. David was born in Paris, and was awarded the Prix de Rome. He spent five years in Italy, astonishing himself with the impact the classics and Renaissance artists had upon his work. On his return, he won instant recognition and success but his passionate temperament was to cause him some grief. His involvement politically in the Revolution saw him nearly beheaded at the guillotine. He later became First Painter to the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. As well as politics and painting, David managed to find time to produce countless sketches for furniture and fashion designs. He also set about to destroy the establishment of the Academy, which he saw as elitist. He replaced the Academy with the "Popular and Republican Society of the Arts". *722 David OATH OF HORATII 1784 Louvre, Paris. This painting depicts the Roman legend of the three Horatii brothers who swear to their father that they will defeat the Curatii of Alba even though they are related through marriage. Strength comes from the simple stage setting, focusing on the dramatic moment. The details are historically accurate. This painting was a sensation when exhibited and was interpreted by all as an allegory of the Revolutionary events of the time in France. The three groupings are framed in the three arches behind. In contrast to the repeated aggressive gestures from left to right of the brothers, the women form a loose, circular frame. The father hesitates in asking for the blessing of the gods is highlighted in the angle of the three swords. *723 David DEATH OF MARAT 1793 Musee's Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. Marat, a leading radical during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, was assassinated while sitting in his tub by a political opponent, Lady Charlotte Corday. Within three days of the assassination David visited the room to obtain accurate details. Marat's tub, in which he soaked daily for an eczema problem, was set up with a cover which served as a desk. Marat is depicted in a graceful and heroic pose, reminiscent of the body of Jesus in Michelangelo's Pieta. He holds a blood-stained note from his murderess who used the note to gain access to his apartment. There are no crowds of supporters or the clutter of everyday life. Bathed in poignant artificial light, which contrasts with the sombre background, David has picked a few tell-tale objects, the knife, the quill pen, ink bottle and only three bits of paper: each painted with dignity and with a subtle harmony which directs the viewers gaze to Marat's face. *724 David NAPOLEON IN HIS STUDY 1812 National Gallery, Washington D.C. This portrait was one of the many David completed of the great and commanding leader of the French Republic, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon refused to pose for the artist, commenting that the great men of antiquity would not even have posed. As long as the painted image conformed with the image of genius he had of himself, he was satisfied. Painted standing beside his desk in his study in the the early hours of the morning, Napoleon is presented in that familiar stance with his hand tucked into his vest. The detailing of the chair, his uniform, and the leg of the desk are clearly highlighted by an unreal light source in this candlelit room. *725 David MARS AND VENUS 1824 Musee's Royaux des Beaux Arts, Brussels. Cupid is seen removing the sandal of the god of war, Mars, who hands over his sword and shield to the graces behind him. Venus places a crown of blossoms on his head. In his final years in Brussels, David turned to the Greeks and their artistic principles for his inspiration. David painted several mythological scenes. This work was perhaps his last major painting. It contains no reference to political or intellectual allegory. In contrast this work is sensual. *737 David NAPOLEON AT THE PASS 1800 The Emperor Napoleon is here depicted triumphant and victorious. David was a key artist in recording the events and in capturing the mood of the French Revolution. #INGRES 1780-1867 Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres was a French Neo-Classical painter of the late 18th Century. He began his successful career in Paris as a pupil of David and rose to become one of the greatest of all French painters. After spending 22 years in Rome, he returned to Paris, the new leader of Classicism. But Classicism had changed and now knew a challenger in the rising movement of Romantic painters, led by Delacroix. Ingres always believed himself a staunch Classicist, but his later works show the growing influence of Romanticism. For this reason, many of his works were met with disapproval by the Academy throughout his career. Ingres continued to paint until his death at 86. *726 Ingres MADEMOISELLE RIVIERE 1805 Louvre, Paris This portrait, of one of the daughters of Madame Riviere, along with several other portraits he exhibited at this time, caused unexpected criticism. Perhaps the most deeply felt comment was that his portraits were Gothic in nature, a tradition which was the complete antithesis of his principles of Classicism. But in the painting of this young woman, his polished technique is exemplified in his rendering of sensuous materials and a delicate complexion. *727 Ingres MADEMOISELLE RIVIERE (Detail) 1805 Louvre, Paris Note here in the detail the fine surface rendering of Ingres' work, a feature of his paintings. *728 Ingres THE VALPINCON BATHER 1808 The Louvre, Paris This famous nude, which once belonged to the Valpincon family, is one of Ingres' most important and sensual images from his early period. This pose was to reappear again and again, slightly altered, even in the last decade of his life in his famous round painting: The Turkish Bath. This painting is one of several finished works devoted totally to the presentation of the nude. Here his Classicism is compromised by the sensuous expression of the warmth and softness of naked flesh. The abstract elements are startlingly obvious. Note the contrast of the subtle smooth contours of the body with the restless bunching of the cloth wrapped around her elbow and of her turban. These elements are juxtaposed with the long, straight folds of the curtain to the left and the upper right: nothing fussy, simple, and sensual. *729 Ingres MONSIEUR BERTIN 1832 Louvre, Paris. Ingres painted this portrait of the founder and director of Le Journal des Debats in a startlingly forceful manner. An exception to his many portraits, which concentrated more on the sumptuousness of materials and detail than character, this obviously presents more than a matter-of-fact likeness. The pose, accentuated by his placement of the hands, creates a strong suggestion of the importance of this man. His bulky form is all that fills an empty canvas, imposing, alert and shrewd. *730 Ingres COMPTESSE D'HAUSSONVILLE 1845 The Frick Collection, New York. In this portrait of the granddaughter of the novelist Madame de Stael, Ingres includes more accessory details for their inherent interest and reference to their owners. The coquettish young countess stands before her mirror, which reflects and thereby repeats the daring red bow pinned in her hair. It also creates an element of depth in an otherwise shallow interior. *731 Ingres THE TURKISH BATH 1862 Louvre, Paris. This is one of two paintings which brought Ingres favour in his later years. The groupings are made up of recombinations and variations of figures painted in several pictures during his life. The Bather of Valpincon sits playing a mandolin, with her back to the viewer. The painting has many bizarre defects which are explained by the many reworkings. Ingres transforms this painting from a rectangular canvas to the circular form it has today. *732 Ingres ODALISQUE 1814 Louvre, Paris. An odalisque was a Turkish slave in the harem. Turkish themes became very popular in the early 19th Century, as a point of comparison with the new Liberal Europe. Ingres exploits the sensuous connotations of the setting, exaggerating the length of the naked curved back, and making the surface appealingly smooth.