24 The Break in Tradition Flashcards
Identify, date, describe
Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, London, 1775
Built by Horace Walpole, son of first prime minister of England.
Perhaps first building in neo-Gothic style. Transformed existing cottage, adding turrets, battlements, and other Gothic elements
Interior designed to create gloomth – eerie but cosy atmosphere.
Age where building became matter of taste, and was discussed and debated, rather than following rigorous models eg Palladio.
Backdrop for his novel “The Castle of Otranto”.
Identify, date, describe
Great Pagoda, Kew Gardens, 1761, Sir William Chambers
Built as a present for Princess Augusta, the founder of the gardens.
18th century saw great increases in trade between China and the West, leading to explosion of interest in Chinese art and culture –trend of Chinoiserie.
What inspired classicists to turn against Palladian architecture in the late 1700s?
Realisation that the Renaissance tradition of architecture was based on Roman ruins of a decadent period –rather than the buildings of Classical Greece.
Walpole’s ‘_____ revival’ was matched by a ‘_____ revival’ which culminated in the ________ period (1810—20)
Walpole’s ‘Gothic revival’ was matched by a ‘Greek revival’ which culminated in the Regency period (1810—20)
Identify, date, describe
Dorset House, Cheltenham, 1825
Greek revival, as embodied by the Regency style.
Pure Ionic, rather than mixed neo-classical. Reflects desire to return to Greek models.
What is the Regency Period?
Period in British history from 1811 to 1820, when King George III was deemed unfit to rule due to his mental illness, and his son, the Prince of Wales, acted as his regent.
The Georgian period takes its name from ___ _____ ________ _________ of the period 1714–1830
The Georgian period takes its name from the four Kings George of the period 1714–1830
What are the hallmarks of the Regency style in architecture?
Buildings of the Regency style tend to have a white painted stucco facade and an entryway to the main front door (usually coloured black) which is framed by two columns. In town centres, terraced house dominate, and crescents are especially popular.
What’s the difference between Palladian style and Greek revival?
In Palladian style, classical elements are used freely to compose buildings.
In Greek revival, attempt to follow classical models as closely as possible, without mixing styles.
What’s the difference between Palladian style and Greek revival?
In Palladian style, classical elements are used freely to compose buildings.
In Greek revival, attempt to follow classical models as closely as possible, without mixing styles.
Identify, date, describe
Monticello, Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, 1806
Idea of architecture as application of simple, logical rules appealed to figures of the enlightenment– champions of reason.
Two reasons why people moved away from Baroque style of architecture in France and US in late 1700s?
1) Baroque was identified with the ancien regime, with pomp and excess
2) New democracies thought of themselves as citizens of new-born Athens, hence revival of classical forms
What was the shift in how painting was taught in the 1700s?
It ceased being an ordinary trade, passed down from master to apprentice and became a subject to be taught in academies.
Etymology of word ‘academy’?
From Greek akadēmeia, from Akadēmos, the hero after whom Plato’s garden was named. In this garden Plato taught his disciples.
Why were exhibitions of members of academies organised in 1800s?
To counterbalance the tendency to favour old masters.
Identify, date, describe
Charles I demanding the surrender of the five impeached members of the House of Commons 1641, John Singleton Copley, 1785
Reflects new phase of art – subject matter not restricted to biblical or mythological scenes.
Unprecedented method ofreconstructing historical details – finding old portraits, researching decoration of room.
Meant to comment on refusal of George III to grant independence to American colonies.
Prefigures Mirabeau’s refusal to let Louis XVI interfere with representatives of the people.
Identify, date, describe
Marat assassinated, Jacques-Louis David, 1793
Manages to make undignified death seem heroic. Learned from classical art to omit any details not crucial to main effect.
Artists felt were living in heroic times and events are as worthy of attention as episodes of classical history.
David transfers qualities associated with Catholic Church to new French Republic, by painting Marat as a martyr of the Revolution.
Identify, date, describe
Majas on a Balcony, Francisco Goya,1815
Majo or maja, also manolo and manola, after the most popular names, were people from the lower classes of Spanish society, especially in Madrid, distinguished themselves by elaborate outfits and cheeky behavior. Favorite subjects of some 19th-century Spanish painters.
Sinister gallants in background reminiscent of Hogarth.
Goya well-versed in traditions of Spanish painting –El Greco, Velasquez, etc. Also Tiepolo ended days as court painter in Madrid, and his radiance can be found in Goya.
Identify, date, describe
King Ferdinand VII of Spain, Francisco Goya, 1814.
These portraits secured Goya’s place at Spanish court.
Not flattering –expressions reveal vanity and greed.
Free brushwork recalls Titian or Velasquez.
Identify, date, describe
Francisco Goya, The Giant, 1818, aquatint
Recurring nightmare of Goya’s–giant sitting on edge of world.
Many of Goya’s prints are fantastic visions. Huge break in tradition –artists felt free to put private visions down on paper as hitherto only poets had done.
Identify, date, describe
William Blake, The Ancient of Days, 1794
Vision that Blake saw at top of staircase –Lord setting a compass on the face of the depths.
Blake thought world was bad, and in Blake’s own mythology this was evil creator of the world called Urizen.
Blake draws entirely from imagination. Faults of draughtsmanship are irrelevant –as significance outweighs correctness, much like in medieval art.
First artist after Renaissance who consciously revolted against accepted standards.
Date, identify, describe
Dido building Carthage, JMW Turner, 1815
Classical landscape based on Virgil’s Aeneid. Sheba is in white, soldier is her lover Aeneas.
Children playing with boat symbolise growing naval power of Carthage.
Tomb of her dead husband Sychaeus, on the other bank of estuary, foreshadows eventual doom of Carthage.
Influenced by Claude Lorrain.
Bequest stipulates that this work and Decline of Carthaginian Empire be displayed on either side of Claude’s Seaport with Embarkation of Queen of Sheba.
Date, identify, describe
Steamer in a Snowstorm, JMW Turner, 1842
Turner claimed to have been asked to be lashed to mast of steamer, Ariel, for four hours to experience the storm. Was 67 when painted.
All details swallowed up by the storm. Romantic principle –nature reflects man’s emotion, and feeling overwhelmed is echoed by power of storm.
Theme of Turner’s –natural world unmastered by mankind.
Early critical response negative, one critic calling it “soapsuds and whitewash”.
Identify, date, describe
John Constable, Study of Tree Trunks, 1821, oil on paper
Constable made sketches from nature and then would return to studio to complete
Identify, date, describe
John Constable, The Hay Wain, 1821
Originally entitled, Landscape: Noon, suggesting painting belongs to classical landscape tradition of representing cycles of nature.
Lack of pretence or loud effects, refusal to be more impressive than nature.
Failed to find a buyer when exhibited at Royal Academy.
Identify, date, describe
Landscape in the Silesian Mountains, Caspar David Friedrich, 1819
Reflects mood of Romantic lyrical poetry of time.
Reminiscent also of Chinese landscapes, which were also objects of contemplation akin to poetry.
