Artworks Flashcards
Name two neo classical artists and works of each.
Jacques-Louis David: Death of Marat, 1793, oil on canvas
Jean Dominique Ingres: La Grande Odalisque, 1814, oil on canvas
Describe a work by Jacques-Louis David in detail.
Death of Marat, 1793.
Oil on canvas, 162 x 125cm
Brussels Musee des Beaux Arts
Neoclassical.
Depicts a young man - Marat - lying dead in a bathtub while he’d ben working. He was in there because of a skin condition, which the contents of the bath soothed.
Use of value, tone, and space emphasises Marat and his pained expression in death and creates contrast/emphasis/movement/visual interest. Colours signify innocence (white) and contrast to the red of the blood. Brushstrokes are invisible. Depiction of Marat is modest, suggesting that he was respected/liked by David.
Describe a work by Jean Dominique Ingres in detail.
La Grande Odalisque, 1814.
Oil on canvas, 91 x 162 cm.
Louvre, Paris, France.
Neoclassical.
The painting depicts a nude Turkish woman, part of a harem, facing away from the viewer and lying on her side, gazing coyly over her shoulder at the onlooker with her legs crossed and elbow propping her up. She lies on a bed of multicoloured silks and fabric and holds a fan in her right hand.
La Grande Odalisque is quite controversial in modern times due to its fetishisation of ‘exotic’ or ‘otherly’ women - during the time the painting was made, to paint a nude french woman was porn equivalent. Because the subject is not french, Odalisque was not seen as porn, but rather an ‘exotic’ or ‘otherly’ being. Ingres had a taste for the “exotic, Turkish harem.”
- Lack of visible brush strokes
- Sexual elements in coy gaze and nudity
- Subject is intended to be “both absent and present”
- Use of line and contrast is prolific
- Anatomy is extremely distorted (she has an extra vertebrae for example)
Name two romantic artists and works of each.
Eugene Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People, 1830
Caspar David Friedrich: Wanderer above a Sea of Fog, 1818
Give detail on a work by Eugene Delacroix.
Liberty Leading the People, 1830.
Oil on canvas, 2.6 x 3.25m
Romanticism
A half-nude female figure dominates the monumental painting as she charges forward, a crowd of determined revolutionists in her wake. She is a personification of liberty, a classical symbol used throughout the history of art. In the background Notre Dame rises through a clearing of smoke, its south tower nearly obscuring its twin and heralding a barely discernible Tricolor on its roof. The cathedral is the only structure Delacroix included in an arrangement of churning human bodies, but he subdued the chaos of the scene by using a pyramidal composition and fairly muted colours. (Source: Britannica)
Context: Depicts the July Revolution in 1830 and the end of Charles X’s kingship.
Give detail on a work by Caspar David Friedrich.
Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog, 1818.
Oil on canvas, 95 x 75 cm.
Hamburger Kunsthalle
Romanticism.
The lone, elegant figure in Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog stands with his back to the viewer, a device called Rückenfigur that Friedrich frequently employed. The man is depicted standing on a rocky precipice gazing at a valley in which rocks, trees, and mountains appear rising above a thick, rolling mist. (Source: Britannica)
Name a realism artist and one of their works.
Edward Manet: Olympia
Give detail on a work by Edward Manet.
Olympia, 1863.
Oil on canvas, 130.5 x 190 cm
Museé d’Orsay
Realism.
The painting depicts a pale young French nude woman with upswept hair with an orchid in it lying on a bed, accompanied by a black maid who holds a bouquet of flowers, while a black cat lies at the foot of her bed. Because the woman is French, it was considered scandalous/offensive at the time, especially with the direct and non-coy gaze. ‘Olympia’ was also considered a prostitutes’ name. Overall, Manet was making a statement with this painting.
- Very flat except for a few areas (e.g, Olympia’s hand)
- Very limited space
- Use of outlines
- High contrast which polarises the very little tonal gradation
- Very bright
Name an Impressionist artist and one of their works.
Claude Monet: Impression Sunrise
Give detail on a work by Claude Monet.
Impression Sunrise, 1872.
Oil on canvas, 48 x 63 cm.
Musée Marmottan Monet.
Depicts a misty sunrise, which provides a hazy background to the piece set in the French harbor. Two dark vessels row across the water. The orange and yellow hues contrast brilliantly with the dark vessels, where little, if any detail is immediately visible to the audience. (Source: Claude Monet website).
- Immense use of complimentary colours - blue/purple to orange, greatly brighten one another.
- Painted fast , impasto , didnt blend paint = 3D form in brushstroke, fluent and relaxed brushstrokes
- The brushwork in the sky follows a downward curve which gives the painting a sense of movement
- Attempts to capture light and atmosphere before it changes
- Very little value contrast other than the dark vessels but LOTS of saturation contrast.
- Depth is created by the gradual fading of objects as they recede into the distance.
Name a neo impressionist artist and one of their works.
Georges Seurat: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
Give detail on a work by Georges Seurat.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886.
Oil on canvas, 2.08 x 3.08 m.
The Art Institute of Chicago
Georges Seurat depicts a relaxing Parisian scene. In a park, Seurat paints the Sunday crowd relaxing on the banks of the Seine river. One can observe women in period clothing strolling around with parasols, rowers resting after a competition, and children playing. In the background, two soldiers are walking and there is also a nurse, recognizable by her red and white banded hat, and an elderly lady near a tree. Seurat also depicted companion animals, even exotic ones such as a small monkey on a leash. The protagonists of the paintings are all from different social classes. The setting is the small island of La Grande-Jatte on the Seine near Neuilly sur Seine. (Source: Artchive)
Georges Seurat makes multiple political and social comments hidden in this painting: For example, the trumpeter aiming his trumpet in the ears of the two guards, and the woman fishing, supposedly ‘luring men in’ as a symbol of prostitution.
- Uses POINTILLISM - expanses of tiny dabs, called ‘taches’ of colour strategically arranged next to one another.
- Very rigid/stiff figures and composition
- Little movement
- High contrast tonally and saturation wise
Name three post-impressionist artists and an artwork each.
Paul Gauguin : The Yellow Christ, 1889
Vincent Van Gogh: Wheatfield with Blackbirds, 1890
Paul Cezanne: Still life with Apples and Oranges, 1900
Give detail on a work by Paul Gauguin.
The Yellow Christ, 1889.
Oil on canvas, 91 x 73 cm.
Buffalo AKG Art Museum
Post-impressionist.
The painting depicts a crucifixion scene, with a yellow-skinned Christ hanging from a brown cross against a landscape background. The figure of Christ is depicted with his head lowered and eyes closed, conveying a sense of suffering and resignation. His body is elongated and distorted, with exaggerated hands and feet, and his skin seems to glow with an otherworldly light. In the foreground, a group of women dressed in traditional Breton costumes kneel in prayer, their faces obscured. In the background, a small group of figures stand in a line, two of them appearing to have faces turned toward the viewer. (Source: Artmajeur)
- Flat and bold use of colour
- Very simplified forms
- Juxtapositioning of elements (e.g, colours to patterns) to create vis. interest and tension
- Heavy use of line and outlines
Give detail on a work by Vincent Van Gogh.
Wheatfield with Blackbirds (Also referred to as Wheatfield with Crows), 1890.
Oil on canvas, 50.5 x 103cm
Post-Impressionist.
Depicts a dramatic, cloudy sky filled with crows over a wheat field. A sense of isolation is heightened by a central path leading nowhere and by the uncertain direction of flight of the crows. The windswept wheat field fills two-thirds of the canvas.
- Bold, expressive strokes
- Very swift painting
- Extreme use of colour to communicate the heavy atmosphere of the field.
- Complimentary colours blue/yellow
- extreme movement due to impasto brushstrokes
Give detail on a work by Paul Cezanne.
Still Life with Apples and Oranges, 1900.
Oil on canvas, 74 x 93 cm.
Post-Impressionist.
Cezanne had an obsession with showing “how we see” through binocular vision. He creates 3D structure through colour, not tone, and took so long to paint that its said the fruits- the subjects- rotted.
This painting depicts an array of apples and oranges arranged on a white cloth. It is heavily washed in warm orange hues and seems to show a distorted view of multiple angles.
- some use of line but ultimately relies on colour to communicate form
- contrast, both tonal and saturation, created by cloth/background and cloth/fruits.
- nothing looks steady due to the number of perspectives used
- use of complimentary colours to create depth/form
- combination of warm and cool tones = harmony and balance
