Photography and Realism

Question 1

Answer 1

Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, Still Life in Studio, 1837

inventor of photography= “writing with light”

Daguerrotype process: polish sheet of silver-plated copper to mirror finish, treat with photo-sensitive iodine vapor, expose in camera, make resulting latent image visible with mercury vapor, remove light sensitivity by liquid chemical treatment, rinse, dry, then seal behind glass

positive print, could not be reproduced

1st time could accurately and objectively record the world; downside: single impression, cannot make copies- exposure time=15 to 30 minutes, stationary objects common

began with existing genres (still-life, portraiture, landscape)

Question 2

Answer 2

Gustave Courbet, The Stone Breakers, 1849 (destroyed 1945)

realism= only can show what can be seen at the moment

excellent example of realism- two people at beginning & end of life, extremely poor, shown poor (e.g. in tattered clothing), stark, monochromatic, anonymous, unidealized, manual labor

contemporary event but insignificant, lacks grand narrative/moral, monumental painting glorifying the mundane, modern

painted after 1848 workers revolt against Second Republic in France, would have made middle class and wealthy uncomfortable

Question 3

Answer 3

Edouard Manet, Olympia, 1863- father of “modernism,” liked to reveal assumptions of academic art

1st modern nude- woman shown exactly as is- not in guise of figure from Bible, history, or mythology; lampoons Titian’s Venus of Urbino, same pose, but not coyly inviting, instead aggressive gaze; cat for dog, servant with flowers not cassoni

prostitute= “cat house,”- “Olympia” popular name of low class, street walking prostitute

highly criticized because exposed hypocrisy of academic nude, 1st time a woman defies male gaze; female agency

Question 4

Answer 4

Thomas Eakins, The Gross Clinic, 1875- originally designed for Philadelphia exhibition of American Independence Centennial- rejected due to brutal realism

Dr. Samuel Gross in operating amphitheater, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia

real operation with real doctor and real reactions- lectures nonchalantly with bloody scalpel in hand

recording events not showcasing individual- not pretense for another genre (like Rembrandt’s Dr. Tulp group portrait painting)