Study Guide 1 Flashcards
Author?
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Adolphe William Bougeaureau’s
“Birth of Venus”
1880
- Academic Art
- Realistic & Idealized mythological subjects
- Comparable to Cabanel’s artwork
CHIAROSCURO
- a technique featuring light & dark contrast
(light and shade or dark) referring to the modeling of volume by depicting light and shade by contrasting them boldly.
ICONOGRAPHY
- pictorial representation of a subject, or the collected images (or icons) illustrating a subject — pictures, diagrams, etc.
- can mean the description of representational works of art.
- the study of subject matter and symbolism in the visual arts, as in collections of pictures constituting a complete visual record of a subject, or a visual dictionary.
Avant-garde
- art that is before its time
- art & artists tend to be non-traditional & experimental
- Visionary, trend-setting, cutting-edge
- e.g. In the context of its time period & cultural place in history; impressionist art is now viewed as relatively “traditional.” However, in its time, it was edgy & truly unique - avant-garde.
Cool Colors
- colors that tend to reced from the eye
- Green, Blue, Violet
- Cool colors are more soothing
Warm Colors
- colors that tend to move forward visually
- more intense
- Orange, Yellow, Red
Impressionism
- Movement founded in late 19th c. (1870’s mostly).
- Founded mostly by Claude Monet
- Pastel Palette
- sometimes bright, sunny colors & brushy, energetic strokes of paint.
- “plein air” /outdoor painting
- looks unfinished, sketchy, loose brush work
- sweet interior scenes of Mary Cassatt & Berthe Morisot
- optimistic themes
- Term used negatively by Louis Leroy
- Interest in changing values of light, color, and capturing the fleeting moment
Post-Impressionism
- Period after Impressionism
- e.g.: Seurat, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Cassatt, Morisot & Cezanne
- influenced by Impressionism, but brighter colors, more intense
- more psychological, more expressionistic, more emotional & movement
- experiments w/techniques like pointellism
- Subject matter more humanistic, less superficial than Impressionist themes.
- Often using complementary colors (colors opposite to each other on color wheel)= bright, intense colors.
- Preocupied with modern life problems, like prostitution & class differences
- Fin de Siecle attitude as end of century neared
What is Academic Art?
- Art that reflects academic ideas & valules
- more traditional, “mainstream”
Time period of Impressionism?
Roughly late 1860’s to early 1880’s
aritst?
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Edgar Degas
“Ballerina Prima”
1876-1877
Impressionist
- Artist known for ballerinas, horses/racetrack, interiors, not plein air
- Voyeuristic, intimate, compliated individual
- friend of Cassatt
- Strong dialgonal line
- Cropping
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Edgar Degas
“The Little 14yr Old Dancer”
1880, cast in 1922
- Original was exhibited at the 6th Impressionist exhibition in 1881
- figure tinted to simulate flesh, was clothed in real ballerina tutu & slippers
- artist late work included sculpture due to failing eyesight of women in possess too
- This was his only figure exhibited
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Henri Toulouse Lautrec
“At the Moulin Rouge”
Post-Impressionist
- Strong diagonal cropping, a sense of instability, discomfort to viewer
- Asymmetry- more uncomfortable
- post-impressionist- not idealized world of impressionist, subjects are sad, unhappy
- Sense of “fin de siecle” = end of the century, filled w/negativity, instability
- mask looking lady face- wild dancer/singer May Milton
- Lautrec places himself in the painting-small stature man next to tall man his cousin w/hat in the background
- Lady with unique orange top hair style in the back is famous dancer La Goulue
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Henri Toulouse Lautrec
“Jane Avril” poster
Post-Impressionist
- poster that capture the night life in Paris
- artist loved dance halls, circuses, night clubs, racetracks on canvas or lithographs
- strong voyeuristic quality to his work
- prostitutes were painted with respect & that was unique to his work.
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Henri Toulouse Lautrec
“Dance Hall” poster
- Post Impressionist
- artist loved night life
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Alexandre Cabanel
“Birth of Venus”
- Academic Art
- emphasis on realistic mythological figures (nymphs & Satyr)
- exact crafmanship
- copying classical sculpture
- drawing from line models
- perspective expression & pictorial composition
- studied great masters
- other artist like his work is Bougeaureau who painted standing birth of venus.
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Edouard MANET
“Luncheon on the Grass”
1863
- associated with Impressionists
- Did show at teh academic salon with notorious results
- considered the “Father of Modernity”
- nude lady gaze is unpologetic, staring at viewer
- scale off of women in background and boat
- believed by scholars to look back at Renaissance, such work as Titian’s
- Model= Victorine Meuret
- not accepted bec. nude women is not your classical mythological goddess/figure.
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Edouard MANET
“Olympia”
1863-1865
- Associated with Impressionist
- Controvertial Art work “modern venus” not well accepted
- exhibited way up high, but still was noticeable
- model is prostitute (ribbon on neck), strong gaze at viewer, not apologetic
- Open flower represents genitals
- Cat= suspicious, not trustworthy symbol
- drapery on Left corner a framing device also used by Titian
- Papers laughed at work bec. it depicted prostitutes
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Berthe Morisot
“The Cradle”
- Impressionist
- most famous work
- her expression is contemplating some joy & conflict of thought of greater responsability
- pensive, thoughtful
- conflict of motherhood & artist life
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Gustave Courbet
“The Painter’s Studio”
- Social Realism- truth in art
- Artist is the “prophet of realism”
- Unidealized nude model
- Peasan boy watches the master w/innocense but too close to nude model
- To the right, man who have influenced the artist, friend Proudnon(mustache)
- Working poor on the left, upper class on the right
- closest to models back, bearded man is patron (A. Brygas)
- Friend Baudelaires/Botelier (figure on right w/book), ex-lover painted & later removed- Pentimento/Graffito
- Confident artist places himself in the center
- women w/stripped dress preocupied w/bracelet is a laborer’s wife.
- dummy behind canvas-symbol he paints out of nature
- far left against the wall you have a farm laborer & a reaper
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Gustave Courbet
“Burial at Ornans”
1840
- social realism contrast to academic art
- separation of class rich on left & poor on right
- viewer is placed 5 feet away- standing in the grave, makes viewer uncomfortable
- background is realistic, natural
- earthbound, only cross is in heavenly sphere
- his Oeuvre = style, depicts nature, ordinary life
- Artist hometown was Ornans
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Mary Cassatt
“Breakfast in Bed”, 1897
- Impressionist
- known for mother/child images
- pastel palettes
- idealized work
- interest in family & sisters
- brushy work
- painted interior spaces, her limitations to being a woman in those days
- influenced by Japonisme & Ukiyo-e prints
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir
“La Promenade” 1870
- Impressionist from 1860-1870
- back to more classical/traditional style after 1884
- known for beautiful treatment of white dresses
- delicate & eleggant texture of dress
- dappled of affected light
- he showed pretty images during a time of war (believed there was enough unpleasant things in the world)
- friend of Monet
Ball at the Moulin de la Gallette

Pierre Auguste Renoir
“Ball at the Moulin de la Galette” or
“Dance at the Moulin de la Galette” 1876
- Impressionist from 1860’s-1870’s
- Dance hall near Bohemian Montmartre, France
- It was originaly a windmill
- Wild night life
- Image of care free leisure, spontaneity
- dappled sunlight through the trees, specialty of Renoir
- presented at the 3rd Impressionist exh. in 1877
- table on right- his young model Estelle & standing over her-older sister Jeanne next to them are painter Lamy & Goenette & writer Riviere.
- At the center behind table artist’s model Margo (Marguerite Legrand) & painter Solares, Cardenas/Vidal both Cuban.
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Pierre Auguste Renoir
“Luncheon of the Boating Party” 1881
- Impressionist
- He populated restaurants with friends
- foreground white table seat for Renoir or viewer
- en plein air
- people engaged in socializing
- forground, close friend & wealthy patron Gustave Caillebotte who sits backwards in his chair is grouped w/actress Angele
- young woman w/dog is Aline Charigot, seamstress & later would marry Renoir.
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Claude MONET
“Haystack” series 1891
- Impressionist
- Interest in changing values of light & color
- fleeting moment
- plen air painting
- large series of haystacks observing the values of light and color at different times of the day and seasons.
- pastel palette