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Final Project: Annotated Bibliography

Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic, “A beginner’s guide to Realism,” in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed December 5, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/a-beginners-guide-to-realism/.

This online source talks about how realism came to be. The modern era began and people believed that art should also become modernized. Modern life is about social mixing and social mobility and people believed that art should reflect this. This all began in Paris. A man named Gustave Courbet came to Paris and met with Baudelaire and other progressive thinkers and declared himself as the leader of a new art movement called realism. He said that realism should be about the history of real life and that it should have a social consciousness.

Finocchio, Ross. “Nineteenth-Century French Realism.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm (October 2004)

This online source talks about the realist movement in France. The movement flourished in the 1860s and continued to the late 19th century. The purpose of the realist movement was to convey a truthful and objective vision of contemporary life. Realism rose in the outcome of the Revolution of 1848 that toppled the government of Louis-Philippe and created amid the time of the Second Empire under Napoleon III. As French society battled for vote based change, the realists democratized workmanship by portraying current subjects drawn from the regular daily existences of the common laborers. Rejecting the ideas of neoclassicism and romanticism, realism is based on observation of the modern world.

Rabinow, Rebecca. “Édouard Manet (1832–1883).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mane/hd_mane.htm (October 2004)

This online source talks about one of the most famous artists during the realism movement. Eduard Manet has contributed a lot to the realism movement and went through a lot of criticism to become a well-known artist. Manet’s work was rejected many times and when the public saw his paintings, they were shocked and attacked Manet. One of his most famous works, Olympia, also received a lot of criticism. It took about seventy years for one of his works to be presented at the Louvre. To this day, Manet is still considered by many art historians to be the father of modernism.

Ed. Donna Campbell. “Realism (late 1800s-early 1900s).” Scholastic.com. Web. 06 Dec. 2018. http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3753924

This article talks about realism in both literature and art. Realism was created as a reaction against romanticism. Pretty much every work of writing has some level of realism. This is on the grounds that it is critical for perusers to perceive and relate to the characters and the world they occupy. In any case, realism as an unmistakable style and scholarly development go back to France in the mid-1800s. The realist movement in art started in France amid the 1800s. The realists needed to split far from the formal masterful styles and subjects of the past. Their works normally depicted standard, or average workers, individuals, instead of chivalrous, notable, scriptural, or illustrious figures. They additionally delineated scenes of customary life, for example, country scenes with agriculturists grouping bulls or gathering grain. The realists looked to respect what they felt was the honorable poise of humble individuals having basic existences.

Griffin, Randall. “A Movement in a Moment: American Realism | Art | Agenda.” Phaidon. Web. 06 Dec. 2018. https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2017/february/23/a-movement-in-a-moment-american-realism/

This article talks about an artist named Winslow Homer and how he applied realism to his subjects in the US. He developed a style called American Realism. Some people did not like Homer’s art and criticized it for being too simple. However, Homer’s work inspired other American artists to also use realism in their artwork. Realism began to get more popular in America.

The MET Visit

Upon entering the MET I was overwhelmed by the grandiosity of the building, and the abundance of space that inhibits thousands upon thousands of beautiful and historical works of art. To say that I was overwhelmed might be a bit of an understatement. I knew that with my easily distracted nature and lack of awareness of my surroundings I could’ve easily gotten lost, and having dragged my poor mother along with me, I couldn’t let that happen. I asked a kind worker to direct me to the parts of the museum where I could find works of art that are byproducts of the 15th and 16th century Renaissance era as well as the 17th century Baroque era. With my backpack positioned in the front of me like a makeshift Juno costume (courtesy of the stern guard checking my ticket), I walked those beautiful and frightening flights of steps up to the second floor, and found myself stumbling upon a plethora of works of paintings from both of these integral eras of art history.

It was difficult to narrow down all of the works of art I saw to just one painting from each era. Nevertheless, the painting I’d like to hone in on that substantially highlights all the features and qualities that the art of the Renaissance embodied is Giovanni di Paolo’s Madonna and Child with Two Angels  and a Donor. This artwork dating back to 1445 is a painting on what was most likely the center panel of an altarpiece. How we can tell this piece is of the Renaissance era is by the serenity it invokes alongside the idealization of the subjects. Madonna is cloaked in her usual blue robe to signify her virginity and purity and a golden halo surrounding the top of her head remains a marker of her holiness. However if the halo didn’t serve enough of a purpose to present her as a holy figure, the two angels floating beside her and the small donor at her feet all continue to attribute to this idealization of the Virgin. There is also a sense that we are in no specific moment in time here as there is no set scene. Instead it is embraced as a scene of eternity. We also find ourselves quite reserved and distant from this piece as it is very confined, the figures closed inside the blue pentagon surrounding them. This further accentuates that these figures are otherworldly, not belonging in our space and us not belonging in theirs. The highly saturated colors work to further remind us that this still is just a painting, not very naturalistic one, that works outside of our realms of the world. The emphasis of gold in the painting also adds to the idealization of these allegorical figures.

Georges de La Tour’s 1640 painting The Penitent Magdalen caught my immediate eye. If you did not know the title of this work of art, there’s no telling that this is a depiction of the allegorical figure Mary Magdalen. She sits at her vanity table, her long dark hair pin straight and trailing down her back. Her face is turned and we are given no clear facial features of the woman. The candle that is lit in front of her vanity mirror is reflecting on her dress, highlighting the white of her blouse and chest as well as her profile. All of this then draws our eyes down to her hands which are folded as if she is pensively in thought (or prayer), and sitting on her lap there lies a skull. Just by the use of light alone, we can observe this painting as one from the Baroque era. Unlike Giovanni di Paolo’s Madonna and Child with Two Angels and a Donor, The Penitent Magdalen is so clearly set in time and is most certainly does not intend to remove us from the world the artist is creating but rather welcoming us into it, relating us to it. While it’s depicting an allegorical figure, she is one that is amongst our world as well, and isn’t seen as an untouchable holy figure.  The Baroque art era created figures deeply human and real and Mary Magdalen here is represented as just that. There is a mirror in front of her suggestive of vanity, as well as a skull in her lap symbolizing mortality. Both of these are common attributes to humans and are most certainly not idealized ones. The emotion that Mary Magdalen is portrayed with here is perhaps a remorseful one or a pleading one, but it is one that is certainly intense. We have caught Mary Magdalen in a specific moment in time, almost as if we intruded on a private moment of hers.

 

Blog Post #10: The Met Visit

The Metropolitan Museum is one of the largest museums in the world with an encyclopedic amount of art inside. When going through the museum’s Renaissance and Baroque paintings, some were very intriguing and made me very interested. So, here’s some of the art that I looked at.

The Renaissance sculpture of Saint Jerome in the Wilderness done by Antonio Rossellino in 1470s, which can be seen in The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 500. It was breath taking that I couldn’t resist looking at it. First off, the way that everything pops out as well as the border on the sculpture makes it seem like a 3D image. Even though it is done in one color (Tan), you can tell what everything is. Also, the marble that is used to make it gives it a glossy texture when seen in real life. 

The Baroque artwork of Wentworth House Made in American during the late 1690s, can be seen in The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 711. The artwork is made with Oak and Pine Wood which made the artwork seem more rustic. The colors are very tame either than that green chair which pop out. The tone of the picture seems dark and the size isn’t too big.

The big difference I see in these two artworks and throughout all of Renaissance and Baroque art is what is being painted. Where the Renaissance seems to be going back to the old ages where people paint gods and allusions to holiness, Baroque art is more towards the Greek humanism standpoint where it is more involving man and his things.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

During my visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art it was a confusing experience and the exhibits were enjoyable. At the Metropolitan Museum there were so many lines of people, tourists, and crowds everywhere getting lost, looking at art works, and taking photos. The Metropolitan Museum was a different experience for me compared to the Brooklyn Museum. At the Brooklyn Museum there weren’t as many people every where compared to the Metropolitan, also things at the Brooklyn Museum were easier to find compared to the Metropolitan. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art I had to constantly rely on a map or ask someone that worked at the Metropolitan for directions on where specific pieces of art would be located. However, the overall experience was great and I wouldn’t mind going back but they should try to come up with a better system for people instead of people constantly crowding at the help desks.

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi)- The Denial of Saint Peter 1610

Pompeo Batoni- Diana and Cupid 1761

The 16th century “The Denial of Saint Peter” 1610 by Caravaggio which is Renaissance art and the 17th century “Diana and Cupid” 1761 by Pompeo Batoni which is Baroque art share many similarities and differences. They are similar in ways such as being paintings from Italian artists, both paintings are oil on canvas and the eras are very close. However, they have many differences such as the different centuries that they were painted and the depictions of the subjects from the different artists. Caravaggio painted a more darker background with more light towards the main figures in his painting depicting a woman, a soldier and a man, Peter. In his painting “The Denial of Saint Peter” it is Peter in front of a fire place and the woman and the soldier is accusing him of being a follower of Jesus. In Pompeo Batoni’s painting it depicts a natural lighting, there is nature in the background, and it shows trees, dogs, a woman, and cupid. In his painting it is the Roman countryside showing the goddess of the hunt holding the cupids bow away from him. Both paintings highlight the differences between the Renaissance and Baroque era by showing the differences in painting styles, color contrast, shadows, and the way it depicts the emotion of the subjects in the paintings.

Final Outline

Thesis: Women’s beauty standards and ideal body types have changed and been showed throughout art.

Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kahlo

What was consider to be a beautiful women in Egypt and Romans time is no longer what today society considers beautiful.  As art develops and changes so does what is consider the beauty of a women.

For some of these images I need to look back into the artist and time period.  These pictures all connect because in todays art a lot of it is shown through photography but the women being capture are all similar.  They are shown as the  beauty of women however it is totally different than older art

Final Thesis Statement and Images (Second Topic Chosen)

Michael Cefalo

Final Thesis Statement & images

Thesis Statement- After not only going through several time periods in history throughout the span of the semester but by also going through the exhibits in the met museum, is everything somehow connected in the means to create something bigger?

The end goal of this final paper is to get to the bottom of the ever so lingering question of “if everything we learned about is in some way connected to each other”. Providing not only pictures I’ve taken but pictures we have discussed over the course of the year, we will begin the journey down this conspiracy-driven question and once and for all come to a concrete conclusion to art that spans through a multitude of eras. 

 

Bronze Horse

8th century B.C.

Greek

 

Marble Statue of a lion

ca. 400–390 B.C.

Greek

 

Marble statue of Eirene (the personification of peace)

ca. A.D. 14–68

Early Imperial, Julio-Claudian

 

 

 

 

Metropolitan Museum Visit

First off, the Met museum is incredibly huge and I really liked the display of artwork inside.I liked is that it makes you feel as if you’re apart of the time period that you’re looking at. On the down side it was so big, I sort of feared getting lost. It was a tad bit overwhelming.

I’m going to be comparing the renaissance artwork, Virgin and Child with Four Angels,Virgin and Child with Four Angels, Gerard David (Netherlandish, Oudewater ca. 1455–1523 Bruges), Oil on woodand the Baroque artwork, Virgin and Child.Virgin and Child, Bartolomé Estebán Murillo (Spanish, Seville 1617–1682 Seville), Oil on canvas

I chose these two because they seemed the most similar in style but they are both different in small ways. First off, the timings of production of both paintings are different. If a painting was made in the 15th to 16th century then it was a renaissance artwork. If a painting is made during the late 16th to 17th century then it was a baroque artwork. Both Renaissance and baroque emphasize religion and can put a lot of importance on women. Both artworks I chose is based on a virgin woman. Another difference is that Renaissance artworks did not completely depict human emotion, while Baroque art focused more on showing them.
As you can see, the Virgin and Child with Four Angels painting give more emphasis to religion with the addition of angels while the Virgin and Child painting is more simple and gives importance to the main feature of the painting.

Final Project Outline (Museum Visit)

Starting in the period of Roman art, we began to see more children depicted in sculptures in which they began to resemble more and more what a child looks like in real life. I am using the museum visit to explore the idea that children are used in artworks to provide different a different perspective and to showcase the evolution of humanism throughout the Ancient Worlds.

Image List:

Statue of Queen Ankhnes-myre II and her son, Pepy II

Bronze statue of a camillus (acolyte), Roman A.D. 14-54, Early Imperial, Julio Claudian

Praxiteles Hermes with the Infant Dionysus,

Marble grave stele with a family group, ca. 360 B.C., Late Classical

Bronze statue of Eros sleeping, 3rd-2nd century B.C., Hellenistic Period