Alternative: Ming Dynasty Art

Grapes by Xu Wei

In 1368 the Chinese army drove out the last supports of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty. Ming rule introduced a period of cultural restoration and expansion leading to a widespread renewal of traditional types of art, such as pottery, painting and calligraphy. However the new Ming regime- led by the militaristic Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yunazhang- also introduced a system of cultural control by imposing certain styles in the arts. The imperial court painters were ordered to return to didactic and realistic modes of representational art (Visual Art).

Ming painting maintained the traditions of the earlier Southern Song Painting academy, as well as those of the Yuan Dynasty; these included the ink and wash painting and the more intense and expressive calligraphic idiom of Yuan scholar- painters.   In the calligraphic idiom style each painting is built up from a series of brushstrokes, exactly expressing the personality and feelings of the artist.

This approach is exemplified by the Ming scholar- artist Xu Wei. He was a Chinese painter, poet, writer and a dramatist famed for his artistic expressiveness. His painting style influenced and inspired countless subsequent painters, such as Bada Shanren and Wu Changshuo. Despite his recognition, Xu was manifestly mentally ill and unsuccessful in life, ending his life in poverty after the murder of his third wife and several attempts at suicide. A good example of this technique is the piece translated to Bamboo, created in 1540. Little is known about his art; besides the names.  The piece known as Grapes shows the tanglesbeauty of the style.

Bamboo by Xu Wei

 

Made with watered ink on paper, the values and different tones of the piece really add to the quality(Wiki).  He Chaozong was a celebrated potter of the Ming Dynasty. He fashioned mostly Buddhist white porcelain statuary in the tradition of the Dehua Kilns in Fujian Province. There has been very little

Manjusri Figure

remaining documentary evidence for Chaozong apart from the extant examples of his ceramic art. A gazetteer entry for 1763 mentions him with other art notables of the Ming Dynasty and establishes that the artist had earned a considerable reputation by his own day. His work was identified by his seal are in an entirely different category than the usual Dehua statuary of the period and those later. Other great examples of his skills is the Statue Blanc-de-Chine figure of Guanyin and the Manjusri figure. Made around the17th century the gentle goddess ofMercy was expertly carved with a serene expression.

Guanyin Figure

He Chaozong and the few other artists of the style were unique in Chinese ceramic history which was characterized by anonymous and industrial scale production (Wki). His seal in itself is a work of art. All of the characters in the seal appear in reverse. This indicates that at least some seals on Dehua porcelain figures were akin to brands and perhaps of metal construction that could be mistakenly impressed in reverse.

Reflection

I have always loved these styles of art.   I don’t really know how to explain it, but that it is just different from most of the other styles of that time. It uses different materials such as ink rather than paint and figures were made porcelain rather than marble. The proportions and the human representation was different. The faces were rounder and ears longer.

 

Sources

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/east-asian-art/ming-dynasty.htm#crafts

Visual Arts Cork. “Ming Dynasty Art (1368-1644) History, Types and Characteristics.” Visual Arts Cork. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EAST ASIAN ART, 2008. Web.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Chaozong

Wikipedia contributors. “He Chaozong.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 May. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_dynasty#Literature_and_arts

Wikipedia contributors. “Ming dynasty.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Nov. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Wei

Wikipedia contributors. “Xu Wei.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Nov. 2015. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.

 

 

 

Post Modern: The Diversities in Art

Many things were happening in this era. The Vietnam War Protests lasted 5 years after a massive bombing campaign in April of 1965. The anti war cause was taken up by musicians, writers, and actors. The Civil Rights Movement between 1954 and 1964 was bringing the injustice of segregation to the forefront in American life. The Women’s Movement in the 1960’s and 1970 helped expand the traditional women’s roles. Women joined the workforce in large numbers and many demanded equal pay for equal work, better childcare, and abortion on demand. More religious beliefs were starting to be reflected in mainstream Western Art; including Native American, Aboriginal Australian, Taoism and Buddhism. Christian Fundamentalism was also narrowing with censorships in different countries and museums. Islamic Fundamentalism did the same in the Middle East with music.

Access to art was also changing. You didn’t have to drive all the way to the museum to look at art. It is at your fingertips at home with the internet and streaming capabilities. With digital cameras, video equipment, printers, and home computers bringing art to the modern era and allowing more access and ability to create art. Development of new materials helped new artist and the old to be more creative and allow them to do make new art.

Up until this point of time the Western art had been dominated by white males. From 1960 on, more and more women and people of diverse ethnic background had found their place in the Western arts. New Religious viewpoints also found a voice in the arts. Art in this era was made out through electronics, video, computers, fiberglass, small motors, glass, and fiber arts.

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Women in Art

Maya Lin

Women like Maya Lin came into focus with the masterpieces they presented the world. Using new and old techniques and doing what they love.

Maya Lin was born in Athens, Ohio in 1959, a year after her parents migrated from China and settled in Ohio. From the day she was born she was immersed in the world of art. Her father was a ceramist and her mother was a poet. She is also the grand- niece of the first female architect in China. Lin studied at Yale University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981 and a Master of Architecture degree in 1986. She was one of the youngest to receive an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts in 1987.

When she was not studying, she took independent courses from Ohio University and spent her free time casting bronzes in the school foundry. Having grown up as an Asian minority, has said that she “didn’t even realize” she was Chinese until later in life. It wasn’t until her 30s that she had a desire to understand her cultural background.   She married Daniel Wolf, a New York photography dealer and had two daughters with him, India and Rachel.

In1981, at the young age of 21 Maya Lin won a public design competition for the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, beating over a thousand other submissions. The black stone cut masonry wall, with the names of 57, 661 fallen soldiers carved into its face was completed in late October 1982. Her conception was to create an opening of a “wound” in the earth to symbolize the full extent of the loss of the soldiers. The design was controversial, because it was an unconventional and non- traditional design for a war memorial.   There was also controversy over Lin’s ethnicity, her being a women and her lack of professional experience. It was placed in Washington, DC.   The Wall granite and V-shaped with one side pointing to the Lincoln Memorial and the other to the Washington Monument.(PBS)

Placed in Montgomery, Alabama the Civil Rights Memorial was made to honor 41 people who died in the struggle for the equal and integrated treatment of all people. Regardless of race. It was sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The names included in the memorial belonged to those who died between 1954 and 1968. These dates were chosen by the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in schools was unlawful and 1968 is the year of Martin Luther King’s assassination. The concept of the design was based on the soothing and healing effect of water. It was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s paraphrase “… We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream…”. The memorial is a fountain in the form of an asymmetric inverted stone cone. A film of water flows over the base of the cone, which contains the 41 names. It is possible to touch the smooth film of water and temporarily alter the surface film, which quickly returns to smoothness. The memorial represents the aspirations of the American Civil Rights Movement against legalized racism. The Civil Rights Memorial was dedicated in 1989.(Wiki)

Judy Chicago

Judy Chicago was born on July 20, 1939 in Chicago under the name Judith Sylvia Cohen. A American feminist artist and art educator and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces which explores the role of women in history and culture. She changed her name to Judy Chicago after the death of her father and her first husband, choosing to disconnect from the idea of male dominated naming conventions. Chicago founded the first feminist art program in the United States. Her work incorporates stereotypical women’s artistic skills, such as needlework, counterbalanced with stereotypical male skills such as welding and pyrotechnics. At the age of three, she began to draw and was sent to the Art institute of Chicago to attend classes. By the age of five, Chicago knew that she didn’t want to do anything but to make art.

While in grad school, Chicago created a series that was abstract, yet easily recognized as male and female sexual organs; they were called Bigamy. They represented the death of her husband.   In 1970, Chicago decided to teach full-time at Fresno State College, hoping to teach women the skills needed to express the female perspective in their work. She reestablished the Feminist Art Program at California Institute of the Arts. She is considered one of the first- generation feminist artists, a group that includes Mary Beth Edelson, Carolee Schneeman, and Rachel Rosenthal (Wiki).

Her best known masterpiece was The Dinner Party. It is an installation art piece that is widely regarded as the first epic feminist artwork. It functions as a symbolic history of women in Western civilization. With thirty-nine elaborate place settings arranged along a triangular table for 39 mythical and historical famous women. Virginia Woolf, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor of Aquitaine are among the guests. Each setting includes a hand painted chine plate, ceramic flatware and chalice and a napkin with an embroidered gold edge. It was produced from 1974 to 1979 as a collaboration and was first exhibited in 1979. Despite art world resistance, it toured to 16 venues in 6 countries on 3 continents to a viewing audience of 15 million. Retired from the tour in 1996 it has been on permanent exhibition in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum, New York. (Wiki)

In the mid- 1980s Chicago’s interests shifted beyond the issues of female identity to an exploration of masculine power and powerlessness in the context of the Holocaust. This project was a collaboration with her husband, photographer Donald Woodman, who she married on New Year’s Eve in 1985. Although both her husbands were both Jewish, it wasn’t until she met Woodman that she started to explore her own Jewish Heritage.   They called it the Holocaust Project: From Darkness into Light.

She created works that explored the experiences of concentration camp victims. It consists of sixteen large scale works made of a variety of mediums including: tapestry, stained glass, metal work, woodwork, photography, painting, and sewing. The exhibit ends with a piece that displays a Jewish couple at Sabbath. The piece comprises 3000 square feet, providing a full exhibition experience for the viewer. It was exhibited for the first time in October 1993 at the Spertus Museum in Chicago.

Mariko Mori

Mariko More was born in Tokyo in 1967. Her father was an inventor and real estate tycoon and her mother was a Historian of European Art. While studying at Bunka Fashion College in Tokyo in the late 1980s, Mori worked as a fashion model. It was around this time that she had her first exhibitions. 1989, she moved to London to study at the Chelsea College of Art and Design and studied there until 1992. After graduating, she moved to New York City and she participated in the independent Study program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She now lives in London with her family.

Mori’s early works use her own body as the subject ad she costumes herself as sexualized, technological alien women in everyday scenes. The juxtaposition of Eastern Mythology with Western Culture is a common theme in her work. Often this is seen through layering photography and digital imaging,

Play With Me pictures her standing outside of a Tokyo toy store, dressed as a sexy cyborg. In this she was trying to show that she connects to the robotic toys inside the store, but also to show her available unemotional sexuality. She looks like a cross between a samurai waif and a robotic streetwalker who may have materialized from the video game beside her. This photograph was taken in 1994.

Pratibimba was a series created in 1998. Mariko was dressed as past, present, and future (the three members of the Pratibimba triptych) performing Shinto rituals and running through the woods of the Wakayama Prefecture. The whole experience is made all the more enigmatic and enchanting due to the pretty, lilting songs the artist sings as she summons her audience toward the digital representation of the Dream temple in the Background.

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I chose these artist and their art pieces because they were really significant for their time and in my opinion their culture.  Mori and her photographs represent her culture and her creativity and quite possibly (her views on the future).  Chicago has, in my opinion. a weird style but it fits her artwork perfectly.  The memorials by Lin are beautiful and really fit their purpose.  They differ from the regular memorials in the sense that they are not the typical statue of a soldier or Martin Luther King Jr.  They were different and allowed us to think of many rather than just one person.  I really liked that.  I think that I mostly like the originality of the pieces and their uniqueness and origanality.

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Citation

PBS. “Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial.” PBS. PBS, 1999. Web. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/visualarts/thewall.html

Wikipedia contributors. “Maya Lin.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Lin#Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial

Wikipedia contributors. “Civil Rights Memorial.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Aug. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Memorial

Wikipedia contributors. “Judy Chicago.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Chicago

Wikipedia contributors. “The Dinner Party.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dinner_Party

Wikipedia contributors. “Mariko Mori.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Nov. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariko_Mori

 

Early Modern Era

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The Great Depression had devastating effects in both poor and wealthy countries. Timing varied across nations, but in most countries, it started in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%. Worldwide GDP fell by 15% from 1929 to 1932.   Unemployment rose to 25% or 33% in some countries. Cities dependant on heavy industry was hit the hardest. Construction was virtually halted, farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell. Mining and logging industries suffered the most. (Washington)

In early 1934, the United States was near the depth of the Great Depression. The weather at that time was even conspiring to cause misery. February was the coldest month on record in the Northeast. The Federal Emergency Relief Act, a prototype of the New Deal programs, began to put a few dollars into the pockets of hungry workers, the question arose about whether to include artists among the beneficiaries. Thus the Public works of Art Project was born, which in roughly the first four months of 1934 hired 3,749 artists and produced 15,663 paintings, murals, prints, crafts and sculptures for government buildings around the country.

The 1930s were period of intense artistic experimentation, new forms and methods were explored, transformative cultural institutions were founded and artists self-consciously sought to reach broader layers of the public. With the rise of social unrest during the Depression heightened the political concerns of artistic works, while the New Deal programs gave artists both federal recognition funding and spaces to work out new cultural forms.

This mural was created in 1934 at the bottom of the Coit Tower in San Francisco by Maxine Albro; titled California. Albro was one of the few female artists part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. The program was initiated under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. This was the first period in history in which women were hired without discrimination in the United States. This mural was part of the first project in the New Deal programs for artists. The artists were committed in varying degrees to racial equality.   Albro’s style is bright and clear with the strong rounded forms of the era. This piece is one of the strongest pieces of art produced by an esteemed group of the New Deal program.

This mural is really bright and happy that I think really helped during that chaotic miserable time. The hard working people pictured in the painting I think helped boost peoples spirits and gave them something to strive for, a goal they can take steps towards. The style that she uses is interesting. The clean lines mixed with the coloring is interesting and to me it make the painting seem almost delicate.

The Federal Theatre project was a New Deal program designed like the art program to help unemployed theatre artists. Also like the art program it was also interesting in the next generation of audiences. New styles emerged as well such as Living newspaper, African- American Theatre, Dance Drama and Foreign- language drama and radio.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/QgGSBSM3ln4“>http://

The African American Theatre Unit was a part of the Federal Theatre Project with units set up in cities throughout the United States. The unites were located in four different geographical regions of the country.   The project provided employment and apprenticeships to black playwrights, directors, actors, and technicians. It offered much needed support and assistance for African- American theatre from 135 to 1939. Voodoo Macbeth is a common nickname for the Federal Theatre Project’s 1936 New York production of Macbeth. Orson Welles adapted and directed the production. They moved the play’s setting from Scotland to a fictional Caribbean island, recruiting an entirely African American cast. It was a box office sensation, a landmark theatrical event for several reasons. Its innovative interpretation of the play, the success in promoting African American Theatre, and its role in securing the reputation of its 20 year old director. (Wiki)

This was interesting to me. It was a new take on a play that we all had to watch or read over and over again in school. They really looked like they had a lot of fun doing the play. And with the trying times it was probably a good distraction for both the actors and the audiences.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7zbUcp9vcR8“>http://

As the mid- 30s came and the Great Depression stubbornly refused to lift, jazz came as close as it has ever come to being America’s popular music. Soon it had a new name, Swing. Its impact was epic. It rescued the recording industry. In 1932, just 10 million records had been sold in the United States. By 1939, that number would grow to 50 million. Swing grew up in the dancehalls of Harlem. It had become the defining music for the entire generation of Americans.   It provided Hollywood with its theme music and offered entertainment and escape for people down on their luck. Radios and jukeboxes could be heard playing swing along every Main Street in America.   It provided the beets for new exhilarating new dances- the Big Apple, the Shag and Susy Q, and the dance that started it all, the Lindy Hop (now called the jitterbugging).   Millions of White people that never heard jazz filled the ballrooms and theaters all over the country.

I have always loved music and with the fast beats and awesome musical rhythm this style is way better than some of the stuff in the present day. The emotions that are put into the music when you listen to it makes it hard not to smile. As you watch the video you can see the musicians jumping up and down and feeling the rhythm and beats all the way down to their toes. That is what music is suppose to do, make you feel emotions and forget your troubles.

Sources

Kindig, Jessie. “Culture and Arts during the Depression.” Culture and Arts. Jessie Kindig, 2009. Web. 02 Nov. 2015

http://depts.washington.edu/depress/culture_arts.shtml

Wikipedia contributors. “Great Depression.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 3 Nov. 2015. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.

Wikipedia contributors. “Maxine Albro.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 3 Jul. 2015. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.

Wikipedia contributors. “Voodoo Macbeth.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 Sep. 2015. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.

 

Romantic Era: Impressionism

Let’s begin by first defining the impressionism style. Impressionism was a style of painting developed in the last their of the 19^th century, characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effects of light on objects.  Claude Monet was considered the father of impressionism after exhibiting the painting Sunrise. Money was known for painting the same subjects over and over again but at different times and seasons.  He would watch the change in the leaves turn to coppery rose in the setting suns dimming light or the blue sky adding contrast to the color of the leaves.

In my opinion impressionism is one style of art that as a serene sense about it and has an elegant edge to it. The short brushstrokes and no clear defining lines bring about a subtle artist quality that really heightens the quality of the artwork.  For instance, The Women with a Parasol an oil- on- canvas painting by Money of Madame Monet and her son created in 1875.  This painting is sometimes known as The Stroll. The spontaneous and whimsical brush strokes add splashes of color and details that draw into the painting.  While there are really no defining designs the overlapping contrasting colors call out the small shadows and shading that gives the painting dimensions.  (Wiki)            In 1886 Monet returned to the spot with his second wife’s daughter, Suzanne Hoshede.

I love the differences between the two pieces, the vibrant colors. Each of the women has a distinct and defined quality to them that is also portrayed, in my opinion with the time of day and season s represented in the paintings.  Madame Monet is shown with such status and  with her son in the back ground I can feel the motherly essence in it as well.  With Suzanne Hoshede, I get the sense of innocence and youth with the bright vibrant colors, but I don’t feel the distinction as with the other one. This reminds me of a child like painting, with the doll like look to the girl and bright colors of the flowers and sky.  The white dress also symbolizes youth and innocence as well (in most cultures).

To compare this style to the one in the Italian Renaissance era is really not all that that, With mannerism the lines are distinct and carefully thought out.  Look at the painting of Madonna with the Long Neck by Parmigianino from 1535-1540.  The shading and intricate details bring a realistic style to the painting.  There is more discipline in this style with the religious and realistic theme; were as I get the feeling of a sort of fun brushed into the painting of the impressionist style.

Citations

http://robinurton.com/history/impressionism.htm

Urton, Robin. “Eyeconart: Impressionism.” Eyeconart: Impressionism. Robin Urton, 2005. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Woman_with_a_Parasol_-_Madame_Monet_and_Her_Son&oldid=678714653

Wikipedia contributors. “Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madonna_with_the_Long_Neck&oldid=686731366

Wikipedia contributors. “Madonna with the Long Neck.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.

 

Classical Blog: Influences of the French Revolution

Classical Blog

During the Classical Era, there were two major revolution; the American Revolution, 1775 to 1783, and the French Revolution, 1789 to 1799. Art during this time reflected the attitudes of the prevailing class before and after the revolutions. Early part of this era was classified by the Rococo style art; bright and curvy intended more for the middle and privileged classes.

After the uprising of the lower classes led to revolution, artists shifted their style Neoclassical to appease the lower classes. They started painting scenes from the ancient Romans and Greek time periods that represented morals, sacrifices, and heroism. These traits were valued and favored in the lower classes. Neoclassical art is darker and stricter with its lines.

The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799)

Jacques- Louis David

Jacques- Louis David was a prominent French neoclassical artist of the time. He was heavily involved in the political arena. David defended the revolution and remained a supporter of Maximilien Robespierre, one of the most influential figures of the revolution. After Robespierre’s fall from power, David was arrested and imprisoned in the Luxembourg Palace. During his time in jail in 1795, he began work on this painting. The painting centers around a dramatic tale of conflict and discord. Many are quick to assume that this painting echoes the violence and brutality Davis saw during his time with Robespierre. He began work on it in 1796 after his estranged wife visited him in jail.   The painting depicts Romulus’s wife Hersilia rushing between her husband and her father and placing her babies in between them.

Venus Consoling Love (1751)

Francois Boucher

Francois Boucher completed this painting in 1751 for Mme de Pompadour, the French king’s mistress. She displayed this art piece at Chateau de Bellevue. Allegedly it was Madame de Pompadour who allegedly posed for the painting.   This painting depicts a mythological scene, where Venus, the goddess of love, is depicted as a young supple young woman who impersonates the French Rococo’s beauty ideals. This painting is a great example of the Rococo style with the vibrant light colors, lack of order, and depicts a scene of luxury that appealed to the middle and upper class.

Oath of the Horatii (1784)

Jacques- Louis David

Jacques-Louis David painted this piece in art in Rome in 1784, but it was not displayed till 1785. This paintings shows three brothers receiving arms from their father as they vow to protect their city with their lives. This painting was done 35 years after the original and there is a definite change in style. This version is darker with more subdued colors. There is strict uniformity in the actions of the brothers and the architecture in the background. This scene of ancient Rome has been loved by the lower class as it depicts the courage and sacrifice the brothers are taking to defend their city. This was one piece of art that was painted in between the revolutions and was considered the first neoclassical paintings created.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Consoling_Love

Wikipedia contributors. “Venus Consoling Love.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 Apr. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php ?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=The_Intervention_of_the_Sabine_Women&id=677666937

Wikipedia contributors. “The Intervention of the Sabine Women.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 Aug. 2015. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

http://www.artandcointv.com/blog/2012/01/jacques-louis-david%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cthe-intervention-of-the-sabine-women%E2%80%9D/

Song, Kelly. “Jacques-Louis David’s “The Intervention of the Sabine Women”.” ArtandCoinTV.com. Art and Coint TV Blog, 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

 

Trompe-l’oeil Dome of the Jesuit Church by Andrea Pozzo

INTRO

The baroque era was filled with talented artist that created monumental ceiling paintings that looked like illusions. The intricate details and distortions needed to pull it off are beyond amazing.  The time it took to plan and put that plan in action was years in the making (Encyclopedia.com).

Andrea Pozzo was one of the finest artists of illusionist mural painting of the Baroque era. He specialized in quadatura and di sotta in su to create illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat-ceiling above viewers. Pozzo was born in Austrian- ruled Trento. In 1659 he was apprenticed to a local painter. On Christmas Day 1665, he joined the Jesuit Order as a lay brother. His door into the world of quadatura and di sotto in su and other illusionistic techniques came around in part by the artistic needs of the Catholic Church’s Jesuit Order. Many of the new churches lacked decorative interiors. He became world famous for the trome l’oeil techniques, such as fake gilding, marbled columns, bronze- coloured statues, fake domes on flat ceilings.

Pozzo work mainly involved Catholic and particularly Jesuit themes, he was indebted to the theatre. Through his artistic skills he constructed large dramas featuring a proscenium arch, a curtain, and a backdrop. His innovations regarding perspective continue to show their influences, pin pointing them as the foundation to much more modern design.

The Jesuit Church in Vienna is a two- floor, double tower church. Heavy influence of Baroque principles, the church was remodeled by Andrea Pozzo between 1703 and 1705.   The church itself was built between 1623 and 1627 on the site of an earlier chapel. Pozzo was requested by Emperor Leopold I to redecorate the church. He added twin towers and modify the façade in an early baroque style. The semicircular vault ceiling was divided in four bays with paintings in perspective, using illusionary techniques.

The Council of Trent

Pope Paul III was considered to be the first pop of the Counter- Reformation, and also the initiator of the Council of Trent. The council was a commission of Cardinals tasked with institutional reform, addressing controversial issues such as corrupt bishops and priests, indulgences, and other financial abuses. The council upheld the basic structure of the medieval church, the sacramental system, religious orders and doctrine. (Wiki) The church rejected all compromise with the Protestants, restating the basic tenets of the Roman Catholic Faith. The Council of Trent proclaimed that painting, architecture, and sculpture had a role to play into conveying Catholic Theology. Any piece of artwork that might have aroused “carnal desire” was inadmissible in Church, while any depiction of Christ’s suffering and explicit agony was desirable and proper.

According to them arts should communicate religious themes in direct and emotional involvement. The aristocracy also saw the dramatic style of baroque architecture and art as a means of impressing visitors and expressing triumph, power and control. Pozzo was hired for multiple pieces in churches and palaces by the Council of Trent. His ceilings were meant to instill faith along with a connection with god through the spectacular detail of the painting.

My Thoughts

The vast detail and the amazing three- dimensional feel of the painting really blows my mind. The fact that he had to distort the painting to make it three dimensional is utterly amazing to me for that time. Looking at even just pictures, you can feel the majestic tone and richness of the paintings. The realism of the dome is in itself spectacular. I look it and still can’t believe that it was done all those years ago. With the advancement in science and art in the present to me it would seem that this could have been now rather than back then.

Sources

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Andrea_dal_Pozzo.aspx

Encyclopedia.com. “Andrea dal Pozzo”. Encyclopedia.com. 2015. Web

http://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/renaissance/counter.html

PBS. “Counter Reformation”. PBS. Delillier Donegan Enterprise. n.d. Web.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesuit_Church,_Vienna

contributors. “Jesuit Church, Vienna.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Sep. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusionistic_ceiling_painting

Wikipedia contributors. “Illusionistic ceiling painting.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Sep. 2015. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-Reformation#Council_of_Trent

Wikipedia contributors. “Counter-Reformation.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 30 Sep. 2015. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.