Art History Post Impressionism through Surrealism EXAM 1 SYMBOLISM started as a literary movement with Charles Baudelaire s Les Fleurs du mal criticized for being to gruesome and unpleasant not a unified style in art but rather an ideal reacting against realism and naturalism interest in representing the idea rather than the matter Platonism finding absolute truth started with Impressionism continued from Romanticism subjectivity is the key to art and expression attempted to access inner self creativity through writing and images tried to suggest or parallel nature NOT copy it turned inward to their emotions dreams and spirituality for inspiration pervasive themes love desire death sensuality Bocklin Bocklin was the progenitor to Symbolism Isle of the Dead Bocklin 1880 oil on canvas The Seine at Lavacourt Impressionism imaginary dream world Comparison to Monet s Monet s actual place not realistically rendered Bocklin s imaginary place memorial for the dead academically smooth paint not necessarily a Symbolist timelessness Moreau academically trained artist considered the first symbolist his work was referred to as poetic hallucinations Salome Moreau 1874 76 woodcut paper biblical story Salome becomes famously interpreted as a femme fatale in Symbolist art The Apparition Moreau 1874 76 woodcut paper Moreau painted this story many times Comparison to previous version Salome is more seductive John s head is shown beheaded and floating more gruesome combined the beginning and the consequence in one scene possibly represents her remorse Redon critics emphasized the originality in his works Eye Balloon Redon 1878 charcoal on paper Redon s version of Salome John s head is represented as an eye balloon ambiguous meaning Symbolist quality eyes are frequent subjects in Redon s work Redon s lithographic series In Dreams this is how Redon invisions the inside world Vision Redon 1879 lithograph The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters Comparison to Goya both depict the dreamer Goya s is frightening while Redon s is ambiguous and serene Closed Eyes Redon 1889 90 oil on canvas very transparent strange portrait similar to a death mask ambiguous setting space Flower Clouds Redon 1903 pastel has a suggested horizon the individuals are not in control of their journey no paddles represents Redon s personal voyage spiritual hopeful The Presence of the Femme Fatale in Symbolism social significance women s rights increasing reflects the anxiety of the male ego fear of the power of femininity and sexuality use of icons of temptation Eve Medusa Pandora Salome Salome s story becomes very famous after the outbreak of syphilis due to prostitution The Kiss Beardsley illustration for Oscar Wilde s Salome 1893 pen ink Salome is less seductive and more villainous than Moreau s Salome is aware of her power beheading metaphor for castration impotence power of women over men her hair resembles Medusa Salome Julius Klinger 1909 color zincograph blood is reminiscent of Beardsley s piece Salome is walking with a panther peacock feathers associated with women in art Sin Franz Von Stuck 1893 oil on canvas Eve is the femme fatale in the shadows seductive she is shown as an accomplice to the snake not na ve Sleeping Medusa Khnopff 1896 pastel Medusa is shown sleeping reserved not dangerous no snakes in her hair portraying the alienation misunderstanding of the femme fatale character referring to Khnopff s own feeling of alienation The Temptation of Saint Anthony Rops 1878 watercolor pastel and gouache pig symbol for lust Satan replaces Jesus with Eros symbol of sex drive on the cross to temp St Anthony her supple body heavily contrasts with Jesus starving figure Ensor very successful Belgium painter Christ s Entry into Brussels in 1889 Ensor 1888 represents an imaginary event Christ is arriving on Carnival Day similar to Mardi Gras showing the grotesque nature of mob mentality people are unaware of Christ s presence technique visible brushstrokes thick blotchy impasto patches of color using color as a metaphor VINCENT VAN GOGH Dutch artist the father of modernism Van Gogh and Seurat first artists to separate the physical world from the subject in order to infuse the subject with more value the first mad starving artist modeled isolation as being something necessary for art left the urban life of Paris for rural areas to find truth and sincerity through nature went to Arles Southern rural France in 1888 rise of the middle class both artists and patrons were starting to include the middle class sought for simplicity and purity in art a natural truth strong emphasis on COLOR in his artwork very aware that this was his contribution to modernism very important to art history for his extensive writings on his thoughts about his art The Potato Eaters Van Gogh 1885 oil on canvas peasant farmers opposition of himself and urban life conceived as uncivilized or other society Man with a Hoe Comparison to Millet s Realism both portray peasants tied to the earth away from the city Van Gogh s is much more ugly and grotesque he wanted these people to evoke the earth look dirty gritty from hard labor monochromatic use of sfumato smooth shading not harsh outlines he wanted this painting to look untrained like a peasant could have made it borders on the line of being caricatures mockery Self Portrait Van Gogh 1886 87 oil on canvas an earlier self portrait showed that he is capable of painting in traditional styles one year later he made this one uses daub style similar to pointalism Seurat he chose to paint this way interest in complimentary colors creates dynamism The Sower Van Gogh 1888 oil on canvas this was van Gogh s first radical break from traditional art The Sower Realism Comparison to Millet s van Gogh s differences peasant is less heroic dwarfed by the tree color is evocative emotional unrealistic surface is flattened no perspective sun is thickly painted heavy using material to create meaning scene is asymmetrical influence from Japanese prints strong diagonals Japan van Gogh s primitive utopia The Raising of Lazarus after Rembrandt Van Gogh 1890 oil on canvas van Gogh often used master works instead of real models due to his frequent stints in mental hospitals modernized them with color color creates the chiaroscuro swollen sun like that from The Sower completely removed Christ from the scene light emanates from where Christ would be story is unclear without the title Lazarus looks very similar to van Gogh paralleled to his hope