Art History

Nineteenth Century

1800 to 1880
Romanticism a somewhat vague movement involving violent activity, bold brush strokes and rich colors take over.The most significant artist in Spain during this period in history was Francisco Goya. Goya's early works showing the aristocracy at play are similar to Watteau's and Fragonard's paintings done in the Rococo style. But later his style changed dramatically. In a series of etchings entitled Disasters of War, Goya recorded the horrors associated with the invasion of Spain by French troops in 1808 under Napoleon .

Art of Francisco Goya


Manuel Osorio	Senora Sabasa Garcia	Colossus

In the 1850s, the Realists, at first inconspicuous come to the forefront. Nature and life for the first time depicted in an honest and unsentimental way. Meanwhile, the pre-Raphaelites imitate the style that preceded Raphael and photography is invented. Artists practicing this new style expressed little interest in exotic, romantic subject matter. Instead, they looked closely at the objects and events around them to find worthwhile subjects for their art.
One of the first artists to use the Realistic style was the caricaturist, painter, and sculptor Honore Daumier Although Daumier may have wanted to create more paintings, poverty forced him to spend much of his time making lithographs for publication. Lithographs are prints made from inked stones or metal plates. Many of the four thousand he produced criticized the social and moral injustices of his age. Daumier's drawings show us that he was one of the great drafters of all time.
Gustave Courbet was the acknowledged leader of the Realist movement in France. Courbet believed that artists should use direct experience and paint only what they had seen and understood.

Art Works


Third Class Carriage Honore Daumier	Desperate Man Gustave Courbet	Valley of Love Gustave Courbet

Since he exhibited his paintings with Courbet's, Edouard Manet was considered to be a part of the Realist movement. His work, however, is actually a bridge between Realism and the art movement that followed, Impressionism. Much of Manet's work was inspired by his study of the old masters, including Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Velazquez, and Hals.

Art works by Manet


Boating	Bar Maid	Bouquet of Peonies

Artists who reject academic painting band together. they create works of art which depict the effects that light has when it falls on objects in the great outdoors, Impressionism is born and the greatest art movement since the renaissance is in full swing. Using the contemporary scene, as Courbet and Manet did, the Impressionists tried to reproduce an impression of what the eye sees at a specific moment in time - not what the mind knows is there. They were attracted most often to the landscape, with or without people.
The best known of the Impressionists was Claude Monet. Working outdoors, Monet became fascinated by constantly changing colors. He often painted the same subject under different light conditions.

Art works of Claude Monet


Waterlilies	Japanese Footbridge	Boats on the Beach

Auguste Renoir, another Impressionist, carefully arranged his compositions. His subjects were posed to look as if the viewer had encountered them accidentally. His works show a love of warm colors, appealing subjects, and sun-drenched landscapes.

Art works of Auguste Renoir


At the Teater	Ball at the Moulin de la Galette	Roses

Edgar Degas agreed with the Impressionists' views, but he didn't regard himself as a Impressionist. Rather than paint out- doors, he remained in his studio. He maintained that drawing wasn't recording what the artist sees, but making others see. Degas also preferred to draw and paint figures rather than landscapes. Degas's affection for drawing, which was inspired by his admiration for Ingres, also separated him from the Impressionists.

Art Works of Edgar Degas


Ballerina	Ballet School	In the Cafe

As the nineteenth century entered its final quarter, a number of artists, including Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Paul Gauguin, tried to solve the problems they associated with Impressionism, Their efforts greatly influenced artists in the next century.

Georges Seurat developed a style of art known as Neo-Impressionism or Pointiliism. He deliberately applied tiny, uniform dots of pure color to his canvases instead of using a more uneven color pattern of dabs and dashes. Seurat was also a splendid drafter. He is noted for drawings done in black conte crayon

Art works of Georges Seurat


Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte	Sunday afternoon on La Grande Jatte.jpg	Farmer with ax

While the Impressionists were concerned with the appearance of objects under different light conditions, Paul Cezanne was interested in the structure of those objects. His paintings seem to be made out of cubes of color that turn in a variety of directions

Cézanne's art, misunderstood and discredited by the public during most of his life, grew out of Impressionism and eventually challenged all the conventional values of painting in the 19th century through its insistence on personal expression and on the integrity of the painting itself. He has been called the father of modern painting.

Art works of Cezanne


Apples & Oranges	Card Players	Landscape

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. In 1886 Vincent van Gogh moved first to Paris and later to Arles in the south of France to develop his artistic skills. His style is characterized by vibrant colors, twisting lines, and heavy applications of paint . An increased emphasis on drawing separated him from the Impressionists. His lack of realistic accuracy and smooth, finished technique aroused critics. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age of 37, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Art works of Vincent van Gogh


Starry Night	Sunflowers	Night Cafe

Although he didn’t belong to any group of artists or art movement, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec also contributed significantly to the development of modern art. A brilliant drafter, Lautrec was able to capture a scene, a character, even an emotion with a few quick strokes of pencil, pen, or brush.

Art works of Henri de Toulouse Lautrec


Divan Japonais	At the Moulin Rouge	Jane Avril

Paul Gauguin began his artistic career in his middle years after leaving his family and a high-paying position as a stockbroker. In his work he distorted or exaggerated ordinary natural forms and colors. Seeking exotic subject matter, Gauguin spent much of his career in the South Seas. An ink drawing with watercolor shows the way he used flat shapes to make decorative patterns.

Art works of Paul Gauguin


Cat	Siesta	Tahitian Landscape