UVC100_Summer16_TuesJune7

ART 100 SUMMER 2016
Ordinary People On the left, Mary is pictured as the "Queen of Heaven,"
wearing rich, gem-encrusted robes.
On the right, the "girl with the pearl earring" is no-one in
particular, a model wearing studio props.

Jan van Eyck, Mary Crowned, completed 1432
Jan Vermeer
Girl with a Pearl Earring, c. 1665-6,
oil on canvas, 17 1/2 x 15 3/8 inches

From traditional art that emphasizes the
wealth and power of the patron to modern
art, what changes?
Even before the dramatic
shift in the 20th century, you
can see a significant
change in subject matter.

From traditional art that emphasizes the
wealth and power of the patron to modern
art, what changes?
Though artists often still
paint portraits of royals and
nobles, and scenes from
the Bible, classical
mythology, and important
historical moments
they ALSO begin to show
significant interest in
ordinary people leading
ordinary lives.
Spanish painter Diego
Velázquez is a good
example.

Diego Velázquez was the
official painter of the
Spanish court. You can see
him, standing to the left,
holding his brush and
palette. The huge picture
he is working on has its
reverse turned toward the
viewer, so we see only the
easel and stretcher bars
and none of the painted
canvas.
Diego VELÁZQUEZ, Las Meninas, 1656, Museo del Prado
oil on canvas, 125.2 in × 108.7 inches

The little princess, the
Infanta Margaret Theresa,
poses regally in the center.
Immediately surrounding
her are two maids of honor.
To the right are two little
people, who were part of
her entourage. Her dog lies
in front, and her governess
and bodyguard stand in the
shadows behind the group.
Diego VELÁZQUEZ, Las Meninas, 1656, Museo del Prado
oil on canvas, 125.2 in × 108.7 inches

The Queen’s
Chamberlain stands
on the steps at the
deep background
right of the room; the
royal parents of the
princess are
reflected in the
mirror hanging on
the rear wall.
There is a complex
arrangement of
figures in space,
which in part means
that the traditional
emphasis on the
royal personages is
disrupted and
complicated.

Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Juan de Pareja, c. 1650
Juan de Pareja
(1606–1670)
Juan de Pareja ssisted
Velázquez in his studio,
and was a talented
painter in his own right.
When Velázquez
painted this beautiful
portrait of him (which
today is in the Met in
NYC), he was a slave
in Velázquez’s house
and workshop.

Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Juan de Pareja, c. 1650
Despite his enslaved
status, Velázquez still
wanted to paint him,
still saw his essential
human dignity, looked
beyond the society that
divided them into
different worlds.
Velázquez freed Juan
de Pareja in November
1650, although the
document of
manumission required
Pareja to serve
Velázquez for another 4
years. As it turned out,
Pareja remained in the
household until
Velázquez’s death, and
continued to serve his
son afterward.

Diego Velázquez, Surrender of Breda, 1634-5, oil on canvas, Museo del Prado
Velázquez painted this picture for the Spanish King, Philip IV (wearing the black armor
with the long pink sash) in commemoration of a major military victory over the Dutch
after a year’s siege of the town of Breda.

But notice, that even though the King is pictured at the center with the conquered town
laid out behind him, Velazquez includes many striking portraits of common soldiers and
even their horses. Though the picture commemorates an important historical event,
Velazquez includes many characters who would not be considered “great men of
history.”

Diego VELÁZQUEZ, Los Borrachos (The Drinkers), 1629
Here Velázquez includes the guys from the local tavern in his mythological picture
of the Roman God of wine, Bacchus. He imagines the classical together with the
contemporary. Later Manet will drop the classical gods altogether and just paint the bar.

Édouard MANET, A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882, oil on canvas

Goya, Charles IV of Spain and His Family, 1800
Later, artist Francisco Goya
will follow in Velázquez's footsteps, serving
as the official artist
of the Spanish court. He observes from the
shadows with an unforgiving eye.

Francisco de GOYA
The Countess of
Chinchón
1800
oil on canvas
216 cm x 144 cm
His portraiture will grow even
more revealing of the
psychological states of the
people behind the fancy
titles.

Jacques Louis DAVID, Death of Socrates, 1787, Met, 51x77"
While some artists continue to paint subject matter from classical antiquity...like
the inspiring death speech of the philosopher Socrates...

François Boucher, Diana Leaving Her Bath, 1742
oil on canvas, 22x28 inches
...or giving us
sneak peeks
at volptuous
nudes, like Diana,
Roman goddess
of the hunt...

Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Punished Son, 1777, Louvre, 51x64"
others are finding drama in the lives of ordinary families...

Annibale CARRACI, The Bean Eater, c. 1590, oil on canvas, 22 ½ x 26 ¾ inches
... or even
in the quiet
moment
of a simple
peasant
meal.

So there is a push away from elevated subject matter—kings
and queens, gods and heroes, warriors and priests—and
toward the everyday.
The lofty subjects don't disappear, but they do become less
and less important.
AND in the meantime, a new image-making technology
arises and transforms the scene in a dramatic way.

Photography
GETS
BORN!
Diane ARBUS, Crying Child, New Jersey, 1967

Photography seems like an
inevitable fact of modern life.
But, where did it come from?
When and how did it actually
arise?

The original “camera” was as
big as a nice walk-in closet!

The origins of
the “camera”
These diagrams are two early depictions of the workings of the
“camera obscura” (meaning "dark room”), in which an external image
enters a darkened chamber through a pinhole opening and appears
upside down on the opposite wall. The resulting image can be traced.
It's essentially a very elaborate "drawing aid."

Slowly the camera
obscura gets
smaller and more
portable. Here it has
contracted to the
size a small cabinet
with legs.

The origins of
the “camera”
Gradually it shrinks to a tabletop apparatus, and finally, to the size of a small box.

The origins of
the “camera”
With the room-size camera obscura now contracted into a small box, the
pinhole replaced with a lens that permits focusing, and a mirror installed to
reverse the image, all that remains is to find a way of making the reflected
image permanent.

The physics and optics of the
camera are put together first,
but the chemistry remains to
be cracked.

As often happens in the history of technology, multiple
competing solutions appear at more or less the same
time.
It turns out that a number of alternative chemical
solutions to the problem are developed.
Use these links to see some of the possibilities that
were explored by early photographers:
http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_early/1_early_photogr
aphy_-_processes.htm
http://photographymuseum.org/primer.html
http://www.birrcastle.com/history/photographicTechni
ques.asp#

Today some photographers still enjoy
experimenting with different techniques from
the 19th century.
http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/p
rocesses
http://imsc.usc.edu/haptics/LostandFound/e
arly.html

This link shows how the different kinds of 19th photographs have
aged differently, detailing how these photographs (which are
stored in many libraries and archived collections) may appear
today and can be properly classified. This is the kind of
information that people who work closely with historical
objects have in mind.
http://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/hoole/collections/PhotographType
satTheW.S.HooleSpecialCollectionsLibrary.htm

There are many competitors, but two methods end up being
important.
The dominant technology in France is invented by Joseph
Nièpce (NEE-eps) in conjunction with Daguerre (DAH-
gair).

Joseph Nicéphore Nièpce,
View from the Window at Le Gras, c. 1826, heliograph
“the first photograph”

Joseph Nicéphore Nièpce
View from the Window at Le Gras, c. 1826, sketch by
Helmut Gernsheim

Joseph Nicéphore Nièpce
View from the Window at Le Gras, 1826, 1952 print

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibiti
ons/permanent/wfp/
LEARN MORE about the
"first photograph"

equipment needed for “daguerreotype” process

early daguerreotypes
View of San Francisco,
1848
• tend to be quite small
• produce a sharply
detailed image
• they produce a single,
"positive" image (not
multiple prints from a
negative)
• also known as
"tintypes" because the
image imprints on a
metal plate

Portrait of
Edgar Allan Poe, 1848
Note the decorative
leather case, which is
typical of how early
daguerreotypes were
presented.

early daguerreotypes
The Barton family dog, Nero, 1848
Group of 10 unidentified boys,
Date unknown

"calotype"
In England, a competing process was invented by William
Henry Fox Talbot. He called his process the “calotype.”
It was rather different as it was a negative process, capable
of generating multiple prints on paper.
Softer, more faded image.

Talbot published a beautiful folio
of his photographs in 1844 to
promote his new invention. He
called photography the "Pencil of
Nature" and thought of it as
nature writing its own image in
light.

Talbot, Bust of Patroclus, 1839

Talbot, Articles of Glass, 1839

Talbot, Books in a
Library, 1839

Photography began as a plaything of
the rich but quickly entrepreneurs
and inventors sought to make it
widely available.

Nadar
Gaspard Félix Tournachon, “Nadar”
Entrepreneurs quickly got
hold of the new technology
and figured out how to
create businesses around
it.
"Nadar"

Nadar’s studio opened a
deluxe photography
studio at 35 boulevard
des Capucines, Paris.
As you can see, there is
ample plate glass to
allow natural light into
several floors of photo
studios.
He plasters his name
across the front of the
studio. (see arrow)

Nadar created an elegant studio
where the elites of the day would feel
comfortable enduring the long pose times
needed for a photograph.

Nadar,
Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt was a
famous dramatic actress of the day.
She was among the many
celebrities in French culture who
posed for Nadar. Anyone who could
afford it rushed to have their portrait
done.

Disdéri, Portrait of Rosa Bonheur, c. 1871
Artists, poets, intellectuals, writers
and politicians all had
photographs made, as well as
ballerinas and actresses, and the
nobility.

Disdéri, unidentified Ballerina, uncut
sheet of carte-de-visite photographs
A competitor, Disdéri,
invented a popular format
called the "carte-
de-visite." This was a
sheet of photos
that could be cut up and
left as visiting
cards when people made
their social calls
upon each other.

Disdéri, uncut sheet of cartes-
de visite

Queen Victoria in carte-de-visite format

Disdéri, Self Portrait
The days of a handheld camera that
anyone can use are still in the
future!
For now, the photographer has a
unique set of skills.

Daumier, “Nadar, elevating
the status of photography
to an art,” May 1862
In this cartoon, artist and
illustrator Daumier teases
Nadar, suggesting he will
never be able to "elevate"
photography to a fine art,
unless he goes up in a hot-
air balloon (another state of
the art technology at the
time.)

Èdouard MANET
Corner of a Café-Concert
1878-1879
National Gallery, London
oil on canvas
38.4 × 30.5 inches
So back to the world of
painted representations.
How does this new
technology for making
likenesses impact the
traditional art form of
painting?

There isn't a simple answer.
In fact, the artworld
continues to address the
impact of new technologies,
like photography, film, video,
and the internet. It is not a
settled question (it continues
to be productive within the
artworld).
But let's point to one impact
that can be felt right away.

Claude MONET
Garden at Sainte-
Adresse, 1867
oil on canvas
38 5/8 x 51 1/8 in
The Impressionists signaled a major change, as you can see here. They are like a
breath of fresh air into the art world, which in this picture takes the literal form of the
crisp seaside breeze that the well-dressed tourists are enjoying on summer vacation.
We are in the modern world now, bright, light, and always changing, as quickly as the
weather does.

Claude MONET, Impression: Sunrise, 1872
The Impressionists also become interested in capturing atmospheric effects, like dawn
and twilight, and all types of different weather conditions. Now that photography can
capture the literal appearance of things, artists are freer to experiment.

Claude MONET
The Saint-Lazare Station
1877
Oil on canvas
H. 75; W. 104 cm

Claude MONET
The Saint-Lazare Station
1877
Oil on canvas
H. 75; W. 104 cm
If we want to document the precise appearance of this train station, we can make
a photograph (and there are many photographs of urban Paris at this time). However,
if we want to feel some of the hectic quality of the train station, the crowds, and clouds
of smoke, we might turn to Monet’s picture instead.

J.M.W. Turner
Rain, Steam and Speed,
1844 oil on canvas
36 × 48 inches
National Gallery, London

J.M.W. TURNER
Rain, Steam and
Speed, 1844 oil on
canvas
36 × 48 inches
National Gallery,
London
Working in England at an even earlier date, Turner also becomes
interested in the look and feel of various forms of weather, to the
point that portions of his canvases
verge on abstraction.

J.M.W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Parliament, 1835

J.M.W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Parliament, 1835
Here Turner renders the giant fire that consumed the British Parliament in
dramatic oranges. The buildings themselves are barely visible among the flames.

James Abbott MacNeill WHISTLER
(American, living in London)
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The
Falling Rocket
1875
Whistler’s paintings push even
farther into gorgeous abstractions
full of color and texture that entice
the eye while scarcely resolving into
a recognizable picture.

Claude MONET, Waterlilies, c. 1920, MoMA, NYC
Monet’s late pictures of waterlilies floating on the pond in his garden push toward
abstract painting as well.

UVC100_Summer16_TuesJune7

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