from Carpeaux to Brancusi...

Forgive me if this sounds rough, and it doesn't make 100% sense, for this is really a quick way for me to review for a midterm I have in 90 minutes. If there is something that isn't clear, or I don't elaborate on, and you're interested in it, let me know and I'll see if I have more notes on it, and I'll post something about it in more detail...


We have the French Academy. The Salons, and the grand prizes. The traditional way, the "right" way.
Then we are given Carpeaux. He's sick of doing everything like everyone else, so he chooses to sculpt things like  Ugolino, dramatic and real. But still with the mythological story behind it.

And then Rodin. We are given the Age of Bronze in 1876, which was accused of being cast from life. John the Baptist, which turns into The Walking Man, after taking off his head, and arms. And in 1881-1917 the Gates of Hell is born, again and again. He re-arranges the figures and no one really knows when it was finished, or if it ever was. He shows singular items from the gates, such as The Shades, The Shade, The Thinker, Fugit Amor, And we have pieces like Adam, which came directly from a piece such as The Shade. Pieces like Iris showing his love of the awkward, distorted, and uncomfortable poses. And then we are given the Burghers of Calais, he was commissioned to represent the time of Calais when it was under English Domination in the 14th century. It was to show the strength the people had, to self sacrifice for their France. The commissioners wanted something that really showed what it meant to be French, and loving your home. Rodin started with that, but it then morphed into what we see today. He treated each figure as an individual, though it is clear they are together by the "chains" that bind them together, though not one is truly connected to the other. The original composition was a strong pyramidal form, with a figure in the front, and the rest coming out  behind him, sort of how geese fly, but Rodin couldn't have that, he said to the mayor of Calais "I am dead against it" and basically said it was insulting for him to work that way. When it was done Calais showed the piece behind a fence, on a huge base, really so no one could see it. Rodin wanted it on the ground, so that one could really live with it, and it would be connected to the people of Calais. After Calais Rodin started to focus on making monuments for famous men, such as Hugo, and his most famous, Balzac. Now, because Balzac was dead, Rodin couldn't meet with him like he did with others, so he went on stories, and his writings to figure out "who" he was. Rodin struggles with the piece for a while, going through many versions, some of just Balzac in normal clothing, some of him in his dressing gown, some of him naked, there was mention of one with Balzac naked, holding onto his erect penis. There were many pieces that were basically huge phallic symbols, and we are left with a sculpture of a man we are told is Balzac the great writer, in a robe. There is no true indication that this is Balzac, other than Rodin saying it is. There's nothing that says he is a writer, or of any importance. The piece is very phallic, heavy, and just odd. That's where I'll end Rodin, just odd. But wonderful all the same.

In 1894 Rosso shows "The Bookmaker made from wax, which has a bit of the same feeling Rodin's Balzac had. He was very influenced by painting and he eventually stops sculpting in the round and starts making vignettes such as "Conversation in a garden" small scale subjects, pictorial little pieces.

In 1923-27 the artist Maillol creates Mediterraanee, a stunning nude in marble, very reminiscent of those from the 19th century and Greece.

Bourdelle creates Hercules in 1909, it's full of power, and potential energy.

An artist looking at the shapes of the body, not so much realistic form, Lehmbruck, creates Fallen Man, in 1915.  The piece has some of the most beautiful negative space I've seen in sculpture.

And now, Brancusi, in 1907-8 he shows "The Kiss". It is simplified down to really a single figure, with only the indentation of a male and female embracing.

Brancusi was born in Romania, he was a wood carver, he got a scholarship to go to the school of fin arts and he then goes to the Grande Ecole. He learned to draw and model clay, and he enters Rodin's studio in 1907, he left shortly after and said "Nothing grows under old oaks" he was very unhappy so he went back and started working as a maker. He was a safe sculptor, then he saw the works of non-western artists, "primitive" art, thus giving us The Kiss. He then works with this simplification of figures and ideas and produces pieces like "Suffering" in 1907, Sleeping Child in 1906-8, Newborn (Bronze) in 1915-20-28. Brancusi works with the same idea, and relativity the same shape and form, but experimenting with different materials and bases. He also gets inspired by birds, with two examples- Maistra in 1912, and Bird in Space 1923-25. He goes from simplified, to almost completely abstract. And then we have the Endless Column in 1934. I will post more on Brancusi later, but for test review I'm ending here.


A name we normally don't associate with sculpture is Picasso. At least, I never did, until now. His "Les Demouiselles d'Avignon" is perhaps the most important pieces for modern sculpture, and modern art as a whole. Even though it is a painting, it influenced so many artists, and created a new way of viewing the world. It then lead to Picasso's Head of Fernande in 1909, with the semi cubist feel to it, then to the Glass of Absinthe in 1914 which gave the idea of using already made items such as the Absinthe spoon he fixed to his sculpture. and in the same year he gives us the Guitar, which blurs the line of 3D and 2D art. It's not a sculpture, it cannot be viewed from the back, but it's not a painting, or print. it clearly has depth, but what is it?

An artist very much influenced by everything going on, Gonzalez, and he plays with the idea of abstract sculpture with "Woman Combing her Hair" in 1936, and "Head" in 1935.

Okay, there's my test review, i hope it comes in handy, and I'll elaborate more on Brancusi, and we've only begun with Picasso and Gonzalez, so there should be more of them to come!


until next time...
xoxoxo

I'm back!

My computer was eaten by a monster  crashed after it tried to take on too many things at once, apparently the 'geniuses' that 'fixed' my computer never took off the things like Microsoft Office, and Anti-Virus programs, so there was about 4 of EVERYTHING and my poor computer couldn't take it anymore.

Well, thanks to my mother's friend at work, it was fixed and is running beautifully. So I can finally post again :) The next post will be a mixture of my notes thus far, sort of a quick review from Rodin to Brancusi because 1) there is so much to cover typing everything would take days. and 2) I have my midterm at 1:30 so it's a review for me =D

Walk through the Gates of Hell

If you know of the gates stated in my title I applaud you. And then you know of course of the master, Auguste Rodin. I have about 7 pages in my notebook filled with just him, so allow me to spill them onto you in hopes that you fall in love as I have...

Rodin is the father of modern sculpture. I don't say "WAS" because he is still looked up to, and is still an inspiring artist. And the time Rodin became important was when the idea of sculpture began to change...

Born in the city of Paris, in November of the year 1849 on a very poor street in a very poor neighborhood. Working class. He is a very poor man. At the age of 13 he  showed interest in drawing and art, at 14 he enrolled into the petite ecole where he then applied to the grande ecole and was rejected 3 times. He was finally accepted based on his drawings.

Man with broken nose/Mask of a man with a broken nose
Rodin

Rodin began the "mask of a man..." as a simple bust, Greek style, very academic, and durning this process he was in the search of someone to work for him. He came across an old workman who went by the name "Monsieur Bibi". M. Bibi would occasionally sit for Rodin, and it is to be thought that the "mask" was of Bibi. Well, one night it became terribly cold, and the clay froze and the back of the head broke off. Rodin loved it, so he submitted it to the Salon, well needless to say, it was rejected by the lot. It was said to be "flashy" and "aggressive".  With this Rodin was discouraged and he begins to work on a much larger scale. 

Bacchante- Rodin

Rodin never finished "Bacchante", and it is believed that the model for it was Rose Becket...who apparently Rodin was unable to get rid of. For a grand total of 50 years. They had a son together, though Rodin never really accepted the fact that the boy was his(what a man ;) Another piece Rose may have modeled for :

Mignon (sometimes shown with a hat)
Rodin

Rodin later begins working with ALbert Carrier-Belleuge, a very successful artist mainly with sculpture, and architectural ornamentation. Rodin becomes a full time practician with Carrier-Belleuge, who was the first to keep a studio just for creating copies. He was a very 'workman/practician' type person. And was very important to Rodin...

A monumental point in Rodin's career, and sculpture in general, was between 1870 and 1871, the Franco/Prussian war, and the Paris Commune 

• The Germans try to get France all fired up, and angry, so before long, France declares war on Germany. Oops on them, because Germany was prepared to fight, and France...was not. They were defeated. Germany wins parts of France. Well, the left and right sides of Paris went into a Civil war and then the 3rd Republic was born. This changed everything. 

Rodin went to Brussels along with Carrier-Belleuge...as well as many other artists during this war in Paris. In 1872 Rodin submits a version of "Man with Broken Nose" to the Salon in Brussels. No one really cares. it's overlooked and in 1875 he submits it to paris entitled "Portrait de M. B..." with this very ambiguous name people begin to say things about it. People begin questioning who "M. B..." is, some say it's Bibi, others say it stands for Michelangelo Buonarroti.

In 1876 he travels to Italy, the Medici chapel in Florence is his main destination. In the Medici chapel he finds a new language to the body, he gets more comfortable with the way he sees the body, and he begins to change the way he works...

Michelangelo really changed his way of thinking, Rodin said- "Michelangelo changed him and awakened him" 

Rodin comes back to Paris and begins his first full sized sculpture for the Salon. The Age of Bronze. 

The Age of Bronze- Rodin

He exhibits this piece in the salon, and it doesn't get much said about it, other than accusations that Rodin took a live cast (casting a piece straight from the model instead of sculpting it by hand) and that it was simply not art. Outraged by this, he had many of his friends send letters explaining that this WAS a sculpted piece, and Rodin sent many photos showing the difference between the model and the finished piece. So the ordeal was swept under the rug, and the state bought it, and had it cast in bronze. When you view this piece, you can see the little bits of where Rodin cut the clay, and how uneven the flesh is. You can SEE where he worked. It is no illusion of a human, it is made from hands, out of clay, and cast in bronze. You can see the imperfections, and where exactly where his hands were. Which just makes my heart flutter. 

John the Baptist Preaching- Rodin
 

When Rodin exhibits "John the Baptist" people really just talk about how boring, ugly, and emotionless it is. And frankly, it's not my favourite Rodin piece...

He then later takes off the head, and arms of "John", he removes, and reattaches bits and bobs from the body, and names this new piece "The Walking Man" 

The Walking Man-Rodin

This piece, IS however one of my favourites. The idea of using, and reusing a piece, and a sculpture being alive, and able to change, it's just refreshing and beautiful. 

And this brings me to perhaps one of the most important sculptures in the 19th century. The Gates of Hell.

The Gates of Hell-Rodin

I hesitate to put a picture of the Gates, because this piece is unlike any other. I'll start from the beginning though, and revisit this idea... Rodin was asked to create the doors to a new museum. The Museum of Decorative art. A museum which was never built. The commission was for little money, but it did get him a studio and supplies from the state. Rodin wanted to show Dante's Inferno, to which he later felt was too restrictive, so he included Baudelaire's "les fleurs du mal" (The flowers of Evil) The doors were draped in darkness. 

This piece is very hard to understand where he truly ended it, and it's not even known if he was actually done when he died. Rodin made the doors, and as it was covered in mini sculptures, he would remove them, and change the order. He would also exhibit them separately as works on their own. 

Figures from "The Gates"

• The Shades
• The Shade
• The Thinker 

(I'll post photos of the separate sculptures at the end)

"The Thinker" has to be one of the most well known, and mass produced pieces from the doors. It's everywhere from parks, to coffee mugs, t-shirts, and countless reproductions all around the world. Though, if you're like me, you never really put too much thought as to where it came from, it just was, and will always be. But it is said to depict Dante. or, Rodin himself. There is a very close relationship between "The Thinker" and Rodin, it represents the idea, the act of thinking. It's very melancholy, dark, and intense. The thinker is also related to Michelangelo's Lorenzo from the Medici Chapel. 

Basically..

Rodin = Michelangelo

Thinker = Lorenzo 

That's all the Rodin. FOR NOW! mwuahahaha sometime in the coming week I'll post the rest. 

Below are some photos...

The Shades

Rodin and The Thinker
(One of my favourite photographs by Edward Steichen)

The Shade

The Thinker

There are so many stunning figures on The Gates, please check them out. 

Until next time! 

xoxox

Carpeaux, Carpeaux, Carpeaux!

Last post was about modern art as a whole, focusing on painting, and the French Academy...this post will deal with modern sculpture....

     

The idea of sculpture was classic. Perfection, pure, cold. Influenced by Rome and Greece.

[Theseus and the Centaur- Canova]

Ignore that stupid fig leaf that was added later by some idiot. But looking past that, noting the idealized body, the perfect frozen moment in time, there is so much power, yet, it's so still. Very quiet. One thing I do love about this piece is the wonderful pyramid form Canova made with the left leg of Theseus straight in an angle, leading your eye up to his hand with the club, which leads your eyes back down through this beautiful line made with the club, his other arm, through the arm of the Centaur. Very balanced in composition. 

But things like this had been done before. Many, many times over. The French Academy ate it up, but for someone like, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux...well it just wasn't good enough anymore.  

Carpeaux went into the petite ecole and studied drawing, he however doesn't want to be worker, which was what typically happens with the petite ecole, it's a step down from the Grande Ecole where the students went on to be a practicien(practitioner) where they would work for and with artists, helping sculptures carve the marble, cast the iron/copper/or other metals. Carpeaux wanted to be an artist, and being a practicien was just a fall back. He enters the Grande Ecole in 1844 as a student of Francois Rude and remained in the studio for 6 years. Rude believed art cannot be taught, you must learn how to work, and then one becomes an artist. That was fine for Rude, but for the Grande Ecole, no no no, you are taught how to paint, draw, sculpt, not how to work, that's for the petite ecole. The Grande Ecole teaches you how to think like an artist, it teaches you how to create works like ancient Rome and Greece. It teaches you to emulate, and return to the classics. Carpeaux knows this, along with the politics that go with it, and he wants to win the Prix de Rome. And in 1854 he wins and he switches his studio from Rude to Duret.   

(Rude- Neapolitan Fisher Boy) (Duret- Neapolitan fisherman dancing)

See the difference in masters? Rude's fisher boy is real, you can expect to walk down the coast, or docks and see a little boy playing with a turtle. It's true to life, there is no idealized nature to it, its very relaxed and cool. Duret's piece, however, is the idea of the dance. You won't see a fisherman dancing like this, it's all about the idea. Not reality. 

They both understood the tradition of the fisher boy. -Note the chain necklace on both, and the traditional hat they wore. They know how to sculpt, Rude was just not interested in teaching the 'idea' but the natural. Rude didn't want to teach tradition, Duret did. "Duret WAS the Grande Ecole" people loved him, and Carpeaux wants that Prix de Rome, so he makes the switch. And after competing 9 times he wins, with Hector and his son Astyanax  seen here.

*fun fact about this piece, when artists are modeling their next sculpture, they cannot have any sketches in their cubical. One day there was an accusation about someone sneaking papers in the studio, and he was caught. That artist was Carpeaux, and the sketch was for this piece. Obviously he was still able to create it, and it almost didn't win. They (the Salon Juries) voted 5 times and at the end it was 5 to 3 in favour. and the only reason it won(so we've been told) was because of his execution. He spent 3 years in the Villa Medici...some say it's like being treated like kings, while others believed it was where all inspiration died. Carpeaux was towards the latter of the two, and when he was sick of it all, he went to Michelangelo. Can I just stop here and share a swoon? Okay, continuing on.....

For his envoi(the piece meant to be a gift for the state after winning the Prix de Rome) he sent Ugolino and His Sons seen here ....

[front]

[back]

I include the back really for my personal pleasure, I adore how he sculpted the backs, and how beautifully haunting it is even without the faces. 

Ugolino is a complete 180 turn from his "Hector". It is a classic subject, but he amps up the drama and realistic style. It is completely shocking, and absolutely successful. It made him infamous. "The man who created Ugolino" A beautiful, haunting piece. It got so much attention, which was Carpeaux's goal. 

The Dance

He doesn't stop with the 'amplifying' drama. With his "The Dance" he creates a surprising, WAY too natural, and much too erotic, sculpture. This is thought to be the beginning of modern sculpture. It was so shocking, and scandalous people couldn't stop talking about it. Which as any artist knows, is just perfection. 

The next post will be all about the glorious Auguste Rodin, get ready. I love him so much. 

-xoxo

Update!

Hello my one or two followers :) and anyone else who's stumbled upon my humble blog. Just wanted to update y'all. As you should know, I'm in school and it's beginning to really take a toll on my free time, with 2 studio art classes and 2 art history classes I've been trying to sort out the best way to keep this blog going. So instead of updating once a week, I'd post my notes at about 2-3 times a week. That way the posts aren't ridiculous and it'll be easier for me I think. So, tonight there should be another post about Modern Art, and Modern Sculpture. I'll probably post about sculpture first, because it got left out the first time :)

xoxoxo until then my doves!

week 8/16-8/19

Okay, before I go into the whole beginning of my notes, I just wanted to put the setup of the French Academy, which is how anyone becomes anyone in the 19th century. 

French Academy- 

• you have the school- grandes écoles. In the school you learn drawing, painting and sculpture. You study with masters, and hope to win the Prix de Rome (The grand prize)
• then you have exhibitions. Salons. These are held in huge galleries. They are annual, juried exhibitions. You win medals and state purchases. The goal is to become well known, and to have the state buy many of your paintings/pieces. Through your Salons you win the Prix de Rome and study in Rome with masters for 2 years. 

The French Academy is essential for new artists to get noticed, and begin their career. Basically if Jacques Louis-David never entered the Academy, and never did the Salons, we wouldn't have the "Oath of the Horatii" or my most favourite, "Death of Marat". And without David, we wouldn't have Girodet, Gros, or Ingres! Oh what kind of world would we be in without them?! A terrible one! ...getting off subject a little. But seriously, the way people did things, how they do things now, it would all be completely different. And Ingres actually comes into play with this entry, so I wasn't soo off :) 

So, because I've already mentioned Ingres (Jean Auguste-Dominique Ingres to be formal), let me bring you one of his beautiful neoclassical pieces- Large Odalisque(1814). 

seen here. She is a beautiful, exotic woman who is quite possibly in a haraam, owned by men. She's not tacky in the least, note her gorgeous, luxurious fabrics on her bed, and curtains. Her pipe, and jewels. She's also giving the viewer a welcoming look, she's not shy at all. And note her body, the over elongated back, which Ingres loved, he was a total back man :) And her bones seem to be nonexistent. Her arm looks like a 'bendy toy' as my professor says. And her left leg...seems a bit off. It appears to start from the middle of her torso. This is all in the name of Idealism. How we want to look, and how we would look if the world was perfect. Ingres was one of, if not the, names of Neoclassicism. Looking to the work of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the stories and art pieces, and bringing those ideas into his work. 


Now, keeping Odalisque in mind, take a look at Pablo Picasso's 'Demoiselles d'Avignon seen here. One would automatically assume that these are two completely different ideas, and these artists are hundreds of years apart. Wrong. Picasso absolutely adored Ingres, and is often called a decedent of his. Picasso also created this piece only 93 years after Ingres, (1907). The subject matter is even similar, Ingres with a woman in a Haraam, and Picasso with women in a brothel. Both used exotic women, and both nude. Picasso however chose to do it in a radically different way. He chose to use this idea of no space, completely transformed figures, absolutely unnatural, and did I mention space?! Everything is to the front, the fabric seems to float in and out of the foreground and figures. The woman on the bottom right corner is doing some odd 'Exorcism-esque' move with her head. 


Ingres is looking into the past for his inspiration, and Picasso is looking into the future, he is completely Modern, and radical. And a little tid-bit : Picasso showed this piece to a few people, and even his best friend. None of them liked it. His best friend(who's name escapes me) said it was horrible. So Picasso hid it for years and years. Scared to bring it out. And when he did, it was shocking, both good and bad. 

This comparison was really just to get you to see how fast the world of art changed in the late 19th and early 20th century. Previous movements such as the Renaissance, which took hundreds of years, to the baroque, they took many many years to move on. It was like a leisurely stroll in the park. But during the Industrial Revolution it took maybe 5 years for the movements to change. It was like a war zone! Everywhere you looked something newer and more different was coming out. With the inventions such as the camera and electricity. It all changed art forever. People who bought art changed. It wasn't the nobility anymore like it was with David, and other 19th century artists. It wasn't the church. It was the working middle class. The self made men. One of the best examples is Ingres' portrait of Louis-Francois Bertin, the head of a newspaper. This man gives off total impatience. He doesn't have time to sit and pose for a painting! He's got a news paper to run. But this is the kind of person that's commissioning art these days. Not a duke who has all the time in the world to sit there in his beautifully crafted suit and perfect posture, who might ride his horse that afternoon after posing.  

(Bertin)

That's basically the intro, and my first day in class. Just a bit of beginning information, and foundation to what'll be happening. Tomorrow(Friday) I'll post some about Modern Sculpture, I didn't want to keep going, as this entry is dreadfully long, and I don't really know my style of putting all this information out there yet. So bare with me for these first few entries, and we'll try to combine the two classes together. 

Introduction

This was just going to be for me, to keep track of my notes from my art history classes this semester, as I am in two. But then I thought, well I love art history, so maybe someone else might also! :) Really this is just for fun, and entertainment, nothing serious, just a place to find interesting tidbits and bobs about art! So, to get things started I'll introduce myself...

I am Emily Christine, an art student focusing on Photography, however Sculpture has caught my eye... I am 20 years of age. I am located in Georgia, so a lot of y'alls will be included I'm sure. Art has always been inspiring to me, and I have gained a serious love for the study of its history. If my school would get it's act together, I would double major in Art and Art History, but alas I am here waiting for that day to come.

As I said, this blog will be very informal, the entries will be straight from my notebook, with some explanation if I feel it's needed. Obviously if anyone out there who stumbles upon this has any questions, please ask, and I'll try my best to find the answer. I will try my best to update this once a week, probably on Fridays, being my day with no class!!!

This semester will be on the history of Modern Art and Modern Sculpture. I figured that because they are both during the 'Modern' era, I would just stick them together, but if they start to get too far off, I'll separate them.

Until next time,
-Emily Christine