ART OF ITS OWN TIME - ART THAT IS REAL OR APPEARS TO BE REAL
This theme encompasses what the art of the Late 19th Century is. Most of the art from this time period was inteneded to be very different from art from before, or using new technology or techniques to produce artwork distinctly of this time.
Historical Context
The 19th century was another period of steady increase in technological and scientific development, as well as an increase in wars between nations, as well as within nations. People were colonizing other areas, nearly 70 million people left Europe to colonize other areas. Also, an increase in the understanding of human anatomy and medicine led to an increase in survival rates, leading to massive population increases.
Characteristics of the Industiral Revolution became common place throughout developed areas, constituting a major social change from people working on farms primarily to factories and other more specialized jobs in mass production. The ideas and machinery of the Industrial Revolution led to many businessmen becoming rich and employing many people, often in poor working conditions. These people working in the factories were often poor and did no have much. Young children were increasingly used for labor in factories and mines.
Nations rose and fell, becoming more or less powerful as time went on. France lost much of its power, and Britain gained power though colonization and exploitation of the resources it had, becoming one of the most affected nations by the Industrial Revolution and exploiting this to gain power. The ottoman empire breaks up into several smaller countries. The U.S expands outwards to the West and has a civil war as well as purchases a large amount of land. These movements and events in the U.S lead to much cultural development surround them, such as the Hudson River School, as well as the ideas surrounding Manifest Destiny. Large European countries gain large amounts of colonies and exploit these colonies for resources as well as slaves, until slavery was abolished by the vast majority of nations.
People were beginning to settle down and accept the continuing industrial revolution. People had an optimistic outlook on life, that eventually all the wars and revolutions and discovery would eventually lead to a Utopian society, or a perfect society.
Art during this period was mostly about going against the norm. This was a time of many art movements and art movements that reacted against or for other art movements. This was probably because of how much faster communication had become, and how quickly ideas could be spread. The art movements of the period included, Realism, Impressionism, Post impressionism, Art Noveau, Symbolism, and Early Photography.
Each of these movements usually went against the norms of the time, such as Impressionism where they did not care about traditional art, but rather they were critisized heavily by the critics of the time. This art movement was characteristic because of its thin brush strokes a emphasis on accurate depiction of light and unusual visual angles. An emphasis was put on painting what you see, as objects and lighting change. Post Impressionism was another art movement that extended the Impressionist movement while rejecting its limitations. Post impressionists painting using thick colors and real-life subject matter, but represented geometric forms more often, and often had arbitrary color choices. Art Nouveau was another small art historical movement that put an emphasis on decorative patterns and Abstract depiction of lines and shapes. The art of this movement was supposed to be beautiful, not represent a specific point of view like the Romanticism or Neoclassical movements. They sought to make beauty and harmony a part of everyday life. Symbolism was another movement that was a part of the late 19th century movements that sought to show that art should represent absolute truths that could be described indirectly. There was a large amount of Symbolic use in the Symbolism movement. Also, new to any other period was the Early Photography movement. Cameras had just been invented, and so were being used as a form of art. It was not fully taken form, but often photographers would depict normal scenes, or portraits of people, sometimes artists would take still lives or manipulate their photos to get a specific scene. Sometimes they would just take pictures of current events or document events, such as the work of Timothy O'Sullivan in the war photos he took during the American Civil War.
Characteristics of the Industiral Revolution became common place throughout developed areas, constituting a major social change from people working on farms primarily to factories and other more specialized jobs in mass production. The ideas and machinery of the Industrial Revolution led to many businessmen becoming rich and employing many people, often in poor working conditions. These people working in the factories were often poor and did no have much. Young children were increasingly used for labor in factories and mines.
Nations rose and fell, becoming more or less powerful as time went on. France lost much of its power, and Britain gained power though colonization and exploitation of the resources it had, becoming one of the most affected nations by the Industrial Revolution and exploiting this to gain power. The ottoman empire breaks up into several smaller countries. The U.S expands outwards to the West and has a civil war as well as purchases a large amount of land. These movements and events in the U.S lead to much cultural development surround them, such as the Hudson River School, as well as the ideas surrounding Manifest Destiny. Large European countries gain large amounts of colonies and exploit these colonies for resources as well as slaves, until slavery was abolished by the vast majority of nations.
People were beginning to settle down and accept the continuing industrial revolution. People had an optimistic outlook on life, that eventually all the wars and revolutions and discovery would eventually lead to a Utopian society, or a perfect society.
Art during this period was mostly about going against the norm. This was a time of many art movements and art movements that reacted against or for other art movements. This was probably because of how much faster communication had become, and how quickly ideas could be spread. The art movements of the period included, Realism, Impressionism, Post impressionism, Art Noveau, Symbolism, and Early Photography.
Each of these movements usually went against the norms of the time, such as Impressionism where they did not care about traditional art, but rather they were critisized heavily by the critics of the time. This art movement was characteristic because of its thin brush strokes a emphasis on accurate depiction of light and unusual visual angles. An emphasis was put on painting what you see, as objects and lighting change. Post Impressionism was another art movement that extended the Impressionist movement while rejecting its limitations. Post impressionists painting using thick colors and real-life subject matter, but represented geometric forms more often, and often had arbitrary color choices. Art Nouveau was another small art historical movement that put an emphasis on decorative patterns and Abstract depiction of lines and shapes. The art of this movement was supposed to be beautiful, not represent a specific point of view like the Romanticism or Neoclassical movements. They sought to make beauty and harmony a part of everyday life. Symbolism was another movement that was a part of the late 19th century movements that sought to show that art should represent absolute truths that could be described indirectly. There was a large amount of Symbolic use in the Symbolism movement. Also, new to any other period was the Early Photography movement. Cameras had just been invented, and so were being used as a form of art. It was not fully taken form, but often photographers would depict normal scenes, or portraits of people, sometimes artists would take still lives or manipulate their photos to get a specific scene. Sometimes they would just take pictures of current events or document events, such as the work of Timothy O'Sullivan in the war photos he took during the American Civil War.