HISTORY BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY (pt. 3 of 3)
Throughout the 19th century, specifically from 1815 forward, it seemed as though every form of artistic expression, literature, music, philosophy and art, exploded at once, the pieces and forms from one inspiring and blending with the other to create one of the most prolific creative periods in western civilization: the Romantic era. This is the period that gave birth to the "power" music of Beethoven, Wagner, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Mendelssohn and Chopin, the operas of Verdi and Bizet, the poetry of Lord Byron, Shelley, Keats, and the literary storm from authors such as Wordsworth, Pushkin, Poe, Hawthorne, and Hugo.
Painters of the period often collaborated closely with musicians and poets, the words and music influencing a new depth of color, bold nationalism, an impressive realism, and a strong inclination to use their work as the visual aspect of much larger statement. Throughout the global arts community, there was a sense of social responsibility; that art does not exist merely for aesthetic pleasure or to enhance personal vanity, but that art has a responsibility to guide, lead, and affect change within society.
In 1830, French painter Eugene Delacroix created the above masterpiece, Liberty Leading the People commemorating the revolution overthrowing King Charles X. The Friench government paid 3000 francs to purchase the strongly nationalistic piece, but the emotion and political fervor stirred by the work was so strong that it was exhibited in the palace for only a short while.
Arguably Delacroix's greatest work, Liberty encompasses all the main traits one would expect to find in a painting of the Romantic era. Full of both allegorical and French nationalistic symbolism, it is not without adamant purpose that the deceased figures in the foreground display all the ravages not only of war but even more of tyranny. Liberty herself is no shy, demure model; she is strong, robust, barefoot and bare breasted as she raises high the tricolore and steps off the canvas, right into the face of the viewer. The crowd behind her represents every social class from bourgeoisie to peasant, each face full of individual personality and emotion.1
For many, the Romantic period epitomizes art at its apex. These are the works that draw the largest crowds, even those who aren't quite certain to what their eyes should search or the subtleties to which their ears should listen. Being an artist of any form was an occupation celebrated and revered. Concert halls and galleries were packed full. Museums and universities were endowed with a competitive fervor. To create, to compose, to write, to teach, was the most noble of callings and each country, nay, each village was eager to hold high their celebrated champions of the arts.
But Delacroix's painting wasn't the only French creation that cause a stir. During this very same period two frenchmen, Joseph Niepce and Louis Daguerre began working together to develop a method for developing plates that made permanent images exposed to light. The French government bought the rights to the process in July 1939 and made the process public a month later. Photography was born and the world of two-dimensional imagery was immediately thrown into a manner of upheaval.2
Painter Paul Delarouche, is credited, perhaps apocryphally, with stating that, "from today, art is dead!" The art world reacted largely with horror. Charles Bauldelair, who many consider the father of modern criticism, wrote quite harshly of his disdain for the new medium, calling it "art's most mortal enemy." [A portion of Bauldelair's Salon of 1859 translated to English can be read online here.] Fear led many painters whose income depended on "miniature" portraits to become photographers themselves.3
Yet, there were those with a greater understanding of the medium who saw it as a way to actually increase their painting income. By utilizing photography, a painter could severely minimize the number of sittings needed with a subject. A painter could now work at the canvas for hours without having to worry about the model fainting of fatigue simply by utilizing this new medium of photography.4
Of course, photography was still quite young, plates took 30 minutes to develop, and there were dangers and problems along the way for which painting simply couldn't and wouldn't wait. While photography suffered through the pains of trying to figure out its own being and identity, the art world went wildly onward.
Even as the popularity of photography is exploding, a loosely-knit group of Parisian artists are working in a very new style, one with noticeably softer edges, a stroke that moves strongly away from the stark realism of the Romantics. The artists are known collectively as the Impressionists.
Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Sisley, and Cassat are among the best know painters of this still-popular style. For photographers, their connection and contribution to imagery may not be immediately apparent. After all, one who is accustomed to seeing the world through a camera lens looks at an impressionistic piece and immediately thinks, "it's out of focus!" But the Impressionists made two very important contributions for photographers.
First, they took the creation of art outdoors. Prior to this period, most painting, even landscapes, was performed indoors. Impressionists went to their subject rather than forcing their subject to come to them, opening up a whole new perspective on imagery outside the studio.
Second, they brought a new and original perspective of natural light into their paintings. The reflection of colors from object to object is a consideration that too many inexperienced photographers still overlook, but was of critical importance to Impressionist painters. Paintings from this period are amazingly accurate in the placement and density of shadows and reflection in relation to the position of the sun.
Toward the end of the 19th century and moving into the 20th, movements and styles of art come in greater number and much closer together. Change occurs at an amazingly rapid rate throughout the twentieth century. To try and account for all of them here would be sheer folly. However, there are some major points worth mentioning.
Fauvism, led by Henri Matisse, whose 1904 work Woman with a Hat is shown above, took the art world kicking and screaming into abstraction and the concept that a color seen may be better expressed on canvas with a color of a different hue. Blue becomes ultramarine. Red becomes vermilion. Fauvism, and to lesser degrees pointalism and post-impressionism, all teach photographers to step back and peer beyond the physical reality of a subject to find its essence, its emotion, and even its connection with the artist.
Can the Cubist works of Picasso (le guitariste shown above) and Brauqe hold any lessons for photographers at all? Of course they do! Cubism teaches photographers to look at all the surfaces of an object, not merely the side closest to the camera. Cubism reminds one to search for and find the depth in our subjects. Indeed, duo-tone, tri-tone and multiple exposure photographs are in some manner indirectly related Cubism as they present multiple perspectives of a single subject, though not in the same single-plane manner as the Cubists.
Cubism also teaches photographers to look at a frame as though it were divided into cells on a grid; consider what lies within each cell and its relationship to the image as a whole. This concept can be especially useful in the development of composition, lighting, and editing.
Time, space, and the brevity of read interest do not allow for any greater exploration regarding the relationship between the history of art and photography beyond what has been presented in these three articles. Without doubt, every minute topic raised, and more intentionally ignored, could easily become the subject of a half-day's lecture were time and interest permitting. Hopefully, this brief engagement sends photographers running to libraries and museums and galleries to study and give greater consideration to all that painting has to teach.
The artistic ground on which we stand has already been tilled for hundreds of thousands of years by the painters who come before us; the job of the photographer today is to use that knowledge, experience and inspiration to cultivate a new and exciting level of imagery and art.
1.Toussaint, Hélene, (1982). La Liberté guidant le peuple de Delacroix. Paris: Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
2. Leggat, Robert (1995). A History of Photography from its beginnings until the 1920s. Published online by the author at http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/index.html
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
Painters of the period often collaborated closely with musicians and poets, the words and music influencing a new depth of color, bold nationalism, an impressive realism, and a strong inclination to use their work as the visual aspect of much larger statement. Throughout the global arts community, there was a sense of social responsibility; that art does not exist merely for aesthetic pleasure or to enhance personal vanity, but that art has a responsibility to guide, lead, and affect change within society.
In 1830, French painter Eugene Delacroix created the above masterpiece, Liberty Leading the People commemorating the revolution overthrowing King Charles X. The Friench government paid 3000 francs to purchase the strongly nationalistic piece, but the emotion and political fervor stirred by the work was so strong that it was exhibited in the palace for only a short while.Arguably Delacroix's greatest work, Liberty encompasses all the main traits one would expect to find in a painting of the Romantic era. Full of both allegorical and French nationalistic symbolism, it is not without adamant purpose that the deceased figures in the foreground display all the ravages not only of war but even more of tyranny. Liberty herself is no shy, demure model; she is strong, robust, barefoot and bare breasted as she raises high the tricolore and steps off the canvas, right into the face of the viewer. The crowd behind her represents every social class from bourgeoisie to peasant, each face full of individual personality and emotion.1
For many, the Romantic period epitomizes art at its apex. These are the works that draw the largest crowds, even those who aren't quite certain to what their eyes should search or the subtleties to which their ears should listen. Being an artist of any form was an occupation celebrated and revered. Concert halls and galleries were packed full. Museums and universities were endowed with a competitive fervor. To create, to compose, to write, to teach, was the most noble of callings and each country, nay, each village was eager to hold high their celebrated champions of the arts.
But Delacroix's painting wasn't the only French creation that cause a stir. During this very same period two frenchmen, Joseph Niepce and Louis Daguerre began working together to develop a method for developing plates that made permanent images exposed to light. The French government bought the rights to the process in July 1939 and made the process public a month later. Photography was born and the world of two-dimensional imagery was immediately thrown into a manner of upheaval.2
Painter Paul Delarouche, is credited, perhaps apocryphally, with stating that, "from today, art is dead!" The art world reacted largely with horror. Charles Bauldelair, who many consider the father of modern criticism, wrote quite harshly of his disdain for the new medium, calling it "art's most mortal enemy." [A portion of Bauldelair's Salon of 1859 translated to English can be read online here.] Fear led many painters whose income depended on "miniature" portraits to become photographers themselves.3
Yet, there were those with a greater understanding of the medium who saw it as a way to actually increase their painting income. By utilizing photography, a painter could severely minimize the number of sittings needed with a subject. A painter could now work at the canvas for hours without having to worry about the model fainting of fatigue simply by utilizing this new medium of photography.4
Of course, photography was still quite young, plates took 30 minutes to develop, and there were dangers and problems along the way for which painting simply couldn't and wouldn't wait. While photography suffered through the pains of trying to figure out its own being and identity, the art world went wildly onward.
Even as the popularity of photography is exploding, a loosely-knit group of Parisian artists are working in a very new style, one with noticeably softer edges, a stroke that moves strongly away from the stark realism of the Romantics. The artists are known collectively as the Impressionists.
Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Sisley, and Cassat are among the best know painters of this still-popular style. For photographers, their connection and contribution to imagery may not be immediately apparent. After all, one who is accustomed to seeing the world through a camera lens looks at an impressionistic piece and immediately thinks, "it's out of focus!" But the Impressionists made two very important contributions for photographers.First, they took the creation of art outdoors. Prior to this period, most painting, even landscapes, was performed indoors. Impressionists went to their subject rather than forcing their subject to come to them, opening up a whole new perspective on imagery outside the studio.
Second, they brought a new and original perspective of natural light into their paintings. The reflection of colors from object to object is a consideration that too many inexperienced photographers still overlook, but was of critical importance to Impressionist painters. Paintings from this period are amazingly accurate in the placement and density of shadows and reflection in relation to the position of the sun.
Toward the end of the 19th century and moving into the 20th, movements and styles of art come in greater number and much closer together. Change occurs at an amazingly rapid rate throughout the twentieth century. To try and account for all of them here would be sheer folly. However, there are some major points worth mentioning.
Fauvism, led by Henri Matisse, whose 1904 work Woman with a Hat is shown above, took the art world kicking and screaming into abstraction and the concept that a color seen may be better expressed on canvas with a color of a different hue. Blue becomes ultramarine. Red becomes vermilion. Fauvism, and to lesser degrees pointalism and post-impressionism, all teach photographers to step back and peer beyond the physical reality of a subject to find its essence, its emotion, and even its connection with the artist.
Can the Cubist works of Picasso (le guitariste shown above) and Brauqe hold any lessons for photographers at all? Of course they do! Cubism teaches photographers to look at all the surfaces of an object, not merely the side closest to the camera. Cubism reminds one to search for and find the depth in our subjects. Indeed, duo-tone, tri-tone and multiple exposure photographs are in some manner indirectly related Cubism as they present multiple perspectives of a single subject, though not in the same single-plane manner as the Cubists.
Cubism also teaches photographers to look at a frame as though it were divided into cells on a grid; consider what lies within each cell and its relationship to the image as a whole. This concept can be especially useful in the development of composition, lighting, and editing.
Time, space, and the brevity of read interest do not allow for any greater exploration regarding the relationship between the history of art and photography beyond what has been presented in these three articles. Without doubt, every minute topic raised, and more intentionally ignored, could easily become the subject of a half-day's lecture were time and interest permitting. Hopefully, this brief engagement sends photographers running to libraries and museums and galleries to study and give greater consideration to all that painting has to teach.
The artistic ground on which we stand has already been tilled for hundreds of thousands of years by the painters who come before us; the job of the photographer today is to use that knowledge, experience and inspiration to cultivate a new and exciting level of imagery and art.
1.Toussaint, Hélene, (1982). La Liberté guidant le peuple de Delacroix. Paris: Editions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
2. Leggat, Robert (1995). A History of Photography from its beginnings until the 1920s. Published online by the author at http://www.rleggat.com/photohistory/index.html
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
Labels: art, art history, imagery, painting, photography
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