Garnier 

Opera

Architecture 

Baroque Revival

A masterpiece of historicism based mostly on the Baroque style, revived here to recall an earlier period of greatness in france. This was a place of entertainment for Napoleon II, his entourage, and the bourgeoisie. The facade is covered in beautifully decorated stone, gold leaf, and statues everywhere. There is not a spot left unturned.

Gerome

The Snake Charmer

oil on canvas

This is an example of orientalism in art. Orientalism is the western world's fascination with cultures from africa, the middle east, and asia. This painting was praised by critics of the 1855 Salon for it's ethnographic accuracy. Yet the overall narrative of the Snake Charmer is complete fiction, mixing many cultures together. 

Talbot

The Open Door

calotype

In this photo Talbot demonstrates that photography could be presented as art rather documents of precisely observed reality. The shadows create a repeating pattern of diagonal lines that ontrast with the vertical architecture. The photograph expresses nostalgia for a rural way of life that was fast dissappearing in industrial england. The calotype was an important advancement in photography. The process created a negative image on paper that could be used multiple times to create positives. 

Courbet 

The Stonebreakers

oil on canvas

Courbet took a photograph for his composition. The art movement is realism and courbet was one of the first artists to call himself "realist". Courbet intended to make a political statement and provoke with this painting. The painting is quite large and in academic art monumental canvasas of this scale were reserved for heroic subjects. Courbet suggests that even the lowest in society could be venerated as heroes.

Manet

A Bar at the Folies Bergere 

oil on canvas

Manet's a Bar at the Folies Bergere returns to the complex theme of gender and class relations in modern urban life. The look of the bar maids face shows her hard work and she refuses to meet the gaze of her customer. The bar maids class and gender expose her to visual and even sexual consumption. She is shown as one of the many items on display for purchase. The mirror reflection is skewed. Manet could have done this to show reveal the process of painting which was a key charecteristic of the modernist movement.

Eakins 

The Gross Clinic

oil on canvas

This was one of eakens most controversial paintings. It is of an actual surgery of a boy in an lecture environment. Lower class could not afford surgery so they would offer their procedures as demonstrations for education. This painting would have been considered quite grotesque to the 19th century public due to the amount of blood. 

Monet

Impression, Sunrise

oil on canvas

The impressionist movement was named after this painting but the name was originally used in a derogatory fashion. This is a plein air painting which literraly means "open air" or outside. It was painted outside to achieve a certain lighting. Monet registers the intensity and shifting forms of a first sketch but renders it as the final work of art. It was displayed in the first art show of the impressionists. Monet uses very suggestive and loose brush strokes.

Renoir

Dance at Moulin de la Galette

oil on canvas

Renior focused mostly on painting people. This painting was exhibited with the impressionists. Renior wanted to submit this to the French Salon but chickened out because the impressionists were opposed to the salon. This idyllic image of a carefree time and place encapsulates Renoirs idea of the essence of art. He had said that a picture should be a pleasant thing because there are quite enough unpleasant things in life.

Morisot

Summers Day

oil on canvas

As a female, Morisot defied social conventions to became a painter. This painting shows the restrictions of upper class women. As a respectable bourgeois lady Morisot was not free to prowl the city for modern subjects. This is why morisetts paintings are depictions of upper class womens lives, because that is what she knew. This was exhibited with the impressionists.

Degas

The Rehearsal on Stage

oil on canvas

This is a contrived scene, not an actual event. Many dancers poses are uncharecteristic of the actual ballet but they are included to show how tiresome the life of ballet is. On the right we see wealthy patrons of the ballet hall who pay to watch the rehearsal. Rich patrons such as these would come to find mistresses. The cropping of the figures on the left suggests photography which was also practiced by degas. 

Seurat

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

oil on canvas

Seurat wanted to call this style chromoluminarism but instead it was known as pointilism. He wanted to reinvent painting. The whole process of this painting took 4-5 years which was considered a long time. The poses of the people are very artificial. He is pointing out the artificiality in painting and society. Seurat plays with our perception by diminishing radially and not just front to back. The diagonal dimension of the painting, multiplied by 3 is considered the best viewing distance for the pixels to blend. Uses points of contrasting colors to create a third color. The whole painting uses only 11 colors. Was shown in the last impressionist galery and angered monet because he did not consider this art.

Van Gogh

Starry Night

oil on canvas

Van gogh painted this image while he was institutionalized for self mutilation. The cropping of the cypress trees in the foreground are inspired by japanese prints. This painting only became greatly loved after Van Gogh's death. Van gogh painted this from his memory, attempting to prove gaugiun wrong on a dispute they had.

Whistler

Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket

oil on panel

This painting represents the movement Aestheticism because it was art for arts sake and moves away from telling a story. His paintings always began with a musical title. Sued a critic for libel who had accused him of flinging paint at a canvas. Whistler won the case. The falling rocket was a firework but subject was not important to whistler.

Munch 

The Scream

tempura and casein on cardboard

Munch was extremely poor and this is reflected in the materials he used. Casein is warmed wax. The common misconception of this image is that the figure in the foreground is screaming. Really this image is of nature screaming. Natures scream is symbolized by the red and orange in the sky. The story of this image was when munch was walking with his friends he heard the primordial scream of nature and had a panic attack. His two friends, shown in the background, left him alone. 

Claudel

The Waltz

bronze

The Waltz would have been considered a very provacative dance at the time. When this was originally submitted to the ministry of arts the dress was not there and this would have been considered pornographic. Claudel was threatened of getting a marble commision of this piece revoked so she added the dress on afterwards to please the inspector. She never finished the marble commission anyways and instead modified it to be cast in bronze as a tabletop sculpture. Claudel spent the last 30 years of her life in a mental institution. The piece is symbollic of claudel and Rodins relationship. She was his mistress and the dance was very risquee and provacative.

Gaudi

Casa Battlo

architecture

This is the only orginal architectural design of the 19th century. Created images that were very organic. The roof represents a dragons back with St. George's sword stuck in it. The shapes of the balconies are masks to remind us of Carnival.

Toulouse-Lautrec

Jane Avril

lithograph

The women is a famous can can dancer at the Moulin Rouge. She was made famous and recognizeable because of these lithographs. The organic curving lines and hand drawn letterings are characteristic of art nouveau. The fact that this is a poster as art is also a characteristic of art nouveau since in that movement anything can be art. The artist emphasize the dancers sexuality in order to draw in the crowds. This was used as advertisement. He outlines his forms and flattens his space to accomadate the cheap colored lithographic printing technique he used.

Eiffel

Tour Eiffel 

architecture 

Symbolized the centenial of the French Revolution. Meant to be temporary but then became important as a technical feat for radio. Only one man died in its construction. The top can sway up to twelve feet and still not move from its foundation. Was much criticized by the public as being an eyesore. One novelist who claimed to hate the tower ate from the towers restuarant everyday because it was the one place the tower could not be viewed.

Matisse

The Women with the Hat

oil on canvas

Represents the movement Fauvism in which raw energy substituted for technique. Primary colors are dominant. This is an image of Matisses wife. The cool colors are here to give us the sense of distance in their relationship. They just had an argument about Matisse and another women. The influence of Gauguin can be seen in the large areas of color.

Kirchner

Streen, Berlin

oil on canvas

This is an expressionistic image in which the artist subjectively distorts to represent urban degeneracy and alienation. This is of Berlin at 5:00 when people are getting off from work. Women did not work during this time so the women in this painting must have been prostitutes. The figures appear as artificial and dehuminized with masklike faces.Their bodies crowd together but no gazes are met and so there is a sense of disconnection among them. 

Kandinsky 

Improvisation 28 (Second Version)

oil on canvas

At a wagner concert Kandinsky realized how powerful art could be so he went to "capture a color chorus on canvas". The title is inspired by a musical term. Kandinsky claimed this painting was the first truly abstract art. He felt that art's traditional focus on acurate renderings of the physical world was a materialistic quest and art should not depend so much on mere physical reality. He had hoped his paintings would lead humanity toward a deeper awareness of spirituality. Kandinsky asks us to look at the painting as if we were hearing a symphony. Kandinsky may have been a synesthete, hearing colors and seeing sounds.

Picasso

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

oil on canvas

Piccasso follows cezanne here in that he wants to represent the three dimensional on a two dimensional plane. When matisse saw this he accused picasso of making a joke of modern art and threatened to break of their friendship. Picasso uses broken and distorted forms expressionistically to convey his view of women which some feminists have described as mysoginist. The women might of been prostitutes from the red light district of Barcelona.

Picasso

Glass and Bottle of Suze

mixed media

This pushes our concept of art by using mass produced materials. This represents the movement Synthetic Cubism in that it is a collage of materials to provoke the question of what is 'real' and what is not. Picasso represents his life in the parisian cafe with the wallpaper towards the bottom. The newspaper clippings used deal with the first Baulken war which contributed to the outbreak of WW I. 

Braque

Violin and Palette

oil on canvas

Represents analytic cubism. The space has been reduced to a flat plane and subjects look as if they were sliced into small strips and put together back together. We can see all sides of the violin at once. This was inspired by picasso. Braque had become a student of his and the two ended up working closely together.

Boccioni

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

bronze

This is a piece representing the italian movement Futurism in many ways. It uses cubisms formal discoveries to represent a figure in motion. The figure is an android in a very powerful stride. The futurists thought "why have humanity if it is so weak". This piece shows how space is being impacted by the dynamism of the robots movement.

Mondrian 

Composition with Yellow, Red, and Blue 

oil on canvas

Only uses primary colors and non colors for this image. This was Mondrians idea of equality. He had said that "everything will be red, blue, and yellow". This was his idea of equality, if we are all the same there will be no separation and no war. This represents the movement De Stijl in that he sought to create, through abstraction, total environments that were so perfect they embody a universal harmony.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Robbie House,

architecture 

This is the first time an american influences european design. It is inspired by japanese architecture. Wright focuses on the homes function. He took the location into account and so the home expands out to reflect the prairie landscape as opposed to expanding upwards.

Duchamp

Fountain

Porcelain Plumbing Fixture

The name R. Mutt was a fake alias that Duchamp submitted this piece under. It is of the style Ready Made in which people take everyday objects and rename them. This is a urinal that was turned upside down and refunctioned into a fountain. Introduces us to the idea that art is of the head and not the hand. Duchamp submitted this to an art show that stated "all works of art will be accepted" yet Fountain was not displayed.

Schwitters

Merzbild 5b

Collage

Represents the irrational state of mind from the DADA movement. Merz means "garbage" in german. Schwitters actually picked up trash on the street and included it in his collage. This was a reaction to the war. With all the slaughtering,  his idea was that why should art be more important than trash.

Gropius

Bauhaus Building

Architecture

The architects goal was to create a school that would prepare artists and designers to meet the needs of the 21st century. All students had to take 2D design, 3D  design, and color theory classes. We still use this model today in all art schools. One wall is nothing but glass so that it would bring in light to inspire the students. The building was knocked down by the Nazi Party.

Kahlo

The Two Fridas

Oil on Canvas

Kahlo painted this just after discovering her husband and cheated on her with her own sister. Here we see the idea of having two personas. The women on the right is her mexican, organic, salt of the earth persona. The women on the left is her european persona. Both personas are connected by an artery. Her mexican persona has a very strong heart. The artery is clamped but is still leaking blood on her shirt symbolizing the pain she is enduring. These stains could mean that her pain is difficult to hide despite her very strong expression.

Lawrence

The Migration Series: Panel No.1 

Tempura on Masonite

This represents the Harlem Renaissance in which african americans migrated north from the south. Lawrences parents were from South Carolina and moved up to New Jersey so this is the story of his life. Cubism was a strong influence in that the image is very flat and forms are outlined. The colors are inspired by african art. These bright colors would have been seen on african shields and masks.

Pollock

Autum Rhythm: Number 30

Mixed Media

Pollock never named his own paintings, this would have been given by someone else. The style he uses is action painting and we can see the action and movement of his body has he dripped paint onto the canvas. Pollock would have just rolled out the canvas and not cut it till he was done. Inspired by Jungian Psychology, in which he discovered while institutionalized, pollock is communicating certian subconscious feelings by painting.