1.
1863 in art
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Events from the year 1863 in art. March – American-born painter James McNeill Whistler settles close to the River Thames in Chelsea, London, the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris becomes independent of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Julia Margaret Cameron takes up photography, alexander Gilchrists Life of William Blake, Pictor Ignotus is published in London, edited posthumously by Anne Gilchrist. May 17 – Opening of first exhibition of the Salon des Refusés in Paris, and coining of the term avant-garde
2.
1864 in art
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Events from the year 1864 in art. January 30 – National Gallery of Ireland opens to the public in Dublin in a designed by Francis Fowke based on early plans by Charles Lanyon. February 20 – Painter George Frederic Watts marries his 16-year-old model and she elopes less than a year later. December 30 – Julia Margaret Cameron sends John Herschel an album of her first years photography including her iconic portrait of him, stanisław Chlebowski takes up a post as master painter to Sultan Abdülaziz in Istanbul. The National Gallery in London acquires The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius from Lord Taunton, F. Watts – Choosing James McNeill Whistler Caprice in Purple and Gold, The Golden Screen Symphony in White, No
3.
1865 in art
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Events from the year 1865 in art. July 21 – Charles Dodgson photographs Effie Gray Millais, John Everett Millais, ford Madox Brown completes his painting Work after thirteen years. Édouard Manets painting Olympia is first exhibited, at the Salon, jean-François Millets painting The Angelus is first exhibited and becomes very popular in France. The Bargello in Florence becomes an art museum
4.
1870 in art
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Events from the year 1870 in art. June 28 – Claude Monet marries his mistress and model Camille Doncieux in Paris, july – Franco-Prussian War breaks out, Monet and Pissarro flee to London, Cézanne and his mistress, Marie-Hortense Fiquet, leave Paris for LEstaque where he predominantly paints landscapes. In September the Dutch painter Lourens Alma Tadema moves permanently to London where he adopts the name Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Édouard Manet and Louis Edmond Duranty fight a duel at Café Guerbois, Paris. Russian industrialist and patron of the arts Savva Mamontov acquires the Abramtsevo Colony, dante Gabriel Rossettis Poems are published, exhumed from Elizabeth Siddals grave. Daoud Corm goes to Rome to study under Roberto Bompiani at the Accademia di San Luca
5.
1871 in art
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Events from the year 1871 in art. March – Edward Lear settles at his villa in Sanremo, spring – James McNeill Whistler publishes Sixteen etchings of scenes on the Thames and paints his first moonlights of the river. May – James Tissot flees Paris for London, june 14 – Camille Pissarro marries his mistress Julie Vellay in the London borough of Croydon and moves to Pontoise. Summer – Claude Monet visits Zaandam, december – Monet and his wife Camille move to Argenteuil. William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti become tenants of Kelmscott Manor, marie Spartali marries William James Stillman. Crocker establishes the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California, the Apotheosis of War George Frederic Watts – Portrait of Frederic Leighton Alfred Waud – A Home on the Mississippi James McNeill Whistler Arrangement in Grey and Black No
6.
1872 in art
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Events from the year 1872 in art. February 20 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City. A, november 13 – Claude Monet begins painting Impression, Sunrise as viewed from his hotel room at Le Havre. November – Edward Lear acquires his cat Foss, date unknown William De Morgan sets up an art pottery in Chelsea, London. The first Wallace fountains, to the design of sculptor Charles-Auguste Lebourg, are installed in Paris
7.
1874 in art
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Events from the year 1874 in art. August 22 – English illustrator Helen Paterson marries Irish poet and editor William Allingham, december 19 – Monet begins painting his Snow at Argenteuil series. December 22 – Berthe Morisot, who has exhibited at the first Impressionist exhibition, marries Eugène, brother of Édouard Manet, goyas Black Paintings are transferred to canvas
8.
1876 in art
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Events from the year 1876 in art. April – Impressionist exhibition at the house of Paul Durand-Ruel,11 rue Peletier, may 16 – German American Napoleon of crime Adam Worth steals Gainsboroughs portrait Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire from Agnews gallery in Old Bond Street, London. Henrietta Montalba exhibits at the Royal Academy for the first time, kathleen Newton moves into the London home of James Tissot, becoming his mistress and model
9.
1879 in art
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Events from the year 1879 in art. April 10–May 11 – Fourth Impressionist exhibition in Paris, arranged by Gustave Caillebotte at 28 avenue de lOpéra, ford Madox Brown begins painting the The Manchester Murals in Manchester Town Hall. Chicago Academy of Fine Arts established, guimet Museum of Asian art established in Lyon, France. Museum of Fine Arts Berne established in Switzerland, kate Greenaways first book, with her own colour illustrations, Under the Window, Pictures & Rhymes for Children, is published in London
10.
1880 in art
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Events from the year 1880 in art. October – Vincent van Gogh enrolls in an art course at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Fifth Impressionist exhibition in Paris, at 10 rue des Pyramides, the realist painter Jean-François Raffaëlli is also invited by Degas to exhibit. Silver Studio founded by Arthur Silver in London for textile and wallpaper design, anton Mauve paints Changing Pasture, his palette and usage of colour influences Vincent van Gogh. Michael Ancher marries fellow painter Anna Brøndum, national Gallery of Canada established in Ottawa. Grand Prix de Rome, painting, Henri Lucien Doucet, Grand Prix de Rome, sculpture, Grand Prix de Rome, architecture, Grand Prix de Rome, music, Lucien Joseph Edouard Hillemacher
11.
1881 in art
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Events from the year 1881 in art. April – Sixth Impressionist exhibition in Paris, at Nadars studio, august 31 – English painters Thomas Cooper Gotch and Caroline Burland Yates marry at Newlyn. The Société des Artistes Français is established, with William-Adolphe Bouguereau as its first president. Vincent van Gogh returns from study in Brussels to his parents home in Etten where he produces a number of works, including the start of his series of peasant character studies. Art Gallery of South Australia established in Adelaide, St. Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts established at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, under the direction of Halsey Ives. Dante Gabriel Rossettis Ballads and Sonnets published
12.
1882 in art
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Events from the year 1882 in art. April 9 – English poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti dies aged 53 of Brights disease at Birchington-on-Sea in the care of his brother, march 1 – Seventh Impressionist exhibition in Paris opens at 251 rue Saint-Honoré. August – Vincent van Gogh starts painting in oil on the sea coast at Scheveningen, walter Langley moves to Newlyn on the coast of Cornwall, becoming the first resident artist of the Newlyn School. The gallery of botanical illustrations made and donated by Marianne North is opened at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Royal Manchester Institution transfers its galleries and collections to Manchester Corporation as Manchester Art Gallery. Todor Švrakić, Serbian painter January 14 – Timothy H
13.
1883 in art
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20 April – Claude Monet moves to the house in Giverny which will be his main residence for the rest of his life. 28 October – Les XX established in Brussels by Octave Maus, L. Wyllie – Toil, Glitter, Grime and Wealth on a Flowing Tide 3 February – Camille Bombois, French naïve painter. 18 February – Jacques Ochs, French artist, épée and foil fencer,12 April Francis Cadell, Scottish Colourist painter Imogen Cunningham, American photographer. 24 June – Jean Metzinger, French painter and art theorist,16 July – Charles Sheeler, American modernist painter and photographer. 31 July – Erich Heckel, German painter and printmaker,19 August – Coco Chanel, French fashion designer. 14 September – Richard Gerstl, Austrian painter and draughtsman,9 November – Charles Demuth, American painter. 4 December – Felice Casorati, Italian painter,24 December – Stojan Aralica, famous Serbian Impressionist painter and academic. 26 December – Maurice Utrillo, French painter, date unknown – Charles Jourdan, French fashion designer
14.
1873 in architecture
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The year 1873 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings. Weltausstellung 1873 Wien, a fair in Vienna, is staged with the Rotunde as centrepiece. Architect for the exposition is Karl von Hasenauer, who is created Freiherr for his services, may 5 - Midland Grand Hotel in London, England, is substantially completed and opened, the largest hotel in the world at this time. August 22 - Garrett Theatre, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, september 2 - The Berlin Victory Column in Berlin, Germany. September 29 - Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa, Canada, Ørskog Church, Norway, by Jacob Wilhelm Nordan. Rua Augusta Arch in Lisbon, built to commemorate the citys reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake, trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, designed by H. H. Richardson
15.
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
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The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of English painters, poets, and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The three founders were joined by William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner to form the seven-member brotherhood and their principles were shared by other artists, including Marie Spartali Stillman and Ford Madox Brown. A later, medievalising strain inspired by Rossetti included Edward Burne-Jones, the groups intention was to reform art by rejecting what it considered the mechanistic approach first adopted by Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo. Its members believed the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been an influence on the academic teaching of art. In particular, the group objected to the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds, founder of the English Royal Academy of Arts, to the Pre-Raphaelites, according to William Michael Rossetti, sloshy meant anything lax or scamped in the process of painting. Any thing or person of a commonplace or conventional kind, the brotherhood sought a return to the abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian art. The group associated their work with John Ruskin, an English critic whose influences were driven by his religious background, the group continued to accept the concepts of history painting and mimesis, imitation of nature, as central to the purpose of art. The Pre-Raphaelites defined themselves as a movement, created a distinct name for their form of art. The groups debates were recorded in the Pre-Raphaelite Journal, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in John Millaiss parents house on Gower Street, London in 1848. At the first meeting, the painters John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Hunt and Millais were students at the Royal Academy of Arts and had met in another loose association, the Cyclographic Club, a sketching society. At his own request Rossetti became a pupil of Ford Madox Brown in 1848, at that date, Rossetti and Hunt shared lodgings in Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, Central London. Hunt had started painting The Eve of St. Agnes based on Keatss poem of the same name, as an aspiring poet, Rossetti wished to develop the links between Romantic poetry and art. Ford Madox Brown was invited to join, but the more senior artist remained independent but supported the group throughout the PRB period of Pre-Raphaelitism, other young painters and sculptors became close associates, including Charles Allston Collins, Thomas Tupper, and Alexander Munro. The PRB intended to keep the existence of the secret from members of the Royal Academy. The principles were deliberately non-dogmatic, since the brotherhood wished to emphasise the personal responsibility of artists to determine their own ideas. Influenced by Romanticism, the members thought freedom and responsibility were inseparable, nevertheless, they were particularly fascinated by medieval culture, believing it to possess a spiritual and creative integrity that had been lost in later eras. The emphasis on medieval culture clashed with principles of realism which stress the independent observation of nature, in its early stages, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood believed its two interests were consistent with one another, but in later years the movement divided and moved in two directions. The realists were led by Hunt and Millais, while the medievalists were led by Rossetti and his followers, Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris
16.
Simeon Solomon
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Simeon Solomon was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire. Solomon was born into a prominent Jewish family and he was the eighth and last child born to merchant Michael Solomon and artist Catherine Levy. Solomon was a brother to fellow painters Abraham Solomon and Rebecca Solomon. Born and educated in London, Solomon started receiving lessons in painting from his brother around 1850. He started attending Careys Art Academy in 1852 and his older sister first exhibited her works at the Royal Academy during the same year. His first exhibition was at the Royal Academy in 1858 and he continued to hold exhibitions of his work at the Royal Academy between 1858 and 1872. In addition to the literary paintings favoured by the Pre-Raphaelite school, Solomons subjects often included scenes from the Hebrew Bible and genre paintings depicting Jewish life and his association with Swinburne led to his illustrating Swinburnes Lesbia Brandon in 1865. In 1873 his career was cut short when he was arrested in a urinal at Stratford Place Mews, off Oxford Street, in London and charged with attempting to commit sodomy. He was arrested again in 1874 in Paris, after which he was sentenced to three months in prison. In 1884 he was admitted to the workhouse where he continued to work, however, his life. Twenty years later in 1905, he died from complications brought on by his alcoholism and he was buried at the Jewish Cemetery in Willesden. Examples of his work are on permanent display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, retrospectives of his work have been held at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in 2005-6, and in London at the Ben Uri Gallery in 2006. Paintings and Drawings by the Late Simeon Solomon, Baillie Gallery,54 Baker St,9 Dec 1905-13 Jan 1906 Winter Exhibition of Works of the Old Masters and Deceased Masters of the British School, Royal Academy, London. 1 Jan-10 March 1906 Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery,7 Nov-16 Dec 1906 Exeter Museum and Art Gallery. April 1906 Jewish Exhibition, Gallery of Ancient and Modern Art, july–August 1908 Pre-Raphaelite Painters from Collections in Lancashire, Tate Britain, London. 17 July 1913 –28 September 1913 National Gallery of British Art, July 1923 Jewish Art, Ben Uri Gallery. May 1934 Subjects of Jewish Interest, Ben Uri Gallery, december 1946 Acquisitions of the Friends of the Art Museums of Israel, Ben Uri Gallery. In May the exhibition moved to Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, april–May 1966 Solomon, A Family of Painters, Geffrye Museum, London and Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Birmingham
17.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
18.
Vincent van Gogh
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Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings and his suicide at 37 followed years of mental illness and poverty. Born into a family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet. As a young man he worked as an art dealer, often travelling and he turned to religion, and spent time as a Protestant missionary in southern Belgium. He drifted in ill health and solitude before taking up painting in 1881 and his younger brother Theo supported him financially, and the two kept up a long correspondence by letter. His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, in 1886 he moved to Paris, where he met members of the avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As his work developed he created a new approach to still lifes and his paintings grew brighter in colour as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the south of France in 1888. During this period he broadened his subject matter to include trees, cypresses, wheat fields. Van Gogh suffered from episodes and delusions and though he worried about his mental stability, he often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly. His friendship with Gauguin ended after a confrontation with a razor and he spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy. After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris and his depression continued and on 27 July 1890, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died from his injuries two days later, Van Gogh was unsuccessful during his lifetime, and was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide, and exists in the imagination as the quintessential misunderstood genius. His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as elements of his style came to be incorporated by the Fauves. The most comprehensive source on Van Gogh is the correspondence between him and his younger brother, Theo. Their lifelong friendship, and most of what is known of Vincents thoughts, Theo van Gogh was an art dealer and provided his brother with financial and emotional support, and access to influential people on the contemporary art scene. Theo kept all of Vincents letters to him, Vincent kept few of the letters he received, after both had died, Theos widow Johanna arranged for the publication of some of their letters. A few appeared in 1906 and 1913, the majority were published in 1914, Vincents letters are eloquent and expressive and have been described as having a diary-like intimacy, and read in parts like autobiography
19.
Goupil & Cie
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Goupil & Cie was a leading art dealership in 19th-century France, with headquarters in Paris. Instrumental for this expansion were the Ateliers Photographiques, a plant north of Paris, in Asnières, the leading figure was Adolphe Goupil. His daughter Marie married the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, after several partnerships from 1827 onwards, Adolphe Goupil formed Goupil & Cie in 1850. Until 1861 the firm concentrated on buying, selling and editing prints, Goupils reproductions made Jean-Léon Gérôme, in particular, a well known artist. Vincent van Gogh fell ill and retired in 1872, but left his money in the firm until 1878 and his duties were taken over by Albert Goupil, son of Adolphe. When, in 1878, the van Gogh shares were finally withdrawn, from then on the firm was completely in the hands of the Goupil family and their sons-in-law Léon Boussod and René Valadon. In 1884 the Goupil family retired and the firm was transformed and renamed Boussod, Valadon & Cie. No.19 became a sales room when the administration was moved to Rue Chaptal. From 1881 this branch was run by Theo van Gogh, Paris 2 Place de lOpéra Goupils main sales room displaying Old Masters as well as the contemporary Salon New York 289 Broadway Established in 1846 by Léon Goupil. W. van Gogh, after his retirement this branch was run by V. Schmidt, moved to 25 Bedford Street, Strand in 1875 when Goupil & Cie took over Holloway & Sons and their salerooms. Goupils manager in London was at this time Charles Obach, Uncle Cent, as he was called by his nephews, moved to Paris in 1858 and took residence at 9 Rue Chaptal, which housed Goupils headquarters, too. In 1861, he became partner of Goupil & Cie, but retired in 1872, due to his health, to settle in Princenhage for the summers. Six years later, he withdrew his shares, as Uncle Cent had no children, his nephews were evidently supposed to follow him up in the firm, Vincent entered in 1869, Theo in 1873. When Vincent was sacked by Léon Boussod in 1876, the balance between the shareholders suffered - and so Theo got his chance, called to the Paris office for the time of the World Fair 1878, he was offered to stay in Paris. In these years, Vincent took up his vocation and began to study art, based on the Cours de dessin, Gérôme and edited by Goupil & Cie, 1868–1873. In 1880, he asked his former director Herman Gijsbert Tersteeg, at Goupils in The Hague, to him a copy. ISBN 90-400-9359-8 Gérôme & Goupil, Art and Enterprise, Réunion de musées nationaux, Paris 2000 ISBN 2-7118-4152-9 Musée Goupil, Bordeaux Goupil & Cie and Boussod, Research Library at the Getty Research Institute. Goupil & Cie/Boussod, Valadon & Cie Stock Books, Getty Provenance Index at the Getty Research Institute
20.
1873 Vienna World's Fair
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Weltausstellung 1873 Wien was the large world exposition that was held in 1873 in the Austria-Hungarian capital of Vienna. Its motto was Kultur und Erziehung, the Rotunde was destroyed by fire on September 17,1937. The Russian pavilion had a section designed by Viktor Hartmann. Exhibits included models of the Port of Rijeka and the Illés Relief model of Jerusalem
21.
Claude Monet
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Monets ambition of documenting the French countryside led him to adopt a method of painting the same scene many times in order to capture the changing of light and the passing of the seasons. From 1883 Monet lived in Giverny, where he purchased a house and property, Claude Monet was born on 14 November 1840 on the fifth floor of 45 rue Laffitte, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. He was the son of Claude Adolphe Monet and Louise Justine Aubrée Monet. On 20 May 1841, he was baptized in the parish church, Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, as Oscar-Claude. Despite being baptized Catholic, Monet later became an atheist, in 1845, his family moved to Le Havre in Normandy. His father wanted him to go into the familys ship-chandling and grocery business and his mother was a singer, and supported Monets desire for a career in art. On 1 April 1851, Monet entered Le Havre secondary school of the arts, locals knew him well for his charcoal caricatures, which he would sell for ten to twenty francs. Monet also undertook his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard, a student of Jacques-Louis David. On the beaches of Normandy around 1856 he met fellow artist Eugène Boudin, Boudin taught Monet en plein air techniques for painting. Both received the influence of Johan Barthold Jongkind, on 28 January 1857, his mother died. At the age of sixteen, he left school and went to live with his widowed, childless aunt, when Monet traveled to Paris to visit the Louvre, he witnessed painters copying from the old masters. Having brought his paints and other tools with him, he would go and sit by a window. Monet was in Paris for several years and met other painters, including Édouard Manet and others who would become friends. After drawing a low number in March 1861, Monet was drafted into the First Regiment of African Light Cavalry in Algeria for a seven-year period of military service. His prosperous father could have purchased Monets exemption from conscription but declined to do so when his son refused to give up painting. While in Algeria Monet did only a few sketches of scenes, a single landscape. In a Le Temps interview of 1900 however he commented that the light, after about a year of garrison duty in Algiers, Monet contracted typhoid fever and briefly went absent without leave. Following convalescence, Monets aunt intervened to get him out of the army if he agreed to complete a course at an art school and it is possible that the Dutch painter Johan Barthold Jongkind, whom Monet knew, may have prompted his aunt on this matter
22.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir, commonly known as Auguste Renoir, was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has said that Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau. He was the father of actor Pierre Renoir, filmmaker Jean Renoir and he was the grandfather of the filmmaker Claude Renoir, son of Pierre. Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, in 1841 and his father, Léonard Renoir, was a tailor of modest means, so in 1844, Renoirs family moved to Paris in search of more favorable prospects. The location of their home, in rue d’Argenteuil in central Paris, although the young Renoir had a natural proclivity for drawing, he exhibited a greater talent for singing. His talent was encouraged by his teacher, Charles Gounod, who was the choir-master at the Church of St Roch at the time. However, due to the financial circumstances, Renoir had to discontinue his music lessons. Although Renoir displayed a talent for his work, he tired of the subject matter. The owner of the factory recognized his apprentice’s talent and communicated this to Renoir’s family, following this, Renoir started taking lessons to prepare for entry into Ecole des Beaux Arts. When the porcelain factory adopted mechanical reproduction processes in 1858, Renoir was forced to other means to support his learning. Before he enrolled in art school, he also painted hangings for overseas missionaries, in 1862, he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris. There he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet, at times, during the 1860s, he did not have enough money to buy paint. Renoir had his first success at the Salon of 1868 with his painting Lise with a Parasol, although Renoir first started exhibiting paintings at the Paris Salon in 1864, recognition was slow in coming, partly as a result of the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War. This loss of a favorite painting location resulted in a change of subjects. Renoir was inspired by the style and subject matter of modern painters Camille Pissarro. Although the critical response to the exhibition was largely unfavorable, Renoirs work was well received. That same year, two of his works were shown with Durand-Ruel in London, hoping to secure a livelihood by attracting portrait commissions, Renoir displayed mostly portraits at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876. He contributed a diverse range of paintings the next year when the group presented its third exhibition, they included Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette
23.
Camille Pissarro
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Camille Pissarro was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas. His importance resides in his contributions to both Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Pissarro studied from great forerunners, including Gustave Courbet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. He later studied and worked alongside Georges Seurat and Paul Signac when he took on the Neo-Impressionist style at the age of 54, in 1873 he helped establish a collective society of fifteen aspiring artists, becoming the pivotal figure in holding the group together and encouraging the other members. Cézanne said he was a father for me, a man to consult and a little like the good Lord, and he was also one of Gauguins masters. Renoir referred to his work as revolutionary, through his portrayals of the common man. Pissarro is the only artist to have shown his work at all eight Paris Impressionist exhibitions and he acted as a father figure not only to the Impressionists but to all four of the major Post-Impressionists, including Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro was born on 10 July 1830 on the island of St. Thomas to Frederick and his father was of Portuguese Jewish descent and held French nationality. His mother was from a French-Jewish family from the island of St. Thomas and his father was a merchant who came to the island from France to deal with the hardware store of a deceased uncle and married his widow. The marriage caused a stir within St. Thomas small Jewish community because she was married to Fredericks uncle. In subsequent years his four children were forced to attend the primary school. Upon his death, his will specified that his estate be split equally between the synagogue and St. Thomas Protestant church, when Camille was twelve his father sent him to boarding school in France. He studied at the Savary Academy in Passy near Paris, while a young student, he developed an early appreciation of the French art masters. Monsieur Savary himself gave him a grounding in drawing and painting and suggested he draw from nature when he returned to St. Thomas. However, his father preferred he work in his business, giving him a job working as a cargo clerk and he took every opportunity during those next five years at the job to practise drawing during breaks and after work. When he turned twenty-one, Danish artist Fritz Melbye, then living on St. Thomas, inspired Pissarro to take on painting as a profession, becoming his teacher. Pissarro then chose to leave his family and job and live in Venezuela and he drew everything he could, including landscapes, village scenes, and numerous sketches, enough to fill up multiple sketchbooks. In 1855 he moved back to Paris where he working as assistant to Anton Melbye. In Paris he worked as assistant to Danish painter Anton Melbye and he also studied paintings by other artists whose style impressed him, Courbet, Charles-François Daubigny, Jean-François Millet, and Corot
24.
Alfred Sisley
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Alfred Sisley was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting en plein air. He deviated into figure painting only rarely and, unlike Renoir and Pissarro, among his important works are a series of paintings of the River Thames, mostly around Hampton Court, executed in 1874, and landscapes depicting places in or near Moret-sur-Loing. Over the years Sisleys power of expression and colour intensity increased, Sisley was born in Paris to affluent British parents. His father, William Sisley, was in the silk business, in 1857 at the age of 18, Sisley was sent to London to study for a career in business, but he abandoned it after four years and returned to Paris in 1861. Together they would paint landscapes en plein air rather than in the studio and this approach, innovative at the time, resulted in paintings more colourful and more broadly painted than the public was accustomed to seeing. Consequently, Sisley and his friends initially had few opportunities to exhibit or sell their work and their works were usually rejected by the jury of the most important art exhibition in France, the annual Salon. During the 1860s, though, Sisley was in a financial position than some of his fellow artists. In 1866, Sisley began a relationship with Eugénie Lesouezec, a Breton living in Paris, the couple had two children, son Pierre and daughter Jeanne. At the time, Sisley lived not far from Avenue de Clichy and the Café Guerbois, in 1868, his paintings were accepted at the Salon, but the exhibition did not bring him financial or critical success, nor did subsequent exhibitions. In 1870 the Franco-Prussian War began, and as a result Sisleys fathers business failed, for the remainder of his life he would live in poverty, as his paintings did not rise significantly in monetary value until after his death. Occasionally, however, Sisley would be backed by patrons, the first of these occurred in 1874 after the first independent Impressionist exhibition. Here, as art historian Anne Poulet has said, the landscapes with their constantly changing atmosphere were perfectly attuned to his talents. Unlike Monet, he never sought the drama of the ocean or the brilliantly colored scenery of the Côte dAzur. In 1881 Sisley made a brief voyage to Britain. In 1897 Sisley and his partner visited Britain again, and were married in Cardiff Register Office on 5 August. They stayed at Penarth, where Sisley painted at least six oils of the sea, in mid-August they moved to the Osborne Hotel at Langland Bay on the Gower Peninsula, where he produced at least eleven oil paintings in and around Langland Bay and Rotherslade Bay. They returned to France in October and this was Sisleys last voyage to his ancestral homeland
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Impressionism
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Impressionism originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s. The Impressionists faced harsh opposition from the art community in France. The development of Impressionism in the arts was soon followed by analogous styles in other media that became known as impressionist music. Radicals in their time, early Impressionists violated the rules of academic painting and they constructed their pictures from freely brushed colours that took precedence over lines and contours, following the example of painters such as Eugène Delacroix and J. M. W. Turner. They also painted scenes of modern life, and often painted outdoors. Previously, still lifes and portraits as well as landscapes were painted in a studio. The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air, the Impressionists, however, developed new techniques specific to the style. The public, at first hostile, gradually came to believe that the Impressionists had captured a fresh and original vision, even if the art critics and art establishment disapproved of the new style. In the middle of the 19th century—a time of change, as Emperor Napoleon III rebuilt Paris, the Académie was the preserver of traditional French painting standards of content and style. Historical subjects, religious themes, and portraits were valued, landscape, the Académie preferred carefully finished images that looked realistic when examined closely. Paintings in this style were made up of brush strokes carefully blended to hide the artists hand in the work. Colour was restrained and often toned down further by the application of a golden varnish, the Académie had an annual, juried art show, the Salon de Paris, and artists whose work was displayed in the show won prizes, garnered commissions, and enhanced their prestige. The standards of the juries represented the values of the Académie, represented by the works of artists as Jean-Léon Gérôme. In the early 1860s, four young painters—Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and they discovered that they shared an interest in painting landscape and contemporary life rather than historical or mythological scenes. A favourite meeting place for the artists was the Café Guerbois on Avenue de Clichy in Paris, where the discussions were led by Édouard Manet. They were soon joined by Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, during the 1860s, the Salon jury routinely rejected about half of the works submitted by Monet and his friends in favour of works by artists faithful to the approved style. In 1863, the Salon jury rejected Manets The Luncheon on the Grass primarily because it depicted a woman with two clothed men at a picnic. While the Salon jury routinely accepted nudes in historical and allegorical paintings, the jurys severely worded rejection of Manets painting appalled his admirers, and the unusually large number of rejected works that year perturbed many French artists
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Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria
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The Galleria Nazionale dellUmbria is the Italian national paintings collection of Umbria, housed in the Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia, in central Italy. Its collection comprises the greatest representation of the Umbrian School of painting, ranging from the 13th to the 19th century, the collection is presented in 40 galleries in the Palazzo. The origins of the lie in the founding of the Perugian Accademia del Disegno in the mid-16th century. The Academy had its seat in the Convento degli Olivetani at Montemorcino. With the addition of acquisitions, donations and bequests, the became the Regia Galleria Vannucci in 1918
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Palazzo dei Priori
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The Palazzo dei Priori is a historical building in Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. As in other Italian medieval communes, it was the seat of the priori and this magistrature was established in Perugia in 1303, the palazzo had been called the Palazzo Nuovo del Popolo to that point. When Pope Julius III restored the Priori, the grateful Perugini commemorated him with the bronze statue next to the Cathedral, two more bays and a grand entrance portal were added to the piazza façade in 1333-37, together with the arcaded loggia, where decrees were publicly read. Later in the century the palazzo was extended along the Corso, with six bays. The perimeter of the roof was originally crenellated all around, less for actual defensive purposes than as a symbol of Perugias independence, significantly, the crenellations were removed in 1610, when Perugia had submitted at last to papal armies. When Perugia was joined to a united Italy, the crenellations were triumphantly restored, above the door, strung on a bar hanging from chains the keys to the gates of Siena were triumphantly displayed, following the victory of Perugia at the battle of Torrita,1358. On the left is the entrance to the Galleria Nazionale dellUmbria one of the most outstanding provincial Italian collections of art
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Perugia
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Perugia is the capital city of both the region of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the river Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 kilometres north of Rome and 148 km south-east of Florence and it covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. The region of Umbria is bordered by Tuscany, Lazio, the history of Perugia goes back to the Etruscan period, Perugia was one of the main Etruscan cities. Perugia is also a cultural and artistic centre of Italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve and he decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes, eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia, another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. Galeazzo Alessi is the most famous architect from Perugia, the citys symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city. Perugia was an Umbrian settlement but first appears in history as Perusia, one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. Fabius Pictors account, utilized by Livy, of the carried out against the Etruscan League by Fabius Maximus Rullianus in 310 or 309 BC. At that time a thirty-year indutiae was agreed upon, however, in 295 Perusia took part in the Third Samnite War and was reduced, with Volsinii and Arretium, a number of lead bullets used by slingers have been found in and around the city. Negotiations with the besieging forces fell to the bishop, Herculanus. Totila is said to have ordered the bishop to be flayed and beheaded, st. Herculanus later became the citys patron saint. In the Lombard period Perugia is spoken of as one of the cities of Tuscia. Peter, acknowledged the validity of the statement and recognised the established civic practices as having the force of law. However this dominant tendency was rather an anti-Germanic and Italian political strategy, midway through the 14th century Bartholus of Sassoferrato, who was a renowned jurist, asserted that Perugia was dependent upon neither imperial nor papal support. Civic peace was constantly disturbed in the 14th century by struggles between the party representing the people and the nobles. A citadel known as the Rocca Paolina, after the name of Pope Paul III, was built, in 1797, the city was conquered by French troops. On 4 February 1798, the Tiberina Republic was formed, with Perugia as capital, in 1799, the Tiberina Republic merged to the Roman Republic
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Accademia delle Arti del Disegno
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The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, or Academy of the Arts of Drawing, is an academy of artists in Florence, Italy. The Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno, or academy and company of the arts of drawing, was founded on 13 January 1563 by Cosimo I de Medici and it was later called the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. Artists including Michelangelo Buonarroti, Lazzaro Donati, Francesco da Sangallo, Agnolo Bronzino, Benvenuto Cellini, Giorgio Vasari, Bartolomeo Ammannati, most members of the Accademia were male, Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman to be admitted. Its declared purposes are the promotion and diffusion of the arts, and it organises conferences, concerts, book presentations and exhibitions, and elects noted artists from all over the world to honorary membership. The first Accademia delle Arti del Disegno was founded by Cosimo I de Medici on 13 January 1563 and it was later called the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. At first, the Academy met in the cloisters of the Santissima Annunziata, in 1784 Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, combined all the schools of drawing in Florence into one institution, the new Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, or academy of fine arts. The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno was thus suppressed and transformed in the collegio dei professori dellAccademia, sculpture and painting became separate classes under a new statute of 1953. Since 1971 the Accademia has occupied Palazzo dellArte dei Beccai, in via Orsanmichele, the current statute of the organisation was published by decree of the President of the Republic of Italy, and is dated 17 May 1978. Since the statute of 1978 the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno has been divided into five classes, painting, sculpture, architecture, history of art, there are four classes of membership, emeritus, ordinary, correspondent and honorary. The Accademia awards the title of Accademico dOnore, or honorary member, to those it considers notable in culture and it lists 138 such honorary members. Past Accademici dOnore include Giulio Andreotti, Alberto Ronchey, the Nobel Prize winner Rita Levi-Montalcini, notizie intorno alla Regia Accademia delle Arti del Disegno di Firenze. LAccademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, lAccademia medicea del Disegno a Firenze nel Cinquecento. Cenni storici sullAccademia delle Arti del Disegno), paola Barocchi, I Fondatori dellAccademia del Disegno. Gli statuti dellAccademia delle Arti del Disegno, the Florentine Academy and the Early Modern State. Enrico Sartoni, Da Michelangelo alla Contemporaneità, storia di un primato mondiale 450 anni dellAccademia delle Arti del Disegno
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Florence
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Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants, Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time. It is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, from 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 million tourists each year and it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture, the city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florences artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy. Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a period as a flourishing trading and banking medieval commune. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, it was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe, the language spoken in the city during the 14th century was, and still is, accepted as the Italian language. Starting from the late Middle Ages, Florentine money—in the form of the gold florin—financed the development of all over Europe, from Britain to Bruges, to Lyon. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the Hundred Years War and they similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their provisional capital of Avignon and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome. Florence was home to the Medici, one of European historys most important noble families, Lorenzo de Medici was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were popes in the early 16th century, Leo X, catherine de Medici married king Henry II of France and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. Marie de Medici married Henry IV of France and gave birth to the future king Louis XIII, the Medici reigned as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, starting with Cosimo I de Medici in 1569 and ending with the death of Gian Gastone de Medici in 1737. The Etruscans initially formed in 200 BC the small settlement of Fiesole and it was built in the style of an army camp with the main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, intersecting at the present Piazza della Repubblica. Situated along the Via Cassia, the route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the Arno, the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre. Peace returned under Lombard rule in the 6th century, Florence was conquered by Charlemagne in 774 and became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as capital. The population began to again and commerce prospered
31.
Leslie Ward
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Sir Leslie Matthew Ward was a British portrait artist and caricaturist who over four decades painted 1,325 portraits which were regularly published by Vanity Fair, under the pseudonyms Spy and Drawl. The portraits were produced as watercolours and turned into chromolithographs for publication in the magazine and these were then usually reproduced on better paper and sold as prints. Such was his influence in the genre that all Vanity Fair caricatures are sometimes referred to as Spy Cartoons regardless of who the artist actually was, Ward was one of eight children of artists Edward Matthew Ward and Henrietta Ward, and the great-grandson of the artist James Ward. Although they had the surname before marriage, Wards parents were not related. She was niece and great-niece respectively of the portrait painter John Jackson, both parents had studios in their homes in Slough and Kensington in London, where they regularly entertained the London artistic and literary elite. Wards father was a gifted mimic who entertained Charles Dickens and other eminent guests, although they never gave their son formal training, they and their artistic friends encouraged the young Ward to draw, paint, and sculpt. Ward had started caricaturing while still at school at Eton College, using his classmates, in 1867 his bust of his brother was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. At school Ward had been a student, and after he left Eton in 1869 his father encouraged him to train as an architect. Ward was too afraid to tell his father that he wanted to be an artist and he spent a year in the office of the architect Sydney Smirke. In 1873 he sent some of his work to Thomas Gibson Bowles and this led to his being hired to replace Ape, who had temporarily left the magazine after falling out with Bowles. As his nom de crayon, Ward suggested to Bowles that he use the name Spy, meaning to observe secretly, Ward drew 1,325 cartoons for Vanity Fair between 1873 and 1911, many of which captured the personality of his subjects. His portraits of royalty, nobility, and women, however, were over-sympathetic, sometimes they came to his studio to pose in their robes or uniforms. A caricaturist, Ward believed, was born, not made and he observed, A good memory, an eye for detail, and a mind to appreciate and grasp the whole atmosphere and peculiarity of the subject are of course essentials. A caricature, he noted, should never depend on a physical defect, if I could sum up the art in a sentence it would be that caricature should be a comic impression with a kindly touch, and always devoid of vulgarity. In an 1897 interview given by Oliver Armstrong Fry to Frank Banfield of Cassells Magazine, Ward was the most famous Vanity Fair artist, indeed, the whole genre tends to be named after him, the caricatures often being referred to as Spy Cartoons. He worked for Vanity Fair for over forty years, producing more than half of the 2,387 caricatures published. Wards clubs included the Arts, the Orleans, the Fielding, the Lotus, the Punch Bowl, and the Beefsteak, there he sketched many of his victims. Wards last cartoon for Vanity Fair appeared in June 1911 as he had begun to contribute his characteristic portraits to The World
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Caricature
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A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or through other artistic drawings. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics, Caricatures can be insulting or complimentary and can serve a political purpose or be drawn solely for entertainment. Caricatures of politicians are commonly used in cartoons, while caricatures of movie stars are often found in entertainment magazines. The term is derived from the Italian caricare—to charge or load, an early definition occurs in the English doctor Thomas Brownes Christian Morals, published posthumously in 1716. Expose not thy self by four-footed manners unto monstrous draughts, with the footnote, When Mens faces are drawn with resemblance to some other Animals, the Italians call it, to be drawn in Caricatura Thus, the word caricature essentially means a loaded portrait. Some of the earliest caricatures are found in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, the point was to offer an impression of the original which was more striking than a portrait. Caricature took a road to its first successes in the aristocratic circles of France and Italy. These caricatures were the work of Brig. -Gen, george Townshend whose caricatures of British General James Wolfe, depicted as Deformed and crass and hideous, were drawn to amuse fellow officers. Elsewhere, two great practitioners of the art of caricature in 18th-century Britain were Thomas Rowlandson and James Gillray, Rowlandson was more of an artist and his work took its inspiration mostly from the public at large. Gillray was more concerned with the vicious visual satirisation of political life and they were, however, great friends and caroused together in the pubs of London. In a lecture titled The History and Art of Caricature, the British caricaturist Ted Harrison said that the caricaturist can choose to either mock or wound the subject with an effective caricature. Drawing caricatures can simply be a form of entertainment and amusement – in which case gentle mockery is in order – or the art can be employed to make a social or political point. A caricaturist draws on the characteristics of the subject, the acquired characteristics. Sir Max Beerbohm, created and published caricatures of the men of his own time. His style of single-figure caricatures in formalized groupings was established by 1896 and his published works include Caricatures of Twenty-five Gentlemen, The Poets Corner, and Rossetti and His Circle. He published widely in magazines of the time, and his works were exhibited regularly in London at the Carfax Gallery. George Cruikshank created political prints that attacked the family and leading politicians. He went on to create caricatures of British life for popular publications such as The Comic Almanack
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Vanity Fair (UK magazine)
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The second Vanity Fair was a British weekly magazine published from 1868 to 1914. Subtitled A Weekly Show of Political, Social and Literary Wares, it was founded by Thomas Gibson Bowles, the first issue appeared in London on 7 November 1868. It offered its readership articles on fashion, current events, the theatre, books, social events, Thomas Allinson bought the magazine in 1911 from Frank Harris, by which time it was failing financially. He failed to revive it and the issue of Vanity Fair appeared on 5 February 1914, after which it was merged into Hearth. A full-page, colour lithograph of a celebrity or dignitary appeared in most issues. Subjects included artists, athletes, royalty, statesmen, scientists, authors, actors, soldiers, religious personalities, business people and scholars. More than two thousand of these images appeared, and they are considered the cultural legacy of the magazine
34.
Edgar Degas
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Edgar Degas was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings. He is especially identified with the subject of dance, more than half of his works depict dancers and he is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, although he rejected the term, preferring to be called a realist. He was a draftsman, and particularly masterly in depicting movement, as can be seen in his rendition of dancers, racecourse subjects. His portraits are notable for their complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation. At the beginning of his career, Degas wanted to be a history painter, in his early thirties, he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life. Degas was born in Paris, France, into a wealthy family. He was the oldest of five children of Célestine Musson De Gas, a Creole from New Orleans, Louisiana, and Augustin De Gas and his maternal grandfather Germain Musson, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti of French descent and had settled in New Orleans in 1810. Degas began his schooling at age eleven, enrolling in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and his mother died when he was thirteen, and his father and grandfather became the main influences on him for the remainder of his youth. Degas began to paint early in life, by the time he graduated from the Lycée with a baccalauréat in literature in 1853, at age 18, he had turned a room in his home into an artists studio. Upon graduating, he registered as a copyist in The Louvre Museum, Degas duly enrolled at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris in November 1853, but applied little effort to his studies. In April of that year Degas was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts and he studied drawing there with Louis Lamothe, under whose guidance he flourished, following the style of Ingres. In July 1856, Degas traveled to Italy, where he would remain for the three years. In 1858, while staying with his aunts family in Naples and he also began work on several history paintings, Alexander and Bucephalus and The Daughter of Jephthah in 1859–60, Sémiramis Building Babylon in 1860, and Young Spartans around 1860. In 1861 Degas visited his childhood friend Paul Valpinçon in Normandy and he exhibited at the Salon for the first time in 1865, when the jury accepted his painting Scene of War in the Middle Ages, which attracted little attention. The change in his art was influenced primarily by the example of Édouard Manet, upon the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, Degas enlisted in the National Guard, where his defense of Paris left him little time for painting. During rifle training his eyesight was found to be defective, after the war, Degas began in 1872 an extended stay in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his brother René and a number of other relatives lived. Staying at the home of his Creole uncle, Michel Musson, on Esplanade Avenue, Degas produced a number of works, many depicting family members. One of Degass New Orleans works, A Cotton Office in New Orleans, garnered favorable attention back in France, Degas returned to Paris in 1873 and his father died the following year, whereupon Degas learned that his brother René had amassed enormous business debts
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A Cotton Office in New Orleans
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A Cotton Office in New Orleans is an 1873 oil painting by Edgar Degas. In it, Degas depicts his uncle Michel Mussons cotton brokerage business, in the painting, Musson is seen examining raw cotton for its quality while Degas brother Rene reads The Daily Picayune. Another brother, Achille, rests against a wall at left while others, including Mussons partners. A Cotton Office in New Orleans was the first painting by Degas to be purchased by a museum, Degas traveled from Europe to New Orleans in late 1872 with his brother, René, to visit his mothers brother, Michael Musson. After the American Civil War, René had joined his uncles business in New Orleans. Degas crafted his work with the intent of selling it to a British textile manufacturer, but a drop in stock prices worldwide and declines in the cotton and art markets ended his hopes for that specific sale. Degas then exhibited A Cotton Office in New Orleans in the second Impressionist show in Paris in 1876, Degas finally sold the painting in 1878 to the newly founded Musee des Beaux-Arts in Pau, France. The painting is sometimes referred to as The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans. Brown, Marilyn R. Degas and the Business of Art, impressionism, a centenary exhibition, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 12, 1974-February 10,1975, fully digitized text from The Metropolitan Museum of Art libraries
36.
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
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William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter and traditionalist. In his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, during his life he enjoyed significant popularity in France and the United States, was given numerous official honors, and received top prices for his work. As the quintessential salon painter of his generation, he was reviled by the Impressionist avant-garde, by the early twentieth century, Bouguereau and his art fell out of favor with the public, due in part to changing tastes. In the 1980s, a revival of interest in figure painting led to a rediscovery of Bouguereau, throughout the course of his life, Bouguereau executed 822 known finished paintings, although the whereabouts of many are still unknown. William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle, France, on November 30,1825, into a family of wine, the son of Théodore Bouguereau and Marie Bonnin, known as Adeline, William was brought up a Catholic. He had a brother, Alfred, and a younger sister, Marie. The family moved to Saint-Martin-de-Ré in 1832, another sibling was born in 1834, Kitty. At 12 the boy went to Mortagne to stay with his uncle Eugène, a priest, in 1839 he was sent to study the priesthood at a Catholic college in Pons. Here he was taught to draw and paint by Louis Sage who had studied under Ingres, William reluctantly left his studies to return to his family, now residing in Bordeaux. Here the boy met a local artist, Charles Marionneau, William also worked as a shop assistant, hand-colouring lithographs and making small paintings that were reproduced using chromolithography. He was soon the best pupil in his class and decided to become an artist in Paris, to fund the move, he sold portraits -33 oils in three months. All were unsigned and only one has been traced and he arrived in Paris aged 20 in March 1846. Bouguereau became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts, to supplement his formal training in drawing, he attended anatomical dissections and studied historical costumes and archeology. He was admitted to the studio of François-Édouard Picot, where he studied painting in the academic style and he also studied classical literature, which influenced his subject choice for the rest of his career. In April 1848 the young artist entered the Prix de Rome contest, soon after work began there were riots in Paris and Bouguereau enrolled in the National Guard. After an unsuccessful attempt to win the prize, he entered again in 1849, following 106 days of competition he again failed to win. His third attempt commenced in April 1850 and five months later he heard he had won a joint first prize, along with other category winners, William set off for Rome in December and finally arrived at the Villa Medici in January 1851. He explored the city, making sketches and watercolours as he went and he walked to Naples and on to Capri, Amalfi and Pompeii
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Nymphs and Satyr
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Nymphs and Satyr is a painting, oil on canvas, created by artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1873. Nymphs and Satyr was exhibited in Paris in 1873, a year before the Impressionists mounted their first exhibition, purchased by the American art collector and speculator John Wolfe, it was displayed in his mansion for many years alongside other high-style French academic paintings. Robert Sterling Clark discovered the piece in storage and acquired it in 1942, the piece is currently on display at the Clark Art Institute located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. According to the Clark Institute, in the painting a group of nymphs have been surprised, while bathing in a secluded pond, William-Adolphe Bouguereau gallery William-Adolphe Bouguereau at the Web Museum
