Davesstudio's Blog

Art Exhibits

davesstudio — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:26:52 +0000

AFFILIATIONS

• Long Island Art League, Dix Hills, NY
• Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts, Babylon, NY
• Putnam Art Council, Mahopac, NY
• Chinese Art Association (Jiangmen Chapter), Jiangmen, China
• Jiangmen Oil Painting Association, Jiangmen, China

EXHIBITS

Upcoming Exhibits:
• Love Letters Exhibit, Creative Arts Studio Sea Cliff New York, Feb 12 2012
• New Artists Fair London, Candid Galleries, London, Feb 23 2012
• Putnam Art Council, Member Exhibit, Bell Levine Art Center, Mahopac, NY, March 2012
• Exchange Exhibit with Ulsan University, Ulsan, South Korea, May 2012

Current Exhibits:
• The New American Dream, LIU Post Sculpture Gallery, Brookville, NY Jan 31-Feb 11 2012
• Solo Exhibit; Fork and Vine Restuarant, Glen Head, NY, Nov 2011 – Feb 2012

Past Exhibits:
• 10×10=100 Art Show and Sale, Greenport, NY Dec 2011
• Exchange Exhibit with Ulsan University, Hutchins Gallery B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library, C.W. Post, Dec 2012
• Long Island Art League Fine Art Exhibit Part II, Long Island Art League Gallery, Dix Hills, NY, Nov-Dec 2011
• Glimpses @ the Box Gallery, The Creative Arts Studio, Sea Cliff, NY Nov-Dec 2011
• Art After Dark, (Featured Artist), Long Island Art Council, Dix Hills, NY 27 Oct 2011
• C.W. Post MFA Group Exhibit, Bayshore Firehouse Gallery, Bayshore, NY Oct 2011
• Putnam Art Cuncil Fine Art Show 2011, Bell Levine Art Center @ Arts on the Hill, Mahopac, NY, Oct-Nov 2011
• 9-11, A Decade Later, Art Theropy Exhibit, NYU Commons Gallery, NY, Sept 2011
• Jiangmens Foreign Expert Talent Competition, WuYi University Art Building, Jiangmen, China, July 2011
• Jiangmen’s 1st Annual Oil Painting Competition, Li Tiefu Art Museum Jiangmen, China, Jan-March 2011
• El “Último Libro” estará expuesto en la Biblioteca Aguilar de la New York Public Library desde el 2 de Febrero al 29 de mayo de 2011
• Solo Exhibit, Fragile Life: West Concepts meets East Techniques. He Yitang Gallery, PLC of Hanmo HeYi Cultural Media, Jiangmen, China July 2010
• El Último libro será (The Last Book of Art) expuesto en la Zentral Bibliothek de Zurich, Switzerland desde el marzo al Julio de 2010
• Solo Exhibit: Fragile Life: East Meets West, Jiangmen Culture Center, Jiangmen, China June 2010
• Solo Exhibit: Eastern Modernism: Fragil Life Papercutting Exhibit, Wuyi University Library, Jiangmen, China May 2010
• Jiangmen Disabled Peoples Union Art Competition, Li Tiefu Art Museum, Jiangmen, China, Dec 2009
• Teacher Exhibition, Wuyi University Library Exhibition Hall, Wuyi University, Jiangmen, China, May 2009
• El Último libro será (Last Book of Art) expuesto en la Biblioteca Nacional de España, 2009
• Celebrating 30 Years of China’s Opening and Reform Exhibit, Li Tiefu Art Museum Jiangmen, China 2008
• Jiangmen Oil Painting Exhibit, Jiangmens Oil Painting Association, Jiangmen Li Tiefu Art Museum 2008
• Jiangmen Annual Art Exhibit Li Tiefu Art Museum, Jiangmen, China 2008
• Solo Exhibit, Eastern Modernism, Jin Xi Book Store Exhibit Hall, Jiangmen, China, 2007

HONORS AND AWARDS/GRANTS
• 1st Place Award, Jiangmens Foreigner Expert Talent Compitition for Painting, 2011
• Honorable Mention, Jiangmen First Annual Oil Painting Competition, Jiangmen Oil Painting Association, 2011
• 3rd Place Jiangmen Government Writing Essay of life as a Foreigner in China, 2010
• 2nd Place award, Jiangmen Disabled Peopled Union art competition, 2010
• Honorable Mention for, Jiangmen Disabled People Union art competition, 2009
• Artist Friendship Award, Jiangmen Artists Association, Jiangmen Oil Painters Association, Jiangmen School of Art, Jiangmen China, 2008
• State of New York Department of Labor Certificate of Appreciation
• Bronx Borough President Exemplary Community Service Award

BIBIBLIOGRAPHY
• Show Review and Interview, Long Island Art League Fine Art Exhibit Part II, Long Island Art League Gallery, TV Long Island, Nov 2011
• Show Review, Putnam Art Cuncil Fine Art Show 2011, Bell Levine Art Center @ Arts on the Hill, Mahopac Newspaper, Nov 2011
• Interview, “Foreign Teacher Admires Confucius” Nan Fang Daily, Sept, 2010
• Exhibit Announcement “East Meets West Exhibit”, Jiangmen Daily, July 4, 2010
• Show Review, “East Meets West Exhibit at Jiangmen Culture Center”, Jiangmen Daily, June 2010
• Exhibit Announcement “East Meets West at Jiangmen Culture Center”. Jiangmen Daily D1, June 2010
• Interview and Show Review, “Fragile Life: East Meets West Exhibit at WuYi University Library”, Nan Fang Daily, Section A1, June 2010
• Interview and Show Review, “Fragile Life: East Meets West Exhibit at WuYi University Library”, Jiangmen Television News, June 2010
• Exhibit Announcement El Último libro será (The Last Book of Art) expuesto en la Zentral Bibliothek de Zurich, Switzerland desde el 10 de marzo al 31 de Julio de 2010
• Show Review and interview, Jiangmen Disabled Peoples Union Art Competition, Jiangmen Daily Section A2 (Dec 31 2009)
• Biblioteca Nacional de España, “Photograph of Tuscany” part of the El Ultimo Libro (Last Book of Art) project, Madrid, Spain: Page unknown
• Jiangmen Artists Association, “Pictures of Wuyi Celebrating 30 Years of China’s Opening and Reform” , “Bicycle Ride (Students ride to support the 2008 Olympics at Wuyi)”(May 2009): 55
• Exhibit Announcement El Último libro será (The Last Book of Art) expuesto en la Biblioteca Nacional de España, newspaper de Argentinean, December 2008
• Television Interview, “Interesting Expats of Jiangmen”, Jiangmen Television, Jiangmen, China, May 2008
• Television Interview, “Biography of Artist Expat Dave Rogers, part 2”Expat Chat, Guangzhou English Channel, Guangzhou, China, Dec 29 2007
• Television Interview, “Biography of Artist Expat Dave Rogers, part 1”Expat Chat, Guangzhou English Channel, Guangzhou, China, Dec 22 2008
• Interview, “Eye on Jiangmen”Jiangmen Radio,Dec 2008
• Interview and Review of Exhibition with Photo (Self Portrait, Me Myself and I), South China Daily, Section D, Page 1, Jiangmen Edition, Jiangmen, China Dec 2008

PUBLIC PROJECTS/WORKS

• El “Último Libro” estará expuesto en la Biblioteca Aguilar de la New York Public Library desde el 2 de Febrero al 29 de mayo de 2011
• El Último libro será (The Last Book of Art) expuesto en la Zentral Bibliothek de Zurich, Switzerland desde el marzo al Julio de 2010
• “Diaolou Construction Kit”, WuYi University Library, Architecture Department, Jiangmen, China, 2010
• El Último libro será (Last Book of Art) expuesto en la Biblioteca Nacional de España, 2009

COLLECTIONS
• Jiangmen Peoples Disabled Union, One Legged Ballet Dancer, Jiangmen, China
• Jiangmen Hospital for Disabled People “1+1+1=4″, Jiangmen, China
• El Ultimo Libro (Last Book of Art) Biblioteca Nacional de España, “Photograph of Tuscany” El Ultimo Libro, Madrid, Spain
• Wuyi University 12 pieces of work including “Diaolou Construction Kit”, Jiangmen, China
• South China Agricultural University, “The Rice Farmer No 2” Guangdong, China
• S.U.N.Y. College at Old Westbury “The men and women” First Year Office, Hicksville, New York
• Mac Adams “200 Years in the Making”, New Jersey
• The Carrera Family, “Pueblos Blancos, Beautiful Landscape, Crying Girl” Madrid, Spain
• U.S. Army National Guard Armory, “The Fighting 69th” 69th Infantry Division, New York City, New York
• West Point Military Academy, “A Series of Drawings for the Academy” West Point, New York

Artist Statement

davesstudio — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:20:49 +0000

I truely believe that “Even ordinary life can be immortilized through art”. I have always been awed by the mystery of how people are connected and for most of my life as an artist I have looked for new ways to express what was inside of me, what I was feeling and how I wanted people to view and understand what I wanted to say. This caused me to restrict my art to forms that others could understand. I was speaking to the masses, but I was not using my own voice. Over time I realized that it was not so important weather people truly understood what I was saying but rather that I was speaking so I started to look for the way to think out loud and be heard and have found that voice in papercutting. My work is a mixture of Eastern and Western Art that I started after a visit to China in 2004. while there I discovered the ancient and demanding art of Chinese paper cutting and line drawing. On my return from China I began to make connections between the craft of paper cutting and my years as a soldier. The results of this unusual connection have been beautiful two and three dimentional metaphors of the importance of time and the fragility of life and democracy. Paper cutting itself can be found in many cultures and just like in China those cultures for the most part have thought of it as a decorative or folk art, few artists have explored the idea of using this form of art in a more substantive way. It is part of what has attracted me to papercutting in the first place. While the beauty of paper cutting was appealing, more appealing was the idea of using this fragile material to represent serious and even realistic ideas. The process that I use for my paper structures is the same as found in traditional Chinese paper cutting. What is different is the paper, the way it is displayed and the topics talked about in the art. It is these differences in the works that make them stand out from other forms of paper cutting and structures. Instead of using traditional types of paper for papercutting I have made the cuttings out of aluminum or mirror paper. The paper was chosen for its reflective properties, not just for making the art brighter but for the ability of the viewer to see reflections of themselves in the art, showing a connection between the viewers and the subjects in the work. While most paper cutting are laid flat on the board these works are placed between two pieces of glass in the front of the frame allowing the light to cast shadows on the background, making these papercutting sculptures of art. The other aspect of this work that is different from traditional paper cutting is that each piece is individually designed and not mass produced. This is an important aspect of my work as it is about keeping the appeal of POP art while reducing the images to singular forms. My hope for the future is to continue to explore ways to bridge the techniques and styles of paper cutting and western ideals of art. Not just as a way for me to produce my art but as a way to communicate western ideas in Asia and Asian ideas in the West. For art is the only true international language that all people no matter where they come from can appreciate, and it is through art that we can learn about other cultures beyond mere words.

Artist Statement for the Hands Project

davesstudio — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:18:58 +0000

Artist’s hands are the lifelines to their art, without them we are merely empty vessels looking to be whole. As an artist who treasures the more physical aspects of art, or as we call it “traditional methods of creating art”, my hands are more than instruments of my art, but the sum of my work. Once strong and hard from my work, they have been reduced and softened by the tragedy surrounding my support and work surrounding Sept 11th. As time goes on so does the use of my hands. In time they will be merely there for simple functions of eating and dressing but useless stumps of gripped fingers in my art. When that time comes I will need to explore new ways to express my art and my ideas, but until it does I continue to work with them as much as I can. I do not count the days, or look for signs that the time is near; I merely continue to produce my art with the understanding that time is possibly limited for them.
My work continues to be a mixture of eastern and western forms of art that I developed after my visit and following sabbatical to China starting in 2004. While I continue to produce this work this idea includes more than just my work in paper cutting and painting, but brings back my work in photography, sculpture and design, making this my total work of art in every sense. This work includes all the process I have learned through paper cutting and combines other forms of traditional art that I have learned over the years. Focusing on my hands, as the concept for this project requires me to think not only what the hands can do but also how they move, take shape and form. This will require me to look at all the sides of the hand and see how they go together. Being that there are many parts of the hands, I will desire to combine paper cutting, sculpture, painting, photography, and video to express the feelings that I have for my hands and the importance of them for me.
To truly bring this work to a completion or at least as much of a conclusion as I can imagine I will combine to other aspects to this work which are new to me, but I feel truly makes the work about not just me and my hands, but what hands mean to us all. I will include not just my work but also work in collaboration with other artists in this project, bringing in new thoughts, ideas, visions and insights to my hands and what they mean not only to me but also to those around me. In order to continue on that line, I will add one other new aspect to my work which is new to me, but has become an important part of my work today which is including the viewer in the work and making them part of the installation by allowing them to be engaged in the project by participating in it. For this aspect I will allow people to add their hands to the exhibit.

Artist Manifesto

davesstudio — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:49:40 +0000

Our great visionaries have gone away, while our teachers have led us to stray. Logic, Reason, and even Surrealism have gone, what we are left with is copied, reproduction, massiveness of nothingness which we call modernism or contemporary-ism. The imagination is reduced to rules and techniques until all we have are a vast number of poseurs, attempting to be the next van Gogh, da Vinci or Picasso, by reproducing that which has already been done. Instead of moving to the future artists have been drawn to the past and embodied an almost reverse Darwinian approach to art. During the Middle Ages art was known as the “ape of nature”, the ape was a symbol for the arts of painting and sculpture. The artist’s skill was regarded as essentially imitative and became linked with the animal known for its imitativeness. The idea was expressed in a popular saying, “Ars Simia Naturae”— Art is the ape of Nature. Today’s artists have reverted back to this primate idea of art, rubber-stamping their ideas in an almost mechanical manner.

This is not the doing of the artist but a design flaw in the institution of art in which artists have been made to believe that we are free to create that in which we like or feel is our own voice, but the reality is that the Enlightenment has failed us. The artist has gone from being slaves to the King and Church to being enslaved by the art market. We are forced to create to the masses but the masses know not what art is other than what they are told or what is pleasing to ones eye. For this reason art has become nothing more than an idea of beauty. But what is beauty? If we are to believe what we see than we are fooling ourselves that what we consider beauty as our own. George Carlin had it right we are not allowed to think for ourselves or own our own thoughts, for beauty belongs to the market, controlled by the corporations and government, designed by the rich and is pounded into us from a young age in our education.

The educational system has failed us into believing that new is modern and modern is good. What we are left with is misunderstood youths working towards a future that is already past. Under the pretext of progress we have embraced the POP and spread the title of Contemporary over all things we create. Sadly the apprentices of today have misunderstood Warhol, Duchamp and the other POP Fluxes DaDa’s. Their ideas was to question art not make it into a mass mill of one boring object after another. They have seen the future and tried to worn us of what the future in the Age of Information would rain down on us, but like the monkeys we have seen no evil, heard no evil, and so we speak no evil, but the monkey of thinking evil is absent from the equation.

The information age is filled by those paper mill universities, handing out one degree after another with no care for the future of the human spirit. While the computer age grows around us, the skilled individual is reduced to the elderly and less fortunate. It is only fitting that at the death of Modernism Andy Warhol was the face of POP; he knew then what we don’t know now, that life is empty without meaning if you let it be. That people are so busy trying to be like the Jones’ that they are willing to sell their identity to do it. “It’s the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about It.” – Andy Warhol

With the discredit of Freud we have convinced ourselves that the imagination is a bad thing. Freud was right; it is incredible that this important part of the psychic activity, imagination, has still attracted so little attention. Yet while we have stripped away the imagination, we have maintained the sexuality of the ID.

The state of affair in which we live has caused me to invite a few reflections:

1. We all live in the limits to which society places on us, and fear the idea of extending beyond the real world to look for our true selves. From our birth to our death we carry on like drones learning only what is taught and teaching only what is learned. The mind was not meant to be measured in books, but through ever-growing need to explore the depths of life. How easily our mind wonders to the ever-growing vision of pornography that is pumped out in mass production for all to see. As men we are weak, bending our wills to that of popular pressure or simply falling weak to the ideas of a woman. Women have a great effect on the imagination. What effect I cannot say. As women we are weak bending our minds to trends and our mothers. Media have the greatest effect on the imagination more then we can ever truly realize.

2. Modern is just a fancy way of saying new, and does not really reflect good or even better. The fundamental idea that we are unable to live without technology gives way the notion that man was basically a band of wondering idiots for the last 3 million years before the invention of the Boob Tube. This phenomenon is only topped by the idea that communication without email is beyond our basic concept. Our minds are reduced from flowing expressions of emotion to a computerized form of expressions in shorthand. This with the restricted study and knowledge of manual work we have reduce the future of art too two forms, digital and audio. I guess we can blame fast food and mass media. The idea of instant has moved artists to reduce the amount of time that we spend creating a piece of art to minutes not days, to days not months or years. The role of the artist has moved from great creator to a businessman, having to show and sell as much as they can in as little time as possible for this there will be no Mona Lisa’s in the Future. O’Keeffe said it best “I may not know what art is, but I know what art isn’t and this is not art.” I find myself say this about most art or at least what is being passed today.

3. Fantasy and emotions are no longer left to our dreams, but communicated for us through the use of mass media. No longer are people required to think for themselves or draw their own conclusions. Those are now property of Big Business, Big Government and costly textbooks that inform us what we are required to believe, feel and think. Their role is to remove and make disappear that in which we are born with back to from which it came. And if things were otherwise, of what might the mind not be capable? With such control over us the agonizing question of possibility does not arise. The pressure to be popular has forced the youth of today to strip away their true selves and conform to a BORG like existence of living. This ideology has forced artists to abandon the idea of creating art for the sake of making art to making art that will be accepted by the many. The first question Art Galleries ask artists is no longer their idea but how much they have sold in the last year. Becoming famous has now come with a price tag and admission is available for sale. Galleries and Museums no longer show only the best art has to offer, but is open for all that can afford to rent a space. While it has increased exposure for some it has also reduced standards to mere fine print at the bottom of the page.

4. The idea of rights is a myth. If we have rights why are they not equal and why can they be taken away? If something can be taken from you it is not a right but a privilege which is held over our heads like prize for fitting in and bending for all that command it. None are rewarded more than artists who bend to the desires of their patron for their pound of silver.

5. When the time is done what will we have to set forth of ourselves? By what methods will we determine if we have succeeded in our lives? What will we have to show for all that we are? Will the mind be once again free to imagine for itself? These are all questions to which there is no answer. Without the imagination it is impossible for one to wonder a future let alone relive the past in which we are trying to move away from. So there we are, in the middle, neither moving forward nor back, just standing waiting for instructions on how to begin. The idea of studying the past should not be for the mere idea of copying it, but to witness what has been done so that we can contemplate our own ideas and styles on the world.

Might it be possible to reflect on the life we are living depends on our ability to live the life we are given. Should we cave to the will of others then our destination is set for us, the paint is already spread on the canvas and the paintings are all the same. Warhol saw the future we were heading to, but that does not mean that it is the future that we should live. The crackerjack, cookie cutter society which we have strived for can only be undone by the opening of the mind, the exploration of the spirit and the wiliness to bend only to lift ourselves out of the faceless crowds.

If we are all to have our 15 minutes what is it that makes this place so special so different? The answer to Hamilton’s question would be nothing.

The failure of the Enlightenment

davesstudio — Sun, 22 May 2011 17:02:41 +0000

Probably one of the most important movements in art, the enlightenment encompasses some of the greatest changes not just in art but how we view art and society as a whole. As we explore the ideas of the enlightenment and the art of the time we will find parallels as well as distinctions in philosophical ideas of the time and the work being produced. These similarities and distinctions are formed due to social, political and religious thinking of the times and areas surrounding the artists and their own personal beliefs and understandings of the subject of enlightenment.
While the ideas of the enlightenment stretch from the end of the Middle Ages to the 19th century, it is not until the middle of the 18th century that we start to see these ideas even take shape. And while they seem to come together in the 19th century the ideas of the enlightenment will not during this time or even our time be fully realized in society as much as it is in art.
I will attempt to explore the aspects of art and its connection with the enlightenment from the “taste of nature” to the enlightenment in America. The four areas of focus will be the Late Baroque/Rococo period in Great Britain, Scotland, Central Europe, and America. In particular examining the works of William Hograth (1697-1764), Marriage a la Mode, 1743, Henry Raeburn (1756-1823), Rev. Robert Walker Skating, 1790s, The Asam Brothers, Egid Quirin (1692-1750) and Cosmas Damian (1686-1793) Weitenberg Abby Church, and Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), George Washington at Princeton, 1779 and how their works relates to the enlightenment ideas.
Before we can examine if the ideas of the enlightenment connection with the art of the time it is important to understand what we are talking about, in other word what are the enlightenment ideas? There are seven main ideas of the enlightenment; human autonomy, the importance of reason, that enlightenment is universal, progress, secularism, the centrality of economics to politics, and the idea of popular government (Olson). They can be broken into three areas; the idea of the individual as independent thinker, the separation of Church and State, and the ability for people to govern themselves. These ideas while separate depend on each other to exist.
The idea of the individual artist as an independent thinker started with the introduction of the art market in Holland, but did not start to be understood until the forming of Academy of Art in France. Unlike the early part of the Baroque period artists in the late Baroque/Rococo period show more freedom of individual thought and style in their works. This comes in part to the introduction of the Academy but is also related to the growth of the middle class in the late Baroque period. This growth allowed more people to buy art and show their likes and dislikes in the collection of art during the period.
It is through this growth that artists were able to explore more independent styles and ideas in their works. We see examples of this in the works of Hograth, Raeburn, Peale styles during the time. More so in the works of Hograth and Peale who while learning from the styles of earlier artists showed more individual styles in their work than that of Raeburn whose Dutch influence is shown in his work Rev. Robert Walker Skating, 1790s, and the Asam brothers who showed great influence by Bernini in their works.
Hograth who did genre-like paintings of the time did his work with commentaries on the social status of the people in Great Britain, while Peale and other artists of the American Enlightenment created works with a more realistic style and even though Raeburn’s Dutch influence could be seen in his work, his portraits took on the more natural form of paintings of the enlightenment than those of the Dutch Masters that influenced him.
This is not to say that artists of this time were totally independent in their thinking. As in the example I gave of Rev. Robert Walker Skating, 1790s much of these artists works were influenced by the great artists of earlier styles and techniques of Europe especially that of Italy and Dutch areas. This was due in part to the liking and wants of the art market which is influenced by peoples understanding of what art should be. Though the works were not controlled by a Monarch they were greatly influenced by the art market and desires of society as a whole. So while they had greater freedom in expressing their ideas, the artists would change from becoming slaves to the idea of one individual or the demands of the church to the ideals of the desires of social needs and wants. This concept would not just take hold in the ideas of the Individual but also through the idea of the separation of Church and State.
The idea of separation of Church and State, while an idea of the enlightenment would not be fully understood or even achieved during that time or even in today’s society. Though the late Baroque period of art would see the less control of the Church over the government, there would still be influences of the Church in Europe and America during the end of the enlightenment. Part of this freedom came from the philosophical questions about God and the role of the Church in society and the government. It would also be influenced with the introduction of the Academies which would teach about individual ideas and concepts of the time as well as introduce science and new ways of thinking.
As we examine the works of Hograth, Raeburn, Peale we can see a clear separation from the earlier influences of the Church in works of art. These artists’ works would reflect life as they saw it and not as moral or even spiritual guides or stories being laid out. Hograth’s Marriage a la Mode, 1743 while focused on the idea of a wedding would be more about the ups and downs of life than hold any kind of religious symbols or works that we would see in other marriage portraits of the earlier Baroque. Peale’s George Washington at Princeton, 1779 would be like most of the works of the time, historical in nature, and not like some earlier Baroque works that would add religious meaning or symbols to portraits of leaders of the time. Even Raeburn’s portrait of Rev. Robert Walker Skating, 1790s would show the Reverend not giving a lecture or preaching to people, but simply enjoying one of life’s simple pleasures.
But this is not to say that the Church did not have some influence on art or even society during the time. While most artists were looking to create their own styles of work, artists like the Asam brothers were greatly influenced by the works of such artists as Bernini and others who would create great masterpieces in the name of the reformation. Their work on the Weitenberg Abby Church showed not just a liking to Bernini but also a following of his ideas in creating works that not only spoke of the Church’s role in Central Europe but also designed as a stage to draw people in. The root idea of the enlightenment’s separation of Church and State coincides with the idea of a popular government system not ruled by a Monarch.
Though the idea of the artists working as an individual and not strictly for a monarch started with the art market in Holland and continued with the formation of the Academy of Art in France, it would have a greater acknowledgement in Great Britain and America during the enlightenment. Artists of these areas would have more freedom to create art that fit more to the liking of the people than that of a Monarch. This was due in part to Great Britain forming of a Parliament in the early 1700’s and America’s introduction of a government designed for and by the people.
We would see less of this idea in Central Europe areas like Germany not so much because of the form of government but more due to the late arrival of Central Europe in the enlightenment due to the 30 year war. So while the works of the Asam Brothers seems more like earlier Baroque art that was influenced by the Church and controlled by the Monarch there is little evidence that this was the case in those areas in Europe.
Hograth’s work which was more of a commentary on the sad state of the élite was a clear sign of artists moving away from the desire to impress the Monarch. And though Raeburn and Peale had both done portraits of prominent leaders and rulers during the time, their works were more of homage to those people than those of the earlier works in the Baroque who sought to seek favor with the Monarch.
As we examine the ideas of the enlightenment of the period with art, we can see that there are many parallels and a conflict in the ideas of the enlightenment and how they relate to the art of the time. The idea of separation of Church and State and the diminishing control of the government over artists and the art during the time were successful during the enlightenment. It is in the idea of the artist as a complete individual seems to simply change hands and not exist completely in the idea of enlightenment in art.
While artists were free to explore more ideas in their arts, and they were not subject to the control or wants of the Church or Monarch, they did become workers to the ideals and desires of the market of the times, whether it was the growing middle class, the more sociable and influential upper class or the taste of museums and galleries artists would continue to work for the desires of others in their art.

Rococo and the Enlightenment

davesstudio — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:00:50 +0000

The late Baroque known as Rococo can be seen as the final stage or gathering of the ideas of Enlightenment into the art of the time. Though the Rococo period is known for its loose style in its works it would not be until the end of the Rococo movement that we can see the true nature of art. To understand this movement of art from the strict guides of Baroque to the more natural movement of the Rococo I will focus on the works of Thomas Gainsborough (1727-88). Much of Rococo work is said to be a movement away from symmetry to a more ornate, florid, and playful look and feel to the work of the time. (Delevati, Riffert, 9-10) To many it was about trying to capture or imitate nature.
In order for us to know if Michel De Montaigne’s (1533 – 1592) expectation was misplaced or not or if the Rococo is connected or disconnected to the Enlightenment we must know fist what is it to be enlightened. The Enlightenment was seen as a rejection of traditional social, religious, and political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism, which when looked at does not mean that people are truly enlightened but as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary puts it ‘the act or means of enlightening’. (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 2011) It is for this reason of understanding that I find de Montaigne’s expectation unrealistic.
From my understanding the readings of de Montaigne’s idea is kind of like the question of what came first the chicken or the egg, for we cannot have an egg without a chicken and the chicken cannot be born without the egg. It seems to me that de Montaigne’s concept was purely scientifically based and left no room for the abstract. His statements come from his disappointment in religious conflicts, reflecting a spirit of skepticism and belief that humans are not able to attain true certainty (Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, 2004) and seem too literal for the time.
While Enlightenment is meant to get to the truth and based on rationalism de Montaigne seems to want to skip the search involved and declare defeat in our ability to understand before we even explore which is why it might be that de Montaigne saw his life as preparing for his death. These ideas came about during what is known as de Montaigne’s skeptical crisis. He seemed to take the ideas so to heart that he had his famous quote ‘Que sais-je?’ What do I know?, engraved on a personal medal. (Foglia, 2010) This is not to say that de Montaigne essays did not have merit, they did, however it may have been much to ask for during its time and of artists who were just starting to explore the ideas of the Enlightenment as a whole and not in small parts. With this we are still left with the question of whether Rococo is associated or contradictory of the ideas we find in the Enlightenment.
When it comes to the Rococo Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699 – 1779) had referred to this period of art as an “Ars Simia Naturae (Art is the ape of nature)” (B. 282-83) something that had originally referred to artists during the middle ages because they were simply trying to imitate life in their works. This idea has emulated through time and when searching the art of Rococo it is a common phrase that many have come to associate with the art of the time, but here we can see it as more than just a mere imitation. Artists were capturing not just the presence of life but the stories of life itself.
The idea of the connection of Rococo and the Enlightenment is best described in the essay “Late Baroque & Rococo Portraits: The Cult of Sensibility”. The idea of the artists having Freedom to make choices, a heightened sense of self-awareness, a personal vision of a better life, and the individual embracing values of change was what the enlightenment was all about. (Delevati, Riffert, 10:6) As mentioned earlier Rococo work is said to be a movement away from symmetry to a more ornate, florid, and playful look and feel to the work of the time is what we have come to know as artistic license in the world of art. This is a move away from the very controlled and technical based ideas of artistic view in art during the earlier Baroque period.
We see those ideas brought to focus during Gainsborough’s late portraiture works. Though Gainsborough would prefer landscapes to portraitures it is in these later paintings that his work would truly take on the ideas of the enlightenment through what was known as natural and spontaneous mood feeling to his work. (Wilson, Reill 2004).
Many would agree that it is his painting of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews (1749) that shows the true spirit of the enlightenment and while I will cover some of the aspects of the work of art, I would say that Girl with Pigs (1782) gives us a better idea of the Enlightenment in Rococo art, and will discuss this work as an example of the ideas of Enlightenment and how they relate to the Rococo. While this work might not be as well-known as Mr. and Mrs. Andrews it managed to capture even the eye of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), Gainsborough rival, who called it ‘by far the best picture he ever painted, or perhaps ever will’ before purchasing it for a hundred guineas. (Gomez, Greensides, Hyland 286-287).
There are two main reasons why I believe that Girl with Pigs is more symbolic of the Enlightenment in the Rococo than Mr. and Mrs. Andrews is the way in which the background is painted and the subjects of the paintings. While both paintings display a lighter brush stroke than the previous Baroque period the landscape portion of the portrait for Mr. and Mrs. Andrews was done in a Dutch style that Gainsborough had learned, where the Girl with Pigs’ landscape is painted in more of the Rococo style of not just loose strokes but also less detail work in the landscape objects. This style which begins in Rococo will go on to influence Romantic Art, the Hudson River School and even Impressionism.
Gainsborough had painted the landscape in Mr. and Mrs. Andrews as a way to show his ability to potential patrons of his work and to satisfy his personal preference in his work. This style of his painting was done as a way to make money, as already discussed Gainsborough preferred landscapes but needed a way to help his family. He continued to paint portraits of sitters in what he called “face paint” and while they are done in the Rococo style they are done with the approval or disapproval of the sitter, which is more characteristic of the Middle Baroque period. What makes Girl with Pigs different in this manner is that the painting while could be known as portraiture is more of a story in the Rococo style.
The girl in the painting sits in a natural pose not looking at the painter, but observing her pigs as they drink from a bowl. The painting not depicting the girl in fancy clothing or made up hair, but in plain torn clothing, shoeless, and with short hair, something that was done at the time to help keep young girls from head lice. While Gainsborough tried to depict people in his portraits in a natural pose in his works, here he captures the natural pose as it is meant to be not so much staged but as part of the story line. He also attempted to capture the pigs eating naturally in the painting, but according to a farmer who viewed the painting did not understand the nature of pigs feasting “nobody ever saw pigs feeding together but one of them has a foot in the trough.” While I was unable to find it, it is believed that Gainsborough painted another painting with a pigs paw in the dish as well in an attempt to capture the natural appeal of pigs feeding. (Oklahoma State Department of Education)
It is through the understanding of works of Gainsborough that we can not only get the sense of the Rococo style but see how they fit into the Enlightenment. The Rococo like the Enlightenment was about creating works that reflected the rational aspects and realist appeal of life what we have seen referred to as the Ape of Nature in the period. The works of art used loose lines to describe the shapes as they appear in motion and free of constraints which are the same as the aspects of the Enlightenment that is based on the rejection of traditional social, religious, and political ideas that were considered constraints of the earlier Baroque tendencies.
We also see through the works the ideas that are discussed in the essay “Late Baroque & Rococo Portraits: The Cult of Sensibility”. In this late Baroque period of Rococo we witness the artists as having freedom to make choices in the works that they create and who they create them for. As having a heightened sense of self-awareness in that artists see themselves as a worker for their own personal needs and not constrained solely by the needs of others or the Monarch. Having a personal vision of a better life where artists realize their ability to create a better life through selling their work to support themselves and their families as they see fit. And the individual embracing values of change where we see artists creating works of art that speak more of the life of the time and not that described or controlled by the monarch or church.

Delevati, Paul and Riffert, David. GS 607: Art & Ideas of the Enlightenment. Module 9-10, Graduate Studies Department. Academy of Art University, Sept. 2009. Web. April 2011.
Shiner, Larry. The Invention of Art: A Cultural History. University Of Chicago Press, 2003. Print.
Bazin, Germain. Baroque and Rococo. London: Thames and Hudson, 1998. Print.
B., Hope. The Continuum encyclopedia of animal symbolism in art. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004. 282-83. Print.
Wilson, Ellen J, and Peter H. Reill. Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment. New York: Facts On File, Inc, 2004. 218. Print.
Olga Gomez, Francesca Greensides, Paul Hyland. The Enlightenment: A Sourcebook and Reader. New York: Routledge, 2003. 286-287. Print.
“Enlightenment.” Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2011. Merriam-Webster Online.
23 April 2011
“de Montaigne.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 23 April 2011.
Foglia, Marc, “Michel de Montaigne”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Web. 23 April 2011
“Mr. and Mrs. Andrews.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 23 April 2011.
“Ag in Art” Oklahoma State Department of Education: Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom. 2011. Web. 23 April 2011

For those who can’t talk for themselves

davesstudio — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 04:13:01 +0000

The detention of Ai WeiWei is just the latest in a series of crackdowns by the Chinese government to keep the people scared to speak up. The tragedy of the matter is that it is working. People are not speaking up or out, at least not in China. When I even mention it to my Chinese friends they immediately change the topic and move on to something else.

Not really sure I can blame them, after all we are not talking about some unknown person here, we are talking about one of the most influential artists in China today. Ai who can be compared to the Duchamp of Chinesse contemporary art has been at the center of controversy before. He was beaten for speaking up against the arrest of another when investigating the devastation to children during the 2008 earthquake in Shichuan province and detained for his speaking out on those and other events.

His recent arrest, or detention for those that like the civil word, comes at the mounting pressure of the Chinese government to squash the Jasmin movement. A movement inspirers in part by the protest in the Middle East to end injustice and bring about a democratic government. The movement was meant to be a peaceful deminstration of people who wish for a better China. As of yet the movement has gotten very little done, as the government is watching the web and monitoring emails in China to ensure that they can be on site to stop the protest before they even take shape.

Since the start of the Jasmin ideas in China some 30 to 50 people have been placed under house arrest. The list includes Ai WeiWei, Yang HengJun (a Chinese Australian writer), about 10 other journalist, 15 or so lawyers, and people who were traced by their emails or for being at the event. The exact number is not known as many of them are not as famous as Ai WeiWei and have gotten little attention. But this is nothing new in China, Noble Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has been detained for his involvement in movements in China and just last year Liu Xiaobo’s wife was detained for wanting to visit her husband and tell him about the award. And let’s not forget Dai Qing, detained a couple of times and than had his book banned in China for writing about the Three Gorges Dam.

what is most disturbing about all of this is the almost silent approval from other governments and the U.N. While there has been mentions in speeches and requests from governments for these people to be free, Europe and America are not putting a lot of pressure because of there need for trade with China. They are not even pulling aide or placing restrictions on the country, something which they have no problems doing in other parts of the world. If China is going to play on the world market, have a say in U.N. Policies, and hold itself as a new economic power than it is time it starts following the human rights of it’s citizens.

Philosophy during the Baroque period

davesstudio — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 05:12:13 +0000

Baroque art during the seventeenth and eighteenth century was meant to depict the religious tensions during the time (www.visual-arts-cork.com), the same could be said of the philosophy of the time. Three of the great philosophers of the time; Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz would have as many similarities and differences as we find in the ideas of Baroque art during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. By first reviewing the ideas of these thinkers we will be able to than compare and contrast their ideas with each other and exam how they do or do not relate to each other and Baroque art of the period.

As the earliest of these thinkers being Descartes we will start with him. Descartes notion starts with the idea of questioning everything in order to give him a better understanding of the world; he refers to this as a methodological skepticism. He questions knowledge and if there is knowledge how it is different from opinion. To do this he employed a mathematical method to his questions in order to find real knowledge; he does this by using intuition and deduction. Descartes like Plato believes that the sense can deceive us, and so he suspends all beliefs to find what is certain. In trying to find out if life is a dream or real, Descartes comes to the idea that by simply thinking about if this is a dream or real give way to the idea that he is something. The idea of him transcends the physical because the idea is enough to suggest that there is an existence. Therefore his ability to think becomes a reality of his life, so long as Cogito (I think) is going on, than I have to be. He goes on to bring about the idea of God into his method, and tries to prove the existence of God. Since he exists and something cannot come from nothing, and he is imperfect and something more perfect cannot come from something less perfect. God is perfect and exists and for him to be able to prove that God exists and as such be accepting that he is imperfect and can think therefore he also exists.

Spinoza follows in some of the ideas of Descartes as he uses a mathematical and scientific approach to his method and follows the ideas of levels. These levels to build upon one another, but even more interwoven than we find in Descartes making Spinoza’s work more of a Gesamptkunstwerk. Unlike Descartes Spinoza looks at his philosophy as a guide in human conduct. Spinoza relates God in some of the same manner that he relates the universe, but not on the same level. He uses it in terms of everything manifests from God, kind of like God is in us all. Since everything comes from God everything is a part of God. Spinoza states that there are actually infinite numbers of attributes, but says that it is two-fold because we can only understand two of them as mind and matter. With the mind we can think, feel, desire, imagine, perceive, and with matter we can see the expression of power of motion in bodies. He explains that it is not that they are interchangeable, but that they depend on each other. In other words we cannot have mind and matter or nature or the universe without God.

Like both Descartes and Spinoza Leibniz builds his ideas on mathematical and scientific approach, but Leibniz would hold closer to the ideas of the scholastic as he believed that the ideas of Descartes and Spinoza would lead to atheism. His work would be closer to that of Spinoza in some ways as he builds it on a mathematical maze of Baroque architecture. He builds this idea on what he calls monads. Leibniz’s monads are the energy that gives us life. He is talking about the life force in which all matter exists, which is the energy behind the matter, something that we are not able to see. He states that each monad cannot grasp the inner life of another, but rather they work unconsciously together in a pre-established harmony. Basically he is talking about how they function in their space without colliding. In other words their energy keeps other forces at even distance as to move around each other and drive the matter (http://en.chateauversailles.fr).

Each of these philosophers tries to explain the existence of life and God, and while there are differences in some of their approaches they basically build these ideas on a rational concept and use levels built on mathematical and sceintific rations to explain their ideas. Because of this the philosophy of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz would coincide more with the ideas of Baroque to the North than the emotional ideas of Italian and Spanish Baroque in the South. This building of ideas on levels will relate greatly to Baroque art as we will see in works of St. Peters, and Versailles as well as other Baroque architecture and some other works of art which uses many levels and different aspects working together sometimes in concert with each other and other times unknown to each other but in harmony to create a gesampkunstwerk. The best example of this would be Versailles built during the reign of Louis XIV. Louis’s idea was to create a gesampkunstwerk which would talk to the greatness of France. The various artists, architects and designers would work together and sometimes separate adding their own part to the total work of the structure. At times they would work together at other times they would, depending on their role work on a section all to their own, but the whole time working to bring the piece together as a complete work of life and art.

We can relate the ideas of Descartes to beauty in the eye of the beholder in Baroque art by examining it in the same way that we examine our understanding of self. It is not as simple as stating that I think something is beautiful and therefore it is we have to look at our understanding of what beauty means to us. The lesson on Descartes refers to the idea of looking at wax. We cannot rely on our senses to understand what wax is, because of its ability to change based on circumstances, therefore we have to depend on our intellect to understand the properties and how they may change. Only by doing so can we grasp the concept of wax. Being that our intellect and understanding of things varies from person to person, so does our understanding of beauty. While we can see many examples of this in Baroque art probably the best examples would be Holland. During the Baroque Dutch period we see the introduction of the art market. While many artists could submit their works for sale on the market only those that found favor in the viewers would be able to make a living off their work. We see a good example of this in Rembrandt’s work as it would sell well not just in commissions but also in the market allowing him to have a good income for a while, this would later change as the taste for art would move to a more classical appeal and Rembrandt would not sell so much to the market later in his life (www.theotherside.co.uk).

Like Descartes the concepts of Leibniz and Spinoza are not restricted to the creation of art, but also refer to the idea of the forces behind art during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. While art is often visual during the Baroque period there were many forces driving the arts and artists, it was at times the counter reform, the political leaders and governments, the market or the education of the artists themselves. These are forces that the viewer is not always able to see but is there moving and controlling the art. Though we can find similarities in the philosophies and Baroque art of the period there are also differences.

Just as we find some of the differences in the philosophies we also find some of these differences in the idea of Baroque art as well. As each of the philosophers try to examin the idea of existence or God in their own way so does Baroque art examin the differences in its existence and the various beliefs in God through its works. We can see examples of this in the very strong religious themes and noble works of artists like Velazquez and Bernini to the more subtle approaches to religion in art by artists like Vermeer. (Shiner, 57-129)

We can see that while there are differences and similarities of the philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz during the Baroque period that their concepts and logic go with the art of the time. While Baroque art was an overall idea of art during the seventeenth and eighteenth century it varied much like the philosophy of the time in that there was no total agreement in what constituted existence or even art for that matter.

Shiner, Larry. The Invention of Art: A Cultural History. University Of Chicago Press, 2003. 57-129. Print.
Bazin, Germain. Baroque and Rococo. London: Thames and Hudson, 1998. Print.
Invicta Media, . “17th century Dutch & Flemish Art and regional art galleries.” (2000): n. pag. Web. 6 Mar 2011. .
Janson, Jonathan. “essential vermeer .” Brief Overview of the Dutch Art Market in the 17th century (2001): n. pag. Web. 10 Mar 2011. .
“Baroque Art.” Definition, History, Architecture, 17th Century Painting & Sculpture.. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IRISH AND WORLD ART, Web. .
History of Versailles.” Chateau de Versailles (2002): n. pag. Web. 20 Mar 2011. .

Baroque Art

davesstudio — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 05:09:08 +0000

The term Baroque which encompasses art from the sixteenth to eighteenth century may have similar ideas as to the dynamic movement and religious aspect of the time has different artistic styles that can be found in the different regions the art is created. These various changes were the reflection not just of the area the art was created, but also the result of the religious practices in the area, the rulers of that area, and the peoples view of art at the time. Baroque art was dominant in Italy, Spain, France and Dutch where there were distinct differences some that lead to Enlightenment. To make this argument I will be comparing two works of the Baroque period, Las Meninas, 1656 by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (1588-1660), Spain and The Milkmaid, 1658-1660 by Jan Vermeer (1632-1675) Holland. We can mark several differences and a few similarities between these artists and their work as an example in the different approaches to Baroque art and the road to Enlightenment.

Spanish Baroque art was dare I say the jewel of the counter-reform but would have little effect on the Enlightenment. It showed its work in all the aspects as set forth by the church as after all “Baroque art above all reflected the religious tensions of the age” (www.visual-arts-cork.com). While depicting religion in art was not the sole requirement for paintings of Baroque Spanish art, artists who wanted to find favor in Spain at the time had to show their ability to create the ideas of the counter reform in their works as they were strictly dependent on patronage during the time. An artist that greatly represents the ideals and visions of Baroque art in Spain was Velazquez. Velazquez was among the few who would find favor in his work and become court painter for Phillip IV and be able to receive a month stipend for his work. This would not be the case for all artists who during this time were considered of low class. It is because this strict patronage and the idea that artists were still of low class during the time of the Spanish Baroque period that there would be little influence on further Baroque periods to the Enlightenment. The status of artists in Holland was also considered low class for the most part at the time, but they would not be as dependent on patronage as the artists of Spain.
Unlike Spain Baroque art in Holland baroque art had far less religious content and instead was designed essentially to appeal to the middle class. This was due to the fact that Holland was predominately a Protestant area (www.visual-arts-cork.com). Another difference is that artists in Holland would have the option of selling their work to the market and not subject them only to needs and desires of a patronage as found in Spain. During the time while some artists would seek patronage it was not the only means of making money and even those that did would often sell paintings to the market in order to make additional money for their studios. Vermeer who was not as successful as Velazquez during his life would be able to sell works to the market and through his sales gain a few commissions from people who appreciated his work. The idea of the art market is one of the aspects of Baroque art that would lead to the idea of separation between artist and artisan in the Enlightenment. Other than the religious and social views of art during Baroque the styles of the artists would also vary based on influences during the time.
Spanish and Holland Baroque art would guide European painting to a naturalistic realism, but would each have their own unique styles from each other. Spanish Baroque art would “adapt a severe and noble style which combined line and colour as well as the graphic and pictorial, and involved such an acute sense of observation” (www.visual-arts-cork.com). We can see an example of this in Velazquez’s work “Las Meninas.” While this painting is entitled the maids of honour it is considered by many to be a self-portrait of Velazquez. In this portrait Velazquez shows his status as a notable artist. He paints the scene showing his awaiting a visit from Phillip IV, the infanta and entourage as if posing for the artist to create their portrait, yet Velazquez does not seem to be working but almost posing himself in his fine clothing looking out towards the viewer. This realist appeal to art which would be popular in Baroque art is an influence of tenebrism and chiaroscuro from those that followed in the way of Caravaggio. While we find it in other forms of Baroque art the influence comes from studying and following the masters of Italy and not that of Spain.
Much like Spanish Baroque art the art in Holland would pay close attention to the idea of observation and the techniques of tenebrism and chiaroscuro. Holland Baroque art while not totally void of noble style tended to appeal more to the middleclass as artists sold more of their work to the market. Because of this reason the Holland Baroque artists would paint mostly about the joys of life. This art market which consisted of galleries, cafes, libraries and museums, would allow for more genres of work to be sold. This is not to say that Holland art market did not have its own restrictions. Artists would also find favor in selling by belonging to St. Luke’s Guild so as to help control the competition. Though artists were able to sell to the market they were also subject to the likes of the market. While many connoisseurs would buy the works of the Dutch style there was a tendency to buy more Renaissance style work (www.essentialvermeer.com).
An artist who best depicts the ideas of Holland Baroque in my opinion is Vermeer. His work like “De Melkmeid (The Milkmaid)” 1658-1661 shows the lives of middle class life in Holland during the time. We can get the idea of the life as an observer looking in on the room, but unlike what we viewed in the work of Velasquez here we see the maiden in simple Dutch maiden clothing and basic everyday household items. This style of painting would be different not only from the noble appeal we see in Spain, but the Grand Manner we see in other Dutch works from artists like Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). While it would not be as popular during its time, it would show a changing in the acceptance of different genres during the Baroque period.
The two styles of art themselves had some similarities and differences in their approaches to their work. Unlike Vermeer much is known about Velazquez’s life as an artist. He was an apprentice to Francisco Pacheco, and showed great skill from the beginning of his early works. His work contains great attention to detail including still-life objects that he includes to his work. Early on in his carrier Velazquez had a difficulty with the human form. His religious beliefs and Spanish decorum would not permit him to create works of nude forms, for this reason it was not until his visit to Italy that Velazquez was able to better understand the human form, though he still would not create totally nude forms holding to the decorum of the time (www.britannica.com). This was typical of Spanish Baroque art artists tended to be good at realism, but would have a hard time with the human figure. Artists who would want to improve their form would turn to Italy and the Baroque artists of the area.
We would know little of Vermeer’s early life as a painter. Though we are unsure of what training he had early on in his carrier it was certain that he had some as he was accepted into St. Luke’s Guild. Though he was good with the human form we also don’t find nudes in his works not because Dutch Baroque did not allow it but probably because it did not fit with the genre of his paintings. Besides these middle class styles of paintings, Holland artists also created many landscapes. These kinds of paintings would be popular as many collectors and middle class would buy paintings to decorate their homes. Though this idea of the market and the introduction of genres outside of a strict religious theme would add to the Enlightenment it would not be a large impact during its time.

These kinds of differences and similarities that we find in these Baroque periods of art, which would actually start before Baroque art, are found in all Baroque styles of art from the sixteenth to eighteenth century. While these small differences would all add to the idea of Enlightenment in art during the time, it would not be until the introduction of the Academy, the growth of libraries, and museums and merging these small ideas together that we would see the emergence of Enlightenment in art.

Shiner, Larry. The Invention of Art: A Cultural History. University Of Chicago Press, 2003. 57-129. Print.
Bazin, Germain. Baroque and Rococo. London: Thames and Hudson, 1998. Print.
Invicta Media, . “17th century Dutch & Flemish Art and regional art galleries.” (2000): n. pag. Web. 6 Mar 2011. .
Janson, Jonathan. “essential vermeer .” Brief Overview of the Dutch Art Market in the 17th century (2001): n. pag. Web. 10 Mar 2011. .
“Baroque Art.” Definition, History, Architecture, 17th Century Painting & Sculpture.. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IRISH AND WORLD ART, Web. .
“Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. .

Philosophy of seventeenth and eighteenth century art in Europe

davesstudio — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 04:58:44 +0000

Seventeenth and eighteenth century art in Europe underwent significant changes as a result of shifts in economy, ideas about the function of the arts and the artists, and taste in art. While the changes were significant, as we examine the different social, economic, and aesthetic roles of the arts during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, we find that the changes in Fine Arts and the idea of the artist as more than creating to serve a function will not be fully recognized until the nineteenth century. These changes come together through the idea of taste in art and appreciation for the artists as an individual and not an extension of the market.
We will start by examining the effects of society in the seventeenth and eighteenth century on the arts and the artists. The effects that society plays on the arts during the seventeenth and eighteenth century are divided into religion, political, and educational. The roles of each of these while individual are not completely separated, but work together in some aspects that will affect the role of the artists and will bring about some of the changes we will examine in the economic and aesthetic roles on the arts as well.
While politics would play a role on the arts between the seventeenth and eighteenth century, political rulers tended to follow many of the churches ideas of the role of art and the artists during this time. The seventeenth century was dominated mostly by the counter reform in religion and political ideas in Europe, when it came to the arts (www.theotherside.co.uk). Artists who did not find favor with the patrons, church or court were unable to support their work, but artists like Francisco de Zurbaran (1598-1664) were able to create through the support of patrons. Even more so was Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (1599-1606) who would find favor and become court painter to Phillip IV. He would not only be able to support his work, but also travel to Italy where he would learn other painting techniques that would add to his artistic style (Bazin 59; www.britannica.com).
Much like Velazquez in the south, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) in the north would gain recognition and patronage for his work but with a slight difference. While Velazquez would paint primarily for the court of Phillip IV, Rubens would open a large studio where he would be able to take on patronage from many art connoisseurs, as well as the ability to sell to the market (www.peterpaulrubens.org).The idea of an art market was something that was brought about by the Dutch, were artists could sell their works like other crafts of the time. Though both of these artists would gain great recognition for their works, they would still find themselves, as did many other artists of the seventeenth century, caught in the idea of artists as little more than workers in a shop producing for the consumer (Shiner 57-129).
The social ideas of art would begin to form at the end of the seventeenth century with the forming of art academies, but it would not be until the further development of Academies of Art and the greater appreciation for individual taste in art during the eighteenth century that we start to see the idea of the individual artists as we have come to know them today. The introduction of Academies allows for a deeper understanding of the differences in artist and artisan, as artists would gain more freedom and artisans were more restricted by rules. The academies also developed exhibits for the artists allowing them to show their individuality and even sell work at the exhibits and not be held down with waiting for commissions (Shiner 57-129). With these changes in the ideas of the status of the artists and art in general also came a difference in the economic status of the arts and the artists.
As there was a social change on the arts during this time so were there changes on the effects of the economy in the seventeenth and eighteenth century on the arts and the artists. Economics has a two-fold effect on the arts and artists during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the first being the ability for more people to afford art, the other being the artists ability to transition from working for a single patron or group to being about to sell their work on the market or in exhibits.
During the first part of the seventeenth century artist primarily worked for a patron or if they were skilled enough would become court painters or work for an individual patron who would support them and their work. Depending on their relationship with the patron or their level of acceptance artists during this time were paid in one of two ways. If they worked by individual commissions they were normally paid for the cost of the materials, the amount of time it took to complete the work, the difficulty of the work, and what the work was being used for. If the artist was fortunate enough like Velazquez they would be paid a monthly payment by their patron besides their fees for commissioned work (Shiner 57-129).
As the Dutch introduced the art market, artists like Rembrandt (1606-1669) and Vermeer (1632-1675) were able to sell their work not just through commissions but also to the public in general. While many of the master artists may not have sold so much to the market, it did give a chance for artist who were not so well known and apprentices to sell their work to make money to support their art. Part of the reason for the introduction of the art market was the Dutch society as a whole had more money to spend and enjoyed using it to decorate their homes. (www.essentialvermeer.com)
During the eighteenth century this idea of a capitalistic market continued to grow not just in business but also in the area of art. With the continued growth of academies and the distinction between artist and artisan became clearer artists were able to sell their work based on their reputation and their creative abilities (Shiner 57-129). As more people were able to buy art they also could be choosier in the kind of art they wanted to buy.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth century as the social and economic roles of art changes so do the taste of art. These changes come in the idea of the artist being freer to create beyond the demands of the patron and the understanding and appreciation for art at the different levels of the market, but even though we see the ideas of modern art developing the overall ideal of visual beauty is still very important in the arts (Shiner 57-129). While we start to see this idea of taste in art, the idea of taste tends towards classical themes for the most part.
The appreciation of early Italian Renaissance art and the training of great artists like Velazquez, Rubens, as well as the introduction of early Italian art into Spain through artists like El Greco (1541-1614) built a strong sense of classical work in the early seventeenth century. With the introduction of the art market in the second half of the seventeenth century and societies’ ability to buy more art artists move more towards more subtle works of art, but still held on to classical appeal for the most part. We can see these ideas in works of Vermeer’s work, who painted mostly senses of middle class life, The Milk Maid (1658-1661). While Vermeer did not create a lot of work during this time, it was believed that his paintings were bought to decorate homes or businesses during the time (www.essentialvermeer.com).
During the eighteenth century with the growth of academies and the change in society we start to see a trend of the individual artist, but this trend continues to be strongly influenced by classical themes. Even with the social and economic changes going on during this time, many of the great masters who would be instructors at the academies would be trained in the classical styles and would pass these lessons on to their students who would continue to add these classical themes even in new styles and techniques. We can see examples in the works of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696 – 1770). His work The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew (1722), Education of the Virgin (1732) and The Beheading of John the Baptist (1732-33) are clear examples of classical themes painted in the Rococo style of art during the eighteenth century (www.britannica.com).
As we looked at the social changes and economic growth during the seventeenth and eighteenth century in Europe we note that while bringing more freedom to the idea of art and artists it would have little effect on the classical appeal to art during this period. While the social changes allowed artists to move from the patronage system of supporting art to the more open ability to sell in an open market, and the economic growth gave artists the ability to make more money and support more of their own art without the need of patrons, there was still a desire for classical themes and style of paintings in much of Europe during this time. It would not be until the middle of the nineteenth century that the full appreciation of the artist as an individual and art in the modern view of today would be realized.

Shiner, Larry. The Invention of Art: A Cultural History. University Of Chicago Press, 2003. 57-129. Print.
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