A comparison between Baroque, Cubism, Surrealism and Conceptual art

The four Meninas
Diego Velázquez - Pablo Picasso - Salvador Dalí  - Joel Peter Witkin

In the first blog of this period we reviewed the painting by Velázquez. In times of the Avant Gardes, different artists try them out by reproducing paintings of the ancient masters of art in his very own interpretation:

 

In his lasts years, Picasso was worried about having a place in art history, thus he created many paintings in which he compared himself with the Great Masters of the Past. He chose some great famous paintings and made them again with his very particular and distinctive style. Between these, there is a serial of 44 variations about “The Meninas” of Diego Velásquez (1656), the most admired painting of this Baroque artista and of all Spanish painters. In the first blog of this period we have analyzed the meaning of the images of this painting. Picasso respected the core elements of the composition, but modifying some details. For example, the big hound of the original painting was replaced by a tiny little dog. The figure that appears in the sill was replaced by a black silhouette, smaller and more enigmatic than the original one.  Two huge hands grew towards the little princess, so much bigger tan the maid honor´s hands that appeared on Velazquez´s painting. The little princess has been reduced to a small geometric forms, with a small circle like a head.

 Picasso's compatriot, Salvador Dalí,was similarly driven to absorb the picture on various levels. Unlike other Surrealists who disdained the Old Masters, Dalí believed there was much to learn from the works of his predecessors. In one homage,  Portrait of Juan de Pareja, shown to the left here, he depicts the court official from Las Meninas standing at the doorway. Elusive is the profile of de Pareja in the centre of the painting, his moustache and beard forming from the grouping of the Spanish Infanta and her attendants. In other homages, Dalí shows off the colour palette that he attributed to Velázquez, as for instance, this pseudo-holographic vision of the Infanta from 1958. Here he distorts the proportions of the composition to make her bigger and, unlike Picasso, makes the figure of the artist smaller and depicts him from behind at work on a canvas that in its turn represents the Infanta. 

Answer the following:

• Which are the differences between the four art pieces?
•  Which are the similar form and elements that appear in all four?
• Which was the message that Velazquez wanted to send when he created the Meninas?
• Which was Picasso´s?
• And Dali´s?
• And Witkin´s?

Impressionism

Sunrise Impression
by Claude Monet
1873

This was the painting that gave birth through the sarcastic comments of art critic, Louis Leroy. His unflattering review of Claude Monet's painting, Impression: Sunrise (1873) gave rise to the term,

Characteristics of Impressionism

What are the characteristics of impressionistic art? The most recognized characteristics of this art period include:

• light that is accurate and visible
• small visible brush strokes
• unique perspectives
• a sense of movement
• composition that is open and flowing
• subject matter that is common, ordinary, every day

Look at the following videos about this

 Answer the following questions in a single paragraph:

• What did artists of this period use to paint? How did they do so? Alone or in groups? Inside or outside?
• Which materials did they have to carry?
• Where did Monet learn to be an artist?
• Who were some of the influential artists in his life?
• How did the visual impairment of cataracts affect his last years as a painter?
• What were Monet’s principal colors?
• Why did Monet not use the color black in his paintings?

Baroque, Neoclassicism and Romanticism in art and music

These three movements have great differences between them. First of all, Baroque movement was an initiative created by Counter Reformation to recover the adepts lost by due to the Reformation. he popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent, in response to the Protestant Reformation, that the arts should communicate religious themes in direct and emotional involvement.^[2] The aristocracy also saw the dramatic style of Baroque architecture and art as a means of impressing visitors and expressing triumphant power and control. Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence.

Neoclassic, had a different purpose. Neo - means 'new' and classicism refers to the principals and attitudes shown in architecture and art that are characterized by the form and proportion as well as the cleaner lines used. Neo-Classicism was an art movement that placed many rules and restrictions on the 'styles' of artists. Artists who painted in this 'style' were bound by strict rules to show technical mastery and paint to a classical model to 'fit' a particular newer look. Much of Neo-classical paintings were greatly influenced by a return to the Greek and Roman themes and ideals of antiquity. It was a rejection and as well a revulsion against the Rococo period and everything that was associated with it. The art world seemed to take on a more serious tone. The tastes of the aristocratic's seemed to hold on to a sophisticated way of life, but the newer Neo-classicism philosophies appealed to the growing middle classes. During the Neoclassicism period, artists were also seen as new educators, it was believed that they had a moral obligation to be on an educative mission.

Finally, Romanticism was a movement that was originated in second half of the 18^th century. In part, it was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. Romanticism elevated the achievements of what it perceived as heroic individualists and artists, whose pioneering examples would elevate society. It also legitimized the individual imagination as a critical authority, which permitted freedom from classical notions of form in art. The strong feelings that wartime produces served as a catalyst for an outpouring of art and literature, the likes of which had never been seen before.

In this century, we can say that visual arts, literature and music had a strong connection in the way they were represented, this is, for example, if Romantic movement was focused in encouraging heroism, music would do that to.

So, please listen at the following symphonies, and classified them to which period they belonged to. Also add the characteristics that you noticed in the symphony that made you relate them to the the art period.

Fill in the following chart (you will have to search for this in youtube, ´cause I could not send it by mail)

Symphony	Period it belongs to	Characteristics that made you decide that
Symphony No. 9 Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 8 Franz Joseph Haydn
Suite No. 2 in B Minor for flute and orchestra Johan Sebastian Bach

Baroque - Las Meninas

Diego Velazquez was born in Seville in the country of Spain. When he was about thirteen years old he was apprenticed to a painter, Francisco Herrera, but the man was such a tyrant Diego only stayed with him for a year. He next went as an apprentice to Francisco Pacheco who was very kind and helpful to him. He worked for him five years, then married Pacheco's daughter, Juana, who gave him two daughters.

With his family and his father-in-law, Pacheco, he visited Madrid where he was asked to paint the portrait of King Philip IV of Spain who was 18 years old. The Spanish king was so pleased, he asked Velazquez to move to Madrid with his family and work exclusively for the royal family. He was the favorite of the king's four painters. For the next forty years he and his family lived with the king. Even his mother and father lived with them. He painted at least 20 pictures of the king in all kinds of clothing.

The king had a chair in the artist's studio so he could sit and watch him paint. Velazquez used a long-handled brush so he could see how his brush strokes looked from a distance away from the canvas.

Our featured work in this lesson has been named Las Meninas. The "meninas" were the young daughters of noblemen's families who waited on the young princess who was called an "infanta". The young girl is serving the princess something in a cup. The artist with the brush in his hand is, of course, Velazquez. His special clothing shows he is a knight. If you look at the reflection in the mirror, you can see the king and queen who are apparently posing while the artist paints their picture.

Las Meninas really has two subjects. One is the subject the artist is painting and then we also see the main characters in the room.
He painted several pictures of dwarfs such as the figures you see at the right of the picture. These were the court jesters who entertained the king and his family.
Velazquez also was in charge of buying things for the royal family. He bought art work and furniture. He was in charge of planning and decorating for social events. He helped the king keep the household running smoothly. The king was so appreciative he made him a Knight of the Order of Santiago. This was a very high honor for a nobleman in Spain.

Velazquez also worked with topics as still-lives, portrait and religious paintings. So, I want you to search for a painting of Diego Velázquez about any of these topics and add a five lines´paragraph in which you can explain what you think is the connotative message of the painting. Be sure to add the image and basic information of the painting.