Picture 2. angelica kauffmann, cornelia pointing her children as her treasures, 1785, oil on canvas
Good Research Paper About Time Travel,
The period from the 18th to the late 20th centuries has been
characterized by a diversity of artistic styles. Four of the most
prominent are Neoclassicism from the 18th century, Impressionism from
the 19th, Fauvism from the early 20th and Abstract Expressionism from
the second part of the 20th century.
The Oath of the Horatii (picture 1) is a work by the French painter
Jacques Louis David. The artist created the work in 1784 and the medium
is oil on canvas (Facos, 2011, p. 39). Cornelia Pointing her Children as
her Treasures (picture 2) was painted by Angelica Kauffmannis 1785 and
its medium is also oil on canvas (Stokstad and Cothren, 2011, p. 925).
Both paintings belong to the Neoclassical style which developed in the
second half of the 18th century. The style was a result of the ideas of
the Enlightenment, the archaeological finds from the Classical antiquity
in the South of Europe and a renewed interest in the classical art, and
because of these became very popular. It was also, at the same time, a
rejection of the earlier Baroque and Rococo styles (Tarabra, 2008, p.
109).
Picture. 1. Jacques-Louis David, The Oath of the Horatii, 1784, oil on
canvas
Neoclassical artists preferred stories from the classical past that had
a moral lesson, like the ones depicted in the paintings of David and
Kauffmann (Facos, 2011, p.28). They used mostly sober colors, clear
lines and very few decoration elements and displayed a sense of
solemnity. David’s work was created a few years before the French
Revolution, and although originally a royal commission, it soon became a
symbol of the revolutionary ideas, mainly because of its subject that
came from the Roman Republic and emphasized loyalty to one’s country
(Facos, 2011, p. 39-40). Kauffmann’s painting on the other hand, is
historically significant because she is one of the few women in the
pre-20th century world to have become famous.
Picture 2. Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing her Children as her Treasures, 1785, oil on canvas
Pierre Auguste Renoir, a 19th century French artist created Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (picture 3) in 1876, and the work was painted with oil colors on canvas (Facos, 2011, p. 318). Claude Monet, who lived in the same period as Renoir and exhibited his works with him, painted Boulevard des Capucines (picture 4) a few years earlier, in 1873-74 and he used the same materials as Renoir (Facos, 2011, p. 311). The works belong to the Impressionist style that emerged in the later part of the 19th century. The Impressionists were initially rejected by critics, but the style became later one of the most popular ever to have ever existed. This is mainly due to the fact that Impressionism is the first style to be associated with modernity (Samu, 2004). The Impressionists changed art in many ways. To begin with, they chose subject matter that had to do with their everyday urban reality. They chose to paint their works mostly outdoors and not in studios, while they paid particular attention to light. They used bright colors and sketchy brushstrokes that give a sense of spontaneity (Samu, 2004).
