It is easy to overlook the importance of art, passing it off as a sideline of overpriced necessities. Through the eras, art gave direction to developments of politics, education, culture, and the way everyone lives, ranging from royalty to people living in the ghettos. Art in any fashion can inspire anyone’s behavior, feelings, and emotions. Selection of ones artwork, whether it be paintings, sketches, music, music videos and favorite movies shape and identify that individuals personality. Many people enjoy music, theatre, even television sitcoms that come into everyone’s homes every week was inspired by art history. The popular comedy sitcom, Darhma and Greg, gives information on art history, and how it affects everyone’s lives. Reflecting on history, art goes back to the beginning of time, in the AD ages. The eras art historians have the resources to study are Baroque, and then several extensions from the Baroque era, Romanticism, and most recent Impression. Abstract developed from Impressionism. What we know today as animation derived from the history of impressionism. It is to everyone’s advantage to take the time to study art, so they can recognize when they are being influenced or brainwashed by psychology, the media and the feds in the White House.
The Catholic Church dominated the entire Baroque art era. Most of the paintings portrayed religious themes, retelling biblical stories. “Baroque was primarily associated with the religious tensions within western Christianity; divisions on Roman Catholicism and Protestant” (NA, ND, Museum Quality Oil Paintings). One of the characteristics distinguishing Baroque paintings were its angles, or its dome shaped contents in the paintings, in its sculptures and its architecture. Dome shapes and curves outlined the architecture of buildings designed during this era. Baroque paintings subject matter showed lots of movement along with the angles, giving the message the Baroque era was not standing still, but actually going somewhere. An example of art style was Bernini’s Church of Quirinale, showing an image of the building angling from the ground up, and accenting the curved rooftop, and circular posts. The Castle of Trier was another example of a painting reflecting the Baroque designed building.
The Baroque era had two other extensions of its art style. This was called the Rococo era. The Rococo style was a contradiction of the religious themes characteristic of the Baroque era. However it borrowed its curved dome shaped architect from the Baroque designers and artists. The artwork, buildings and interior designing was aesthetically elegant using lots of light and pastel colors. Many of Rococo’s paintings were upscale churches, ballrooms, courtyards for royalty. This style of paintings, and art’s trademarks were elegance, mirrors, very shiny glass, gold, brass and porcelain designed in fancy eye catching curved shells. This was the beginning of the very upscale 18th century French Renaissance Art sculptures, paintings, and architecture. The Rococo had one other development.
Rococo style was completely replaced with Neo Classicism. The Neo Classicism was known for its canonic status. The canonic status catered to royalty. Canonic strongly developed the western, high economic, high educated society. The Neo Classicism began after 1765. The art deriving from this era is very formal, very military, and very straightforward. Another trademark of art belonging exclusively to the Neo Classicism style is its coloring style called chiaroscuro. The word means the difference between light and dark and very contrasting. These very different, opposite contrasting shades are in one piece of work. Often, a painting will have one tonality or overall background color portraying the emotion of the entire painting. In Giovanni Baglione’s painting, Sacred Love vs Profane Love, the coloring piercing out to its viewers is stronger than the actual content of the painting. Light and dark opposition is apparent from the entire picture. The entire Neo Classicism objective was to turn art back to Rome and Greek eras. That was to never happen.
The Neo Classicism went right on into the Romanticism. The Romantic era took place between the 18th century and beginning years of the 19th century. This era went against the politically correct social culture. It was a time of psychological development. Emotions were accented in all of the artwork created by Romantic artists. “Romantic artists believed that imagination was superior to reason and beauty” (NA, ND, Art History Romanticism). Frederick’s romantic style painting, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, is an unmistakable image of someone meditating, or just experiencing a calm pleasant moment while gazing out into the sea and fog. The colors selected are taken from the Neo Classicism to project feelings. Different tones of pastel colors shading the sky, mountains and water crashing against the stones draws the viewer into the picture, or into the moment. The coloring, and the lines shaping the mountains sky and rocks create an environment someone can actually feel.
The impressionism era is the latest artistic development created by Monet and Manet. The impressionists paints what he sees, usually outdoor landscapes and scenery’s. “Impressionism art is a style in which the artists captures the image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it” (Khan A., Allen K., Conte J., ND). There are no spiritual meanings behind these paintings. They use light, color and atmosphere. The impressionism era became popular when an event called the Salon Des Refuses took place. Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass was rejected by the salon in Paris. There was a continuous on going dispute between the aesthetic artists, and the French art academy in Paris. Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass was rejected because the content, as well as the loud colors. It was a prostitute in a park with two men. Monet convinced Napoleon 111 to have a separate exhibition. He agreed. Today the impressionism is identified with exhibition of works on public display. Monet marked the Impressionism era when Manet created Sunrise. Sunrise is not controversial, it is an image of people fishing from a boat, in clear, glassy lake with a small current. The painting apparently takes place in the early dawn, at sunrise.
Today all artwork from any era can be created, and even though not well respected during its time, it is highly respected now. Artists combined their creative imaginations with inspirations from history, religion and other artists. Today, all influences from the art eras are showing up in a variety of forms, entertaining us. It is to everyone’s advantage to learn about the history of art.
