ARH 102- Art History
Renaissance through Contemporary Art
South Mountain Community College
Jewel Clark- Instructor
Download a copy (pdf) of the Final Study Guide here
Download a copy (pdf) of the Final Slide Review here
Final Study Guide
Short Answer Questions (60 points):
I will pick approximately 12 questions from this list for the test. Each question is worth 5 points. The questions will not appear in this order. Answer these questions on the test as they appear here for full credit- this is not a multiple choice test. You may put the answers in your own words but you must make sure that you get all the relevant points of the answer across completely.
1. Define Academic Art Theory
The established school of art at the time believed that art was only worthwhile if it followed these three basic rules:
1. Art should be intellectual and moral
2. It should portray ideal classical beauty
3. It should only depict stories from either Greek or Roman myths/ events or Judeo- Christian themes with significant figural action (i.e. people, not just landscapes), and not current events.
2. Name 3 Romantic artists
(Any three will do) Turner, Constable, Blake, Gericault, Delacroix, Cole, Goya, Friedrich, Bierstadt
3. Define Rococo
The Rococo was inspired by the French nobility after the death of Louis XIV. The subject matter was light, frequently depicting opulence, romantic themes, idyllic settings/ activities, frivolity. The palette was usu. pastel in color.
4. Define Post Impressionism
Originally followers of Impressionism, these artists sought an even more dramatic break with conventional art style. Two different aesthetic “camps” focused on color, but with different goals. One, led by van Gogh and Gauguin, focused on the use of color for personally emotive means. The other, led by Cezanne and Seurat, focused on color to create form.
5. Define Realism
The Realist artists looked to the common people for inspiration. They rejected idealism and Academic Art Theory. They believed in only rendering contemporary events that they themselves had experienced.
6. Define Neoclassicism
Hard edged, unemotional, orderly style, usu. depicting scenes of valor/ history painting. Art of the French Revolution- a reaction against Rococo.
7. Define Romanticism
Characterized by an interest in the sublime, which contain elements of pain, terror, majesty, and above all, awe of the unknown and unknowable. Romanticism elevated emotion above intellect, color above line, and intuition and passion above judgment and portrayed sensational or melodramatic subject matter in a heroic manner (including current events).
8. Define Impressionism
Impressionism was a style inherited from the ideas of the Realists. The Impressionists focused on three ideas: 1.the way light affects perception and color, 2.they acknowledged the flat surface of the painted canvas and brought it to the viewer’s attention by rejecting the absolute depiction of illusionistic space, and 3.attempted to capture one instant in time.
9. Name 3 Post Impressionist artists
(Any three will do) Seurat, Cezanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Signac
10. Define both elements of the Cubist movement in order of development
1. Analytic Cubism: the subject matter is reduced to basic geometric forms, mainly block-like, and multiple viewpoints of the subject are depicted on the canvas.
2. Synthetic Cubism: real objects; rope, newspaper, sheet music, etc. are included with the painted canvas in collage. Text is used for the first time on the canvas. The scene is still very fractured.
11. Define Dada
Dada was basically an art movement based on the absurd. Its’ very intention was to not make sense. Seemingly rational nations/ people had started and perpetrated the war- the only way out of the insanity was to be irrational and illogical. Most Dada works also contain an undercurrent of humor or irony.
12. What was the Age of Enlightenment and how did it affect art?
The Age of Enlightenment began around the end of the 17th C and is noted as an age of new scientific exploration and observation predominantly led by England and France. The thinkers of this era advocated an approach to life and the understanding of the world we live in based on scientific questioning- the verification of physical data and concrete experience. This new philosophy feeds the Neoclassical style with it’s emphasis on order and clarity.
13. What is Japonisme?
It is an artistic interest in Japanese art aesthetic, which began in the mid 19th C after Japan opened its borders to international trade after centuries of isolation. Isometric perspective, linear style, attention to patterns and flattening of the picture plane were stylistic conventions of Japanese art that late Impressionists and Post-Impressionists deliberately used in their own work.
14. Name 3 Impressionist artists
(Any 3 will do) Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cassatt, Whistler, Rodin, Claudel, Morisot
15. What are the defining characteristics of the Symbolist Movement?
The Symbolist Movement is a sub category of the Post Impressionist style that rejected Realism, choosing to create worlds of personal symbolic content designed to elevate the artist and the viewer beyond the mundane observation of reality. Their subject matter was frequently mythological in nature.
16. Name 3 Dada artists
(Any 3 will do): Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia, Sophie Tauber- Arp, Hans Arp, Hannah Hoch, Max Ernst, Raoul Hausmann….
17. How does Art Deco differ from Art Nouveau stylistically?
Art Nouveau, the last decorative arts style of the 19th C was influenced by natural forms. Art Deco was basically the first major decorative arts style of the 20th C and took its inspiration from the geometric forms of a mechanized age.
18. List three slogans of the International Style as espoused by Corbusier
1. Form Follows Function
2. Ornament is a Crime
3. Truth to Materials
19. List 5 common stylistic characteristics of the International Style
1. Radical simplification of form
2. Rejection of ornament
3. Adoption of glass, steel and concrete as preferred materials
4. Transparency of buildings/ construction
5. Acceptance of industrialized mass-production techniques
20. What two art movements can be associated with International Style?
De Stijl and Bauhaus
21. Which artist is generally thought of as the first artist to use non-representational imagery only?
Wassily Kandinsky
22. What are “readymades” and who was responsible for them?
The Dada artist Marcel Duchamp took ordinary utilitarian objects and exhibited them as works of art. He coined the term “readymades” for the title of the series.
23. What are the names of the 2 groups of German Expressionism from the early 20th C?
Die Brucke (The Bridge) and Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) Either the German or the English names are fine
24. What was Bauhaus?
Bauhaus was an innovative new school of art founded in the early 20th C in Germany that had its roots in the Arts and Crafts movement and believed that art should pervade every aspect of life from architecture to fine art to the decorative arts. Unlike the Arts and Crafts movements, however, the Bauhaus eschewed decorative elements in favor of a reduction in design to a functional streamlined aesthetic.
Final Slides (20 points):
You will have a group of slides to learn for identification and a group of slide pairs to learn for identification and a compare and contrast essay. Each slide identification is worth 4 points. You will have a total of 5 slide identifications and one compare and contrast essay, which will be pulled from these slides for the test. You will need to know the art style, artist, title, date and medium (if given) for all identification including the compare and contrast essay. Sizes and location may be included but you do not need to know those for the identification unless size is a relevant issue for the compare and contrast essay. The dates of artists may be included in the identification. You do not need to memorize those dates; they are there for your edification only. The slides will not appear in this order on the test.
Slide ID:
Rococo
Jean-Honore Fragonard (1731- 1806)- Happy Accidents of the Swing
1767 o/c Wallace Collection, London
Neoclassic
Jacques-Louis David (1748- 1825) Napoleon Crossing the Alps 1800 o/c
Romantic
Theodore Gericault (1791- 1824) Raft of the Medusa 1818- 19 16' x 23' o/c
Realism (US)
Thomas Eakins (1844- 1916) The Gross Clinic 1875 o/c
Impressionism
Mary Cassatt (1844- 1926) The Bath 1892 o/c
Claude Monet (1840- 1926) The Stroll- Woman with Parasol 1875
Symbolism
Fernand Khnopff (1858- 1921) I Lock the Door Upon Myself 1891 o/c
Post-Impressionism
Paul Gauguin (1848- 1903) Vision After the Sermon 1888 o/c
Victorian/ Academy
Bougerreau (1825- 1905) The Birth of Venus 1879 o/c
Fauvism
Henri Matisse (1869- 1954) Portrait of Mme. Matisse, The Green Line 1905 o/c
German Expressionism- Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider)
Franz Marc (1880- 1916) Fate of the Animals 1912 o/c
Cubism- Analytic
Pablo Picasso (1881- 1973) Demoiselles D'Avignon 1907 o/c 8' x 7'8"
Cubism- Synthetic
Juan Gris (1887- 1927) Guitar 1913 oil and paper collage on canvas
Dada
Raoul Hausmann (1886- 1971) Mechanical Head for the Spirit of Our Age
1921 wood, found objects, assemblage
International Style- Bauhaus
Walter Gropius Bauhaus School Building 1925 Dessau, Germany
Potential Slide Pairs for the Compare and Contrast Essay (20 points)
Keep in mind the criteria you used to write your sample essay. Start by identifying the artwork: artist, title, date, art style (most importantly- this is required for credit). Then describe the hallmarks of each art style and how the style relates to the examples. Describe the similarities and differences between the two works based on art style, location, the artist’s personal style and symbolic and thematic content. Include any historical information that might be significant. Be thorough!
Slide Pair 1:
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| Caspar David Friedrich (1774- 1840) Sea of Ice 1824 o/c Romanticism |
Vincent Van Gogh (1853- 1890) Starry Night 1889 o/c Post-Impressionism |
Slide Pair 2:
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| Gustave Courbet (1819- 1877) The Stone Breakers 1849 o/c Realism |
Berthe Morisot (1841- 1895) Child Among Staked Roses 1881 o/c Impressionism |
Slide Pair 3:
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| Bougerreau Nymphs and Satyr 1875 o/c Victorian/ Academy |
Edvard Munch (1863- 1944) The Cry (The Scream) 1893 oil, pastel and tempera on cardboard Symbolism |
Slide Pair 4:
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| Victor Horta (1861- 1947) Hotel Tassel, Brussels 1892- 93 Art Nouveau |
Le Corbusier (1887- 1965) Villa Savoye 1928 International Style |
Slide Pair 5:
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| Wassily Kandinsky (1866- 1944) In the Black Square 1923 German Expressionism- Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) |
James McNeill Whistler (1834- 1903) Nocturne in Black and Gold, Falling Rocket 1874 o/c Impressionism |