Introduction to Arts and Crafts Movement.

The great Exhibition of Industry of all Nations

As the middle class grew, objects where being bought more , but still the stuff was made in a hurry as it was mass produced also the material being used was cheap and broke easily.  At the exhibition Ruskin and Morris stated that the work done was not up to standard.  America too where producing objects in mass production but unlike Britain they were better made, function better and had simpler designs because of this America later became to be the leader in the industrial mass production. The purpose of the exhibition was to bring exhibitions from all over the world but the work was done quickly and had a lot of decoration which imitated the style of the feudal nobility. Obviously the movement rejected the idea completely of cheaply and badly made industrial products.

The Arts and Crafts Movement.

William Morris

Mass production also meant the loss of stylistic variety, as machine made objects  were the same in design also there was a drop in quality but the prices where more affordable.  William Morris wanted to reform the industry of product making and set up the arts and crafts movement doing this he paved the way for the Modernists. Morris was influenced greatly by John Ruskin, who praised gothic and medieval craftsmen. The depression of the industrial revolution which came because of the pollution and crowds of people moving into the city had a big effect on Morris.  He abhorred modern civilization and fought against the inhuman conditions he wanted to reform society of mass production, his main concern was beautiful things so Morris founded the arts and crafts movement with the help of John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin.  

Bibliography 

William Morris : Biography. 2013. William Morris : Biography. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jmorris.htm. [Accessed 22 March 2013].

 William Morris [ONLINE]. Available at:http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/web/morris/images/morris.jpg [Accessed 22 March 13].

The great Exhibition of Industry of all Nations [ONLINE]. Available at:http://kenbaker.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/crstal-palace.jpg [Accessed 22 March 13].

Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival was a movement started in the late 18^th century and was lead by John Ruskin and Augustus Pugin.  Renaissance architecture was seen as pagan and so was dismissed, Gothic at that time represented the church more and so produced churches with that theme. Also it was the Victorian era (1837-1901) which was the time of Queen Victoria and a lot of innovations where being created, such as blast furnaces, print works, textile mills, elevator, cash register and the roller coaster, because of these innovations there was a boom in mass production. Standardization was also being done which means that objects and parts which are being manufactured can be used for other purposes. The boom in mass production helped to expend the middle class, which meant that now the middle class had money to spend on objects and clothing.  In 1840 the Penny Black stamp was created and used in the public postal system where one had to pay for.

John Ruskin  (1819-1900)

John Ruskin looked back at medieval times were craftsmanship was important, he praised the nature of Gothic  and medieval architecture as he wanted to unite the spiritual and the everyday.  Ruskin echoed what Pugin said, that if you enjoy doing the work you would enjoy the end result.  He also taught that architects’ and designers of the gothic period had complete freedom which was not completely true. Ruskin wanted to return the integrity of the craftsman as in his time everything was being industrialized, he condemned the machine oriented society of Victorian Britain because the machinery destroyed creativity and the craftsmanship process, also the products being done where not up to standard.

Bibliography.

Gothic Revival. 2013. Gothic Revival. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/gothicrevival.html. [Accessed 22 March 2013].

Gothic Revival Architecture in England. 2013. Gothic Revival Architecture in England. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.britainexpress.com/architecture/gothic-revival.htm. [Accessed 22 March 2013].

The penny Black Stamp [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.growsunday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/penny_black.jpg [Accessed 22 March 13]. 

John Ruskin [ONLINE]. Available at: http://cdn1.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/john-ruskin.jpg [Accessed 22 March 13].

Chadwick Gray and Laura Spector

Laura Spector paints these amazing paintings onto Chadwick Grey, she uses special make up which is water based. Gray has to stay completely still for hours on end to be painted on to do this he goes in some sort of trance as it can be challenging sometimes , they have spent more than 15 years searching for paintings which would shock people. This I think is a very challenging way of painting as you need to take in consideration the shape of the body and convert it into a canvas although the end result is really fascinating. 

Bibliography 

Chadwick Gray becomes world's most famous paintings as partner Laura Spector paints her naked body | Mail Online. 2013. Chadwick Gray becomes world's most famous paintings as partner Laura Spector paints her naked body | Mail Online. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2249962/Chadwick-Gray-worlds-famous-paintings-partner-Laura-Spector-paints-naked-body.html. [Accessed 06 March 2013].

Realism Paintings

The stone breakers - Gustav Courbet 

This painting shows ordinary people working hard to remove stone from a road which was a difficult and unpleasant task, but it was painted on a scale that was reserved for history painting’s or religious theme's, making these lower class people important. To show the simple life Courbet used a simple style unlike the one the academy was teaching as he wanted to show what’s real, Courbet painted them wearing torn clothing also he painted a man to old and a boy too young to be working in that environment. Courbet’s main goal was to show an accurate painting of the suffering and social injustice that was going on in French rural life.

The Bathers – Gustav Courbet

Here we see a painting which bought a lot of controversy in the art word, also a lot of critique artist where used to seeing idealized forms but what Courbet painted shocked them as he glorified the ugly so to speak.  Again this painting shows us that Courbet was giving importance to reality, he painted the truth. People didn't like his work because they thought that paintings should be pleasant and be enjoyed not show social injustice.

Bibliography

The Stonebreakers - Smarthistory. 2013. The Stonebreakers - Smarthistory. [ONLINE] Available at: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/the-stonebreakers.html. [Accessed 06 March 2013].

Every Painter Paints Himself | Courbet’s Bathers (1853). 2013. Every Painter Paints Himself | Courbet’s Bathers (1853). [ONLINE] Available at: http://everypainterpaintshimself.com/article/courbets_bathers. [Accessed 06 March 2013].

Introduction to Realism

Realism originated in France and it was the result of discussion between artists, writers and intellectuals in a Parisian bar in the late 1840’s, where they discussed the latest artistic trends, politics and social issues. Realism began after the revolution of 1848 which overturned the monarchy of Louise-Philippe, the French where fighting for a democratic reform, this was a time of unrest people where dying on the street and people where not receiving the wages for the work they had done this had a huge impact on art. Artists at that time rebelled against the falseness of the Romantic paintings and wanted to portray everyday life and ordinary people to show how they were being treated, they took into consideration and made importance to the lower class, photography also had an important impact on realism.  Gustav Courbet was the leading artist and was behind it all,  he was out to change people’s perspective, he shocked the state-sponsored art academy because everything that he did went against there standard. Other famous realist where Jean-Francois Millet, Honore Daumier, Edouard Manet and Adolf von Menzel.

Meissonier,E, 1848. The Barricade

Bibliography 

Nineteenth-Century French Realism | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2013. Nineteenth-Century French Realism | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm. [Accessed 05 March 2013].

History10C - Realism. 2013. History10C - Realism. [ONLINE] Available at: http://history10c.wikispaces.com/Realism. [Accessed 05 March 2013].

Realism (arts) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Realism (arts) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(arts). [Accessed 05 March 2013].

Theme In Romantic Paintings.

The paintings done where a reaction to neoclassicism’s rational approach, a lot of the paintings give a sense of an impressionistic feel. These paintings where look down on and criticized by the academics.  Romantics showed madness, horror, violence and the supernatural these theme’s would not be shown in neoclassical art.

Henri Fuseli- The nightmare

This painting depicts a woman who is having a nightmare, an incubus that looks back at you is drawn as a grotesque monster weighing down on her chest. The horse emphasizes the nightmare as Henri Fuseli painted a mare, as in a night mare.  Fuseli was inspired by German folklore tales about people who sleep alone being possessed. Fuseli liked to draw the supernatural and exaggerated the truth which brought him criticisms as it was not seen before in neoclassical paintings, obviously he was trying to break from the norm and revolutionize art.

Théodore Géricault -The raft of Medusa.

In this era artists thought a lot about tragedy and incorporated them into their work, some which actually happened. In this painting that Gericault did shows the tragedy of people who were lost at sea for about 13 days, they were stranded on a raft with no supplies and tragically ate each other to survive. Gericault wanted to portray this horrible event and talked to people who were on the raft also he visited morgues to see the damage people inflicted on their victims.

Liberty Leading the People -Eugene Delacroix

Romanticism was also a time of unrest, in that time it was common for people to move away from the system and rebel. This paining represents rebellion where the woman is an allegorical figure representing liberty. Delacroix’s work in itself shows rebellion as his work seems sketchy and unfinished which at the time brought him great criticism as his work was not as refined as the neoclassical paintings.

Francisco Goya

Goya was a Spaniard who saw the horrors of war and made representations creating a set of prints which he called the disasters of war. They are very disturbing and show the conflicts between civilians and soldiers also these prints are seen as a protest against violence. 

Bibliography

The Nightmare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. The Nightmare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightmare. [Accessed 26 February 2013].

Henry Fuseli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Henry Fuseli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fuseli. [Accessed 26 February 2013].

Henry Fuseli, (2013), The Nightmare [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.barewalls.com/i/c/547407_The-Nightmare.jpg [Accessed 26 February 13].

Romanticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Romanticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism. [Accessed 05 March 2013].

Eugène Delacroix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Eugène Delacroix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix. [Accessed 05 March 2013].

Théodore Géricault - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. Théodore Géricault - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9odore_G%C3%A9ricault. [Accessed 05 March 2013].

The industrial revolution

The Industrial Revolution.

The industrial revolution started in the late 18^th  century and carried onto the 19^th century, before that people used to live in rural areas where they used to work in the farming industry this was hard work and the income for their work was minimum. People also they had to produced their own food, clothing, tools etc these where done in small rural shops by hand. Thomas Savery was an English engineer who invented the first steam engine in 1698, this solved the problem of pumping water out of coal mines, thus making coal easier to mine. After the creation of the first steam engine Thomas Newcomen improved on Thomas Slavery’s original design creating an atmospheric steam engine, in 1712 he worked with John Calley in which they built the first engine that went on top of a mine shaft and pumped out water. In 1765 James Watt who was a Scottish mechanical engineer and inventor, improved the Newcomen engine, Watt’s engine became one of the most important designs for all modern steam engines which brought about the industrial revolution.

The Newcomen Engine.

The industrial revolution had an impact on theses rural areas, landscapes changed, people started to travel to cities for work but had to live in bad conditions as the cities became over populated and children used to work in factories and mines to get into small holes this of course was highly dangerous. It also brought in an increase of trade and great wealth for some. The industrial revolution began in Britain in the late 1700s, with the creation of the steam engine which was power by coal this brought change in the manufacturing industries and roads, railways and mills where made. 

Bibliography.

Industrial Revolution — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts. 2013. Industrial Revolution — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution. [Accessed 05 March 2013].

Steam Engine History. 2013. Steam Engine History. [ONLINE] Available at:http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsteamengine.htm. [Accessed 05 March 2013].