-History revolves around humans
-Have to have the ability to draw anatomy
*Chardin felt he could not
-He could paint faces, hands and only felt comfortable with clothes on the figure to mask it (ease of drawing)
-Chardin thought art comes naturally
-He had to struggle painting and did not let anyone watch - he worked so hard at his paintings
-Chardin was referred to as the "magician" because no one ever saw him work
-He only painted a total of 200 paintings over 50 years
-He said he only worked on one painting at a time
-In contrast, Monet worked on about 30 canvases at a time waiting for the exact and precise moment to paint
-Chardin never let a piece of work leave his studio unless he was thoroughly satisfied
-Chardin's father was a cabinet maker
-Chardin could not marry until he had been engaged to the same women for 8 years - he did not have enough money
-Even then he still had to subsidize working on outside projects
-His wife passed away after only a couple years of marriage
-When Chardin remarried, he remarried a woman with money
-This allowed him to paint
-His wife was his inspiration
-It did not take long before people began to appreciate his still-lifes
-One of his masteries was to create beauty out of disgusting objects (i.e. dead rabbit)
-Can not emphasize enough how long it took for Chardin to paint
-He does not paint from his imagination, but paints directly from what he sees in front of him
-Chardin was also not interested in the details of his piece
-He said he must place it at a distance to where he can not see the details
-He initially uses a thick application of paint, but by 1839, he starts to use a very thin application
-Chardin loved circular forms
-He has a restricted sense of color
-his colors are harmonious
-Chardin wanted the viewer to look and contemplate
-He then changes his style by using figures (clothed)
-Around the same time that he did "Rabbit And Copper Pot", he painted "Back From The Market" in 1739.
-He figured he could make money if he included people in his paintings
-The engravings he made could be sold to a much wider and more broad clientel
-People wanted engravings and that is what got him money
-A few dramatic experiences happened in Chardin's life beside his first wife dying shortly after marriage
1. His son was held prisoner until Chardin paid the ransom
2. His son later committed suicide
-Chardin's engravings carry a morale - that was never done by Chardin before
-He also carried a lot of meanings and other tell tales that were not included in his originals
-Chardin's Second style included:
1. Scenes taking place indoors
2. The rooms were relatively dark
3. He concentrated on representations of either women or children
-Adult males were almost completely excluded
4. Figures were lost in their own thought (they dont look at the viewer, but are looking elsewhere
-His figures seem momentarily distracted
-His figures dont act or react, rather they are reflective
-In his themes, he creates a society that revolves totally around women becuase they take care of the homes and the kids
-There are 3 versions of "Back From The Market"
-He always created paintings in pairs - 2 paintings that went together
-One of his contemporaries said: He is modest, honest, compassionate, a good son, a good husband, a good father, and a good citizen
-Chardin was a great painter
Rococo Art Approximately: 1715-1775
-Rococo meaning Shells and Rocks
-The term Rococo was defined after the afct and has a deragatory connotation
-It meant that the paintings included in this era were completely decorative, it had no substance, just surface appeal.
-The general time frame was 1715-1775
-Rubens was a 17th Century Flemish Painter
-It took over Rubens subject matter (ex. "Gardens of Love")
-It took over the concept of color
-It also took over Ruben's fascination with the female nude
-Sensual love gives life meaning
-The purpose of art is to give visual pleasure
-This presents life with its most idealist aspects
-Nobody dies or gets hurt - Art on surface - Visually Intensifying
-The first artist that we studied was Watteau
-He created "Love Festival"
-The work was done in 1717
-Within this painting you can see that he creates a world of love in all of its manifestations
-Love (wealth, and power) - its a game and it is treated as such
-Within his paintings he has a relatively large amount of people
-Tends to focus on 2 people who are connecting with each other
-Watteau builds up an International Reputation
-His first Biography was written in Italian
-His largest collection was in Berlin
-He had a major impact on British Painterists
-Watteau never had a commision
-His painting collection is rather small, and his painting were small in size, too
-People responded to his colors
-One huge emphasis is that you cant read an artists life by their paintings
-Watteau died at age 37 from tuberculosis
-He never experienced love in his life
-He did experience however: Famine, war, possibly cannibalism
-He was the most hypercritical men whoever lived due to his life experience
-He had a disgust for himself and for all men
-His father was a drunk that beat him and his wife on a regular basis
-The paintings he painted were based on a world of his own imagination - it was an ideal existence he never experienced
The next artist that we studied was Boucher
-He was named painter to the King in France
-He spent 12 hours on average a day painting
-When Boucher was not painting he was either at an Opera, out socializing with friends, and he had a rock collection and a butterfly collection
-He was a happily married man
-Boucher painted some of the most mindless erotic scenes of the 18th Century
-He painted these only because it was what his clientel wanted to see
-Boucher painted "The Bath of Diana" in 1742. The style was Rococo.
-His key to fame and money was subject matter
-Boucher painted with the thinest application of paint - almost like painting on glass...nearly a total lack of brush strokes
-The title refers to Diana as a huntress
-This was a great chance to represent nude females
-His figures are females and are nearly always outdoors
-The male viewers become the voyeurs - the audience is for men
-Boucher's sense of color is different from Watteau
-In contrast, Boucher has reserved colors, as opposed to Watteau's brilliancy in colors for his paintings
-In comparison, Boucher creates a fantasy world for male viewers, much like Watteau
-He loves to include water in his composition
-Women in his paintings look like China Dolls
-The next artist we studied was Fragonard
-Probably the only person who died from eating poison ice cream
-Fragonard went to Rome
-While he was there, he saw Michaelangelo...he was overwhelmed and wanted to quit because he was not as good
-The faster Fragonard painted, the better he was
-He painted portraits in half an hour
-His application of paint was thick, unlike Boucher who had a very thin application to his canvases
-Chardin would have said that Fragonard was a genius
-In other words, painting came naturally to Fragonard, unlike Chardin who had to slave over his paintings to get them the way he viewed as it being perfect
-Boucher taught Fragonard how to paint
-Boucher gave him two things
-1. Erotic subject matter
-2. Concept of color
-Boucher could not teach speed or approach to handling pigment...that was something that Fragonard developed on his own.
Fragonard would have painted differently if he lived in a different time
-He used the color yellow - Most prominent in his time for using it.
- A work that Boucher had done is entitled "The Bathers", the style still being Rococo, and the date is 1765
-In 1765, Boucher was named painter to the King in France