European fine arts in 17th and 18th centuries Among the numerous European art schools in 17th and 18th centuries, Baroque and Rococo styles were the most influential.
the word "baroque" originated from Portuguese, which means "an out-of-round pearl", and later it was extended to various meanings such as "abnormal", "exaggerated" and "grotesque". It originated in Italian architecture at the end of 16th century, became popular in Europe from 17th century to early 18th century, and reached its peak in France in the middle of the 2th century. As an artistic style, it is first manifested in plastic arts, which brings new styles to architecture, sculpture and painting, and later affects the creation of literature and music.
Baroque's artistic style is contrary to the seriousness, implication and balance in the heyday of the Renaissance, but tends to be magnificent, luxurious and grandiose, pursuing momentum and ups and downs, appearing free, lively, emotional and full of vitality, reflecting the luxury and wealth of autocratic monarchs and nobles and the enjoyment of the bourgeoisie.
Caravaggio (1573-161) is regarded as the founder of Baroque art. His creative techniques are mainly naturalism, and most of his works are genre paintings of social life at that time. The people in Caravaggio's works are always surrounded by a shadow to highlight the drama of the scenery and the misery of the people in the painting. Its art can be described as "ruthless truth". The work "The Dead Virgin" was rejected by the church because it painted the Virgin too vulgar. Caravaggio's painting style, which focused on the sharp contrast between light and shade, had a great influence on later art creation.
the most influential figure in baroque art was Italian Benigni (1598-168). He is an architect, a sculptor and a painter, breaking the boundaries between architecture, sculpture and painting, and making them penetrate and blend with each other, resulting in a mixture of architecture, sculpture and painting. This "neither donkey nor horse" art is derided by classical traditional artists as "baroque" (grotesque), hence its name.
St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, which was added by Benigni, is a masterpiece of Baroque's artistic style. He pays attention to decoration, emphasizes the sense of movement, and uses a large number of undulating curves, oval columns, spiral columns and crumbling sculptures to make this magnificent building magnificent, which makes people feel that the whole building is spinning and rising, dazzling and arousing people's whimsy. Other famous baroque buildings are: Versailles in France, St. Paul's Cathedral in Britain, Pushkin Village in Russia, etc.
The representative figure of Baroque art in painting is Rubens (1577-164), a Flemish who is known as the "uncrowned king" of European painting. He not only has extraordinary painting ability, but also is proficient in seven languages and good at diplomacy. He once served as an ambassador and called himself an "amateur ambassador". Rubens is a prolific painter. His works are rich in color contrast, magnificent, passionate and strong, and he is good at expressing exciting scenes through dynamic structures. Famous works include Snatching Risip's Daughter and Susan Furman.
The whole painting "Snatching Risip's Daughter" is in turmoil. In the work, two horses, two men and two women are intertwined, and the horse's head and feet are shot out in all directions like blooming flowers, giving people an emotional appeal. Furman in the portrait Susan Furman is plump, vivid with big eyes, and full of vitality. At the same time, with the help of fluttering hair, feathers decorated on the hat and pleats of clothes, the unique dynamic trend of Baroque art is created.
in the 17th century, the Dutch painting school represented by Rembrandt (166-1669) had a unique style. Holland is the first bourgeois republic in the west, where there is more freedom of thought and creation, which makes the Dutch painting school more democratic and realistic. Artists mostly take folk life as the theme and create based on the interests of ordinary people. European landscape painting and still life painting. Genre painting generally started from the Dutch school of painting. Besides Rembrandt, hals and vermeer are its representatives.
Rembrandt's painting is characterized by being good at highlighting the theme by using the contrast of light and shade, depicting the inner world of the characters, and making the whole shape feel thick. His representative portraits include Night Patrol and Professor Thorpe's Anatomy Class. Self-portrait and so on.
Franz hals (158-1666) was a portrait painter. He got rid of the traditional themes and forms of his predecessors and took the middle and lower class citizens as the protagonist of the picture. Fish women, soldiers who dine, and people who are slightly drunk in small hotels are different from the people in paintings who used to appear in the image of imposing manner and handsome appearance, but they get eternal life in his works. Jane vermeer (1632-1675) is a custom painter, and her painting subjects are very narrow, all of which are trivial daily scenes. However, there is magic in the ordinary, and the painter makes the whole picture very quiet and harmonious through wonderful color matching and contrast, especially showing the meditative inner world of the people in the painting, which is more prominent in the history of art. His representative works include The Woman Reading Letters and The Kitchen Woman.
after entering the 18th century, Rococo art, which focused on interior decoration, began to replace Baroque style, which emphasized external beauty. The word rococo comes from French and contains "shell shape". The meaning of "seven twists and eight twists" was first used to describe the decorative style of French architecture at the end of the 17th century, and it was pushed to the extreme by the French aristocrats in the 18th century in pursuit of pleasure. It is characterized by its small size, exquisite elegance, slender, lightweight, gorgeous and cumbersome decoration, and likes to use C-shaped, S-shaped or whirlpool-shaped curves and light and soft colors. This artistic style was highly praised by Louis XV, also called "Louis XV style", which was popular in European countries and became a popular artistic style.
Rococo art has made the most remarkable achievements in architecture, painting and technology. The French painter Huatuo (1684-1721) is good at depicting the banquets, romances, songs and dances of nobles, and is regarded as the founder of Rococo style. Huatuo's works are elegant in style. During this period, one of the buildings that can best embody Rococo's artistic style is the salon of the Supes residence in Paris, France, which was designed by the architect Beaufron. He focuses on the interior decoration, and the whole room seems to be imaginary rather than built.
At that time, the most respected Rococo painter was Boucher (173-177), who was the chief painter of Louis XV's court and had the title of "Glory of Paris". His works are flashy in theme, soft and delicate in color, and sophisticated in technique. He painted many naked love paintings with Greek and Roman mythology as the theme to cater to the pleasure needs of princes and nobles.
while rococo art is popular in Europe, it has been sharply criticized by enlightenment thinkers, especially Diderot. Under the influence of the Enlightenment, a group of artists with democratic consciousness and realistic tendency appeared one after another. Xia Erdan (1699-1779) is one of the outstanding representatives. His characters are simple, and the plot of the picture is realistic. His masterpiece Prayer for Lunch depicts a mother preparing lunch, watching the children pray with concern, reflecting the daily life of the citizens.
European fine arts in the 19th century From the end of the 18th century to the 19th century, the political situation in Europe was changeable, revolutionary struggles were surging, and various artistic trends of thought emerged one after another. Neo-classicism, romanticism and realism appeared one after another, and impressionism quickly became popular. On the surface, the neo-classical art school rising from France is restoring and preserving the spirit of ancient Greece and Rome, but in fact it is pursuing an idealism. Although their works are mainly based on classical themes, the spirit reflected in their works is very contemporary. Louis David (174-1845) is the main representative of neoclassical painters. He sympathized with and participated in the French revolution, expressed the theme of the revolution with classical artistic techniques and achieved positive results. His Oath of the Horace Brothers is a masterpiece advocating heroism on the eve of the French Revolution. Tennis Hall Oath and death of marat are masterpieces that directly reflect the major historical events at that time.
The Oath of the Horace Brothers depicts the scene in which the three Horace brothers are willing to give their lives to defend Rome. The painter is obviously praising patriotism and showing a revolutionary spirit synchronized with the times. The style of the picture is simple and heavy, but it expresses the simple and clear revolutionary thought that everyone must unite against tyranny. Death of marat's brushwork is dignified, its image is tragic, and it has the "quiet and pure beauty" pursued by classicism. The first half of this painting is space, and the second half shows the scene of Mara being stabbed. The facial expression of the deceased is lofty and solemn.
The most influential classical painter after David is Angel. He is good at portrait painting and meticulous painting, paying attention to the perfection of form and attaching importance to the clarity and neatness of lines. His masterpiece is The Spring.
Romanticism, which appears as a gesture against classicism, is characterized by paying attention to the expression of individuality, emphasizing exaggeration and illusion, and being passionate and unrestrained. Its representatives are Goya of Spain (1746-1828) and Delacroix of France (1798-1863). Goya's Shooting the Citizens of Madrid and Delacroix's Free Guiding the People are recognized as good works of romanticism.
"Shooting" is a scene in which Spanish volunteers are shot against Napoleon. The whole picture is full of cruel and horrible feelings at the moment of shooting. Maha in Naked, Maha in Clothes and Rhapsody in Copper Prints are also Goya's representative works. These works not only inspire and nourish romanticism, but also realism in the future.
The romantic painting in France is guided by the masterpiece "The Raft of Medusa" by the young painter Cirico (1791-1824). This painting is based on the shipwreck of the French ocean-going ship "Medusa" which shocked in 1818. In this famous painting, the raft that rises with the waves is inclined, and there are two opposing triangles protruding on the inclined plane-the people leaning forward and the sail mast leaning back. The contradiction between the two forces has caused a sense of tension. Here, people can't see the elegance, calmness and beauty of the classical school, but what it shows is turmoil, passion, struggle and life-and-death struggle.
After Cirico, Delacroix pushed the art of romantic painting to the peak. His thoughts tend to be democratic and free, and his artistic accomplishment is high. He is known as the "Romantic Lion". "Freedom to Guide the People" is based on the "July Revolution" carried out by the French people in 183 to overthrow the Bourbon Dynasty. The picture highlights the image of the Statue of Liberty, which holds the tricolor flag high and symbolizes the French bourgeois revolution and regime. In terms of technique, Delacroix absorbed the experience of "Baroque" art in expressing turbulent scenes, drew lessons from the contrast effect of light and shade in Goya's Shooting, and modelling technique, whose shadow suddenly appeared in Schirico's Raft of Medusa, which made the picture have the power of stirring people's hearts. There are only seven or eight characters in the whole picture, but because they are hidden from each other, there is nothing but reality, which has produced the great boldness of vision of beacon smoke everywhere.
In the mid-19th century, realistic painting rose, and famous painters included French Miller, Koro, Courbet and Russian Lie Bin. Miller (1814-1875) is known as a great peasant painter. He was born in a peasant family, and after becoming a painter, he still lived a peasant life and engaged in labor. Representative works such as gleaner, The Sower, The Woodman, etc., depict the harsh struggle of the working people against poverty and nature. Lie Bin's "The Volga River Tracker" shows the Russian people's miserable life and their longing for a better life.
Crowe (1796-1875) and Barbizon painters are representatives of realistic landscape painting. In the 193s and 195s, a group of innovative painters took barbizon village near Fontainebleau forest area in the southern suburbs of Paris as their creative base, engaged in rural landscape painting and rural genre painting, thus making French landscape painting enter an unprecedented period of prosperity. These painters are called barbizon school, and Koro is its outstanding representative. Koro's landscape paintings and figure paintings are not only realistic in nature, but also romantic in color, and are called "lyric poets" in painting circles. The Trail under the Tree in Spring and Memories of Montfontein are his representative works.
gustave courbet (1819-1877) was also a great French realistic painter in the 19th century. His representative works, The Funeral of Onan, Masonry, Studio, etc., truly show the life of working people and have profound social significance.
The emergence of Impressionism began in France in the 196s, and then it affected the whole of Europe. Inspired by the achievements of natural science at that time, impressionist art paid special attention to the innovation of light and color on the basis of reality. According to the experiments of physics at that time, the Impressionists advocated that the solar spectrum was red, orange, yellow and green. As primary colors, cyan, blue and purple express the instantaneous impression of nature. They use a brush color block to form a picture, showing the "external light" in nature, in an attempt to create a vivid jumping feeling of "light" and "color" in the picture. Impressionism can generally be divided into two periods. Manet and Monet were the representatives in the early stage, and Cezanne was the representative in the later stage.
Edward Manet (1832-1883) is regarded as the pioneer of pre-impressionism. He took the lead in making bold innovations in the expression of painting, which made his works achieve a bright color, smooth brushwork and novel and vivid effect. His masterpiece is Lunch on the Grass.
claude Monay's (184-1926) masterpiece is Sunrise Impression. This painting shows a beautiful sunrise: the brilliant sun broke through the heavy fog and rose in the sky, the river was sparkling and there was a row of fuzzy houses on the other side. According to this painting, a critic ridiculed them as "Impressionism", hence the name "Impressionism".
Paul Cezanne (1839-196) is an outstanding representative of post-impressionism. Besides light, he pays more attention to the sense of weight, volume, stability and grandeur of objects. Use color blocks to express the subject and depth of an object. Because of Cezanne's innovation in artistic language, later generations called him "the father of modern art". Among the post-impressionists, there are two famous painters who occupy a place in the history of world art: Van Gogh of the Netherlands and Gauguin of France.
classical music modern western music originated in Italy at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 18th century, the music center moved to Austria, Vienna became the music city of Europe, and many world-famous classical musicians appeared.
In the 17th century, the Venetian School and Napoli School were successively formed in the music field. Venice Music School took the lead in trying instrumental ensemble and used the concepts of "sonata" and "symphony" for the first time. The Napoli school influenced the whole of Europe with its lively lyric operas. In France, Lurie (1633-1687), known as the "father of opera", combined Italian taste with French classical tragedy and created the characteristics of French opera. In Germany, the composer Bach (1685-175) combined his religious belief with his love for music, which made religious music perfect, and Bach was therefore known as the "father of German music". <