Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The University of Oklahoma 555 Elm Avenue Norman, OK 73019 www.ou.edu/fjjma
Left Panel: Francisco Jose de Goya (Spain, 1746-1828) Los Chinchillas from Los Caprichos, 1799 Etching Gift, the Carnegie Corporation, prior to 1932-33
Right Panel: Luigi Calamatta (Italy, 1802-1869) Portrait of Henriette Taurel, Née Thévenin, 1833 Chalk Purchase, Bea Carr Wallace Acquisition Fund, 2011
Inside Left: William Blake (England, 1757-1827) Book of Job, Plate 6, 1826 Engraving Purchase, 1963
Cover: Francesco Bartolozzi (Italy, 1727-1815) Young Man’s Head, 1807 Engraving Purchase, 1981
Neoclassicism to Romanticism: 18th–19th Century Works on Paper
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The University of Oklahoma 555 Elm Avenue Norman, OK 73019 www.ou.edu/fjjma
Left Panel: Francisco Jose de Goya (Spain, 1746-1828) Los Chinchillas from Los Caprichos, 1799 Etching Gift, the Carnegie Corporation, prior to 1932-33
Right Panel: Luigi Calamatta (Italy, 1802-1869) Portrait of Henriette Taurel, Née Thévenin, 1833 Chalk Purchase, Bea Carr Wallace Acquisition Fund, 2011
Inside Left: William Blake (England, 1757-1827) Book of Job, Plate 6, 1826 Engraving Purchase, 1963
Cover: Francesco Bartolozzi (Italy, 1727-1815) Young Man’s Head, 1807 Engraving Purchase, 1981
Neoclassicism to Romanticism: 18th–19th Century Works on Paper
Art created in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was historical and modern, conservative and progressive, traditional and new. This exhibit focuses on works on paper beginning in the mid-1700s when new ideas were emerging from the extensive political, intellectual, economic, and social changes that were unfolding across the continent. Political changes, precipitated in France by events such as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), led to a gradual shift away from monarchic rule toward a more democratic government. New government systems were then formed across Europe influenced by progressive ideas found in the intellectual movement called the Enlightenment, an ideology framed, in part, around a new understanding of social equality that coincided with the rebellion of the underprivileged against the feudal oppression of the ancien régime and the assertion of a new capitalist middle class in Paris. The term “enlightenment” is generally used for the liberal and humanitarian trends espoused by philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and François de Voltaire in France, but its origins can be found in the earlier rationalist advances made by seventeenth-century philosophers John Locke in England and Baruch de Spinoza in the Dutch Republic. Artists of the time were part of this community of philosophers, politicians, and art patrons, and their work reveals a visual translation of many of these ideals. Many of these cultural concerns were initially united under the stylistic and ideological banner of Neoclassicism, a self-conscious use of the study of antiquity as a way to address social concerns. The style of classicism was championed by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who was a Prussian scholar hired by Cardinal Alessandro Albani in Rome to catalogue his private collection of ancient pottery and sculpture, and from this work Winckelmann devised a classification system for classical art published in 1764 as a book entitled The History of Ancient Art. Many artists converged in Rome mid-century, including French artist Hubert Robert, who arrived in 1754 and spent the next eleven years studying first at the French Academy in Rome and then working as a painter for the emerging Grand Tour art market. Students at the French Academy were encouraged to sketch views out-of-doors rather than in the studio, and this practice helped to create a new subject called a veduta, which brought together the countryside, the cityscape, architectural views, and landscapes into one genre. Some vedute were topographically correct, while others were fanciful renditions inspired by antiquity. Robert’s Le Musée des Antiquities (1760s) is a chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor view of a building inspired by the Medici Palace in Rome that was used as the French Academy. The building is set within a garden filled with recognizable sculptures from ancient Rome, including the Column of Trajan. Works such as this were purchased by a new set of patrons that included tourists from across Europe who congregated in Rome to explore antiquity. Neoclassicism, however, was more than the art style of classical antiquity, but it was a highly theoretical political and cultural movement created by an international group of scholars working in Rome that then spread across Europe and ultimately brought together seemingly disparate issues such as the formation of high moral character through political ideals such as party loyalty, unity, truthfulness, and patriotism. English artist William Hogarth then responded to what he saw as the pitfalls of modern society in his series of prints entitled Marriage A-La-Mode (1743-45), which consists of six scenes that detail the life and failings of a young, impoverished aristocrat who was married to the daughter of a wealthy merchant in exchange for a title. Such narratives
tell through humorous moralizing caricatures the evils of arranged marriages and other corrupted social aspirations. Thus, Hogarth’s works reveal a satirical view of the ills of English society that were created primarily for a new group of art patrons, members of the enlightened middle class, who defined a new set of social values different from those of the aristocracy. Spanish artist Francisco de Goya responded to similar concerns found in late eighteenth-century Spanish society. Revolt against King Carlos IV, who reintroduced the Inquisition in order to block the progressive ideals of the French philosophers from entering Spain, was followed by Napoleon’s conquest of Spain in 1808, and then the restoration of the monarchy as a form of nationalism. Goya’s disillusionment with such flawed political systems fueled his darker images of human foibles, seen in his engraving Los Chinchillas, which is from a series of eighty prints called Los Caprichos, published together in 1799. A man, blindfolded, bears the large ears of a chinchilla, a South American rodent known for its soft fur that was a popular import among the Spanish aristocracy. The man spoon feeds another man who has a padlock on his head while another with a padlocked head reclines at the feet of the pair, dozing with his eyes closed and his mouth open. For Goya, the padlocked brain is closed to the truth, while chinchillas were a common slang reference to the nobility at this time. Thus, Goya’s works are a form of social provocation that did not idealize the past or create humorous messages, but instead he revealed the dark and terrible side of human nature that came from a society that, according to him, did not respond to reason or civility. The recognition of these strong human sentiments, which lie at the core of our very being, provoked further questions about what it means to be human. Scholars concluded that such sentiments cannot always be codified because they defy rational thought, and these ideas are reflected in the art of the next generation of artists, who are often called the Romanticists. Romanticism can be seen as an intellectual shift that occurred at the end of the eighteenth century based in part on the observation that codified and consistent responses are not always possible given the great diversity of ideas found in society. This observation can be traced to the lingering effects of the abolition of aristocratic rule, which did not immediately result in an anticipated clear future path, but instead such dramatic societal changes often provoked even more questions, even more social turbulence. Romanticism was found in a new type of art and literature that sought a fuller range of human emotion, expression, and experience. Many of those experiences extended beyond the classical expression of ideas and lay outside the realms of ancient Greece and Rome to encompass areas of the world deemed “exotic” by European standards. Romanticism was steeped in questions, then, as scholars could see that no single answer, no one solution, existed for how to shape individual and communal experiences. During this time, religious beliefs were also reassessed based upon these new standards, which can be seen in English artist John Martin’s fascination with the biblical stories that reveal God’s powerful wrath set in the vast, exotic places of Mesopotamia. His epic narratives are nearly as cinematic in scope, which can be seen in his Belshazzar’s Feast, a mezzotint that is from a series of 20 prints called Illustrations to the Bible that were published together in 1835. Martin had exhibited a large oil painting of this same subject earlier in his career at the British Institution in 1821 where it became so popular that a railing had to be built in front of the painting to protect it from the crowds. Because of its popularity, Martin planned a series of mezzotints in 1826 with similar biblical scenes, all of which are set within dramatic panoramic views of Mesopotamia. This story, from the Book of Daniel, shows the Babylonian
King Belshazzar enjoying a huge feast before being interrupted by the prophet Daniel, who foretold the death of the king because he angered God by defiling the sacred vessels and enslaving the Israelites. Indeed, Belshazzar was killed by his successor Darius later that evening. This sweeping view of Babylon fueled a keen interest in such exotic settings while these dramatic biblical stories were interpreted to reveal a range of human emotions never before expressed with such intensity. This exhibit focuses on the full range of drawing and printmaking techniques found in Europe during these two centuries that include etching, engraving, and the variants of aquatint and mezzotint. Stipple engraving was a new printmaking technique introduced in eighteenth-century England that is beautifully presented in Francesco Bartolozzi’s Young Man’s Head (1807). Bartolozzi studied first in his home town of Venice and then moved to London in 1764 to make engravings of the Royal Collection of drawings at Windsor Castle. During this time he was introduced to stipple engraving, which uses a series of short lines, dashes, and dots blended together to create a very subtle tonal richness. In 1794 Bartolozzi was the first printmaker accepted into the Royal Academy of London as a full member, which had been an honor traditionally reserved for painters. Thus, these works on paper allow the museum visitor to study not only the confluence of cultural and historical concerns expressed by these artists, but they also provide the visitor an opportunity to examine the various printmaking and drawing techniques and their beautiful artistry.
John Martin (England, 1780-1854) Belshazzar’s Feast from Illustrations to the Bible, 1826-34 Mezzotint Museum purchase, 1968
Hubert Robert (France, 1733-1808) Le Musée des Antiques (Imaginary Museum of Ancient Sculpture), ca.1800 Chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor Purchase, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Association, 2006
Jean Baptiste Claude Chatelain (France, 1710-1771) Landscape with Two Figures, ca.1800 Etching Museum purchase, 1969
Joseph Mallord William Turner (England, 1775-1851) Norham Castle on the Tweed, 1816 Mezzotint Purchase, 1982
Thomas Rowlandson (England, 1756-1827) Bug Breeders in the Dog Days, 1812 Etching Purchase, 1970
William Hogarth (England, 1697-1764) The Marriage Settlement from Marraige à la Mode, 1745 Engraving Purchase
Art created in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was historical and modern, conservative and progressive, traditional and new. This exhibit focuses on works on paper beginning in the mid-1700s when new ideas were emerging from the extensive political, intellectual, economic, and social changes that were unfolding across the continent. Political changes, precipitated in France by events such as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), led to a gradual shift away from monarchic rule toward a more democratic government. New government systems were then formed across Europe influenced by progressive ideas found in the intellectual movement called the Enlightenment, an ideology framed, in part, around a new understanding of social equality that coincided with the rebellion of the underprivileged against the feudal oppression of the ancien régime and the assertion of a new capitalist middle class in Paris. The term “enlightenment” is generally used for the liberal and humanitarian trends espoused by philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and François de Voltaire in France, but its origins can be found in the earlier rationalist advances made by seventeenth-century philosophers John Locke in England and Baruch de Spinoza in the Dutch Republic. Artists of the time were part of this community of philosophers, politicians, and art patrons, and their work reveals a visual translation of many of these ideals. Many of these cultural concerns were initially united under the stylistic and ideological banner of Neoclassicism, a self-conscious use of the study of antiquity as a way to address social concerns. The style of classicism was championed by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who was a Prussian scholar hired by Cardinal Alessandro Albani in Rome to catalogue his private collection of ancient pottery and sculpture, and from this work Winckelmann devised a classification system for classical art published in 1764 as a book entitled The History of Ancient Art. Many artists converged in Rome mid-century, including French artist Hubert Robert, who arrived in 1754 and spent the next eleven years studying first at the French Academy in Rome and then working as a painter for the emerging Grand Tour art market. Students at the French Academy were encouraged to sketch views out-of-doors rather than in the studio, and this practice helped to create a new subject called a veduta, which brought together the countryside, the cityscape, architectural views, and landscapes into one genre. Some vedute were topographically correct, while others were fanciful renditions inspired by antiquity. Robert’s Le Musée des Antiquities (1760s) is a chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor view of a building inspired by the Medici Palace in Rome that was used as the French Academy. The building is set within a garden filled with recognizable sculptures from ancient Rome, including the Column of Trajan. Works such as this were purchased by a new set of patrons that included tourists from across Europe who congregated in Rome to explore antiquity. Neoclassicism, however, was more than the art style of classical antiquity, but it was a highly theoretical political and cultural movement created by an international group of scholars working in Rome that then spread across Europe and ultimately brought together seemingly disparate issues such as the formation of high moral character through political ideals such as party loyalty, unity, truthfulness, and patriotism. English artist William Hogarth then responded to what he saw as the pitfalls of modern society in his series of prints entitled Marriage A-La-Mode (1743-45), which consists of six scenes that detail the life and failings of a young, impoverished aristocrat who was married to the daughter of a wealthy merchant in exchange for a title. Such narratives
tell through humorous moralizing caricatures the evils of arranged marriages and other corrupted social aspirations. Thus, Hogarth’s works reveal a satirical view of the ills of English society that were created primarily for a new group of art patrons, members of the enlightened middle class, who defined a new set of social values different from those of the aristocracy. Spanish artist Francisco de Goya responded to similar concerns found in late eighteenth-century Spanish society. Revolt against King Carlos IV, who reintroduced the Inquisition in order to block the progressive ideals of the French philosophers from entering Spain, was followed by Napoleon’s conquest of Spain in 1808, and then the restoration of the monarchy as a form of nationalism. Goya’s disillusionment with such flawed political systems fueled his darker images of human foibles, seen in his engraving Los Chinchillas, which is from a series of eighty prints called Los Caprichos, published together in 1799. A man, blindfolded, bears the large ears of a chinchilla, a South American rodent known for its soft fur that was a popular import among the Spanish aristocracy. The man spoon feeds another man who has a padlock on his head while another with a padlocked head reclines at the feet of the pair, dozing with his eyes closed and his mouth open. For Goya, the padlocked brain is closed to the truth, while chinchillas were a common slang reference to the nobility at this time. Thus, Goya’s works are a form of social provocation that did not idealize the past or create humorous messages, but instead he revealed the dark and terrible side of human nature that came from a society that, according to him, did not respond to reason or civility. The recognition of these strong human sentiments, which lie at the core of our very being, provoked further questions about what it means to be human. Scholars concluded that such sentiments cannot always be codified because they defy rational thought, and these ideas are reflected in the art of the next generation of artists, who are often called the Romanticists. Romanticism can be seen as an intellectual shift that occurred at the end of the eighteenth century based in part on the observation that codified and consistent responses are not always possible given the great diversity of ideas found in society. This observation can be traced to the lingering effects of the abolition of aristocratic rule, which did not immediately result in an anticipated clear future path, but instead such dramatic societal changes often provoked even more questions, even more social turbulence. Romanticism was found in a new type of art and literature that sought a fuller range of human emotion, expression, and experience. Many of those experiences extended beyond the classical expression of ideas and lay outside the realms of ancient Greece and Rome to encompass areas of the world deemed “exotic” by European standards. Romanticism was steeped in questions, then, as scholars could see that no single answer, no one solution, existed for how to shape individual and communal experiences. During this time, religious beliefs were also reassessed based upon these new standards, which can be seen in English artist John Martin’s fascination with the biblical stories that reveal God’s powerful wrath set in the vast, exotic places of Mesopotamia. His epic narratives are nearly as cinematic in scope, which can be seen in his Belshazzar’s Feast, a mezzotint that is from a series of 20 prints called Illustrations to the Bible that were published together in 1835. Martin had exhibited a large oil painting of this same subject earlier in his career at the British Institution in 1821 where it became so popular that a railing had to be built in front of the painting to protect it from the crowds. Because of its popularity, Martin planned a series of mezzotints in 1826 with similar biblical scenes, all of which are set within dramatic panoramic views of Mesopotamia. This story, from the Book of Daniel, shows the Babylonian
King Belshazzar enjoying a huge feast before being interrupted by the prophet Daniel, who foretold the death of the king because he angered God by defiling the sacred vessels and enslaving the Israelites. Indeed, Belshazzar was killed by his successor Darius later that evening. This sweeping view of Babylon fueled a keen interest in such exotic settings while these dramatic biblical stories were interpreted to reveal a range of human emotions never before expressed with such intensity. This exhibit focuses on the full range of drawing and printmaking techniques found in Europe during these two centuries that include etching, engraving, and the variants of aquatint and mezzotint. Stipple engraving was a new printmaking technique introduced in eighteenth-century England that is beautifully presented in Francesco Bartolozzi’s Young Man’s Head (1807). Bartolozzi studied first in his home town of Venice and then moved to London in 1764 to make engravings of the Royal Collection of drawings at Windsor Castle. During this time he was introduced to stipple engraving, which uses a series of short lines, dashes, and dots blended together to create a very subtle tonal richness. In 1794 Bartolozzi was the first printmaker accepted into the Royal Academy of London as a full member, which had been an honor traditionally reserved for painters. Thus, these works on paper allow the museum visitor to study not only the confluence of cultural and historical concerns expressed by these artists, but they also provide the visitor an opportunity to examine the various printmaking and drawing techniques and their beautiful artistry.
John Martin (England, 1780-1854) Belshazzar’s Feast from Illustrations to the Bible, 1826-34 Mezzotint Museum purchase, 1968
Hubert Robert (France, 1733-1808) Le Musée des Antiques (Imaginary Museum of Ancient Sculpture), ca.1800 Chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor Purchase, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Association, 2006
Jean Baptiste Claude Chatelain (France, 1710-1771) Landscape with Two Figures, ca.1800 Etching Museum purchase, 1969
Joseph Mallord William Turner (England, 1775-1851) Norham Castle on the Tweed, 1816 Mezzotint Purchase, 1982
Thomas Rowlandson (England, 1756-1827) Bug Breeders in the Dog Days, 1812 Etching Purchase, 1970
William Hogarth (England, 1697-1764) The Marriage Settlement from Marraige à la Mode, 1745 Engraving Purchase
Art created in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was historical and modern, conservative and progressive, traditional and new. This exhibit focuses on works on paper beginning in the mid-1700s when new ideas were emerging from the extensive political, intellectual, economic, and social changes that were unfolding across the continent. Political changes, precipitated in France by events such as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), led to a gradual shift away from monarchic rule toward a more democratic government. New government systems were then formed across Europe influenced by progressive ideas found in the intellectual movement called the Enlightenment, an ideology framed, in part, around a new understanding of social equality that coincided with the rebellion of the underprivileged against the feudal oppression of the ancien régime and the assertion of a new capitalist middle class in Paris. The term “enlightenment” is generally used for the liberal and humanitarian trends espoused by philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and François de Voltaire in France, but its origins can be found in the earlier rationalist advances made by seventeenth-century philosophers John Locke in England and Baruch de Spinoza in the Dutch Republic. Artists of the time were part of this community of philosophers, politicians, and art patrons, and their work reveals a visual translation of many of these ideals. Many of these cultural concerns were initially united under the stylistic and ideological banner of Neoclassicism, a self-conscious use of the study of antiquity as a way to address social concerns. The style of classicism was championed by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who was a Prussian scholar hired by Cardinal Alessandro Albani in Rome to catalogue his private collection of ancient pottery and sculpture, and from this work Winckelmann devised a classification system for classical art published in 1764 as a book entitled The History of Ancient Art. Many artists converged in Rome mid-century, including French artist Hubert Robert, who arrived in 1754 and spent the next eleven years studying first at the French Academy in Rome and then working as a painter for the emerging Grand Tour art market. Students at the French Academy were encouraged to sketch views out-of-doors rather than in the studio, and this practice helped to create a new subject called a veduta, which brought together the countryside, the cityscape, architectural views, and landscapes into one genre. Some vedute were topographically correct, while others were fanciful renditions inspired by antiquity. Robert’s Le Musée des Antiquities (1760s) is a chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor view of a building inspired by the Medici Palace in Rome that was used as the French Academy. The building is set within a garden filled with recognizable sculptures from ancient Rome, including the Column of Trajan. Works such as this were purchased by a new set of patrons that included tourists from across Europe who congregated in Rome to explore antiquity. Neoclassicism, however, was more than the art style of classical antiquity, but it was a highly theoretical political and cultural movement created by an international group of scholars working in Rome that then spread across Europe and ultimately brought together seemingly disparate issues such as the formation of high moral character through political ideals such as party loyalty, unity, truthfulness, and patriotism. English artist William Hogarth then responded to what he saw as the pitfalls of modern society in his series of prints entitled Marriage A-La-Mode (1743-45), which consists of six scenes that detail the life and failings of a young, impoverished aristocrat who was married to the daughter of a wealthy merchant in exchange for a title. Such narratives
tell through humorous moralizing caricatures the evils of arranged marriages and other corrupted social aspirations. Thus, Hogarth’s works reveal a satirical view of the ills of English society that were created primarily for a new group of art patrons, members of the enlightened middle class, who defined a new set of social values different from those of the aristocracy. Spanish artist Francisco de Goya responded to similar concerns found in late eighteenth-century Spanish society. Revolt against King Carlos IV, who reintroduced the Inquisition in order to block the progressive ideals of the French philosophers from entering Spain, was followed by Napoleon’s conquest of Spain in 1808, and then the restoration of the monarchy as a form of nationalism. Goya’s disillusionment with such flawed political systems fueled his darker images of human foibles, seen in his engraving Los Chinchillas, which is from a series of eighty prints called Los Caprichos, published together in 1799. A man, blindfolded, bears the large ears of a chinchilla, a South American rodent known for its soft fur that was a popular import among the Spanish aristocracy. The man spoon feeds another man who has a padlock on his head while another with a padlocked head reclines at the feet of the pair, dozing with his eyes closed and his mouth open. For Goya, the padlocked brain is closed to the truth, while chinchillas were a common slang reference to the nobility at this time. Thus, Goya’s works are a form of social provocation that did not idealize the past or create humorous messages, but instead he revealed the dark and terrible side of human nature that came from a society that, according to him, did not respond to reason or civility. The recognition of these strong human sentiments, which lie at the core of our very being, provoked further questions about what it means to be human. Scholars concluded that such sentiments cannot always be codified because they defy rational thought, and these ideas are reflected in the art of the next generation of artists, who are often called the Romanticists. Romanticism can be seen as an intellectual shift that occurred at the end of the eighteenth century based in part on the observation that codified and consistent responses are not always possible given the great diversity of ideas found in society. This observation can be traced to the lingering effects of the abolition of aristocratic rule, which did not immediately result in an anticipated clear future path, but instead such dramatic societal changes often provoked even more questions, even more social turbulence. Romanticism was found in a new type of art and literature that sought a fuller range of human emotion, expression, and experience. Many of those experiences extended beyond the classical expression of ideas and lay outside the realms of ancient Greece and Rome to encompass areas of the world deemed “exotic” by European standards. Romanticism was steeped in questions, then, as scholars could see that no single answer, no one solution, existed for how to shape individual and communal experiences. During this time, religious beliefs were also reassessed based upon these new standards, which can be seen in English artist John Martin’s fascination with the biblical stories that reveal God’s powerful wrath set in the vast, exotic places of Mesopotamia. His epic narratives are nearly as cinematic in scope, which can be seen in his Belshazzar’s Feast, a mezzotint that is from a series of 20 prints called Illustrations to the Bible that were published together in 1835. Martin had exhibited a large oil painting of this same subject earlier in his career at the British Institution in 1821 where it became so popular that a railing had to be built in front of the painting to protect it from the crowds. Because of its popularity, Martin planned a series of mezzotints in 1826 with similar biblical scenes, all of which are set within dramatic panoramic views of Mesopotamia. This story, from the Book of Daniel, shows the Babylonian
King Belshazzar enjoying a huge feast before being interrupted by the prophet Daniel, who foretold the death of the king because he angered God by defiling the sacred vessels and enslaving the Israelites. Indeed, Belshazzar was killed by his successor Darius later that evening. This sweeping view of Babylon fueled a keen interest in such exotic settings while these dramatic biblical stories were interpreted to reveal a range of human emotions never before expressed with such intensity. This exhibit focuses on the full range of drawing and printmaking techniques found in Europe during these two centuries that include etching, engraving, and the variants of aquatint and mezzotint. Stipple engraving was a new printmaking technique introduced in eighteenth-century England that is beautifully presented in Francesco Bartolozzi’s Young Man’s Head (1807). Bartolozzi studied first in his home town of Venice and then moved to London in 1764 to make engravings of the Royal Collection of drawings at Windsor Castle. During this time he was introduced to stipple engraving, which uses a series of short lines, dashes, and dots blended together to create a very subtle tonal richness. In 1794 Bartolozzi was the first printmaker accepted into the Royal Academy of London as a full member, which had been an honor traditionally reserved for painters. Thus, these works on paper allow the museum visitor to study not only the confluence of cultural and historical concerns expressed by these artists, but they also provide the visitor an opportunity to examine the various printmaking and drawing techniques and their beautiful artistry.
John Martin (England, 1780-1854) Belshazzar’s Feast from Illustrations to the Bible, 1826-34 Mezzotint Museum purchase, 1968
Hubert Robert (France, 1733-1808) Le Musée des Antiques (Imaginary Museum of Ancient Sculpture), ca.1800 Chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor Purchase, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Association, 2006
Jean Baptiste Claude Chatelain (France, 1710-1771) Landscape with Two Figures, ca.1800 Etching Museum purchase, 1969
Joseph Mallord William Turner (England, 1775-1851) Norham Castle on the Tweed, 1816 Mezzotint Purchase, 1982
Thomas Rowlandson (England, 1756-1827) Bug Breeders in the Dog Days, 1812 Etching Purchase, 1970
William Hogarth (England, 1697-1764) The Marriage Settlement from Marraige à la Mode, 1745 Engraving Purchase
Art created in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was historical and modern, conservative and progressive, traditional and new. This exhibit focuses on works on paper beginning in the mid-1700s when new ideas were emerging from the extensive political, intellectual, economic, and social changes that were unfolding across the continent. Political changes, precipitated in France by events such as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), led to a gradual shift away from monarchic rule toward a more democratic government. New government systems were then formed across Europe influenced by progressive ideas found in the intellectual movement called the Enlightenment, an ideology framed, in part, around a new understanding of social equality that coincided with the rebellion of the underprivileged against the feudal oppression of the ancien régime and the assertion of a new capitalist middle class in Paris. The term “enlightenment” is generally used for the liberal and humanitarian trends espoused by philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and François de Voltaire in France, but its origins can be found in the earlier rationalist advances made by seventeenth-century philosophers John Locke in England and Baruch de Spinoza in the Dutch Republic. Artists of the time were part of this community of philosophers, politicians, and art patrons, and their work reveals a visual translation of many of these ideals. Many of these cultural concerns were initially united under the stylistic and ideological banner of Neoclassicism, a self-conscious use of the study of antiquity as a way to address social concerns. The style of classicism was championed by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who was a Prussian scholar hired by Cardinal Alessandro Albani in Rome to catalogue his private collection of ancient pottery and sculpture, and from this work Winckelmann devised a classification system for classical art published in 1764 as a book entitled The History of Ancient Art. Many artists converged in Rome mid-century, including French artist Hubert Robert, who arrived in 1754 and spent the next eleven years studying first at the French Academy in Rome and then working as a painter for the emerging Grand Tour art market. Students at the French Academy were encouraged to sketch views out-of-doors rather than in the studio, and this practice helped to create a new subject called a veduta, which brought together the countryside, the cityscape, architectural views, and landscapes into one genre. Some vedute were topographically correct, while others were fanciful renditions inspired by antiquity. Robert’s Le Musée des Antiquities (1760s) is a chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor view of a building inspired by the Medici Palace in Rome that was used as the French Academy. The building is set within a garden filled with recognizable sculptures from ancient Rome, including the Column of Trajan. Works such as this were purchased by a new set of patrons that included tourists from across Europe who congregated in Rome to explore antiquity. Neoclassicism, however, was more than the art style of classical antiquity, but it was a highly theoretical political and cultural movement created by an international group of scholars working in Rome that then spread across Europe and ultimately brought together seemingly disparate issues such as the formation of high moral character through political ideals such as party loyalty, unity, truthfulness, and patriotism. English artist William Hogarth then responded to what he saw as the pitfalls of modern society in his series of prints entitled Marriage A-La-Mode (1743-45), which consists of six scenes that detail the life and failings of a young, impoverished aristocrat who was married to the daughter of a wealthy merchant in exchange for a title. Such narratives
tell through humorous moralizing caricatures the evils of arranged marriages and other corrupted social aspirations. Thus, Hogarth’s works reveal a satirical view of the ills of English society that were created primarily for a new group of art patrons, members of the enlightened middle class, who defined a new set of social values different from those of the aristocracy. Spanish artist Francisco de Goya responded to similar concerns found in late eighteenth-century Spanish society. Revolt against King Carlos IV, who reintroduced the Inquisition in order to block the progressive ideals of the French philosophers from entering Spain, was followed by Napoleon’s conquest of Spain in 1808, and then the restoration of the monarchy as a form of nationalism. Goya’s disillusionment with such flawed political systems fueled his darker images of human foibles, seen in his engraving Los Chinchillas, which is from a series of eighty prints called Los Caprichos, published together in 1799. A man, blindfolded, bears the large ears of a chinchilla, a South American rodent known for its soft fur that was a popular import among the Spanish aristocracy. The man spoon feeds another man who has a padlock on his head while another with a padlocked head reclines at the feet of the pair, dozing with his eyes closed and his mouth open. For Goya, the padlocked brain is closed to the truth, while chinchillas were a common slang reference to the nobility at this time. Thus, Goya’s works are a form of social provocation that did not idealize the past or create humorous messages, but instead he revealed the dark and terrible side of human nature that came from a society that, according to him, did not respond to reason or civility. The recognition of these strong human sentiments, which lie at the core of our very being, provoked further questions about what it means to be human. Scholars concluded that such sentiments cannot always be codified because they defy rational thought, and these ideas are reflected in the art of the next generation of artists, who are often called the Romanticists. Romanticism can be seen as an intellectual shift that occurred at the end of the eighteenth century based in part on the observation that codified and consistent responses are not always possible given the great diversity of ideas found in society. This observation can be traced to the lingering effects of the abolition of aristocratic rule, which did not immediately result in an anticipated clear future path, but instead such dramatic societal changes often provoked even more questions, even more social turbulence. Romanticism was found in a new type of art and literature that sought a fuller range of human emotion, expression, and experience. Many of those experiences extended beyond the classical expression of ideas and lay outside the realms of ancient Greece and Rome to encompass areas of the world deemed “exotic” by European standards. Romanticism was steeped in questions, then, as scholars could see that no single answer, no one solution, existed for how to shape individual and communal experiences. During this time, religious beliefs were also reassessed based upon these new standards, which can be seen in English artist John Martin’s fascination with the biblical stories that reveal God’s powerful wrath set in the vast, exotic places of Mesopotamia. His epic narratives are nearly as cinematic in scope, which can be seen in his Belshazzar’s Feast, a mezzotint that is from a series of 20 prints called Illustrations to the Bible that were published together in 1835. Martin had exhibited a large oil painting of this same subject earlier in his career at the British Institution in 1821 where it became so popular that a railing had to be built in front of the painting to protect it from the crowds. Because of its popularity, Martin planned a series of mezzotints in 1826 with similar biblical scenes, all of which are set within dramatic panoramic views of Mesopotamia. This story, from the Book of Daniel, shows the Babylonian
King Belshazzar enjoying a huge feast before being interrupted by the prophet Daniel, who foretold the death of the king because he angered God by defiling the sacred vessels and enslaving the Israelites. Indeed, Belshazzar was killed by his successor Darius later that evening. This sweeping view of Babylon fueled a keen interest in such exotic settings while these dramatic biblical stories were interpreted to reveal a range of human emotions never before expressed with such intensity. This exhibit focuses on the full range of drawing and printmaking techniques found in Europe during these two centuries that include etching, engraving, and the variants of aquatint and mezzotint. Stipple engraving was a new printmaking technique introduced in eighteenth-century England that is beautifully presented in Francesco Bartolozzi’s Young Man’s Head (1807). Bartolozzi studied first in his home town of Venice and then moved to London in 1764 to make engravings of the Royal Collection of drawings at Windsor Castle. During this time he was introduced to stipple engraving, which uses a series of short lines, dashes, and dots blended together to create a very subtle tonal richness. In 1794 Bartolozzi was the first printmaker accepted into the Royal Academy of London as a full member, which had been an honor traditionally reserved for painters. Thus, these works on paper allow the museum visitor to study not only the confluence of cultural and historical concerns expressed by these artists, but they also provide the visitor an opportunity to examine the various printmaking and drawing techniques and their beautiful artistry.
John Martin (England, 1780-1854) Belshazzar’s Feast from Illustrations to the Bible, 1826-34 Mezzotint Museum purchase, 1968
Hubert Robert (France, 1733-1808) Le Musée des Antiques (Imaginary Museum of Ancient Sculpture), ca.1800 Chalk, pen and ink, and watercolor Purchase, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Association, 2006
Jean Baptiste Claude Chatelain (France, 1710-1771) Landscape with Two Figures, ca.1800 Etching Museum purchase, 1969
Joseph Mallord William Turner (England, 1775-1851) Norham Castle on the Tweed, 1816 Mezzotint Purchase, 1982
Thomas Rowlandson (England, 1756-1827) Bug Breeders in the Dog Days, 1812 Etching Purchase, 1970
William Hogarth (England, 1697-1764) The Marriage Settlement from Marraige à la Mode, 1745 Engraving Purchase
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The University of Oklahoma 555 Elm Avenue Norman, OK 73019 www.ou.edu/fjjma
Left Panel: Francisco Jose de Goya (Spain, 1746-1828) Los Chinchillas from Los Caprichos, 1799 Etching Gift, the Carnegie Corporation, prior to 1932-33
Right Panel: Luigi Calamatta (Italy, 1802-1869) Portrait of Henriette Taurel, Née Thévenin, 1833 Chalk Purchase, Bea Carr Wallace Acquisition Fund, 2011
Inside Left: William Blake (England, 1757-1827) Book of Job, Plate 6, 1826 Engraving Purchase, 1963
Cover: Francesco Bartolozzi (Italy, 1727-1815) Young Man’s Head, 1807 Engraving Purchase, 1981
Neoclassicism to Romanticism: 18th–19th Century Works on Paper
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The University of Oklahoma 555 Elm Avenue Norman, OK 73019 www.ou.edu/fjjma
Left Panel: Francisco Jose de Goya (Spain, 1746-1828) Los Chinchillas from Los Caprichos, 1799 Etching Gift, the Carnegie Corporation, prior to 1932-33
Right Panel: Luigi Calamatta (Italy, 1802-1869) Portrait of Henriette Taurel, Née Thévenin, 1833 Chalk Purchase, Bea Carr Wallace Acquisition Fund, 2011
Inside Left: William Blake (England, 1757-1827) Book of Job, Plate 6, 1826 Engraving Purchase, 1963
Cover: Francesco Bartolozzi (Italy, 1727-1815) Young Man’s Head, 1807 Engraving Purchase, 1981
Neoclassicism to Romanticism: 18th–19th Century Works on Paper