WEEK 11 Nineteenth Century Art Overview

Major Points

Nineteenth-century art was centered in and driven by a small number of major urban centers; foremost among these was Paris. The power and influence of the Academic system of art instruction grew throughout the first half of the century, affecting the careers of most professionally-minded artists and the expectations of critics and the public.

In the latter decades of the century the Academy found its hold on the art world slowly weakening as alternative avenues for artistic success arose. This increasingly frenetic cultural atmosphere proved synergistic but extremely challenging for artists, resulting in an ever quickening succession of extra- or counter-Academic art movements—Romanticism Links to an external site., Realism Links to an external site., Impressionism Links to an external site., Post-Impressionism Links to an external site., etc.

European and American artists were affected by the Industrial Revolution Links to an external site. in two main ways. On the one hand, they exhibited a reverent—at times, even, a spiritualizing—attitude toward nature, the landscape and mankind's relationship with the natural world. On the other, artists expressed an intense excitement about the character and swiftening pace of urban life, creating works that were often celebratory. As the century wore on, artists were more and more critical of the effects of urbanization, in response to the waning of traditional cultural values. As the century drew to a close, a relatively new, highly emotional theme—nostalgia—found favor among many artists, who reflected a wistful attitude of withdrawal from modernity in such movements as Symbolism Links to an external site., Aestheticism Links to an external site., and Decadence Links to an external site..

The art of the nineteenth century reflected the increasing importance of regionality and nationhood. The art world began to recognize specific themes and styles as distinctively "German," "French" or "Hungarian," and this recognition allowed in turn for the gradual integration of outlying regions of Europe within the artistic cultural milieu of the major urban centers (Paris, London, etc.)

Western art was slowly becoming better attuned to non-western ways of seeing. Increasing contact with non-western visual cultures and improvements in trans-continental travel set the stage for a deeper sensitivity to global perspectives among western artists in the early years of the twentieth century.

Key Works