Uncover the philosophical undercurrents that propel a century of artistic revolution, jolting cutting-edge French art from the calm elegance of David's Madame Recamier (1800) to the psychedelic world of Matisse's Luxe, Calme, et Volupte (1904). How? By looking at 18 leading artists through the lens of their paintings and of their writings on several hotly debated topics in the 19th-century art world.
Seismic Shifts is essential for understanding specific artists such as Monet, movements such as Romanticism and Impressionism, and more broadly, how abstract philosophical ideas "translate" into art.The issues: 1) In creating an artwork, is reason or emotion more important? 2) Is style more important than subject? 3) Is rigorous training necessary - or even desirable - for an artist? 4) Who is competent to judge artworks?
Styles covered: Neoclassicists, Romantics, Naturalists, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Pointillists, Symbolists, and Academics
Artists discussed: David, Ingres, Corot, Gros, Gericault, Delacroix, Millet, Courbet, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat, Moreau, Bourguereau
Art critics included: Baudelaire, Ruskin, Zola
