Romantic Era Blog

For this Romantic Era blog, two styles that I have found to my liking are Romanticism and Art Nouveau. These two styles have things that I have found very interesting, and the painting were always so lovely in my eyes. The first two artworks I want to represent are "Zodiaque ("La Plume")" by Alphonse Marie Mucha for the Art Nouveau style and "Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds" by John Constable for the Romanticism style.

This first Art Nouveau art is called "Zodiaque ("La Plume")" which was created in 1896-1897 in a 63x47 cm (24 13/16x18 9/16 in.) Color lithograph from multiple stones on tan wove paper. When this design was created it was supposed to be for an in-house calendar for the company, Champenois, that Alphonse Mucha works under. Of course, this changed when chief editor, Leon Deschamps, of the 'La Plume' magazine bought the right to put it on the magazines 1897 calendar. Which then on "The Zodiaque" (The Zodiac) became one of the most popular designs ever created.

    When looking at this Zodiac design, the first thing you would notice is the blond-haired woman, who is at the center of the art piece. The jewels she wears on top of her hair, looks like a crown that you would think she is someone from a higher status in a society. The second would be the twelve signs of the Zodiac behind her back which looks like a stain glass window. Although this design is filled with different colors, it seems to be surrounded by warm yellow-orange color, like the colors were topped with summer aura color. With the whole picture surrounding plants, flowers, decorative boarders, and very detailed lines, it adds a godlier look to it, like what we are drawn is actually a goddess of some sort.

This art piece is called "Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Ground" which was made in 1823 on an 87.6x111.8 cm (34.5x44.0 in.) oil on canvas and its current location is in Victoria & Albert Museum, London. "Constable started work on the paintings in 1820, on the commission of John Fisher, the bishop of Salisbury, and his close friend." (Gurney, “Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds by John Constable”). This painting of the cathedral isn't the only one painted as it also has another painted in a different perspective called "Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows".

 

    What I love about this painting is how it looks like to be something you would stumble upon when traveling through the woods. "The arch of the trees encompassing the cathedral spire and frames in a perfect manner, and the light shades of the cathedral add a magical touch to the painting." (Gurney, “Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds by John Constable”). Another thing I love about this painting is how 3D it looks because of how and where the shadings are placed within the trees, while the light involves more in the background where the cathedral and the sky is shown. The addition of the lake only made the art piece come to life because it reflects the light cathedral.

The second two artworks I would like to represent are "The Mirror of Love" by Aubrey Beardsley for the Art Nouveau and "Shields, on the River Tyne" by Joseph Mallord William Turner. When I picked out these two artworks, I didn't even notice until later on that it looks and felt different from the first two artworks that I picked. The top two art pieces looked to represent the light, while the bottom art pieces seem to represent the darkness.

This art piece is called "The Mirror of Love" which was made 1895 but finished and published in 1898.  "In the pantheon of artists who bridge this paradox, whose work functions demonstrably as both window and mirror, few offer more delicious, perilous rewards than Aubrey Beardsley." (“Mirror and Window Both: The Brief Superabundance of Aubrey Beardsley”). This came from a saying of Oscar Wilde, "If those who go beneath the surface and read the symbol do so at their peril" and so looking at the other art pieces that Beardsley drew, a lot of them are something very dark but also meaningful.

    This is the first time I have seen a portrait involving only black and white, but the thing for me is that the paper looked more yellow than white, but I guess that's what paper looked like in that era. What is very interesting about this piece is that the while piece looks like a table decoration, with the two candle lights on each side of the center piece. The center piece is a male angel inside a black heart which made the theme of the art piece sense. I love how very detailed Beardsley put on this piece, just like his other art pieces, but this piece is what got my attention the most because the others I see are gruesome.

This last piece is called "Shields, on the River Tyne" which was created by Joseph Mallord William Tuner (1775-1851) on a 154x216 mm. This art piece has captured the a part of "Rivers of England", which is said to be one of the most iconic rivers in the UK that stretches around 73 miles in length. I would suggest that looking at this website to look at the black and white version, which would give more details (“Shields, on the River Tyne | Works of Art | RA Collection | Royal Academy of Arts”).

    What got my attention when I found this art piece was the bright moonlight shining the night sky. Although it is something small and there are other things that can capture other people's eyes, the moonlight in the sky and reflection on the river gives the entire piece a mysterious atmosphere. In this watercolor art piece, the most noticeable thing about the colors used is that it looked like there is only two colors presents. The blue color for the sky, and brown for the light that the figures in the right are using. Even though in the original piece, the whole picture was done in black and white color, which I would think that charcoal was used. 

Although this blog was about talking and showing about the two styles I liked and the other two styles that isn't my favorite, all four art pieces has shown me their own ways of art. If I was to pick which style is my favorite, then I would say it is the first two art pieces on the top, then the bottom just because it is more of my favorite art styles and how light it looks. I would also probably own a copy of the "Zodiaque" just because I am one who is obsessed with these kinds of things, and I love how beautiful the design was.

Resources: 

Aubrey Beardsley. “The Mirror of Love.” Victoria & Albert Museum, 1895, collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O740377/the-mirror-of-love-drawing-aubrey-beardsley/#object-details. Accessed 26 Mar. 2024.

Gurney, Tom. “Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds by John Constable.” Www.thehistoryofart.org, 14 Oct. 2023, www.thehistoryofart.org/john-constable/salisbury-cathedral/.

Gurney, Tom. “Zodiac by Alphonse Mucha.” Www.thehistoryofart.org, 14 Oct. 2023, www.thehistoryofart.org/alphonse-mucha/zodiac/.

“Mirror and Window Both: The Brief Superabundance of Aubrey Beardsley.” Literary Hub, 16 Feb. 2023, lithub.com/mirror-and-window-both-the-brief-superabundance-of-aubrey-beardsley/.

Tate. “‘Shields, on the River Tyne’, Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1823.” Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-shields-on-the-river-tyne-d18155.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop’s Grounds.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Cathedral_from_the_Bishop%27s_Grounds.

“Zodiaque (‘La Plume’).” The Art Institute of Chicago, www.artic.edu/artworks/111986/zodiaque-la-plume.