Jean-Honore Fragonard: The Musical Contest

Jean-Honore Fragonard, (1732-1806), was a noteworthy master of French Rococo painting. In 1752, Fragonard won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy. His clients were mainly of aristocratic background and Fragonard painted and decorated interiors to suite their taste. The Swing is one of my favorite paintings that he has made in 1767. Another beautiful painting that Fragonard made earlier, in 1754 is called The Musical Contest. The Musical Contest is depicted in oil on a 62 x 74 cm canvas.

The Musical Contest takes place in a garden with a stone urn and a decoratively carved fountain on one side. The garden is filled with lush foliage that can be seen throughout the painting. In the center of the painting, we can see "a beautiful and elegantly dressed young girl, holding a parasol, who is depicted at the moment of choice between two prospective suitors." Both of the suitors are attempting to win the girls affection through their skills as musicians. The young man on her left, holding a flute in his hand, tries to get the girls attention by grasping her around the waist. To the girl’s right, another suitor gazes adoringly at her, while playing on his musette. The musette was popular between the patrons at the time the painting was made and Fragonard chose it to be the musical instrument in this narrative. The girls' right hand is stretched out above the young man below her and it appears that she is about to place the garland of pink flowers on his head. Her expression is that of a person that is confused before making a very important decision in her life. She looks like she is debating and weighing each suitor in her mind to see which one she likes most.

In The Musical Contest the light, falling from the top left corner of the painting, illuminates the white flesh of the girls breasts, propositioning an image of unrestrained sensuality. "In his almost prying representation of young lovers, Fragonard follows the precedent set by Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), who established the Rococo genre of the fête galante, a theatrical depiction of love in an arcadian setting." The theatricality of Fragonard’s subject is evident in the sweeping gestures of the female figure and the carefully arranged composition which draws our eye towards her. 


Works Cited:
http://www.wallacecollection.org/whatson/treasure/11

David v. David

The Baroque period of the seventeenth century had both, incorporated as well as rejected Renaissance ideals into their art. Although it still focused on making idealized, natural, and humanistic artworks, Baroque art was also made in a way to deliberately bring out intense emotional responses from the viewers. The lighting, rich visual colors, composition and diagonal movement in space, are some of the most evident details telling us about the intent of the artwork. The art was more dramatic and moving than Classical art. We can see the difference of art from two different eras in the difference between two statues of David. One of the statues was made in 1501 by Michelangelo, and the other David statue was made in 1623 by Gianlorenzo Bernini.

Michelangelo's David statue is that of a strong, confident young man. In its muscular nudity, this David embodies the antique ideal of the athletic male nude. Being in a relaxed pose with a slingshot over his shoulder, the concentrated gaze of David tells us of the emotional part of the figure. Michelangelo's David knits his brow and is staring into space, seemingly preparing himself psychologically for the battle ahead of him. This David statue is very peaceful to look at and it feels like the strongest emotion that it can bring out in a viewer is curiosity.

Gianlorenzo Bernini's David was made with a different type of three-dimensional composition that seems to be forcefully thrust into a viewers space. This young hero is bent at the waist and twists far to one side ready to throw the rock at Goliath. Unlike Michelangelo's preoccupied young man contemplating the task ahead of him, Bernini's more mature David, with his lean, athletic body, tightly clenched mouth, and straining muscles, is all about tension, action and determination." (Stockstad p.716) By creating a twisting figure caught in movement, Bernini incorporates the surrounding space within his composition, making the viewer almost feel the presence of an unseen attacker behind them.  This makes the viewer become part of the action scene rather than just an observer and can bring out the emotion of fear.

By comparing the two figures of David, we can see the difference of the Classical art and Baroque art. Both statues are the ideal of male form in a natural setting rather than posed, but at the same time, each statue shows us a very different approach to the situation. Michelangelo's David is all about confidence, focus and controlled emotion. In contrast, Bernini's David is all about dramatic action and determination. These are just some of the differences in the statues that enables us to tell that they are both from different artistic periods.

Art of Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer's artworks are known for having some kind of religious scene depicted in them. A lot of the style in his works was impacted by Italian art from the Renaissance Period. One of Dürer's art works that I wanted to discuss is called  Self-Portrait, painted oil on wood panel in 1500. The portrait is of Dürer himself at age 28.

The first thing that I noticed when looking at this portrait, is the striking resemblance that it has to earlier paintings of Christ. It was popular for artists at that time to paint images of themselves, exactly as they were. Dürer on the other hand, made some alterations to this image so that it would more closely resemble the stories of Christ's physical appearance. He had changed the hair color and painted himself in a straightforward frontal pose, a pose that was popular for depicting the image of Christ in Northern Europe. This Self-Portrait and it's resemblance to the Christ paintings is a way in which Dürer shows the viewer that artists are also "learned and creative geniuses, perhaps God-like, not laboring craftsman." (p. 677 Stockstad)

Before the completion of Self-Portrait, Dürer had traveled to Italy and encountered many new artists. Perhaps that is why his painting has that feel of Italian art. First of all, we notice that the painting is made in a triangular composition, which was popular with High Renaissance art. We can also see the Northern European style in the many different textures of the painting. The soft finish of the human flesh seems like it was the focal point of the painting. The wetness of the eyes, glistening in the light, look like it can be felt when touching the painting. The dismal softness of the clothes, look very rich and royal, which I assume is very soft. Lastly, the tangible quality of his hair is very defined and encourages the viewer to "feel" it. In fact, all of the textures in this painting could be felt at the same time as they are being looked at. Everything looks so realistic.

The two main parts of the portrait that seem to stand out the most, are the artists hand, and the face because of the soft glow of light on them. The reason why the artist might have emphasized these two body parts could be because they were the two things that gave him fame and he was most proud of. The craftiness of his hands to do such amazing artworks, working together with the brilliance of his mind to come up with such ideas and to make them become visual and realistic.