Nineteenth Century European Painting by ACC Art Books

From Barbizon to Belle Époque Nineteenth Century

EUROPEAN PAINTING WILLIAM RAU

Plate 19.9 Giovanni Boldini, Portrait of Princess Cécile Murat (née Ney d’Elchingen), 1910 Oil on canvas, 94in. high x 511⁄4in. wide Private Collection / © Christie’s Images, Ltd. In this stunning portrait, Giovanni Boldini captured an amazingly ethereal likeness of the Princess Cécile Murat Ney d’Elchingen. The Princess, herself a descendant of Russian royalty, married Joachim Napoléon Murat, Fifth Prince Murat, a descendant of the BonaparteMurat family, and thereby becoming a notable member of Parisian royalty. By the time Boldini painted this portrait, he was already considered a master rivaled only by the great American painter John Singer Sargent. Thus his portraits, imbued with animated brushstrokes and intense colors, were commissioned by only the wealthiest European families.

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IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING

Notably, attendance at the Refusés exhibition was actually greater than that witnessed at the official Salon. This was not, however, necessarily a signal of success. Many visitors attended the off-shoot exhibition with the sole intention of laughing at “bad” art. Furthermore, the number of works displayed was rather paltry. Many artists, fearing their participation in the Salon des Réfusés would elicit retribution from the Salon jury in the future, chose to safeguard their careers and thus pulled their paintings from the show. Most of the visitors to the Salon des Réfusés left with the sense that this was all just a farce. The art critics of the day, however, left somewhat inspired. In support of an artistic shake up, they began writing in praise of the independents and questioned the tired, redundant path the Académie had taken. Once this critic’s bold words took hold, the art public increasingly took them to heart. Attention turned to the Académie and, suddenly thrust under public scrutiny, the institution that had governed artistic training for centuries faltered. Some students abandoned their studio teachers and instead studied the Old Masters, whose works lined the halls of the Louvre Museum. As a result, the studios that had been associated with the Académie started to fold, including Gleyre’s. In 1864, Gleyre closed his doors, leaving Monet, Renoir, and their associates Bazille and Sisley to fend for themselves. Undeterred by the retirement of their studio master, they welcomed their new-found freedom. Having witnessed the events that had transpired in recent years, the group realized that even without Académie support, artists could be recognized for their innovations in both subject matter and technique. Furthermore, these young artists kept abreast of the advancing science of photography. Pioneered in the early years of the 1800s, photography had developed over the course of the century into a means by which one could literally capture an instant and reproduce it in pictorial form. Louis Daguerre, one of the most influential pioneers of photography and inventor of the “Daguerrotype,” had popularized the medium in the late 1830s, taking snapshots of the people and streets of Paris. By Monet and Renoir’s generation, Gaspard Félix-Tournachon, better-known as Félix Nadar, was carrying photography even further, experimenting most notably with aerial photography from a hot air balloon. Fascinated by this instantaneous mode of expression, the painterly cohort set out to capture the same

Plate 7.4 Claude Monet, Impression: Sunrise, 1872 Oil on canvas, 19in. high x 243⁄4 in. wide Musée Marmottan, Paris/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library

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CHAPTER THREE

ORIENTALIST PAINTING

hen Neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was commissioned to depict his ideal of Near Eastern life, he created La Grande Odalisque (Plate 3.10), an instantly captivating painting of an exotic concubine. One cannot help but be enthralled by the sultry gaze of this voluptuous vixen whose ivory-white skin glows amidst the hints of the mysterious East that surround her. From the lustrous turquoise and amber silks that envelope her to her “costume” of a bejeweled turban and golden bangles, Ingres created a vision of the East that sets the imagination wild. The story that Ingres’ concubine tells, however, is not of life in the Near East, but rather the early 19th-century European perception of it. The Near East, a geographical generality that lumped the Orient – what is today known as the Middle East – with the northern regions of Africa, was, for late 18th- and early 19th-century Western European audiences uncharted territory. The cultures of these vast regions existed primarily as fantasy in the minds of Europeans. Shortly after Ingres completed La Grande Odalisque, however, the fantasy of these cultures would become tangible. Soon, pioneering painters would filter into these fabled lands, giving rise to the field of Orientalist Painting, which produced some of the most enchanting images of the era. Rumors of exoticism and savagery in the Orient had captivated Europeans for centuries. This post-Crusaders intrigue began in the 13th century in port cities such as Venice, where trade ships ferried spices and textiles along with tall tales from these faraway lands. Artists in the 15th and 16th centuries began capitalizing on Venice’s extensive trade with the Near East by stocking their paintings with figures garbed in turbans and swathed in opulently-embroidered silks, a prime example of which can be seen in a version of Paolo Veronese’s Marriage at Cana (Plate 3.2).

Even 17th-century Baroque master Rembrandt van Rijn felt the tug of Near Eastern attraction, keeping in his studio Eastern-themed props like turbans and scimitars and sometimes donning them himself, as documented in his selfportraits. By the 18th century, this infatuation with the Near East had grown beyond painting, with writers also weaving seductive stories about these mysterious lands. One of the earliest works in this new literary genre was Baron de Montesquieu’s Persian Letters.1 This satirical account of two fictional Persian noblemen on a journey through France, released in 1721, was an immediate success. The fervor for foreign fantasy continued throughout the 18th century and into the nineteenth as was illustrated with Ingres’ La Grande Odalisque. Just like Montesquieu’s fictive Persian characters, however, Ingres’ enchanting maiden was not truly “Eastern.” Her turban and ornate fan were merely Eastern props, placed in a carefully constructed scene hundreds of miles from the nearest Eastern outpost. Ingres never desired to travel East. In fact, the farthest “East” he dared to venture was Naples in Italy, to paint, coincidentally, La Grande Odalisque, commissioned by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples and younger sister of Napoléon Bonaparte. His reasons for staying put in Europe were two-fold. First, he feared, as many others did, the monumental challenges inherent to travel in such an unknown land. And, even if he had been able to overcome his apprehensions, he nevertheless would have been faced with the restricted access of Western European to the East, thanks to the political powerhouse that gripped the Eastern world. For centuries, Western European rulers had battled the powerful Ottoman Empire, whose control at its height wrapped around almost the entirety of the Mediterranean Sea. Stretching from modern-day Croatia across the Middle East to

Plate 3.1 Albert Aublet, The Cinli Kiosk at the Topkapi Palace (Le Kiosque Cinli au Palais de Topkapi), second half 19th century

Previous spread: Jean-Léon Gérôme, Le Marabout, detail, see Plate 3.12

Oil on mahogany panel, 133⁄4 in. high x 105⁄8 in. wide Private Collection/ © Christie’s Images, Ltd.

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Plate 11.11 Antoine Bouvard, Venice at Dusk, late 19th-early 20th century Oil on canvas, 291⁄2in. high x 37in. wide Private Collection/Fine Art Collection of M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans

Facing page: Plate 11.12 Rubens Santoro, Leaving the Church (Sortie d’Eglise), second half 19th century-first half 20th century Oil on canvas, 251⁄4in. high x 201⁄2in. wide Private Collection/Fine Art Collection of M.S. Rau Antiques. New Orleans

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Plate 11.11 Antoine Bouvard, Venice at Dusk, late 19th-early 20th century Oil on canvas, 291⁄2in. high x 37in. wide Private Collection/Fine Art Collection of M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans

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Plate 11.13 Martin Rico y Ortega, Ca D’Oro, second half 19th century Oil on canvas 183⁄8in. high x 293⁄4in. wide Private Collection, New York/Fine Art Collection of M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans

Plate 11.14 Franz Richard Unterberger, The Grand Canal seen from Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, second half 19th century Oil on canvas, 241⁄2in. high x 40in. wide Private Collection/© Christie’s Images, Ltd.

Martin Rico y Ortega was one of the Venetian View painters who truly fell in love with Venice. Whereas other artists paid only short, solitary visits to the lagoon city, Rico y Ortega was so entranced after his first extended trip to the city in 1872 that, after having settled in Paris in 1879, he vowed to spend every summer thereafter painting in Venice. This affection for the city is apparent in his compositions, wherein his treatment of his cityscapes reflects an intimate knowledge of the city’s iconic architecture and waterways. Ca D’Oro depicts the Palazzo Santa Sofia (at center left), better known as the Ca D’Oro, or “Golden House,” for the gilt decorations that once adorned the façade. Built between 14281430, the Ca D’Oro was originally owned by the Contarini family, who provided the city of Venice with eight of its Doges between the 11th and17th centuries.* *Goy, Richard J. 1992. The House of Gold. NY: Cambridge University Press.

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NOTABLE VENETIAN VIEW PAINTERS

Antoine Bouvard (1870-1956) Born in southeastern France, Antoine Bouvard studied art and architecture at the Ècole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He traveled extensively throughout southern Europe and the Mediterranean. His art dealer in Paris gave Bouvard the idea of painting the Venetian landscape, which became his most successful and sought-after subject. So popular were these views that Bouvard purportedly began painting under the pseudonym “Marc Aldine” to allow him to sell more works to a wider audience without his Parisian dealer’s knowledge. Bouvard had his first one-man exhibition at Gladwell & Company in 1928. His works made such an impression that the exhibition’s most prestigious attendee, Queen Mary, purchased two of the artist’s paintings. Today, Bouvard’s picturesque paintings are highly collectible works that have made a significant impact among fine art connoisseurs. Bouvard’s works and biographical information are often mistaken for those of his son, Georges Noel Bouvard, who was also known as Antoine, Jr. (1912-1957). Ippolito Caffi (1814-1866) Born in the town of Belluno, in northern Italy, Ippolito Caffi spent his early artistic years training at the Accademia di Belli Arti in Venice. Perhaps similarly inspired as Canaletto with the work of Pannini, Caffi moved to Rome in 1832, where he spent several years studying her ancient ruins. Upon his return to Venice he began painting in earnest, and by 1846 he debuted at the Parisian Salon. This was a huge honor for an upand-coming painter, made even more splendid in that his work was incredibly well-received. His works stood out from his predecessor Canaletto in that Caffi chose different, more complex points of view from which to paint. He also played more dramatically with lighting effects of early dawn and late dusk. A true expert draftsman and artist, Caffi was also an intensely adventurous soul who felt a deep pride for his fellow Italians. So, with the onset of the Third War of Italian Independence in 1861, Caffi sought out a way to express his patriotism. His chance came at the end of the war, when he secured passage on the Italian naval ship Ré D’Italia, from which Caffi hoped to paint some of the first images of an Italian Naval victory. The battle proved catastrophic however,

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including the sinking of the Ré D’Italia, which went to a watery grave taking Caffi with her. His drowning at such a relatively young age cut a promising career short, but he is nevertheless included in the canon of great Venetian View painters, with his works being held in some of the great Italian collections. Federico del Campo (1837-1927) Renowned as one of the greatest Venetian View painters of the later 19th century, Federico del Campo was born in Lima, Peru. He trained in Madrid with Lorenzo Valles (1830-1910), an artist who himself worked a great deal in Italy. After his training del Campo spent years traveling extensively throughout Italy, perfecting his vivid palette and technical mastery. Del Campo exhibited his Venetian scenes at the Paris Salon in 1880 and at the Madrid Art Exhibition of 1881. His paintings are regarded among the greatest renderings of the Venetian landscape and are sought by collectors around the world. Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) (1697-1768) The son of Venentian painter Bernardo Canal, young Giovanni Antonio Canal earned the sobriquet of Canaletto, or “Little Canal,” at a young age. He began his training as an apprentice to his father, first painting scenes for Venetian theater sets. However, on a chance viewing of the work of Roman printmaker Giovanni Paolo Pannini, who specialized in views of Venice, Canaletto was hooked. In 1719, he embarked on a career of painting views of Venice, gaining further tutelage from fellow Venetian painter Luca Carlevarijs. He expanded upon Carlevarijs’ techniques by painting directly from the natural world. As this was before the age of tube paints, such painting was no easy task. Yet it was this technique that allowed Canaletto to create such vivid and picturesque compositions. Also notable was Canaletto’s uncanny accuracy in rendering Venetian scenes, a precision aided by the use of a camera obscura, an early device that projected a photographlike image of an area directly on to his canvas. Canaletto’s views became popular not only across the Italian Peninsula but also across Europe. The British took a particular liking to his works, so much so that when the War of Austrian Succession broke out, restricting his British patrons’ access to Venice, Canaletto moved to England. There he stayed for years,

capturing views of London with the same delicacy and beauty as he had done in Venice. By the time Canaletto returned to Venice in 1755, he was one of the most popular artists of the day. His celebrity was honored in 1763 when he was elected to the Venetian Academy, the final accolade of his career before his death in 1768. Selected museums holding his works include: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Louvre Museum, Paris; and the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Edward Pritchett (fl.1828-1864) Edward Pritchett was a prolific artist, yet very little is known about his life. Though the details of his youth and artistic training remain lost to the ages, his spectacular Venetian View Paintings reveal an uncanny talent for capturing the indelible beauty of Venice. His works were popular among collectors even during his lifetime, and during the peak years of his career he was a noted exhibitor at London’s annual Royal Academy exhibitions. Selected museums holding his works include: the Huntington Library, San Marino; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Martin Rico y Ortega (1833-1908) Martin Rico y Ortega was born in El Escorial, Madrid. He studied at the San Fernando School, where he learned the merits of plein air painting, not made popular until the days of the Impressionists. His creative approach paid off when he won a government-sponsored scholarship to study art in Paris, where he was influenced by the Barbizon School. He arrived in Italy in 1872, and almost immediately he became fascinated by the splendor of Venice. From then, on he traveled between Paris and Italy, spending numerous summers in Venice, sketching buildings and landscapes. To attain a particularly unique perspective, Ortega was known to paint while sitting in a gondola. In 1878, he won the third-place medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle and was also made an officer of the French Légion d’Honneur. Selected museums holding his works include: the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, Spain; the Brooklyn Museum, New York; and the Walters Art Museum, Maryland.

Rubens Santoro (1859-1942) Rubens Santoro grew up in Mongrassano, Italy, near the southern-most tip of the Italian peninsula. He trained at the Academy of Fine Art in Naples, after which he devoted his career to travel. He spent years touring Italy, capturing vibrant vistas of some of the peninsula’s most picturesque areas. Later in life, he traveled to London and Paris, moving to back to Italy only shortly before his death in 1942. Franz Richard Unterberger (1838-1902) One of the most notable Austrian Venetian View painters, Franz Richard Unterberger was born in Innsbruck to a family of eleven children. He received his early artistic training at the Academy in Munich, where he excelled at painting scenes of the Austrian landscape. He continued his training in Düsseldorf, Germany, and then settled in Brussels, Belgium, in hopes of establishing himself on the European art market. By the 1870s, his hopes had materialized. Having switched his subjects to scenes of Southern Italy and Venice, Unterberger found that his work was in demand for exhibition not only across Europe but also in the United States. Landscapes such as these remained his focus for the duration of his painterly career, which continued up until his death in 1902 at the age of 64. Félix-François Georges Philibert Ziem (1821-1911) Félix-François Georges Philibert Ziem was a native of Burgundy, France, who trained as a youth to become an architect. After working as an architect for a brief time, Ziem took a serendipitous trip to Italy, one which would alter his path forever. During this visit he fell in love with Venice and decided that painting, which had been an infrequent hobby, would now become his profession. By the time he debuted at the Salon of 1849, Ziem was firmly established as a Venetian View painter. Spending the better part of his peak years as a painter in Italy, Ziem moved to Montmartre in 1860, where he would continue to paint until his death in 1911. A fitting testament to his impressive career, Ziem was interred at the famed Parisian Père Lachaise Cemetery.

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