Western Painting and Sculpture

(beginning with the Renaissance)

  1. Renaissance – beginning in the middle of the 15th century

Giotto (Italy, c. 1267-1337) – his masterwork is the decoration of the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy

Jan Van Eyck (Belgium, 1390-1441) – The Ghent Altarpiece; The Arnolfini Wedding; Man in a Red Turban

Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italy, 1378-1455) – Gates of Paradise (bronze doors for the Baptistery in Florence)

Donatello (from Venice, c. 1386-1466) – David [first freestanding nude since antiquity]; Equestrian Statue of Gattemelata; Judith and Holofernes

Masaccio (Italy, 1401-1428; his real name is Tommaso Cassai; he is sometimes called “Sloppy Tom”) – The Tribute Money

Botticelli (Italy, 1445-1510; his real name is Alessandro Filipepi; his nickname means “little barrels”) – Primavera; Birth of Venus

Hans Holbein the Younger (Germany, 1498-1543) – court painter to Henry VIII; he created the famous Portrait of Henry VIII

Leonardo da Vinci (Italy, 1452-1519) – Virgin of the Rocks; The Last Supper; Mona Lisa; Vitruvian Man

Hieronymus Bosch (Flemish, 1450-1516) – Garden of Earthly Delights [triptych]

Parmigianino (Italy, 1503-1540) – he is associated with a style called Mannerism; Madonna of the Long Neck

Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italy, 1475-1564) – famous for his David sculpture; The Creation of Man fresco (in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City)

Albrecht Durer (Germany, 1471-1528) – known for woodcuts, engravings, etchings --Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; Praying Hands

Raphael (Italy, 1483-1520) – The Madonna of the Goldfinch; School of Athens; Transfiguration; Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals

Titian (from Venice, c. 1485-1576) – known for his expressive handling of color; Venus of Urbino; Assumption of the Virgin; Christ Crowned with Thorns

Brueghel (Flemish, c. 1525-1569) – Hunters in the Snow; Peasant Wedding; Peasant Dance

Tintoretto (from Venice, 1518-1594; his real name is Jacopo Robusti; his nickname means “little dyer”) – associated with Mannerism; Moses Striking Water From the Rock

El Greco (Greek/Spanish, 1541-1614; real name is Domenicos Theotokopoulos) – The Burial of Count Orgaz; The View of Toledo

  1. Baroque – late 16th and 17th centuries

Bernini (Italy, 1598-1680) – Ecstasy of St. Theresa [sculpture for the altar of the Cornaro Chapel in Rome]; Fountain of the Four Rivers [in Rome]

Caravaggio (Italy, 1571-1610; his real name is Michelangelo Merisi) – much of his work has a Biblical theme; The Calling of St. Matthew; Supper at Emmaus; Young Bacchus; The Sacrifice of Isaac; The Conversion of St. Paul

Diego Velazquez(Spain, 1599-1660) – court painter to King Philip IV;

Las Meninas (“Maids of Honor”)

Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640; from Antwerp,Belgium) –The Raising of the Cross; Descent from the Cross; Rape of Ganymede

Frans Hals (Dutch, 1581-1666) – The Laughing Cavalier; The Jolly Toper [also called The Merry Drinker]

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669) – Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp; The Night Watch [its formal name is The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq]; The Jewish Bride; Syndics of the Cloth Guild; also known for his many self-portraits

Jan Vermeer (Dutch, 1632-1675) –specialized in domestic interior scenes of ordinary life, usually featuring women – View of Delft; Girl with a Pearl Earring; The Milkmaid; The Lacemaker

Anthony Van Dyck (Dutch, 1599-1641) -- one of the most popular portrait painters of his time; he went to England in 1632, where King Charles I made him court painter. He painted about 40 of the king including Portrait of Charles I Hunting.

  1. 18th Century

Rococo – also known as High Baroque

Jean-Antoine Watteau (France, 1648-1743) – Embarkation for Cythera [also known as Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera]

Jean-Honore Fragonard (France, 1732-1806) – The Swing

Genre Painting – represented scenes from everyday life, often involving common people and peasants

William Hogarth (England, 1697-1764) – The Rake’s Progress; Marriage a la Mode

Portraiture

Sir Joshua Reynolds (England, 1723-1792) – great English portrait painter; Sarah Siddons as “The Tragic Muse”

Thomas Gainsborough (England, 1727-1788) – known for landscapes as well as portraits – The Blue Boy; Mr. and Mrs. Andrews

Gilbert Stuart – known for his portraits of George Washington; his painting of Washington called The Athenaeum appears on the one-dollar bill

  1. Neoclassicism – late 18th and 19th centuries

[In France, Neoclassical style is sometimes called Empire Style; in England, it was called Regency Style; in the United States, it was called Federal Style]

Jacques-Louis David (France, 1748-1825) – Death of Marat; The Oath of the Horatii; The Death of Socrates; Rape of the Sabine Women; Oath of the Tennis Court

Jean-Auguste Ingres (France, 1770-1867) – La Grande Odalisque

  1. 18th-19thCentury Painting with American Themes

Benjamin West (U.S., 1738-1820) – The Death of General Wolfe; Penn’s Treaty with the Indians

John Trumbull (U.S., 1756-1843) – Declaration of Independence

Emmanuel Leutze (German-American, 1816-1868) – Washington Crossing the Delaware

  1. Romanticism – late 18th century through 19th century

John Singleton Copley (U.S., 1738-1815) – Watson and the Shark; Boy with a Squirrel

Theodore Gericault (France, 1791-1824) – The Raft of the Medusa; Epsom Downs Derby

Joseph M.W. Turner (England, 1775-1851) – The Slave Ship; Rain, Steam and Speed; The Fighting Temeraire

Francisco Goya (Spain, 1746-1828) – court painter to Charles IV – after he went deaf, he published a bitter series of etchings that resulted were published in 1799 under the title Caprichos; known for his “Black Paintings” – The Third of May, 1808;

Saturn Devouring His Children; The Nude Maja; The Family of Charles IV; The Disasters of War (series of prints)

Eugene Delacroix (France, 1798-1863) – Liberty Leading the People; The Massacre at Chios; Women of Algiers

  1. 19th Century
  1. Realism – focus shift away from the idealism of Romanticism to a more realistic rendering of nature and society

Gustave Courbet (France, 1819-1877) – The Stone Breakers; Burial at Ornans

John Constable (England, 1776-1857) – known for his landscapes, rural scenes -- The Hay Wain; Dedham Vale; The White Horse

Jean-Francois Millet (France, 1814-1875) – The Gleaners; The Sower

Honore Daumier (France, 1808-1879) – known for his caricatures and for political satire – The Third Class Carriage

George Caleb Bingham (U.S., 1811-1879) – Fur Traders Descending the Missouri

  1. Impressionism – attempt to give an impression of a particular movement in time, of a particular light and mood. Name comes from Monet’s Impression: Sunrise

Edouard Manet (France, 1852-1883) – Luncheon on the Grass (Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe); Olympia; Bar at the Folies-Bergere; The Fifer; The Execution of Emperor Maximilian

Claude Monet (France, 1840-1926) – Rouen Cathedral; Impression: Sunrise; Waterlilies; Haystacks; Gare Sainte-Lazare

Edgar Degas (France, 1834-1917) – his paintings feature ballet scenes, horse races and jockeys – The Dance Class; The Rehearsal; The Tub; Woman with Chrysanthemums

Mary Cassatt (U.S., 1844-1926) – American Impressionist known for works featuring mothers and children – The Child’s Bath; The Letter

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (France, 1864-1901) – paintings feature Parisian nightlife – At the Moulin Rouge

  1. Hudson RiverSchool – painted scenes of the Hudson RiverValley and Catskill Mountains area of New YorkState – the major Hudson RiverSchool painters are: Frederic Church,Thomas Cole and Albert Bierstadt
  2. One famous work is The Oxbow by Thomas Cole
  1. Post-Impressionism – general term for the trends in modern art from the mid-1880s to the early 1900s (in reaction to Impressionism)

Paul Cezanne (France, 1839-1906) – Mont Sainte-Victoire; The Card Players

Georges Seurat (France, 1859-1891) – known for method called Pointillism in which paintings were constructed of tiny dots of unmixed color – Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) – Portrait of Dr. Gachet; The Potato Eaters; Sunflowers; Starry Night; The Night Café; Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear

Paul Gauguin (France, 1848-1903) – went to Tahiti to paint the natives – The Yellow Christ; The Vision After the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel)

Henri Rousseau (France, 1844-1910; he is also known as “Le Douanier” (the customs officer) after his place of employment) – paintings involving tropical settings and jungle scenes – movement called Exoticism – The Snake Charmer; The Muse Inspiring the Poet

  1. Other 19th Century People/Movements

John Singer Sargent (U.S., 1856-1925) – known for portraits, especially of “society women” – Portrait of Madame X; The Daughters of Edward D. Boit

James Whistler (U.S., 1834-1903) – paintings often have names that sound like musical compositions – Arrangement in Gray and Black: The Artist’s Mother; Nocturne in Black and Gold: Falling Rocket; Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl

Frederic Remington (U.S., 1861-1909) – specialized in cowboys and other depictions of the American West – The Bronco Buster [sculpture]

Winslow Homer(U.S, 1836-1910) – most known for seascapes – Gulf Stream;

Crack the Whip

Auguste Rodin (France, 1840-1917) – The Kiss; The Thinker; The Gates of Hell; The Burghers of Calais; The Age of Bronze; Monument to Balzac

Thomas Eakins (U.S., 1844-1916) – The Gross Clinic; Max Schmitt in a Single Scull

Ashcan School (also known as “The Eight”) – group of American realist painters in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries who portrayed scenes of everyday life. Their critics dubbed them “The Ashcan School” because their works focused on urban streets and slums that were considered ugly and unflattering. This movement was founded by Robert Henri. Other members included: John Sloan, William Glackens and Everett Shinn.

  1. 20th Century
  1. Art Nouveau – a style in art, architecture and decorative arts at the turn of the 20th century. Characterized by curving lines and plant and flower motifs.

Louis Comfort Tiffany (U.S., 1848-1933) – known for stained glass windows and lamps

Gustav Klimt (Austria, 1862-1918) – The Kiss [a painting]

B. Art Deco – style of design popular during the 1920s and 1930s used chiefly in furniture, jewelry, pottery and textiles. Characterized by geometric shapes, smooth lines and streamlined forms. The most famous examples are the ChryslerBuilding and RadioCityMusic Hall in New York City.

  1. Fauvism – an art critic used the word “fauve” meaning “wild beast” to describe this movement because of its unusual boldness – these paintings use bold, intense colors and broad brush strokes

Henri Matisse (France, 1869-1954) – The Green Stripe; Joy of Life (Joie de Vivre)

  1. Expressionism – uses bold colors to express internal emotions like fear or anxiety. Especially popular in Germany between 1910 and 1930.

Edvard Munch (Norway, 1865-1944) – The Scream; The Dance of Life; Angst

  1. Cubism – cofounded by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque (France, 1882-1963)

Pablo Picasso (Spain, 1881-1973) – his early works were not yet Cubist works. He is famous for his “Blue Period” in which he used a limited palette of somber, blue tones. His later “Rose period” was more optimistic. – Guernica; The Old Guitarist;

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon [considered the first abstract painting]

  1. Dada – protest movement in the arts formed in Switzerland in 1916. The name “Dada” is a French word for “hobby horse” and was reportedly chosen from a dictionary at random because it was nonsensical.

Marcel Duchamp (France, 1887-1968) – known for producing “ready-mades using found objects” – one famous ready-made employs a urinal and is called Fountain; he is most famous for the cubist work Nude Descending a Staircase

  1. Realist Painters

George Bellows (U.S., 1882-1925) – many of his works feature boxing – he is sometimes linked in with the Ashcan School group of painters – Stag at Sharkey’s

Edward Hopper (U.S., 1882-1967) – his works convey a stance of isolation and psychological detachment – Early Sunday Morning; Nighthawks

  1. Surrealism – these artists use dreams and the subconscious as a source; their themes have a dreamlike quality. Other notable surrealists are Max Ernst (Germany, 1891-1976) and Joan Miro (Spain, 1893-1983)

Salvador Dali (Spain, 1904-1989) – The Persistence of Memory; The Hallucinogenic Toreador; Soft Construction with Boiled Beans; Swans Reflecting Elephants; The Ghost of Vermeer of Delft Which Can Be Used As a Table

Rene Magritte (Belgium, 1898-1967) – Time Transfixed; The Man in the Bowler Hat

  1. Abstract Expressionism – style of “nonrepresentational” painting that makes no attempt to depict any real objects in nature but which contains expressionistic emotional value – this movement flourished in the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s

Willem De Kooning (Dutch-born, later moved to U.S., 1904-1997) – created a series entitled Woman in which he appeared to present a primitive vision of woman as siren or dark goddess; Woman, I

Jackson Pollock (U.S., born in Cody, WY, 1912-1956) – his style is also referred to as “Action Painting” – he is called “Jack the Dripper” for his unusual method of creating works by standing over a canvas and dripping paint on it. Lavendar Mist;

Full Fathom Five; Blue Poles

  1. Pop Art

Jasper Johns (U.S., born 1930) – his works feature flags and targets – Three Flags; White Flag

Andy Warhol (U.S., from Pittsburgh, 1930-1987) – famous for silkscreens of common objects or famous people – Marilyn Monroe; Mao Tse-Tung; Campbell Soup Cans; Tunafish Disaster

Roy Lichtenstein (U.S., 1923-1998) – known for comic book style paintings – Whaam!

Robert Rauschenberg (U.S., born 1925) -- he is known for inventing combines, an assemblage of everyday objects, often joined with painted canvases; Bed

  1. Other 20th Century Artists

Piet Mondrian(Dutch, 1872-1944) – his works use a geometric style incorporating primary colors – blue, yellow and red. He called his abstract style Neoplasticism.

Broadway Boogie Woogie; Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue

Paul Klee (Switzerland, 1879-1940) – Twittering Machine

Wassily Kandinsky (Russia, 1866-1944) – often considered the first truly abstract artist -- he and the German artist Franz Marc founded an expressionist art movement called Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) – his works often sound like musical compositions, as with Composition IV or Ravine Improvisation

Grant Wood (U.S., born in Iowa, 1892-1942) – American Gothic; Daughters of the American Revolution

Marc Chagall (born in Russia, moved to France, 1887-1985) – he painted scenes of Russian village life; he is also famous for his stained glass windows –

I and the Village

Diego Rivera (Mexico, 1886-1957) – married to fellow artist Frida Kahlo – he is known for his murals

Georgia O’Keefe (U.S., 1887-1986) – famous for paintings of flowers as well as of skulls and the desert of New Mexico – White Iris, Red Canna

Constantin Brancusi (Romanian, 1876-1957) – sculptor – Bird in Space; The Kiss; Endless Column

Andrew Wyeth (U.S., born 1917) – his father was a famous book illustrator named N.C. Wyeth – Christina’s World; Helga pictures

Alexander Calder (U.S., 1898-1976) – known for creating movable sculptures called mobiles – the most famous mobile is called Lobster Trap and Fish Tail

Christo (Bulgarian, born 1935) – his most famous projects involve wrapping buildings or other structures in canvas or plastic – such as the Reichstag building in Berlin in 1995

Grandma Moses (American, 1860-1961; real name is Anna Mary Robertson) -- famous folk artist who started painting when she was in her 70's and remained active until near her death; she painted simple scenes of rural life – Sugaring Off