Seismic Shifts in Subject and Style

Available from Amazon, and on Barnes & Noble and other stores via Ingram (ISBN 9781088236079 print, 9781088240502 ebook).

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

A note on the 2023 print & book editions

This essay was originally published in The Objective Standard back in Fall 2006 (vol. 1, no. 3) under the title “19th-Century French Painting and Philosophy“. In TOS, for financial reasons, the images were grouped on a few glossy pages inserted in the middle of the essay. However, I have very strong feelings about the layout of art-history books in print: I want the images facing the text, and if the author asks me to compare images, I want those images on the same or facing pages. So for this print version, I’ve lightly edited the text, but I’ve also revamped the layout, made the images larger, and added some images that it wasn’t feasible to include earlier.

I also have strong feelings about reading art-history in ebook format: I want images immediately following the relevant text. I’ve laid out the ebook of Seismic Shifts that way. Unfortunately it’s impossible to control where images will fall on screens of a hundred different sizes, but at least you won’t have to scroll back many, many screens to find them.

That said: if you’re serious about studying the images in Seismic Shifts, buy the print version, and buy it from Amazon rather than a store such as Barnes & Noble that’s supplied by Ingram (ISBN 9781088236079). I’ve compared the quality of the printing, and in this case Amazon comes out ahead.

Table of contents

1. Introduction

1.1 Enlightenment Ideas and the Philosophy of Kant

1.2 Writings of 19th-Century French Painters

2. Prelude: The Academy and the Salon

3. Neoclassicism

3.1 Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825): paintings

3.1.1 David on Training

3.1.2 David on Reason, Emotions, and Art

3.1.3 David on Style and Subject

3.1.4 David on Judging Art

3.1.5 Final Words on David

3.1.6 References

3.2 Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867): paintings

3.2.1 Ingres on Training

3.2.2 Ingres on Reason, Emotions, and Art

3.3.3 Ingres on Judging Art

3.2.4 References

3.3 Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875): paintings

3.3.1 Corot on Reason, Emotions, and Art

3.3.2 Final Words on Corot

3.3.3 References

3.4 Summary of Neoclassicism

4. Romanticism: What it is

4.1 Baron Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835): paintings

4.2 Théodore Géricault (1791-1824): paintings

4.2.1 Géricault on Training

4.2.2 Géricault on Reason, Emotions, and Art

4.2.3 References

4.3 Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863): paintings

4.3.1 Delacroix on Reason, Emotions, and Art

4.3.2 References

4.4 Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867), art critic

4.4.1 References

4.5 Summary of Romanticism

4.5.1 Subjects of Romantic paintings

4.5.2 Style of Romantic paintings

4.5.3 Romantic vs. Neoclassical

5. Naturalism

5.1 Introduction: what it is

5.1.1 A side note on Naturalism: Ayn Rand’s definition

5.1.2 19th-c. Naturalism

5.1.3 References

5.2 Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875): paintings

5.2.1 Millet on Reason, Emotions, and Art

5.2.2 Millet on Judging Art

5.2.3. References

5.3 Gustave Courbet (1819-1877): paintings

5.3.1 Courbet on Training

5.3.2 Courbet on Reason, Emotions, and Art

5.3.3 Courbet on Style and Subject

5.3.4 Courbet on Judging Art

5.3.5 References

5.4 John Ruskin (1819-1900), art critic

5.4.1 Ruskin on Training

5.4.2 Ruskin on Style and Subject

5.4.3 Ruskin on Judging Art

5.4.4 References

6. Summary of Artists on Art to the 1860s

6.1 Training

6.2 Reason and emotions

6.3 Style and subject

6.4 Judging art

7. Transition

7.1 Edouard Manet (1832-1883): paintings

7.1.1 Manet on Training

7.1.2 Manet on Style and Subject

7.1.3 Manet on Judging Art

7.1.4 References

7.2 Emile Zola (1840-1902): Manet’s Promoter

7.2.1 Zola on Reason, Emotions, and Art

7.2.2 Zola on Style and Subject

7.2.3 References

8. Impressionism

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Claude Monet (1840-1926): paintings

8.2.1 Monet on Style and Subject

8.2.2 References

8.3 Edgar Degas (1834-1917): paintings

8.3.1 Degas on Training

8.3.2 Degas on Reason, Emotions, and Art

8.3.3 References

8.4 Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919): paintings

8.4.1 Renoir on Reason, Emotions, and Art

8.4.2 References

8.5 Summary of Manet and Impressionism

8.5.1 Training

8.5.2 Reason vs. emotions

8.5.3 Style and subject

8.5.4 Judging art

9. Post-Impressionism

9.1 Paul Cézanne (1839-1906): paintings

9.1.1 Cézanne on Training

9.1.2 Cézanne on Reason, Emotions, and Art

9.1.3 Cézanne on Style and Subject

9.1.4 Cézanne on Judging Art

9.1.5 Cézanne’s Influence

9.1.6 References

9.2 Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890): paintings

9.2.1 Van Gogh on Reason, Emotions, and Art

9.2.2 References

9.3 Paul Gauguin (1848-1903): paintings

9.3.1 Gauguin on Reason, Emotions, and Art

9.3.2 References

10. Pointillism

10.1 Georges Seurat (1859-1891): paintings

10.1. 2 Seurat on Style and Subject

10.1.3 Seurat on Art

10.1.4 References

11. Symbolism

11.1 Gustave Moreau (1826-1898): paintings

11.1.1 Moreau on Reason, Emotions, and Art

11.1.2 Moreau on Judging Art

11.1.3 References

12. Academic Painters

12.1 Introduction

12.2 William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905): paintings

12.2.1 Bouguereau on Training

12.2.2 Bouguereau on Judging Art

12.2.3 References

13. Conclusion: Art and Philosophy

13.1 The Proper Definition of Art, and Art’s Purpose

13.1.1 References

13.2 An Artist’s Training

13.2.2 References

13.3 Reason, Emotions, and Art

13.4 Style and Subject

13.5 Judging Art

13.5.1 References

13.6 Hope for the Future

14. About the Author, Dianne L. Durante