Episode 108: Venetian vs. Florentine Renaissance Art

Bellini, Madonna of the Meadow, abt 1500

Venice and Florence were powerful city states during the time of the Italian Renaissance. Venice was a port city which meant that all the exotic wonders of the world could be found there. This lead to experimentation with color that other European cities couldn't come anywhere near to emulating. Color was such a huge part of Venice that people created whole businesses that involved the making and developing of pigments and dyes. It is no wonder that Venetian art was known for its "colorito" approach.

Colortio was the Venetian approach to painting using lots of color and conveying extreme drama.

Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520

Colortio was the Venetian approach to painting using lots of color and conveying extreme drama.

Giorgione, The Tempest, 1505

Giorgione, Madonna and Child with Saints Liberale and Francis, 1505

Veronese, Feast in the House of Levi, 1573

Tintoretto, The Finding of Moses, Late Renaissance

In Florence, the city probably most well known for Renaissance art, draftsmanship, line and figural accuracy (disegno) were taken very seriously. The use of light, just like in Venice, was very important but took on a much different quality.

Antonio Pollaiuolo, Hercules Slaying Antaeus, ca. 1478

Domenico Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin Mary

Bronzino, Portrait of a Young Man, 1530

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Venetian vs. Florentine Art. This is our last full episode for the summer but we will have Short But Sweet episodes up every Wednesday until our semester starts back up in August. Thanks for sticking with us through season three! We'll see you in a couple of month's for season four!

Episode 107: Art for Arts Sake

"Art for arts sake” from French slogan “l’art pour l’art” —expresses a philosophy/concept that the intrinsic value of art, and the only “true” art, is divorced from any didactic, moral, or utilitarian function. In Greek, these works are described as autoteles (aut- + telos, meaning self + goal) or “autotelic—complete in itself.”

Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold, 1872-77

“Beauty is a form of Genius--is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in the dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it.” —Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, The Peacock Room

Edward Burne-Jones, Golden Stairs, 1876-1880, Tate Britain

Rosetti, Lady Lilith, 1868

Soul's Beauty

Body's Beauty

We apologize for the delay in uploading this episode. We hope you enjoyed learning more about "Art for Arts Sake". Next week Lauren will be back with Julia discussing the differences between Florentine and Venetian art. 

Short But Sweet: Episode 14: Three Museums You Probably Don't Know About

We've got another Short But Sweet for you this week! Lauren gives us the run down on three museums you may have never heard of. Enjoy!

Number 1: J. Paul Getty Villa, Malibu, California

Number 2: Bargello Museum, Florence, Italy

Number 3: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

We hope you enjoyed this week's Short But Sweet. Next Wednesday Lauren and Carolyne will be talking about the The Philosophy of Art (which is a lot more interesting than it sounds!)

Episode 99: UVU's Possible BA in Art History

Recently Julia and Lauren met with Dr. Steven Bule and Associate Professor Courtney Davis to talk about the Bachelor of Arts in Art History that is in the works at UVU.

Utah Valley University

Episode 92: Classical Revivals in Art and Architecture

In today's podcast Lauren and Alisha talk about Classical Revivals in Art and Architecture. 

Some of the main characteristics of classical revivals are, the revival of Humanism in philosophical thinkers, interest in classical themes in art work, like Greek and Roman mythological and historical drama, and usually a political background, like Napoleon and the Napoleonic wars.

Italian Renaissance

Donatello, David, 1430-40

Raphael, School of Athens, 1509

Andrea Palladio, "La Rotonda", Villa Almerico Capra

British Neoclassical revival

Reynolds, Portrait of Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse, 1789

Stourhead Estate, Wiltshire, UK

Pantheon, Stourhead, Wiltshire, UK

Temple of Apollo, Stourhead, Wiltshire, UK

French Neoclassical

David, The Sabine Women, 1796-99

Classical Revival in America

Thomas Jefferson, The Monticello, 1772, Charlottesville, Virginia

Back to Italy

Canova, Psyche Revived by the Kiss of Love, 1793

Thanks for joining us today. We hope you enjoyed this episode on Classical Revivals. Next week Julia and Carrie will be discussing Abstract Expressionism! See you next Wednesday!

Episode 91: Great Artist Rivalries

Some of the most well known artists through out history did their best work while trying to beat out their rival. In this weeks episode Jo and Lauren discuss Great Artist Rivalries

In the first round, we have Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarotti!

Here's some Leo (note precision and attention to atmospheric detail):

The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, 1516

Madonna of the Rocks, 1483-86

And here's some Michelangelo (note the way he brings the figure out of the work):

Atlas Slave, 1530-1534

Lorenzo de Medici (the lesser one, not the awesome one) from the Medici Chapel, 1526-1533

Here is a link which succinctly describes in the artist's words their feelings towards one another:

OKAY so moving on towards our second rivalry: Borromini and Bernini! 

In summation, Bernini had the charisma which Borromini was severely lacking, leading ultimately to the latter's suicide. Not a happy story, but definitely a dramatic one!

Basilica di San Pietro, construction started 1506

Both artists worked on this structure (even Michelangelo!). The modern bell towers are Borromini's fix it to Bernini's big snafu. 

Baldacchino, 1623-1634

 This was another love child between Bernini and Borromini - but you can see Bernini's flamboyancy won out.

San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane, 1646, Borromini

 

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane - Inside, 1646, Borromini

 At last Borromini got his own building - look at the lavish splendor!

And for our last rivalry, with a particularly French flavor: Ingres and Delacroix!

Ingres on Left, Delacroix on Right, Self Portraits

In a nutshell, this is an ultimate battle between the straitlaced line lover, and the adventurous color-wielder!

Paganini, Delacroix, 1831

Paganini, Ingres, 1819

Bacchus and Ariadne, Titian, 1520-23

Delacroix, Moroccan Saddles His Horse, 1855

One of Delacroix's influences. Notice the hints of loose brushwork (impasto) and the delightful colors! One of Delacroix's works showing that wonderful brushwork.

Well, thanks for listening! Be sure to tune in next week, and leave your comments here or on iTunes U!

Episode 89: Winter Wonderlands

Happy Holidays everyone! For our holiday episode this year we all got together to talk about our favorite Winter Wonderland scenes and the artists who created them! This was a lot of fun to record, we hope you enjoy. (Listen all the way to the end to hear our impromptu rendition of Jingle Bells.)

We will be taking a break from recording and posting for the rest of December, but we will be back with a new episode on January 8th! If you are just lost without us, try catching up on missed episodes or listen to your favorites again!

Jo's Favorite:

Camille Pissarro, Road to Versailles at Louveciennes (The Snow Effect), 1872

Zach's Favorite:

Limbourg Brothers, Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, 1412-1416

Julia's Favorite:

Hendrick Avercamp, Winter Landscape with Skaters,1608
2.54 ft X 4.32 ft or 77.3cm X131.9cm
 

Alisha's Favorite:

Claude Monet, Snow Scene at Argenteuil, 1874-75

Carrie's Favorite:

Ivan Shishkin, In the Wild North, 1891

Lauren's Favorite:

Caspar David Friedrich, Winter Landscape with Church, 1811

We'll be back January 8th with a new episode! Happy Holidays!