New Influences of Art in the 19th Century
The nineteenth century marked an era of essential transformation through which the ability to produce skilled handmade art was affected by both enhanced science and beliefs. The artists in that era significantly felt the effects of these revolutions. This is because new styles were coming up at a remarkably fast rate. The changes were incorporated into the latest style that came up. When the governments of Europe conquered other countries of the world, they spread their culture into their colonies. This cleared the road for influential ways of life from these colonies to be introduced in Europe. Because of this, the artists of the era of the nineteenth century showed a wide range of ideas rationalizing adjustment. In addition, the art showed the attitude people had towards change. Fresh influences also affected the world of art. These fresh influences included created print, photography advent, and reproduction that had been printed (Fiero, 2011, p.17).
The summed up technology of the era of industrialization made the artists of the nineteenth century analyze how fresh influences had an effect the world of art during the period. The artist also had to analyze how the photography advent affected the world of art in this era. Advances in scientific technology were extremely influential in art. Art was also significantly influenced by social changes in society the artists existed. An artist shows a clear example by the name Girodet during the era of the famous art pieces of the Romanticism age. A scene is captured by Girodet, where she is covered under a cross shadow by her lover who is grieving. The artists in this era commonly used elements of shape, line, and color to show their personal world, emotions and imagination. Romanticism was usually used to how people reacted towards Neoclassicism (Flacelière, 1993, p.50).
Romanticism portrayed feelings that were fervent and touching. Photography portraits were cheap, needed less time to work on them and needed extremely little time to develop. The early photographers chose to combine one print with sketches done in pencil. These photographers established photography as a medium of art (Whitmarsh, 2000, p.12). They also approved use of symbols in settings that were more suggestive, with images that were clothed with appropriate costumes for a theme. Photographers shot these photographs with a focus that was a bit unclear in soft illumination. This was meant to create a mood that was pictorial. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, processing of photographs became extremely cheap due to the advent in photography. It also made availability of photography easy for all classes of people in the society at prices that were affordable. Since the arrival of the printing press, photography was the most influential expression tool that ever existed (Fiero, 2011, p.24).
Photography made diagrammatic information easy to record and transfer it all over the world. Photography had been inspired by scientists of the sixteenth century. Scientists came up with a proven fact about how light moving through a tiny opening on a wall of a dark room produces an image that is inverted on a wall that is on the opposite side. Contemporary psychopathology, which developed during the end of the nineteenth century brought some significant mental anomalies and was exceedingly used in artwork. The 19th century artists were influenced enormously by the changes and the fresh influences that happened during this era. A good example of how artists in this era were influenced can be proved. It can be viewed when an artist named Anne Louisa seen from a novel where a virgin is in love with a wild savage and kills herself to avoid breaking the lifetime virginity oath (Hadas, 1995, p.47).
Advent of photography made the 19th century artists view an enhanced realism and generated the debate on what was real or not. This was unwelcome by a good number of people. Varieties of inventions in photography have seen enormously advanced art concepts in a variety of scions. This is attributed to the view that, although art signifies a person’s imagination and level of creativity of an individual, it revolutionized the whole set up of art. In the early years of the nineteenth century, there was a significant inspiration to the use of color, illumination, and texture in painting. The advent of photography seriously ruined ordinary art. For example, Toulouse-Lautrec had produced magnificent artwork done by hand which included prints, posters, stoneware, drawings, canvases, discolored glasswork and more (Fiero, 2011, p.36). Comparing his work with how photography used less labor, time, and needed less material, Toulouse-Lautretrec’s work showed enormous talent, and imaginative power that was unmatched.
Unlike photography, conventional artists mastered the art of capturing crowds. Here, the details were extremely individualized. In photography, the photographer determined the product hence reducing the level of imagination from the fascinating environment. The artist in the nineteenth century made a difference that influenced their work through their exquisite methods of painting. Artist like Toulouse-Lautretrec’s are second to nothing not even photography can be compared to his work (Flacelière, 1993, p.57). What photography is criticized of doing is that it has influenced the market of the artists and brought prices down. For instance, paintings in the 19th century, which would cost millions of dollars, are currently going for less than what they are worth. However, in a lighter note to the effects of photography on art, photography is one of the known ways in which people captured their memories forever. Memories that would have been forgotten with time is captured and stored in photography.
Unlike the 19th century when one had to book appointments with painters in order to capture their feelings, today’s world photography has made it easier for people to capture their feelings. Another most positive thing about photography is that it has made it easier for people to make a living without genuinely being artist. However, this statement does not conclude that one should have the skill, what the statement means is that the skill needs to be theirs, however, not to a higher degree than that needed by a painting artist (Fiero, 2011, p.49). What photography has done is it has opened channels and doorways to every person in the world to express their art. The 21st century has seen a lot of people turn to photography rather than painting. However, some people still conclude that photography is in the real sense none comparable to any work (Schmidt, 2004, p.81).
However, this in its own degree is true and one cannot lock out the true consequence that photography is indeed a tool in which artist express their inner most feelings. In fact, some of the photography fanatics say that photography in the real sense cannot be compared to anything not even painting. This in the artist world has brought many arguments about who is better between the painters and the photographers. Painters claim that theirs is a talent from God where they capture real moments through true feelings that they fell deep inside them. Photography in the real sense is one generalized term of art. It can be argued that there is no classification in photography since even professional sometimes get it all wrong. However, one thing that both photos and paintings have in common is that they are both works that capture a certain moment in time (Beye, 1992, p.32).
For instance, one of the most famous pictures by Leonardo the Monalisa painting can be viewed as a painting that captures the true fillings behind what the painter wanted and how the person being painted felt. The painting the Monalisa is most famous because of the smile that was captured by the artist. Actually, the painter translated his feelings to the paper in order to share it with the world, which is exactly what the paper has done (Whitmarsh, 2000, p.23). Another benefit that photography introduced was that photography made the work of an artist easier. In the 19th century before the invention of photography, it was extremely straining since the artist would have to keep painting until he got what he wanted out of the painting. Photography has made it easier since just by a snap of a finger the picture is captured. As the technology grows, so does the quality of the work done by the photographers using the upgraded photography (Fiero, 2011, p.60). Technology in the art world allows individuals to enhance them through delivering the best quality possible.
References
Beye, C. (1992). Ancient Painting Compared To Photography. Ithaca, New York: Cornell
University Press
Fiero, G. (2011). The Humanistic Tradition: The Early Modern World to the Present. Vol. 2, 6th
edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. ISBN-10: 0077346238, ISBN-13: 978-
0077346232
Flacelière, R. (1993). Art and Its Effects Art. Chicago: Aldine Pub. Co.
Hadas, M. (1995). 19th Century Photography Civilization. New York, NY: Columbia University
Press.
Schmidt, M. (2004). The First Foundations for Western Civilization. New York: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson
Whitmarsh, T. (2000). Effects on painting. Cambridge: Polity Press
