Art – Section IV

Nitika Malik

Benjamin West Born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, but

spent most of his adult life in England Renaissance masters who inspired him the

most, including Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian

Founding member of the Royal Academy Arts, created by King George III in 1768

One of West’s most influential paintings was a large historical scene, The Death of General Wolfe (1770)o Illustrated the final moments in the life

General James Wolfe, who died in 1759 during the Battle of Quebec

Continued… Next major historical, William Penn’s Treaty with the

Indians (1771-1772)o The focus of his painting is on the exchange of

gifts for land The infamous “ Walking Purchase” of 1737

indicative a new relationship with the Native American people under the leadership of Thomas Penn (son of William Penn)o Walking Purchase became more controversial in

the late 1750’s o Native American groups led raids on settlements

in PA, siding with the French in the French & Indian War (1756-1763)

o They claim that continued resentment resulting from the Walking Purchase motivated them to turn against the British settlers in PA.

William Hodges Born in London First independent work involved painting,

landscapes scenery for theatrical productions in London

In 1786 Hodges became an associate member of the Royal Academy, he was made a full member in 1787 and he exhibited there until 1794

Two of his allegorical landscapes, The Effects of War and The Consequences of Peaceo Inappropriate and dangerous in the context

of Britain's Military engagement with France

HMS Resolution and Adventure with Fishing Craft in Matavi Bay is a large landscape painting depicting a protected Bay along Tahiti’s Northern coastline

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Born in London His painting Dido Building Carthage

(National Gallery, London, 1815) depicts ancient Roman history through a monumental, picturesque landscape

Snow Storm—Hannibal Crossing the Alps (Turner Collection, London, 1812) refers to the storm of 218 B.C.E that caught the ancient Roman military leader and his troops in the moun tains.

Slave ship - based on an event recounted in Thomas Clarkson’s The History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1808)

Continued… Clarkson was one of the few non-

Quaker members of the organizing committee

Britain abolished slavery throughout the empire in 1833

British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was formed in 1839

Zong Affair involved a captain who ordered more than one hundred slaves to be thrown overboard in order to collect an insurance payment

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Born in Massachusetts in 1834, but he spent most of his life abroad

Whistler promoted the idea of “art for art’s sake” Primary goal of the artist was to create beauty Best works:

o Symphony in White, No.1: The White Girl (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1862)

o Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother (Musée d’Orsay, Paris, 1871)

o Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, 1874)

Purple and Rose: The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks is a small painting focusing on a female figure sur rounded by beautiful Chinese objects

John Frederick Lewis Born in London in 1805 Provided glimpses of a distant land through his highly

detailed paintings Lewis’s life in Cairo was documented by novelist William

Makepeace Thackery in his Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo (1846)

Lewis made over six hundred watercolor paintings and drawings during the decade he lived in Cairo

A Lady Receiving Visitors (The Reception) is a highly detailed view of a complex interior space with a high ceilingo Focus is on the main chamber of the room, where the

lady of the house is seated Painted and exhibited The Reception in 1873

Yinka Shonibare Born in London to Nigerian parents When he was 19, he suffered from

paralysis caused by transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord

Series of five photographs entitled The Sleep of Reason Produces Nightmares references a famous print from the late eighteenth century by the Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya (1746–1828)