Classical Era Exhibit

Scientific discovery in the 1700s was a large source for the flourishing of art. The Age of Enlightenment, so it was called, spanned from the 18th century to the 19th century and emphasized reason. The classical era consisted largely of scientific discoveries and these profoundly affected the arts. During this time, many painters included new scientific discoveries in their creations. With the rise of scientific innovation also came the decline of religion. Religion became less mainstream in art and science moved in to take it's place, so to say. Scientific reasoning and methodology in order to reach answers became more appreciated in comparison to religion. Neoclassic art focused on clean lines and odes to the Greeks and Romans.

Within the Neoclassical Era came the prominence of human intelligence.

This post will mainly focus on the relationship between the arts and the scientific discoveries in the 1700s. Three examples of art utilizing scientific discoveries would be:

The Alchemist Discovering Phosphorus by Joseph Wright

Here we see the painting by Joseph Wright, which was created in 1771 in the United Kingdom and is a painting on oil canvas that portrays the alchemist praying for the magic to craft the sorcerer stone. This painting shows strictly scientific discovery and no religion which is evidence for the influence of science during this era. The historical subtlety in this painting alludes to the the discovery of the element phosphorus by Hennig Brand in Germany.

This piece is bland. It seems, to me, that there is a lot of detail but the colors do not appeal to me in the slightest. In short, it is boring. The brown-yellow tint that blankets the painting is what make it that way. If he had painted this with natural colors, it would be much more appealing. However, I can understand why he chose to blanket it with this tint. He is trying to emphasize the bright light that the phosphorus was emitting.

The next two pieces require more subtle connections and will be explained.

Colour by Angelica Kauffman

This painting was created in 1780 in Italy. It is an oil on canvas piece and it was commissioned by the Royal Academy in 1778. This painting is roughly a product of the discovery of the color wheel, or in this case, the rainbow by Sir Isaac Newton. Without his discovery, the colors and the use of the rainbow above would not be present. In this painting, the woman has an empty canvas and is stealing color from the rainbow in order to paint. This painting also alludes to the Greek style in the way that her pose is shown. With her clothes loose, she is freed from the mundane and is allowed the freedom to steal the pigments of the rainbow to do her bidding.

This piece is marvelous. It really stands out to me how much the rainbow calls our attention. It was as if she had deafened the colors of the rest of the painting in order to bring out the separate colors of the rainbow. I also very much like how proportionate and real the woman is in the painting. The fact that she does not look contorted makes it more realistic.

Portrait of a New Zealand man by Sydney Parkinson

This piece of art is a pen and wash type created aboard the ship of Captain Cook on his First Voyage. The connection to the topic of scientific discoveries may be vague but once explained, it will be clear. Sir Isaac Newton, during this century, had explained the new concept of gravity, thus encouraging explorers to travel outside of their domain in order to make new discoveries. Because of his new concept and the snowball effect it created, he indirectly influenced Sydney to join this quest and therefore draw this drawing. Without Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation, this would not have happened. Also, without the drive of the explorers to discover new land and see the world, this would cease to exist.

Seeing as this is a drawing and not a painting, I would have to say that the artist did a fairly good job with how much detail is inlaid in this piece. The color also nicely depicts a sort of antique finish and adds to the overall aesthetics. It makes one wonder if they had actually seen someone who looked like this or if the artist had to create this from their imagination.

References:

Bemrose, William. The Life and Works of Joseph Wright, ARA commonly called “Wright of Derby,”(London: Bemrose & Sons, 1885). Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0706/byko-0706.html>

“Captain Cook Timeline.” Timeline. N.p.. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://www.captcook-ne.co.uk/ccne/timeline/voyage1.htm&gt>

CMS, Keepthinking - Qi. "Venues." Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797). N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2016. <http://artuk.org/discover/artists/wright-of-derby-joseph-17341797>. 

"Romantic Circles." Colour. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2016. <https://www.rc.umd.edu/gallery/colour>. 

"Royal Academy of Arts Collections - Artist of the Month - August 2011." Royal Academy of Arts Collections - Artist of the Month - August 2011. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Oct. 2016. <http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/indexplus?record=ART3886>.