Nineteenth-century Art: From Romanticism to Art Nouveau - Hardcover

Johnston, William R.

9781857592269: Nineteenth-century Art: From Romanticism to Art Nouveau

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1857592263 ISBN 13: 9781857592269

Publisher: Scala Publishers Ltd, 1999

The 19th-century holdings of the Walters Art Gallery are unique amongst museum collections of art from this period. Not only were William T. Walters (1819-94) and his son Henry (1848-1931) unique in purchasing extensively the art from their own `Gilded Age', but they also acquired works from many key artistic periods. The result is a collection of 19th-century art which undoubtedly reflects the the interests of its founders and gives viewers an opportunity to trace the development of 19th-century art within a historical context. This new title presents the highlights of this amazing collection. These include a series of paintings by the foremost masters of the Romantic era, J. A. D. Ingres and Eugene Delacroix, as well as landscapes by painters associated with the Barbizon school. Likewise, the `transportation' series of watercolours that William Walters bought from Honore Daumier in 1864 is generally recognised as the high point of nineteenth-century Realism. However, it is in the field of academic art, which dominated French art during the Second Empire (1852-70) that The Walters excels. The conflicts between the academic artists - especially Jean-Leon Gerome and Alexandre Cabanels - and the impressionists is demonstrated by The Walters collection. The work of Edouard Manet is presented in close proximity to that of his teacher, Thomas Couture, and the landscapes of Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley are juxtaposed with a highly idealised, poetic vision of ancient Egypt by Charles Gleyre, with whom they trained.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

For thirty-three years, William R. Johnston has been employed at the Walters Art Gallery where he is now Associate Director and Curator of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art. He has written on both fine and decorative arts. In 1997, he co-authored The Walters Gallery (Scala Books), and in 1999, he completed the first history of the Walters Art Gallery, William and Henry Walters: The Reticent Collectors.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.