Painterly Enlightenment: The Art of Franz Anton Maulbertsch, 1724-1796 (Bettie Allison Rand Lectures in Art History)

Kaufmann, Thomas DaCosta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1469614804 ISBN 13: 9781469614809

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014

Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724-1796) was an Austrian fresco painter known for his bold use of color. Although he has been recognized in the Central European regions where he worked, Maulbertsch has remained outside the general canon of art history. With Painterly Enlightenment, Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann recovers the story of Maulbertsch, offering the first comprehensive English-language study of the long-neglected artist. Kaufmann situates Maulbertsch as a fresco painter at a time of transition to easel painting, a colorist at a time when color was not fully appreciated by contemporary observers, and an interpreter of religious themes at a time when secular subjects were becoming more popular. In this analysis, he is shown caught between the intellectual forces of the Enlightenment and the waning power of the traditional church, thus helping to illuminate the relationship between the Enlightenment and the arts. Kaufmann provides a thorough foundation for the fresh recognition of one of the great painters of eighteenth-century Europe, a leading fresco painter who is a colorist worthy of comparison to the best of his contemporaries, including the celebrated Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

About the Author:

Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann is professor in the department of art and archaeology at Princeton University. He is author of many books, including the award-winning The School of Prague: Painting at the Court of Rudolf II; Court, Cloister and City: The Art and Culture of Central Europe; and Towards a Geography of Art.

From the Inside Flap:

Kaufmann offers the most comprehensive study available of Austrian fresco painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch, one of the leading architectural painters of the 18th century and a colorist now often compared to his contemporary, the celebrated Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Kaufmann's analysis of Maulbertsch also sheds light on the relationship between the Enlightenment and the arts.