This week, we looked at the Industrial Revolution. This changed society completely. The change from agriculture to industrial factory work, and the move from the countryside to the city changed people’s way of living. I think this change meant they could earn more money in factories than farming, allowing them to provide a better life for their families.
Industrial factory work
The invention of the camera, where the development of the first images were made, allowing a change from realism paintings. I think this seen a shift in what art was clarified as art, because photography was now a new area. The creation of moving images led to the invention of devices such as: zoetrope and mutoscope. I believe this is where the idea of animation came from, which I find interesting how it developed from a small device.
Zoetrope
Moutoscope
I used to have Phenakistosc, and was fascinated how they worked. The famous “The Horse in Motion” by Eadweard Muybridge, I took this piece for granted before learning how it’s six cards that show a series of six to twelve “automatic electro-photos” depicting the movement of a horse.
The Horse in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge
We looked at Japonism, this influenced many European artists being introduced to new techniques. I was surprised to hear that impressionist artists such as Vincent Van Gogh took inspiration from “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Hokusai. I do see the resemblance of the brushstrokes “Starry Night” are similar to the wave.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai
The development of The Arts & Craft Movement, turned away from factory made products and turned to nature. William Morris led this movement, his work looked at plants and trees. I really love his detailed vibrant wall papers, and admire how he produced his nature imagery to make typefaces and page borders. I can’t imagine how time consuming this would have been.
William Morris wall papers
William Morris typefaces and page borders
The exploration of the Art Nouveau movement, tried to separate the difference between Fine Art and Applied Art. This was used in both Art & Design industry. The most famous example from this movement is the Paris Metro signs by Hector Guimard. I find these signs very unusual and I don’t think they fit well against the rest of the architecture in the city. It almost looks creepy how it’s slanted and the type is like the font you’d find for a horror film.
Paris Metro signs by Hector Guimard
