Author: Vicky Hu

A Polish artist who helped bring modern art to Poland.

About the artist

Leon Wyczółkowski was a realist painter who helped bring the Young Poland Movement to its success. The young Poland movement was a revolutionary change for art, literature, and music in Poland since modernism and symbolism in art began to find its way into the country. He was a realist/impressionist painter who studied at several different fine arts academies in Poland and produced over 700 works in his lifetime. Later in his career, he began exploring graphic art and sculpture and also became the president of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. His works often convey a strong feeling of a certain mood in daily life, through his style of color usage and tones.

I really resonate with his style of painting. I love the way he depicts the feeling of solitude with the simple composition, and a very muddy, grey background (not a bad thing at all!). I just love the foggy landscape that have a strong sense of depth, and the gaze of himself in the foreground feels absolutely melancholic although I cannot even see his eyes! This painting almost makes me feel sad and nostalgic, and allows me to ponder a lot. But I love that he is able to convey these emotions.

This is a classic representation of his style. The usage of saturated blues in the atmospheric light in his paintings, and the back of a human figure facing towards somewhere the audience cannot see. I think this is why many of his paintings feel melancholic. However, I personally feel that the mood of this painting feels more comforting and peaceful rather than sad. The slight extension of the leg towards the water, and the warm sunlight shining on the figure captures the small feeling of assured peacefulness in this very short moment of this fisherman’s day (personal feeling).

He loved painting the working class. I feel like the way he paints in the last photo especially shows how he blurs the lines between realism and impressionism. He uses both techniques, as he captures a brief moment of the day with seemingly loose brushwork, but also captures the mood and certain details of his subjects very well. Again, the people in his paintings are not looking directly at the viewer, instead, they are working away at the task at hand. I think he intends to show this feeling of the workers’ diligence and mood in their daily life by painting the way they focus on their work.

Like many artists during his time, Wyczółkowski was also greatly influenced by Chinese, Japanese, and asian art. This is often seen through the pattern and subjects in his paintings. Another aspect that often stands out, again, is the usage of blue. He loves to use saturated azure blue for his shadows, instead of making them very dark. It almost gives his paintings a velvety look.

Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed viewing and learning about Wyczółkowski through his artworks. I think the reason I resonate with his style so much is simply becasue he is able to capture what I want to achieve——the mood of nostalgia. Not as in I personally experienced the scenes in his paintings myself, but the way he delivers the feeling as if you were there, as if you can recall a memory where you experienced the same thing. I think artists who are able to convey these emotions through a frame of a moment are amazing.

Sources:

https://culture.pl/en/artist/leon-wyczolkowski

https://prabook.com/web/leon.wyczo_kowski/3742556#works

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Poland

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leon_Wyczółkowski_%27Orka_na_Ukrainie%27.jpg

https://useum.org/artwork/Untitled-Leon-Wyczolkowski-1911

1895-1905

Color: Impressionism

You’ve definitely heard of a few artists of this period, but have you noticed the iconic style of color usage in their paintings?

Claude Monet: The Father of Impressionism

I think we’ve all heard of him, haven’t we? Let’s talk about the characteristics of the way he changed color usage in paintings.

Claude Monet is known to be the one who caused impressionism to rise. He paints the motif or the “impression” of a scene by being in the environment and quickly capturing a moment. Though these paintings may look “sketchy” and loose, he is a master of controlling the balance of colors, by balancing foggy, muted colors with saturated atmospheric colors. This is the iconic character of color usage in impressionist paintings.

As seen in this painting, Monet’s colours are often low in contrast of values, but high in contrast of saturation. This would become a classic style of impressionist colors.

Another great example of the foggy, soft, and low contrast impressionistic colours.

Many great impressionist artists who were influenced by Monet use this same style of color combinations in their artworks.

This is where we begin to see a common theme emerge from the paintings in this era: the Victorian Gibson girls. From here we move on to fashion.

Women’s Fashion: Victorian style

Noble women in the late 19th century usually had the standard Victorian combo: Bustles, high updos, corsets, and draped, frilly dresses.

As seen in Monet’s paintings, women often wore high, curly updos with lots of buns and braids. The hair got even taller once bustles became the “hot new thing”!

The large, exaggerated bustles in contrast to a tiny waist was very common. The dresses reached their max fullness in volume, and it was beginning to get a little too fancy.

However, bustles began to back out of the fashion trend near the beginning of the 20th century.

Here, we see the fashion trend moving towards a new era: the Edwardian era. The Edwardian era represented a more serious, well-conducted, and strict fashion trend. The skirts began to diminish in size, as well as the height of women’s hair. Instead, a straighter, slimmer silhouette of simpler dresses was much more preferred, and the big hats became very trendy.

As we can see here, women’s dresses were much more toned-down in terms of puffs, frills, and fancy folds. They were almost suit-like.

Sources

monet parasol

impression sunrise color palette

boulevard de capucines monet

https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.61379.html

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/monet-claude/artworks/

monet the reader

https://www.pinterest.ca/redhookcath/edwardian/

https://bellatory.com/fashion-industry/Fashion-History-Victorian-Costume-and-Design-Trends-1837-1900-With-Pictures

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/614108099166841084/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustrated_fashion_catalogue_-_summer,_1890_(1890)_(14597302399).jpg

1750-1850

Technology: the Watt engine-new and improved steam engine!

Watt said it’s time for the steam engine 1.1 update.

The invention of the steam engine was no doubt a revolutionary leap towards a thriving industrialized society. James Watt, a mathematical-instrument maker, was the one who made the Watt engine, a revised version of the original prototype——the Newcomen atmospheric steam engine. While Watt attempted to fix a Newcomen engine, He was not impressed with the waste of resources that Newcomen atmospheric steam engine causes and realized that all the luscious energy and heat being lost in the process needed compensation. Watt added another compressor, reducing the steam consumption and upgrading efficiency. He partnered up with a British inventor, John Roebuck, and successfully launched the Watt engine in 1777-1778. Pumping water from mines has never been easier for them!

Architecture: Neoclassical Architecture-going back to Ancient Greece and Rome

Have you ever wondered why the White House and many other important buildings look like this?

Greatly inspired by Ancient Greek and Roman architecture, the neoclassical style emerges in the mid-18th century. The consistent designs of these buildings have many common themes: grand simplicity, geometrical harmony, usage of columns, and classical nobleness. This style is believed to be a reaction to the Rococo and Baroque period, which focused more on ornamental elements and sophisticated designs. Learning from the old masters of architecture was definitely a trend back in the days. Neoclassical architecture spread through Europe quickly, and today we can see these elements being used commonly in governmental buildings, theatres, museums, and other buildings that require a visually grand scale. This is why the Neoclassical form is often associated with power, seriousness, and grandness.

sources:

https://www.uh.edu/engines/epi2869.htm

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/997991/view/james-watt-s-prototype-steam-engine-old-bess-c1778

https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Watt

https://interestingengineering.com/james-watt-father-of-the-modern-steam-engine

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Neoclassical_architecture

https://www.mayfairgallery.com/blog/neoclassical-style-guide-art-architecture-18th-century

https://www.barrons.com/articles/how-much-is-the-white-house-worth-1471060823

Typography: Gutenberg’s printing press

We just want to read the Bible! give books. now.

Johannes Gutenberg can be considered the father of western printing technology. He replaced wood-based printing with metal text blocks in 1450, which is the first metal movable type. This was a revolutionary step to printing in Germany, as it allowed books to be printed in large quantities of copies.

It is believed that Gutenberg had borrowed money from a business partner who believed in Gutenberg’s innovative idea—-Johann Fust. Fust lent 800 guilders to Gutenberg which kickstarted the printing career (Gutenberg was kinda broke). Gutenberg continued to improve the press while updating new versions of it, slowly but surely perfecting what he had to work with. In 1455, Gutenberg published the 42-line Bible which contained easy-to-read text in gothic font, and even colored illustrations, which was very popular amongst the churches. Great job at finding your first target audience, Gutenberg :).

However, in 1456, Fust grew impatient and demanded the loan to be returned. This issue quickly escalated to court, and Gutenberg lost the trial. In the end, Gutenberg was unable to pay 2,026 guilders (gasp) —- much more than the original amount because of added interests. This resulted in his invention being taken away from him, and the press was handed to Fust (come on Gutenberg, you can do better than that). Fust carried on with this technology and explored new printing strategies and fonts, and it is believed that he credited Gutenberg as he did so. Some also believe that while Gutenberg became bankrupt, he had the freedom to open his own small printing shop, and continued from there. Although Gutenberg isn’t the first person to use printing technology, he definitely made revolutionary advances and brought it success in the western world. I personally think if he dealt with the money before wanting to perfect the technology, he and Fust possibly could have been great partners for a longer period of time and made even better improvements to the printing press.

Art – the Renaissance and the Baroque painters

There’s this Artist who was definitely wild and you’ll quickly see why.

The 14th century is considered to be a rebirth and revolution in the art world by many since some of the most influential artists in art history originated from this era. The infamous father of Baroque painting, Caravaggio, is one of them. When the Italian painter first settled in Rome, he was greatly influenced by previous artists such as Masaccio and Giotto, masters of the Renaissance era. However, Caravaggio’s art shook the art world by using his own naturalistic interpretations.

Caravaggio took Chiaroscuro to the next level by pushing the contrast of light and dark in his works, which is an iconic characteristic of his paintings. Using this technique, he often depicted the biblical events as dark, gruesome, gory, but still natural and realistic to the point where the audience immediately puts themselves inside the image. This was the magic of his paintings. As you can imagine, controversies emerged because Biblical stories were not always pretty in his paintings, and not everyone was a big fan of that.

He went on to influence many great artists after him who also made great impacts on the art world, such as Rubens, Velazquez, and Rembrandt. Without Caravaggio’s works, art would not be what it is today.

As you can probably tell, these people didn’t always look like the prettiest Gods and Goddesses. That’s because Caravaggio wanted the paintings to look natural and believable, so he picked models from people on the street. This is also why his naturalistic style is so different from previous famous artists, as they were mostly about “photoshopping” and idealizing the figures to look perfect.

Sources

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/old-masters/caravaggio.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paintings_by_Caravaggio

https://www.thoughtco.com/johannes-gutenberg-and-the-printing-press-1991865

https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/printing-press

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Johannes-Gutenberg

https://www.google.com/search?q=gutenberg+and+fust&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjdwI3NzrPsAhXXBTQIHS9yBckQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=gutenberg+and+fust&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzICCAA6BAgAEEM6BwgAELEDEEM6BAgAEB46BggAEAgQHjoECAAQGFDu0kBYxNlAYNvaQGgAcAB4AIABmQGIAeoEkgEDOC4xmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=6K-GX92sFteL0PEPr-SVyAw&bih=1057&biw=1792&client=safari#imgrc=LzbsTu1Nw7bsgM

If I were to give myself a mark, I would give myself a 7.5/10. I think I tried to get all the points down, but I could’ve written some parts with better language, and it was a bit difficult to find the fitting images especially for the camera (very difficult to find non-repetitive images and I couldn’t find a sample of a photo taken with the original Leica). I also think I could have made the connections a bit clearer though that was also hard because seemingly, these three events have no relation to each other. But I think I have the right idea. In all, It was a project heavily research-based, and less visually-creative based in my opinion. I think sometimes I lack skills in the presentation of my research, even though I’m not bad at learning on my own about these topics and simply attaining the information to myself. The main thing I learn through these projects is how to write and present to show that I know this knowledge. So I think this was mainly a writing exercise for me personally. I learned a lot about these events on my own though.