Theordore Rosseau, The Forest in Winter at Sunset, 1845-67, France

Rousseau's The Forest in Winter at Sunset was a landscape painting. His use of the Barbazane style and a dark canvass creates nature as an abstract. Rousseau never thought his work was finished.

Rosa Bonher, The Horse Fair

1835, France

Influenced by Gericault's work, Rosa Bonher created a large naturalistic academic style of painting. This academic painting was created in order assert her female virtuosity and the importance of female identity and the female artist. In the work there is a great focus on action and movement.

Millet, The Gleaners

1857, France

The Gleaners by Millet shows peasantry in a heroic sense. It shows labor intensive work in a picturesque and ideal way. We are dragged through a the image through the use of a strong diagonal and the image itself is a very natural and realistic image. We can also see a biblical allegory of the story of Ruth in this image.

Edouard Manet, Dejeuner sur L'Herbe

1863, France

Dejeuner sur L'Herbe by Manet is an extremely complex image. It brings up the idea of the flaneur in Parisian culture which discusses the idea of the lounger and the stroller. We see regular people doing nothing but simply enjoying their time. However it is much more complicated than that. We see the nude woman which could be mistaken for a prostitute, but brings up ideas of antiquity meeting contemporary society. It was rejected by the Salon and was showed in the Salon de Refusee.

Adolph Menzel, Iron Rolling Mill

1872-5, Germany

In the Iron Rolling Mill by Menzel, we see modern German realism. In the image we see progress and the idustrialization of society not just in machine, but in the mechanization of man. We see no individual identity in that we see none of the man's faces, but instead we see them working together as one mechanical unit. It was also a powerful image for German nationalism.

John Everett Millais, Christ in the Carpenter's Shop

1849-50, France

In Millais' pre-Raphealitte Christ in the Carpenter's Shop we see everyday life meeting with religious iconography. We see Jesus (identified by the stigmata) as a redheaded little boy who critics said looked weak, frail, and all too human while his mother Mary looking like a doting mother. The construction of the piece looks like a triangular altar piece. Portrays Renaissance ideals that harken back to the old age of religious importance.

William Frith, At the Seaside

1854, England

In Frith's At the Seaside we see a Victorian image that shows the power of the rising middle class. We see the middle class enjoying their lives and their leisure time. We see every stereotype of the middle class so everyone could see themselves in the image making tihs a wildly popular in England making English nationalism rise. It is a modern history painting at an interesting perspective seeing as how we are floating in the water.

James Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold

1875, England

Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold shows an abstract landscape piece using dark colors and an almost haunting image of fireworks over the English waterfront. It was meant to be how Whistler viewed idealism and gain perspective from the atmosphere rather than humanity. We see fireworks over England meant to inspire a slight sense of English nationalism. Whistler was asked to show with the Impressionists and refused.

Crystal Palace interior view of the barrel vaulted transept

1852, England

The Crystal Palace by Paxton was made of glass and cast steel and was representative of modern progress and English nationalism. Here was housed the world's exhibition that united many countries under one roof to compete and show their own sense of their nation. It displayed the exotic and displayed the host nation as something as powerful and solidified. Used cathedral terminology to show past meeting present.

Phillip Webb, Backgammon Cabinet

1862, England

Webb's Backgammon Cabinet is a medieval revivalist piece meant to inspire nostalgia for the greatness of the past. Was a part of the arts and crafts movement that was meant to humanize the arts again rather than the factories and machines that worked to "dehumanize art".

Exterior of the Palais de l'industrie at the Universal Exposition of Paris

1855, France

The Palais de l'industrie was constructed to show the power of France and create a sense of French nationalism. It was meant to house other nations and create a sense of world unity through world competition. Also there were multiple buildings meant to create competition through architecture. It was also meant to be propaganda for Napoleon III.

Gustave Courbet, The Painter's Atelier: A real allegory of Seven Years of my Artistic Life

1854-5, France

Courbet's The Painter's Atelier shows Courbet's life acheivements and his idea of social commentary. It shows his skill in asserting his identity, landscape art, academic art, as well as the fact that he is at the center of his own work showing what is most important to him. He did not get enough pieces accepted to the Salon, so instead, he created his own show for himself.

Claude Monet, Impression, sunrise

1872, France

In Monet's Impression, sunrise we see the beginnings of impressionism. We start to see a new focus emotion, light, and form rather than such structure in order to create the essense of a piece rather than the academic integrity. We can see progress here as well in the background with the combination of landscape with man made. We start to see the rise of commericalism as well.

Pierre Auguste Renior, Ball at the Moulin de la Galette

1876, France

In Renior's Ball at the Moulin de la Galette we see the importance of light. Light is used to create a sense of the foreground, middle ground, and background. We see it used to discuss elements of manmade light versus nature. We see the rise of the middle class as well by them enjoying their leisure time. Rise of impressionism is important here as well.

Mary Cassat, Woman in a Loge

1879, America

Cassat's Woman in a Loge deals with the female identity and importance of the female artist. It is also about modern parisian society and the rise of the middle class. We see a middle class woman enjoying a theatre performance. Cassat never painted the stage, only the spectators. We see Japonisme through the fan and we see status through fashion.

Georges Seurat, A Sunday at La Grande Jatte

1884-6, France

Seurat's A Sunday at La Grand Jatte uses a new style called Pointalism. It discusses how society is together at one location but at the same time completely separated and alone. It is a social commentary piece that is filled with symbolism that tries to get at an anti-utopian society. This is the beginning of the rise of modernist style.

Paul Cezanne, Plate of Apples

1877, France

In Cezanne's Plate of Apples, we see the rise of French post modernism. This simple portrait of a plate of apples is meant to be a very complex image in order to make each eye have a completely different experience.

Vincent Van Gogh, Night Cafe

1888, France

In Vincent Van Gogh's Night Cafe, it shows a picturesque and calm scene of every day life. The importance of this work was his use of symbolism thorugh color and his brushwork in giving movement in light as well as a strong sense of diagonal.

Paul Gauguin, Vision after the Sermon Jacob Wrestling the Angel

1888, France

Paul Gauguin, Where do We come From? Where are we? Where are We going?

1897, France

Auguste Rodin, Fugit Amor

1887, France