Publication Date

1986

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Bisanz, Rudolf M.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Art

LCSH

Still-life painting; French--History

Abstract

Even before the Revolution in France, still life painting was considered a minor genre, the lowest rung of the Academy's "hierarchy of genres." However, throughout the period of upheaval which followed the Revolution, a number of specialists continued to produce a spectrum of still life works, many now largely forgotten. This thesis is an effort to reconstruct, through inspection of livrets and other contemporary and modern sources, the patterns of this continuation. Various factors which influenced the still life painting of the period under consideration included the Royal Academy's attitude toward the genre and French absorption of Dutch and Flemish traditions during the earlier eighteenth century. The most significant factor, however, was critical and public demand for those works which demonstrated the clarity of form and elegance of subject which conformed to the prevailing aesthetic sense. For this reason, the common kitchen utensils and foodstuffs so popular in the preceding decades are almost completely absent, and floral works and trompe-1'oeil paintings of various sorts remain to represent the genre.

Comments

Bibliography: pages [83]-88.

Extent

119 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS