The Age of Pleasure and Enlightenment European art of the ...

The Age of Pleasure and EnlightenmentEuropean art of the eighteenth century increasingly emphasized civility, elegance, comfort, andinformality. During the first half of the century, the Rococo style of art and decoration,characterized by lightness, grace, playfulness, and intimacy, spread throughout Europe. Paintersturned to lighthearted subjects, including inventive pastoral landscapes, scenic vistas of populartourist sites, and genre subjects—scenes of everyday life. Mythology became a vehicle for theexpression of pleasure rather than a means of revealing hidden truths. Porcelain and silvermakers designed exuberant fantasies for use or as pure decoration to complement newlyremodeled interiors conducive to entertainment and pleasure.As the century progressed, artists increasingly adopted more serious subject matter, often takenfrom classical history, and a simpler, less decorative style. This was the Age of Enlightenment,when writers and philosophers came to believe that moral, intellectual, and social reform waspossible through the acquisition of knowledge and the power of reason. The Grand Tour, ameans of personal enlightenment and an essential element of an upper-class education, wassymbolic of this age of reason.The installation highlights the museum’s rich collection of eighteenth-century paintings anddecorative arts. It is organized around four themes: Myth and Religion, Patrons and Collectors,Everyday Life, and The Natural World. These themes are common to art from different culturesand eras, and reveal connections among the many ways artists have visually expressed theircultural, spiritual, political, material, and social values.

Domenico CorviItalian, Roman, 1721–1803The Miracle of St. Joseph Calasanz Resuscitating a Child in a Church at Frascati, 1767Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1981.24The Spanish saint, Joseph Calasanz (1558–1648) was canonized in 1767, the same year hisfollowers, known as Scolopians or Piarists, presented this altarpiece to Pope Clement XIII.Devoted to education, especially of the homeless and neglected, Joseph Calasanz went to Romein 1592, and founded a free school for poor children there five years later.Corvi’s painting encourages the emotional involvement of the observer by presenting the sacreddrama in a convincing narrative manner. The saint kneels before an altar adorned with a largepicture of the Virgin and Child, and appeals to the Madonna to revive the dead child in his arms,as the mother looks on. A Scolopian father enters the scene with his pupils, their animatedgestures and facial expressions injecting energy and emotion into the scene.Carle Van LooFrench, 1705–1765Offering to Cupid, 1761Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1979.186Offering to Cupid reflects the fascination with antiquity—fueled by excavations of ancient sitesin Italy—that swept mid-eighteenth-century France, influencing all aspects of culture andfashion. The subject is a contemporary interpretation of an ancient rite, in which a young maidenmakes an offering to Cupid, the god of love. The elongated figures and sheer, clinging draperyrecall ancient Greek paintings and statues. But the feathery brushstrokes and pastel colors reflectthe decorative Rococo style of the eighteenth century, marking Offering to Cupid as a work inwhich old and new elements combine.Carle Van Loo, the most famous member of a family of painters and artists, was trained in bothParis and Rome, and known for his ability to paint a range of subjects and styles. By the time ofhis death in 1765, he had been ennobled and appointed Premier Painter to the King, Louis XV.

Attributed to Johan RichterSwedish (active in Venice), 1665–1745Feast of Santa Maria della Salute, c. 1720Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1939.268Feast of Santa Maria della Salute depicts the Festival of the Presentation of the Virgin, whichtook place annually in Venice on November 21, when a bridge of boats would be constructedacross the Grand Canal, connecting the Church of Santa Maria della Salute with the Church ofSanta Maria del Giglio. The Doge and the Elders of Venice would pass in procession across thebridge to celebrate the construction of the Church of the Salute. Conceived in 1630 to payhomage to the Virgin Mary for delivering Venice from the plague that year, it was begun in 1631and completed fifty years later.This painting has recently been attributed to Johan Richter, a Swedish artist who worked inVenice from at least 1717. Richter, along with Luca Carlevarijs—to whom this painting has alsobeen attributed—was one of the two painters who specialized in views of Venice beforeCanaletto, whose work is seen in the next gallery.CASECupid (L’Amour de Falconet)Sèvres, 1762, base 1777Perhaps François-Joseph Aloncle (painter, active 1758–81) and Jean-Pierre Boulanger (gilder,active 1754–85)Soft-paste porcelainGift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.959Falconet’s Cupid—first produced in 1758 and modeled on his marble version for the king’smistress, Madame de Pompadour—gestures the onlooker to be silent, presumably so that he canshoot his victim unaware. In type he is a fusion of two Greek deities, Harpocrates, the god ofsilence, and Cupid, the god of love. Harpocrates was represented as an infant with his finger heldto his mouth, while Cupid was commonly portrayed with wings and a bow, quiver, and arrows.“Psyche” (Pendant de L’Amour de Falconet)Sèvres, c. 1761–73; pedestal 1777François-Joseph Aloncle (painter, active 1758–81) and Jean-Pierre Boulanger (gilder, active1754–84)Soft-paste porcelainGift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.960This model was originally introduced into production in 1761, having been created by Falconetspecifically as a pendant to his Cupid of 1758. The base is inscribed with a quote from Virgil'sEcologues, “Et nos cedamus amori” (let us yield to love). Although Psyche was Cupid’s lover inmythology, this figure was never called Psyche by the Sèvres factory. Hundreds of examples ofthese figures were sold in the eighteenth century.

Everyday LifeArt, both decorative and functional, has always been made for the domestic environment.Everyday life, both high and low, has also provided subject matter for artists. Works of art canoffer a window into everyday life by recording private moments, social customs, domesticinteriors, and changing fashion, across time and geography.Gaspare TraversiItalian, Neapolitan, c. 1722–1770A Quarrel over a Board Game, c. 1752Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1948.118Tavern scenes such as this one, showing games and gambling, were often intended to conveymoralizing messages denouncing human weakness. This work focuses on a range of emotions—concern, fear, and anger—made emphatic by the placement of the three-quarter-length figures ina narrow foreground space. Traversi also delighted in painting rich colors and fabrics, seen mostespecially in the embroidery on the waistcoat of the man on the left. The overall impression isone of theatricality and stylish staging, suggesting that the artist may have been inspired bycontemporary theater or opera.Traversi began his career in Naples but in 1752 moved to Rome where he remained until hisdeath. His most significant contributions to eighteenth-century Italian painting are his eloquentand often mocking reflections on the morals of his time.Pietro LonghiItalian, 1702–1785The Temptation, c. 1745Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1931.188Longhi was one of the most gifted of eighteenth-century genre painters in Venice, an excellentdraughtsman who effortlessly captured the features and gestures of his subjects. He depicteddelightful scenes, often satirical, of life among the city's upper classes. In this work a youngmonk visits a group of ladies engaged in sewing and holds a glass to his eye to get a betterlook—though not necessarily at their work. The presence of the caged bird is undoubtedly areference to the preservation of virtue, as a bird in a cage symbolizes intact virginity.

Unidentified ArtistEnglish, 18th centuryPortrait of Two Ladies, c. 1765Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1945.353Portrait of Two Ladies is an excellent example of the popular English Conversation picture,which typically depicts real people in the course of their ordinary daily activities, in this casereading and sewing. This type of domestic genre scene appealed to new middle-class patrons asan alternative to the more artificial, formally posed portrait.Giuseppe Maria CrespiItalian, Bolognese, 1665–1747An Artist in his Studio, 1730sOil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1936.499Crespi was one of the first Italian painters of note to devote serious attention to the depiction ofcontemporary life. In this picture, genre and portraiture are united, producing an intimate lookinto the domestic surroundings of the artist. At his easel, he is surrounded by the accoutrementsof his profession, including casts of faces and body parts, and Crespi’s own copy of a painting bythe seventeenth-century artist Giovanni Francesco Barberi, known as Guercino.This is probably a self-portrait, painted by Crespi late in life, but depicting himself as a youngerman. It has also been proposed that the painting could be a portrait of the artist's son, Luigi, whowas also a painter.Giacomo CerutiItalian, Milanese, 1698–1767Girl with a Dove, c. 1730–40Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1942.352Girl with a Dove exemplifies Ceruti’s work as a painter of genre and portraits, and in this picturehe combines elements from both types. It is a portrait not of a middle or upper class woman, butof a peasant girl, a subject usually reserved for genre scenes. The informal realism and franknessof the pose, and the inclusion of the dove, are well suited to the sitter and characteristic ofCeruti’s work.

Giovanni Battista PiazzettaItalian, Venetian, 1683–1754Boy with a Pear, c. 1740Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1944.34andGirl with a Ring Biscuit, c. 1740Oil on canvasPurchased in honor of Jean K. Cadogan with funds raised, and the Ella Gallup Sumner and MaryCatlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1997.22.1Throughout his career, the Venetian painter Piazzetta produced half-length figures such as thisboy and girl. The subject of this pair is the interchange between the hopeful youth offering hisfruit, and the young lady who seems to discourage his advances. In fact these paintings probablyillustrate popular eighteenth-century Italian idioms. The phrase “cascare come pera cotta” (“tofall like a cooked pear”) meant to fall in love, while the proverb “Non tutte le ciambelle riesconocon buco” (“not all ring biscuits are made with holes”) implied that all does not turn out well.Attributed to Charles Joseph FlipartFrench, 1721–1797Portrait of the Castrato Carlo Scalzi, c. 1738Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1938.177Opera flourished in the eighteenth century, and was performed all over Europe, both in privatecourt theaters and later in large public opera houses. As the audience for opera expanded, light orcomic operas, which came from humble beginnings, began to flourish alongside serious or tragicopera.This portrait is thought to represent the eighteenth-century Italian opera singer Carlo Scalzi, oneof the most famous male sopranos or castrati. It has been debated whether Signor Scalzi isrepresented here as a character from Leonardo Vinci's opera Artaserse (1730–31) or from NicoloPopora's Sirbace (1737). In either case, his costume is a European interpretation of Persian dress,very much an eighteenth-century operatic fantasy.

CASE LABELBirdcageGerman, Meissen, 1740–50Hard-paste porcelainGift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1247Birdcages in Meissen porcelain are extremely rare, as they would have been difficult to makeand therefore very costly. A solid form was made first, and then carved out by hand to form thereticulated shape. Next small forget-me-not flowers were applied and painted. It is remarkablethat this large, pierced cage did not collapse in the kiln.While pet birds were kept in many well-to-do households in the eighteenth century, to have aporcelain birdcage must have been the height of luxury.CASEHerring DishDutch, Delft, c. 1700De Dissel (The Pole factory, 1640–1701)Tin-glazed earthenwareThe Richard and Georgette A. Koopman Collection of Delft, 2004.26.26Herring was part of the fabric of daily life in the Netherlands. A Dutch proverb goes "Haring in'tland, dokter aan de kant," meaning "If herring is around, the doctor is far away." The catch wassold by vendors who pushed their products through the streets in two-wheeled carts. The herringwas boned, and eaten raw, smoked, or salted. Most households had a special dish in which toserve it.Cheese Vendor PlateDutch, Delft, mid-18th centuryTin-glazed earthenwareThe Richard and Georgette A. Koopman Collection of Delft, 2004.26.9Though milk was plentiful in Holland, it was also perishable and thus frequently made intocheese. Both cow’s and sheep’s milk were used. Cheese was usually named for the place whereit originated; the Dutch are still famous for cheeses like Gouda and Edam. This plate, used toserve cheese, also depicts how cheese was sold in shops in Holland.

Butter TubDutch, Delft, c. 1760Tin-glazed earthenwareThe Richard and Georgette A. Koopman Collection of Delft, 2004.26.56A,BButter tubs were found on almost every table in the Netherlands, where bread and butter wereeaten in great quantity. The shape of this tub developed from wooden utensils that had lids heldin place by two rods. In the ceramic tubs, the rods were eliminated but the leaf-form handlesretained the holes nevertheless.Charles-Antoine CoypelFrench, 1694–1752The Fainting of Armida, c. 1733–35Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 2011.5.1Coypel began his career as a designer of tapestries for the Gobelins factory, and soon became thefavorite painter of Maria Leczinska, Louis XV’s Polish-born queen. He was also greatly inspiredby theater and opera, and he even began a second career as a playwright in 1718, producing bothcomedies and tragedies. Both aspects of his career are reflected in this painting, which may havebeen a preliminary design for a tapestry from the Tapestry of Operatic Episodes series woven in1771. It illustrates a final scene from the popular French opera Armide, in which the sorceressArmida, realizing that the spell she had cast upon the Crusader Rinaldo was broken, prepares todestroy the enchanted kingdom she had created. Coypel lavished all his considerable skill onpresenting an extravagant imaginary setting and elaborate costumes that present an ideal ratherthan an actual performance.

The Natural WorldArtists have been exploring and chronicling nature since the earliest time, depicting thelandscape with its flora and fauna, and addressing the issue of man’s place in nature. Nature alsoinspires still-life painters and is an enduring source of motifs for artists and designers.Bernardo BellottoItalian, Venetian, 1721–1780View of Pirna in Saxony, 1763Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1931.280Bellotto was the nephew and only pupil of Canaletto, who is best known for his scenes ofVenice. Bellotto worked there with his uncle until 1747, when he left for desirable posts at thecourts in Munich, Dresden, Vienna, and Warsaw. The View of Pirna in Saxony was paintedduring one of Bellotto's stays in Dresden. The town of Pirna and the Castle of Sonnenstein areseen from a hill, and the river Elbe is visible in the distance. This detailed rendering oftopography is typical of Bellotto, as are the cool colors, intense clear light, and rich shadows.Thomas GainsboroughEnglish, 1727–1788Woody Landscape, c. 1783–84Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1957.15Although Gainsborough was most famous as a portrait painter in eighteenth-century England, histrue love was landscape painting; he just could not make a satisfactory living from it. His chiefinspiration was Dutch seventeenth-century landscapes, which he adapted to fashion his ownidealized views of his native Suffolk, as is evidenced here. The silvery light that breaks throughthe clouds, the feathery brushwork, and intertwined foliage in muted colors all combine to createa nostalgic dream world of harmonious relationships between man and nature.

Jean-Baptiste de RoyFlemish, 1759–1839Landscape with Cattle and Cottage, 1796Oil on panelGift of Mr. and Mrs. James Lippincott Goodwin, 1963.2Jean-Baptiste de RoyFlemish, 1759–1839Landscape with Cattle Crossing a Bridge, 1796Oil on panelGift of Mr. and Mrs. James Lippincott Goodwin, 1963.3Jean-Baptiste de Roy, called de Roy of Brussels, was a self-taught painter and etcher specializingin landscapes and pictures of animals. When quite young he went to Holland with his father.While there he studied the Dutch landscape painters of the seventeenth century, who hadsignificantly raised the landscape from mere setting to the subject matter. It was also there thathe created these charming and idyllic views of the Dutch countryside.Giovanni Antonio Canal, called CanalettoItalian, Venetian, 1697–1768Landscape with Ruins, c. 1721–22Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1939.290This architectural fantasy, Landscape with Ruins is part of a larger group of imaginary viewpaintings, called capriccio, that have been attributed to the young Canaletto. The capricciocombined invented and/or real architectural features, intact or ruined, in a picturesque setting. Itwas one of the more popular types of painting during the era of the Grand Tour of Europe, whenthere was a heavy demand for pictorial souvenirs. In Italy, where there were countless reallocations with Classical ruins, artists only had to use poetic license to combine and elaborate onexisting monuments, and place them within an idyllic setting.

Luis Egidio MeléndezSpanish, 1716–1780Still Life with Pigeons, Onions, Bread, and Kitchen Utensils, c. 1772Oil on canvasThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1938.256An earthenware jug, a copper bowl, onions, garlic, bread, and a pigeon would be the ingredientsfor a humble meal, but Meléndez has arranged them with sensitivity, brilliantly using light todescribe their varied colors and textures. With flawless technique the artist produced adistinctive realism with powerfully modeled objects against neutral backgrounds, viewed closeupfrom a low vantage point.Meléndez was an acknowledged master of the still life, and painted more than one hundred ofthem between 1759 and 1778.Charles-François Grenier de La Croix, called Lacroix de MarseilleFrench, c. 1700–1782Seascape with a Ruined Arch, 1780Oil on copperGift of Mary Batterson Beach, 1946.89Lacroix produced countless modest coastal scenes, all imaginary. This seascape, which is notstrictly a topographical representation, strongly suggests sites on the itinerary of many a travelerthrough Italy, where Lacroix had spent time in the 1750s: the hills and cascades of Tivoli; theharbor, lighthouses, and old fortresses of Naples; or the undeveloped coastline near Naples andRome.CASEPair of Vases (urnes duplessis)French, Vincennes, 1749–51Soft-paste porcelainGift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.977–.978Flowers adorned decorative objects of all types in the eighteenth century. The Vincennesporcelain factory, predecessor of the Sèvres porcelain factory, embraced the taste for floralornamentation with enthusiasm. In this pair of vases, flowers sculpted out of porcelain—bywomen employed in a specialized workshop for the factory—were applied to the vases,seeming to grow naturally from the feet toward the entwined branch handles.

CASETea Kettle and StandEnglish, London, 1758–59Samuel Courtauld I, active from 1747, died 1765Silver, woodThe Elizabeth B. Miles Collection of English Silver, 1979.45This kettle is decorated with flowers and scrolls on the body, a cast flower finial, a shell-likeornament on the spout, and a stand with grape vines and shell feet. Such nature-based decorationwas a hallmark of the Rococo style that swept Europe in the middle decades of the eighteenthcentury.The Hand KissGerman, Meissen, c. 1738Model by Johann Joachim KaendlerHard-paste porcelainGift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1498Images of figures living as simple shepherds in bucolic, landscape settings abound in literature,theater, and the visual arts. This idealized depiction of the natural world is echoed in porcelainfigures such as these shepherds and lovers.Tea Set (déjeuner à baguettes)French, Sèvres, 1776Decorated by Guillaume Noël, active 1755–1800Soft-paste porcelainGift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917.1090–.1094Tea (as well as coffee and chocolate) was consumed in bedrooms, boudoirs, salons, gardens, andin the bath, and was taken at breakfast time and at formal receptions. Teapots usually were small,as they were meant to hold very strong tea that would be diluted with boiling water served from ametal kettle.

IN THE CENTER GALLERYThe Natural World: American Artists Confront the SeaIn the adjacent galleries, a selection of the Museum’s extensive collection of eighteenth-centuryEuropean paintings and decorative arts is organized around four themes: Myth and Religion,Patrons and Collectors, Everyday Life, and The Natural World. These themes are common to artfrom different cultures and eras.By way of comparison with European works of art, this gallery brings together American worksspanning 100 years, from the late-nineteenth to the late-twentieth century. In all of them, artistsconfront the sea, an enduring source of fascination. As you look at these works, think about howartists throughout history have explored, visually recorded, and questioned humanity’s changingrelationship to the natural world.Winslow HomerAmerican, 1836–1910Boy in a Dory, c. 1881Watercolor on paperBequest of Charles C. Cunningham, 1980.6Joseph CornellAmerican, 1903–1972Untitled, c. 1955Mixed mediaGift of the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 2002.35.6Max ErnstAmerican, born Germany, 1891–1976The SunOil, graphite, conté crayon, and tempera on card stockThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1933.472Triton with Hippocampi, c. 1946–47American, Corning, New YorkManufactured by Steuben Glass, a division of Corning Glass WorksDesigned by Frederick Carder (American, born England, 1863–1963)Cast lead glassEdith Olcott Van Gerbig Collection, by exchange, 1972.91Jonathan BorofskyAmerican, born 1942Half a Sailboat Painting at 2.924.773,1984Acrylic on MasoniteThe Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1986.47