Limitations and possibilities in painting: tracing the unrepresentable (original) (raw)

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The paper delves into the interplay between representation and abstraction in painting, focusing on Caspar David Friedrich's exploration of contemporary life and personal introspection through his landscapes. It examines the implications of historical events, such as the destruction of cultural icons and the evolving perceptions of representation, particularly in the context of religious sensitivities. Through a critical discussion of various figures, including Gabriel and Muhammad, the author reflects on the limitations and possibilities that arise when attempting to depict figures in a modern context.

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Caspar David Friedrich’s Rückenfigur, A Thickening Aesthetic

“The artwork opens up in its own way the Being of beings…Art is truth setting itself to work” Martin Heidegger German artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) painted mostly landscapes throughout his artistic career. But, his works which feature a Rückenfigur(en) are starkly effective as they demonstrate Heideggerian ideas which appeal to an inherent subjectivity of being-in-the-world and demonstrate “world” and “earth” simultaneously. The uncanny power of Friedrich’s work lies in the artist’s ability to turn away, as in this authentic subjectivity multiple perspectives manifest which make his aesthetic layered. By placing the artist as himself halted in the landscape, the viewer of the painting is also enraptured in the scene of awe-some sublimity. This “doubling” of perspective speaks to the chiasms of truth as revealing and concealing. The raw and authentic experiences of Dasein manifest in the various Rückenfigur paintings as the artist aims to reveal and conceal the “poetic” essence of art.

French depictions of Napoleon I's resurrection (1821-1848)

2018

This dissertation owes an immeasurable debt to the insights, care, and pedagogy of my advisor, Dr. Dorothy Johnson. Reading her scholarship, attending her classes, and discussing the history of art in her office have all fundamentally shaped my work as a scholar. Here insightful suggestions on drafts and patience with my unconventional writing habits were essential to this study's completion. I also owe my gratitude to the rest of my dissertation committee: Craig Adcock, Christopher Roy, Brenda Longfellow, and Jennifer Sessions. Their classes on the art and history of various eras and peoples often provided invaluable insights into my own work while expanding my capacity for scholarly inquiry. While researching and writing this study I benefitted enormously from the support of the

A Foreign Artist and a Russian War: Peter von Hess, a Case Study in Imperial Patronage and National Identity

Arts

A number of foreign artists received the earliest commissions to represent Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812 for Russian emperors. My paper is a case study of a German artist who served the Russian Imperial court. Peter von Hess trained at the Academy in Munich and served both King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Otto I of Greece. In 1839, Emperor Nicholas I commissioned the artist to complete 12 monumental canvases for the Winter Palace representing key battles that followed Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. While earlier battle paintings and portraits commissioned by Alexander I dealt only with elite officers and the emperor, Hess’s paintings elevated the common Russian as the bearers of a great sacrifice and as the true defenders of Russia. This representational shift is the product of changing ideas concerning Russia’s involvement in several alliances from 1803 to 1815 that included Austria, England, Sweden, and Prussia. In addition, over the course of Nicholas I’s reign, the con...

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