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The Changing Role of Viewer
Reading:“The Profession of the Artist,” 1-20
Terms/Concepts:patron, critic, court patronage, church patronage, public/civic patronage,
Monument List: Michelangelo, Sistine
Chapel, Fresco, Vatican, 1508.
Diego Velasquez, Las Meninas, 1656.
Michelangelo, David, Florence, Marble, 1503.
Robert Campin, Merode Altarpiece, Flanders, Oil on Panel, 1425-1428.
Artist
Art Viewer
Context
Cont
ext Context
Who is the viewer? People who encounter
art. …intentionally or
unintentionally. …aware or unaware of
their role as viewer. …with or without an
opinion about what they see.
Viewers at the Museum.
Who is the patron? People who pay for art. …who buy art for
private or public viewing.
…who support artists and their works financially.
…who commission specific works.
Isabella Stewart Gardner
Who is the critic? People who write about art. …who make value
judgments about individual works and artists.
…who comment about the role of art in society.
…who actively contribute to the way others view art.
…who supports artists with their writing.
Norman Rockwell, The Art Critic, 1955.
Interrelated Roles
People who encounter art.
Viewer
People who pay for art.
Patron
People who write about art.Critic
Patronage
Why become a patron? Preserve the artistic
process. Exerting control over the
artistic process. Using art to promote an
agenda. Display cultural acumen.
“The deliberate sponsorship of the creation, production, preservation, and dissemination of the so-called ‘fine arts.’” --Judith Huggins Balfe
The Patron and the Artist
Artist
Art Patron
Context
Cont
ext Context
Patron funds the artistAr
tist p
rodu
ces w
ork
Patron appreciates the work
The Patron and the Artist
Artist
Art Patron
Context
Cont
ext Context
Patron makes “suggestions”
Artis
t mod
ifies
wor
k
Patron hates the workPatron appreciates work
The Renaissance: Artist as Divine Genius
“Why has God given me such magnificent talent? It is a curse as well as a great blessing.”--Albrecht Dürer
“Nature holds the beautiful, for the artist who has the insight to extract it.”― Albrecht Dürer
“I, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg painted myself thus, with undying colors, at the age of twenty-eight years.”--Inscription on Painting
Albrecht Durer, Self-Portrait, 1500.
The Patron and the Artist
Artist
Art Patron
Context
Cont
ext Context
Patron makes “suggestions”
Artis
t mod
ifies
wor
k
Patron hates the workPatron appreciates work
Tension
Church Patronage
Christ Enthroned with St. Vitalis and Ecclesiasticus, San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century CE.
The Bishop of Ravenna, EcclesiasticusModel of
the Church
Church Patronage
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Fresco, Vatican, 1508.
Pope Julius II as the Prophet Zacharias Raphael, Pope Julius II, 1511-1512
Court Patronage
Peter Paul Rubens, The Exchange of the Princesses,
Court Patronage
Terracotta Warriors, Tomb of Shihuangdi, Shaanxi Province, China, c. 210 BCE
Court Patronage
Francisco de Goya, Family of King Charles IV, Madrid, 1803.
Court Patronage
Francisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring his Children, 1819-1823.
Court Patronage
Diego Velasquez, Las Meninas, 1656.
VelasquezLa Infanta Margarita
King and Queen of Spain
Public or Civic Patronage
Michangelo, David, Florence, Marble, 1503
Public or Civic Patronage
Richard Serra, Tilted Arc, 1981-1989.
Private Patronage
Robert Campin, Merode Altarpiece, Flanders, Oil on Panel, 1425-1428.
Mary is in the costume and demeanor of a middle class Flemish woman
The interior represents a typical middle class home in Flanders.
The window in Joseph’s workshop overlooks early modern Flanders
The patrons are shown looking in on the annunciation.
Private Patronage
Private Patronage
Theo van Gogh Vincent van Gogh, Portrait of Theo van Gogh, 1887
Contemporary Concerns in Patronage
To whom should patrons appeal? Wide audience? Elite audience?
How does one balance financial investment with protecting the arts?
How much control should a patron exert over the artist?
How much should their support be determined by critics?
Art Criticism
Why become a critic? Explore the meaning of art. Participate in the artistic
process. Influence artists and other
viewers. Encourage artists in their
work. Impact the art market.
“The process of looking at, thinking about, and judging an artwork.”
The Critic and the Artist
Artist
Art Critic
Context
Cont
ext Context
Critic gives praise or criticismArtis
t pro
duce
s wor
k
Critic assesses work
Interrelated Roles
People who encounter art.
Viewer
People who pay for art.
Patron
People who write about art.Critic
John Ruskin Was a minor artist in his
own right. Earliest works focused on
architecture. Encouraged a return to
purer values in the pursuit of art.
Was a large supporter of a group of artists called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
John Ruskin "Go to Nature in all
singleness of heart, and walk with her laboriously and trustingly, having no other thought but how best to penetrate her meaning, rejecting nothing, selecting nothing, and scorning nothing.”
John Ruskin
Everett Millais, Ophelia, 1851-1852.
The Power of the Critic:Ruskin vs. Whistler
James McNeill Abbot Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875.
Ruskin: “For Mr. Whistler’s own sake, no less than for the protection of the purchaser, Sir Coutts Lindsay ought not to have admitted works into the gallery in which the ill-educated conceit of the artist so nearly approached the aspect of wilful imposture. I have seen, and heard, much of Cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.”
The Power of the Critic:Ruskin vs. Whistler
James McNeill Abbot Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875.
An Appeal to the Law, Punch Magazine, 1878.
Clement Greenberg Explained Modern Art
to a buying public. Made artists like Pollock
marketable. Encouraged the use of
complete abstraction/non-representational forms.
Critic as Tastemaker:Greenbergian Formalism
Jackson Pollock, Number 1 (Lavender Mist), 1950.
Concerns in Art Criticism
Can a critic have undue influence over a particular artist or the viewer?
Can a single critic define the entirety of art and what it should be?
What is the responsibility of the critic?How do critics avoid conflicts of interest
between ideals and finances?
Major Goals
• Be able to describe the distinct but overlapping roles of the viewer, patron and critic and understand how these roles interact.
• Understand the control and influence different types of patrons exert over the artistic process.
• Know the circumstances that surround the rise of the art critic in the 19th century.
• Be able to discuss the contemporary concerns and problems associated with art patronage and criticism.