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... would be the outline and such that defines each individual element of the painting. This is the only definition that de Piles excepted because he felt that the other definition was too broad and all the elements that went into a painting couldnt go under one huge label. This left him with the second definition of design and when one takes the second definition of design it is impossible to see this as the defining element of a painting without the use of color. Design, to de Piles, was as insufficient for the final end of the painting for illusion or tromp erie as grammar is for the purpose of rhetoric (Puttfarken, Roger de Piles Theory of Art 64). Grammar is involved in rhetoric, but it isnt what defines it as such.
It is basically just the mechanics of what is a whole lot more. Without persuasive choices in words put together in a persuasive order the grammar means nothing in the overall effect, just as lines of a painting mean nothing without color to give those lines meaning. He isnt rejecting design however. Design is the backbone of a picture that must be learned first just as one cannot produce rhetoric without first knowing the laws of proper grammar. Color does have different aspects and isnt as cut and dry as it may appear.
De Piles has many definitions of color in the imitation of nature. There are several different categories of color in this respect. There are natural colors that occur in nature and then there are imitation colors that are put on a canvas by painters and these two shouldnt be confused. He also believed that there is a difference in the colors that are part of an artists pallet and the colors that end up representing an object on canvas. The simple means of transferring a color directly from the pallet onto the canvas wouldnt be an accurate representation of nature and the colors in nature. It takes skill and color beyond the simple pallet to reproduce colors that exist naturally.
There doesnt just exist one color, but there is the actual color of the object, the color that is reflected by the object, and finally the color of the light that lets the object be seen. It is more complex then just a simple reapplication of color. Therefore, the application of color surpasses design in its many dimensions and is the true element that makes up an object in nature, so it has to also be the true element that forms the definition of a painting. Rubens was again the main influence in de Piles studies and he praised Rubens as a learned man, an accomplished painter of allegories, one steeped in ancient sculpture (Alpers 72). As an artist, Rubens embodied all that de Piles used to define art. Rubens fine, loose brushwork and use of light and composition was what de Piles whole argument of color was based around.
Rubens was an influential painter for de Piles, but was also one for the next generation of painters working in the eighteenth century. His works toward the end of the baroque clearly show the theory behind the art that would dominate the eighteenth century. Many artists used and continued his style changing the face of painting theory. Watteau was one of the first to really pick up the color approach towards painting, but many others followed. Both de Piles work and Rubens turned out to be extremely influential, but not all of de Piles arguments stuck. His rejection of the hierarchy of painting genres didnt prove to hold true among critics like Diderot, but for the most part his ideas were widely excepted and expounded upon.
Specifically, Watteau was greatly influenced by the works of Rubens and by the idea of color in contrast to design. He first started studying Rubens by looking at his Kermis and taking a couple from the left side of the painting and recopying them in a chalk drawing. The drawing is similar, but not an exact replica. Later, the subjects were transposed into an engraving entitled The Surprise by Audran.
All of Watteau's paintings had a Rubenesque quality to them, but in some cases he took it steps further. The Garden of Love is an excellent example of one of Watteau's works that is very reminiscent of Rubens. Watteau also did paintings after Rubens Medici pictures and used her in his Fetes Venitiennes. His brushstrokes mimic Rubens and the general movement of his paintings are clearly born out of the de Piles argument for color.
Watteau was one of the first painters of the eighteenth century to continue the Rubens movement, but there were several after him. Many of these artists went even further until the beginning if the neoclassical movement that started to look back towards the classics and a push away from the free, colorful, emotional paintings of the Rubens movement occurred. Artists like Boucher, Fragonard, and Gainsborough followed in Rubens footsteps, but as the tides turned toward the classics again, paintings like those of Reynolds and David were the preferred choice among patrons. In the second half of the eighteenth century, to invoke a Poussin rather than a Rubens style signaled to the viewer that the painter was engaged in a male world of significant actions rather than one concerned with the female dalliance of love (Alpers 93). This quote ties into the neoclassic movement, but also raises a new question and makes one wonder about the seriousness in painting quality given to the works siding with the color end of the argument. Is the Rubens style of painting considered feminine and does this lessen the quality of the painting in comparison to a masculine painting like the Oath of the Horatio by David?
Where would de Piles stand on this argument? It is hard to say, but towards the end of the eighteenth century there was a definite switch back to Poussin's style and these paintings are seen as more masculine in comparison to paintings like Boucher's Marquise de Pompadour at the Toilet-Table. There becomes a sense of what is a masculine and what is a feminine painting. The Poussin inspired paintings tend to lean toward harsher, historical subjects usually involving a hard, intense scene and the Rubens inspired paintings are more lighthearted, usually depicting flirtatious love scenes. Even though the Poussin inspired scenes are more in his classical style there are still some elements that come from the colorist school. The paintings focus on design, but have an aspect of color that more closely relate to Rubens than the paintings in Poussin's time in the diego style, so de Piles argument still has a tiny thread running through the end of the century.
The argument of color and design basically set the stage for eighteenth century artwork and through de Piles arguments and the tracing of the elements of design and color one can see a clear path from the Baroque to the Rococo and beyond. The classic paintings of Poussin mark a period when classic history paintings were the norm. In this paper just Poussin has been mentioned, but the design mode of working was the norm for most of the seventeenth century. It wasnt until Rubens groundbreaking work that the color movement started to get recognition, but was still regarded as inferior to the classic style by men like Lebrun and the Academy. Not until de Piles started making headway with his arguments after finally being allowed into the Academy's doors that the movement really caught on. His push for the color mode helped make way for the paintings of the eighteenth century, even though all aspects of art seemed to be going in that direction anyway.
Even the architecture and house decoration started to head in a more relaxed, whimsical style that would later be criticized. The rococo's feminine aspects seem to mimic those of the colorist movement, but the colorists had more staying power throughout the century and aspects of the Rubens school continued even into the nineteenth century, taking this theory of art beyond even neoclassicism.
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Research essay sample on Art Theory Leading Into The 18th Century
