The Painter of Modern Life  

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-:“The world—and even the world of artists—is full of people who can go to the Louvre, walk rapidly, without so much as a glance, past rows of very interesting, though secondary, pictures, to come to a rapturous halt in front of a [[Titian]] or [[Raphael]]—one of those that would have been most popularized by the [[engraving|engraver’s art]]; then they will go home happy, not a few saying to themselves, ‘I know my Museum.‘” -- Charles Baudelaire +:“The world—and even the world of artists—is full of people who can go to the Louvre, walk rapidly, without so much as a glance, past rows of very interesting, though secondary, pictures, to come to a rapturous halt in front of a [[Titian]] or [[Raphael]]—one of those that would have been most popularized by the [[printmaking|engraver’s art]]; then they will go home happy, not a few saying to themselves, ‘I know my Museum.‘” -- Charles Baudelaire
In this excerpt, quoted from the [[Charles Baudelaire]]'s 1863 ''[[The Painter of Modern Life]]'', an essay on [[Constantin Guys]], Charles Baudelaire comments on the fact that [[artwork|works of art]] have lost their ''[[aura]]'' (a term borrowed here from [[Walter Benjamin]]) because of the technique of [[engraving]]. For the first time in history, engraving allowed images of works of art to be [[mass media|mass]]-popularized in [[poster]]s and [[postcard]]s. This essay foreshadows Walter Benjamin's ''[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]''. In this excerpt, quoted from the [[Charles Baudelaire]]'s 1863 ''[[The Painter of Modern Life]]'', an essay on [[Constantin Guys]], Charles Baudelaire comments on the fact that [[artwork|works of art]] have lost their ''[[aura]]'' (a term borrowed here from [[Walter Benjamin]]) because of the technique of [[engraving]]. For the first time in history, engraving allowed images of works of art to be [[mass media|mass]]-popularized in [[poster]]s and [[postcard]]s. This essay foreshadows Walter Benjamin's ''[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]''.

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The Painter of Modern Life is the title of a 1863 essay on Constantin Guys by Charles Baudelaire. It is an early critique and appraisal of visual culture and the consumption thereof.

Notes on mechanical reproducibility of artworks with regard to Baudelaire and Benjamin

Il y a dans le monde, et même dans le monde des artistes, des gens qui vont au musée du Louvre, passent rapidement, et sans leur accorder un regard, devant une foule de tableaux très intéressants, quoique de second ordre, et se plantent rêveurs devant un Titien ou un Raphaël, un de ceux que la gravure a le plus popularisés; puis sortent satisfaits, plus d'un se disant: "Je connais mon musée."

English translation:

“The world—and even the world of artists—is full of people who can go to the Louvre, walk rapidly, without so much as a glance, past rows of very interesting, though secondary, pictures, to come to a rapturous halt in front of a Titian or Raphael—one of those that would have been most popularized by the engraver’s art; then they will go home happy, not a few saying to themselves, ‘I know my Museum.‘” -- Charles Baudelaire

In this excerpt, quoted from the Charles Baudelaire's 1863 The Painter of Modern Life, an essay on Constantin Guys, Charles Baudelaire comments on the fact that works of art have lost their aura (a term borrowed here from Walter Benjamin) because of the technique of engraving. For the first time in history, engraving allowed images of works of art to be mass-popularized in posters and postcards. This essay foreshadows Walter Benjamin's The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.

It is precisely this mass-reproducibility of works of art, in two-dimensional (postcards of the Mona Lisa) as well as three-dimensional forms (plastic statues of the Venus de Milo), which has given birth to the concept of kitsch.

see also: 1863 - Painter of Modern Life - culture theory - media theory - Walter Benjamin - Charles Baudelaire - reproduction - aura - aesthetics - modernism




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