art, advertising and modernism: the transfiguration of the artist in the age of capitalism

267 Pages·2014·8.16 MB·English

A A M
RT, DVERTISING AND ODERNISM:

THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE ARTIST

IN THE AGE OF CAPITALISM

Eve-Anne O’Regan, B.A., M.F.A.

This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

At The University of Western Australia

The Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts, 2012.
ABSTRACT

This dissertation analyses advertising as a “species of social communication” and
“narrative” (Wick, 1988) that has been entwined with avant-garde art in a complex
relationship of cultural construction and patterns of representation. Drawing on theories
of the political economy of commodity culture, a new approach to understanding the
development of early avant-garde art is presented that locates advertising as agency for
avant-garde practice.

In particular, this dissertation examines the use of advertising’s most authoritative mode
of cultural communication, branding, as the driving agent of avant-gardism in its crucial
formative decades in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Gustave Courbet, I argue,
was the herald of a new course for art in the era of capitalism. He pioneered defining
patterns of avant-garde practice through leveraging the press for self-promotion and
building a unique brand identity for himself and his art. His aesthetic strategies are
investigated in the context of developments in advertising and mass culture at the time.

The dissertation concludes with an investigation of Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-
Bergère, which is discussed in the context of Impressionism’s affair with mass culture. At
least three decades before conventional art histories locate Cubism as the seminal art
movement to transform the modes of commercial representation (text and image) and
the complex meanings encapsulated in them, Manet’s last major work shows him to
have had an intense critical engagement with advertising in the broadest sense of its
reach, indeed command, over social and philosophical discourse.
CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vi

INTRODUCTION 1

PART ONE
ADVERTISING AS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION 25
1. Pre-history: The Middle Ages to the Renaissance
From patronage to market brand: the power behind the name 26
Early forms of artist brands in the Renaissance period 1350-1600 30
The function of art (Changes) 32
The art buyer 34
Reputation, status, identity, and the brand
The change in the symbolic meaning of the artist’s name 35
Interpreting Marx: fetishism and the political form of art 37

PART TWO
THE ARTIST AS A BRAND 46
2. Identity construction: Gustave Courbet and brand building 47
The need to differentiate 48
Identity formation 50
Stage 1. Constructing a unique identity 50
Courbet’s self-image: manufacturing identity 50
Identity formation and self-portraits 52
Forms of identity 54
Essence (Being) In search of the self 56
Manufacturing identity: a program of self-awareness 58
Self-portraits: self-affirmation 60
Getting noticed in a competitive market 66
Branding 67
Branding the artist’s name 67
Existential phenomenology 70
Branding and essence 70
Painting essence 72

3. Research
Stage 2. Market research 74
Research as a calculated manoeuver of branding 74
Assessment of art schools and comparison of product 75
Experimentation 76
Trial and synthesis 78
Market testing: trial at the Salon 82
4. Product development
Stage 3. Developing the product 86
Building identity through painting self-portraits 87
Trial and experimentation leads to a new art 87
Thematic sources from popular culture 89
Attention-seeking strategies: getting noticed 90
Linking painting style to brand development 94

5. Positioning
Stage 4. Positioning 98
Challenging the Academy 100
Positioning in relation to art 102
Defining position in relation to others 106
Analysis of Salon 1850-51 107
Developing Features of Realism 109
Securing positioning 112

6. The Launch
Stage 5. The Launch 117
Storming the French art world 119
Timing: the critical moment to launch Realism 120
Courbet’s exhibition as an advertisement 124
The launch of an art brand 125
Reputation 129
Le Réalisme as a new system of art presentation 131
Market testing in the provinces 133
There’s no such thing as bad publicity 137
Public response to Realism 136
Le Réalisme as installation art 141
Reviewing Courbet and his art through caricatures 146

PART THREE
ART OVERLOOKS ADVERTISING 162
7. Advertising and the commodity 163
The spectacle of the commodity 170
Baudelaire’s impact 182
Baudelaire’s flâneur engages painters 187
The contradiction: the omission of advertising from Impressionism 188

PART FOUR
ART’S ENGAGEMENT WITH ADVERTISING IN CAPITALISM 199
8. Manet and AA Bar at the Folies-Bergère
Advertising and the brand as agents of capitalism 200
Manet’s engagement with advertising 200
Manet’s modernist response to Parisian commodity culture 206
The structure of A Bar at the Folies-Bergère 209
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère as an allegory 213
Two Suzons: Dualities, doubles and opposites in depictions of Paris 217
Advertising and brands in Manet’s art 222
Advertising Paris and its hedonism 223
Myth, branding and the ideology of Impressionism 226
An alternate reading of Manet’s engagement with advertising
in the Folies-Bergère 228

CONCLUSION
Courbet, Manet and Hirst
The avant-garde artist and modernism in capitalism 232

BIBLIOGRAPHY 238
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research and dissertation has been a long process and I am indebted to many
people. I wish to thank my friends and colleagues who have provided all manner of
support during the ten years this project has taken. I would like to thank the Faculty
of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts at the University of Western Australia and
all those who supported my endeavor over the years. In particular I must thank my
supervisor, Dr Ian McLean, who provided incisive criticism and inspirational words
when it was needed most. Finally, I offer deep-felt thanks to Chris and Lewis who
indulged my interest and sustained my commitment. I am most grateful for their
support. This dissertation is dedicated to my mother, Margaret, and in memory of
my father, Brian O’Regan.

(cid:1) v
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1 Painting of Stalin by unknown artist. Red dot by Damien Hirst, 2006.
Photo. http://www.artworldsalon.com. [accessed 15 April 2007] Page 2
2 John Everett Millais, Bubbles, 1886. Chromolithograph advertisement.
Photo. http://www.s-wilson1013-cts.blogspot.com 7
3 Tracey Emin and her Longchamp bags. Photo. Vogue Australia, July, 2006. 8
4 Vivienne Westwood Advertisement.
Photo. http://www.alishatrimble.worldpress.com. [accessed 7 June 2008] 8
5 Douglas Holt's iconic brand diagram. Photo. Holt, D., 2004, How Brands
Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding, Harvard Business School
Press: Boston. 28
6 Chronology of brand architecture. 47
7 Gustave Doré, The Salon of 1868. Palais de l’Industrie.
Photo: Mainardi, P. 1993, The End of the Salon: Art and the State in the Early
Third Republic, Cambridge University Press: New York. 49
8 Chronology of brand architecture. Stage One: Construct a unique identity. 50

9 Victor Laisné and E. Defonds, Gustave Courbet, 1852-53.
Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 59
10 Nadar, Caricature of Courbet, 1857. Photo: Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet,
Phaidon Press Limited: London. 59
11 Gustave Courbet, The Large Oak, 1843. Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet,
Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 60

12 Gustave Courbet, Self-Portrait, 1842. Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet,
Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 60

13 Gustave, Courbet, Lovers in the Countryside, 1844. Photo. Le Men S. 2008,
Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 60

14 Gustave Courbet, The Desperate Man, 1844-45. Photo. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 60

15 Gustave Courbet, The Sculptor, 1845. Photo. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 61

16 Gustave Courbet, Man Filled with Fear, 1843-45. Photo. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 61

17 Gustave Courbet, The Draughts Players, 1844. Photo. Rubin, J., 1997,
Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 61

18 Gustave Courbet, Guitarrero, 1845. Photo. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 61
(cid:1) vi
19 Gustave Courbet, The Cellist, 1847. Photo. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 62

20 Self-Portrait, 1850. Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008,
Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 63

21 Diagram. Courbet’s tangible brand features. 63

22 Gustave Courbet, Self-Portrait with Black Dog, c. 1842-4. Photo. Rubin, J.,
1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 65
23 Gustave Courbet, Self-Portrait: Man with a Pipe, c. 1848-9. Photo. Rubin, J.,
1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 65
24 Pietro Antonio Martini, The Salon of 1787. Photo. Mainardi, P. 1993.
The End of the Salon: Art and the State in the Early Third Republic,
Cambridge University Press: New York. 64
25 Diagram. Brand Discipline: Tangible features. 67

26 Diagram. Brand Discipline: Intangible features. 68

27 Diagram. Chronology of brand architecture. Stage Two: Market research 74

28 Jean-Baptise Camille Corot, Girl Reading in Fontainebleau Forest, c. 1830.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 79
29 Gustave Courbet, The Large Oak, 1843. Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet,
Phaidon Press Limited: London. 79
30 Gustave Courbet, After Dinner at Ornans, 1848-49. Photo. Rubin, J.,
1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 79
31 Louis Le Nain, Peasant Meal, 1642. Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet,
Phaidon Press Limited: London. 79
32 Gustave Courbet, The Hammock, 1844. Photo. Faunce, S., 1993,
Gustave Courbet, Harry N. Abrams, Inc: New York. 80
33 Gustave Courbet, The Man with Leather Belt, 1846. Photo. Rubin, J.,
1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 82

34 Gustave Courbet, Portrait of H. J. van Wisselingh, 1846. Photo. Rubin, J.,
1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 82
35 Gustave Courbet, Lot and His Daughters, c. 1840. 81. Boudailles, G., 1968,
Gustave Courbet: Painter in Protest, New York Graphic Society Ltd.,
Greenwich: Connecticut. 84
36 Diagram. Chronology of brand architecture. Stage Three: Product development. 86

37 Titian, Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman c. 1510. Photo. Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 87

38 Gustave Courbet, The Siesta, 1841-42. Photo. Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 88

(cid:1) vii
39 Gustave Courbet, Fording a Stream, 1841. Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet,
Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 89

40 Tony Johannot, Paul and Virginie Crossing the Torrent, 1838.
Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 89

41 Pif, Croquis, Le Charivari, May 23, 1880. Photo. Mainardi, P., 1993,
The End of the Salon: Art and the State in the Early Third Republic,
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. 91

42 William Hogarth, Self–Portrait with His Pug, 1745. Photo. Le Men S. 2008,
Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 93
43 Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, Portrait of Goethe in the Roman Countryside,
1745. Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 93

44 Diagram. Chronology of brand architecture. Stage Four: Positioning. 98

45 Gustave Courbet, After Dinner at Ornans, 1848-9. Photo. Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 101
46 Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew, c. 1598-1601. Photo. Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Hatje Cantz: Ostfildern. 104

47 Gustave Courbet, Stonebreakers, 1849-50. Photo. Le Men S. 2008,
Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 107

48 Gustave Courbet, A Burial at Ornans: Historical Painting, 1849.
Photo. Faunce, S., 1993, Gustave Courbet, Harry N. Abrams, Inc: New York. 108
49 Gustave Courbet, The Peasants of Flagey Returning from the Fair, 1850-1855.
Photo. Faunce, S., 1993, Gustave Courbet, Harry N. Abrams, Inc: New York. 108

50 Cham, Caricature of The Stonebreakers, Le Salon caricatural, 1851.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 110
51 Diagram. Chronology of brand architecture. Stage Five: The launch. 117
52 Gustave Courbet, The Sea at Palavas, 1854. Photo. Rubin, J., 1997,
Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 118
53 Bertall, We’re Stuck in Realism, Le Petit journal pour rire, 1859.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 122
54 Honoré Daumier, The Combat of the Schools: Idealism versus Realisme, 1859.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 122
55 Honoré Daumier, Grand Admirers of the painting of M. Courbet, 1855.
Photo. Léger, C., 1929, Courbet, Les Éditions G. Crès: Paris. 128

56 Pif, Croquis, “The truly independent artist . . . ,” Le Charivari, 1884.
Photo. Mainardi, P. 1993. The End of the Salon: Art and the State in the Early
Third Republic, Cambridge University Press: New York. 130
57 Nadar, Courbet, Le Journal Amusant, 1858. Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet,
Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 138
58 Diagram. Brand convergence: Courbet, Avant-garde and Realism. 139

(cid:1) viii
59 Courbet’s letter to Alfred Bruyas, 1854. Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet,
Phaidon Press Limited: London. 142
60 Galleries built for the 1855 Universal Exposition of Fine Arts. L’Illustration, 1855.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 142
61 Daumier, H., Critics, Lithograph in Le Charivari, 8 June, 1855. Photo.
Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 145

62 Hadol, Courbet, Lithograph of 1857, Courbet selon les caricatures et les caricatures et les
images. Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 146
63 Quillenbois, M. Courbet, Head on L’Illustration, 1855. Photo. Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York, 2008, Gustave Courbet, Ostfildern, Hatje Cantz. 147
64 Bertall, The Peasants of Flagey Returning from the Fair, Le Journal pour rire, 1851.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 148
65 Bertall, Young Ladies of the Village, Le Journal pour rire, 1852. Photo. Le Men S.
2008, Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 148

66 Bertal, Caricature of A Burial at Ornan, Le Journal pour rire, 1851.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 150
67 Cham, Caricature of The Stonebreakers, Le Charivari, 1851.
Photo. Le Men S. 2008, Courbet, Abbeville Press Publishers: New York. 153
68 Gustave Courbet, The Meeting, or Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, 1854.
Photo. Faunce, S., 1993, Gustave Courbet, Harry N. Abrams, Inc: New York. 155
69 Quillenbois, Caricature of The Meeting. L’Illustration, 1855.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 156
70 The Bourgeoise of the Town Speaking to the Wandering Jew (Detial), 1850s.
Photo. Rubin, J., 1997, Courbet, Phaidon Press Limited: London. 157
71 “The Adoration of M. Courbet, realist imitation of the Adoration of the Magi,”
L’Illustration, 1855. Photo. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2008,
Gustave Courbet, Ostfildern, Hatje Cantz. 157
72 Jules-Joseph-Guillaume Bourdet, L’Affichomanie, 1836. Photo. Gopnik, K.,
and Varnedoe, A., 1990, High & Low; Modern Art And Popular Culture,
The Museum of Modern Art: New York. 164

73 James Tissot, The Letter, 1876-8.
Photo. http://www.jamestissot.org/The-Letter.html. 165

74 Anonymous. Poster for the department store, Au Moine Saint-Martin, 1875.
Photo. Gallo, M., 1972, The Poster in History, W. W. Norton & Company,
Inc.: New York. 166
75 August Renoir, In a Café, 1876-77. Skira. Photo. Leymarie, J., 1955, Impressionism:
Biographical and Critical Study, First Volume, Skira Inc., Publishers: Geneva. 167

76 John Parry, Fantasy of a Bill Sticker, 1835. Photo. Gallo, M., 1972,
The Poster in History, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.: New York. 167
77 Eugéne Atget, Newsstand. Photo. Eugène Atget, Aperture: New York. 168
78 Eugéne Atget, Little Market, Place Saint-Medard, Paris, 1888.
Photo. Eugène Atget, 1997, Aperture: New York. 168
(cid:1) ix