Table Of ContentFROM THE
Classicists
TO THE
Impressionists
Art and Architecture in the 19th Century
SELECTED AND EDITED BY
Elizabeth Gilmore Holt
7
y
4^-r-
FROM THE CLASSICISTS
TO THE IMPRESSIONISTS
From the
CLASSICISTS
to the
IMPRESSIONISTS
Art and Architecture
in the 19th Century
Volume III ofA Documentary History ofArt
SELECTED AND EDITED BY
Elizabeth Gilmore Holt
Yale University Press
NewHavenandLondon
Copyright © 1966, 1986 by Elizabeth Gilmore Holt.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in
anyform (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107
and 108 ofthe U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers
forthe public press), without written permission from the
publisher.
First published in paperback in 1966 by AnchorBooks
(Doubleday & Co., Inc.). First published in hardcoverin
1966 by New York University Press.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica.
Library ofCongress catalog card number: 85-51918
International standard book numbers: 0-300-03358-3
0-300-03692-2(pbk.)
Thepaper in this bookmeets the guidelinesforper-
manence anddurability ofthe Committee on Produc-
tion GuidelinesforBookLongevity ofthe Council on
LibraryResources.
98765432
10
To the memory of Katherine Gilbert
philosopher, teacher, and friend
PREFACE TO THE YALE EDITION
Society's relation to every form of art has been intensified
during the twenty years since this selection of documents first
appeared. Urban planning and renewal, construction of civic
buildings, cultural community centers, museums, and libraries
erected throughout the world have directed people's attention to
contemporary architectural forms. In these twenty years the
artist in the western world has become the interpreter of the
social concerns of his community, and of contemporary culture
itself. At the same time, art historians have reexamined and in-
terpreted the concepts of "Classicism," "Romanticism," "Re-
alism," and "Impressionism." Publications about these move-
ments abound, and exhibitions are viewed by thousands of
visitors.
As time carries us further away from the art and architecture
of the nineteenth century and as our views of this period
change, the contemporary documents retain their freshness and
authenticity. They are indeed essential for interpretation and
understanding. Thus the original collection of sources and the
suggested readings at the end of each section have not been
changed since the first edition of this book was published in
1966. For a full bibliography that reflects the recent develop-
ments in nineteenth-century art research, see Robert Rosen-
blum and H. W. Janson, Nineteenth Century Art (New York,
1984).
Elizabeth Gilmore Holt Georgetown, Maine, 1985
PREFACE
During the nineteenth century institutions and attitudes gave
way to new forms and relationships. Traditions in govern-
mental and social institutions, traditions in social behavior
and processes of production, traditions in methods and ma-
terials of construction in architecture and in modes of rep-
resentation in the visual arts were discarded.
The nineteenth-century artists were therefore called upon
to devise forms that would be expressive of European life,
which was transforming itself into the industrial and tech-
nological age of the twentieth century. Throughout the cen-
tury new expressions were sought for cultural concepts, the
products of a freedom unfettered by conventional conform-
ity. Architecture acquired new social functions in the changed
society, and the architect was called to meet the requirements
of various groups of citizens. Painters and sculptors reached
behind the screen of traditional art to bring forward new sym-
bols and emblems to satisfy their own "inner necessity" and
that of their culture.
This search, carried on throughout the century, produced
a constant tension between the academic, official, and con-
ventional members of society and society's creative artists,
who were compelled by their genius to be thus engaged. The
first group was determined to maintain a status quo. The sec-
ond was bound to discover means and methods to represent
the concepts that were emerging from the cultural heritage.
These periods of transformation called for the critic both to
defend the accepted and the known and to explain the new
gestation to eyes fixed on traditional images. The patron, to
whom both parties addressed their case with the aid of the
critic, was now the public, rather than the connoisseur.
Romanticism dominated the entire century. Styles of the
past were used for their sentimental association rather than
for aesthetic qualities, and in architecture, archaeological ex-
actitude and historical re-constitution became the disciplining
factor rather than taste.
"
Vlll PREFACE
It was the century of historicism. History was seen as the
key to the problems of "the brave new world." A sense of
history impregnated all visions and concepts. The nineteenth-
century historian and artist shared the same aim, to present
the unsystematic diversity of peoples, cultures, customs, and
myths in a process of evolutionary transformation, that was
to be comprehended by feeling. The artist must bring back to
life the spirit of the past "to show only what really happened,
as Leopold von Ranke, the great nineteenth-century German
historian, expressed it. The present, the "becoming," was like-
wise portrayed through the prism of temperament.
In view of the quantity of material for the nineteenth cen-
tury, its documentation within the limits of a single volume
could not be as comprehensive as it could be for previous
centuries. The documents have been chosen to show features
that are most characteristic of the century. Because the changes
in society were so extensive and so diversified, the choice had
to be one limited to those which seem to be the most particular
to the epoch.
As the growth of Western European culture is the fruit of
the various national components, documents have been se-
lected to illustrate some of the contributions of English, Ger-
man, French, and American artists and writers during the
nineteenth century to the evolution of Western European art.
The nineteenth century is not an exception in being domi-
nated by a few great creative geniuses, and the documents
pertaining to them are predominant in such a collection. To
these have been added documents less known but no less im-
portant for a comprehension of the century and significant for
the formulation of the art of the century.
The editor does not presume to be an authority on the many
divergent trends and subjects in the various fields of art or on
the lives of the artists of the nineteenth century. Collections
such as this can only be made with the constant consultation
of the authoritative studies of the period, such as H. R. Hitch-
cock, Architecture: Nineteenth Century; F. Novotony, The
Painting and Sculpture of the 19th Century; John Rewald,
History of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism; A. Whit-
tick, Symbols, Signs and Their Meaning; A. M. Whitehead,
Symbolism, Its Meaning and Effect; The Arts Council of
XX
Great Britain, The Romantic Movement; Les Sources du
siecle, les arts en Europe de 1884 a 1914; the numerous
