In 3 years, he swung from conventional to highly novel narrative, covering themes of assassination, cynicism, prostitution, and looking.
Gérôme
Tracing the origin of a vivid allegory in late 19th century painting, normally attributed to the Dreyfus affair. When did the naked Truth first climb out of a well, and why?
Paintings of gladiatorial combat and martyrdom in the Colosseum had also been quite different before Gérôme’s ‘Ave Caesar’. Examples from Artemisia Gentileschi and others.
Gérôme’s ‘Ave Caesar’ was a visually stunning wide-angle spectacular, with its detailed reconstructions. Examined in the light of Claude, Girtin, Turner, and others.
His grand spectacle of The Age of Augustus was brave, but less successful than more modest paintings of Russian soldiers, or a comic duel.
Behind his traditional narrative paintings are his views on the Third Republic, the slaughter of the Paris communards in 1871, and the Dreyfus affair.
Vociferous opponent of Impressionism, hugely successful and popular, he taught more than 2,000 pupils. The start of a systematic account of his narrative paintings.
From cautionary tales for judges to Daumier’s wicked satire, courts of law have been an important theme for the artist, including Poussin, Rowlandson, and Gérôme.
As an avid photographer, how did he use his many photographs in his paintings? Was he just a copyist?
During his career, over 300 of his paintings were shown in the Salon, many being bought by the state for public collections. Yet he has all but vanished since.
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