2015年4月30日 星期四

‘The Critique of Reason: Romantic Art, 1760-1860’ Review

  • The Romantic Rebellion (Kenneth Clark 1973), book version of the television series 台灣有翻譯
  • The Mirror and the Lamp 有譯本
  • The Visionary Company

‘The Critique of Reason: Romantic Art, 1760-1860’ Review

An exhibition challenges the notion that Romanticism stood in opposition to reason and scientific method

‘A View of Snowdon From the Sands of Traeth Mawr’ (1834), by Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding.ENLARGE
‘A View of Snowdon From the Sands of Traeth Mawr’ (1834), by Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding. PHOTO: YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART
New Haven, Conn.
What are we to make of Romanticism? More important, what has Romanticism made of us? The West’s major historical eras should not really be labeled B.C. and A.D., but B.R. and A.R.: Before Romanticism and After.
Do you want to know about the nature of the modern state? It came into being in the 19th century. How about concert halls, symphony orchestras, natural history museums, even restaurants? Primarily creations of the Romantic era. What about the idea that childhood is a remarkable stage of life (“Apparell’d in celestial light”—Wordsworth)? Or that living “closer to Nature” makes you both more innocent and more authentic? Or that artists are prophets and art is self-expression? What about realizing that biological species evolve? Or that a political revolution can be carried out in the name of “rights”? What about thinking of society itself as a corrupting force, abetted by technology and commerce? Even a certain kind of self-conscious individualism came into being.
Nearly every aspect of public and private life was transformed between 1760 and 1860—which may be taken as the high century of European Romanticism. Isaiah Berlin called Romanticism “the greatest single shift in the consciousness of the West.” Its influence has been so deep, we scarcely notice how its suppositions and interpretations color our thought—or how strangely too, in recent decades, it has turned into mannerism.
Despite its influence, Romanticism has stubbornly resisted definition, perhaps because we are still immersed in its aftershocks. We come to understand it mainly from its poetry, music and art, which still haunt the modern mind. All of this provides a very good reason to visit the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven to see “The Critique of Reason: Romantic Art, 1760-1860.”
The exhibition immerses us in Romanticism in just one of its incarnations: the visual arts, largely of France and England. A joint effort with the Yale Center for British Art (which is closed until next spring for a major restoration), the exhibition gathers more than 300 paintings, sculptures, medals, watercolors, drawings and photographs mainly from the two museums’ collections (German Romanticism, unfortunately, is not represented). Here are William Blake, John Constable, Honoré Daumier, David d’Angers, Eugène Delacroix, Henry Fuseli, Théodore Géricault, Francisco de Goya, John Martin and J.M.W. Turner, united to portray a movement that wasn’t a movement and a style that wasn’t really a style.
The exhibition’s effect is a bit like the remarkable Romantic landscapes on display. In Turner’s “Staffa, Fingal’s Cave” (c. 1831-32), for example, an anemic sunrise struggles to pierce ominous clouds above rough seas; a sooty trail from a steamer’s smokestack blows toward Scotland’s renowned cavern (a cave also paid tribute by Felix Mendelssohn in the “Hebrides Overture”). But the dark smoke grows diffuse as bright light breaks through, illuminating the volcanic rock. How are the contrasts of this painting—the dark and light, the natural and the industrial, the revelatory and the obscure, the sense of possibility and the foreboding of doom—held together? How do we make sense of the opposing forces at play? Or of a world that, far from seeming stable and secure, is shifting, churning, evolving into something unknown?
Look around here and ask the same of these works, which together give a sense of Romanticism’s shifting, churning world. The curators—an accomplished team including Elisabeth Hodermarsky (prints and drawings), Paola D’Agostino (European art), A. Cassandra Albinson (paintings and sculpture), Nina Amstutz (postdoctoral researcher) and Izabel Gass (graduate research assistant)—challenge the notion “that Romanticism stood in opposition to reason and scientific method.” The Enlightenment, they point out, enshrined the powers of reason, while Romanticism is usually portrayed as rejecting it. They suggest instead that Romanticism actually embraced reason, extending its reach by revealing “features of mind and experience the Enlightenment fell short of capturing.” The exhibition’s title, “The Critique of Reason,” alludes to Kant’s scrupulous analyses of how the mind comes to know itself and the world.
The galleries are organized not chronologically, but thematically. In each section, label copy and selections nudge us to think about the Romantics as rationalists. In one section, “Nature: Spectacle and Specimen,” we see James Ward’s writhing skeletons as well as anatomical studies by George Stubbs, who then fleshed out creatures’ bodies in paintings. “Distant Lands, Foreign Peoples” surveys the Romantic fascination with exotic and remote cultures. In other sections, Romantics become critics of society, personalize religious belief, portray grand landscapes, bring personality into portraiture and elevate the status of the sketch.
But when we look at Delacroix’s illustrations for “Faust” or Ward’s skeletons or Turner’s landscapes, it isn’t the power of reason that affects us. These images do not rationally order the world so much as acknowledge its elements of disorder. In some cases—Blake, for example—reason is even seen as an obstacle to understanding. This is more of a break with the Enlightenment than an extension of it. The Enlightenment affirmed that reason could regulate and explain the world, even perfectly govern human society. That idea turned out to be mistaken. (In fact, Isaiah Berlin thought the Enlightenment’s excessive confidence in reason ultimately led to the 20th century’s totalitarian ideologies.) Look around here, though, and it is plain that for these Romantics, perfection is not to be had. This is partly a recognition of the mind’s intractableness and irrationality, and partly a sense of the world’s complexity and unpredictability. The Enlightenment vision was of a static world; the Romantic was of a dynamic one, beyond formulaic understanding.
This is one reason for the effect of Romantic landscapes, in which the human is dwarfed by surroundings. The power of some paintings here—like Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding’s “A View of Snowdon From the Sands of Traeth Mawr” (1834) or Turner’s “Upper Fall of the Reichenbach: Rainbow” (1810)— is that before nature’s forces, reason comes to feel its own inadequacy, its inability to comprehend the whole. The sublime stymies the mind. At the same time, the mind takes pleasure in its rational powers. Romanticism reveals reason’s limits while still—as the exhibition recognizes—paying it tribute.
Today Romanticism survives in a debased form, as a series of elemental and exaggerated attitudes, turning a complex vision simple: Reason has its limits? Then let us distrust rational distinctions by embracing feeling over fact and dismantling assertions of truth. Society is a source of evil? Then let us more fully court the “natural” and attribute extraordinary wisdom to pre-modern cultures. The world is dynamic rather than static? Then let us give less regard for tradition than for novelty.
Isn’t it Romantic?
Mr. Rothstein is the Journal’s Critic at Large. Write to him at Edward.Rothstein@wsj.com and follow him on Twitter @EdRothstein.

part skyscraper, part urban oasis; Meet the Designer Behind Beats By Dre



New York City is getting a new high rise that's part skyscraper, part urban oasis. Here's an inside look http://bloom.bg/1Jz0UMj


*****
"Technology is important, but design establishes it."

Robert Brunner, founder of Ammunition Group, discusses his approach to design with Bloomberg's Cory Johnson on "Bloomberg West."
BLOOMBERG.COM

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-04-28/meet-the-designer-behind-beats-by-dre

Piero di Cosimo, “Portrait of a Lady” / "Liberation of Andromeda," "Prometheus Stealing the Celestial Fire," c. 1510

This tondo shows the Virgin as the Madonna of Humility, seated on the ground with the Christ child on her knee. Two wingless angels flank her and look down in quiet contemplation of the foreground saints. At right is Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
"Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence" runs through May 3: 1.usa.gov/1D025gY.
Piero di Cosimo, "Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Cecilia (?) with Two Angels," c. 1505 -1510, oil on panel, The Art Institute of Chicago, Lacy Armour Fund


National Gallery of Art
“Portrait of a Lady” is a particularly fragile work. Old restorations had filled the multiple wide-spread pigment losses, resulting in serious alterations of the profile, complexion, folds of the veil, and the black dress. The only area that has remained almost intact is the gloved hand holding a green leaf, painted with a dense, fluid, and glowing quality that is a good as Piero di Cosimo’s signature.
"Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence" runs through May 3: 1.usa.gov/1D025gY.
Piero di Cosimo, "Portrait of a Lady," c. 1503, tempera and oil on paper, glued onto wood panel, Galleria Palatina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Scala/Ministero per i Beni e le Attività culturali / Art Resource, NY


Combining Piero’s love of unusual landforms and theatrical effects, this late masterpiece shows the artist at the height of his poetic powers. Painted for a Florentine merchant, the painting recounts the rescue of the Ethiopian princess Andromeda, whose mother, Queen Cassiopeia, had boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, a group of beautiful sea nymphs. To appease the gods, Andromeda was bound at the water’s edge and offered to a sea monster as a sacrifice.
"Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence" runs through May 3: 1.usa.gov/1D025gY.
Piero di Cosimo, "Liberation of Andromeda," c. 1510-1513, oil on panel, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Alinari / Art Resouce, NY

This panel shows Prometheus’ triumph in stealing the celestial fire and Jupiter’s punishment for such temerity: at right Prometheus is sentenced to be bound for eternity while an eagle daily devours his liver. The economy of action and setting, the warm, earthy ochers and greens, enlivened by shots of red, are all characteristic of the last years of Piero’s career.
"Piero di Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance Florence" runs through May 3.
Piero di Cosimo, "Prometheus Stealing the Celestial Fire," c. 1510 oil on poplar panel, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg

2015年4月29日 星期三

Pantheon, Rome,萬神殿 (羅馬) 一些記錄 (1999-2013)


Pantheon, Rome, Thomas Struth
Pantheon, Rome, Thomas Struth, 1990.

Thomas Struth (German, born 1954) | Pantheon, Rome | 1990 | Private collection, New York | © Thomas Struth

老師2000年前的羅馬之旅引發一些隨感

底下是我10-15年前的一些關於萬神殿的筆記
為確定它是羅馬的萬神殿 我再去Wikipedia一次.
這回的外部全景圖也很特別 因為書本多以內部為主.
 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome


其實 我約10年前上安藤忠雄的英文網 他寫下一些感想(當然都忘了)
當然也讀過它與天文學的故事……


雜談《品質史》(四)-希臘羅馬品質成就
萬神殿及劇場
    有位顧問到我辦公室來,他不了解:為何在廿一世紀仍要談二千年前的品管及技術?我笑說,在經營型態上,三千年前埃及的小工廠,可能與今日台灣的小型企業差 不多,更何況談工作,談品質,也不見得今日勝遠古:我們只是在大量生產方式上比古人較上到點,即,今天重""而非重""
    這次先談羅馬萬神殿(The Pantheon)的品質。羅馬帝國不是一天造成的,它的馬路、給水、都市計劃、建造等,質量俱佳,背後有很強的標準化合理思想。萬神殿(廟)也是當時人們追求人與自然、人與"眾神"之力量相結合的"地方'
    從公元前二百年前起,世界上最傑出的工匠都聚集到羅馬。他們在義大利的保護人的智謀和思想的強烈引導下,有番創新事業:通常每座建築和藝術品都體現了各方 面的思想。鑑賞羅馬藝術的方法,便是了解他們如何改造世界之精華,使其為他們自己的目的服務其目的既新而又能激動人心。
    羅馬萬神殿約建於西元117年,西元1268年起用(原建物建於公元前27年為火災所毀)。彼時的皇帝為Hadrian,原建築師不詳。
它是極重要,極有影響力的建築。可惜,不知怎的,名著《An Outline Of European Architecture》中未載。羅馬導遊書都會說:「它是最莊重的,也是古羅馬文明保存最好的紀念性建築。」
為一了不起的建築物,技術高超,人們也驚嘆它實現了以「一枚岩來當天蓋」的大膽假設。建築物的後部為圓形設置,而前部為由16柱紅灰色的巨大一體花崗研圓 柱所做的神殿。內部設計為圓周形,球形天井的「鏡版」之韻律,由中央開的天窗下降之光,極壯麗,與建物之質量極調和。周圍又有七個凹所(禮拜堂),其上又 有八小禮拜堂交錯。(最左凹所有主要祭壇,內有羅馬時代復仇者像……,神殿的磚上有印,使人了解建造於西元118125 。它的圓頂直徑43.50米,直到1958年才為巴黎的CNIT所超越)。在這大工程背後,營建工人的管理、和協調很重要(The Building Yard),各種標準化(含量測、材料、工法等等)都要健全。
   
    The PantheonDesign, Meaning, and Progeny一書以米開蘭基羅的話Disegno angelico e non umano(有人知道此句請賜知)結束。
    。除了 Juran主編的《品質史》外,主要參考
W. L. Macdonald1976"The PantheonDesign, Meaning, and Progeny" Harvard University Press
M. Colledge1978"How to Recognize Roman Art" Penguin Books
《羅馬藝術的鑑賞》北京大學出版社中譯(1988),
薩莫森著(J.  Summerson1980)《建築的古典語言》中國藝術學院(1994),
《古羅馬榮光》遠流,內容豐富。
---上文以雜談《品質史》(四)-希臘羅馬品質成就  上網(1999/09)


2001
年我有回音,詳下文中文。我還寫信報告:
requests for help
# Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 08:37:37 +0800
Dear Denizens,
The internet is rewarding in certain way. I put one sentence by
Michealangelo in my website  on Sep. 1999, to ask who know 'Disegno
angelico e non umano' meant. This week I got the answer.
I like to ask the knowledge base here for some help. One of our research
agenda this year is to elaborate the last sentences of OOTC about
malpractices and other issues in our medical systems. This idea was
reinforced by reading the following two books,
W. G. Manning et al 'The Costs of Poor Health Habits' ,Harvard Univ.
Press, 1991
Geoffrey Rose 'The Strategy of Preventive Medicine' ,Oxford University
Press 1992
Since I am quite a naive student in this domain, I like to invite your
suggestions and advices for this project. We'll base on our study to
have a course about the 'healthy individuals and organizations' in one
of our local schools.
Thanks.
Hanching Chung




2004/12/14
我報導:
19999月,我寫篇介紹萬神殿的文章。提出一句卷末的意大利文,我不懂,向可能的讀者求教。也許兩年之後,一位年青朋友說:
『針對1999/09The Pantheon》以米開蘭基羅的話Disegno angelico e non umano(有人知道此句請賜知)這句話,我在另一網站有看到其解釋,「這是天使建造的」,特提出以提供參考。from:小葉的窩』
2004/12/13 我再訪http://www.taconet.com.tw/bogod 的「古老的傳說」。知道它是葉高雄先生的網址。【萬神殿是古羅馬建築中,品質最佳、保存得最完整的建築物。這是為了祭祀萬神,於西元前27年,由阿格利帕 興建的。其後於119-128年,哈德連皇帝將之修改為現今的模樣。據傳,當米開朗基羅見到這座教堂時,不禁發出「這是天使建造的」的感言。走進萬神殿, 每個人的目光都會被圓頂的大洞所吸引。此洞稱為「眼」,直徑9公尺,是由外部取光,殿內唯一的窗戶。大圓頂的直徑43.3公尺,比聖彼得大教堂42公尺的 圓頂略勝一籌。義大利統一後,萬神殿成為國王的陵墓所在,除此,還埋葬一些偉大的義大利的藝術家,其中以拉斐爾最著名。】
1999年,我可能還不懂得google(可能也不會中文打字),所以不會上網查The Pantheon
 http://gnv.fdt.net/~aabbeama/Christmas/Pantheon.html
2004年張瑞麟先生幫我解字
RL's inputs:
re: Disegno angelico e non umano
disegno = drawing ; outline, design, scheme
angelico → angèlico = cherubic
e = and, plus
non = no, not
umano = human; humanely
2008年七月- Google Books Result 有資料
A Journey Into Michelangelo's Rome
by Angela K. Nickerson - 2008 - Travel - 180 pages
Michelangelo, an ardent admirer of the Pantheon, attributed its power to disegno angelico e non umano (angelic and not human design). ...
A Journey Into Michelangelo's Rome - Google Books Result


2013
Disegno angelico e non umano

The Global Built Environment as a Representation of Realities: Why ... - Page 31 - Google Books Result

books.google.com.tw/books?isbn=9087280637
Aart J. J. Mekking, Eric Roose - 2009 - Architecture
He advised doing away with the 'non-classical' towers and instead, ... prefer the centralizing 'disegno angelico e non umano' ('angelic, non- human design,' of ...



Some interiors captivate us because of their monumental architecture. The Pantheon was one of the great tourist attractions of Rome in Panini's day, as it is in our own. Panini was trained in architecture and theatrical design. What do you notice about the perspective he has used here?
Giovanni Paolo Panini, "Interior of the Pantheon, Rome," c. 1734, oil on canvas http://1.usa.gov/1iBVrTI

"Rodin, a beautiful drawing;Le laboratoire de la création" : Victor Hugo,



Musée Rodin
[ARTWORK OF THE WEEK] Christ and the Magdalen is one of the rare surviving sculptures inspired by religion in Rodin’s oeuvre. The Magdalen was then used in Meditation, the muse in Monument to Victor Hugo.


[ARTWORK OF THE WEEK] Probably modelled in 1885, the woman and child theme was very present in Rodin’s oeuvre at this time. Whether used to represent maternal love or a mythological theme, the association of the baby and the woman in Young Mother in the Grotto was both sentimental and sensual.

Auguste Rodin was born ‪#‎onthisday‬ in 1840. Here’s a beautiful drawing by the artist http://ow.ly/E4sRO
"... Il y a cent mille fois plus de pensée dans cette face auguste penchée, irradiant la bonté, vers l'humanité qui peine, dans ces yeux de mansuétude infinie, dans ce front qui rêve douloureusement" (Raymond Bouyer)
Critiqué, ‪#‎Rodin‬ était aussi soutenu et apprécié. Raymond Bouyer, critique d'art, fait l'éloge de son buste à Victor Hugo en le comparant à celui de Georges Bareau, considéré comme "un amas prétentieux de plâtre".
Exposition "Rodin, Le laboratoire de la création" : http://www.musee-rodin.fr/…/rodin-le-laboratoire-de-la-crea…
"...那裡一百個一千倍更是經過深思熟慮這傾斜 8 月臉,輻射良善,人類掙扎在這些眼睛無限沉溺于這前面一位痛苦的夢想,"(雷蒙德 Bouyer) 批評,#Rodin 也是支援和讚賞。雷蒙德 •,批判性的藝術,表揚他對 Victor Hugo 通過比較認為,喬治支護"自命不凡的石膏群集"的半身像。展覽"羅丹創作的實驗室": HTTP://www.musee-rodin.fr/fr/exposition/exposition/rodin-le-laboratoire-de-la-creation (翻譯由 Bing 提供)