Please embed an image of your subject into your post, which can be included by downloading an image to your computer and uploading it to your post using the menu above the text box.
Be sure to cite at least two sources for your post. Be sure to summarize your thoughts in your own words.
Assignment Subject:
There are three main strategies for analyzing works of art: contextual theory, formal theory, and expressive theory. Contextual theory focuses on the political, social, or religious context of a work of art. Formal theory focuses on its visual characteristics. Expressive theory relates a work of art to the experience of the artist who created it. This week you will be using expressive theory and will discuss a work of art by relating it to the life of the artist.
The history of art is populated with many fascinating characters, and their work often reflects the triumphs and tragedies that shaped their lives. This week, you will choose an artist from this week’s reading and will present a work of art that you feel reflects some aspect of this artist’s life. Give some brief biographical details about the artist and explain how you think the artwork you feature in your post relates to their life experiences. How does the artist use form, color, and symbolism to express their point of view? How does it make you feel?
You may choose any artist from the reading you’ve done so far in this class. Look at the discussion before choosing your subject so that your post is unique (don’t all write about van Gogh please). Here are some possibilities:
Odilon Redon
Henri Rousseau
Auguste Rodin
Camille Claudel
Paul Gauguin
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Suzanne Valadon
Berthe Morisot
William Morris
Aubrey Beardsley
Gustave Klimt
Antoni Gaud
Edvard Munch
James Ensor
Visionary Artists
Visionary late 19th-century artists rejected strict realism to explore dreams and symbolism, expressing their experience of the world with emotional intensity. Artists like Vincent van Gogh shared a personal vision in their artwork that deeply impacted the history of art. Edvard Munch summarized this world view when he wrote: “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye, it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.”
This week you will be taking a deeper dive to learn more about the lives of European artists in the late 19th century, and will gain insight into the relationship of art and life.
The artists featured below each overcame personal obstacles and the constraints of society to share their unique vision of the world, and their artistic legacy continues to inspire many people today. If you choose to write about one of these artists, please be sure to do additional research!
Toulouse-Lautrec
(1864-1901) captured the dark world of late 19th-century dance halls, cabarets, and theaters in the famous Montmartre district in Paris. Despite descending from three lines of aristocracy, Lautrec struggled with physical disability and found inspiration from the people he lived among in Montmartres working-class neighborhood, including prostitutes, singers, and fellow artists. His bold style helped set the course of avant-garde art well beyond his tragic death from syphilis and alcoholism at the age of 36.
Learn more about his brief (and scandalous) life in the video below:
Suzanne Valadon
Born Marie-Clmentine, (1865-1938) was the daughter of an unmarried domestic worker. She grew up in Montmartre, the bohemian quarter of Paris, supporting herself from the age of ten with odd jobs: waitress, nanny, and circus performer. A fall from a trapeze led her in a new direction.
From 1880 to 1893, Valadon modeled for several of the most important post-Impressionist painters of her day, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Although she could not afford formal art classes, Valadon learned drawing and printmaking techniques from the artists around her, especially her close friend and mentor Edgar Degas.
The following interview with Dr Lauren Jimerson, an art historian and the author of “”, discusses Suzanne Valadon’s transformation from model to self-taught master.
Henri Rousseau
(1844-1910) was a self-taught post-Impressionist painter who created dream-like worlds in his paintings. He began painting in middle age and was also known as Le Douanier, a humorous description of his occupation as a toll and tax collector. Although he was sometimes mocked as an amateur, Henri Rousseau’s work influenced many artists, including Pablo Picasso and the Surrealists. His work is still admired and studied today.
Andrew Graham-Dixon travels around France to discover more about his life in the video below:
Edvard Munch
(1863-1944) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker who played a pivotal role in the development of Expressionism. His work is known for its emotional intensity and he is best known for The Scream (1893), an iconic image of modern anxiety. The short video below explores his life and legacy, and will help you gain a better understanding of his symbolic and deeply personal artwork.
Antoni Gaud
Antoni Gaud (1852-1926) was a visionary Spanish architect. At the time of his death in 1926, was arguably the most famous architect in the world. He had created some of the greatest and most controversial masterpieces of modern architecture that were as exotic as they were outrageous, influencing the development of Surrealist painting as well as generations of groundbreaking architects like the Iraqi-born British architect .
Construction is ongoing but in 2026, the Sagrada Famlia is celebrating a historic milestone: the completion of the tower of Jesus, the last of the Basilicas central towers. This coincides with the commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of Antoni Gauds death, making it a particularly meaningful year for the city of Barcelona and its inhabitants.
In the video below, art historians Beth Harris and Steven Zucker explore the visual impact of La Sagrada Familia.