The Growing Economic Power of the Middle Class in the 1700’s

 Classical Analysis

-The Growing Economic Power of the Middle Class in the 1700's- 

The Classical era drew the interests towards philosophy, rather than the church, aristocrats and the royalty. The always growing intellect and strong interest in science, played a great factor and this whole process was called the Enlightenment. This change helped artists and musicians to aim their creations on the middle-class people, which was in the past strictly reserved for the wealthy population.

In my following Analysis, I will concentrate on paintings from middle class artists for the middle-class population and/or about the middle-class people. Does that not sound awesome? Say middle class one more time and people think we are losing it. 

Back to the relevant topic and my carefully selected artists and some of their amazing creations:  

 

Louis Carrogis Carmontelle

 - The Mozart Family on Tour-

^{Around 1763, Louis Carrogis Carmontelle, created the painting "The Mozart family on tour". He was a French painter and used preferably watercolors as well as pencils for his drawings and created mostly Portraits, but also wrote and directed plays for the opera, and theater. I absolutely love Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and even visited his birthhouse in Salzburg, Austria, which is a big factor why I have chosen this art piece.}

^{Carmotelle grew up in the middle class, as well as Mozart's family. Opposed to the times before, the classical era gave people from the middle-class access to paintings and music and allowed them to execute the arts.}

^{I do like this drawing of the Mozart family, Wolfgang Amadeus, his father Leopold, and his sister Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia, however, it is a little bland for my taste.} 

^{There is not much in the background and the colors are very subtle. It is in the Rococo style, which}  

explains the pastel colors and the details on top of the beams in the upper right corner. This scene shows the Mozart family during a concert in Vienna, Austria and in this show, Wolfgang Amadeus plays the piano, his sister Maria Anna is singing, and the father Leopold plays the violin.  It is cool to see that Wolfgangs feet do not even touch the ground and yet, he is playing in concerts. Of course, we all know what talent he had, but it is awesome to see him in action at this age.

 

 ^{Angelica Kaufmann}

 - Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi, Pointing to her Children as Her Treasures. -

 

Angelica Kauffman painted this piece around 1785 in London and there could not be a better painting to explain the Enlightenment and life of the middle class during this era.

She painted it around 1785 in London and Kauffman was an exceptional person. She was a part of the anti-Rococo rebellion that helps create the Neoclassical style. Therefore, this painting is the best Showpiece for Neoclassical art. 

The lady in red on the right shows off her expensive trinkets, which she got from her husband and asked Cornelia, the mother right next to her, what treasures she possesses. The Mother points towards her children to show her what really matters. The treasures are her children and all she needs. No gold in the world is as important as Children to a mother, no matter what period. 

The colors are still very subtle and light, just like the art during the Rococo era but the details and shading seems to be more present. The clothes look very much roman style, with the tunics, the throws and leather sandals, which was one big factor in the Neoclassical style. 

 

The roman style grew immensely popular after the discovery of the ruins of Herculaneum in 1738 and Pompeii in 1748 and it seemed like people was obsessed with anything from the roman empire.

 

François Boucher

 ^{- Sleeping Shepherd -}

 

Now I take you back to the Rococo era with François Boucher, a French artist who seemed to like painting sleeping subjects. His art piece, the Sleeping Shepherd, shows, surprise, a sleeping shepherd. Clearly a middle to lower class boy and his sheepdog in the grass on a field. His head is resting on a rock, and he seems to have lost his hat. He is holding a recorder in one hand and a water vessel in the other and his dog is resting with him right next to his arm. 

The background is again quite simple and shows clouds and two trees. Not much of the landscape is shown but it rather concentrates on the subjects. Unfortunately, I have not figured out when it was created but I am estimating it to be between 1740 and 1750 and the location was most likely Paris.

Boucher also designed theater costumes and sets as well as tapestry designs but first, he was an exceptional and very valued artist during the Rococo times.

 

- The Interrupted Sleep -

 

 

I have added a second painting from Boucher, as an example of how much he loved painting someone asleep. The title of this one is "The interrupted sleep" in which a shepherd tickles the sleeping lady, to wake her up and literally interrupts her sleep. 

 This painting is a lot darker than the other one and it was painted in 1750. Even if the subject is simple, the composition on the other hand is complex and is organized around a series of intersecting diagonals. (metmuseum.org) 

 I really love Boucher's style and how his paintings were realistic and showed mostly the worker class, instead of the fancy noble population. This is a big reason, why he is a great example for the Growing Economic Power of the Middle Class, just like the other two artists listed.

 

 

All four of the paintings are beautiful but I would only purchase the Sleeping Shepherd by François Boucher and hang it in my living room, where guests can see it immediately. I think it is cute, realistic, and innocent. The painting of the Mozart family looks better in a museum than my house and the third one is a little too dark in colour for my taste. 

All four art pieces however have one thing in common. They all present subjects from the middle-class population, rather than the wealthy and show, how much this class grew in importance during this time. 

 

^{Once again, I hope you enjoyed reading my blog.} 

^{Thank you,} 

 

^Sylvia 

 

 

Works Cited:

    “Drawing: British Museum.” The British Museum, www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1994-0514-48. 

      Biography of CARMONTELLE, Louis Carrogis De in the Web Gallery of Art, www.wga.hu/bio_m/c/carmonte/biograph.html.

    ^{“Louis Carmontelle, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with His Father Leopold and His Sister Marie Anne, Watercolour and Bodycolour - Google Arts & Culture.” Google,}

    “François Boucher.” Artist Info, 

     Goodden, Angelica. Miss Angel: the Art and World of Angelica Kauffman, Eighteenth-Century Icon. Vintage Digital, 2011

    “Making Up the Rococo.” Google Books, Google,

     Martin, Dana, and Dana Martin. “Angelica Kauffmann, Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures.” Smarthistory

    Mokyr, Joel. A Culture of Growth, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400882915