Abstract
The purpose of this poster is to address the change in figure drawing at the Academies of Fine Arts in the 18th and 19th centuries and its relationship with the invention of photography. The technique used for modeling the human figure before the advent of photography (hatching), was replaced by the smudging technique when rendering light and shadow. Additionally, the background also began to be drawn as opposed to leaving the figure in a blank page, as was usual in the 18th century. The French treatises of the late 1800s reveal a distancing from classical models and an environment of critical reflection. Drawing began to value the veracity of representation based on the observation of anatomical variations in nature, rather than the concept of idealized beauty. The empirical investigations of Alberti (1404-1472), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), and Dürer (1471-1528) were resumed, guided by the aesthetic discourse of science. Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), acclaimed photography critic, described the 19th century society as a modern one, a time of revolution of the visual knowledge in which the way of seeing was transformed and acquired greater precision. A new visual code was created, changing pre-existing notions for the selection of objects valuable enough to be observed. The methodologies applied during this research are based on literature review, regarding the influence of photography on 19th century artists and the following change on the representation of the human figure.
Presenters
Gabriela TorresInvestigator, Drawing, Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon, Portugal
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
DRAWING, PHOTOGRAPHY, HUMAN FIGURE, REPRESENTATION, MODEL DRAWING, FINE ARTS
