Sunday, November 13, 2016

European Ruins

Stefano della Bella
Triumphal Arch in Ruin
17th century
drawing
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Adriaen Boudewijns
Landscape with Classical Ruins
ca. 1700
oil on canvas
Prado, Madrid

Giuseppe Zochi
Ruin at Paestum
18th century
drawing
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

The desire to contemplate ruins and thereby stare backwards into an unrecoverable classical past reached its greatest intensity in the 18th century. Simultaneously, faith in human progress also peaked, driving thoughtful people to stare into the future. How they managed to look in both directions at the same time is more than anyone can now explain. Members of modern-day consumer-culture live more simply, facing no such conflicts, indifferent to the past and agnostic about the future.

Hubert Robert
Roman Ruin with Laundresses
ca. 1777
oil on canvas
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Hubert Robert
Ruined Aqueduct
18th century
oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Francesco Guardi
Landscape with Ruins
18th century
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Canaletto
Capriccio with Ruinous Bridge
18th century
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Louis François Cassas
Landscape with Ruined Arch
1778
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Francesco Guardi
Capriccio with Ruins
18th century
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Francesco Guardi
Landscape with Ruined Arch
18th century
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Carlo Ferrario
Set Design with Roman Ruins
19th century
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Luis Rigalt
Night Landscape with Ruined Monastery
1850
watercolor
Prado, Madrid

Carlos de Haes
Roman Landscape with Ruins of the Claudian Aquaduct
1871
oil on canvas
Prado, Madrid

Genaro PĂ©rez
Landscape with Classical Ruins
19th century
oil on canvas
Prado, Madrid