Identifier: artofpaintinginn00machrich (find matches)
Title: The art of painting in the nineteenth century
Year: 1908 (1900s)
Authors: Mach, Edmund von, 1870-1927
Subjects: Painting -- History
Publisher: Boston and London, Ginn and company
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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favoriteof the Italians, probably because in it the artistcan show his skill. He is not bound by accidentsof nature, and may design an entire picture ac-cording to the dictates of his artistic intentions.To these dictates Masaccio, early in the Quat-trocento, had been the first to make allowances,establishing thus the modern art of painting.Properly coupled with truthful representationsof nature, they form the foundations of good art.Exempted, on the other hand, from this unionand made the leading motive, they give to pic-tures an air of artificiality. The charge which isjustly made against most Italian genre paintersis that they have laid too much emphasis on theirartistic intentions, disregarding the worth of theirsubjects and choosing costumes, poses, and actionswhich, because they are not based on truth, appearto be unreal and artificial. If these Italian genre pictures have, neverthe-less, pleased many people, it has been due to thescintillating brightness of their color schemes,
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ITALIAN PAINTING 127 which, real or unreal, has the power of creatingan actual sense of physical pleasure. For manyyears, therefore, these pictures have had a goodmarket. But this in turn has reacted on theirquality, for most of them, doubtless, were paintedwith no higher motive than that of realizing ahandsome price. In justice to some Italian genre painters itmust be said that if they disregarded truth inthe selection of their subjects, painting fancifulease of living, dancing, joy, and never a bit ofwork, as if their poor country abounded inwealth, even they strove after truth in execu-tion. Their colors easily convey the irresponsibleand thoughtless pursuit of pleasure which theirsubjects suggest. Most of the names of the early genreists haveto-day only a historic value. Several, however,have preserved their popularity, and among them especially Gaetano Chierici (1838 ). This is due to the fact that his charming compositions,exquisitely painted, approach that degree of real-ity wh

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