Annotated Mona Lisa, The - Strickland, Carol [142]
RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE
BRUNELLESCHI (1377-1446) — first great Italian Renaissance architect, rediscovered Classical forms and simplicity
ALBERTI (1404-72) — formulated architectural theory based on rules of proportion
BRAMANTE (1444-1514) — High Renaissance architect who redesigned St. Peter’s Cathedral
MICHELANGELO (1475-1564) — remodeled Capitoline Hill in Rome
PALLADIO (1508-80) — arch-and-column compositions of symmetrical villas copied around world
BERNINI (1598-1680) — designed Roman churches, chapels, fountains for theatrical effect
BORROMINI (1599-1667) — used curves and countercurves, rich surface decoration
CUVILLIÉS (1695-1768) — designed extravagant Rococo rooms based on mirrors, gilt, profusely carved stucco
NINETEENTH CENTURY
JEFFERSON (1743-1826) — revived Classical/Palladian style in neo-temples
EIFFEL (1823-1923) — devised namesake tower in 1889 as triumph of engineering and industrial materials
SULLIVAN (1856-1924) — developed modern architecture with form-follows-function concept
GAUDI (1852-1926) — Spanish Art Nouveau architect based fluid, linear style on organic forms
TWENTIETH CENTURY
WRIGHT (1869-1959) — American innovator who pioneered “organic” buildings with flowing lines
GROPIUS (1883-1969) — led Bauhaus trend toward functionalism
MIES VAN DER ROHE (1886-1969) — perfected simple, unornamented skyscraper with glass curtain walls
LE CORBUSIER (1887 — 1965) — shifted from sleek, International Style buildings to sculptural fantasies
JOHNSON (b. 1906) — evolved from International Style to Post-Modernism
PEI (b. 1917) — stark, geometric buildings like abstract sculpture
GEHRY (b. 1929) — “Deconstructivist” architect whose buildings of disconnected parts have unfinished, semipunk look
GRAVES (b. 1934) — introduced color and historical references into modern design
VENTURI (b. 1925) — leading theoretician for diversity in architecture
PHOTOGRAPHY: WHAT’S NEW
“Straight,” undoctored photography, as championed by Alfred Stieglitz, retained its advocates until World War II, then gradually gave way to a more subjective use of the medium. In the new, introspective style, rather than just presenting objective information in documentary form, the camera expressed feelings and manipulated reality to create fantasies and symbols. Photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, in his moving portraits of Japanese children crippled by mercury poisoning, used pictures to comment on society with what he termed “reasoned passion.” Rather than a single trend or movement, the most important trait of contemporary photography is diversity. The following photographers represent some of the types of photography being practiced from late Modernism through Post-Modernism.
ABBOTT: “THE PAST JOSTLING THE PRESENT.” American photographer Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) began her career in the heroic age of photography, when it was first established as an art form. She produced a series of New York street scenes in the 1930s for which she is best known. In her Modernist photographic style, Abbott framed compositions dynamically, shooting up or down at dizzying angles to capture the city’s vitality. She wanted to show the “spirit of the metropolis, while remaining true to its essential fact, its hurrying tempo,” to evoke “the past jostling the present.”
Abbott, “Nightview, NY,” 1932, Commerce Graphics Ltd., Inc. Shot from atop the Empire State Building, this panorama conveys the energy and romance of the city.
BOURKE-WHITE: THE PHOTO-ESSAY. When Henry Luce hired American photographer Margaret Bourke-White (1904-71) for Fortune magazine, he taught her that pictures had to be both beautiful and factual. In her obsessive drive for the perfectly composed photograph, she never forgot to include the essential truth of a situation. Bourke-White shot classic photo-essays that brought the reality of American and Soviet industry and the Depression home to millions of readers. An aggressive, fearless reporter, she flew in planes and dangled from cranes to