Art Institute of Chicago Essay

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Art Compare

The author of this report has been asked to answer two distinct questions as it pertains to some pieces that are in the Art Institute of Chicago. There are a total of three questions from which the author will select two. The selected question from the optional pair will be about the Aesthetic Movement pieces offered by Herter and Godwin. The other question will center on a compare and contrast between two pieces that are in certain galleries from both the American and European Decorative Art sections. The two works selected for the second question are to fall under the "related but different" paradigm such as two vases, two chairs or something else common. While the pieces of art in the European and American art galleries are quite different, they tend to be related in many ways as well including the motive behind the designs and how they looked towards the future of what was then modern design.

Analysis

Gerter vs. Godwin

The selected question from the first two options talks about the American piece from 1978 made by the Herter Brothers and the E.W. Godwin piece made in 1876 from the European gallery. The Herter offering is a cabinet while the Godwin offering is a sideboard. The pieces are in the same general realm of furniture and are from the same decade but they are vastly different in terms of how they look. Even so, the pieces are considered to be from the Aesthetic Movement and the author of this response is asked to explain why. Of course, the Aesthetic Movement happed roughly in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The movements as manifested in both Europe and the United States are glommed together for a major reason. The European reactions to this movement came from the Industrial Revolution that occurred in England. A similar movement happened in the United States at roughly the same time but there was also a showing of this European-inspired art in Philadelphia and other parts of the United States just before both of these pieces were made in 1876. As such, there were plenty of artists in both the United States and Europe that responded to much the same art and in much the same way. These two pieces show a looking towards the coming years and decades in terms of art and furniture.

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Indeed, the 20th Century was just about to come and artists were trying to push the envelope (AIC, 2016).

One source of inspiration for many (but not all) of the artists was from Japan and this can be seen in the Herter piece. Herter followed cues from the English trends of the day but Herter was one of those that wanted to "reform" upon the "poorly conceived and constructed" work that was being done at the time. Christian Herter aligned greatly with the Aesthetic movement in that he wanted to focus on "bold rectangular shapes, which they often enlivened, as in this case, with exquisite surface decoration inspired by Japanese art" (AIC, 2016). Family crests and other seals were commonplace on pieces that came from this genre. However, Herter also pulled from other and non-Japanese themes. For example, the "paw feet" on the piece are every Egyptian (AIC, 2016).

Godwin's piece was quite different in appearance but it was also inspired by Japanese themes. To follow a common theme from before, Godwin was inspired greatly but the 1862 London International Exhibition and also by the collections of good friends like those owned by Gothic revivalist William Burges. Also part of the inspiration was his love for Asian art and the work of the Japanese was among the most assertive in his inspiration. This piece represented a firm turn away from the typical Gothic revival work of the time and instead move….....

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