1635 Le Roi á la Chasse (Charles I at the Hunt)
Stuart, arguably America's foremost portraitist, brought a subtle dimension of realism to the Grand Manner style and in so doing helped form the historical vision of heroes of the American Revolution and the pioneers of the new republic.Ĭ. The Grand Manner was adopted by a new generation of American artists, including Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Scully, and John Trumbull, who effectively formed the county's first art dynasty.The new social symbolism associated with classically posed, life-sized portraits, set against idealized landscapes and interiors, put in place a new hierarchy that effectively demoted "less important" genre paintings such as still lifes and scenes of everyday life. The Grand Manner was adopted by elite artistic institutions (namely European royal academies) who positioned themselves as both art education centers and the latest tastemakers.The art historian Cecil Gould observed that in Reynolds's vision "Landscape backgrounds or ornamental detail must be reduced to a minimum and individual peculiarities of human physiognomy absolutely eliminated Draperies should be simple, but ample and noble, and fashionable contemporary costume absolutely shunned". As the president of the Royal Academy, Reynolds wanted painters to be afforded the same status enjoyed by poets, dramatists, and philosophers and argued that to achieve this then the artist should strive to produce faultless forms rather than slavishly detailing nature or every-day life.He predicted, correctly as it transpired, that a British school of art would attain international influence by elevating portraiture, which it did by establishing explicit links to the art of antiquity, to the status of fine art. The "Grand Manner" grew out of Reynolds's conviction that "common" portraiture might attain the prestige reserved hitherto only for history painting.Through the influence of painters such as Gilbert Stuart, John Trumbull and John Singer Sargent, moreover, the Grand Manner style would travel across the Atlantic, where it would make a significant contribution towards America's artistic and political "coming of age". Reynolds had effectively initiated a new stylistic approach that would be claimed subsequently as the "Golden Age of British portraiture". Reynolds's intervention came when he suggested that if the same standards of excellence were applied to portraiture then it could compete on an even critical footing with history painting. Artists were thus encouraged to draw on the lessons of the past by closely observing the styles of classical Greek and Roman art and masters from the Italian Renaissance (especially Raphael, Michelangelo, and Carracci).
In his fourth lecture ( Fourth Discourse) he argued that this approach "gives what is called the grand style to invention, to composition, to expression, and even to colouring and drapery".
#Low horizon line series#
It is attributed to the founder of the Royal Academy of Arts, Sir Joshua Reynolds, who alluded to a "grand style" in his Discourses on Art lecture series delivered to Academy students between 17. The term Grand Manner has come to refer to a style of portraiture that emerged in Britain during the eighteenth century.
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