Figure 1.--This is one of our favorite American portraits. It is of course by John Singer Sargent, one of his many masterful portraits. The boy is Livingston Davis who wears a white summer sailor suit and wide-brimmed hat. He was painted in 1890. |
Paintings provide many interesting details about fashion trends in different countries, especially before the 20th Century. Paintings offer the advantage of, unlike photographs they are also identified by countrty and time. Our master list of painters in the alphabetical individual listing. We are also cross referencing the artists here to help develop fashion trends in each country. This is somewhat complicated by the fact that many important countries only became unified nation states in very recent times. This is especially the case of Italy (1860) and Germany (1871), two major countries. There are many other complications such as the absorption of Dutch speaking Flanders in French dominated Belgium or wheter to include Alsatian artists in Germany or France. Our country art pages are mostly European at this time. We hope that our readers in other countries will provide us the information needed to develop country pages in other regions.
We have almost no information on African art at this time. We do note the beautifully decorated churches in Ethiopia. A good example is an unidentified fresco in a monastary in Lake Tana, perhaps dated to the 16th century. Interestingly it has a rather Indian look.
The most stunning art from Mexico is of course the work of the great muralists like Rivera and Orocozo. Their work is highly political focusing on the Spanish Conquest and the suppression of the Native American people. The modern period is depicted in leftist terms, capitalists exploiting workers and idealizing Communism. Titaly absent from this work is the Soviet state's suppression of peasants and the horrors of the Gulag. Also missong is any appreciation of how democracy and capitalism in America and Europe were generating the wealth which for the first time were allowing the average individual to achieve a prosperous life. This revolutiinary mindset is still prevalent in Latin America, explaining why so many countries in the region languish in societies with endemic poverty and inefficenies.
We only know of one Peruvian artist at this time, the modern painter Fernando Sayan Polo (Peru, 1947- ). We also notice a charming drawing by Marin Pescador of a Andean boy.
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We know nothing about Canadian art at this time. Hopefully our Canadian readers will provide us some insights.
America of course has a very recent art history. Here some of the most valuable work was done by primitive or naive artists in the late 17th and early-mid 19th century before the advent of photography. These artista while their perspective was often weak often did provide very detailed reproductions of clothing in their portaits which is of emense value in assessing historical fashion trends. Of course the greatest American portratist has to be John Singer Seargent, but unfortunately he painted only a small number of children.
We do not yet have much information on Tajik art. Painting has not been a major art form in many Islamic societies, because some Muslims believe that people as beings with souls should not be depicted. This believe has not been universal as we have noted both Turkish and Persian paintings depicting people. Tajiks as a people of Persian origins in Central Asia have been strongly influenced by Persian art forms. Art historians note distinctive Tajik (Persian) painting dates back to the Seljuk period (11th-13th Century AD), which described as the "Baghdad School". Painting was primarily devoted to decorate manuscripts, especially editions of the Koran. During the Mongol period (1256-1394) paintings was also used to decorate books. Tajikm painting and book illumination declined after tghe 14th century. Tajik art was primarily exopressed through crafts as metalwork, pottery and embroidery all forms creating household objects. Thus Tajik art was essentially devoted to crafts and a range of folk art. We have noted some paintings during the Soviet era, but have limited information about them.
We know very little about Austrian art at this time. Austria until the mid-19th century was generally looked on as a part of Germany. One of the few Austrian artists in our database is Josef Danhauser (1805-45), but we know relatively about him. He painted in the clasical realist style. We also notice Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793-1865).
We have little information on umportant Belgian artists. There are of course the Flemish artists. Antoon Van Dyck was born in Belgium, but he has to be considered more of a Dutch artist. We have few details on modern Belgian painters.
the famous Belgian realist and symbolist painter, Fernand Khnopff (1858-1921) painted aportrait of Prince Leopold, Duc de Brabant, at the age of 12 years. The portrait was painted in 1913.
We know very little about Czech artists. The best known is surely Alfons Mucha (1860-1939) who was both a painter and decorative artist. Mucha is often described as the most defining artist of the Art Nouveau style. Here he painted beautiful women with flowers. These wondurful images, however, provide little useful information for our HBC website. Much eventually, however, tired of this and pained what he called "The Slavic Epic", a largely alegorical set of the history of the Slavic people, encompasing not only the Czecha, but other Slavs such as the Poles, Russians, Ukranians and others. We are not familiar with other Czech artists, but hopefully our Czech readers can provide some insights here.
HBC has so far acquired only limited information on Danish art or artists from Denmark who have painted interesting works illustrating boys' fashions. At this point, while we can noy yet comment on Danish art, we can list Danish artists who come to our attention. Hopefully our Danish readers will provide more information on their country's art. We have noted the work of four Danish artists: Aigens, Meyer, Schith-Jensen, and Seligmann. Unfortunately we have been able to find relatively little information about these artists.
English artists perhaps do not have the same stature as some of their cross channel rivals--the French. This is perhaps the French impressionists are today so imprtant a part of our artistic mind set. Certainly English painting was eclipsed by the explosion of impresionistic art in France during the 19th century. There is one areas, however, in which the English were unrivaled and that is portriture in the 18th and early 19th century. The work of Gainborough, Lawrence, Reynolds, and others provide us with some of the most magnificent portraits ever executed. Even landscapist master Constable contrubuted at least one marvelous portrait. The English are also noted for their watercolors, but these tended to focus less on portriture. These masterful portraits of course provide an invaluable record of fashion trends.
We have virtualy no informationa about Finish artists at this time. Finland until World War I and the Russian Revolutioin was part of Tasrist Russia. We have noted one artist Karl Emanuel Jansson (1846-74) who painted "Sailor Boy II" in 1866. Hopefully our Finish readers will provide us more information about Finish artists.
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Flanders is the Low Country south of the Netherlands. Organizing artists on the basis of modern national boundaries is frought with difficulties. The Flemish painters area case in point. Since 1830 it has been part of Belgium, so the Flemish artists can be considered Belgians on the basis of modern boundaries. As Belgium did not exist in the 16th and 17th century and because the Flemish School was such an important group of artists, we are creating a separate for them in our national section. Most of the great Belgian opainters are in fact Flemish painters from the 16th and 17th century.
France has has one of the worlds's greatest artistic heritages. Some of the world's most renowned artists were French. This is particularly true of the 19th century. France is also a renowned center for fashion. Thus French art is an extremely valuable sorce for fashion historians. Some of the most fascinating 19th century images come from France, especially the late 19th century impressionists. Thus there are many wonderful portraits providing valuablr information on the history of fashion.
HBC has so far acquired only limited information on German artists who have painted interesting works illustrating boys' fashions. One of the most important was Winterhalter, a favorite of Queen Victoria. His portraits, however did not concentrate on Germans. We have also noted a few images that are not attributed to specific artists, but are dated.
HBC is less familar with Greek art than that of some other European countries. HBC readers, however, have provided information on a number of important Greek artists that have provided imaages of Greek boys and their clothing over time. We are just beginning to research these artists.
We have not yet begun to assess Irish artists. We have some information on a few Irish artists. The artists we are found are noticeable for the lack of Irish nationlism expressed in their work. We notice Adam Buck (1758-1833) who was noted fir his minatures. We also notice Frederick Buck (1771-c. 1839) who painted some beautiful minature portraits. We assume that they were brothers, but are researching this now. One noticeable Irih srtist is Richard Thomas Moynan (1856-1906). His paintings depicting Irish recruits in the British Army suggest an Irelsnd fully integrsted in the United Kingdom.
Italy during the Renaisance was the birth place of modern European art. We have not yet cross indexed them here, but plan to do so soon. Interestingly, however, is the rather limited number of modern art work I have been able to find from Italy. I am not sure why this would be the case, although religious convertaism may have been a factor.
The Netherlands is a small country, but with a glorious artistic tradition. The high point is the Dutch School of the 17th century. Some of the leading artists were Frans Hals and Rembrandt. Related to the Dutch are the Flemish artists. While Flanders is today part of Belgium, the Flemish speak Dutch and it is difficult to separate them from the Dutch artistic tradition.
We have very little information on Polish art at this time. We have archived some Polish images on HBC, but we do not know the names of the artists. We note some paintings of Polish nobels. An important Polish arist is the impressionist Franciszek Striett (1839-90). Unfortunately we know nothing about him other than he produced some wonderful images of 19th century Polish life. Poland at the time wa mostly within the Russian Empire. Another artist we know by name is Eugeniusz Aleksandrowski (19??-1999). He was Jewish and his paintings are dominated by his ecperiences during the Holocaust in NAZI-occupied Poland. Hopefully our Polish readers will provide us some information about their country's artists.
We do not yet know much about Portuguese art. We do note one
artist, Carlos Antônio Rodrigues dos Reis (1863-1940), although our information on him is still very limited.
We have added several pages on Russian afrtists to HBC, but have not yet cross indexed them here. We do not yet have a great deal of information about Russian art, but we have begun to collect information about individual Russian artists. We note some fascinating images. Most come from the 19th or early 20th century. We do not yet have any imges from the soviet era. They may not be great art, but they would be of historical interest.
We have very limited information on Scottish art at this time. Perhaps the greatest Scottish portratist is Allan Ramsay (1713-84). We have also found some paintings by unknown Scottish artists. We have a portrait of what looks like a Scottish boy by an unknown artist which is probably a Scottish artist.
We have very little information on Serbian art. Serbia was a medieval Christian kingdom. We have no information about medieval Serbian art at this time. The Serbs were conquuered by the Ottomans after the battle of Kosovo Polje (1389). We know nothing about Serbia's art history during the Ottoman era. Serbia reemerged as an independent kingdom in the 19th century and we begin to see Serbian paintings at this time.. We have found some paintings by Serbian artiss, bit we do not yet know much about them. Paja Jovanovic (1859-1957) painted a triumphal medieval scene, "Marriage of Tzar Dulan" in 1906. We note a painting of the royal family by Jovan Isajlovi (1803-85). We know nothing about the artist at this time. Another Serbian painter is Jovan Bijelic (1886-1963). We note one of his paintings etitled 'Petite Dubravka' which we do not yet understand. Hopefully our Serbian readers will provide more details about their country's art history.
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Spain was the superpower of the 16th Century. The wealth pooring in from
the exploitation of the American colonies financed a vast outpouring of art.
Spain played an iporatant role in setting fashions. Goya is along with El Greco and Velasquez, is one of the three great pillers of Spanish art. Goya addressed many different genres and styles. He was the court painter to Charles IV. He is widely known for his portraits of Spanish nobility, including boys, but he also painted many accomplished scenes of modern life. Velaquez is generally recognized as the chief painters of the Spanish school and one of the great masters of all time.
We do not know much about Swedish art history and artists yet. We do know of one Swedish artist, Karl Larson painted many beautiful images of children during the late 19th and early 20th centuries that provide great detail about period clothing.
We do not know much about Swiss art at this time. The population is largely German with a French minority. Thus we would assume that there are German and French influences. So far we have found only a few Swiss artists. We do note a portrait painted by Benjamin Vautier. Vautier was associated with the Dusseldorfer Academy. He painted naturalistic portrait of the farmers in Switzerland and the nearby German Black Forest. We also note the work of Swiss artist Karl Bodmer (1809-1893). Bodmer traveled in the American West and painted many Native American subjects. We note a painting of a Sioux camp (about 1834). We can see a mother with a baby on their shoulder and an other child.
The Ukraine for centuries was part of the Russian Empire and after the Russian Revolutiion (1917) a constiuent republic of the Soviet Union. Ukranian nationalism was viciously attacked by the Soviets. After indedendence (1992) the country has been conflicted as to its relation with Russia. The election controversy (2004) has shown that vividly. Many art historians list Ukranian artists as Russians. One artist in our archive is Marie Bashkirtseff. She was nborn in the Ukraine, but her all too brief artistic career was in France.
Australian artists have provided some wonderful images of nature (the Outback). It was man's taming of nature during the 19th and early 20th centuriesthat was the focus. As might be expected, this was a theme also exceptionally addressed by two countries with similar experiences with nature--America and Russia. Two Australian artists, Arthur Streeton (1867-1943) and Tom Roberts (1856-1931) established an artist camp at Box Hill (near Melbourne) and later Heidelberg which has become the name of their school. Some children appear in their paintings as they were of course a part of the settlement of Australia.
We have found some paintings that we are unable to identify by country. American paintaings are relatively easy to identify. Identifying the natiinality of European paintings is often mych more comolicated. we will post paintings here that we have had difficulty idebtifying. Hopefully HBC readers will have some insights to offer.
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