Introduction
Print making is a process of making art works by printing, mainly on paper. Print making entails the use of originality in the creation of prints as opposed to the reproduction of a painting using photographic means. With print making, one can utilize a single piece of artwork to reproduce several copies. With print making, the ensuing products are unique in terms of quality. Print images communicate more details of an idea and evoke immediate and sustained reactions from different people. Words are quite powerful but use of words alone may not bring out the true picture of the message that an individual may want to communicate. A combination of the print media and words help give an accurate picture of an event that took place. Francisco Goya was a Spanish who used print making to communicate deeply using images. He produced printings that criticized political and social events in France during the French Revolution. His techniques were realistic and he produced images containing haunting satire. Honore Daumier is another artist whose works criticize political and social work in France in the nineteenth century. Honore Daumier’s work is widely recognized mainly for his use of caricatures to depict known political figures globally. In addition, he is also known to use satire to emphasize on the behaviors that characterizes his countrymen.
Jean-Louise Laneuville is yet another artist who was instrumental in enhancing the quality of print making in the wake of the French revolution. This is evidenced by the various warning and convincing images that he produced at the time. Accordingly, there is the need to examine the role played by print making during the French revolution. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to explore some of the artworks produced by various artists during this historical period.
The artistic work of Francisco Goya
Goyas composition embodies radicalism and modernity by bringing into scope the anonymity of the device used for execution. He only shows the barrel of the gun. At the center stands the defenseless convicted man. This is also characteristic in his composition of the Third May 1808. Trying to show the reality of war, Goya shows how men can turn into beasts. Goyas prints were developed from personal experience by eye witnessing as in the case where he had to travel to Saragossa to record accounts of the war. In Spain underground fighters teamed up in a retaliatory attack against the French. Goya s prints show the French troops and the Spanish troops engaged in a blood shed. The prints of Goya depict traditional war scene. In addition, they help to reveal such underlying vices in the society as rapes, shootings, images of horrifically mutilated individuals, piles of corpses, starvation, and groups of people fleeing in panic.
The El Buitre Carnivoro (The Carnivorous Vulture) is another depiction of a masterpiece done by Goya. It features the disasters of war as captured by Francisco Goya. It is a striking image that portrays a gigantic vulture is attacked by villagers. In the artwork, the villagers are behind the vulture and are seen to be watching the soldier attacking the vulture. The villagers look determined do away with the vulture as a result of the harm it has brought in the village. A solitary soldier is involved in getting rid of the vicious vulture using a pitch fork ready to harm it. The heroic action of the man shows the determination of the villagers to cast the tyrant bird out of their village. The masterpiece has succeeded in capturing the animosity that existed between the French and the Spaniards during the French revolution. Francisco is a widely acclaimed artist by virtue of his criticism on political and social events. Viewing this image from a political point of view, one cannot help but recognize how he has explicitly succeeded in conveying the political tension between the two countries at the time. His choice of a soldier as the one individual to get rid of the vulture bears a lot of symbolism. It is an imitation of the French imperial eagle sent out of Spain. The image symbolizes the defeat of the French occupation in Spain. Some men to the right of the soldier attacking the vulture are laughing at it as it retreats. The hard work of the soldiers can be seen to have thrown the vulture out of Spain. Others like the ones to the left of the soldier are engaged in festivities. It symbolizes the happy moments once the vulture exits. Other individuals in the image are engaged in their own activities, in effect missing out on the experience of the moment at hand.
A priest is dressed in a garb and his right arm is raised while the left holds a devout woman. The priest does not look pleased by the exit of the vulture. Most of his work in the disasters of war show how devastating war and violence can be. The soldier acts bravely and the present symbol of fanaticism seem absent. However, one cannot be sure whether the effect is temporary or permanent. Judging form the actions of the priest, his wish appears to be opposed to the French leaving Spain. There is a possibility of comeback and the image helps prepare the soldiers for any future incidents.
Francisco is ranked amongst the most revered printmaking artists the world over.
In fact, he directly attacked religious and political leaders of the time using his work. His collection of prints by the name Los Capricos contained satirical etchings that attacked clergies for their follies and vices. He used such animals as bats, donkeys, and cats, to represent his ideas in a satirical manner. The etching preceding the carnivorous vulture contain a creature that looks like a vulture dressed like a clergy using his words to whip a mass of human, parrots, bears, and donkeys into a religious frenzy. Following the end of the war, Goya produced another masterpiece, this time symbolic of the prevailing division between on the one hand, the state and on the other has and, the state. This piece of work casts the shape of what can at best be described as a lovely woman. Her assailants seem to fade away into the darkness. The badly mutilated bodies of three men are seen to have been left on the barren field. Whatever comes to our deductive minds is that were these bodies belonging to the French or the Spaniards? This aspect has been left unanswered by Goya. His works are reminiscent of the horrors of the martyrdom of the Christian saints but in these his paintings the prospects of having life again are almost dim. Because of the position he had taken on the French invasion of Spain, he thinks the suffering of these men is uncalled for.
In his painting and they were as wild beasts of 1812-1814 the very thin line that exist between civilians and soldiers and between men and women is depicted in the period of war. Women with children on their back are seen thrashing their spears right into the heart of men. These women are buoyed by their courage.
There is a certain aspect of peculiarity that defines Goya’s pieces. This is partly because at the time of their production no artist had apparently managed to produces artistic work that shows women being attacked wildly during skirmishes or wars. This justifies the fact that Goya must have dedicated this print to the women who took part in the war between France and Spain. Another work done by Goya that is also regarded a masterpiece is ‘the execution of the defenders of Madrid’ in 1814. This work was done after Goya had approached the government to allow him immortalize remarkable and heroic deeds of the uprising against European giants. These paintings by Goya are symbolic of the war that occurred between Mamelikes and the rebels. This war was characterized by a lot of bloodshed and Goya has once again succeeded in capturing the chaotic melee.
Other paintings show executions and are more appealing to today’s observer. In one painting, French soldiers are captured in the process of executing Spaniards by shooting. Any Spaniard caught with ammunition was to be maimed. In print number two the two sides of the war stand opposed. Spaniards who appear to be having crude weapons appear to be accosting the well armed French men. The dead man is lying on the ground with arms stretched reminiscent of Christ. Goya transcends from the contemporary work and shoe that arbitrary murder of defenseless people is a reality that keeps repeating.
The role of print in French Revolution as seen by Jean-Louise Laneuville
Laneuville was a French painter. During French revolution he came up with a sequence of painting of the deputies of the convention including that of Bertrand, Joseph Robert and Joseph Delaunay. His paintings are normally characterized by monochromatic, neutral backgrounds with the sitter usually seated, turning his head as if momentarily disturbed or directly confronting the spectator. Process of psychological probing can be seen and the availability of tension is enhanced by highly detailed accessory and the sharp focus on clothes. The portrait of Berere is meant to show the politician standing before the tribunal of the convention demanding the death of King Louis the sixteenth. Laneuville seemed confused on the date of the king’s trial and the correspondence between Gregorian and revolutionary calendars showing Berere resting his right hand on a sheet of paper dated 4th January, 1792, Year two. At the salon of 1796 Laneuville exhibited the portrait of revolutionary Therese Cabarrus, Citizeness Tallien, she is shown imprisoned at La Force with her recently cut hair in readiness for execution.
The role of print in French revolution as seen in the work of Honore Daumier
Daumier was a caricaturist, painter and sculptor. He was known a politician and somebody who liked the use satire to ridicule a system. Most of his work made comments on social and political life in France. One of his well known works is Barbe Marbois. The work appeared in the La Caricature before its suppression.
The judge had passed sentence on the leaders of April 1835 uprising. He also passed legislations that disregarded some publications such as the La Caricature. He accurately portrayed the judge to show how he was given much responsibility in the government. His intention was to criticize the power that had been given to the individual. His criticism ended him in court. After his death, he has been recognized as a painter and a print maker. With his knowledge of lithography, he began to draw cartoons with political undertones that pitted him against the government of the time. As stated before, he was arrested and served six months in prison in 1832. At the time of 1848 revolution he was contributing more into political subjects. At that point in time he had made over 4000 lithographs. His paintings were done later in his career. Even so, it was not until 1878 after his paintings had been displayed at an exhibition held at the Durand-Ruel galley that the artist gained international recognition. His paintings ridiculed the government of Philippe. He was extremely gifted in rightly depicting the character of a man via physiognomy. In addition, the fact that he was very capable of using physical absurdity to correctly interpret an individuals’ mental folly is a further depiction of the artist’ high satirical levels.. His work helped expose weird social and political actions by different heads.
Conclusion
Print work played major roles in the French revolution. Different artists produced arts that criticized the actions of the religious and political leaders of the time. Artists in both France and other places such as Spain expressed their views using printings. Francisco Goya is one popular artist from Spain who used his techniques to display different ideas regarding the French revolution. His work played a major role in portraying the feelings of different people in the society. Particularly, the El Buitre Carnivoro (The Carnivorous Vulture) which is one of his works shows a vulture that is being sent out by some villagers. The soldier represents the French imperial eagle that was oppressing the Spanish. Its exit seems to bring real happiness to the people of Spain. They engage in festive activities and they look free to carry on with their individual work other than the one that they did in presence of the French. His direct attack on political and religious leaders helped reduce some dubious acts by these individuals. Honore Daumier is a French artist from France. His comments are known to criticize political and social life in France. He used satire to ridicule systems and individuals whose actions were unfair. His accurate portrayal of Barbe Marbois showed how the judge had been given much responsibility. He was arrested for the work of art and served six months in prison. In general, print was used by artists to criticize the negative actions of the then leaders.
Reference
Daumer, H, ’Barbe Marbois’, La Caricature Journal, 2010. Web.
Charivari, L, ‘ H. Daumier and His Lithographic Work’, 2010. Web.
Garo, ZA, Some thoughts about print making and print collaborations’,Art Journal, 1999.
Goya, F, ‘The El Buitre Carnivoro (The Carnivorous Vulture)’, 2010. Web.