Baroque? Motorcycle Maintenance?

I started looking at Goya's paintings (but to be honest I really don't like very much of it) and then I found Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. So, I'm currently on hiatus from studying art chronologically to read this book.
Cindy told me to pay attention to the aesthetics theory, so thus far I noticed that in Chapter 1 there was a section where he told his son to watch the birds, but the son did not see what was the point. This made me remember that the older you are, you appreciate different things. So, if I ever revisit any art I've seen before I'd have different feelings about it.

Rant on Baroque Era.

Taking a break from Delacroix, I read the overview on the Baroque period in A History of Western Art. It was divided into Architecture, Sculpture and Paintings, then divided into countries, then finally subdivided into various artists. I don't intend to rewrite the whole chapter, so I'm just going to highlight whatever stuck out to me.

When reading the architecture section, and looking at the pictures of St.Peter's in Rome, and recalling how similiar it is to every other European building I've seen, I decided that I dislike how unnatural it all seems. I've seen Paris, Versailles and London, but there is often very little difference in the structure and facade of the buildings in these cities. Even in Belgrade and Athens (not really so much Athens, but it does have it's spots) the buildings are all in Baroque style. One interesting note, however, is that at Versailles, in the Hall of Mirrors, the mirrors aren't kept very clean. In any case, it seems that all of these impressive buildings aren't very impressive at all. I would describe them more as "egocentric" or to say the least "uncomfortably humanistic." Many of these churches and palaces were to accomodate one family, and I feel that it is a waste of money, and the only reason they even have them is to show off. (Although the French did try to get rid of this with Marie Antoinette in 1789, but only got an even greater meglomania in the form of Napolean. Even the gardens at the palace of Versailles are completely manmade, and don't seem very inviting.

The sculpture of the Baroque era can essentially be put into one word... "Bernini." I like the poses in his sculptures, and the ideas behind them, especially "Pluto and Proserpina." 'Nuff said.

Baroque painting is classified as Italian, Northern, French and Spanish. The Italian Caravaggio often (big surprise here) biblical scenes. In describing another one of his paintings Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Conquers All... go taking Latin for two years, thank you very much....) the book made a huge note about his homosexual lifestyle... which apparently makes the meaning of Amor Vincit Omnia, homosexual love conquers all. I thought it was strange for a textbook to deliver such a judgement, but hey... life's full of surprises. Gentileschi is a female artist who probably first helps the feminist scene rise through her man-hating paintings. The only Northern Baroque artist worth mentioning (largely in part to "Girl with a Pearl Earring") is Vermeer. His paintings just seem to be more lifelike than Rembrandt, Rubens and Vanitas put together... And I've seen several of the other artists' work in person... Spanish and French paintings did not particularly interest me, although I like how Velazquez encorporates a mirror into most of his paintings. I think that's almost like getting two paintings in one.

So, what have I been doing...?

Up to this point, I've read passages in the college text book about Gothic architecture (and can distinguish betwixt Italian, French, and Anglo/Germanic styles), finished Teach Yourself Art History which was a very good starting point for learning about what exactly is art, different genres, the correlation betwixt the artist and the painting in regards to why it's done, what's in it, etc.... why certain art pieces are in museums, and styles of art (watercolour, pastel, fresco...). Also the significance of the architecture of the buildings was discussed, which was interesting for me because I've been to the Louvre, the National Gallery in London, and Musee d'Orsay, (all of which were discussed), and besides the fact that Musee d'Orsay is a converted train station, I had not given much thought to the fact that the buildings are art too.

I planned to learn about genres chronologically, but since I allready learned about Medieval and Renaissance art through European History (mainly "The Agony and the Ecstasy") I thought I should go into Impressionism... but I forgot about the whole Baroque period. So today I got three more books, one about Delacroix, another about Goya, and one a general reference book. I skimmed through the Delacroix book, and made note of the many simliarities it had to the Renaissance period. In the book Delacroix was labeled as a Romantic, but his work seems to reflect the Enlightenment to me. Especially his most famous work, the emblem of the French Revolution, Liberty, does not really reflect nature, or natural occurances as most things I would label romantic. In any case, I found it interesting that the girl holding the flag first appeared in his work earlier, in a depiction of a massacre by the Turks to the Greeks, and she continues to appear in almost all of his work after that.