Imagination in the Age of Reason
The Enlightenment period in Europe (about 1685–1815), long celebrated as "the age of reason," adopted a revolutionary emphasis on individual liberty, direct observation, and rational thought. Enlightenment society prized learning and innovation, producing an unprecedented flowering of knowledge with major advances in fields as diverse as art, philosophy, politics, and science. Important thinkers of the time questioned long-held beliefs, instead using scientific reasoning to uncover new principles on which to base a modern society. Yet the Enlightenment ideals of truth and knowledge could also at times be used to promote subjective values and biases about marginalized peoples and their experiences.
During this same period, imagination became a hotly debated topic in Enlightenment circles. While some saw it as necessary to truth and innovation, others believed it was a dangerous temptation leading to immorality and vice. Artists in particular reveled in the power of the imagination to expose hidden truths, conjure strange worlds, or concoct illusions. François Boucher and Francisco de Goya, among others, drew on imagination to envision far-off places and people, attract new buyers for their art, and comment on society and its values. They blurred the boundaries of fact and fantasy often without distinguishing between the two. Imagination was a dynamic tool through which Enlightenment-era artists marketed their work, revealed or obscured truth, entertained or educated viewers, and supported or criticized systems of power.
Imagination in the Age of Reason explores the complex relationship between imagination and the Enlightenment’s ideals of truth and knowledge. Pulled from the CMA's rich holdings of European prints and drawings from the 1700s and early 1800s, the exhibition presents an exceptional opportunity to see exciting recent acquisitions on view for the first time as well as rarely shown collection highlights, including prints and drawings by Canaletto and Goya and a pastel portrait by Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard.
During this same period, imagination became a hotly debated topic in Enlightenment circles. While some saw it as necessary to truth and innovation, others believed it was a dangerous temptation leading to immorality and vice. Artists in particular reveled in the power of the imagination to expose hidden truths, conjure strange worlds, or concoct illusions. François Boucher and Francisco de Goya, among others, drew on imagination to envision far-off places and people, attract new buyers for their art, and comment on society and its values. They blurred the boundaries of fact and fantasy often without distinguishing between the two. Imagination was a dynamic tool through which Enlightenment-era artists marketed their work, revealed or obscured truth, entertained or educated viewers, and supported or criticized systems of power.
Imagination in the Age of Reason explores the complex relationship between imagination and the Enlightenment’s ideals of truth and knowledge. Pulled from the CMA's rich holdings of European prints and drawings from the 1700s and early 1800s, the exhibition presents an exceptional opportunity to see exciting recent acquisitions on view for the first time as well as rarely shown collection highlights, including prints and drawings by Canaletto and Goya and a pastel portrait by Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard.
Relevant research areas: Western Europe, 18th Century, 19th Century, Engraving, Etching, Lithography
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