art-history

20th Century American Realism

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:03:24 +0100

20^th Century American Realism was a turn of the century art movement reflecting what was going on in the world. Many images were more urban, to represent the population shift.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_realism#America_at_the_turn_of_the_century

Diego Rivera’s mural “Detroit Industry”

Pop Art

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:00:09 +0100

Pop Art (1960‘s) was art of the “popular” culture. It was during an era of mass production, expanding commercialism, and materialism. It began in England. In America, it was representative of real life, mocking the commercialism of the year. In England, images of American culture were juxtaposed with the intent to parody or mock through contrast.

Andy Warhol’s “Four Colored Campbell Soup Cans”

Abstract Expressionism

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:58:07 +0100

Abstract Expressionism was big in the 1940’s. Subject matter was usually non-representational as artists created with the intent to show an emotion. Not all of it is any of these though. Abstract Expressionism was as much about how artists applied paint as what the finished result was. They painted quickly in an effort to release their unconscious minds. A lot of it looks like it relied on chance or accident.

Sources: http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/a/abstractexpr.html

Jackson Pollock’s “Number 8”

Surrealism

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:36:27 +0100

Surrealism (1924-1930‘s) was an extension of the Dadaist movement. Freud and his psychoanalysis were a huge inspiration and influence. Surrealists wants to paint the impossible, the dream worlds, and the unconscious mind.

Rene Magritte’s “Time Transfixed”

Dadaism

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:32:09 +0100

Dadaism (1916-1922) arose out of anti-war sentiment. It began in Zurich, Switzerland and was “art for art’s sake.” The artists who started the movement picked a random nonsense word from the dictionary (dada is French for “hobby horse,“ a child‘s word for dad in English, and “yes yes“ in Russian). The artists were disillusioned with modern society and rejected traditions and rules of art. It was a commentary on the crazy world; the world had lost it’s mind, so art would lose it’s mind. It eventually became anti-art as well.

There are no defining characteristics of Dadaism. Collage was big and DuChamp, the most famous of the Dadaists, created ready-mades- objects already created that he changed just a little bit. Photograms were created.

"Untitled" photogram by Man Ray

Hannah Hoch's "Dada Dance" (collage/photomontage)

DuChamp’s "L.H.O.O.Q." (ready-made)

Abstract Art

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:20:16 +0100

Abstraction (1908-1920‘s) began at the same time as cubism. In it, artists basically did whatever they wanted. Most pieces were non-representational, finding some other way to convey an emotion or message. Abstract art still persists today.

America began taking over the art scene in about 1900.

Kandinsky’s “Composition VI”

Cubism

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:50:43 +0100

Picasso's "Still Life With Chain Caning"

Cubism (1908-1914) was a radical new direction for art. It was pioneered by Picasso and Braque and used geometric shapes. Cubism was divided into two main movements, analytic and synthetic cubism.

Analytic cubism was the first phase (Picasso's "Girl With Mandolin" shown below). Artists deconstructed reality, breaking up figures into shapes and looked at things from multiple perspectives. A face, for example, would be show in profile and from a ¾ view. Most of these works were monochromatic or near it, depending on values to show forms and separate shapes.

Synthetic cubism synthesized different things. (Picasso's "Still Life with Chain Caning" shown above) It had more color and less values, flattening things. There were more shapes than forms. There was collage work in synthetic cubism, and the synthesizing of different textures and materials was a big part of this part of the movement.

Orphic cubism, or orphism, is the second main phase of cubism, according to arthistory.net (they consider analytic and synthetic the same phase). Wikipedia considers it another art movement entirely. I am inclined to consider it a different art movement. Orphism was more abstract with brighter colors and many works produced had few or no geometric shapes or forms, a main characteristic of cubism.

Picasso’s “Girl with Mandolin”

Fauvism

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:15:31 +0100

Fauvism (1905-1907) is derived from the French word “fauves” meaning “wild beasts.” It was an art movement that was incredibly dramatic and that was dominated by bright colors. A break from tradition and the patronage system occurred during this time period called the “vertigo years“ (1900-1914). There were more middle class people.

The father of this movement is Matisse (1864-1954) and most paintings produced during this movement were flat and composed of large splotches of vivid colors.

Derain’s “The Turning Road”

Post Impressionism

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:04:17 +0100

Post Impressionism (1886-1905) continued with the Impressionist use of light and color but was more individualistic. Artists used similar methods but the art isn’t as unified as impressionist art. Pointillism, for example, was post impressionism.

Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”

Impressionism

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:01:57 +0100

Impressionism (c 1865-1880) was incredibly different than realism. It used color and light in new ways. Artists used color very often not found in the scene they were painting to show light. The colors were often divided. Plein air painting (painting outside) was big. The brushstrokes were impressive, often evident and large.

Degas’ “Waiting”