Quarter I: MODERN ART

Impressionism: Origins of the Movement

 was an art movement that emerged in the second half of the 19th century among a
group of Paris-based artists
 it had a tremendous impact and influence on the painting styles that followed,
such as neo-impressionism, post-impressionism, fauvism, and cubism—and even
the artistic styles and movements of today.
 The name impressionism was coined from the title of a work by French painter
Claude Monet, Impression, soleil levant (in English, Impression, Sunrise).
 It was not intended to be clear or precise, but more like a fleeting fragment of
reality caught on canvas, sometimes in mid-motion, at other times awkwardly
positioned
 Color and Light
o Freely brushed colors
o Short “broken” strokes
o Pure unmixed colors
o Result:feeling of energy and intensity
 “everyday” Subjects
o capturing scenes of life around them, household objects, landscapes and
seascapes, houses, cafes, and buildings.
o Not made to look beautiful or lifelike, as body parts could be distorted
 Painting Outdoors
o Impressionists found that they could best capture the ever-changing effects
of light on color by painting outdoor in natural light.
o Gave their works a freshness
 Open Composition
o Experimented with unusual visual angles, sizes of objects that appeared
out of proportion, off-center placement, and empty spaces on canvas
 The Influence of Photography
o inspired impressionists to capture fleeting moments of action, whether in
landscapes or in the day-to-day lives of people and offer a subjective view,
expressing their personal perceptions rather creating exact representations.
o Advantage of manipulating colors at that time
 Painters
o Edouard Manet
 one of the first 19th century artists to depict modern-life subjects.
 Key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism
o Claude Monet
 One of the founders of the impressionist movement
 Most prominent of the group and consider most influential figure
in the movement
 Best known for his landscape paintings
o Auguste Renoir
  One of the central figures of the impressionist movement.
 He broke away from the impressionist movement to apply more
discipline, formal technique to portrait of actual people and figure
paintings.
 Post- Impressionism
o continued using the basic qualities of the impressionists before them—the
vivid colors, heavy brush strokes, and true-to-life subjects.
o they expanded and experimented with these in bold new ways, like using a
geometric approach, fragmenting objects and distorting people’s faces and
body parts, and applying colors that were not necessarily realistic or
natural.
o Artists/Painters
 Paul Cezanne
 was a French artist and post-impressionist painter.
 His work exemplified the transition from late 19th-century
impressionism to a new and radically different world of art
in the 20th century—paving the way for the next
revolutionary art movement known as expressionism.
 Vincent Van Gogh
 Post-impressionist painter from the Netherlands
 works were remarkable for their strong, heavy brush
strokes, intense emotions, and colors that appeared to
almost pulsate with energy.
Expressionism: A Bold New Movement
 A movement aroise in the western art world
 Expressionist artists created works with more emotional force, rather than realistic or
natural images.—imagination and feelings
 Distorted outlines, applied strong colors, and exaggerated forms.
 Various styles that arose within the expressionist art movements were:
o Neoprimitivism
 Art style that incorporated elements from the native arts of the south
sea islanders and wood carvings of African tribes which suddenly
became popular at that time.
 Amedeo Modigliani
 Used the oval faces and elongated shapes of African art in both
his sculptures and paintings
o Fauvism
 Style that uses bold, vibrant colors and visual distortions.
 Derived from les fauves(“wild beasts”) — group of French
expressionist painters who painted in this style
 Henri Matisse
 Most known of them
o Surrealism
 Style that depicted an illogical, subconscious dream world beyond the
logical, conscious, physical one.
  Came from the term “super realism”---clearly expressing departure
from reality as though artists were dreaming, seeing illusions or
experiencing an altered mental state.
 Many surrealist works depicted morbid or gloomy subjects, as in those
by Salvador Dali
 Others were quite playful and even humorous, such as those by Paul
Klee and Joan Miro
o Social Realism
 expressed the artist’s role in social reform
 artists used their works to protest against the injustices, inequalities,
immorality, and ugliness of the human condition
 addressed different issues: war, poverty, corruption, industrial and
environmental hazards, and more—in the hope of raising people’s
awareness and pushing society to seek reforms.
 Ben Shahn’s Miners’ Wives
 Spoke out against the hazardous conditions faced by coal
miners after a tragic accident killed 111 workers in Illinois in
1947 leaving their wives and children in mourning
 Pablo Picasso’s Guernica
 Most monumental and comprehensive statement of social
realism against the brutality of war.
 Filling one wall of the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 World’s
Fair in Paris, it was Picasso’s outcry against the German air
raid of the town of Guernica in his native Spain
 It made use of the exaggeration, distortion, and shock
technique of expressionism
 it had elements of the emerging style that would later be known
as cubism.
Abstractionism
 It had the same spirit of freedom of expression and openness that characterized life in
the 20th century, but it differed from expressionism in certain ways
 movement arose from the intellectual points of view in the 20th century.
 concepts of space-time and relativity
 involved analyzing, detaching, selecting, andsimplifying.
 representational abstractionism
o depicting stillrecognizable subjects
 pure abstractionism
o where no recognizable subject could bediscerned.
 Grouped under abstractionism are the following art styles:
o Cubism
 cubist style derived its name from the cube, a threedimensional
geometric figure composed of strictly measured lines, planes, and
angles
 Pablo Picasso
  cubists analyzed their subjects’ basic geometrical forms, and broke
them up into a series of planes. Then they re-assembled these planes,
tilting and interlocking them in different ways.
 took the contemporary view that things are actually seen hastily in
fragments and from different points of view at the same time.
 a sense of imbalance and misplacement that created immediate visual
impact.
 characteristic feeling of dynamism and energy.
o Futurism
 began in Italy in the early 1900s
 the futurists created art for a fast-paced, machine-propelled age
 admired the motion, force, speed, and strength of mechanical forms
 Gino Severini
 Italian Painter of futurism
o Mechanical Style
 basic forms such as planes, cones, spheres, and cylinders all fit
togetherprecisely and neatlyin their appointed places.
 Mechanical parts such as crankshafts, cylinder blocks, and pistons are
brightened only by the use of primary colors
 Otherwise, they are lifeless. Even human figures are mere outlines,
rendered purposely without expression.
 Fernand Leger
o Nonobjectivism
 The logical geometrical conclusion of abstractionism came in the style
 From the very term “non-object,” works in this style did not make use
of figures or even representations of figures
 They did not refer to recognizable objects or forms in the outside
world.
 Lines, shapes, and colors were used in a cool, impersonal approach
that aimed for balance, unity, and stability.
 Colors were mainly black, white, and the primaries (red, yellow, and
blue)
 Piet Mondrian
 Dutch Painter
Abstract Expressionism
 The daring young artists in this movement succeeded in creating their own synthesis
of Europe’s cubist and surrealist styles.
 Action Painting
o One form of abstract expressionism was seen in the works of Jackson Pollock
o Pollock worked on huge canvases spread on the floor, splattering, squirting,
and dribbling paint with (seemingly) no pre-planned pattern or design in mind.
o total effect is one of vitality, creativity, “energy made visible.”
 Color Field Painting
o “color field painters” used different color saturations (purity, vividness,
intensity) to create their desired effects
 o Some of their works were huge fields of vibrant color—as in the paintings of
Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.
A new crop of artists came on the scene using lighter treatment and flashes of humor, even
irreverence, in their artworks. The movements they brought about have come to be called:
 Neodadaism and Pop Art
o the neodadaism of the 1960s wanted to make reforms in traditional values.
 It also made use of commonplace, trivial, even nonsensical objects.
But unlike the angry, serious tone of the original dadaists, the
neodadaists seemed to enjoy nonsense for its own sake and simply
wanted to laugh at the world.
 works ranged from paintings, to posters, to collages, to three-
dimensional “assemblages” and installations.
o These made use of easily recognizable objects and images from the emerging
consumer society—as in the prints of Andy Warhol. Their inspirations were
the celebrities, advertisements, billboards, and comic strips that were
becoming commonplace at that time. Hence the term pop (from “popular”) art
emerged.
o Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997)
 was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy
Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became
a leading figure in this new art movement.
 Conceptual Art
o arose in the mind of the artist, took concrete form for a time, and then
disappeared (unless it was captured in photo or film documentation)
o Conceptualists questioned the idea of art as objects to be bought and sold.
Instead, theybrought their artistic ideas to life temporarily, using such unusual
materials as grease, blocks of ice, food, even just plain dirt.
o conceptualist’s work often requires little or no physical craftsmanship.
 Op Art
o optical art
o another experiment in visual experience—a form of “action painting,” with
the action taking place in the viewer’s eye.
o lines, spaces, and colors were precisely planned and positioned to givethe
illusion of movement

Contemporary Arts Forms: Installation Art and Performance Art

 Installation art makes use of space and materials in truly innovative ways, while
 Performance art makes use of the human body, facial expressions, gestures, and
sounds. Both speak powerfully about contemporary issues, challenging their viewers
to respond.
 Installation art
o a contemporary art form that uses sculptural materials and other media to
modify the way the viewer experiences a particular space.
 o Usually lifesize or sometimes even larger, installation art is not necessarily
confined to gallery spaces. It can be constructed or positioned in everyday
public or private spaces, both indoor and outdoor.
o also been called “environmental art,” “project art,” and “temporary art.”
 Performance art
o a form of modern artin which the actions of an individual or a group at a
particular place and in a particular time constitute the work
o It can be any situation that involves four basic elements:
 time
 space
 the performer’s body
 a relationship between performer and audience.
o include such activities as theater, dance, music, mime, juggling, and
gymnastics
o term is usually reserved for more unexpected, avantgarde, and unorthodox
activities intended to capture the audience’s attention

WORKS
Impressionism
 Edouard Manet
o Argenteuil
o Rue Mosnier Decked With Flags
o Café Concert
o The Bar at the Folies-Bergere
 Claude Monet
o La Promonade
o The Red Boat, Argenteuil
o Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies
o Irises in Monet’s Garden
o Impression, Sunrise
 Auguste Renoir
o Dancer
o A Girl with a Watering Can
o MIIe Irene Cahen d’Anvers
o Luncheon of the Boating Party
Post-Impressionism
 Paul Cezanne
o Hortense Fiquet in a Striped Skirt
o Still Life with Compotier
o Harlequin
o Boy in a Red Vest
 Vincent Van Gogh
o Sheaves of Wheat in a Field
o The Sower
 o Still Life: Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers
o Bedroom at Arles
o Starry Night
o Wheat Field with Cypresses
Expressionism
 Amedeo Modigliani (Neoprimitivism)
o Head
o Yellow Sweater
 Henri Matisse (Fauvism)
o Blue Window
o Woman with Hat
 Giorgio de Chirico (Dadaism)
o Melancholy and Mystery of a Street
 Marc Chagall (Dadaism)
o I and the Village
 Salvador Dali (Surrealism)
o Persistence of Memory
 Paul Klee (Surrealism)
o Diana
 Joan Miro (Surrealism)
o Personages with Star
 Ben Shahn (Social Realism)
o Miners’ Wives
 Pablo Picasso (Social Realism)
o Guernica
Abstractionism
 Pablo Picasso (Cubism)
o Three Musicians
o Girl Before a Mirror(detail)
 Gino Severini (Futurism)
o Armored Train
 Fernand Leger (Mechanical Style)
o The City
 Piet Mondrian (Nonobjectivism)
o New York City
Abstract Expressionism
 Jackson Pollock (Action Painting)
o Autumn Rhythm
 Mark Rothko (Color Field Painting)
o Magenta, Black, green, on Orange
 Barnett Newman (Color Field Painting)
o Vir Heroicus Sublimis
 Adolph Gottlieb (Color Field Painting)
o Forgotten Dream
  Lee Krasner (Color Field Painting)
o Abstract No. 2
Neodadaism and Pop art
 Andy Warhol
o Twelve Cars
o Marilyn Monroe
 Roy Lichtenstein
o Whaam!
o In the Car
Conceptual Art
 Joseph Kosuth (One and Three Chairs)