What is Modern Art?

Questions

The Museum of Modern Art collects work made after

1880, when the atmosphere was ripe for avant-garde
artists to take their work in new, unexpected, and
modern directions.

How did modern artists challenge the notion that art

must realistically depict the world?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Many artists explored dreams, symbolism, and
personal iconography as ways to depict their
experiences.
Czanne captures a sense of
emotional ambiguity or uncertainty
in The Bather that could be
considered typical of the modern
experience.

Look at the figure. What do you

notice about his stance and gaze?

Do you think Czanne painted from

real life or a from a photograph?
(another modern technique)

Paul Czanne. The Bather. c. 1885.

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Modern artists also experimented with the
expressive use of color, non-traditional
materials, and new techniques and mediums.
Picasso invented a new way of
painting called Cubism because of
its geometric forms.

What do you notice about the

figures and the setting? Do the
fractured planes make the setting
difficult to identify?

What else do you think is modern

about this picture?

Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris,

June-July 1907

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Modern artists also expressed the symbolic, by
depicting scenes and places that evoked an
inner mood rather than a realistic landscape.
Take a moment to notice how
van Gogh used small brush
strokes and color to create The
Starry Nights moving sky.

What might the shimmering

stars, moon, and swirling night
air symbolize to van Gogh?
What mood or feeling do you
think van Gogh was trying to
convey?

Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. June 1889

MoMA What is Modern Art?

The invention of photography in the 1830s introduced
a new method for depicting and reinterpreting the
world.

Atget documented Paris for 30

years, capturing the culture and
modern architecture of this
vibrant and artistic city.

How do you think this picture

captures the concept of
amodern city?

Eugne Atget. Chemiserie,

Boulevard de Strasbourg. c.1900.

MoMA What is Modern Art?

 Innovations in printing gave artists the ability to
replicate an image over and over again, encouraging
them to design posters advertising cabarets, art salons,
musical concerts, and readings.

Toulouse-Lautrec's posters were

noteworthy for their simplified and
abstracted designs. In Divan
Japonais, he depicts a well-known
Parisian cabaret singer, Jane Avril.

Is this art or is this advertising?

What do you think?

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Divan

Japonais (Japanese Settee). 1893

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

Can you rename all of the ways in which modern artists

expressed a new modern sentiment through their works
of art?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Painting Modern Life

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

How did early modern artists push the boundaries of

traditional art?

What kinds of choices did they make to break with

tradition and try something new?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

 Henri Matisse used color to capture the emotion
of places in landscapes that were considered
wild and reckless.
Does this landscape look or
feel wild to you? What do
you see that makes you
say that?

What mood or feeling was

the artist trying to evoke?

How did Matisse achieve

this feeling?

Henri Matisse. Landscape at Collioure. 1905

MoMA What is Modern Art?

 A master of perspective and light, Czanne
painted from real life in order to realize his
sensations.
What do you notice about
the objects on the table?

What do you notice about

the background?

What do you notice about

the perspective?

Paul Czanne. Still Life with Apples. 189598

MoMA What is Modern Art?

 Paul Czanne. Still Life with Apples. 189598

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Take a close look at The Bather, by Paul
Czanne.
Look at the figure. What do you
notice about his stance and gaze?

Do you think Czanne painted from

real life or a from a photograph?
(another modern technique)

Why do you think this was

considered one of the first modern
paintings?

Paul Czanne. The Bather. c. 1885.

MoMA What is Modern Art?

 Czanne painted from a photograph rather than
something he had seen in real lifea decidedly
modern act.
What do you notice
about the photo?

Can you see how

Czanne captured the
models stance and
gaze in the painting?

Do you think Czanne

painted the background
before or after he
painted the figure?

Artist Unknown. Standing Paul Czanne. The Bather.

Model, c. 1860-80. c. 1885.

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Lets compare The Bather with this
photograph taken at the beach.
What similarities do you
notice?

What differences?

Shirley V. Bacon ca. 1900, courtesy of California Historical

Society Collection, 1860-1960.

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

Why do you think these artists choices were

considered so modern at the time?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Cubism

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

How did Cubists push the boundaries of traditional still

lifes and portraits?

What was new and different in their approach to

painting?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Now, lets take a close look at Les
Demoiselles dAvignon by Picasso.
Describe what makes these
figures so unconventional.

What do you notice about the

setting? Do the fractured planes
make the setting difficult to
identify?

How did this work break with

tradition?

How might this work of art have

been controversial at the time it
Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. was painted?
Paris, June-July 1907

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Lets compare these two paintings.

Paul Czanne. The Bather. c. 1885 Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris,
June-July 1907

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Compare and contrast two Cubist paintings by
friends, Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. Look at
all of the different angles.

Georges Braque. Man with a Pablo Picasso. Ma Jolie. 191112

Guitar. 1911

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 Braque is on the left, Picasso is on the right.
Can you find the figure in each?

Georges Braque. Man with a Pablo Picasso. Ma Jolie. 191112

Guitar. 1911

MoMA What is Modern Art?

 Georges Braque. Man with a Guitar. 1911

MoMA What is Modern Art?

 Pablo Picasso. Ma Jolie. 191112

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

Why were the Cubist artists considered so radical at the

time?

How did Cubism lay the groundwork for abstract art?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Rise of the Modern City

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

How did art, architecture, and design give rise to the

modern city?

How did artists, architects and designers both create

modern space, as well as document it?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

H. Blancard documented the building of the Eiffel
Tower in 1888. At the time, the Tour Eiffel was a
controversial modern structure.
How would you
characterize the Eiffel
Tower?

Would you consider it a

modern building? Why or
why not?

Why do you think it was so

controversial at the time it
was constructed?

Hippolyte Blancard. Untitled (construction of the Eiffel

Tower). February 1889

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Hector Guimard produced 141 Mtro Gates for
the city of Paris to make riding the subway
appealing to Parisians.
What do you notice about the
gates design?

How do you think Guimard

was able to make so many
gates?

How was this design modern?

Hector Guimard. Entrance Gate to Paris Subway

(Mtropolitain) Station, Paris, France. c. 1900

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What can you notice about the few
remaining Guimard Mtro gates?

Port Dauphine and Abesses Gates Guimard Gate now in Montreal

in Paris

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Eugne Atget documented Paris for nearly 30
years, capturing the rich culture of the modern
city.
What is going on in this
photograph?

How do you think this picture

captures the concept of a
modern city?

Do you think Atget meant for it to

be a work of art? Why or why
not?

Eugne Atget. Chemiserie,

Boulevard de Strasbourg. c.1900

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Modern Landscapes

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

How do artists convey a sense of place, atmosphere, or

environment in a landscape painting?

How do artists use new painting techniques to express

mood and interior feelings in their landscapes?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Take a close look at Port-en-Bessin,
Entrance to the Harbor, by Seurat.
What is going on in the
foreground, the middle ground
and the background?

What is the mood of this place?

Georges-Pierre Seurat. Port-en-Bessin, Entrance

to the Harbor. 1888

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Now, take a close look at The Starry
Night, by van Gogh.
How is it similar to Port-en-
Bessin? How is it different? What
details do you notice?

Why might this be considered a

Symbolist work of art?

Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. June 1889

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Lets compare Seurat and van Gogh

Georges-Pierre Seurat. Port-en-Bessin, Entrance Vincent van Gogh. The Starry Night. June 1889
to the Harbor. 1888

How are these paintings similar?

How are they different?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Now, take a close look at Melankoli III
(Melancholy III), by Munch.
What is happening with the figure
in this landscape? What mood is
being conveyed?

Would the mood be the same

without the figure? Why or why
not?

Edvard Munch. Melankoli III (Melancholy III). 1896

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

Now that you have generated descriptive words for

each image, use them to have a conversation with a
partner:

How did these modern painters convey a sense of

mood or interior, psychological space in their
landscapes?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Portraits

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

Why do artists make portraits?

How do artists convey the personality and spirit of a

person in a portrait?

What constitutes a modern portrait?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Lets study Interior, Mother and Sister
of the Artist by Vuillard.
What is going on in this portrait?

Who or what is the focal point in

this picture?

What is the feeling or mood?

What do you think makes this a

modernportrait?

douard Vuillard. Interior, Mother and Sister of the

Artist. 1893

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 douard Vuillard. Interior, Mother and Sister of the Artist. 1893

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Lets take a close look at Portrait of
Joseph Roulin by van Gogh.

What details do you notice in this

portrait?

What details do you notice in the

background?

Why might this be considered a

symbolist portrait?

Vincent van Gogh. Portrait of Joseph

Roulin. 1889

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 Vincent van Gogh. Portrait of Joseph Roulin. 1889

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

How do artists convey the personality and spirit of a

person in a portrait?

Are portraits still important today? Why or why not?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Popular Culture

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Questions

How did modern artists employ both artistic talents and

inventive techniques (printing) to advance popular
culture?

How do artists influence popular culture and vice

versa?

MoMA What is Modern Art?

Lets study Divan Japonais by Toulouse-
Lautrec
What is going on in this image?

What kinds of lines and shapes do you

notice?

Who or what is the focal point in this

image?

What do you think this poster was used

for?

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Divan

Japonais (Japanese Settee). 1893

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 Compare other posters from the time period.
Do you see a style emerging?

Jules Chret. Folies-Bergre, La Georges De Feure. Comedie Parisienne,

Loe Fuller. 1893 La Loe Fuller Dans Sa Cration Nouvelle,
Salom. 1900

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 Compare and contrast Toulouse-Lautrecs
poster with Toy Story 3.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Disney Pixars Toy Story 3 Poster.

Confetti. 1894 2010

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 What is the link between celebrity and advertising?
What is the link between art and advertising?

Jules Cheret. Folies-Bergre, La Loe Got Milk? print advertisement

Fuller. 1893

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Questions

Can you see how modern artists influenced a century of

advertising?

Do you think the artists were aware of how avant-

garde they were at the time?

MoMA What is Modern Art?