A brief overview of art styles from the 1900 through to the 1970’s

MODERN ART

IMPRESSIONISM •Impressionism began in 1874 in France.•It took it’s name from Claude Monet’s “Impression at Sunrise” (1872).•It was a reaction to the precision of images created by the newly invented camera (1853).• Therefore, the artists were concerned with capturing the effects of light as it changed through the course of the day.•They began painting outdoors – called plen-air, and depicted the weather and atmospheric changes.•Also due to economic changes caused by the industrial revolution, they were concerned with depicting everyday life.

•Modern art really begins after this as the Post-Impressionist artists moved even further away from naturalistic representation.

Claude Monet “Impression at Sunrise” (1872)

Post Impressionism This period covers the 20 years

which followed the last Impressionist exhibition in 1886.

It is from the 3 dominant figures of this era that the mainstreams of twentieth century art can be traced.

1. Paul Cezanne – evolved a new style of compositional unity through colour, tone and strong geometric volume. This led to CUBISM.

2. Paul Gauguin – impressed by Japanese prints to develop a style that favoured strong use of colour, shape and line. This led to FAUVISM

3. Vincent van Gogh – painted his emotional response to images of man and nature in broad sweeping brushstrokes with a brush loaded with paint. This led to EXPRESSIONISM.

4. Other Post Impressionist painters were Georges Seurat and Paul Signac (POINTILLISM), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Rousseau and Pierre Bonnard.

Gauguin- Tahitian Women (189?

Cezanne – Mont Sainte Victoire(1886 – 8)

Van Gogh- Starry Night (

CUBISM A radical movement that first

introduced abstract art forms. It began in 1907, with Picasso’s

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, where we can see the gradual transformation to abstraction, from left to right.

Picasso was influenced by primitive art, especially African masks.

The Cubists reorganised the geometrical elements of their subjects without regard for their normal relationships. This early phase was called analytical cubism.

A later phase incorporated collaged elements like newspaper print, wallpaper, bus tickets etc into the artworks. This was called synthetic cubism.

Other Cubist artists were Georges Braque, Juan Gris, Ferdinand Leger.

Pablo Picasso – Les Demoiselles d’Avingnon.

Braque Leger.

FAUVISM Began in 1905 with an exhibition

of works by a group of artists the critics labelled Les Fauves – “the wild beasts”.

Colour no longer described the subject, but was placed on the canvas for it’s pictorial value alone.

Line and pattern were also important.

The main proponent of Fauvism, was Henri Matisse, who carried it’s focus on colour and shape through to his own personal style until he died at age 90.

The other Fauvists, Derain, Dufy and Vlaminck also went on to develop their own styles or join the Expressionists.

Fauvism lasted only 3 years as a movement.

Henri Matisse – The Red Room

Derain -

Dufy

EXPRESSIONISM

Expressionism had it’s beginnings in 2 German movements – die Brucke and die Blaue Reiter – in pre- World War 1 (1905 -1914).

It is characterised by a highly emotive use of colour and brushstrokes and a distortion of from.

Die Brucke (meaning “the Bridge”) began in Dresden around 1905, by Ludwig Kirchner, Emile Nolde, Karl Schmidtt-Rottluff and others. These artists often did woodcuts which influenced their painting style – distorted forms.

Die Blaue Reiter (meaning “the Blue Rider”), was more concerned with the emotional effects of colour and often depicted animals, especially Franz Marc. Others in this group were Auguste Macke, Gabrielle Munter and Wassily Kandinsky.

Marc

Edvard Munch.

Nolde.

FUTURISM Was also happening in pre-

World War 1 ITALY. Founded by E.T Marinetti (a

poet) in 1908, it denounced the past and celebrated speed and the machine age.

Therefore images are fragmented, repeated and dislocated.

Main artists were Giacomo Balla and Umberto Boccioni. Balla Boccioni

The School of Paris•Is the name given to all those artists who gathered in Paris from all over Europe in the lead up to World War 2.

• They have a unique style which either doesn’t fit into other movements or transcends them.

•Such artists as Georges Rouault , Amedeo Modigliani, Marc Chagall.

Chagall Rouault

DADA (or Anti – Art) The DADA movement began in 1916

-17 in Europe and America (New York).

The artists were all expressing their horror at the destruction of WW1. – it condemned the social, political and economic structures by attacking the prevailing culture. They questioned the traditional methods and processes of making art

The main proponent was Marcel Duchamp. He had had great success with “Nude descending a Staircase” (1912) – a combination of Cubism and Futurism.

He later went on to create the ready – made,eg, Fountain(1917)

Other Dadaists were Hannah Hoch, and Max Ernst.

DADA was eventually swallowed up by Surrealism.

Nude Descending a Staircase.

Fountain

Max Ernst.

SURREALISM Surrealism (1924-44) began as a literary movement in Paris.

Means ‘beyond or above realism”

It absorbed many of the ideas of Dada – rejecting rational thought and order. Therefore concerned with the projection of subconscious thought and dreams.

The artists often used automatic drawing or techniques that incorporated chance and accidental effects.

The main artists were Salvador Dali and Joan Miro(Spain), Rene Magritte (France), Georgio de Chirico (Italy) Paul Klee (Switzerland) Max Ernst and Hannah Hoch (Germany).

World War 2 effectively ended Surrealism in Europe as many of the artists took refuge in America.

De Chirico

Magritte

Dali

ABSTRACT ART

Since the first decade of the 20th century, art that is non - representational has been painted and sculpted.

Kandinsky painted the first non-figurative paintings around 1911.

Abstract art is concerned purely with colour, texture, tone, line, shape, mass, and space and the disposition of these elements in the artwork.

It contributed to a number of art movements eg: in Russia it was called Costructivism, and in Holland, De Stijl.

Naum Gabo (Russia)

Piet Mondrian (Netherlands) Wassily Kandinsky

(Russia)

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM A style of painting generally

associated with a group of American artists working in New York in the late 1950’s.

Influenced by the flat space of the Cubists, the expressionism of van Gogh and Kandinsky, the colour of Matisse and the automatism of the Surrealists.

The Abstract Expressionists were innovative on 2 accounts: 1- the size of their canvases and 2- new methods of paint application.

There were two broad trends – Colour Field painting and Action painting.

Kline

De Kooning

Rothko

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISMJACKSON POLLOCK – ACTION PAINTING Blue Poles (1952) 212.9cm by

488.95 cm A rich surface built up of many layers

of drips, splashes, strokes and slashes of paint – creates a strong rhythmic pattern.

Pollock liked to imagine himself in his paintings as he created them.

Despite painting this way, he was always in control of the flow of paint - “there are no accidents…no beginning and no end”

POP ART Pop Art emerged in England around

the mid-1950’s, and soon after in America and continued through the 60’s.

The Pop artists shared an interest in popular culture – borrowed images from everyday life including mass media, advertising, pulp fiction, comic books, and even supermarkets.

Pop artists worked in highly individual styles eg: silk-screen printing, assemblage, soft sculpture.

Main artists were Richard Hamilton (England) Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenberg, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns (America)

Lichtenstein

Warhol

Oldenberg

Rauschenberg

OP ART Short for Optical art is a style of non-

representational painting in which precise arrangements of colour, line or shapeare used to create the illusion of movement, light or space.

It had it’s beginnings in the abstractions of Mondrian and De Stijl.

Very popular in the mid-60’s. Main proponents were Victor Vasarely

(Hungary), Bridget Riley (England) and Joseph Albers (German-American).

Bridget Riley

Joseph Albers.

EARTH ART

These are site-specific art works made in the environment, using the materials or forms of the environment. it sometimes involves major alterations to the environment using teams of specialist workers and equipment.

Examples are Robert Smithson, Jean-Claude and Christo.

PERFORMANCE ART

Robert Smithson.

Artists who make Performance art use their bodies to make art.

Their work of art is usually performed in front of an audience and can incorporate a wide variety of actions.

Some artists use a wide variety of props and can take hours or even days to complete a performance.

eg. Gilbert and George.

NEW REALISM Also known as

SUPERREALISM or HYPERREALISM or

PHOTOREALISM. It emerged in the United

States in late 60’s and became internationally popular in the 70’s.

The artists depicted their subjects with lifelike realism and meticulous attention to detail.

Some base their work on photographs and deliberately reproduce the qualities of photography eg. Chuck Close

Others work directly from life. eg. Duane Hanson’s fibreglass piece “Shopper”

Duane Hanson

Chuck Close