Art 102 Fall 2013

Cubism, Surrealism Lecture

Cubism

• Cubism is not an expressive movement. It is more about the architecture of objects, how that architecture can be de- and reconstructed.

• It is not abstract—there is always an object in the artwork, even if it is hard to see

• Uses form instead of color to explore the external character of objects

• Begins in 1907 in Paris• Created by painters Picasso and Braque

Braque Maisons a L'Estaque 1907

Painting exhibited in 1907Salon d’Automne.

Matisse says it looks like it is made up of “little cubes”

Braque removes it from the exhibition

Paris Montmartre 1925

Picasso Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1907

Picasso Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1907

Very important painting in the development of Cubism:

Fragmentation of the figureUse of multiple perspectives simultaneously

Takes up tradition of composition of female nudesand makes it shocking

Masklike heads are evidence of Picasso’s interestin African art

Matisse Bonheur de Vivre 1906

Matisse Luxe Calme et Volupte 1904

Ingres Turkish Bath 1862

Braque Maisons a L'Estaque 1907

Fundamental discovery of Cubsim:The facet

The facet is equivalent to the ideaOf the “cube”—is a small area bordered by lines

3 principles of the facet:1. Painted at slight angle to surfaceof picture plane.2. Overlapping and shading of facetsmeans figure could not be sculpted3. Edges dissolve, so contents of facets blend into one another

Braque Le Portugais 1912

Cubists want to be able to show back and frontand insides and outside of objects simultaneously.

Undoing conventions of Renaissance perspective.

These paintings are never abstract—always represent some real object (in this case aguitar player).

Stenciled letters and numbers show the 2-Dimensionality of the image, and show the struggle between form and picture plane

This is an example of “hermetic cubism”: aperiod in cubism when it becomes extremelydifficult to recognize the object

Raphael Annunciation 1503

Picasso Ma Jolie 1911

2 phases of Cubism:1. Analytic2. Synthetic

Analytic is earlier phase. Motifs portrayed from different perspectivessimultaneously. Fragmentation of whole into smaller parts.Tendency towards monochrome

Pablo Picasso Still Life with Chair Caning 1912

Pablo Picasso Still Life with Chair Caning 1912

Synthetic cubism involves the use of collage:Sticking objects onto surface of canvasInstead of painting them

Synthetic cubism happens after hermetic cubism—Picasso and Braquewant to reintroduce objects from realworld into painting

Robert Delaunay Simultaneous Windows on the City 1912

This is an example of “OrphicCubism”

Orphic cubists wanted paintingTo be a sensation of pure colors

Becomes more abstract than Other phases of cubism

Surrealism

• Another movement that starts in France, though many artists are not French

• Led by Andre Breton, who wrote manifestos for the movement in the 1920’s

• Surrealism uses disorientation and the unconscious as a way to liberate the imagination and get away from conventional approaches to representation

• Deploys automatism, or the relinquishment of conscious control by the artist of his own production

• Breton wants to resolve two states of dream and reality into a new state of surreality. Surreality comes from hypnotic or trance states.

Max Ernst La Cle des Chants 1933

Breton sees in Ernst’s art a “spark” thatbrings together distant realities.

The surrealist image brings objects andphenomena into contact that would normally seem unrelated.

Pleasure of surrealism is described in terms of artworks “as beautiful as thechance encounter on a dissecting tableof a sewing machine and an umbrella”

Max Ernst Une Semaine de Bonte 1933

Andre Masson Automatic Drawing 1924

This is an example of an automatic drawing, where the artist would simply allow his pen to move over the paper without conscious control.

This is an example of automatism.

Miro Bouquet of Flowers Smile of My Blond 1924

Miro Bouquet of Flowers Smile of My Blond 1924

Miro is one of the first painters associated with the Surrealist movement

We see a loosening of line and color relative to Cubism

This is an representation of Miro’s beloved.

Surrealist paintings are not abstract—they represent objects, but the objectsare meant to transmit the internal ratherthan the external world.

de Chirico Conquest of the Philosopher 1912

DeChirico is working prior to the Surrealist movement, and never alignshimself with them, but his imagerystrongly influences them.

Hallucinatory, dreamlike imagery—objectsthat seem unrelated

High degree of psychological symbolism.Clock is about anguish of departure.Train may be memory of engineer father.

Paintings are devoid of human beings

de Chirico Song of Love 1914

May be about fall or end of classicalbeauty in Italy.

Generally, very enigmatic and strangeimagery.

Obscure meaning because paintingsare about private or unconscious associations of the painter

They are intentionally hermetic

Tanguy Infinite Divisibility 1942

Influenced by the dreamlike canvasesof DeChiricio.

This is not abstract—objects cast shadows and exist in some kind of realspace, but this is not an ordinary ofrecognizable space we would encounter in the real world.

Paintings intended to be disorienting

Magritte Personal Values 1952

Magritte Personal Values 1952

Magritte is a Belgian Surrealist, and keptHis distance from Breton.

Many of his paintings question the notionOf reality and representation.

His paintings are naturalistic but of subjectsThat could not exist in the natural world

He often plays with scale

Very cerebral painter, dealing not only With questions of visual representation but also with language.

Magritte Ceci n'est pas une Pipe 1928-9

Dali The Dismal Sport 1929

Dali joins the Surrealists in 1928

Paintings all about the nature of reality,The unconsious, dreams, and symbolism

Uses idea that hidden meanings are embeddedIn the surface content of images

Tries to represent the workings of the Unconscious, to make the unconscious conscious

Dreaming is seen as the path to liberty

Dali Giraffe in Flames 1935

This painting is about an oedipal castration fantasy, including phallic imagery

Dali says he finds significance in irrationality,brings delirium into reality

Surrealist objects are found objects that aretransformed into something else

They are, according to Breton, supposed to exhibit a “convulsive” beauty.

Dali The Persistence of Memory 1931