Quick Review & Looking Forward

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Question: 1. Who was one of the most original American artists of the time?2. What did Harlem Renaissance artists do?

Photography & ArchitecturePhotographyAfter World War I, significant aesthetic changes occurred in photography

Photography was still fairly newThe first camera was invented in 1820Several days of exposure was required (8 hours at minimum in direct sunlight) at first. By 1900 its down to minutes

View from the Window at Le Gras - Niepce

PhotographyAll photography was originally monochrome (or black and white)

Color film comes in the early 20th century, but a lot of photographers stuck with black and white due to its much lower costCameras19th Century Studio Camera(portraits)

CamerasBox Camera first mass-produced pocket camera using film.

1900

CamerasCompact Kodak folding camera

1922

CamerasLeica-II

1932

PhotographyEarly explorations of photography as an art form tended to employ darkroom techniques, tricks, and manipulation that created works appearing staged and imitative of paintingsPhotographs were not getting created from a compositional standpoint, but from an effect viewpoint

People believed that photography must look like art (painting) to be art.Youd see blurred images, extreme contrast, etc.This movement was NOT popular and did NOT stand the test of timePhotographyDuring the early years of the 20th century, however, a new generation of photographers arose who determined to take photography towards a more direct and sharply focused approach

Called straight photographyIt expressed what was photographys unique vision recording a moment in time precisely, no tricks!PhotographyThe principal American force behind the recognition of photography as a fine art was Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946)

His own work gained recognition for his clarity of image and reality shotsEspecially of clouds and New York City architecture

Alfred Stieglitz

Old & New New York, 1910Dirigible, 1910PhotographyIn 1902, Stieglitz formed the Photo-Secessionist group and opened a gallery referred to as 291It was at 291 Fifth Avenue in New York City

In addition to showcasing photography, Stieglitzs efforts promoted many visual artists, including Georgia OKeefe (who he would eventually marry)Alfred StieglitzPortrait of Georgia OKeefe

PhotographyStieglitz also promoted photography as a fine art in the pages of his illustrated quarterly magazine, Camera Work

Camera Work

No. 1No. 2Camera WorkNo. 9No. 49

Ansel AdamsOne of the most famous straight photographers was Ansel Adams (1902-1984)

He was a leader of modern photography through his sharp, poetic landscape photographs of the American WestAdams Evening, McDonald Lake, Glacier National Park

Adams The Tetons and the Snake River

Adams Mount Williamson in the Sierra Nevada

Ansel AdamHis work did much to elevate photography to the level of art

It emphasized sharp focus and subtle variety in light and texture, with rich detail and brilliant tonal differences

In 1941, he began making photomurals for the United States Department of the InteriorForced him to master the techniques for photographing the light and space of immense landscapesPhoto Murals for the Governmenthttp://www.doi.gov/news/photos/Ansel-Adams-Mural-Project-Opens-at-Interior-Department.cfm

Dorothea LangeThere were photographers who choose to document social problems

During the Great Depression, a large-scale program in documentary photography began in the US

Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) was in the programDorothea LangeHer photographs graphically detailed the erosion of the land and the people of rural America during the Great Depression

Her Migrant Mother (possibly the most famous photograph of all time!)

Dorothea LangeFlorence Thompson, a 32 year-old widow with 10 children, looks past the viewer with a preoccupied, worried expression

With her furrowed brow and prematurely aged face, she captures the fears of an entire population of people

Dorothea LangeTwo of her children lean on her for support, their faces buried in their mothers shoulders

Lange consciously avoided including all of the children she didnt want to contribute to the widespread resentment of wealthier people in America about overpopulation

Dorothea LangeShe was distressed by the Depression and began photographing the poor and unemployed, bringing their plight to national attention

She took pictures of Californias migrant workers, captioned with their own wordsThey were so effective that the state established migrant worker camps to alleviate the sufferingDorothea LangeEighteen-year-old mother from Oklahoma, now a California migrant.Migratory workers from Oklahoma washing in a hot spring in the desert.

ArchitectureArchitectureFrank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) was one of the most influential and innovative architects of the 20th century

He wished to initiate new traditions

Frank Lloyd WrightPrairie style was developed around 1900

Wright drew on the flat landscape of the Midwest as well as the simple horizontal and vertical accents of the Japanese style

Wright followed Louis Sullivan in his pursuit of form that expressed function

He took painstaking care to devise practical arrangements for his interiors and to make the exteriors of his building reflect the interiorFrank Lloyd WrightThe Dana-Thomas House Prairie Style

Frank Lloyd WrightWright also designed some of the furniture for his houses

In doing so, comfort, function, and integration with the total design were his chief criteria

Textures and colors in the environment were duplicated in the materials, including large expanses of wood, both in the house and for its furniture Frank Lloyd WrightHe made a point of giving furniture several functions

Tables, for example, might also serve as cabinets

All spaces and objects were precisely designed to present a complete environmentFurniture

Frank Lloyd WrightWright was convinced that houses profoundly influence the people who live in them, and saw the architect as a molder of humanity

Wrights works range from the simple to the complex and from the serene to the dramatic

He was always experimentalWrights Robie HouseThe Serene side of Frank Lloyd Wright

Wrights Kaufman HouseThe dramatic side of Frank Lloyd Wright

Wrights Kaufman HouseAlso known as falling water

Wrights buildings seem to grow out of, and never violate, their environment

This is one of his most inventive designs

Wrights Kaufman HouseIn Bear Run, Pennsylvania

It seems to erupt out of its natural rock site

Its beige concrete terraces blend harmoniously with the colors of the surrounding stone

Wrights Kaufman Househttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVKU3ErrGM

Le Corbusier (1887-1965)He was concerned with integrating structure and function and was especially interested in poured concrete

He demonstrated his belief that a house was a machine to be lived in in several residences of that period

By machine he meant that a house should be efficiently constructed from standard, mass produced parts, and logically designed for use

Le Corbusier (1887-1965)He used a series of slabs supported on slender columns

The resulting building was boxlike, with a flat roof, which could be used as a terrace

Le Corbusiers The Villa Savoye

Le Corbusiers The Villa SavoyeThe supporting structures freed the interior from the necessity of weight-supporting walls

The design is crisp and functioning

Le Corbusiers The Villa SavoyeA Tour