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Page 1: Expressionism through Cubism

God is dead!-Friedrich Nietzsche, 1882

German Expressionism through Cubism

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• La belle époque gives rise to society of great experimentation as seen in many fin de siècle artists

• Nihilism characterizes mal de siècle (existence is senseless)

• Industrialization of 19th century becomes international capitalism

• National pride reaches new levels

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• Art becomes a tool to define personal and national identity, personal becomes extension of the national

• “Purity” becomes a primary concern• German Expressionism will be visual

transformation of Nietzsche’s pronouncement

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Schools of Modern Art

Post-Impressionism• The reaction to Impressionism and

the influence of Post-Impressionism were not limited to painting.

• Modern sculptors, led by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), waged a campaign against the idealism of the French Academic style.

• Rodin’s sculpture, The Age of Bronze, demonstrates a clear observation from nature infused of expressionism. Auguste Rodin, The Age of Bronze,

1876. Bronze, 71” x 28”. The Minneapolis Museum of Art.

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• Stylistically, Rodin looked to sculpture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance masters of Donatello and Michelangelo. Michelangelo Buonarroti, David,

1501–1504. Marble, approx. 14’. Accademia di Belle Arti,

Florence.

Donatello, David, 1440. Bronze, 62.2”.

Borgello Museum, Florence.

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Schools of Modern Art

Post-Impressionism• Rodin’s sculpture, The

Age of Bronze, demonstrates clear observation from nature and the raw emotions of expressionism.

• Rodin directly quotes the Renaissance master’s Dying Slave.

Auguste Rodin, The Age of Bronze, 1876. Bronze, 71” x

28”. The Minneapolis Museum of Art.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Dying Slave, 1513-

1516. Marble, 7’6”. Louvre, Paris.

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Schools of Modern Art

Post-Impressionism• Rodin is best known

for his ability to model the human form with realism.

• His Burghers of Calais demonstrates his ability to fuse expressionist emotion within three-dimensional media.

Auguste Rodin, The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884–95; this bronze cast 1985. Bronze 82 1/2”. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, NYC.

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Schools of Modern ArtPost-Impressionism• Burghers has a psychological

content that is raw and unprecedented.

• The artist’s ability to translate the terror and emotions felt by the six figures makes it an example of expressionist sculpture and contributes to its success.– Notice the elongated limbs,

tattered clothing, disheveled condition of the bodies with sunken cheeks and uncoiffed hair, coupled with the animation of the figures.

– This is how Rodin expresses the emotion of the piece and communicates that emotion to the viewer.

Auguste Rodin, The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884–95; this bronze cast 1985. Bronze 82 1/2”. Metropolitan

Museum of Art, NYC.

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The Modern Condition• La belle époque (1890-1914), which gave rise to a society of great

experimentation (as seen in many of the fin de siècle artists), fades. Its vibrant spirit is replaced by the mal de siècle (existence is senseless), a nihilism with reverberating effects.

• God is dead! – In 1882, German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, declares God

dead. – Although he is not very well known at the time, his

pronouncement would characterize the coming mood of the 20th century.

• Industrialization of 19th century fuels international capitalism.• National pride reaches new levels leading to world war.• Artists reject the representational convention and pictorial

illusionism of artistic tradition in favor of abstraction and spatial distortion.

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Schools of Modern Art

“Donatello au milieu des fauves!”

-Louis Vauxcelles, 1905

– Exhibited at the 1905 Salon d'Automne, also known as the “Fauve Salon.”

– It is here, with this work, that the movement gets its name and Matisse is recognized as the leader of the Fauves. Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat,

1905. Oil on canvas, 31 ¼” x 23 ½”. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

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William Bouguereau, Nymphs and Satyr, 1873. Oil on canvas, 100” x 71.” The

Clark Art Institute.

Gustave Moreau, The Apparition, c. 1876. Oil on canvas; 21 ¼” x 171/2”. Louvre,

Paris. Fig. 25.6

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Schools of Modern ArtFauvism (1900-1910)• Fauvism is born out of the spirit of

experimentation within la belle époque.• Movement gets name from quote (insult

really).• Artists include: Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

considered to be the leader of the Fauves, André Derain (1880-1954), Maurice de Vlaminck (1876-1958), Georges Rouault (1871-1958), and Raol Dufy (1877-1953).

• As a style of painting, Fauvism begins roughly around 1900 and continued after 1910.

• As a movement, however, Fauvism experienced its highpoint from 1904-1908.

• Expressed in two and three dimensional media.

Henri Matisse, Reclining Nude I, 1906-1907. Bronze, 13 ½” x 19 ¾”

x 11 ¼”. ( In background, Blue Nude, 1907. Oil on canvas, 36 ½”

x 56 1/8”.) Museum of Art Modern Art.

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Schools of Modern ArtFauvism (1900-1910)• Heavily influenced by Gauguin,

the Symbolists, and Nabis group.

• Fuave’s reclaim Impressionist joyous embrace of nature and combine it with the Post-Impressionist investment in color contrasts and emotionality.

• Fauves emancipate color from role in describing reality.

Henri Matisse, Luxe, Calme, et Volupté, (Luxury, Calm, and

Delight),1904-05. Oil on canvas, 37x46”. Musée National d'Art

Moderne.

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Schools of Modern Art

• Inspired by Baudelaire’s Invitation to Voyage, 1857.

• Combines abstraction of Signac with the figural organization of Cezanne.

• Presents modern, radical re-interpretation of bathers/landscape nude tradition.

• Scenes are from the imagination. Henri Matisse, Luxe, Calme,

et Volupté, (Luxury, Calm, and Delight),1904-05. Oil on canvas, 37x46”. Musée National d'Art Moderne.

Paul Cézanne, Battle of Love, 1880. Oil on canvas 14 7/8” x 18 ¼”. National Gallery of Art,

Washington, DC.

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Henri Matisse, Le Bonheur de vivre (The Joy of Life), 1905-1906. Oil on canvas, 5’8 ½” x 7’ 9 ¾”

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Schools of Modern Art

Fauvism (1900-1910)• In 1908, Matisse writes

“Notes of a Painter”– Like Whistler before him,

Matisse declares painting to be autonomous creation, free of serving any moral or symbolic ends.

– Argues color is arbitrary. Henri Matisse, Portrait of Madame Matisse/The Green Line (or Stripe),

1905. Oil and tempera on canvas, 15 7/8” x 12 7/8”. Statens Museum for

Kunst, Copenhagen.

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Schools of Modern Art

Fauvism (1900-1910)• Search for immediacy and clarity.• Desire for personal authenticity keeps

cohesive movement from forming.• Extend boundaries of representation.• Influenced by non-Western cultures, esp.

African.

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Schools of Modern Art

Fauvism (1900-1910)• African interest and influence

on Matisse.• Demonstrates Matisse’s

fluidity of line, arbitrary use of color, and experimentation with traditional subject matter.

• Causes sensation at 1913 Armory Show.

• Copies burned in effigy at the Armory Show in Chicago in 1913. Henri Matisse, Blue Nude. (Souvenir de Biskra),

1907. oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 56 1/8”. Baltimore Museum of Art.

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Schools of Modern ArtGerman Expressionism (Early 20th century)• German Expressionism should be thought of as the

visual transformation of Nietzsche’s statement, “God is dead!”

• It is an explicit movement centered in Northern Europe prevalent in the early decades of 20th century.

• The roots of German Expressionism lie in French and German Romanticism (in the work of artists Delacroix and Friedrich) which placed an emphasis on the exploration of an extremely personal aesthetic.

• German Expressionism has a strong relationship to Fauvism in its eccentric use of color and van Gogh for its emotionally charged employment of color.

• German Expressionism produces two schools of art:– Die Brücke “The Bridge”– Der Blaue Reiter “The Blue Rider”

• Both schools view modernity-industrialized society with skepticism, this is often subject of their work.

Eugène Delacroix, The Lion Hunt, 1861. Oil on canvas, 30 1/8” x 38 ¾”.

Art Institute of Chicago.

Casper David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea,, 1808. Oil on canvas 43.31" x

67.52". Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

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Schools of Modern ArtGerman Expressionism (Early 20th century)• Die Brücke “The Bridge”

• Formed in Dresden in 1905, disbands in 1913.• First manifestation of Expressionism in German art.• Founding members include Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-

1938), Erich Heckel (1883-1970), and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (1884-1976), and Fritz Bleyl (1880-1966).

• Major contribution to modern art was its revival of printmaking.

• Often compared to Fauvism for its use of color, shared interest in primitivist art, crude drawing technique, and opposition to total abstraction.

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Schools of Modern ArtGerman Expressionism (Early 20th century)• Artist , Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-

1938) was one of the founding members of Die Brücke .

• Kirchner worked in many media including paint, print, and sculpture.

• Kirchner frequently reworked his canvases.

• He drew inspiration from Oceanic and African art as well as early Renaissance masters, most especially the prints of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528).– German Expressionist artists sought

to continue their heritage and thus looked for inspiration in the German Gothic and Renaissance roots.

Albrecht Dürer, The Four

Horseman of the Apocalypse,

1498. Woodcut; 15 3/8 x 11

11/16”. Harvard University Art

Museum.

Portrait of Henry van de Velde, Ernst

Ludwig Kirchner, 1917; woodcut, 19 ½” x 15 ¾”. Private

Collection.

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Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Street, Berlin, 1913. Oil on canvas, 47 1/2 x 35 7/8”. Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

• Kirchner approached similar subject matter in a different way.

• He did not celebrate modernity and industrialization blindly as the Impressionists once did. He was skeptical.– He communicates that skepticism in color choice

and angularity of composition.• Angularity produces tension in the work and the viewer.• Angularity inherited from Gothic roots.

Claude Monet, Boulevard des Capucines, 1873. Oil on canvas, 31 ¼” x 23 ¼”. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.

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Schools of Modern ArtDie Brücke (1905-1913)• Inspired by contemporary urban life.• Sketched from life and reworked in

numerous drawings in studio.• Paints the city dwellers of Dresden and

Berlin.• Uses acidic color in arbitrary fashion.• Each figure is individual, floats through

the picture plane.• Figures move toward and away from

the viewer, figures are anonymous, alienated.

• Work is a condemnation of modern culture and an expression of the artist’s psychological condition.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Street, Dresden, 1907/08. Reworked 1919. Oil on canvas, 4’11 ¼” x 6’6 7/8”. Museum of Modern

Art, NYC.

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Schools of Modern Art

• Kirchner often found inspiration in the work of his fellow artists.• Here he looks to the work of Norwegian Expressionist, Edvard Munch and his

Evening on Karl Johan Street, 1889.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Street, Dresden, 1907/08. Reworked 1919. Oil on canvas, 4’11 ¼” x 6’6

7/8”. Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

Edvard Munch, Evening on Karl Johan Street, 1889. Oil on canvas, 35 3/8" x 55”. Rasmus

Meyer Collection, Bergen, Norway.

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Schools of Modern ArtVasily Kandinsky (1866-1944)• Born Moscow, studies law

and economics• Age 30 devotes time to art• 1901 opens own art

school • 1909 leading figure of

revolt against conventional art (New Artists’ Association)

• Driven by question of reality and the world of tangible objects Vasily Kandinsky, Sketch I for Composition VII, 1913.

Oil on canvas, 30 3/4” x 39 3/8.” Private Collection. Fig. 26.8.

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Schools of Modern Art• 1910 begins

experimenting with idea of making abstract art-art without literal subject

• Forms “The Blue Rider” group

• 1911 writes, Concerning the Spiritual in Art

• Art influenced by folk culture, Monet, Neo-Impressionists, Symbolists, Fauves, and Cubists

Vasily Kandinsky, Sketch I for Composition VII, 1913. Oil on canvas, 30 3/4” x 39 3/8.” Private Collection.

Fig. 26.8.

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Schools of Modern ArtGerman Expressionism (Early 20th century)Der Blaue Reiter “The Blue Rider”• Operated 1911-1914.• Characterized by free use of color, form, and space;

there is no one single style associated with The Blue Rider Group.

• Retreat from city life and focus on folk culture, idealized representation of nature, and romanticized views of the past.

• German Expressionist movement founded by Russian emigrants Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Alexej von Jawlensky (1864-1941), Marianne von Werefkin (1860-1938), and German artists Franz Marc (1880-1916), August Macke 91887-1914), and Gabriele Münter (1877-1962).

• The group was founded in response to the rejection of Kandinsky's painting Last Judgement (c.1911) from an exhibition.

Wassily Kandinsky, Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), 1903.

Oil on cardboard, 21.7” x 25.6”.The Private Collection,

Zurich.

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Expressionism vs. Fauvism

Similarities• Like Fauves, German Expressionists used vigorous

color palette.• Both share aesthetic characteristics:

– flattening of perspectival plane (taken from Cézanne)– energetic handling of paint and interest in historical

tradition

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Expressionism vs. Fauvism

Differences• German Expressionists are not academically trained

so…there is no lingering influence of the academy. • Both respond to contemporary situation, but very

differently:– Fauves did not engage in the social issues, Expressionists

do!• Expressionists are responding to thinkers like

Nietzsche, Fauves (especially Matisse) paint from the imagination.

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Schools of Modern ArtConstructs of Cubism• 20th century is plagued by quest for

meaning, truth, and reality; human race experiencing a type of identity crisis.

• Developed jointly by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963.

• Picasso and Braque are questioning the means by which reality is understood or represented.

• Influenced by Fauves and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (1905).

• Cubism challenges that neither space nor time are fixed.

Fathers of Cubism, artists Georges Braque and Pablo

Picasso.

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Schools of Modern Art

• Cubism develops in two phases: Analytic Cubism (1909-1911)Synthetic Cubism (1912-1914)

Georges Braque, The Portuguese (The Emigrant), 1911. Oil on canvas,

46 1/8” x 32”. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Kunstmuseum,

Basel.

Pablo Picasso, Still Life With Chair Caning, 1912. Oil on oilcloth on canvas framed by rope, 10

5.8” x 14 5/8”. Musée Picasso

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Schools of Modern Art

Analytic Cubism (1909-1911)• Attempts to reveal objects to the

viewer through the mind and not the eye.– Challenges traditional painting’s

privilege of vision.• Explores the world through

consciousness and questions reality.• Gives equal importance to the

figure (forefront) and ground (background) of the painting. Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Daniel-

Henry Kahnweiler, Paris, Autumn 1910. Oil on canvas, 39 ½ ” x 28 5/8”.

Art Institute Chicago.

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• Old masters are also visited and translated into Cubism.

Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas, (The Maids of Honor) 1656. Oil on canvas, 10'5" x 9'1”. Museo del Prado in Madrid

Pablo Picasso, Las Meninas (after Velázquez), 1957. Oil on canvas; 76”x

80. Musée Picasso

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• Prior to Cubism, Picasso experiments in the various styles of modern art.– He visits the same subjects

as Impressionists

Pablo Picasso, Le Moulin De La Galette, 1900. Oil on canvas, 35 ½” x 46”. Guggenheim Museum, NYC.

Auguste Renoir, Moulin de la Galette, 1876. Oil on canvas, 51 ½” x 69”.

Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

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• And the Post-Impressionists, even taking the Fauvist use of color.

Pablo Picasso, Le Moulin De La Galette, 1900. Oil on canvas, 35 ½” x 46”. Guggenheim Museum, NYC.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, At the Moulin Rouge, 1892. Oil on canvas, 48.5” x 55.5”. The Art Institute of

Chicago.

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• Picasso produced many works during the various phases of his career.

• His Blue Phase was triggered by the death of a friend and his sister and lack of money to bury her properly .

Pablo Picasso, La Vie, 1903. Oil on canvas, 6’5 3/8” x 4’ 2 5/8”. Cleveland Museum of

Art.

Pablo Picasso, Woman with a Crow, 1904;. Charcoal, pastel, and watercolor. Toledo Museum of Art.

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• His Rose period is a precursor to the Cubism that would follow.

• During this phase he makes study of the outcasts of society, like the early modern masters before him.

Pablo Picasso, The Family of Saltimbanques, 1905. Oil on canvas, 6’11 ¾” 7’ 6 3/8“. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Honoré Daumier, Wandering Saltimbanques, c. 1847-50; Oil on wood, 12 7/8” x 9 ¾”. National Gallery of

Art, Washington D.C.

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Schools of Modern Art

• He makes study of the female form.

Pablo Picasso, Two Nudes, Paris, late 1906. Oil on canvas, 59 5/8 x 36 5/8”. Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

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• Considered by many scholars to be the defining painting of 20th century art, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was a compilation of his earlier studies of the female form.

• The work signals the beginning of Cubism even though it is considered by most scholars to be proto-Cubist in style because of expressionist tendencies. Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,

1907. Oil on canvas, 8' x 7' 8" . Museum of Modern Art.

Pablo Picasso, Two Nudes, Paris, late 1906. Oil on canvas, 59 5/8 x 36 5/8”. Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

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• He took inspiration of form from African, Oceanic, and Iberian art.– Picasso visited ethnographic museums during

the African-influenced phase of his career.– He had several Iberian masks in his studio

while working on Demoiselles. • He later returned them after finding out they

were stolen.

Detail of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and African mask used by Picasso

African Fang mask similar in style to those Picasso saw in Paris just prior to painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (southern edge Cameroon)

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• With this work, Picasso set out to “blow up” the art world.– He wanted to undo

what had become convention, to reinvent representation.

– Still, his subject matter is not new.

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907. Oil on canvas, 8' x 7' 8" . Museum of Modern Art.

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• Images of prostitutes, brothels, and the nude female form abound.

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907. Oil on canvas, 8' x 7' 8" . Museum of Modern Art.

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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Salon In The Rue Des Moulins, 1894. Oil on

canvas, 43.9”x52.2”. Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi

Édouard Manet,Olympia,1863-65. Oil on canvas, 4’3” x 6’2 ¾”. Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Edgar Degas, Cabaret, 1877. Pastel on monotype over paper, 9 ½” x 17 ½”. Corcoran Gallery of Art,

Washington

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Pablo Picasso, Studies for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, before 1907. Mixed media, various sizes . Museum of Modern Art.

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Pablo Picasso, Studies for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, before 1907. Mixed media, various sizes . Museum of Modern Art.

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Pablo Picasso, Studies for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, before 1907. Mixed media, various sizes . Museum of Modern Art.

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• In its earlier phase, Demoiselles included a sailor, medical student, and madam all visible in this preparatory sketch.

Study for Les Demoiselles d’Avignon which includes student and sailor, c. 1907

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Henri Matisse, Blue Nude. (Souvenir de Biskra), 1907. oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 56 1/8”. Baltimore Museum of Art.

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907. Oil on canvas, 8' x 7' 8" . Museum of Modern Art.

• Some believed it was a response to Matisse’s Blue Nude.– The two enjoyed a

friendly, yet aggressive rivalry.

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Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907. Oil on canvas, 8' x 7' 8" . Museum of

Modern Art.

• Still, Picasso’s attack on the history of art comes from within its very own vocabulary.– He takes as his subject

the female nude.– He includes a still life in

the work as well.

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Analytic Cubism (1909-1911)• In Analytical Cubism, the object is

splintered into visual fragments, rearranged, then reassembled so the viewer does not have to “walk through space” to see the object-all sides are seen simultaneously.

• The color palette is monochromatic golden browns.

• Typical subject matter:– Portraits (especially women and

musicians)– Still Lifes– Landscapes

Georges Braque, The Portuguese (The Emigrant), 1911. Oil on canvas, 46 1/8” x

32”. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung Kunstmuseum.

Schools of Modern Art

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Schools of Modern ArtSynthetic Cubism (1912-1914)• Still Life With Chair Caning represents

the transition from Analytic to Synthetic Cubism

• It is the first piece of Synthetic Cubist work produced.

• Synthetic Cubism embraces the collage technique.

• According to Picasso, art is “a lie that helps us understand the truth.”

• This work allows Picasso to challenge basic artistic convention-like materials and process, something future generations would take from his example.– He integrates unconventional

materials like rope and oilcloth challenging the confines of “fine art”.

Pablo Picasso, Still Life With Chair Caning, 1912. Oil on oilcloth on canvas framed by

rope, 10 5/8 x 14 5/8”. Musée Picasso

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Schools of Modern Art• Braque came to Cubism after seeing

Demoiselles in Picasso’s studio.• He said it was "Like swallowing kerosene

and spitting fire." • Braque immediately began working in the

style that would become Cubism.

• After seeing Picasso’s experimentation with collage Braque introduces papiers collés.– He waited for Picasso to leave for

Paris before committing to the technique.

– Once satisfied, he introduced it to Picasso who immediately began working in the same style.

Georges Braque, Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912. Charcoal and pasted paper on paper, 24 3/8” x 17 ½”.

Private Collection.

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Georges Braque, Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912. Charcoal and pasted paper on paper, 24 3/8” x

17 ½”. Private Collection.

Pablo Picasso, Guitar, Sheet Music, and Wine Glass, Fall 1912. pasted papers, gouache, and

charcoal on paper, 18 7/8” x 14 ¾”. McNay Art Museum, San Antonio.

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Pablo Picasso, Glass Bottle of Suze, 1912. Pasted papers, gouache, and charcoal on

paper, 25 ¾” x 19 ¾”. Mildren Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University, St.

Louis.

Pablo Picasso, Guitar, Sheet Music, and Wine Glass, Fall 1912; pasted papers, gouache, and

charcoal on paper, 18 7/8” x 14 ¾”. McNay Art Museum, San Antonio.

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Schools of Modern Art

Cubist Sculpture• Picasso made various early

attempts to translate Cubism into three dimensional media, but failed miserably because his work remained dependent upon conventional materials and process.

Pablo Picasso, Woman's Head 1909. Bronze; 16 x 10 ¼” x 10”.Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

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• Scholars believe photographs like this one testify to Braque having originated Cubist sculpture, not Picasso.

• Both artists visited each others studios regularly, so Picasso would have had knowledge of cardboard constructions like this one in Braque’s studio.

• All of Braque’s pieces like this however were destroyed (most likely while away at war).

Georges Braque, 1914. Photograph of the artist's Paris studio with

paper sculpture, now lost.

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Schools of Modern Art• Picasso does not

realize Cubism in three dimensional media until he visits Braque’s studio and sees his sculptures (all now lost) hanging in the corners of his room.

• It is believed Braque hung these cardboard-type constructions to work from while painting.

• Picasso translates these to a larger scale for public consumption

Pablo Picasso, Maquette for Guitar, October 1912. Constructed cardboard,

string, and wire, 25 ¾” x 13 x 7 ½”. Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

Pablo Picasso, Glass of Absinthe, Spring 1914. Painted bronze with

silver absinthe spoon, 8 ½” x 6 ½”x 3 3/8”. Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

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• After Picasso and Braque others would translate Cubism into three dimensional media.

Aleksandr Archipenko, Médrano II, 1913. Painted tin, wood, glass, and painted oilcloth,

497/8” x 20 ¼” x 20 ½”. Guggenheim, NYC.

Aleksandr Archipenko, Walking Woman, 1918-1919; bronze,

26 3/8” high. Collection Frances Archipenko Gray.

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Schools of Modern Art

• Some, like Raymond Duchamp-Villon (1876-1918), brother of Marcel Duchamp, would fuse Cubism with Futurist ideology.

Raymond Duchamp-Villon, The Horse (two views), 1914; bronze (cast in 1930-31), 40”x39 ½”x22

3/8”. Museum of Modern Art, NYC.

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• Even Marcel Duchamp would attempt, albeit in a sarcastic tone, to fuse Cubism and Futurism in his scandalous piece, Nude Descending a Staircase (1912).– Exhibited at the

Armory Show in NYC in 1913, Nude Descending became the success de scandale.

Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2, 1912. Oil on canvas, 58” x 35”. Philadelphia

Museum of Art.

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• Critical reaction to Marcel Duchamp's work included comments that it looked as if a shingles factory blew up and this cartoon published in The New York Evening Sun.

• Even Cubists rejected Duchamp’s piece.

J. F. Griswold: The Rude descending a staircase (Rush-Hour at the Subway). The New York

Evening Sun, 20th March 1913

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• The rejection was due in part to the fact that Duchamp drew inspiration from studies of motion that were for scientific and NOT aesthetic purpose.

Marcel Duchamp, Studies for Nude Descending a Staircase, No.2, 1912. Mixed media, various dimensions. Philadelphia

Museum of Art.

Edweard Muybridge, Study of Woman Descending a Staircase, 1887.

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Schools of Modern Art

• Sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, however, is viewed by many to have been most successful at translating Cubism into three dimensional form.

• He worked with traditional subject matter in a similar way to Picasso and Braque.Jacques Lipchitz, Man with a

Guitar, 1915. Limestone, 38 ¼” x 10 ½” x 7 ¾”. Museum of

Modern Art, NYC.

Jacques Lipchitz, The Bather, c.1923. Bronze, 78 1/8” x 31

1/8 x 27 ¾”. Olin Library Cornell University, NY.

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Developments in Modern Sculpture• Sculptor Constantin Brancusi

(1876-1957), continues Rodin’s tradition of sculpting human form.

• Style is difficult to categorize.• Exhibits non-Western influence

like contemporaries.Constantin Brancusi, Sleeping Muse, 1909-1910. Marble, 7” x 11 1/” x 8”.

Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Page 65: Expressionism through Cubism

Schools of Modern ArtDevelopments in Modern Sculpture• Brancusi is best known for pure

abstraction in sculpture.• His Bird in Space (one of a series of

works by this name) caused international scandal when brought to U.S. by artist Marcel Duchamp in 1926.– U.S. Customs agents did not believe

the piece to be art so imposed tariff for metal objects.

– A court battle ensued.• Captures essence of flight.

Constantin Brancusi, Bird in Space, 1925. Marble, stone, and wood, 71 5/8” x 5 3/8” x 6 3/8”.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.