Throughout the quarter we have studied a number of different artistic styles and movements. This quarter also brought the largest variety and change between those movements. Starting with the realists and moving all the way up into the Abstract Expressionists, there were a number of radical and revolutionary changes happened to art and what is considered art. One artist that really helped jump start the Avant Garde movement was Edourad Manet. I very much enjoyed learning about Manet and his deliberate rejection of Academic and popular artistic values. His showing of Luncheon on the Grass caught a number of people off guard and was surrounded by controversy. The way that Manet embraced modernity and applied it to a new "modern nude" was his way of taking something common to to the Academy and presenting it in a way that they did no approve. He also chose to have his technique be much more painterly and not as attentive to perspective as Academic paintings. I also like how Manet himself continued to challenge himself as an artist throughout his career. In his later works like The Rue Mosnier With Flags you can see how he has changed and adopted some of the more radical painting techniques of the impressionists but also stays true to his Avant Garde roots and continues to push political and social messages in his art.
The second artist I really enjoyed learning about Gustave Caillebotte. Caillebotte's paintings are so gentle and visually engaging but also carry an element of something beneath the surface. He too very much embraced modern life and used it as much of the subject of his art. I like how he treats perspective, sometimes skewing the floor at dramatic angels to create a dynamic to his paintings, or by having strong angles like the bridge in Le Pont de l'Europe recede quickly into the distance. What really drew me to Caillebotte was learning a little more of his personal biography and what he went through. After learning how quickly close members of his family passed away in succession and what deep effects it had on him his art begins to reveal more. There was always a sub theme to his paintings, one of isolation and distance. It never really becomes the focus or distracts from the piece itself but like I mentioned before you pick up on something. Knowing how sad and alone Caillebotte felt and how he as an artist let those emotions subtly bleed into his art is impressive to me. None of his paintings are explicitly depressing or sad, just carry lingering emotion within them. To me, that is such a fine line to walk and one that Caillebotte walked very skillfully. And that, combined with his technical skill, is very impressive.
The third artist that stood out to me this quarter was Pablo Picasso. His name get thrown about in the conversation of art quite a bit but I learned some facts about him and his approach that really made me think and helped me understand him more as an artist. The first thing that shocked me about Picasso was to learn that he was Academically trained and to see some of his paintings done in that style. It really shed light on his true abilities as an artist and that all of his bizarre and radical paintings that he was known for came from choice and experimentation, not lack of technical skill. The second enlightenment I experienced in regards to Picasso was his idea of simultaneity. Basically Picasso attempted to paint things like faces as if the viewer was seeing them from two perspectives at once, which helps to explain the unique appearance to the way Picasso paints figures. This is interesting because it shows how far and experimental Picasso was in thinking about the craft of painting. To know that he has the ability to paint in a way we see the world but he wants to show us something in a way we could not experience in real life is incredible. He wants to take painting to a level only it can go.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Post #8 Late 20th Century Art
For today's post I have chosen to do my research on American artist Jackson Pollock and more specifically his piece titled Greyed Rainbow. This painting was created by Pollock in 1953 and is of his signature and radical painting style. He is known for his techniques of dripping, pouring, and freely flinging paint on his canvas. He also had a unique painting setup, where he would work with large scale canvas flat on the floor so the paint could fall on to it. Pollock would even have to step out onto his canvas to reach areas during the painting process. Greyed Rainbow measures 72 x 96 1/8 in. and, as the title implies, has a muted, grey scale color palate. Near the bottom half there are moments of yellow, blue and red that show through the grey majority. The painting is completely abstract and is only limited by the edges of the canvas. There is no illusionism to the piece, but one can get a sense of depth created by the overlapping and intertwining lines. The gestural quality of the sweeping lines come from the physical interaction between paint, Pollock and canvas. Pollock once said, " I want to express my feelings, not illustrate them", and express he does. There is such an energy and action communicated visually by the way that the lines move and form. Research into Pollock's painting process prove that what may appear to be chaos, chance or unconscious decision creating the forms of Greyed Rainbow, is not entirely the case. He had a very keen understanding of his materials and the paints he used, and how they behaved on the canvas. This knowledge of their interaction allowed him to paint as freely as he did and still have a good sense of what the result would be. Time magazine once described a Pollock painting as "chaotic", which led the artist to retort with "no chaos, dammit." Though his paintings were free of form, active and expressive, he did not want them deemed chaotic or random. He wanted to reinforce that there was indeed a process to his art. At a point in is career Pollock also got fed up with people searching for representational images in his artwork that were associated with or implied by titles. People approaching his art with these preconceived ideas lead Pollock to give up titling his paintings at all and he went to just numbering them.
Jackson Pollock was revolutionary in the art world. His techniques of "action painting" were original, unconventional, and exciting. He helped spearhead an art movement known as Abstract Expressionism and his influence and impact is immeasurable. Pollock was "also one of the first American painters to be recognized during his lifetime and after as a peer of 20th-century European masters of Modern Art" (Encyclopedia Britannica). I know for me, at first glance it can feel like anyone could fling paint onto a blank canvas and create something similar to a Pollock. Possible, but not probable. There is definitely something special to Jackson Pollock and his abilities. They way he can visualize what he wants but release such control over it. The more you look at one piece, the more you get sucked into the depth and simple complexity of it. The more you look at a collection of Pollocks, the more you can see the variety and change from piece to piece, all within the same signature style.
Image Location: http://bthumme.tripod.com/P5/abstract.jpg
Sources: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/83642?search_id=1
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/Modern/Greyed-Rainbow
http://www.moma.org/explore/conservation/pollock/interview1.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/468051/Jackson-Pollock
Jackson Pollock was revolutionary in the art world. His techniques of "action painting" were original, unconventional, and exciting. He helped spearhead an art movement known as Abstract Expressionism and his influence and impact is immeasurable. Pollock was "also one of the first American painters to be recognized during his lifetime and after as a peer of 20th-century European masters of Modern Art" (Encyclopedia Britannica). I know for me, at first glance it can feel like anyone could fling paint onto a blank canvas and create something similar to a Pollock. Possible, but not probable. There is definitely something special to Jackson Pollock and his abilities. They way he can visualize what he wants but release such control over it. The more you look at one piece, the more you get sucked into the depth and simple complexity of it. The more you look at a collection of Pollocks, the more you can see the variety and change from piece to piece, all within the same signature style.
Image Location: http://bthumme.tripod.com/P5/abstract.jpg
Sources: http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/83642?search_id=1
http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/Modern/Greyed-Rainbow
http://www.moma.org/explore/conservation/pollock/interview1.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/468051/Jackson-Pollock
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Post #7 The Effect of War on Art
The beginning of World War I in 1914 brought about change in thought about politics and society. The tension between nations boiled to the point of all out war and the world saw death and destruction on a scale and level that had never been seen before. All of this change, destruction and chaos also made its impact on art. The thoughts about what is art and how it is created were once again shifted in a radical way. The first being the Dada art movement, who wanted to challenge and critique art itself. The second movement, Surrealism, came later and was very interested in social, sexual and cultural revolution, as well as the subconscious and dreams. What both movements shared was a question and desire to challenge the artist's role in creating art.
When looking at pieces from the Dada art movement it would be easy to conclude that anything goes. The only "rule" might be to break all the rules that already exist. But art from the Dada movement is still contrived, making clear commentary about politics and society through art. The use of humor and meaninglessness in these pieces at such a time of war and turmoil is where Dada gets its hold. The ironies and conflicts between where the world stands and what is presented in Dada art makes it attention grabbing. One prominent Dada artist, Marcel Duchamp, challenged all things art, even to the core of what it means to be an artist. He went as far as to question whether it was required to touch, manipulate or create for one to consider themselves an artist. Duchamp would "create" his art by coming across ready made or found objects and submitting them as finished pieces with little or no alteration to them. One such piece is titled Fountain and is simply a urinal fountain with a name marked on it. This goes back to the earlier point of challenging the artist's role in creating art. Duchamp felt that as an artist he need not handle material to make art but could find his sculptures and was then responsible for presenting them as art. I personally think that Duchamp's ready made sculptures do exist as art. At the time he started to do these, no one had thought of art in this way. This change in thinking about art can contribute as much to art as a collection of physical pieces. You can see in history that Duchamp had a large influence on other artists using found objects within their own work such as photo montages and sculpture.
The Surrealist art movement came about at the end of the first world war and latched onto Marxist and Freudian influence. Marxist in its strive for social revolution and Freudian in its interest in sexuality, subconscious and dreams. Surrealist artists wanted to convey their dreams through paint on canvas. To do this, many pieces maintain elements or realism and recognizable imagery but then radically distort them from how they exist in real life. Painter Salvador Dali and his piece titled Persistence are famous examples of Surrealist art. In the painting we see clocks with true to life colors, sheen, and appearance but are distorted to look melting, dripping or floppy as well. Blending elements of what we see in real life and how they may exist in a dream space is what Surrealist art is about. Surrealists also challenged the artist's role in creating art as well. They are interested in taking away some of the subjective control of creating art and to have more of their subconscious and dream existence come through.
When looking at pieces from the Dada art movement it would be easy to conclude that anything goes. The only "rule" might be to break all the rules that already exist. But art from the Dada movement is still contrived, making clear commentary about politics and society through art. The use of humor and meaninglessness in these pieces at such a time of war and turmoil is where Dada gets its hold. The ironies and conflicts between where the world stands and what is presented in Dada art makes it attention grabbing. One prominent Dada artist, Marcel Duchamp, challenged all things art, even to the core of what it means to be an artist. He went as far as to question whether it was required to touch, manipulate or create for one to consider themselves an artist. Duchamp would "create" his art by coming across ready made or found objects and submitting them as finished pieces with little or no alteration to them. One such piece is titled Fountain and is simply a urinal fountain with a name marked on it. This goes back to the earlier point of challenging the artist's role in creating art. Duchamp felt that as an artist he need not handle material to make art but could find his sculptures and was then responsible for presenting them as art. I personally think that Duchamp's ready made sculptures do exist as art. At the time he started to do these, no one had thought of art in this way. This change in thinking about art can contribute as much to art as a collection of physical pieces. You can see in history that Duchamp had a large influence on other artists using found objects within their own work such as photo montages and sculpture.
The Surrealist art movement came about at the end of the first world war and latched onto Marxist and Freudian influence. Marxist in its strive for social revolution and Freudian in its interest in sexuality, subconscious and dreams. Surrealist artists wanted to convey their dreams through paint on canvas. To do this, many pieces maintain elements or realism and recognizable imagery but then radically distort them from how they exist in real life. Painter Salvador Dali and his piece titled Persistence are famous examples of Surrealist art. In the painting we see clocks with true to life colors, sheen, and appearance but are distorted to look melting, dripping or floppy as well. Blending elements of what we see in real life and how they may exist in a dream space is what Surrealist art is about. Surrealists also challenged the artist's role in creating art as well. They are interested in taking away some of the subjective control of creating art and to have more of their subconscious and dream existence come through.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Post #6 Gauguin and Primitivism
For today's blog I am going to examine a piece by painter Henri Matisse titled Blue Nude: Souvenir at Biskra. The subject of this painting is very direct, a nude woman with a blue skin tone, lounging in nature. This representation of such a nude makes this painting Avant-Garde. This is a deliberate move away from the depiction of traditional classic nudes that were upheld by the Academy of Art. This particular woman does not show the modesty about her body that we have seen in nudes of the past, and the erotic connections are apparent as well. There is little attention to realism or naturalism in Matisse's painting, both in the human proportion and anatomy but most obviously in his choices of color. He painted his woman blue. Instead he breaks the human body down into much simpler geometric shapes that still form a recognizable human figure. I would like to argue that this is Matisse's attempt at an even more modern nude. When looking at the modern nude depicted in Manet's Olympia, we see a woman shown in modern fashion and surroundings painted in modern, flattened technique. But there are still elements of proportions and realism, especially in use of color, that are present. What Matisse has done in his piece to further modernize his nude is paint her in a new radical technique and style that comes from this idea of Primitivism.
At its core we could say that this piece is primitive just for its separation from western culture and its call back to the past. A woman, totally nude, surrounded by nothing but nature is anything but a depiction of modern time. Primitivism is a simplification. It is a simplification of life as an artist, whose work often shows a simple life from the past, but most importantly it is a simplification of artistic style, technique and appearance. Looking at Blue Nude, the woman is created using simple curved shapes with heavy outline. There is no real attempt at muscle definition or skin folds or fine detail of any kind. Her facial expression is hard to read and even her hair has been reduced to a circle shape on top of her head. All that is shown is enough to communicate a human figure, and more specifically a woman figure. Matisse simplifies his use of color as well, using it to fill space and give the impression of plant life but little more. He does not seem interested in using color to create detail or illusions of light and space. The colors seem to merge more than blend when transitioning from one to the next, making them look more like large shapes of color than shapes seen in nature. He uses the same heavy outline in some places to show what should be seen as ferns or flowers. When seeing this piece as a whole however, all the liberties Mattise took with color, style and technique look intentional and deliberate. The way the woman spans the entire canvas, and the slight angle she is set at bring interest and draw the eye across the whole painting. Even with all of its simplicities, it is very engaging and interesting piece.
The last aspect of Primitivism I would like to mention in regards to this piece is the idea of women shown in nature and the connotations that are associated with them. There are primitive connections to women, especially nude, and the creation of life. Sexuality, fertility and the ability to create new life have been associated with the depiction of women forever. It is simply fact that it is exclusive to the female gender to be able to produce offspring. That particular fact and all the feelings connected to it are almost as primitive and primal as humans get. Depictions of women carry those associations and emit them one way or another, though the artist can subdue or amplify this effect. I would say Gauguin's Manao Tupapau or Manet's Olympia are much more sexually charged than Blue Nude, but Blue Nude is not sexuality free.
At its core we could say that this piece is primitive just for its separation from western culture and its call back to the past. A woman, totally nude, surrounded by nothing but nature is anything but a depiction of modern time. Primitivism is a simplification. It is a simplification of life as an artist, whose work often shows a simple life from the past, but most importantly it is a simplification of artistic style, technique and appearance. Looking at Blue Nude, the woman is created using simple curved shapes with heavy outline. There is no real attempt at muscle definition or skin folds or fine detail of any kind. Her facial expression is hard to read and even her hair has been reduced to a circle shape on top of her head. All that is shown is enough to communicate a human figure, and more specifically a woman figure. Matisse simplifies his use of color as well, using it to fill space and give the impression of plant life but little more. He does not seem interested in using color to create detail or illusions of light and space. The colors seem to merge more than blend when transitioning from one to the next, making them look more like large shapes of color than shapes seen in nature. He uses the same heavy outline in some places to show what should be seen as ferns or flowers. When seeing this piece as a whole however, all the liberties Mattise took with color, style and technique look intentional and deliberate. The way the woman spans the entire canvas, and the slight angle she is set at bring interest and draw the eye across the whole painting. Even with all of its simplicities, it is very engaging and interesting piece.
The last aspect of Primitivism I would like to mention in regards to this piece is the idea of women shown in nature and the connotations that are associated with them. There are primitive connections to women, especially nude, and the creation of life. Sexuality, fertility and the ability to create new life have been associated with the depiction of women forever. It is simply fact that it is exclusive to the female gender to be able to produce offspring. That particular fact and all the feelings connected to it are almost as primitive and primal as humans get. Depictions of women carry those associations and emit them one way or another, though the artist can subdue or amplify this effect. I would say Gauguin's Manao Tupapau or Manet's Olympia are much more sexually charged than Blue Nude, but Blue Nude is not sexuality free.
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