ARTH 101 Exam 3
While there is a huge diversity of art styles and ideas out there in the world, what FOUR issues seem to dominate art-making, art criticism, and art conversations right now?
1)Inspiration: where can art be found? 2) Perspective: who gets to tell what stories? 3) Appropriation: how much can be stolen from others? 4) Value: how much is it worth?
In what ways does Earth Art destroy the notion of the gallery system? Smithson's Spiral Jetty is a good example. Think about how you have to see it. Who can own it?
The rejection of traditional gallery and museum spaces defined Earth art practice. By creating their works outside of these institutions, Earth artists rebuffed the commodity status these venues conferred on art, again challenging traditional definitions of art as something to be bought and sold for profit
Willem De Kooning, Woman and Bicycle, 1952
-Aggressive strokes that run in multiple directions -Constant reworking, as the act of creation in front of our eyes -Paints, steps away and looks, paints, steps away -Painting coming into creation -Large-scale works of art that are generally aggressively painted that are really stressing the creative act (showing you how a painting is made) -There are 2 mouths/lips. They want you to show you the process of how the painting is made
Camera obscura
-"Dark room" -Understanding of what light could do -Whatever is on the outside world, it's going to be carried on light. You see upside down and in reverse the picture through the hole in the wall. Whatever you get from the wall, you could copy
De Stijl
-"The Style" -The world is absurd
What makes conceptual artists so radically different from everybody? What are the trends that have emerged in their art?
-A conceptual artist is going to make an object that doesn't have a physical form; it's solely based on an idea, meaning the work has to be documented, but the documentation doesn't have to take the form of a finished work of art -Trends (?): Produces a set of instructions of how the object should be made; uses found objects; Earthworks (uses Earth itself as the material for sculpture)
Painting: Judgment of Paris (1520) by Raimondi
-A golden apple is thrown up, and three people are all reaching for it -Herrera: "I will give you unlimited power" (Paris: "I already have a lot of power") -Athena: "I will make you one of the greatest warriors of all time" (Paris: "I don't really like war") -Venus: "I will give you the most beautiful woman in the world as your wife" (Paris: "YES"), so Venus gives him Helen (a married beautiful women) -The 3 women are shown in different profiles. You can see a female nude from the back, you can see a female nude from the side, and then you can also see a female nude from the front
Jean-Michael Basquiat, Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart), 1983
-About police brutality -Shadowed man is Michael Stewart but could be about any Black man
Picasso, Les Demoiselle d'Avignon (The girls of Avignon), 1907
-An enormous art exhibition with all of Cezanne's paintings -Demoiselle: aggressively insulting and has a sexual connotation ("c***") -History painting, meaning it's not meant for people's homes! They belong on display -Gives viewers an uneasy feeling! These women have scary faces (three of them have distorted faces), sharp edges, they seem aggressive. These women are referencing bodies that have been owned by others. There are multiple viewpoints on the same face (the women's eyes are looking at the view, but the nose is from a side profile). You're no longer the faceless man looking at the naked women-- the women are looking straight back at you and are calling you out! In the 20th century, women gain the right to vote, so people think women are scary since they're gaining power -Powerful bodies that are about sex and desire -Like Manet, he has rejected Western tradition (figure and ground are merged) -Title of this painting refers to a street in Barcelona known for its brothels
Bansky, Show Me the Monet, 2005
-Appropriation -Shows Monet's painting that features a body of water and bridge as what that water and bridge would look like TODAY
Minimalists
-Art has its own reality; it shouldn't imitate anything; it should be disconnected from life -We usually think of art as something connected to the real world, but minimalists want viewers to respond to ONLY the art right in front of them -Peel away what you know about art!
Art after WWII
-Art moved from Paris to Europe -An urgency to physically rebuild and politically regroup -America is conservative in art (aggressively rejecting European abstraction; to be duty free, it needed to be art) -Social realism documented the hard times faced by everyday Americans -America wants wrenching subject matter (people that one can understand) -Harlem Renaissance (African-American artists used art to capture pride in heritage; dynamic composition: complimentary colors (bringing purple and green together), overlapping arcs and zigzags, hierarchical scale -American Regionalism (promoted wholesome patriotic values by making pictures that looked "provincial", like a wholesome picture of a man and women at their farm -Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project (photographs of Great Depression; decorate America with buildings, frescos, murals, tiles, and mosaics) -Pictures that are rebellious, idiosyncratic, moving away from the figure and into ideas about looking like Cubism with the emotional intensity of the Expressionism
Cezanne, Mt. St. Victoire, 1902-04
-Becomes a lawyer but quits when his father dies -Landscape view: it uses depth (tree is closer to you, there's a "town" in the middle ground, and the mountains are at the further end) -Mountain edges are outline darker INTENTIONALLY to bring the mountains closer to the viewer
Explain the purpose of a carte-de-visite. How was Lincoln's Cooper Union Portrait especially effective as a political image?
-Carte-de-visite: Purchasing one shows that you're cool; Small 2 x 3" photograph that's used as calling card; You collect other people's card to visit them; Leave card behind (they are invitational and also say hi) in front of house; You can pick up ones of famous people; Collect them in scrapbooks; Very first beginnings of social media and of imaging yourself -Lincoln's Cooper Union Portrait shows why he should be president. He is holding the Bible, showing that he's scholarly and maybe even religious. Because he's self-educated, he really wants to make sure that others see him as intellectual. Also, the column behind him is supposed to imply that "Lincoln is going to hold up the nation", since columns are strong and hold things up
French Revolution (1789)
-Marie Antoinette is a Queen -Inspired by 1776 revolution in the United States (threw off king) -Threw off their king AND executed him
Picasso, Still Life with Bottle of Suze, 1912
-Collage: makes things look flat -Wallpaper is real but its stylized flowers are an illusion -Bottle is an illusion but the label is real -We see the glass straight on but the ashtray from above -Photography CAN NOT do this
Mark Rothko, Yellow over Orange, 1962
-Color field painting -Less emphasis on gesture and more interest in form and color -Abstraction as end to itself
Vito Acconci, Room Situation, 1970
-Conceptual Art -Performance -Two pieces of paper that document an activity that happened over three weekends -Artist took all movable contents from his house and moved them to a gallery (took everything from his kitchen to the gallery, goes back to his apartments, finds out he needs a frypan, goes back to the gallery, gets the frypan and brings it back to his house) -->Everytime he does that, he makes a record of it -->Typical entry example: "the artist, needing a blanket and pillow, reached the gallery through subway at 8:30" -Raises the question about artistic skill! "How do I know if this is a good object?"
Sol LeWitt, A Wall Divided Vertically into Fifteen Equal Parts, Each with a DIfferent Line Direction and Color, and All Combinations, 1970
-Conceptual Art -Produces a set of instructions of how the object should be made, rather than making an object themselves and selling that finished work of art
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 1969
-Conceptual Art -Uses found objects -"Could you also sell this?"
Duchamp, Foundation, 1917
-Example of Dada -Forced questions about artistic creativity and the very definition of art and its purpose in society
Measure for visual complexity
-D (dimension) -For a smooth line, D is 1. For a completely filled area, D is 2. We prefer fractals in the 1.3-1.5 range
What is the goal of Dada?
-Dada: life is absurd, so art must be equally absurd (let's reject all artistic and cultural authority! "Ready-made" are everyday objects that could be brought and presented as art with little manipulation by the artist; not going to make things! Just buy something, modify it, and then present -Dada forces questions about artistic creativity
What is the difference between a daguerreotype and a calotype?
-Daguerreotype: metal plate covered with silver; extraordinary level of detail (unique); took overt refers to business of making portraits -Calotype: paper transfer; you get multiplee images; transparent negative (created cfrpkm camera)
What is the goal of De Stiji?
-De Stijl artists turned their attention not only to fine art media such as painting and sculpture, but virtually all other art forms as well, including industrial design, typography, even literature and music -Ideal fusion of form and function -Art as a means of social and spiritual redemption
Silkscreen/Screen Printing
-Decide what you want to make, separate the colors so that everything you want in black is put in one piece of silk, orange is put in another piece of silk, apply or glue them to cover up the holes in the silk that are not going to be orange or black, ink is squeezed through the screens onto the product one color at a time, then the design is dried and ready to wear -Only the places that are open is where the ink is passed through -This is a stencil process -Almost effortless! Easy to do -Limitless prints! -Screen never wears down -Favors big fat broad areas of color -You can get an at-home silkscreen for $20
What are silkscreen's most striking visual characteristics? Advantages?
-Decide what you want to make, separate the colors so that everything you want in black is put in one piece of silk, orange is put in another piece of silk, apply or glue them to cover up the holes in the silk that are not going to be orange or black, ink is squeezed through the screens onto the product one color at a time, then the design is dried and ready to wear -Only the places that are open is where the ink is passed through -This is a stencil process -Favors big fat broad areas of color -You can get an at-home silkscreen for $20 -Advantages: Almost effortless! Easy to do! Limitless prints! Screen never wears down!
Andy Warhol, Blue Marilyn, 1962
-Marilyn Monroe has blue skin, white eyelids, yellow hair, and red lips -Technique used: silkscreen, or screen printing
Duchamp, LHOOQ, 1919
-Example of Dada -Makes Mona Lisa masculine (mustache and beard) -Doesn't really mean anything -LHOOQ: Ell a chaud en cul (she has fire in her a**)
Daguerreotype
-Metal plate covered with silver -Extraordinary level of detail (unique) -Tookovert refers to business of making portraits
Jackson Pollock
-Does "action painting" (take a canvas, lay it out on the ground, uses house paint and industrial paint, uses a brush but never touches it on the canvas and instead just uses the action of his arm and whips it onto the canvas in a dramatic way... he moves all around the canvas... no focal point... it's not what's in his head but rather what's in his body... Pollock moved like a dancer... what was to go on a canvas is not a story but just paint on campus... this goes all the way back to the impressionists and Cezanne... these are monstrously large, helping you feel power when you stand in front of it or next to it) -No one has successfully imitated a Pollock painting
Faith Ringgold, American People Series #20: Die, 1967
-Dying industries, trying to escape, trying to survive -Two children huddled underneath the violent picture
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty, Great Salt Lake, Utah (1970)
-Earthwork -Built out onto the Great Salt Lake -4 wheel drive; up and over; last 15 miles on unpaved dirt road... rock and dirt and stone are arranged in a great big spiral (it's messy and dirty)
Representational style
-Elements of surprise and unexpected juxtapositions -Ex: The Persistence of Memory, 1931 (has a melted clock)
Arp, According to the Laws of Chance, 1933
-Employed notions of change in his work in a world that overly relied on reason
Aristocracy
-Enormous political power -Chose leisure -Created a culture of luxury and access -Wants to create a style to suit these people who don't really do much (rococo)
Painting: Birth of Venus (1863) by Cabanal
-Not political, beautiful picture about Venus being born, no visible brushwork, the viewer holds all the power (Venus is ALLOWING the view to look at her and her body and is basically saying "I know I'm so beautiful. You just can't help looking at me") -By this time, French has an Emperor
Nadar's photography studio
-First exhibition of independent artists -A group of young artists made this in 1874 -Things of the future -Photography has JUST been invented, so it's the hottest thing in town -Progressive artists, not old-school artists (called "independent artists") -Work was criticized and called "Impressionists" (not making finished works of art, "mere impressions as works of art", critics considered these artists "lazy") -Charged admission (charging money creates exclusion, since not everyone is able to afford to go inside, and it gives people the feeling that there must be something special inside) -Fewer paintings, paintings are separated and not stacked up all the way to the top, put into a room with furniture so that you can see what this painting may look like in your home (encourages buyers) -Their paintings record the fleeting effects of light and atmosphere and blur the line between sketch and finished work (a new kind of realism where the aim is effect, and not information, which emphasizes on what it feels like) -If you want to paint outside, you have to use a pig bladder (organic thing, meaning it smells), paint fills the pig bladder using a funnel, then take it outside and paint
Richard Long, A line Made by Walking, 1967
-Flattened the turf by walking back and forth -Creating a visual language
Why did Duchamp pick a toilet for his sculpture Fountain? What do we call that kind of object?
-Forced questions about artistic creativity and the very definition of art and its purpose in society -Example of Dada
Cezanne, At the Water's Edge, 1890
-Formalism: the most important aspect of a work of art is its form (the way it is made and its purely visual aspect), rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world -Has left an empty space on the painting
Giogione, Sleeping Venus, 1508
-Goddess of love and sexual desire -Completely passive (all she can do is receive the active male gaze); designed for male who feel pleasure looking at the female body
Pilgrimage to Cythera (1717) by Watteau
-Going on a trip to an island of love -Meant to stand for something bigger: a mental health day with someone that I love; no one is checking their phones; everyone is engaged in this day of pleasure -On the right is Venus (Cupid is on the right next to Venus tugging at her dress while she is clearly already infatuated with a guy) -As you move across the picture, from the right to the left, the people get closer and closer (the intimacy grows). As the day has gone on, people have gotten closer
Ideas of the Impressionists
-Graphic immediacy (LOOKS like it's been done quickly, "is it a sketch or a finished work?", loose brushwork, cropped compositions, effects of atmosphere and light, conveys a naturalness of vision that is more like how we see things (tries to capture how we ACTUALLY see things), steam hides the trains and the bridge (solid masses are overcome by light and air dragged brushstrokes unify the whole), incorporating things that aren't in the frame of the picture -Unique use of color (bold, colorful, no black in portraits) -Huge paintings (Art is not just for the private consumer anymore! It's public and it's meant to be discussed in a public century! Big paintings that celebrate young people) -Neutral view (talking about the modern world without offering any judgment; "We're going to turn you into an investigator. Size up the clues and understand what's going on in this art of work. Figure out what's going on in the picture"; "Exactly the opposite of what the Academy wants. The Academy wants a conventional story with a moralizing message that is painted in a conventional way. The Impressionists do NOT tell a conventional story; rather, it's about modern life and with a neutral view. The Impressionists' paintings are not painted in a conventional way; rather, it's sketchy and loose"
The oath of the Horatii is often presented as a prime example of the Neoclassical style. How do you see that in: its story; the color; the brushwork; the emotions?
-Has clear and very refined outlines (brushwork is less fluttery; isolated from the background) -Cool detachment (restrained emotion; richer color-- no blue! It's more red!)
Oath of Horatii (1785) by David
-Has clear and very refined outlines (brushwork is less fluttery; isolated from the background) -Cool detachment (restrained emotion; richer color-- no blue! It's more red!) -Meant to separate from aristocracy (style of art that is controlled and sober, reminding you of classical art and classicism) -An example of "neoclassicism", because it's New Classicism, which suggests the same sort of rationalization (politically charged, political activism, they're not just copying an existing art style, Neoclassical is more tight and organized and doesn't have loose brushwork or loose edges, rococo: more slowly, no clear edges) -Tells the story of Horatii and Curiatii (Horatii wins, meaning Rome will become a place where everyone can vote) -Softly curving (people standing --> people sitting) -Life-size painting (extremely big)
Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning Girl, 1963
-Has copied a romance graphic novel -Price varied from a nickel to 15 cents -Pop artists imitated media images -Pop artists mimicked mass-production techniques (mimic how they're made) -Heavy black contour lines, dialogue in bubbles -Used Ben Day dots (they are things used to convert tone gradations into different-sized and spayed dots; a way to print in color inexpensively), which can be used close together or farther apart based on how dark the artist wants something to be
Art piece examples of Perspective
-Kara Walker, The Battle of Atlanta: Shows the atrocities committed throughout the Civil War -Dana Shutz, Open Casket, 2017: About Emmett Till (shot in the head, destroyed face, barbed wire around neck, thrown into river... mother of Emmett chooses to have an open casket for his funeral); white artist (some people thought that, because Dana Shutz is a White artist, he had no right creating this sort of art)
Hierarchy of painting: Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture
-History painting (great men doing great deeds): absolute best students, top 10% of class, could be Jesus on the cross or Jesus as a baby, biggest pictures out there, the most expensive, end up in art history textbooks -Portraits (great men): "B" students, can paint portraits of great men (anyone in charge of government or of people who died), bigger and more expensive than scenes of daily life, paintings can be sold to government, maybe will get famous -Scenes of daily life (men): better than landscapes, scenes of love, pictures are a little bigger, still not going to be famous -Landscapes (living nature): cost a little more but still won't be famous, better than still life -Still life ("dead" nature): fruits on a table, small, people who probably won't really get famous, still life painters will NOT be history painters
What is the hierarchy of painting? What was the most important kind of painting? What subjects were in that category? Which category would be the biggest paintings? What category would be the least expensive paintings?
-History painting (great men doing great deeds): absolute best students, top 10% of class, could be Jesus on the cross or Jesus as a baby, biggest pictures out there, the most expensive, end up in art history textbooks -Portraits (great men): "B" students, can paint portraits of great men (anyone in charge of government or of people who died), bigger and more expensive than scenes of daily life, paintings can be sold to government, maybe will get famous -Scenes of daily life (men): better than landscapes, scenes of love, pictures are a little bigger, still not going to be famous -Landscapes (living nature): cost a little more but still won't be famous, better than still life -Still life ("dead" nature): fruits on a table, small, people who probably won't really get famous, still life painters will NOT be history painters; least expensive
Photography vs Impressionism
-Impressionism doesn't look anything like a photograph -Photographs are controlled, accurate, sharp, crisp, informational -Impressionists are interested in conveying mood ("What it's like to be in Paris on a gloomy day", "air is heavy; winter is coming", tries to convey a fleeting moment, don't want chiaroscuro and instead want bright colors)
Impressionists
-Interest in atmosphere and light -Colors are true to life and pure -Choppy brushstrokes makes us focus on the fleeting moment -Less interest in shading (things seem flat and the surface glistens) -"Plein air" painting: painting outdoors (full art painting; one of the most criticized elements of these artists) -Young people like that it shows scenes of daily life, instead of just things that parents want to see -1870s: massive explosion in images (We've always had art. Actual paintings come due to the Renaissance as well as print. By the 19th century, there was an explosion in images) -Lithography
Beeple, Everydays: the First 5000 Days
-Just sold for $69 million -NFTs -5,000 images that the artist makes every single day (images are regurgitations of contemporary world)
How is a painting by the De Stijl artist Mondrian a manifesto of a new way of thinking? (i.e., How is the painting constructed? What are we supposed to learn from it?)
-Make art universal by reducing it to its essentials of form and color -Vertical and horizontal lines, and black, white, and primary colors -House that was free from association
Mondrian, Composition with Red Blue and Yellow, 1929
-Make art universal by reducing it to its essentials of form and color -Vertical and horizontal lines, and black, white, and primary colors -House that was free from association
Death of Marat (1793) by David
-Marat is a hard worker! He delivers chairs to those in need, and he would receive people while he's in the tub since he suffers from a painful disease where his skin is read and itchy and bleeding and being in the bathtub is the only way that he can feel relief. He used a crate (nothing fancy) to do his work. He is stabbed 52 times by someone who was secretly a part of the monarch, but in this painting, only 1 knife is shown -The body of Marat has a greenish tone to convey the message he is dead -Upper part of the painting shows some light, indicating that God is present and watching over the scene -Has a "pen" in the middle of his fingers, like in a different painting that shows Jesus holding a rock in the middle of His fingers ("Marat is like Christ. He is willing to die")
What does David want his audience to understand about Marat in his painting Death of Marat? How does he convince you of that opinion?
-Marat is a hard worker! He delivers chairs to those in need, and he would receive people while he's in the tub since he suffers from a painful disease where his skin is read and itchy and bleeding and being in the bathtub is the only way that he can feel relief. He used a crate (nothing fancy) to do his work. He is stabbed 52 times by someone who was secretly a part of the monarch, but in this painting, only 1 knife is shown -The body of Marat has a greenish tone to convey the message he is dead -Upper part of the painting shows some light, indicating that God is present and watching over the scene -Has a "pen" in the middle of his fingers, like in a different painting that shows Jesus holding a rock in the middle of His fingers ("Marat is like Christ. He is willing to die")
Frank Stella, Valparaiso Flesh and Green, 1963
-Minimalist -"What you see is what you see" -Chevron (geometric form) and two colors -Wants to destroy the traditional way of art -Not a painting that you see through! You are looking AT the canvas itself -The only way Stella is able to make this painting is acrylic
Carl Andre, 144 Magnesium Square, 1962
-Minimalist -Factory-made or shop-bought materials
Dan Flavin, Untitled 1987
-Minimalist -Fluorescent light bulbs purchased at hardware store -Strip as much from the art as possible but still make it interesting
Sol LeWitt, Two open modular cubes/Half-Off, 1972
-Minimalist -Geometric single
Frank Stella, Hyena Stomp, 1962
-Minimalist -Materials used is not supposed to suggest anything -Color is not symbolic of anything Self-referential
Donalud Judd, Untitled, 1972
-Minimalist -Nothing about the artist is revealed here -Deliberate lack of expression
Carl Andre, Last ladder, 1969
-Minimalist -Space aware -A piece of wood that has been carved and leaning against a wall (carefully arranged to emphasize or reveal gallery)
NFTs
-Non-fungible tokens -Hottest works of art today -Digital file that can be reproduced but it's minted (there's a secured member of ownership... copyright remains to the artist... people can download it.. One person becomes the author of that digital file)
Explain the role of the Academy in French art in the 19th century. What was its purpose? What were the advantages of going to the Royal Academy? What style does the Royal Academy prefer in the 19th century?
-Once you graduate from the Academy, you're allowed to exhibit in the Salon (once-a-year art exhibition). You have to submit 3 works to Salon jury to get in. Every work of art has been vetted to people who really know works of art. The jury is made up of your professors from the academy (you can give something that you know the professor WILL like, which is the safer option and what everyone actually does, OR you can be risky and give something that professor MAY not life) -Salon: event of the year that EVERYONE attended -Could lead to you actually becoming a famous artist and people buying your work -Neoclassicism, history painting
Monotype
-One image! -The whole point of making a print is making MULTIPLE images, but monotype is only one image/print -Take a plate (can be made from ANYTHING) and paint directly on it using whatever (black ink, paint, glass, whatever) -You could also paint and then wipe away, or then paint white over it -You could use pastel on a second print of an image
Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture (1648)
-One way to get hired is through the academy -Everyone can apply and get in kinda easily, but once you're in, you're competing against one another, and grades are everything -Once you graduate from the Academy, you're allowed to exhibit in the Salon (once-a-year art exhibition). You have to submit 3 works to Salon jury to get in. Every work of art has been vetted to people who really know works of art. The jury is made up of your professors from the academy (you can give something that you know the professor WILL like, which is the safer option and what everyone actually does, OR you can be risky and give something that professor MAY not life) -Salon: event of the year that EVERYONE attended -Free on Sundays, so poor people could go in, too. On wealthy people day, everyone rushes in and it's crowded so it's not the most comfortable. However, wealthy people don't go during the free Sundays, since they don't want to be around poor people
Calotype
-Paper transfer -You get multiple images -Transparent negative (created cfrpkm camera)
What are the primary stories of the Rococo style? What are its visual characteristics?
-Pastel colors (nothing that shows Jesus on the cross; no brown) -Bottom to top decorated -Everything has a blurry edge -Painted with gold
Acrylic Paint
-Pigment + water + acrylic resin -Advantages: Dries quickly so the paint stops where brush stops, which allows clean, hard-edged shapes; Pure bright colors don't yellow and don't crack; Unlike tempera (which dries really fast), you can paint on top of your mistakes; You can make it thick OR thin! When you thin it, you can pour it without any oil residue; Significantly less pricey than oil! A big tube of acrylic is like $3, $4 -Disadvantages: Translucent veils of color, which is stickier, so less easy to blend (you CAN blend it, but oil has the consistency of butter, while acrylic is more like paste); Doesn't have the shine of oil
Be able to discuss acrylic as a painting medium. What are its advantages over oil? What are its disadvantages?
-Pigment + water + acrylic resin -Advantages: Dries quickly so the paint stops where brush stops, which allows clean, hard-edged shapes; Pure bright colors don't yellow and don't crack; Unlike tempera (which dries really fast), you can paint on top of your mistakes; You can make it thick OR thin! When you thin it, you can pour it without any oil residue; Significantly less pricey than oil! A big tube of acrylic is like $3, $4 -Disadvantages: Translucent veils of color, which is stickier, so less easy to blend (you CAN blend it, but oil has the consistency of butter, while acrylic is more like paste); Doesn't have the shine of oil
How does Jung's concept of "collective unconscious" explain the abiding popularity of Pollock's work? What happens to the viewer when they stand in front of a Pollock painting?
-Pollock's paintings are monstrously large, helping you feel power when you stand in front of it or next to it -Carl Jung said that, through primitive symbols, a content of the psyche that is beyond reason is expressed
Claus Oldenburg, Match Cover, 1989
-Produced commercial objects -Scale celebrates the mundane... while also turning it into a nightmare -It's weird when something that's supposed to be small is shown big
Carte-de-visite
-Purchasing one shows that you're cool -Small 2 x 3" photograph that's used as calling card -You collect other people's card to visit them -Leave card behind (they are invitational and also say hi) in front of house -You can pick up ones of famous people -Collect them in scrapbooks -Very first beginnings of social media and of imaging yourself
Rococo
-Romantic and sensual (appeals to people's emotions, makes us think about pleasure) -Playful and light -Pastel colors (nothing that shows Jesus on the cross; no brown) -Bottom to top decorated -Everything has a blurry edge -Painted with gold -Small scaled paintings framed in gold (could fit over a piece of furniture)
Hector Zamorra, Lattice Detour, 2020
-Site-specific installation -Used brick -Flips the brick, which is not usually how brick is used in works of art -Invitational ("come and take a look... you can see all of Manhattan through each of those spaces") -Get people talking about politics
Serra, Tilted Arc, New York, NY, 1981
-Site-specific installiation -The buildings around it were renovated -Richard Serra is known for huge arts of steel (curling of rust on the outside intentionally) -Used big sheets of rusting steel
Pop Art
-Took the anarchy of Dada and replaced it with an affirmation of mass culture -Injecting humor, parody, or irony into recognizable objects -Sub in mass culture -Breaks rules about what is considered appropriate for art -Inspired by rise of consumer culture -They want art to be involved in life -Art gets connected to the world of consumer culture (comic about daily life) -Interested in taking art that surrounds you (comic books and comic strips) and putting it in an art museum
Lithography
-Step 1: Take a coarse limestone -Step 2: Draw on it with a greasy crayon -Step 3: Sharpen the crayon (this crayon is bendable) -Step 5: Wet the stone, ink the stone. Greasy ink sticks to greasy crayons and is "resisted" by the wet stone (every place you have wet the stone, it's going to resist the ink; ink will only ever stay in the place you've drawn) -Step 6: Press the paper on it after inking the stone -The simplest and most direct way to make a print! No hatching and cross-hatching is needed! Almost limitless (endlessly reproducible)! Can get chiaroscuro so you don't have to rely on hatching only! -A hit once introduced -Can be printed in color (Requires multiple stones though! Each stone gets a separate color, meaning it's great to use on covers of magazines and newspapers)
Automatic drawing
-Strategy for revealing the unconscious and subconscious -Hand moves "randomly" across the paper -In applying chance, drawing is now free of rational control and can reveal something of the subconscious
Braque, Girl with a Cross, 1911
-Style of art: cubism -Compressed series of observations from multiple viewpoints -Simplest geometric forms -Parallel brushstrokes to create facets -Monochromatic -Collapsed space by merging figure and ground
What are the goals of Surrealism? What did it base its art in?
-Surrealism: the world is absurd so the only place to go is inward; mental world outside reason (hallucinations, dreams, nightmares); "What happens inside of me.. will it happen inside of you? Will it reach you?" -Surreality: to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dreams and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality
Painting: Luncheon on the Grass (1863) by Manet
-The artist takes his work directly to the public, which is a BIG move. He's from a very wealthy French family, so it's not because of the money. He just believes that you don't need a jury -Painting: two men are clothes, two women are nude -Copies 2 works of art: "Pastoral Concert" and "Judgment of Paris" -Ignored many traditions in art to give you a new kind of picture that is provocative (no painting has ever had two men and a female nude... it shows an empowerment of females, which is seen as a threat) -Ignores chiaroscuro
Appropriation
-Use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation -Make sure it has a new message or a new meaning! As long as it does that, it's all okay
Andy Warhol, Coke, 1962
-Used silkscreen -A coke bottle -We all get the same coke. We all have access to the same coke. Isn't it possible for art to be the same?
Earthworks (branch of conceptual art)
-Uses Earth itself as the material for sculpture -Locate art outside museums, often in remote locations -Often use photography to share their work -Often enormous in scale
Lincoln "Cooper Union" Portrait (1860) by Matthew Brady
-Why he should be president -Holding "The Bible" (showing that he's scholarly, maybe religious) -Born in Kentucky, raised in Illinois, didn't go to really big universities (he's self-educated), which is why he wants to make sure that other people see him as intellectual -There is a column behind him, implying that "Lincoln is going to hold up the nation", since columns are strong and hold things up
Surrealism
-The world is absurd so the only place to go is inward -Mental world outside reason (hallucinations, dreams, nightmares) -"What happens inside of me... will it happen inside of you? Will it reach you?"
Louis the Fourteenth
-Thinks the aristocrats are traitors that are waiting to betray him -Demands all the aristocrats move into palace of Versailles -King of kings here (the most important figure inside this palace of Versailles)
Painting: Pastoral Concert (1509) by Giorgione and Titian
-Two men are clothes, two women are nude -One man is dressed in City clothes, while another man is dressed in country clothes, so they balance each other out -One of the women is there to be abstract personification about music, and the other woman is at the well of inspiration, that leads to the men, which is musical composition and harmony (signifies that "women are ideas")
What was introduced during and after World War I?
-World War I (1914-1918) resulted in 20 million deaths -Dada: life is absurd, so art must be equally absurd (let's reject all artistic and cultural authority! "Ready-made" are everyday objects that could be brought and presented as art with little manipulation by the artist; not going to make things! Just buy something, modify it, and then present
Conceptual Art
-artist is making all decisions and planning beforehand; everything he wants is within the idea -Tired of commercialized process in art galleries -Intentionally don't want to produce a finished work of art -Can't be easily bought and sold -Doesn't have to be viewed in a formal gallery situation -A conceptual artist is going to make an object that doesn't have a physical form; it's solely based on an idea, meaning the work has to be documented, but the documentation doesn't have to take the form of a finished work of art
What makes a painting NOT seem realistic?
A painting does not seem realistic if there is very little different between figure and the space
What does linear perspective allow us to do?
Allows us to look through the painting's surface at the space beyond
What would be eliminated through architectural design?
Bourgeois notions of respectability and propriety, with their emphasis on discipline, hierarchy, and containment would be eliminated through architectural design
What can you better express by distorting reality?
By distorting reality, you can better express the real feeling and meaning of what he was painting
What are some of the questions that Duchamp asks in exhibiting a toilet as a work of art?
Can ANYTHING be a work of art?
What helps us understand an art's meaning?
Colors, lines, shapes, unrealistic features
Brancusi, Bird in Space, 1926
Customs first said that this was a "manufactured metal objects", meaning the artist has to pay 40% of the sale price just to get through customs. Then, customs said that it's "Kitchen Utensils and Hospital Supplies". Afterwards, it goes to court
What are things that artists needed to have?
Creativity and intelligence! Historian artists, specifically, were in charge of painting pieces of art that was of a scene that they had not seen right before their eyes (like Jesus on the cross)
What is cubism trying to recreate?
Cubism is trying to recreate on a canvas how we actually see
Why does Arp allow into his art that is new and expressive? How does it fit into the philosophy of Dada?
Employed notions of change in his work in a world that overly relied on reason
Inspiration and Setting of Modern Art
Graffiti Art! Like Earthworks, art is moving out of museums and galleries into the street. Like Expressionism, art uses energetic brushwork and color to express emotion. Like Pop Art, it will include cultural reference and incorporate words
Did photography look anything like Impressionist painting? What was each medium after?
Impressionism doesn't look anything like a photograph. Photographs are controlled, accurate, sharp, crisp, informational. Impressionists are interested in conveying mood ("What it's like to be in Paris on a gloomy day", "air is heavy; winter is coming", tries to convey a fleeting moment, don't want chiaroscuro and instead want bright colors)
In the 18th century, the aristocrats of the French court encouraged a style called Rococo. Where did these aristocrats primarily put this art?
In houses, over a piece of furniture
The most popular type of art in the US throughout the 1930s was the Regionalism of an artist like Grant Wood and his painting American Gothic. Why?
It's a very traditional, ordinary, normal picture of an ideal hard-working couple working in a farm beside a house that they own together. It really shows The American Dream
How is Minimalism different from Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art? (Frank Stella, Valparaiso Flesh and Green, 1963). What are some of its distinguishing qualities?
Minimalist paintings: Not a painting that you see through! You are looking AT the canvas itself; "What you see is what you see"; Chevron (geometric form) and two colors
Are minimalists, pop artists, and conceptualists different?
Minimalists and pop artists (want more!) are very opposites... conceptualists don't even want an object but rather just an idea
Is cubism still alive after WWI and Russian Revolution (1919)?
NO, it's dead by then. Russian Revolution resulted in another 7-12 million deaths
How was the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874 different from the Salon? Where was it held? What was the viewing experience like?
Nadar's photography studio was very different. It was the first exhibition of independent artists. These were progressive artists, not old-school artists! These focuses on things of the future. There was an admission fee, fewer paintings, and paintings were placed in a room with furniture
What was the artistic style of Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture?
Neoclassical! Without politics
Big invention of 19th century?
Photography
How did Pollock actually make a painting? Where was the canvas? Did he use traditional oil paint in tubes and a brush? How was the paint applied?
Pollock did "action painting" (take a canvas, lay it out on the ground, uses house paint and industrial paint, uses a brush but never touches it on the canvas and instead just uses the action of his arm and whips it onto the canvas in a dramatic way... he moves all around the canvas... no focal point... it's not what's in his head but rather what's in his body... Pollock moved like a dancer... what was to go on a canvas is not a story)
What does Pop Art want painting to do that is different from the Abstract Expressionists? (Lichtenstein, Masterpiece, 1963; or Andy Warhol, Blue Marilyn, 1962)
Pop Art was meant to be ironic and mocking, while Abstract Expressionism was serious. There is a lot of emotion in abstract expressionism, but not in Pop Art
Expressionism
Raises feelings above objective observation
What is the annual art exhibition called? Why would you want to be selected for it?
Salon is the event of the year that everyone attends. If your work of art is displayed in the Salon, it could lead to you becoming discovered and famous
Neo-Conceptualism
Text-based work in public spaces
Rejections by the Salon led to...?
The French Emperor listens to all their complaints and decides to have a "Salon des Refuses", which is basically like "the public judges your art of work". This is a second chance to show work to be judged and for your work to be sold. People will walk in and ridicule your work of art publicly, so you'll be publicly humiliated basically. People will write newspaper articles about how the Salon des Refuses is indeed just filled with works that are not good -"Works of art that are kinda trash"
2 of the conclusions about Impressionist painting are that it denied both conventional story and conventional vision. Discuss those ideas in relation to a painting like Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergere, 1882. How is the story not conventional? How is the way it is painted not conventional?
The woman is standing with her entire body facing the camera, but the reflection makes her more sexualized, leaning over, suggesting more to the man
The style of the French revolutionaries of the 18th century is called Neoclassicism or "new classicism". Why did the revolutionaries look to the classical past for their inspiration? What did they think art needed to be?
They thought art needed to be politically charged and about political activism. They're not just copying an existing art style! Neoclassical is more tight and organized and doesn't have loose brushwork or loose edges when compared to the Rococo style
Andy Warhol, Brillo Box, 1964
This work of art is not something that's made new or original!`
Surreality
To resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality
Renoir
Wants to preserve hand-crafting and wants to represent hand-craftsmanship, because he got replaced by a flower stamping machine (he used to hand-draw the flowers)
Monet's painting of Japanese bridge
You look beyond the picture plane to the image but you also look at the painting's surface
Your eyes remembering images
Your eye can remember an image for 1/20th of a second, and when you look at another image sometime before the 1/20th of a second is over, it makes your brain think that the image is moving
Why is a cubist painting different from a Renaissance painting and an Impressionist painting?
because a Cubist painting records each view taken by the viewer moving around the object and each facet of the object as it moves
Why was cubism revolutionary?
because it showed views from above and from the side at the same time
Site-specific installation
created for a specific site and can only be understood in that context
Neo-Expressionism
large-scale works with historical references to a troubled place, energetic brushwork to talk about feelings and moods
United States v. Olivotti (1916)
sculptures were art only if they were carved or chiseled representations of natural objects "in their true proportions"
To force the viewer to focus on the act of vision, what did Cubist painters like Picasso do?
reduced forms to their simplest geometric shapes
Symbols help communicate intensity of emotion
thick brushstrokes, flattened body, swollen sky, dramatically extended bridge
What have artists wanted since the Renaissance?
wanted the illusion of 3D space in paintings; looking through a window at a scenery
