Art Test 2
Tempera
(See Botticelli Primavera , or Andrew Wyeth's Braids) •Paint medium made by combining pigment with water and a gummy material--usually egg yolk . •The effect is a fine, linear effect of color on the surface. •A system used primarily until the end of the Middle Ages.
Acrylic (synthetic)
(See Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Lichtenstein) •Pigments are combined with an acrylic polymer emulsion as the binder (a synthetic material). •Benefits: Water-soluble & fast drying (easier to use). •Came into commercial use in the 1950's.
Watercolor
(See Winslow Homer, painter) •Pigments are suspended in gum Arabic* (the binder) and combined with water. •Applied to dampened paper. •Of all the paint media, can be made more transparent than others (well, maybe...).
Encaustic
(See: Ancient Egyptian funerary portraits; also done today) Pigments are combined with hot wax as a binder; an ancient technique for painting but still used today.
Fresco
(See: Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel) • Another ancient technique. Pigments are combined with lime water and applied to a fresh lime plaster wall. •Pigments chemically bind with the lime plaster wall--painting is permanent.
Oil Painting
(See; Jan Van Eyck, Arnolfini Marriage Portrait) •Pigments are combined with oil as the binder (and thinned with the solvent or vehicle). •More versatile--a continuous tonal range is possible but dries very slowly. •Can be thinned and layered to create a luminous effect of color shining from below surface.
Sculpture Processes
Additive Subtractive Casting Performance and Installations
Casting
The technique of pouring liquid material into a mold to solidify, remove, then finish to create a 3-d object.
Camille Pissarro
grandfather of Impressionism
Sculpture
historically been used to decorate architecture. exists on the human scale or is bigger or smaller so scale is significant. makes the viewer aware of the surrounding space and their position in that space. as a 3D form, multiple viewpoints are intended. 3 Dimensional artform
Performance Pieces
involve time-based (and sometimes site-specific) performances that may involve objects, sound, film and any and all of the above
Contemporary Art Definition of Painting
is being pushed: (see Rauschenberg). It's being expanded and re-defined to include artworks that exceed traditional boundaries of what painting used to be.
Impression, sunrise by Claude Monet
1874 (gave the movement its name);
Pablo PICASSO:
1881 : 25 October, born in Málaga, Spain •1900 : first trip to Paris, the art capital of the world. •1906 : Sees the Paul Cezanne retrospective. It changes the way he paints.
Pattern
A repetetive, decorative and usually even spaced design. nearly always creative visual texture repetetive nature of pattern can create a sense of linear and directional movement..
Emphasis or Focal Point
Draws the viewers attention to one or more areas of a composition
Paint Media
Encaustic, Fresco, Tempera, Oil Painting, Water Color, Acrylic (synthetic)
Mary Cassatt (American);
Even among Impressionists,Cassatt presented unorthodox images of women: •images of women with obvious financial autonomy. •women in the company of women; women participating in cultural events. •women conversing with each other, interacting (versus the stock images of other Impressionists who painted women outdoors, as performers, dancers, nudes, listening or watching men do something). •women engaged in intellectual activity. •women in control of 'the gaze' versus being the object of the gaze. •women in situations that were considered inappropriate for the day (ie: traveling alone, driving horse buggies...) •Mother & child depictions without overt sentimentality.
Scale and Proportion
Refer to the size of objects within a 2-D composition and their relationship to each other. •In sculpture, scale & proportion refer to the relationship between parts of the sculpture and to the relationship the piece has to the viewer.
Feldman's Model for the Critical Process
Involves 4 steps for viewing & critiquing artworks (Formal analysis): •DESCRIPTION •ANALYSIS •INTERPRETATION •EVALUATION
Paint Terms
Pigment, Binder, Solvent or Vehicle, Support, Ground, Gesso and Rabbit Skin Glue
What does an artist attempt in abstract works?
Render a sensation or experience or feeling... Expose or stimulate the memory... Create a psychological landscape for the viewer... Remind the viewer of a place... Create a physical environment for the viewer... Depict an abstract idea like death, god, happiness...etc. Provide the viewer with a journey... spiritual, physical, sensational...of the 5 senses...< /span> But sometimes, the work is only about the formal components (line, color, shape, texture, pattern, balance, repetition etc.)
Subtractive
The artist begins with a mass of material and removes or subtracts it until the form is finished.
Repetition and Rhythm
The occurrence of same or like elements in a work. •Repetition creates a path for the viewer's eye. •It also sets up a rhythm of elements within the composition.
Additive
The sculptor builds the work, adding material as the work proceeds:
Symmetrical Balance
Two sides of a composition; match and appear to balance
Three Modern Masters of Paint
Vincent VAN GOGH, Pablo PICASSO & Jackson POLLOCK
Analysis
a breaking up of the whole artwork into parts to find out their similarities and differences, function and organization. Note the relationships among things described above and how individual parts effect one another. How do the individual parts relate to one another or to the whole artwork? •Compositional structure can be analyzed in terms of the design/art principles (i.e. balance, rhythm, repetition, variety, unity, etc.) How is visual balance achieved? What or where is the focal point or area? •Again look at the design/art elements (line, shape, color, form, texture, space). How are forms located relevant to one another? How is 3-D space represented on the flat 2-D surface?
Description
a detailed account, usually non-argumentative and value-free, of what is seen. Think of a description as a list or inventory of what is presented or included in the artwork. Strive for objectivity - avoiding interpretation and judgment. Describe only what is certain, leaving questionable objects and ideas for later. • Note the title, artist's name, time when executed, media, (materials & processes) involved. This is commonly termed the "standard information" about the artwork). •Name the objects seen using descriptive adjectives, analogies, and nouns. •What is the subject matter? (which is NOT content/meaning).
Evaluation
a judgment is made, a rank is given to the artwork in relation to other artworks of the same type (drawing to drawing; still life to still life). This is an informed judgment based on evidence gleaned from the above stages. Comparing the present artwork with a past artwork, style or historical time does not mean one needs to imitate work of the past; the past artwork only serves as a reference point or an object of accomplishment.
Trompe L'oeil
a painting device in which the painter uses an extremely realistic & illusionistic technique. What is painted doesn't simply look real, it looks as if it's placed within the viewer's own space. Trompe l'oeil is used in a lot of Roman frescoes.
Surface Quality
a tactile component that is smooth, rough, thick, bumpy, etc.
Fresco- Pounce
a way to trace cartoons to wall; perforate drawing then 'pounce' charcoal to transfer drawing.
Principles of Design
about visual organization 1. Balance 2. Emphasis/Focal Point 3. Scale and Proportion 4. Repetition and Rhythm 5. Unity and Variety
Interpretation
an explanation or the meaning of the artwork is given or attempted. At this stage personal meanings and understandings related to the description and analysis undertaken above is attempted...and often this is an educated guess. It is certainly possible to find/ascertain more than one meaning. The artist's intention may or may not be relevant here (study the title or what the artist or others have written about the artwork if possible). Ask yourself "what could this mean?" • Does the work emit social, political, religious, philosophical, and/or economical notions or ideas? Is there a central problem advanced through the choice of subject matter, theme, symbols, or topic? • Try to place the artwork in context by examining any historical evidence you might have; relate the artwork to the time and place the artwork was done or to a previous or future time and place. • Metaphors help here in describing the meaning and nature of the work.
The Salon De Paris
annual art exhibition in the 19th century established by the Académie des Beaux-Arts art of the refused
Spatial revolution
background & foreground collapse.
Additive- Construction
building form, sometimes out of many parts; usually created from raw materials (i.e., wood and metal).
Additive- Modeling
clay for example
Additive- Assemblage
created by compiling and assembling objects (usually found).
Radial Balance
everything radiates outward from a central point.
High Relief
extends from the background by half of its depth.
Installations and Performances
pieces are considered to be in the realm of sculpture.
Manet
pre-cursor to Impressionism & modernity
Low Relief
raised slightly from the background
Relief
sculpture that extends from the plane it is attached to.
Kinetic Sculpture
sculpture that moves
Carving
subtractive process. (stone, wood, wax, soap, etc.) is a subtractive process. CARVING produces relief or free-standing sculpture.
What sets the stage for the appearance of Impressionism:
the Industrial Revolution •Rebuilding Paris by Baron Haussmann; he built a beautiful, wide-open Paris for the citizens. •tube paint is invented (Impressionists painted en plein air: outside!) •I mpressionists pondered the nature of color and light. They were interested in color, not as they understood it to exist, but as they saw it in nature. •the invention of photography influenced Impressionists.
Binder
the component that binds pigments. Can be natural or synthetic (animal glue, milk, egg, resins, polyrethanes, polyesters, acrylics, etc.)
Ground
the first layer of 'paint' on a support that provides a smooth surface and stops absorption by the support.
Implied Texture
the illusion of texture on a 2-dimensional surface.
Balance
the literal or visual weight distribution in an artwork.
Pigment
the mineral or synthetic component that gives paint color.
Fresco- Cartoon
the preliminary drawing for transfer to the wall (it is to scale)
Gum Arabic
the substance from an acacia tree. It's used in chewing gum, candy, marshmallows, printmaking, photography, & watercolor paints.
Support
the surface onto which a painting is made (wood, canvas, paper, wall)
Asymmetrical Balance
two sides of a composition that do not match yet they appear to balance
Gesso and Rabbit Skin Glue
used as a ground; the first layer of 'paint' that sizes the canvas & provides a rigid support.
Solvent or Vehicle
used to thin down paint or to clean (water for acrylic; mineral spirits, acetone for oil paint)
Installations
uses sculptural materials and other media to modify the way the viewer experiences a particular space. They can be a boundary-challenge for the viewer.
PICASSO'S CUBIST LEGACY
•A painting can show more than one point of view at a time. •Hierarchy of the picture plane destroyed. •The SURFACE is more significant than anything. •The painting is what it is: painting , nothing more, nothing less. •ABSTRACTION!
THE FORMAL QUALITIES OF POLLOCK'S WORK:
•All over pattern of line--the formal aspects are more significant (line, rhythm, movement, balance...) •There is no horizon line or apparent light source •Endless movement is part of the composition. •Color is there but de-emphasized (removes any emotional directness?). • There is no focal point-- no beginning, no end (endless repetition of gesture & form). •They are large scale (a serious attempt!) •The gesture of arm & body with which he applied his paint is apparent. •These characteristics influence the production of artists who become known as Abstract Expressionists (The New York School)
•VAN GOGH'S EXPRESSIVE LEGACY TO MODERN ART:
•Arbitrary color use. •Distortion of form. •Inherent expressive quality of composition and form (lots of texture, impasto; movement on the surface which means that the appearance of the paint itself of significance).
What qualities or characteristics of photographs influenced IMPRESSIONISM
•Asymmetrical compositions •silhouette •interest in broad landscape (distance in between camera & subject matter) •elevated point of view •interest in spontaneity of scenes and action
What makes Impressionism modern?
•It liberated color use for painters... •It liberated the brush (rapid, spontaneous strokes...) •And it allowed painters to expand subject matter. •Here steps in the painter Vincent Van Gogh, learning so much from and following in the wake of the Impressionists. He sets painting on its modern path...
Ukiyo-e (Floating world, Japanese woodblock prints)
•Japanese woodblock printing from the 19th century. •Discovered as packing material in goods from Japan. •Exhibited at the Paris Universal Exposition, 1867. •Subject matter: genre scenes, subjects from temporary events like theatre, dance, erotica, courtesans.
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
•Monet travels to London to escape the Franco-Prussian War--what artist does he see? J.M.W. Turner, the great British painter. •Monet's home is at Giverny (it's still there & can be visited). Go here to find information about Monet's Giverny. •Monet is a serial painter: he paints the same thing over & over & over...Why?
Unity and Variety
•Repetition & Rhythm of visual elements are used to create both UNITY & VARIETY within compositions. •Unity is needed to create a cohesive composition. •Variety is necessary for visual interest.
JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGY:
•Seeks to engage the images that emerge from the unconscious. •Jung was interested in dream imagery (archetypes) not in sexual terms (as Freud explained) but as meaning these archetypes represented. •Jungian analysis actively seeks to render images from the imagination (personal and universal unconscious).
JACKSON POLLOCK'S LEGACY:
•The work was part of a purification of form going on in art--it is formalistic & eliminates historical content--we've entered complete non-objectivity. •The flatness of the surface is acknowledged & even celebrated. •He limits his work to lines, movement--everything derived from the gesture . • The work becomes an 'environment' for the viewer. •Like Picasso, there is no hierarchy of form. •The object (the art) is not significant: this is a record of his actions & movement around the canvas. •The process was more important than the product. • Pollock's work is an internal 'psychic' landscape . Where other painters had created imitations of the visual world, he plunged the depths of his own mind and his experience & gave form to something that is formless.
Impressionists
•They played with the effects of natural & artificial lights (shimmering, constantly moving...) including atmospheric effects like rain, fog, mist. Painters went outside to paint: en plein air. •Committed to optical truth not intellectual truth--they painted what they saw, not what they knew to exist (purple tree--OK!). •Subject matter: genre scenes, the bourgeoisie, portraits, still-life, landscapes, architecture and anything outdoors that provided a surface for the play of light & color. Also, images of Industrialization: ie: trains, factories...etc. •Open brushwork: quick way to paint those fleeting outdoor scenes (also, Delacroix & Manet influenced them) •Started thinking of color as the primary component of their palettes--even shadows were often simply color. (arbitrary color use) •Invention of tube paint got them outdoors. •Often were interested in color theory--letting the viewer's eye help 'blend' the colors. •Import of ukiyo-e woodblock prints impacts composition & other visual techniques.
Stylistic CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPRESSIONIST PAINTING
•Transient effects of sunlight and color. •Shimmering movement of light on objects outdoors. •Loose and broken brushstrokes, heavy impasto (not blended and smooth). •Color often defines shadow (no more black & grey) •Paint, color, and brush eventually dissolve form. •The essence or impression of an object is captured."Immediate, bright, transient..."
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL PLAYERS;
•Urban renewal (Franco-Prussian War & Revolution of 1789): a gleaming, beautiful Paris with parks, recreation, open boulevards. (Baron Hausmann—city planner, architect) •Industrial revolution created a bourgeoisie (middle class) who had leisure time. •Industrial Revolution offered subject matter: gas lamps, railroads, trains, bridges, factories. •Photography influenced them. •Paint in tube available--artists go outside to paint. (What's outside?)
•Jackson POLLOCK
•born in Cody, WY, 28 January 1912 (one of 5 brothers) •1929 moves to NYC & trained with Thomas Hart Benton at the Art Students League •1936: learns how to use acrylic paint & other media at Siqueiros studio •1945 marries painter Lee Krasner •late 1940's: moves to Springs NY & starts experimenting with pouring paint & what we now call 'action painting.'
What's going on to impact his artistic research?
•the purity & abstraction of African & primitive (non-industrialized) sculpture--a spiritual search? •Einstein's Theory of Relativity published (time, motion, distortion of form in time). •invention of film (motion pictures) •rumblings of war in Europe: a fragmentation of order.