AP Art History Gallery 9.
fin de siècle
-"end of the century" (the 1890s) in France and Western Europe -connotes an attitude of decadence & uncertainty that characterized the culture & art in a period when faith in many conventions & institutions had been overthrown
der Blaue Reiter
-"the Blue Rider," led by Russian Vasily Kandinsky -celebrated "in the variety of represented forms how the artist's inner desire results in manifold forms"
die Brücke
-"the Bridge," led by Ernest Ludwig Kircher -had goals to build a bridge between Germanic heritage, modern experiences, and their future -they wanted to re-create & renew modern art in Germany
The Steerage
-Alfred Stieglitz -1907 CE -photograph -artist had the idea that photos of ordinary subjects could have a "permanent value" as art & pushed the limits of technology, making pictures in limited light & in the cold wet of a sleet storm -Stieglitz soon became a partisan of straight photography & rejected Pictorialist manipulations & sentimentally in favor of a more abstract outlook -swarm of immigrants who have been refused at Ellis Island & are returning to Europe -Stieglitz saw a perfect compositional structure in a regular scene
Nature Symbolized no. 2
-Artur G. Dove -1911 CE -pastel on paper - was on the Stieglitz Circle -distilled sensual experience into shapes, patterns & complex color harmonies -nature was his inspiration; he was fascinated w/ natural cycles of growth & renewal & sought to rep. these harmonies in his work -referred to his quest for symbolic color effect as "a condition of light" -anthropomorphizing of nature compares to what Franz Marc called his own "animalizing of art" -reps. fields, vegetation, & sky w/o literally portraying them on the canvas
Burghers of Calais
-Auguste Rodin -1884-1895 CE -bronze -illustrates Rodin's position as an artist at odds w/ establishment expectations -story takes place during the Hundred Years War, when the English king announced that the city of Calais would be spared if 6 men would willingly offer up their lives in its place -City of Calais expected an idealized monument reminiscent of Greek & Roman influence, they received something different -not on pedestals: viewers forced to confront humanized individuals -not youthful gods, but average men -figures react to their fate w/ tragic or pathetic horror, not noble reserve & grandeur -figures not coordinated as a civic-minded group, but stand in a disordered assemblage, each to face his fate alone
The Kiss (Auguste Rodin)
-Auguste Rodin -1889 CE -marble -depicts 2 characters from Dante's Divine Comedy -sculpture commissioned by the French state -figures are classically formed & proportioned -passion & romance portrayed isn't overly sexual, but is symbolic of tragedy in the death of the 2 lovers --> in conjunction w/ natural & realistic portrayal of the figures -viewer witnesses transitory moment in this sculpture
A Guitarist
-Boris Valentinovich Shaposhnikov -1910 CE -oil on canvas -fin de siècle: attitude of decadence & self-fulfillment, contrasted w/ growing sense of anxiety amid sociopolitical upheaval in Europe -challenged conventional moral certainties associated w/ political & cultural institutions the century before, artists & patrons favored art that either reveled in unbridled sensuality or expressed fear stemming from loss of certainty
Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building
-Chicago, Illinois -U.S. Louis Sullivan (architect) -1899-1903 CE -iron, steel, glass, and terra cotta -experiment w/ tall office building design -structure divided into diff. zones based on activities of space within -decorative details distinguish zones of activity for visual interest -building emphasizes the horizontal aspect of the building through the repeated use of wide windows, anchored by the rounded corner near city intersection -Sullivan's central architectural ideas regarding form & function would have a considerable afterlife in architectural theory
Female (Pwo) mask
-Chokwe peoples (Democratic Republic of the Congo) -geometric type features of African masks in general influenced Picasso's transition to Cubism -divided color areas in the mask don't conform to contours of the mask's face -Picasso divided faces into stylized segments of shape & color -2 women on right of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon have started facial features & bodies broken into unclear planes, as if viewed from multiple angles
Through the Night Softly
-Chris Burden -September 12th, 1973 -Main Street, Los Angeles -Performance Art -performance in which the artist crawled through 50 feet of broken glass on Main Street in Los Angeles -Burden purchased commercial advertising time, a portion of which was used to broadcast this as one of the 4 commercials intended to "break the omnipotent stranglehold of the airwaves that broadcast television had"
Impression: Sunrise
-Claude Monet -1872 CE -oil on canvas -Impressionist painters drew from direct observation & believed that painting was a visual experience, not historical or social commentary -to achieve images of light & color, Impressionists flattened images & used complementary colors to make shadows -emphasized boundless nature of light & space (didn't bind compositions w/ framing devices like tall trees or rocky cliffs) -an art critic used this piece in 1874 to mock & ultimately name the Impressionist movement -looking out a window overlooking a harbor in Le Havre, his hometown
Saint-Lazare Train Station
-Claude Monet -1877 CE -oil on canvas -Monet applied paint in an agitated fashion that left brushstrokes, giving the painting a sense of energy & atmosphere of urban life
The Kiss (Constantin Brancusi)
-Constantin Brancusi -1907-1908 CE -limestone -Brancusi specifically sought purity in forms, reducing them to sparse, geometric objects -preferred isolation for his creativity (never joined an artistic movement) -portrays the unified forms of a couple joined in intimacy, symbolic of the emotional connection experienced & exhibiting tendencies toward an abstract, Cubist style --> intensifies the primal intensity of the moment, symbolizing connection of lovers as flesh to flesh
Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park
-Diego Rivera -1947-1948 CE -fresco -Rivera sought to create a national Mexican style focusing on Mexico's history that would be popular & available to all classes -he supported the social & political role of art in the lives of the lower & middle classes -mural portrays Rivera & his contemporaries, including Frida Kahlo (his 3rd wife) -Chinese symbol on Kahlo is significant b/c she was of German, Jewish and Mexican descent & her hand resting on Rivera's shoulder is symbolic of her protection & guidance as he proceeds in life -depicts Calvera Catrina (symbol of the middle class & resembles Mexica goddess Coatlicue) linking arms w/ Jose Guadalupe Posada (artistic influence) -image of Calvera Catrina was created as a parody of vanity by Posada & here represnets the complacency & lack of values of the middle class in Mexico before the Mexican Revolution of 1910 -Spanish conquest: Fray Juan de Zumarraga (first Catholic archbishop of Mexico), Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (general & politician, President of Mexico), Winfield Scott (American general & head of troops that occupied Mexico City) -Rivera's Contemporaries: Jose Marti (father of Cuba's independence), Diego Rivera (as a child), Frida Kahlo (artist & wife), La Calavera Catrina (Mexican rep. of death), Jose Guadalupe Posada, Porfirio Diaz (dictator of Mexico), -poor family being expelled by brute force -Juan Sanchez Azcona (revolutionary), Revolutionary worker, President of the Republic (symbol of corrupt presidents)
Untitled
-Donald Judd -1968 CE -enamel on aluminum -Minimalism -Judd was a sculptor whose goal was to create pure forms in space that appealed universally & didn't deceive through illusion -unified form exists as a compete form in space rather than a composition of interrelated elements -work invites viewer to walk around it, peer into its recessed upper surface, and touch & experience it as an object -his works encourage interaction & use forms that are easily engaged & have tactile qualities, enabling the viewer to engage in the space of the work by walking around the forms
Supermarket Shopper
-Duane hanson -1970 CE -fiberglass -his life-sized sculptures depict everyday people performing everyday tasks - commercialized the typical American in the same fashion Pop Artists did for the typical Americans' culture & interests -molds are cast from actual people & made from fiberglass to further expound their reality -polyester resin paints give appearance of human skin; added hair, clothes, & accessories to show humanity & humor of common person -presents lifelike 1970s mom w/ her hair in curlers who is pushing an overflowing cart of groceries -naturalistic & easy-to-read poses -lifelike posters were often placed in areas that startle the unsuspecting public, who often believe them to be real people, as a way of engaging the viewer in his art
The Horse in Motion
-Eadweard Muybridge -1878 CE -photograph -photographs explained how living things actually moved -Former CA governor Leland Stanford wagered a friend that a galloping horse, at some point, had all 4 legs off the ground & asked Muybridge to devise a way to track a horse's precise movements -these projects led to further research, and in 1887, Muybridge published the 3-volume work Animal Locomotion and Prospectus and Catalogue of Plates -photographs would be influential to generations of fine-art photographers, as well as to many painters
(Luncheon on the Grass) Dejeuner sur l'Herbe
-Edouard Manet -1863 CE -oil on canvas -inspired by Renaissance nudes - same knowledgeable look -photo-like "flashbulb" effect w/ extreme areas of light & dark departs from traditional chiaroscuro -nude woman reflects in bright light, emphasizing her intentional eye contact
Olympia
-Edouard Manet -1863 CE -oil on canvas -portrayal of a young prostitute reclining on a bed while her maid presents her w/ a bouquet of flowers from a client -her look was considered defiant & shameless & shocked both public & critics of the time -look of the subject draws the viewer in
The Scream
-Edvard Munch -1893 CE -tempera & pastels on cardboard -reps. a Symbolist breakthrough by divorcing the use of line, color, shape & composition from the representation of reality in favor of expressive feeling -discontentment w/ the capitalist modern world & exploration of the human psyche were dominant themes of the movement -painting meant to convey an experience he had when walking through the city -Post-Impressionist influence; but lines pulse with energy in order to convey feeling & disorient viewer -blue water & red sky overwhelm both figure & viewer (claustrophobic, oppressive atmosphere) -red intended to remind viewer of blood -contorted body of central figure doesn't reflect anatomy, but terror at crushing feeling (evidence to psychological impact of Munch's experience)
Proud 93. Floating Spiral.
-El Lissitzky -1924 CE -pen, ink, watercolor on paper -acronym for "project of the affirmation of the new" in Russian -artist used mechanical instruments to produce the precisely rendered Prouns, typical of his expansion of Constructivist style through the exploration of spatial elements, shifting axes, & multiple perspectives
Street, Berlin
-Ernest Ludwig Kirchner -1913 CE -oil on canvas -Kirchner moved to Berlin before WWI & found contemporary issues such as prostitution & poverty -his jagged brushwork, elongated figures, and vibrant color create a dazzling city atmosphere & signify the primal nature of the city -depicts a man w/ a cane behind his back, looking in a shop window, perhaps a reflection in the window; the men's black & navy blue suits represent danger -two elegantly dressed women are prostitutes -lines throughout the composition are sharp & angular, adding to the intensity of the scene & creating a sense of disorientation for the viewer -emphasized fear & commentary of the injustice of war
Self-Portrait as a Soldier
-Ernst Ludwig Kirchner -1915 CE -oil on canvas -Kirchner was drafted into the army & trained for field artillery -expresses his fear of being sent into battle -he wears the uniform of his field artillery unit but depicts himself as an amputee w/ his hand missing -his thin face is tired & emaciated, a cigarette dangles from his lips, & his eyes are dull & lifeless -nude woman possibly there to signify his impotence & inability to draw & paint her -pink swirl on left = unfinished canvas -expressionism
Study After Velazquez's Pope Innocent X
-Francis Bacon -1953 CE -oil on canvas -Postwar Expressionism -inspired by The Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velazquez, a painting that fascinated Bacon due to its perception of suppressed emotions w/i its subject -Bacon's rendition portrays the pope as a terrified howling ghost in front of a black wasteland -while Velazquez only suggested the pope's anger & frustration in his portrait of him, Bacon fully expresses those feelings -Bacon's painting imitates the open-mouthed scream exemplified in Edvard Munch's The Scream by ripping away the reason, nobility, faith, order and canonical status that Velazquez's image represented, exposing the terror and inhumanity that Bacon perceived at the heart of European civilization, which led to WWII & countless horrors before
The Tower of Blue Horses
-Franz Marc -1913 CE -oil on canvas -Marc exploited color to communicate emotion & "express the life of the dream" -his perception of human beings as deeply flawed led him to use animals as subjects - he felt they were pure & more appropriate to express inner truth which exemplified der Blaue Reiter's expression of the artist's desires through varied forms -Marc breaks complex forms of horses & their anatomies into simple shapes, shaded in a way that suggests movement & depth -Mark believed blue was a male color & yellow was a female color -artist claimed that this was his attempt to see through the horses' eyes
The Two Fridas
-Frida Kahlo -1939 CE -oil on canvas -Kahlo rejected the Surrealist label & limits she saw in it -considered her paintings the most frank expressions of herself -her work often explores the sense of separate cultural identities (Mexican dad & Hungarian-Jewish mom) -dual rule as a Mexican woman & citizen of the modern world were explored in her self-portraits -she was injured in a horrific bus accident at 18, restulting in a broken spinal cord & crushed & dislocated leg, she was impaled by a pole in her abdomen which caused her to be infertile -her injuries shaped her life & her art -symbolism derived from folk magic, native beliefs, & traditional Christian & Jewish motifs -after recovering, she met painter Diego Rivers, who recognized her talent & helped her advance her career as a painter; they got married & had a tumultuous relationship (affairs, divorce, remarriage) -the work portrays 2 images of her seated side-by-side, holding hands & connected by a thin artery b/w 2 hearts -left figure: European-style dress, severed artery w/ surgical forceps -right figure: wears traditional Zapotec dress, connects artery to miniature portrait of her husband as a child -the deep, emotional, psychological, and political implications of the painting exemplify why some considered her a Surrealist - these same associations caused her to consider herself apart from the group because she was portraying what she believed was her own reality
Sunday on La Grande Jatte
-George Seurat -1884-1886 CE -oil on canvas -fuses a modern subject & setting w/ variety of both traditional & innovative techniques -average Sunday afternoon: members of all ages & social classes, stereotyped images of women, men, children and animals -geometric shapes dominate composition -complementary colors --> conveying emotion
The Portuguese
-Georges Braque -1911 CE -oil on canvas -still life that exemplifies Braque's early Cubist stye (Analytical Cubism) - intensely focuses on study of shapes & multiple perspectives -subject = Portuguese musician that Braque saw in a bar in Marseilles -representation is a dissection of the man & his instrument interacting with the space around -subdued hues contrast w/ those used by German Expressionists so that the focus is solely on form, disrupting expectations about the representation of space & time -later in the Cubist movement, artists pushed their stylistic limits & moved to a more decorative palette (Synthetic Cubism)
Abstract Speed + Sound
-Giacomo Balla -1913-1914 CE -oil on millboard -has dark green hills for landscape, white stretches for road, & blue for sky; all intersected by a visual cacophony of motion & sound w/ frame included as part of picture -painting believed to have originally been the center portion of an uncompleted triptych suggesting cars' alteration of the landscape, representing both sight & sound
Spiral Jetty
-Great Salt Lake, Utah, U.S. -Robert Smithson -Environmental art -1970 CE -earthwork: mud, precipitated salt crystals, rocks and water coil -a monumental 1500-foot spiral of mud, black basalt rock, and salt jutting counterclockwise into in a remote section of Great Salt Lake, utah -Smithson built the work when the red translucent water of Great Salt Lake was unusually low, and while it can still be seen, it has been partially submerged for years -remote location emphasized environment as the subject & specific invention of the viewer to observe the work -environmental changes that it experiences & ways it changes over time are an intended evolution of work itself -use & manipulation of the environment to convey meaning -challenges traditional concepts of human interaction w/ the landscape -testament to the ultimate dominion & brutality of nature
The Kiss (Gustav Klimt)
-Gustav Klimt -1907-1908 CE -oil on canvas -unabashed eroticism is typical of the fin de siècle period in its portrayal of opulence & sensuality -Klimt was connected w/ Art Nouveau (called the secession style in connection to the Vienna Secession, a group of progressive artists who had left behind the strictures of institutionally established art to exhibit independently) -color & portrayal superseded reality & representation so that the concept represented was more pertinent than the execution of it -awkward angle of the man's head & contortion of couple's hands represent tension in their embrace -relationship is a mystery, but composition suggests the secularization of a sacred revelation (combo of erotic & spiritual) -lack of true perspective is intentionally disorienting & painting implies that love & desire are beautiful but unknowable mysteries
Stone Breakers
-Gustave Courbet -1849 CE -oil on canvas -subjects were workers that Gustave Courbet met on a road -older man & young assistant labor in what Courbet called a "complete expression of human misery" -painted from the hot roadside & used palette of earth tones to recreate the dusty environment -men turned away from viewer to highlight plainness & lack of individuality -focuses attention on "heroism of modern life" --> viewer could place himself in the painting -lacked sentiment of contemporary genre painting, the classical heroism of Neoclassicism, and the beauty of Romanticism
Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany
-Hannah Hoch -1919 CE -photomontage -criticized contemporary political & social institutions -replicates chaos & inconsistency of German culture -head of Weimar Republic President Friedrich Ebert placed on body of a topless dancer -writer & art critic Theodore Däubler's head placed on a baby's body -popular German actress Niddi Impekoven joins Dadaist artist John Heartfield in the bathtub -critiqued gender roles of the period (kitchen knife = implement from traditionally female realm) -"beer-belly cultural epoch" = image of self-satisfied man whose wife is at work in this kitchen -represents persistence of sexist attitudes
Nature Abhors a Vacuum
-Helen Frankenthaler -1973 CE -acrylic on canvas -poured thinned paint directly onto canvas for the paint to eddy & flow to stain the canvas to create the appearance of a watercolor -masking the surface to reveal areas of white -composition represents experimentation w/ formal elements, not an emotion expression of the artist's inner psyche
Dishes and Fruit
-Henri Matisse -1901 CE -oil on canvas -Expressionist
Woman with the Hat
-Henri Matisse -1905 CE -exemplifies Matisse's Fauvist style -abstract patches of color frame the sitter, his wife -complementary areas of red/green and blue/orange vibrate against each other, adding energy to the painting and drawing attention to her penetrating gaze -colors meant to express how Matisse viewed her, colorful & full of life
Goldfish
-Henri Matisse -1912 CE -oil on canvas -deep orange color of the subjects represents their intent as the focal point: they stand out amg. the background colors -goal is expression & rejection of realism -intuition, expressive color, & rhythmic pattern reveal serenity of goldfish & surrounding plants, which further express unconscious desire for peace & reflection -goldfish paintings likely inspired by bold contrasts of colors & use of goldfish as reflection aids in East Asian gardens -his other works explore emotional qualities of colors, not the actual appearance of the subject
Sleeping Gypsy
-Henri Rosseau -1897 CE -oil on canvas -reps. the Symbolists' fascination w/ dreams and fantasy -Rosseau admired works of academic artists & aspired to produce paintings that were accepted among their ranks -dominated by bold shapes & colors & composed through its own spatial logic -the gypsy, with flute and mandolin, is sleeping in a desert landscape under a full moon -ambiguous use of rising perspective makes it impossible to know if the lion is at a distance from stalking just behind the gypsy --> unclear whether lion is threat to vulnerable traveler or reps. dream world -symbols not tied w/ known cultural iconography (typical of Symbolist artists; they preferred to use personal, often enigmatic symbolism in their art, conveying depth of meaning w/o using traditional representations)
Third-Class Carriage
-Honore Daumier -1862 CE -oil on canvas -portrays the poor working class of 19th Century France -unposed & not idealized -figures appear both content & uncomfortable at the same time -carriage is crowded & dark, passengers don't appear unhappy but lack distinctive features (no individuality, like Courbet's The Stone Breakers) -photojournalistic approach is distinct from Realism & different from the Academic & Romantic painting that continued to dominate French art world -Daumier's portrayal of the cramped & dirty railway cars is a commentary on the underappreciated labor of the industrialization
Nader Raising Photography to the Height of Art
-Honoré Daumier -1862 CE -lithograph -idea that photography was a fine art was controversial, even after the court decision -Nadar was the first photographer to take pictures from the gondola of a hot air balloon -illustrator does more than note an event - caption alludes to ongoing controversy concerning whether or not photography was an art -pun on the word "elevating" -bird's eye view to illustrate the boom in photography studios, showing how the French word "photography" appears all over the city -traditional belief was that an artist was a person of talent who trained, but anyone could be a photographer
Lady of Elche
-Iberian sculpture -Elche, Southern Spain -450 BCE -limestone -Picasso found inspiration from ancient Iberian sculpture, which he originally explored in his portrait of Gertrude Stein -Picasso reflected influence of primitive art & exploring simplified breakdown of the planar form
One: Number 31
-Jackson Pollock -1950 CE -oil and enamel on canvas -Pollock underwent psychoanalysis & Jungian archetypes played a large role in his earlier, more objective paintings -established Modern art in America through the sale of his work Autumn to the Metropolitan Museum of Art - est. America as prominent contributor to the art world -developed his own style of painting characterized by laying huge canvases on the ground & energetically & expressively applying drips & splashes of color -rather than drawing the eye to a focal point, the painting creates a hypnotic pulsing rhythm over the whole of the canvas, emulating the concept of movement & enabling viewer to experience it -works theorized to connect with the Native American sand paintings, which are temporary & function ritualistically -work represented the importance of the creative process rather than the product (gestural abstraction) -improvisational nature & reliance on the subconscious parallel Surrealism
The Migration of the Negro, Panel no. 49
-Jacob Lawrence -1940-1941 CE -casein tempera on hardboard -Lawrence was inspired by politically oriented art and found his subjects in everyday life of Harlem & African American history -portrays the segregation & discrimination experienced by African Americans specifically in the north, but widespread throughout the US & enforced by Jim Crow laws as before the Civil Rights Movement -portrays a dining room segregated w/ a yellow barrier running down the center, w/ Af. Americans on the right & white individuals on the left -style reflects Cubist influence in the use of geometric shapes -narrative in this work & others in the series is unified w/ bluish green, orange, yellow, and grayish brown -captured the experiences of Af. Americans in the North & serve as a social history, much like Rivera's Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park
La Grand Odalisque
-Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres -1814 CE -oil on canvas -strays from idealism -inclusion of Oriental elements aligns with the Romanticist infatuation with the exotic
The Valley of Mexico from the Hillside of Santa Isabel (El Valle de Mexico desde el Cerro de Santa Isabel)
-Jose Maria Velasco -1882 CE -oil on canvas -used Mexican geography as a symbol of national identity in his paintings -patriotically connects the past & future -combo of 2 indigenous figures & scenery reflects relationship b/w people & land --> significant after war of independence from Spain in 1821, after which Mexico sought to find its identity -connection sim. to joining of nature & religion in The Oxbow -openness of composition gives peaceful nature & contrasts w/ Impressionist painters like Monet
Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht
-Kathe Kollwitz -1919-1920 CE -woodcut -portrayed social injustices in her artworks in a naturalistic manner -portrays a working-class leader in the struggle for power in the developing Weimar Republic who had been murdered -desired to create art that the common person could identify with, so she chose not to focus on the reality & gruesomeness of death, but on the emotion of the mourners -depicted reality of the despair of the widow & other mourners, members of the working class that Liebknecht represented -use of woodcut is significant as multiple copies of the work could be made, allowing accessibility to a larger audience (emphasizes Kollwitz's desire to create art for the common person)
Suprematist painting (with Black Trapezoid and Red Square)
-Kazimir Malevich -1915 CE -oil on canvas -abstract, geometric paintings represented a "supreme," or absolute reality of feeling in art -used the square (which he considered to be the supreme form) & red & black on white because they appealed to him -while he stressed non objectivity in his works & their ability to convey feelings & emotions that representational art couldn't, it's been suggested that his intention was to portray aerial views of buildings as seen from an aircraft (early indication of the impact of the technological age on Russian art)
Henri VII Lady Chapel
-London, England -16th Century CE -initially intended to be a shrine & tomb of Henry VI; when he wasn't canonized (declared a saint), his successor & wife were to be interred (buried/placed) in the tomb -dedicated to the Virgin Mary - underscored Henry VI's legitimacy as king & his legacy -inside, pendant fan vault ceiling is highly elaborate, supported by rib vaults culminating in pendants
Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament)
-London, England -Charles Barry & Augustus W. N. Pugin (architects) -1840-1870 CE -limestone masonry & glass -example of Gothic revivalism in Romantic-period architecture -particular variations on the Gothic style of these structures came to represent national identity -function: meeting place of supreme legislative body of England -conceived to echo the Perpendicular Gothic style (simpler than Decorated style & emphasizes verticality) of Westminster Abbey -many Romantic theorists mechanized construction of the Industrial Revolution
Boulevard du Temple
-Louis Daguerre -1838 CE -Talbot quickly publicized his own method wen word of Daguerre's work arrived in England -Talbot's calotype negatives required further work to produce a final, positive picture -images were soft in effect, fuzzy compared to the finely detailed daguerreotypes
Still Life in Studio
-Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre -1837 CE -photograph -daguerrotypes: an early photographic process in which images were made with silver plates coated with a light-sensitive layer of silver iodide -couldn't be replicated like later images printed from negatives, so they were valued as artistic objects & documents
Fountain (second version)
-Macel Duchamp -1950 CE -readymade glazed sanitary china with black paint -Dadaism characterized by use of found objects -Duchamp felt that viewer was as important as the artist was - perception, not creation actually made something "art" -readymade: a term Marcel Duchamp used to describe an ordinary object isolated from its original context & designated as a work of art -his most famous challenge the definition of art was his 1917 submission of a urinal, which he signed as "R. Mutt" & titled Fountain, to the Society of Independent Artists in NY -R stands for "readymade" -society held a nonjuried show where any artist was allowed to enter any work as long as they paid an entry fee -piece was accepted but displayed in a dark corner behind a curtain, hidden from view -Duchamp argued that it was "Mr. Mutt's" choice that made the urinal a work of art by adding a new conceptual dimension to the work; it didn't matter that he didn't create the piece using his own hands - he chose it
The Coiffure
-Mary Cassatt -1890-1891 CE -drypoint and aquatint on laid paper -contrasts Venus of Urbino, La Grand Odalisque, Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia -portrays the female nude in a unique moment in which the subject is unaware she is being watched -Cassatt, the only American Impressionist, portrayed the woman in a fashion sim. to Japanese woodblock prints (voyeuristic but not erotic) -artist incorporated striped fabric, pattern and areas of flat color to create harmony in the piece & accents the lines of the body, showing influence from Japanese art
Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure)
-Meret Oppenheim -1936 CE -fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon -Surrealism: advocated human desires free, no matter how irrational they might seem -practice of automatism was to enhance creative output by circumventing conscious control -defamiliarized the everyday through the creation of seemingly nonsensical objects -artist was inspired to create this after a conversation with Picasso uno a Paris café (Picasso noted the fur-covered bracelet she wore & commented that anything could be covered in fur)
Portrait of Charles Baudelaire
-Nadar (Felix Tournachon) -1862 CE -lithograph -Nadar used glass negatives & albumen printing paper to record finer detail & a wider range of light & shadow than Talbot's calotype process -wet-plate technology became universal way of making negatives until 1880 -Nadar became famous for his wet-plate photographic portraits, so much so that he became the subject of a lithograph (image produced from process of printing from a flat surface treated as to repel the ink except where it is required for printing) that provides commentary about the struggle of photography to be recognized as a fine art
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
-Pablo Picasso -1907 -oil on canvas -Picasso went through many stylistic changes during his career (he considered stylistic change a revolution to avoid stagnation -portrays women from Barcelona's red-light district, representing Picasso's continued reduction of & departure from reality that began w/ Expressionism -multiple viewpoints & jagged discontinuous planes indicate sense of isolation & fear felt among these intimidating women & general uneasiness of brothel environment -influence from African masks & art of Oceana & Iberia -full break from Realism -the abrupt color change in the background reflects Paul Cézanne's (father of modern art, who simplified & flattened landscapes into geometric shapes, planes, & colors) influence on Picasso & Cubism
Mont Sainte-Victoire
-Paul Cézanne -1902-1904 CE -oil on canvas -Cézanne's interest in geometric substructures of nature laid the foundation for Cubism, Fauvism, & Expressionism in early 20th Century -one of several landscapes Cézanne paint from his brother-in-law's estate in southern France -shift of color = rejection of Impressionism -his goal was to portray the lasting structure behind the fleeting image seen by the eye instead of the actual photographic truth of the subject -influenced Cubism & Picasso
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
-Paul Gauguin -1897-1898 CE -oil on canvas -questions in title represented from right to left as pessimistic commentary on inevitability of life & its cycles & lack of human control in those cycles -Where do we come from? - symbolized on right as a baby, blue Tree of Knowledge, rep. of the inception of & anguish in life -Where are we? - symbolized by middle figures, rep. the mundane tasks of everyday life -where are we going? - symbolized on the left by an elderly woman who is dying, while the blue idol behind her symbolizes "the beyond"
Fallingwater
-Pennsylvania, US -Frank Lloyd Wright (architect) -1936-1939 CE -reinforced concrete, sandstone, steel and glass -designed for Edgar Kaufmann, a Pittsburgh department store entrepreneur -intended to convey space, not mass & designed to fit lifestyle of the patron -waterfall & pool for kids to play & large boulder where they could sunbathe in the summer (used as central hearthstone of fireplace) -home built over waterfall because Wright believed the inhabitants would become desensitized to the waterfall's presence & power if they merely overlooked it -series of terraces extend from a cantilever (structural system in which a horizontal element is secured at one end by the supporting structure and free, w/o supporting columns, at the other) -exteriors provide contrasting textures of concrete, painted metal & natural stone -full-length strip windows create an interweaving of interior & exterior space, exemplifying marriage of architecture & nature
Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow
-Piet Mondrian -1930 CE -oil on canvas -Mondrian began as a Cubist & produced a series of paintings in which he broke down natural forms into a series of increasingly abstracted studies -he was an adherent of the spiritual movement Theosophy & attempted to fuse his Theosophical & aesthetic persuasions -entirely geometric painting w/ colors reduced to primaries (red, yellow, blue) & neutrals (black & white) -his philosophy of art pitted sensual & subjective reality (to be avoided) against a higher reality characterized as objective & rational - represented through geometrical, radically abstract work -he believed that reality could only be expressed through the equilibrium of dynamic movements of form & color & that pure means afford the most effective way to attain this reality -to him, pure means were simple horizontal & vertical lines & the most basic of color palettes -balance of unequal opposites achieved through the right angle was a chief organizational principle, as displayed in this piece -balance of horizontal & vertical represented an ideal balance of male vs. female, individual vs. collective, & other elements and was designed to communicate via a universal language
Villa Savoye
-Poissy-sur-Seine, France -Le Corbusier (architect) -1929 CE -steel & reinforced concrete -International Style -created to be a country retreat for the Savoye family -intended to provide a calm, serene environment for the inhabitants to interact w/ in communion & peace, while causing as little disturbance as possible to the existing natural surroundings -villa has features typical of Le Corbusier's work, known as his Five Points (basic tenets for architectural aesthetic) -in the shape of a cube, the villa is made of steel & ferroconcrete (mixture of cement & sand applied over layers of woven or expanded steel mesh & closely spaced small-diameter steel rods) and has only a partially enclosed ground floor -intended as representation of a new vision in the form of functional architecture -exterior initially painted dark green, cream, rose & blue (analogy for colors in the machine) -inspired Purist style (reinforced Cubism through a return to simple, Classical forms) -interior is an open space w/ thin columns supporting main living floor & roof garden area -viewers must walk around & through house to comprehend its layout, which includes sev. changes of direction & spiral staircases -as a person moves through the spaces, they experience the harmony between the architectural forms and the play of light
Aphrodite of Knidos
-Praxiteles -Roman copy of an original -350 BCE -marble -from the late Classical period -portrays Aphrodite at a specific moment when she was bathing, shielding herself from view while looking at the viewer -same gaze captured in Venus of Urbino -females were often portrayed as passive, sensualized objects created for the pleasure of men, known as "the male gaze" -artworks featuring women were commissioned by men, for the viewing of men
Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?
-Richard Hamilton (Father of Pop Art) -1956 CE -collage -collection of images is a commentary on materialism, vanity, and advertising -the setting, taken from an ad for Armstrong floors, depicts a modern living room -cover of the teen comic book Young Romance is framed & hangs on wall & photo of a cinema showing Al Johnson's The Jazz Singer (the first film w/ synchronized sound) can be seen through the window -"Pop Art" name originated w/ the giant Tootsie Pop held by the idealized, muscular husband
Crystal Palace
-Sir Joseph Paxton -1851 CE -new materials encouraged new style of architecture in 19th Century -expression of patron & artist confidence in new building materials (inc. glass & iron, future components of skyscrapers) -Commissioned by Prince Albert for the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations -huge greenhouse - new design allowed for more light into the building -once exhibition was over, it was altered & moved to new location -elaborate, innovative design would enable new possibilities for materials, leading to architecture like the Eiffel Tower
Illustration from the Results of the First Five-Year Plan
-Varvara Stepanova -1932 CE -photomontage -Russian artists used her photomontage (composition made of photos or parts of photos pasted to a base) -meant to celebrate the accomplishments of the USSR after WWII, specifically the 5-year plan developed by the Russian dictator (Joseph Stalin) to speed up industrialization & growth in the Soviet economy -montage featured in USSR in Construction (magazine used as propaganda for Stalin) -Stepanova was one of many artists who praised USSR for changing dynamics of the country, hoping it would end poverty & corruption -symbolism: color of Soviet flag (red) // 5: 5-year plan // founder of USSR (Vladimir Lenin) looks toward electrical tower - industrial revolution & the future, people celebrate below
Composition VI
-Vasily Kandinsky -1913 CE -oil on canvas -Kandinsky created a numbered series based on 3 categories he distinguished in his painting: Impressions, Improvisations, and Compositions (names derived from music terminology, a connection he wanted to emphasize) -he felt music & art were similar, that sounds & colors could evoke images while having no subject -original title: Flood -mass of objects being destroyed by natural & supernatural forces, influenced by his metaphysical beliefs -he was an adherent of the school of mystical thought called Theosophy -Kandinsky may have experienced synesthesia (condition in which 2 senses overlap each other) - he could taste the colors he saw or hear music when looking at images
Improvisation 28 (second version)
-Vassily Kadinsky -1912 CE -oil on canvas -complete abstraction -eliminates representational elements w/ his interest in Theosophy (any of a number of philosophies maintaining that a knowledge of God may be achieved through spiritual ecstasy, direct intuition, or special individual relations) -Kandinsky believed that color directly influenced the soul like vibrations in sound & paralleled this to music in his book Concerning the Spiritual in Art
The Starry Night
-Vincent van Gogh -1889 CE -oil on canvas -painted from the window of a sanitarium -used impasto (thick application of paint where the marks of the paintbrush or palette knife are still visible) to build rhythmic brushstrokes around each object in his starry sky, communicating his feelings about the vastness of the universe -cypress trees (symb. of death & humanity) & small church appear small under enormity of the night sky -this & deep colors signify van Gogh's reflection of life & death & his significance between -emotionally expressive depiction = evidence of van Gogh's emotional state & disconnect w/ specific landscape (contrasts w/ Velasco's realist depiction) -Japanese prints greatly influenced him -The Great Wake Off Kanagawa displays the natural landscape & distinct artistic expressions in a sim. method (Mt. Fuji is small // the low mountains to the right are dwarfed beneath the vast sky; great wave about to crash down on boat // swirls of color permeate skies & portray stars & moon; wave's size scaled to mountain // cypress trees (symbol of death) larger than mountains & city // use of color of waves and mountain // yellow swirls contrast dead appearance of trees)
Pop Art
-a 1960s-1970s style of art that celebrates consumerism, modern popular culture, and common mass-produced goods -celebrates consumerism as reaction against the philosophical & nonrepresentational Abstract Expressionism that originated in Germany & culminated in the US w/ the New York School (group of artists centered in NY, first emerging in the 1940s and constituting the artistic avant-garde)
primitivist
-a Western art movement that borrowed visual forms from non-Western or prehistoric people -simplified figures & exaggerated color to express meaning
Futurism
-a call for societal change & an artistic movement founded by F. T. Marinetti in the 1909 Manifesto of Futurism -5 Italian artists signed the original manifesto -the artistic style depicts motion & dynamics, often w/ emphasis on machinery -embraced the modern world & demolished both the status quo & Classical inspiration -many Futurist artists hoped for a war b/c they saw it as the only way to cleanse the world of the corrupt politics & social stigmas that were destroying the core of humanity -allied w/ the Fascist party (Mussolini)
mimesis
-a direct representation of the thing seen, like a reflection in a mirror -artists had persistently challenged this & emphasized artist's need to idealize
Expressionism
-a mostly Germanic style of the early 20th Century that is a visual expression of intense inner feelings rather than outer appearances -Expressionists were socially critical artists, addressing moral issues such as materialism & poverty
symbolist
-a movement in European art around 1885 to 1910 that rejected the direct representation of physical reality to emphasize the subjective expression of ideas through symbolic means
Abstract Expressionism
-a painting movement that involved the expression of feelings and states of mind through abstract means, first coming together in NYC in the 1940s -abstract & expressed feelings of the artist -many early practitioners were influenced by the psychoanalytic approach of Carl Jung (student of Freud) & created works designed to present the collective unconscious -collective unconscious: a Jungian theory describing the private symbolic images & associations held by each individual in common with humanity at large -abstraction of forms would contribute to the universal appeal of what was expressed
Fauvism
-a painting style developed by Henri Matisse in 1905 that formally lasted until 1908 -the name means "fierce animal" -rejects Neo-Impressionism (specifically pointillism, or divisionism) & expresses flat, bold, un-naturalistic color with impulsive brushwork -sometimes the blank canvas shows between brushwork -Fauvists explored the different effects colors can have on emotions
Fauve
-a painting style developed by Henri Matisse in 1905 that formally lasted until 1908 -the name means "fierce animal" -style rejects Neo-Impressionism (specifically pointillism, or divisionism) & expresses flat, bold, unnaturalistic color with impulsive brushwork; sometimes the blank canvas shows between brushstrokes
positivism
-a philosophical system that holds that every rationally justifiable assertion can be scientifically verified or is capable of logical or mathematical proof, & that therefore rejects metaphysics & theism
minimalism
-a style or technique that is characterized by extreme spareness & simplicity -sculptures are sparse & lack color & texture, reducing forms down to basic geometric shapes
Superrealism
-a style, begun in the 1960s, whose goal was to duplicate images of the real world; paintings were made to look like photos, and figural sculptures were cast from real people -AKA Photorealism or Hyperrealism
Surrealism
-a term appropriated by André Breton in 1924 to describe an art movement that was an outgrowth of Dada but sought more systematic and positive expression of its ideas, particularly under the influence of Freudian psychology
action painting
-a term coined by Harold Rosenberg to describe a branch of Abstract Expressionism characterized (in his view) as concerned primarily with the canvas as a scene for action -used to describe an approach like Pollock's, which Rosenberg believed emphasized the canvas primarily as the scene of action
International Style
-a timeless-looking architectural style from the 1930s to 1970s that emphasizes pure geometric form over ornamentation -characteristics include smooth lines, rounded corners, flat roofs, utilitarian construction materials, and neutral colors
Post-Painterly Abstraction
-abstract painting that drew on the legacy of Abstract Expressionism but purged it of gestural ("painterly") elements that expressed the artist's feeling or state of mind
environmental art
-also known as Earthworks -a style of sculptural art originated in the 1960s that uses earth, rock, and other organic material to alter the landscape -sometimes the art is permanent, and sometimes it is deliberately impermanent
Performance art
-an American avant-garde art trend that made time an integral element of art
Constructivism
-an art movement emerging during the Russian revolution that emphasized abstraction and modern materials & sought to put artworks at the service of social needs -Rodchenko favored more functional endeavors encompassing industrial, graphic, and interior design; film; and theater to promote the revolution
Dada
-an art movement first emerging in Zurich in 1916 that rejected bourgeois culture & traditional artistic expression in favor of art characterized by chance, feeling, freedom, indeterminate meaning, and a breaking down of the barriers between art & life -rejected traditional conformist culture & conventional artistic expression -reflected artists' disillusionment over the outbreak of WWI -"dada" chosen randomly from a dictionary - intended to be nonsensical -Dada celebrated chance rather than choice & rejected the notion that art should be separate from life
Cubism
-an early 20th Century art movement that rejected naturalistic depictions & preferred abstract compositions of shapes & forms -founded by Pablo Picasso -impacted by, an inclusion of, and a reaction to previous artistic techniques & styles -disjointed, angular, & geometric forms
Suprematism
-art movement -founded by Kazimir Malevich -sought to represent "abstract form" as an expression of "supreme feeling"
complementary colors
-colors opposite each other on the color wheel that create depth when displayed together
flatness
-creating painted canvases that accepted and emphasized the flatness of the surface rather than hiding it through illusionism
Le Corbusier's Five Points
-elevated on freestanding posts -uses a flat roof for a terrace -walls used to divide the interior & for privacy on the exterior, but never for support -has ribbon windows, windows that run the length of a wall -has facades that serve only as a skin of the wall & windows
avant-garde
-from the French military term for soldiers who went ahead in battle -refers to artists or movements that are radically ahead of their time
Pictorialist
-photography used to achieve an emotional effect that paralleled the effect of certain styles of painting (for example, a soft focus paralleled Romantic painting)
Post-Impressionism
-the artistic period characterized by an increase in experimentation while still holding onto Impressionistic tendencies -some artists tried new techniques, while others delved into fantasy -despite their diversity, all were emotionally intense and adept for manipulating color
Impressionism
-the artistic period directly following Realism -discards the details of Realism & instead studies the momentary effects of light & color
Realism
-the artistic period directly following Romanticism -breaks from grandeur & upholds the importance of the everyday visual experience -embraced empiricism & positivism, believing that only what was seen is real
empiricism
-the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience
