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Colonial Empires About 1900

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The early 20th

century:Full-blown MODERNISM

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Evolution of Modernism and the Avant Garde

*See Modernism Unit Sheet for EXTRA CREDIT Theme Card

• Art which calls attention to itself as ART – not a window to the outside world… redefining reality

• The INDIVIDUAL – freedom of expression• Progressive and turbulent times!• Process of making & concerns w/ formal

elements of artCritiquing/creating (emphasis on what actually

makes the art)• Various ways of abstracting (changing reality)• Interest in the “exotic” (Imperialism,

Colonialism)• Experimentation and innovation

(industrialization, inventions, new discoveries)• Challenging notions of beauty –

QUESTIONING and OVERTHROWING TRADITION

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Formalism vs. Expressionism

• FORMALISM (from the head): • focus on elements of art and

principles of design• Analytical, intellectual,

organization of physical elements of art (space, shape, line, etc.) from without

• Artists so far…..• EXPRESSIONISM (from the heart):

• focus on artist’s unique/personal vision/emotion

• expressive, passionate organization of feelings, experiences (the ACT of creation)

• from within • Artists so far……

FAUVISM“Wild Beasts of COLOR”

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• “Autumn Salon” - Fauves criticized as “childish”, “untrained”

• Did not paint what they saw, but how they felt about what they saw

• Simplified designs, shockingly bright colors

• Inspired by Gauguin, van Gogh

• Color used for expressionist purposes, not descriptive purposes

• Rich surface textures, and lively linear patterns

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Figure 33-2 HENRI MATISSE, Red Room (Harmony in Red), 1908–1909. Oil on canvas, approx. 5’ 11” x 8’ 1”. State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg.

Matisse

Red Room

“What I am above all, is expression”

Matisse simplified forms so viewer doesn’t become overwhelmed by trees and leaves, loosing the “feeling” of the work

Flatness and space…

Black outlines influenced by…

•“Continuous adjustment” (color-to-color, shape-to-shape) to “create harmony in a troubling world”.

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Pre-War German Expressionism: Der Blaue Rieter“The Blue Rider” More spiritual intentionssome of the world’s first COMPLETELY abstract painting (non-objective)

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Figure 33-6 VASSILY KANDINSKY, Improvisation 28 (second version), 1912. Oil on canvas, 3’ 7 7/8” x 5’ 3 7/8”.

German Expressionism: Der Blue ReiterMeans= Blue RiderFormed by :Kandinsky and Marc

Kandinsky: Improvisation 28-Explored feelings through line, color, implied spatial relationships.- one of the first to explore COMPLETE Abstraction. -NON-OBJECTIVE-Elimination of representational elements

-Believed in spiritual/psychological value of color

art responds to his inner state, not external stimulusWe are not to see mountains, birds, or anything that corresponds to the outside worldWe are to respond instinctively from the soul Questioned the tangible world b/c science was saying that material objects have no real substance

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composers organize sound, painters organize color and form – music can do w/o a tonal center, can art do w/o subject matter?

Concerning the Spiritual in Art…“Color directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposefully, to cause vibrations in the soul”

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Kandinsky

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Kandinsky

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Kandinsky

Kandinsky Composition No. VII

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More Marc….BLUE horses. (Der Blaue Rieter)

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POST WWI German Expressionism: Neue Sachlichkeit“The New Objectivity” Post WWISought a clear, direct, honest image of the world – often a harsh image…Some of the artists had been soldiers in WWI – they had seen WAR first-hand.

Kandinsky Composition No. VIIModernist Art Template

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1. Which of the following artists believed that color could play a primary role in conveying meaning?

A) MatisseB)NoldeC)KirchnerD)Kollwitz

2. Which of the following artists was a member of Der Blaue Reiter?

A) NoldeB)KirchnerC)MatisseD)Kandinsky

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3. Which of the following artists believed that animals were superior to humans?A)NoldeB)MarcC)KandinskyD)Kirchner

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