Transcript Early Expressionism

Early Expressionism
Munch (pronounced Muenk) was a Norwegian painter and
printmaker whose intensely psychological and emotional
themes was a major influence on the development of
German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His painting
The Scream is regarded as an icon of the existential anguish
of the post-industrial modern age.
Edvard Munch
1863-1944
“The Scream”
1893
Casein/waxed crayon
and tempera on paper
(cardboard)
35 7/8” x 29"
Death in the Sickroom 1895, Oil on canvas, 59” x 66”
The Dance of Life,1900, Oil on canvas, 49 ½” x 75”
Ashes
1894; Oil on canvas, 120.5 x 141 cm; Nasjonalgalleriet (National Gallery), Oslo
Evening on Karl Johan
1892; Oil on canvas, 84.5 x 121 cm; Rasmus Meyer Collection, Bergen
Self Portrait: Between Clock
and Bed
1940-42; Oil on canvas,
149.5 x 120.5 cm; Munch
Museum, Oslo
German Expressionism
There were two groups of German
Expressionist movements.
One was called Die Brucke (meaning "the
bridge"), led by Kirchner.
The other was called Der Blau Rieter ("the
Blue Rider"), led by Kandinsky.
Die Brucke ("The Bridge")
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
(1880 - 1938)
•
•
The beginning of Expressionism took place in Germany, around the time of
the first World War. In 1912, Kirchner became the leader of a group of
artists who called themselves "Die Brucke". He and the other artists sought
to build a " bridge" between Germany's past and future. They felt that the art
of the current establishment was too academic and refined to retain any
degree of expression, so they instead found inspiration in medieval German
art and primitive African sculpture. Additionally, they would find inspiration in
the emotionally expressive works of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch.
Since their primary concern was the expression of deeply felt emotions,
they would also transform their negative feelings about the war onto canvas.
Kirchner achieved some fame during his lifetime, and was fortunate to
maintain a number of collectors for his paintings. With the beginnings of
WWII, however, his work was denounced (as well as his compratriots) as
"degenerate art", and confiscated from museums. He became increasingly
depressed by the war and took his own life.
Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner
“Woman and
Mirror”
1912
Ernst Ludwig
Kirchner
“Two Women in
the Street”
1914
Der Blau Reiter ("The Blue Rider")
Wassily Kandinsky
(Russian, 1866-1944)
•
Though Kandinsky was born in Russia, he spent most of his creative years
in Germany, and would head up the second German Expressionist group,
known as "Der Blau Reiter". Kandinsky and his followers were more
spiritually inclined than the Die Brucke group (and had close ties with a new
sect of religious philosophy, known as theosophy). Kandinsky believed that
colors, shapes and forms had an equivalence with sounds and music, and
sought to create color harmonies which would be purifying to the soul. It is
easy to see the impressionistic influence in his very earliest works. As his
work progresses, it becomes increasingly abstract, until there is no longer
an image defined by the various shapes and colors. By this time, Kandinsky
had decided that the idea of creating paintings which were pictures of the
representational world was no longer necessary. He felt that society was
paving the way for a new, more spiritual age. Instead of focusing on the
material aspects of life, he felt his paintings could help prepare people to
see the spiritual, non-material world. Kandinsky is one of the first (if not the
first) artist to create completely non-representational paintings.
Kandinsky
“Woman
in
Moscow”
1912
Kandinsky
“Improvisation
30”
1930
Franz Marc
(German,1880-1916)
Franz Marc is best known for his paintings of
animals (particularly horses and deer) in which he
attempted to express his mystical veneration of
nature. In works such as Blue Horses, he used
stylized lines and curves and brilliant unrealistic
color to create and heighten the sense of nature
idealized. After 1913, in response to cubism and
futurism, he turned to abstraction, creating moods
of clashing, discordant uncertainty. He was killed
in action during World War I.
Franz Marc “Blue Horses” 1911
Franz Marc, “Deer in a Monastery Garden” 1912
Austrian Expressionism
Gustav Klimt
• Gustav Klimt was the leader of a group
called the Viennese Seccession, which
sought to separate itself from the naturalist
movement which was popular in early 20th
century Austria. His work is difficult to
categorize, but is often associated with the
Symbolists and Art Nouveau, but it also
has some ties to Expressionism.
Gustav Klimt
“The Kiss”
1907
Oil on canvas
180 x 180 cm
Gustav Klimt
“Hygeia”
1907
SYMBOLISM
Late 19th century art movement of
French and Belgian origin in poetry
and other arts
“The Sleeping Gypsy” 1897
Henri Rousseau
1844-1910
The Repast of the Lion, ca. 1907 Oil on canvas; 44 3/4 x 63 in.
“Tropical Landscape- An American Indian Struggling with a Gorilla” 1910
Odilon Redon
1840-1916
Odilon Redon
“Orpheus”
1913
Odilon Redon, Il ciclope, 1895-1900
Odilon Redon
“The Buddha”
Odilon Redon
“Vase of Flowers”
DADAISM
People believed that a society that creates the monstrosity of war does
not deserve art, so they decided to give it anti-art–not beauty but
ugliness. With phrases like Dada destroys everything!
It is an early twentieth century art movement which ridiculed
contemporary culture and traditional art forms. The movement was
formed to prove the bankruptcy of existing style of artistic expression
rather than to promote a particular style itself. It was born as a
consequence of the collapse during World War I of social and moral
values which had developed to that time. Dada artists produced works
which were nihilistic or reflected a cynical attitude toward social values,
and, at the same time, irrational — absurd and playful, emotive and
intuitive, and often cryptic. Less a style than a zeitgeist, Dadaists
typically produced art objects in unconventional forms produced by
unconventional methods. Several artists employed the chance results
of accident as a means of production, for instance. Literally, the word
dada means several things in several languages: it's French for
"hobbyhorse" and Slavic for "yes yes." Some authorities say that the
name Dada is a nonsensical word chosen at random from a dictionary.
Duchamp, Marcel
(1887-1968)
• Duchamp’s work is characterized by its
humor, the variety and unconventionality
of its media, and its incessant probing of
the boundaries of art.
Nude
Descending
a Staircase,
No. 2,
1912
Marcel
Duchamp
Marcel
Duchamp
“Fountain”
1917
Ready-made
Porcelain Urinal
Marcel Duchamp
L.H.O.O.Q.
1918
Max Ernst
(1891-1976)
The German painter-poet Max Ernst was a
member of the dada movement and a founder
of surrealism. A self-taught artist, he formed a
Dada group in Cologne, Germany, with other
avant-garde artists. He pioneered a method
called frottage, in which a sheet of paper is
placed on the surface of an object and then
penciled over until the texture of the surface is
transferred.
Max Ernst
Ubu Imperator,
1923-1924
The Graminaceaous Bicycle, 1921
SURREALISM
Europe, 1924 to 1950's
Surrealism is a style in which fantastical visual imagery from the
subconscious mind is used with no intention of making the work
logically comprehensible. Founded by Andre Breton in 1924, it was a
primarily European movement that attracted many members of the
chaotic Dada movement. It was similar in some elements to the
mystical 19th-century Symbolist movement, but was deeply influenced
by the psychoanalytic work of Freud and Jung.
The Surrealist circle was made up of many of the great artists of the
20th century, including Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico, Jean Arp, Man
Ray, Joan Miro, and Rene Magritte. Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí.
(Spanish, 1904-1989).
“The Persistence of Memory.”
1931.
Oil on canvas,
9 1/2 x 13"
Salvador Dalí. (Spanish, 1904-1989). Illumined Pleasures. 1929.
Oil and collage on composition board, 9 3/8 x 13 3/4"
Salvador Dali
“Soft
Construction
with Boiled
Beans”
1936
Salvador Dali
Soft SelfPortrait with
Grilled Bacon,
1941
The Visage of War, 1940
Joan Miro
1893-1983
• subject matter drawn from the realm of
memory and imaginative fantasy
Joan Miro
“Dutch Interior II”
1920
Personage Throwing a Stone at a Bird
“Catalan Landscape”