Transcript Modernist Art: The Revolt Against Representation images downloaded (4/14/00) from Mark Harden’s Artchive http://www.artchive.com/ftp_site.htm During the first decades of the 20th century, artists rejected the representational.

Modernist Art:
The Revolt Against
Representation
images downloaded (4/14/00)
from Mark Harden’s Artchive
http://www.artchive.com/ftp_site.htm
During the first decades of the 20th century,
artists rejected the representational style that
had dominated European Art since the
Renaissance.
Picasso
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907)
Raphael
The Cowper Madonna (1505)
Table of Contents
Medieval World View
Romanticism
Perspective
Late 19th C. Discoveries
The Greek Ideal
French Academic Ideal
The Renaissance
Impressionism
The Enlightenment
Post-Impressionism
Neo-Classicism
Cubism
Progress
Futurism
Representational Realism
Surrealism
The French Revolution
Expressionism
The Medieval World View:
Art as Icon:
The mystical figure inspires
worship and meditation upon the
life to come.
Giotto Madonna in Glory
c. 1311
Tempera on panel
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
The Development of Perspective
What is the relationship between the
emblem of the crucified Christ and the
vaulted arch in which he is represented?
What new idea is emerging?
MASACCIO Trinity 1427-28
Fresco Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Perspective:
How did this new conception of
space effect the way artists
understood human character and
rendered the human body?
Piero della Francesca
Montefeltro Altarpiece
1465
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
Leonardo’s Innovation:
the Human Spirit Itself
Shapes Space
LEONARDO da Vinci The Last Supper 1498
Fresco Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie
(Refectory), Milan
The Emergence of the
Individual in Greek Sculpture
As Frozen and Expressionless as
this Representation might be, the
Figure has still Taken a Step
Forward.
Kouros, 600 BC.
The Emergence of the Individual
What vision of Man in the State of
Nature is expressed by the Greek Ideal?
Is this man in control of his destiny?
Kouros, 550 BC
The Greek Political Ideal
What is the relationship between this
manner of representing the human body
and the democratic political ideals of
Periclean Athens?
What classic conception of
human nature and man’s
relationship to society did High
Renaissance artists encourage?
Features of the
Renaissance’s Vision of
Human Nature:
•Reason
•Human Beauty
•Civic Virtue
•Individual Rights
•Social Progress
Raphael
The Betrothal of the Virgin
('Sposalizio') 1504
Oil on panel 170 x 118 cm
Brera, Milan
Rediscovery of Classical
Philosophy
RAPHAEL
The School of Athens 1510-11
Fresco Vatican, Stanza della Segnatura, Rome
Rediscovery of Greek Literature
TITIAN
Bacchus and Ariadne
1523-24
Oil on canvas
175 x 190 cm
National Gallery,
London
The Emergence of the
Individual: A Free Agent in
Pursuit of a Personal
Destiny
RAPHAEL
Bindo Altoviti
c. 1515
Oil on wood
23 1/2 x 17 1/4 in. (60 x 44 cm)
National Gallery of Art,
Washington
The Rediscovery of the
Scientific Method
LEONARDO da Vinci
Study of proportions
from Vitruvius's De
Architectura
Pen and ink
34.3 x 24.5 cm
(13 1/2 x 9 5/8 in.)
Accademia, Venice
The Classical Ideal of
Beauty Glorifying the
Human Form
Michelangelo’s Innovation:
Revealing the Spirit Beneath
the Surface
MICHELANGELO, David c.
1501-1504 Marble Height 410
cm (13 1/2 ft) Accademia delle
Belle Arti, Florence
Through the Direct
Observation of Nature, the
Ideals of Beauty can be
Discovered.
LEONARDO da Vinci Head of a
Young Woman Accademia, Venice
Celebrating the Noble
Virtues of Courage, Honor,
and Duty
MICHELANGELO
David (detail)c. 1501-1504 Marble
Height 410 cm (13 1/2 ft) Accademia
delle Belle Arti, Florence
The Heroic Vision of
Man as Crown of
Creation
Durer, Albrecht
Self-Portrait at 28
1500
Oil on panel
67 x 49 cm
Alte Pinakothek,
Munich
The Emergence of the
Middle Class
Businessman
REMBRANDT van RIJN
Portrait of Nicolaes Ruts
1631
Oil on panel
118.5 x 88.5 cm
The Frick Collection, New York
The Empirical Utopia:
The French Enlightenment Extended the
Renaissance Faith in Reason.
Isaac Newton, portrait by
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1689
Corbis-Bettmann
The Enlightenment Experiment
• to reorganize society and put
an end to the reign of prejudice
and religious superstition
• to end blind obedience to
unexamined dogma
• to reform or overthrow the
tyrannies of oppressive political
regimes
Diagram for Kepler’s Laws
Neo- Classical Form
Balanced Composition,Clear Contour, Rational
Relationships of Parts to Whole
DAVID, Jacques-Louis
The Death of Socrates 1787
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York
Progress:
The Application of Reason
Will Lead to the Perfection
of Human Society
BLAKE, William
The Ancient of Days 1794
Relief etching with watercolor
23.3 x 16.8 cm (9 1/8 x 6 7/8 in.)
British Museum, London
Nature’s Harmonious Design:
“Whatever is, is right.”
CHURCH, Frederic Edwin
Heart of the Andes
1859 Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
NewYork
Representational Realism implies:
- the rule of reason: the harmony of
rational order in the universe
- the beauty of human nature expressed in
classic forms
- the possibility of progress: the
perfectibility of human nature and society
The philosphes believed:
- All genuine questions have one and
only one answer.
- A path towards the discovery of these
genuine answers must exist.
- These answers must all be compatible
with each other.
The French
Revolution:
•Was it the
Culmination of
Enlightened, Liberal
Reform?
•Or the Mere Seizure
of Power by a New
Moneyed Class?
DELACROIX, Eugene Liberty Leading the People 1830
Oil on canvas Musee du Louvre, Paris
What happened during the
nineteenth century to alter the
hopeful vision of human destiny we
inherited from the Renaissance and
the Enlightenment?
Romanticism
celebrated the
individual’s intuition as
the true guide to
knowledge.
FRIEDRICH, Caspar David
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog
c. 1818
Oil on canvas
94.8 x 74.8 cm
Kunsthalle, Hamburg
Romanticism
encouraged
expeditions
into the
irrational
realm of
dreams.
FUSELI, Henry The Nightmare 1781 Oil on canvas 127 x 102 cm Detroit
Institute of the Arts
Romanticism
and The Exotic
The new emphasis
on emotion and
intuition led to the
explorations of
exotic locales.
DELACROIX, Eugene
Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople on 12 April 1204
1840 Canvas 162 x 195 1/2 in. Musee du Louvre, Paris
Romanticism and Nationalism:
Heroic Representations of
Martial Prowess Encourage
Visions of a Culture’s Mission
and Destiny
GERICAULT, Theodore
An Officer of the Imperial
Horse Guards Charging
1814
Oil on canvas
349 x 266 cm
Musee du Louvre, Paris
Romanticism and Narrative Paintings Tell Gripping Stories
With Powerful Symbols Carrying Political Messages
GERICAULT, Theodore The Raft of the Medusa 1819
Oil on canvas 491 x 716 cm Musee du Louvre, Paris
Birth of a New Age: The Industrial Revolution
TURNER, Joseph Mallard William The Fighting "Temeraire" 1838 Oil on canvas
Clore Gallery of the Tate Gallery, London
The Philosophies of Romanticism:
- Immanuel Kant Insisted that the Observer Participates in the Creation of the
Object. Reality is Subjective.
- Moral Truth Exists Beyond Science’s Grasp in the Realm of Poetry, Music and
Art.
- Romanticism Celebrated the Diversity and National Identity of Various
Societies.
- There Exists more than One Way to Organize a Society.
Romanticism Ended the Belief That the Discovery of One Truth Would Unite
All Mankind.
- Representative Realism Began to Fade as the One True Way of Rendering
Reality.
Advances by Scientists and Political
Philosophers of the Late Nineteenth Century
Accelerated Changes in Our Understanding
of Human Nature as Society Entered the Era
of Industrial Capitalism.
Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) and Descent of Man (1871)
Social
Darwinism:
ideological
justification for
Imperialism.
George Bellows Both Members of This Club, 1909.
Marx’s Political Theory of Dialectical Materialism
• History
Progresses
Through Class
Conflict.
• Material Forces
Alone Shape
Human Identity.
• Revolution Will
Inevitably Bring
the Proletariat to
Power.
Daumier, Honore The Uprising c. 1860
Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C
Freud’s Theory of the
Unconscious
• Human Behavior is
Driven by Irrational
Unconscious Forces.
• Civilization is Preserved
Only Through Frustration
of Our Primal Desires.
•Symbolism
MUNCH, Edvard
The Scream 1893
Oil, tempera and pastel on
cardboard
91 x 73.5 cm
National Gallery, Oslo
Vincent Van Gogh, The Night Cafe August-September 1888 Impressionism
Revolution in Physics: The Destruction
of Newton’s Conception of the Universe
• The Discovery of X-Rays (1895)
• The Discovery of Radiation (1896)
• Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity (1905)
• Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle (1927)
The Milky Way in Infrared
World War One: Destruction of the Heroic Vision of Warfare
The Battle of the Somme
The French Academy’s Ideal
Renaissance Conceptions of
Human Heroism and Beauty
Dominated the Art World
Throughout the First Half of the
Nineteenth Century
David, Jacques-Louis
Napoleon in His Study 1812
The National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.
Late 19th Century French
Academic Painting
morally uplifting
religion, classical mythology, and
history
Scenes of landscapes or (worse) of
everyday moments in 19th century
life were considered too
insignificant to be the subject of
great art
Painters were expected to create
the impression that their work was
a “window” onto a particular
scene. All signs of their brush
strokes were to be hidden, and the
use of foreshortening and subtle
shading
"The Abduction of Psyche," WilliamAdolphe Bougereau
Religious Painting by a 19th
Century French Academic
Painter
Adolphe-William Bouguereau,
The Flagellation of Christ, 1880
French Academic Painting: The Illusion of Reality
Gérôme mastered the
technique of producing a
painting that obliterated
all traces of brush
strokes and produced the
illusion of a kind of
window on reality. His
careful rendering of the
human form and concern
with historical accuracy
appealed to the world of
academic art and to
potential patrons.
Gérôme, The Cock Fight, (1846)
Impressionism: The Material of Light
MONET, Claude Wheatstacks (End of Summer) 1890-91 Oil on
canvas The Art Institute of Chicago Impressionism
Monet’s Innovation:
The Observer Participates in
the Creation of the Object:
• The Optical Illusion of
Shimmering Light
• Juxtaposed Brushstrokes of
Different Colors Are Fused by the
Viewer’s Eye to Create the
Shimmering Illusion of a Third
Color
• The Material of Light is Partly
Composed by the Viewer’s Brain.
MONET, Claude
(Detail) Wheatstacks (End
of Summer) (1891)
The Liberation
of Color
Color replaces
Representation
of the Object as
the Painting’s
Primary Value.
•Impressionism
MONET, Claude Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking
Through the Fog 1904 Musee d'Orsay, Paris
Cezanne’s Innovation: Seeing the Object from Multiple Perspectives
Paul Cezanne Bibemus Quarry c. 1895.Museum Folkwang, Essen
Post-Impressionism 1875-1900 (Tigertail Virtual Museum)
Reality and Ambiguity: The New Architecture of Space
CEZANNE, Paul Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les
Lauves 1904-06
CEZANNE,
Paul
Mont
SainteVictoire
Seen from
Les Lauves
(detail)
1904-06
Cubism: Reality is a Mental Construct
Cubism
and
Picasso
PICASSO, Pablo Houses on the Hill, Horta de Ebro, summer 1909 The
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Cubism:
Modernism Questions
Liberal Political Ideals
by
Questioning the Autonomy
of the Individual.
PICASSO, Pablo
Girl with a Mandolin
(Fanny Tellier)
Paris, spring 1910
Oil on canvas
The Museum of Modern
Art, New York
Cubism: Individual Identity Can Only Be Measured
from Multiple Perspectives
Ingres, Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Louis-Francois Bertin 1833
Musee du Louvre, Paris
Picasso, Pablo
Portrait of Ambroise
Vollard 1910
The Pushkin State Museum
of Fine Arts, Moscow
The Theatrical Avant-Garde
Modern Man as Pompous
Schoolmaster
Ubu Roi (1897) Alfred Jarry
Jarry’s schoolboy vision of his
rotund Physics teacher
becomes the epitome of the
European bourgeoisie’s huge
weight, crushing stupidity,
blood thirsty barbarism, and
ridiculous pomposity.
Ubu Roi (1897)
The beginning of 20th century theatre
Disintegration of the
Renaissance Notion
of Identity
• stages in a
prostitute’s decline
into decadence
• expressiveness of
non-representational
art
• Cubism and
Picasso
PICASSO, Pablo
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Paris, June-July 1907
The Museum of Modern Art,
New York
The Anxiety of Modernism:
•Ambiguity: Multiple Interpretations of a Work of Art Can Be Legitimate.
•Materialism: The Truth is not Abstract or Ideal but Concrete and Material.
Legitimate Ideas Must be Verifiable.
•God is Dead; the Human Mind Has Become the New Object of Religious
Veneration.
•Human Nature is Mysterious, Irrational and Bestial. Our Behavior is
Determined by Forces Beyond Complete Understanding or Control
•Instead of Creating a Utopia, Liberal Economy and Science Have
Created Urban Misery, Environmental Catastrophe, World War, and
the Real Chance of Civilization’s Destruction.
Relativity:
The Figure in Motion through
Time and Space
DUCHAMP, Marcel
Nude Descending a
Staircase, No. 2
1912
Oil on canvas
146 x 89 cm
Philadelphia Museum
of Art
Futurism and Fascism
Futurism was an offshoot
of Cubism centered in
Italy which carried the
reaction against the
liberal tradition of
representation to a new
extreme.
The Futurists glorified
dynamic action as
opposed to the static
inefficiency and
indecisiveness of reason.
•Futurism
Boccioni, Umberto Elasticity 1912
Oil on canvas 39 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.
Collection Dr. Riccardo Jucker, Milan
French Academic
Painting:
Idealism and
Eroticism
The rejection of
“commonplace and
indiscriminate
realism” that
portrayed everyday
scenes without an
enobling or
enlightening
message
Gérôme, The Pipelighter (1898)
Dream Interpenetrates Reality
ROUSSEAU, Henri The Dream (1910) Oil on canvas 6' 8 1/2" x 9' 9 1/2"
The Museum of Modern Art, New York Symbolism
Henri Rousseau, La bohémienne endormie (The Sleeping Gypsy), 1897
Rousseau v. Gerome Comparison
Childhood,
Dream,
Humor,
and
Ambiquity
Symbolism
Henri Rousseau, The Snake Charmer, 1907
Non- Linear Methods of
Story Telling
• Non-Representational
Form: the Object is a
Painting
•Dreamlike Evocations of
Folk Tales
•Defying the Laws of Time,
Gravity and Three
Dimensional Space
• Expressionism
Chagall, Marc
I and the Village
1911
Oil on canvas
The Museum of Modern Art,
New York
What is the story being
told here? or Why are
these particular objects
included? or Who are the
people in the paintings?
Henri Rousseau, Un Soir de carnaval
(Carnival Night), 1886
Surreal Dreamscapes
•De Chiricos dream are not
nostalgic or fantastic.
•His visions of the unconscious
reveal a discontinuous, shadowy,
and disquieting realm.
•Renaissance nobility is hung out
to dry next to some rubber gloves.
•The painting’s date helps explain
the sense of impending doom.
•Dadaism and Surrealism
DE CHIRICO, Giorgio Love Song 1914
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Expressionism: The Grotesque
Following Munch, the German
Expressionists responded to
WWI with a sardonic and
grotesque depiction of the
reality of human nature.
•Expressionism
KIRCHNER, Ernst Ludwig Selbstbildnis als Soldat 1915
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio
Weimar Germany
•During the period between the
wars, German Expressionism took
on an overtly political tone as
leftists capitalists, and fascists vied
for power.
•What political position is
suggested by Beckmann’s depiction
of urban decadence?
•Expressionism
BECKMANN, Max Dancing Bar in Baden-Baden 1923
Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munich
German Expressionism:
Frank Eroticism
• Redefining Love in Purely
Physical, Non-Idealistic
Terms
• Fascination with Freud and
Psycho-Pathological States
•Expressionism
Schiele, Egon
Semi-Nude Girl, Reclining 1911
Gouache, watercolor, and pencil
with white heightening on paper
Graphische Sammlung Albertina,
Vienna
Fauvism
•Color is Divorced
From Descriptive
Function.
•The Building
Blocks of Reality
(Color) Determine
Our Perception.
•The Flat Reality of
the Painting Surface
is Recognized.
•Fauvism
MATISSE, Henri Harmony in Red/La desserte 1908
Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Abstract Expressionism
• Representation is
discarded.
• The Language of
Art (line, shape, and
color) is freed from
the constraint of
describing the
physical world.
• Exploration of the
components of
identity.
KANDINSKY, Vassily In the Blue 1925
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf
Abstract Expressionism:
The Direct Route to the
Sub-Conscious
Joan Miró, Chiffres et Constellations
(Numbers and Constellations)
The Positive Legacy of Modernism:
•Skepticism about the Spurious Claims of Idealistic Political Movements
to Have the Answer about how to Perfect Society.
•Recognition that Moral Thought Requires Difficult Compromises
Between Irreconcilable Ideals.
•Pluralism: Offering Respect to Diverse Cultures and Alternate Systems of
Belief
•Offering Political Expression Artistic Legitimacy
•Reclaiming the Mystery and Danger involved with the Investigation of
Human Nature.
•Reinvigorating Renaissance Forms With Innovation and Experimentation
Post WWII: New York City Becomes the New
Center of the Art World
POLLOCK, Jackson Lavender Mist: Number 1, 1950
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.