Early 20th Century: Modernism I & II

Modern Art

roots in 19th century avant-garde movements, (Impressionism) moving into the 20th century

• now a historical period used by muesums

Houses at L’Estaque by George Braque

1908, Cubism, France, oil on canvas

• hill side of a mountain, with the yellow as houses and green as trees

• utilizing forms to create shape, Braque more focused on shape then color

Abstraction (reductive)

a simplification and/or exaggeration of forms

Abstraction (non-objective)

no reference to the observed world

• aka pure abstraction

• strictly speaking abstract means to separate from something else

Fauvism

early 20th century, mainly about color, artist came up with the idea that color should have the upper hand

The Red Studio by Henri Matisse

1911, Fauvism, France, oil on canvas

• perspective isn’t consistent with the dresser and stool not having another plane

• intensity, unified idea of how the studio felt to Matisse

• the room is completely draped in red, with no distinct walls or floors

Expressionism

color as expression of emotional state or emotional response (intensified color)

Cubism

spearheaded by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized painting by depicting subjects from multiple perspectives and breaking down objects into geometric shapes

Expressionism In Color

Color as building block of composition that may not be naturalistic, no longer descriptive of the observed world used in abstraction

• color both creating and confusing pictorial space

What did Moder art ask of color?

Modern art started to ask is color universal or personal

• color used to diagram truths about nature of reality

• took place after WWI, when the world was still struggling with many tragedies

The Large Blue Horses by Franz Marc

1911, Expressionism, Germany, oil on canvas

• Franz Marc had a strong connection to animals, weren’t burdened with human issues like immortality

• tried to display harmony in the world with animals

• doesn’t separate subject from background, everything flows together

Franz Marc Thoughts on Color

Gendered roles for color:

• Blue = Male

• Yellow = Female

• Red = Brutal Matter

Improvisation 28 by Vasily Kandinsky

1912, Abstraction, Germany, oil on canvas

• took all the things that correspond music and put them together in a avant-garde way

• Kandinsky had synesthesia, overlapping senses (sight overlapping with hearing)

• Kandinsky thought that artists would lead the world into new spirituality

Kandinsky Thoughts on Color

• Blue = inner supernatural, sinking towards black

  • light blue - heavenly

• Yellow = warm, cheeky, madness, an attack of rage

• Red = alive, restless, manly maturity

  • vermillion - glowing passion

  • light red - youth, pure

Alterpiece No. 1 by Hilma Af Klint

1915, Abstraction, Sweden,

• tried to get people interested in her work, no one took to it

• left all her work to her nephew, told him to wait 20 years , though people still didn’t want her work

• geometric forms, spectral sequence (sequence of colors), abstract spiritual ideas

• Holma thought her work would best be displayed in a spiral building

  • a building built in 2018 was able to show all her work in a spiral building

Hilma Af Klint Thoughts On Color

• Blue = represent feminine, the powerful real nature, faithful

• Yellow = represents the masculine, the splendid color of light, foundations of knowledge