II. Origins of American Modernism

academy system

before modernism, most professional artists sought training and exhibition through the academy system. they were art organizations where juries decided who would exhibit their work in group shows.

juries of art academies

included older, conservative artists who wanted to keep the status quo, prioritizing history and narrative paintings

modernism movement

first emerged in the early twentieth century as a reflection of the new lifestyles and values of modern industrial life

subject rarely seen in the academy system

immigrants and the working-class people living in inner cities

The Ashcan School

a loosely affiliated group of like-minded artists were active around 1905-1917. their works of urban realism featured a dark color palette and vigorously painted brushwork to depict the poorer neighborhoods of the city, including boxing matches, vaudeville shows, movie theater, inner city parks, busy downtown streets, and lively pubs and restaurants

Robert Henri

pioneer and leader of the Ashcan School, a portrait artists who studied art in Pennsylvania and Paris, he was inspired by Diego Velazquez and Frans Hals

Everett Shinn

painted the audiences who flocked to Vaudeville theaters

Maurice Prendergast

painted colorful, mosaic-like watercolor scenes of city parks

John Sloan

mentee of Henri, painted bars, dance halls, and busy intersections

William Glackens

chose a lighter color palette for his scenes of shopping, city parks, and nightlife

George Benjamin Luks

prioritized the immigrant populations living on the Lower East Side

George Wesley Bellows

signature subject matter were lively boxing matches

The Macbeth Gallery

located in Manhattan, hosted Henri’s landmark group exhibition in 1908 after the National Academy of Design rejected several of the Ashcan School painters’ work in 1907

“The Eight”

exhibited their urban realism paintings in the Macbeth gallery

• Henri

• Shinn

• Prendergast

• Sloan

• Glackens

• Lucks

Ernest Lawson

Impressionist landscape painter who joined “The Eight”

Arthur B. Davies

avant-garde artist who joined “The Eight”

Walt Kuhn

avant-garde artist known for circus themes and joined "The Eight."

The Armory Show

An influential 1913 exhibition in New York City that introduced American audiences to European modernism and featured works by notable artists like Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso.

Dada

An art movement that emerged in the early 20th century as a reaction to the devastation of World War I, emphasizing absurdity, irrationality, and anti-art sentiments.

conceptual art

A contemporary art movement that prioritizes ideas and concepts over traditional aesthetic and material concerns, often challenging the definitions of what art can be.

readymades

Ordinary manufactured objects transformed into art through the artist's selection and designation, famously exemplified by Marcel Duchamp's works.

Alfred Stieglitz

A prominent American photographer and modernist champion who played a crucial role in promoting photography as an art form and was instrumental in the development of the Photo-Secession movement.

Pictorialism

An early photographic movement that emphasized beauty and artistic expression through soft focus, composition, and atmospheric effects.

Pablo Picasso

A Spanish painter, sculptor, and co-founder of the Cubist movement, known for his innovative use of form and color, and a prolific output across various styles.

Henri Matisse

A French painter and leading figure of Fauvism, known for his use of vibrant colors and bold brushwork, influencing modern art with his expressive compositions.

Arthur G. Dove

An American painter and one of the pioneers of abstract art, known for his innovative use of color and form to express emotion and experiences.

Marsden Hartley

An American modernist painter, known for his bold use of color and symbolic imagery, often reflecting his personal experiences and insights into American life.

Max Weber

An American painter and a key figure in the early 20th-century modern art movement, known for his innovative combination of European avant-garde styles with American themes, blending abstraction with representation.

John Marin

An American modernist painter and printmaker, recognized for his expressive watercolors and dynamic depictions of landscapes, urban scenes, and seascapes.

Georgia O’Keeffe

An influential American modernist artist known for her large-scale flower paintings and southwestern landscapes, often emphasizing abstraction and vivid color.

Charles Demuth

An American painter known for his precisionist style, Demuth's work often features urban scenes and still lifes, characterized by a focus on form and color.

geometric abstraction

A modern art movement that emphasizes the use of geometric forms and shapes, often in a non-representational way, to create visual compositions.

imagism

A literary movement in early 20th-century poetry that emphasizes clear, precise imagery and exact language, aiming to evoke emotions and ideas through concise visual descriptions.

Ernest Blumenschein

An American painter and key figure in the Taos art colony, Blumenschein is known for his landscapes and depictions of Native American life.

Bert Geer Phillips

An American painter and co-founder of the Taos art colony, recognized for his works that reflect the beauty of the New Mexico landscape and Native American culture.

Pictorialism

A photographic movement that emphasizes the aesthetic value of images through soft focus, manipulation, and artistic composition, often blurring the line between photography and fine art.

Imogen Cunningham

An influential American photographer known for her work in Pictorialism and her innovative botanical studies, as well as portraits and nudes that blend art with documentary. She was a key figure in the f/64 group, promoting sharp focus and depth of field.

Man Ray

A prominent artist and photographer known for his avant-garde works, particularly in the Dada and Surrealist movements. He is famous for his experimental techniques and contributions to both photography and visual art.

Camera Work

A photographic magazine published by Alfred Stieglitz that showcased Pictorialist photography and promoted modernist art. It featured high-quality reproductions and essays by influential photographers and artists.

Alvin Langdon Coburn

An American photographer recognized for his pioneering work in modernist photography and unique camera techniques. He was known for his innovative use of light and abstract forms, and was associated with the vorticism movement.

straight photography

A style of photography that emphasizes unaltered images, focusing on clarity and realism without manipulation or artistic intervention, often associated with modernist principles.

New Objectivity

An artistic movement that emerged in the 1920s in Germany, characterized by a focus on objective representation and a rejection of emotion and abstraction. It aimed to depict everyday subjects with clarity and precision, influencing photography and art.

Group f/64

A collective of photographers formed in the 1930s that advocated for straight photography and emphasized sharp focus and detailed images, rejecting pictorialism.

Film und Foto international exhibition

A significant exhibition held in 1929 in Stuttgart, Germany, showcasing the New Objectivity movement and promoting modern photography as a fine art form. It featured works by notable photographers and artists, highlighting the shift toward objective representation.

Andre Breton

A French writer and poet, known as a key figure in the Surrealist movement, promoting the exploration of the unconscious and dreams in art and literature.

Tristan Tzara

A Romanian-French poet and one of the founders of Dadaism, known for his avant-garde approach to art and literature, emphasizing chaos and irrationality.

Salvador Dali

A Spanish surrealist artist celebrated for his eccentric works and dreamlike imagery. He is known for his ability to blend fantasy with reality, often using bizarre and symbolic elements.

Surrealism

An artistic and literary movement that seeks to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, often through illogical scenes and dreamlike imagery.

Sigmund Freud

A neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, Freud's theories about the unconscious mind, dream interpretation, and psychic conflict profoundly influenced modern art and literature.

Andre Masson

A French surrealist painter and writer known for his innovative automatic drawing techniques and dynamic, expressive style that reflected the subconscious mind.

Giorgio de Chirico

An Italian painter known for creating enigmatic dreamlike scenes that combine classical architecture and mysterious figures, often associated with the early surrealist movement.

Wilfredo Lam

A Cuban artist known for blending surrealism and Afro-Cuban themes in his artwork, incorporating vibrant colors and complex symbolism to express identity and culture.

Dora Maar

A French photographer and painter known for her connection to the Surrealist movement and her tumultuous relationship with Pablo Picasso, often capturing themes of identity and emotion in her work.

Hans Bellmer

A German artist known for his photographs and art dolls, which explore themes of desire, sexuality, and the uncanny, often associated with the Surrealist movement.

Claude Cahun

A French photographer and surrealist known for her innovative self-portraits and exploration of gender identity, often challenging conventional notions of femininity through visual art.

solarization

A photographic technique that involves partially exposing photographic paper or film to light, creating a distinctive reversed tonal effect.

photograms

A photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of light-sensitive paper and exposing it to light, creating striking silhouettes and patterns.

Christian Schad

A German painter and photographer associated with the Dada movement, known for his innovative use of photograms that captured the interplay of light and form.

El Lissitzky

A Russian artist, designer, and architect, influential in the Constructivist movement, known for his experimental use of typography and photomontage.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

A Hungarian painter and photographer, pivotal in the Bauhaus movement, recognized for his innovative use of light and shadow in photography and his incorporation of new technology into art.

Rayographs

Photograms created by Man Ray, utilizing light and objects to produce abstract images.