Unit 4: Late Europe and America

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Date)

1907 CE

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Medium)

Oil on canvas

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Artist/Culture)

Pablo Picasso (Spanish)

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Form)

• Figures abstracted into geometric forms

  • Appear to be more splintered

• Space is radically compressed and flattened like a still life

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Content)

• Sensual eroticism replaced by cruel look/appearance

• Two women push aside curtains while others strike seductive/erotic pose

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Function)

• Explore anxiety vs fantasy/desire

• Expansion of female nude

• Create his own version of cubism

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (Context)

• Growing health crisis with spread of STDs

• Faces based on Primitivism (African masks)

The Steerage (Date)

1907 CE

The Steerage (Medium)

Photograuvure

The Steerage (Artist/Culture)

Alfred Stieglitz (American)

The Steerage (Content)

• Upper and lower class immigrants and travelers on boat

• Formal arrangements of diagnols and color tones

The Steerage (Function)

• Argue the elevation of photography to a fine art

• Associate photography with documentary photography and journalism

The Steerage (Context)

Stieglitz familiar with the conditions that immigrants went through while on the steerage

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (Date)

1907 - 1908 CE

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (Medium)

Oil on canvas

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (Artist/Culture)

Gustav Klimt (Austrian)

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (Form)

• Austrian Seccession - Highly ornate, decorative, and dream-like

• Art Nouveau (New art) - Organized lines, decorative patterns, stimulating forms in nature

• Uses gold leaf and highly decorated surface to show texture and reflection

• Ignores perspective

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (Content)

• Theme of lovers being united by a kiss

• Golden halo surrounds the couple

• Man depicted as more dominant and powerful

• Women appears more passive

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt (Function)

• New avante-garde treatment of common art subject

• Shows love as an icon and something worthy of being adorned

The Kiss by Gustav Klint (Context)

• Fin de Siecle (end of an era) - Characterized by extravagance + anxiety

• Austrian Secession - Austrian artists objected to conservatism of Vienna art

The Kiss by Constantin Brancusi (Date)

1907 - 1908 CE

The Kiss by Constantin Brancusi (Medium)

Stone

The Kiss by Constantin Branusci (Artist/Culture)

Constantin Branusci (Romanian)

The Kiss by Constantin Branusci (Form)

• Subtractive sculpture in the round

• Emphasis on the starting shape of the stone

• Abstraction/stylization of human bodies

• Rejects academic tradition (idealism, scale, enoblement)

The Kiss by Constantin Branusci (Content)

• Two half length figures hold each other in tight embrace

• Emphasis on their union

The Kiss by Constatin Branusci (Function)

• Reject authority and strictures of academy art

• More modern take on traditional subject

The Kiss by Constantin Branusci (Context)

• Branusci was student of Rodin, who broke rules on idealization of sculptures

• Branusci inspired by cubism and primitivsm

The Portuguese (Date)

1911 CE

The Portuguese (Medium)

Oil on canvas

The Portuguese (Aritst/Culture)

Georges Braque (French)

The Portuguese (Form)

• Added letters makes viewer more aware of flatness

• Monochromatic color emphasizes structure over dynamic color

• Many angles of painting

The Portuguese (Content)

• Guitar player on a dock from memories of Portuguese musician

• Broken in form

The Portuguese (Function)

• Attempt to show numerous viewpoints simultaneously

• Reduce figure into geometric shapes

The Portuguese (Context)

WWI’s destruction in Europe displayed in the form of cubism

Goldfish (Date)

1912 CE

Goldfish (Medium)

Oil on canvas

Goldfish (Aritst/Culture)

Henri Matisse (French)

Goldfish (Form)

• Simplified and abstracted

• Fauvism - Expressive and vibrant in non-realistic way

  • Incorrect rendering of space

Goldfish (Content)

Still life showing Matisse’s fishtank, plants, furniture, etc

Goldfish (Function)

• Invite viewer to the relaxation that comes with observing the goldfish

• Capture stereotypical western view of Arab paradise

Improvisation 28 (Date)

1912 CE

Improvisation 28 (Medium)

Oil on canvas

Improvisation 28 (Artist/Culture)

Wassily Kandinsky (Russian)

Improvisation 28 (Form)

• High amounts of abstraction, very little representation

• Lots of clashing colors

• Black diagonal lines lead eyes across artwork

Improvisation 28 (Content)

• Left side represents the apocalypse

  • Top left = mountain

  • Bottom left = flood from Old Testament

• Right side represents salvation

Improvisation 28 (Function)

• Explore connections between music and art

• Experiment with abstraction

Improvisation 28 (Context)

• Associated his paintings with music and even described them with music

• Der Blaue Rider - Move towards abstraction with German expressionist characteristics (vibrant colors/jagged lines)

Self Portrait as a Soldier (Date)

1915 CE

Self Portrait as a Soldier (Medium)

Oil on canvas

Self Portrait as a Soldier (Artist/Culture)

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German)

Self Portrait as a Soldier (Form)

• Expressionism defined by use of distorted and jagged forms and jarring colors

• Strange perspective; composition is tilted and compressed

• Angular forms inspired by primitive African masks

Self Portrait as a Soldier (Content)

• Kirchner appears harsh, angular, and sickly

  • Limp cigarette references his physical and sexual inadequacies

• Kirchner’s amputated arm is metaphor for his artist’s block

• Stands in studio where he should be able to make love and art, but can do neither

Self Portrait as a Soldier (Function)

Exploration of Kirchner’s weaknesses and fears

Self Portrait as a Soldier (Context)

• Kirchner founded Die Brucke, a German expressionist group that believed their art could bring people towards the future

• Art influenced by primitive art from Africa

  • Believed primitive art was more honest and more pure form than western nations

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht (Date)

1919 - 1920 CE

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht (Medium)

Woodcut

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht (Artist/Culture)

Kathe Kollwitz (German)

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht (Form)

• Composition divided into 3 sections

  • Densely packed top level with modeled faces

  • Middle level with figure breaking away from barrier

  • Lowest level has inverted color scheme

• German Expressionism - Jagged, rough lines + vivid, expressive colors

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht (Content)

• Made in style of lamentation

• Displays common people affected by tragedy

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht (Function)

• Memorialize Karl Liebknecht

• Copies were easy to produce and easy to distribute

Memorialize Sheet for Karl Liebknecht (Context)

• Artists turn to prints as ideal Medium for spreading political statements

  • Cheaper and had greater audience

• German Expressionism result of WWI, showed broken society that remained after

Villa Savoye (Date)

1929 CE

Villa Savoye (Medium)

Steel and concrete

Villa Savoye (Location)

Poissy-sur-Seine, France

Villa Savoye (Artist/Culture)

Le Corbusier (French)

Villa Savoye (Form)

• International style - Can be applied anywhere due to rational approach

• No historical ornamentation

• Painted white to evoke simplicity and classicism

  • Pilotis - Slender columns that raised building off the ground

  • Ribbon windows: Let in light but still reinforced simplicity

Villa Savoye (Content)

Functional house with roof garden with plants and sculptures

Villa Savoye (Function)

• House that integrated outdoor and indoor spaces

• Designed to maximize pleasure and efficiency

Villa Savoye (Context)

• Le Corbusier wanted to capture essence of modern architecture

• Believed that house should have the same moderness of other objects (cars, etc.)

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (Date)

1930 CE

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (Medium)

Oil on canvas

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (Artist/Culture)

Piet Mondrian (Dutch)

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (Form)

• De Stijl

  • Move towards absolute abstraction

  • Assymetrical balance

  • Very flat

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (Content)

Black grid that creates squares and rectangles, of white, red, and yellow

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (Function)

Create new relevant art style that is able to unite the people after WWI

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (Context)

• Art needs to reveal a universal truth

• Art needs to be accessible to everyone and free of cultural association

Results from the First Five Year Plan (Date)

1932 CE

Results from the First Five Year Plan (Medium)

Photomontage

Results from the First Five Year Plan (Artist/Culture)

Varvara Stepanova (Russian)

Results from the First Five Year Plan (Form)

• Constructivism

  • Construction of artwork is visible

  • Contrast of vibrant color and scale

Results from the First Five Year Plan (Content)

• Depict power and success of new nation

• Lenin enlarged in corner to show his impact/legacy

Results from the First Five Year Plan (Function)

• Propaganda used to show success of USSR and communism

• Ode to the success of the First Five Year Plan

Results from the First Five Year Plan (Context)

Five Year Plans were originally successful, but eventually led to poverty and famine

Object (Date)

1936 CE

Object (Medium)

Fur covered cup, saucer, and spoon

Object (Artist/Sculpture)

Meret Oppenheim (German/Swiss)

Object (Form)

• Sculpted objects and assemblages large part of surrealism

• Functional found object modified to represent something

Object (Function)

• Express physicality of object

• Utilitarian

• Show surrealism through transforming cool items (metal) to something with a warm sensation

Fallingwater (Date)

1936 - 1939 CE

Fallingwater (Medium)

Stone

Fallingwater (Location)

Fallingwater, Pennsylvania

Fallingwater (Artist/Culture)

Frank Lloyd Wright (American)

Fallingwater (Form)

• Prarie style - Integration into the landscape

• Cantilever construction hangs house over the water

Interior (Sub image content)

• Interior design is simple

  • Matches colors of the exterior

Fallingwater (Function)

• Private home for Kaufmann family

  • Symbol of status

• Designed to be in harmony with nature

Fallingwater (Context)

• Inspired by transcendentalism

  • Transcendentalism - All man and nature are connected

• Influenced by Japanese architecture

Two Fridas (Date)

1939 CE

Two Fridas (Medium)

Oil on canvas

Two Fridas (Artist/Culture)

Frida Kahlo (Mexican)

Two Fridas (Form)

• Surrealism used to puzzle the audience

• Doubles as a self portrait

• Flat space that is split evenly