Futurism/Constructivism

Futurism

• Milan, Italy

• dynamism: lines of force, vibration and rhythm more important than form, exuberant, anarchic; human behavior as art

• all abt movement

• glorified violence, conflict, technology, and war (until WW1)

Constructivism

• Moscow, Russia

• 1913-1932

• emerged as Bolsheviks came to power in October Revolution of 1917

• borrowed from Cubism and Futurism

Funeral of the Anarchist Galli by Carra

• heated confrontation between mourners and police at the funeral of Italian anarchist Galli

• artist was there, feared that corpse fight fall out of the coffin bc of the chaos and be trampled by horses

• captures chaos, movement, and violence of a conflict, shows movement with chronophotographic lines

• contrasts btwn red casket and black clothing + flags of anarchists

• places spectator at the center of the action

Dynamism of a Cyclist by Boccioni

• depicts a man swiftly moving through time and space, depicted as bent over the handlebars

• racing bicycle was considered a Futurist symbol of dynamic modern life

• most accomplished studies of movement

Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash by Balla

• depicts a woman (maybe widow in black) walking her dog

• painted 15 feet/shoes, 8 dog tails and 4 leashes to show movement

• extreme close up, considered comical

• painted representation of chronophotography (captures movement in several frames)

Nude Descending on a Staircase No.2 by Duchamp

• inspired by time-lapse photography

• depicts a nude in 20-24 static positions

• first of many scandalous pieces

• displayed at The Armory Show exhibit in New York City in 1913

Tatlin’s Tower/Monument to the Third International

• model for tower to celebrate 1917 Russian Revolution

• unstable/unsound engineering because the artist is not an architect + shortage of materials → never went past planning stages

• utilitarian, celebrates russian revolution, art of production, etc

Beat the White with the Red Wedge

• geometric shapes creates a picture symbolic of the war

• symbolic of Russia Civil War, emphasizes triumph of Red Army

• utilitarian

De Stijl/Dada

De Stijl

• “neo-plasticism”: emphasis on design and structure on a two-dimensional surface

• The Netherlands

• emphasized vertical and horizontal lines, primary colors, harmony, sobriety, the purest of abstract movements

• visual, universal language

Dada

• makes no sense, reaction to chaotic feelings after WW1

• started in Zurich, spread to Berlin, New York, Paris, etc

• cult of nonart → later, became overtly political

• ordinary, mundane objects can be art, “original” doesn’t matter

• readymade:

• assisted ready made: taking an already made object and adding to it to create a work of art

Composition A by Mondrian

• pure abstraction, does not attempt to reproduce anything in the natural world

• horizontal and vertical lines + primary colors + “non-colors” (black, white, gray)

• reaction to destruction of WW1

• asymmetrical balance, create harmony through simple shapes and colors

Composition VII by van Doesburg

• postimpressionist → fauvist → destijl when he met Mondrian

• vertical and horizontal shapes (wanted to use diagonal lines), primary colors, and black

• reaction to WW1, seeking equilibrium and harmony in basic formal elements of art

Red and Blue Chair by Rietveld

• created with vertical and horizontal planes, painted in primary colors and black

• wanted it to be mass produced (used standard sizes of lumber)

• designed for the “well-being and comfort of the spirit”

L.H.O.O.Q by Duchamp

• moustache and goatee on mass-produced postcard of Mona Lisa, painted later copies

• first copy assisted readymade

• became symbol for Dada movement because it rebelled against traditional art and he “defaced” a priceless work of art

Bicycle Wheel by Duchamp

• Duchamp’s first assisted readymade

• combines two mass produced objects

• the original was lost

Mechanical Head (The Spirit of our Time) by Hausmann

• assemblage of many tools and devices on a wooden “dummy” head

• shows no feeling, has no memorable features

• represents “typical” man bc lacks sophistication (metaphor for germans that had lost their human spirit and relied on materialism)

Surrealism

Qualities and Attributes

• more positive than Dada

• did not try to recreate reality

• depicted the subconcious and objects that don’t appear in their normal function

• inspired by Freud (interpreted dreams) and Carl Jung (studied subconcious)

• meant to puzzle, challenge, and fascinate, not to be easily understood

• psychic automatism: thought is recreated without reason, moral or aesthetic concerns (goes straight from the brain to the canvas)

• versimilitude: the appearance of being real

• anthropomorphic: giving human traits, emotions, or intentions to nonhuman entities

The Persistence of Memory by Dali

• most famous surrealist painting

• very small, “hand-painted dream photograph”

• used psychic automatism to paint the “unrestricted rational mind”

• real objects arranged very unrealistically

• clocks and ants = anxiety about time

• figure in the center resembles Dali’s profile

• painted with versimilitude but don’t appear realistically

The Metamorphosis by Dali

• depicts transformation of Narcissus according to Dali

• the body of Narcissus mirrors the hand

• rejected lovers can be seen weeping and naked in the background

• ants appear on the hand (symbol of decay and decomposition)

• dog eating bloody meat on the lower right corner

Son of Man by Magritte

• realistic setting and objects with an apple obscuring the view of the face (versimilitude)

• self-portrait

• private collection, rarely on display

• about desire to see what is hidden

Treachery of Images by Magritte

• part of a series of word-image paintings

• asking you to question whether the picture or the words are stronger?

• art is a representation of reality, not reality (shows picture of pipe, not a pipe)

• creates paradox

Ubu Imperator by Ernst

• anthropomorphic top dances in a vast, empty landscape

• recreates character Ubu (symbol of modern man, grotesque symbol of authority) as a mechanical spinning top with hands in a gesture of surprise

• surprised that it is stopped (power is gone)

• allegory for authority/power and how quickly it can topple

Abstract Expressionism

background

• grew in NYC in 1940s and 1950s (many Europeans emigrated to US)

• reaction to devastation of WW2

• rebellion against tradition, dumped European traditions

• considered avant-garde: employs new or experimental art techniques

characteristics

• on large canvases

• focus on process of artistic creation rather than end product

• no need to suggest recognizable images

• express inner life through art (psychic energy and presence)

• gestural abstraction: energetically applied pigment; techniques include dripping, dabbing, smearing, and even flinging paint onto canvas

• chromatic abstraction: focus on color’s emotional resonance through large fields of flat, solid color across the canvas

Number 1 (Lavender Mist) by Pollock

• express feelings rather than illustrate them

• first gestural abstraction painter

• balance of chaos and control

• squeezed paint out of side of tube onto the canvas

• sometimes embedded keys, coins, hand prints, or other trash into the paint on the canvas

Woman I by de Kooning

• gestural abstraction using brush and palette knife to slash and stroke visible lines of paint

• known for depiction of women

• beauty became childish and preferred the grotesque (ugly, distorted)

• rejecting classical nude European traditions

Vir heroicus sublimis by Newman

• chromatic abstraction

• meant to be viewed 18 inches away from the painting

• vertical lines called zips compete for your attention when you view the work

• encourages meditation and reflection, zips represent how our surroundings overwhelm us

No. 14 by Rothko

• chromatic abstraction

• no images/distinct shapes → no narrative, politics, or even geometry

• two bold colors leave the viewer thinking about the meaning and the artist’s intentions

• abstract expression of basic human emotions

• thin veils of color made the paintings luminous

• no frames - they make it “unreal”, hung low and viewed 18 inches away

• intended to be an immersion into the painting

Sleeping Figure by Bourgeois

• wooden sculpture

• represents family and friends the artist left behind in France when she moved to New York

• “figure cannot face the world and is defensive”, may not appear as figures at all

• created over 80 in approximately 5 years

Pop Art

Qualities and Attributes

• 1950s-60s

• glorifies commonplace using materials of everyday world and mass popular culture

• no distinction between “high” art of mass-produced items

• reaction against abstract expressionism → presents things and ppl again

• could be seen as mocking materialism and consumerism

• art may be borrowed from any source, no hierarchy of culture

Campbell’s Soup Can by Warhol

• signature image, in variety of colors and flavors, each canvas corresponds to different flavor

• resemble mass produced ads, but hand painted (not uniform)

• mimics repetition and uniformity of advertising

• displayed in rows like they would be on a grocery shelf

Marilyn Diptych by Warhol

• work in two panels, usually applied to Christian art → invites viewer to worship the icon of Marily Monroe

• spent 4 months after her death making more than 20 silkscreen paintings of her from Niagara

• repetitions represents ubiquitous presence in the media

• moved from vivd to black to represent her mortality

• themes of death and cult of celebrity

Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks by Oldenburg

• lipstick on tank-shaped base in front of WW1 memorial

• known for creating large-scale replicas of everyday objects and installing them in public places

• included male and female forms → offended and inspired

• focal point for anti-war demonstrations during Vietnam War

• originally, inflatable to attract attention

• may connect to war and woman attending Yale for the first time or a phallic symbol

Retroactive I by Rauschenberg

• break barrier between fine art and mass media

• silkscreen painting so it could reproduced

• reproductions of original photography, press photos, and other mass media

• became homage to Kennedy after assasination

• Cuban Missile Crisis + Nude Descending a Staircase + glass of water + oranges + NASA photo + construction site

• wanted to capture what was outisde his window

Whaam! by Lichtenstein

• very large, over 6 feet in width

• diptych of two panels, interact with each other, blends mechanical reproduction and hand drawing

• social activist statement in a cartoon-y way, accused of merely copying comic strips

• fighter aircraft firing a rocket that blows up an enemy aircraft

• many different interpretations (third hand violence, celebration of comics, comment on glorification of war, mechanized killing, or not serious at all)

• includes small color dots to provide shading and color in a drawing (Ben-Day dots), provide shading with less ink

  • purple shading on the plane and blue sky