Modern Art Movements Comprehensive Notes

Impressionism

  • Definition
    • Art style emerging in Paris, first exhibited 1874, seeks to capture the instantaneous "impression" of a scene—the fleeting effects of light, color, atmosphere, and movement.
  • Core characteristics
    • Speedy, on-the-spot execution to seize the moment.
    • Use of short, broken brush-strokes and pure, unmixed hues that optically fuse at a distance.
    • Conscious study of time, motion, and meteorological change; artists paint series under shifting daylight.
    • Outdoor (plein-air) painting dominates, believing that color of shade is influenced by surroundings.
    • Subjects drawn from contemporary, ordinary life—train stations, dance halls, gardens—rather than history or myth.
  • Pioneering French artists & key works
    • Claude Monet: Impression Sunrise (1872), Houses of Parliament London (1904), Grainstack series (1891), Over a Pond of Water Lilies (1899), Gare Saint-Lazare.
    • Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876) – lively figure groups in dappled light.
    • Berthe Morisot: The Bath (Girl Arranging Her Hair) (1885–1886) – female domestic subjects.
    • Edgar Degas: The Glass of Absinthe (1876) – interior snapshot with cropped composition.
  • Filipino counterparts & relevance
    • Juan Luna: Mi Hijo Andres (1889) & Tampuhan (1895) incorporate small dabs of color and reflected light.
    • Fernando Amorsolo (1st Filipino National Artist): Planting Rice (1951), Market Scene (1949) & Lavanderas (1952) capture tropical sunlight at its brightest (“sunshafts”) yet keep academic figure drawing.
    • Historical note: Luna’s The Parisian Life (not dated in text) embeds José Rizal and symbolizes the Philippines, intertwining Impressionist technique with national narrative.

Expressionism

  • Definition
    • Early 20^{th}-century movement (chiefly Germany) rejecting optical realism to project intense personal emotion through color, line, and distortion.
  • Hallmarks
    • Distorted or exaggerated forms; angular or swirling contours.
    • Vibrant, often non-naturalistic colors charged with psychological content.
    • Visible, agitated brushwork conveying anxiety, fear, or euphoria.
  • Major European exponents
    • Edvard Munch: The Scream (1892) – universalized terror with blood-red sky and wavering lines.
    • Wassily Kandinsky: Black Frame (1922) & theoretical writings—assigned emotive values to colors (red = drum-beat; green = violin; yellow = soaring trumpet) and lines (horizontal = cold; vertical = strong; curve = mature; angle = youthful). Pioneer of fully abstract, non-objective art.
  • Philippine infusion
    • Victorio Edades (Father of Philippine Modernism): The Builders (1928) deploys dark tones, heavy impasto, exaggerated anatomy to portray Filipino laborers during American industrialization, shocking a traditionally academic public.

Cubism

  • Founders & philosophy
    • Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque (Paris, 1907–1914) reduced natural forms to geometric equivalents—sphere, cone, cylinder—shifting focus from subject to structure, line, and multiple viewpoints.
  • Two phases
    • Analytical Cubism (1910–1911): monochrome fragmentation, re-assembling objects from splintered facets.
    • Synthetic Cubism (after 1912): collage of paper, newsprint, sand, and paint; brighter color; flattened space.
  • Canonical works
    • Picasso: Bottle of Vieux Glass, Guitar and Newspaper (1913); Portrait of Dora Maar (1937); Weeping Woman (1937).
    • Braque: Houses of l'Estaque (1908).
    • Juan Gris: Portrait of Ambroise Vollard (1910).
    • David Smith (sculpture): Zig IV (1961) – “drawings in space”.
  • Filipino Cubists
    • Vicente Manansala: Birds of Paradise (1954) & Sungka (1967) – “transparent” Cubism with interlocking translucent planes.
    • César Legaspi: Combancheros (1972) – social realist figuration simplified into angular masses.
    • Cenon Rivera: early adopter of geometric fragmentation.
  • Classroom tip: Tear a paper cup so inside/outside show simultaneously—mimics Cubist strategy of multiple viewpoints.

Dadaism

  • Origin & intent
    • Founded Zurich 1916; lasted about 6 years. Name is a nonsense word symbolizing revolt against rationality amid World War I carnage. Sought to overthrow authority and embrace absurdity.
  • Key strategies
    • Nonsense poetry, simultaneous performances, chance, ready-mades, shock value.
  • Star practitioner
    • Marcel Duchamp: Bicycle Wheel (1913) & Fountain (1917)—a sideways porcelain urinal signed “R. Mutt” challenging art institutions’ definitions; L.H.O.O.Q. (Mona Lisa with moustache, 1919).
  • Typical evening: multiple poets shouting in different languages, sounds like Hugo Ball’s sound poem “Karawane”.

Surrealism

  • Evolution
    • Grew from Dada; embraced Sigmund Freud’s theories of dreams and unconscious (Paris 1920s).
  • Core traits
    • Automatism: “automatic writing/painting” letting subconscious dictate form.
    • Dream imagery, unexpected juxtapositions, bizarre metamorphoses.
    • Explored new media: collage, photomontage, frottage, manipulated objects, film, fashion, theatre.
  • Formulators & masterpieces
    • Giorgio de Chirico: The Nostalgia of the Infinite (1911) – deserted plazas with long shadows.
    • Salvador Dalí: Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) (1936); collaborator on film Un Chien Andalou (1929) with Luis Buñuel (iconic razor/eyeball scene).
    • Meret Oppenheim: Object (Luncheon in Fur) (1936) – fur-covered teacup – tactile disorientation.
    • Man Ray: Gift (1958) – flat iron studded with nails.
    • Film reference: Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) anticipates nightmares of totalitarianism.
  • Philippine Surrealists
    • Galo Ocampo: Nuclear Ecce Homo (1931) – Christ with atomic mushroom cloud – wartime anxiety.
    • Hernando R. Ocampo: Blooming (1949) – biomorphic abstractions forecasting post-war rebuilding.
    • Significance: Offered personal coping mechanism for trauma of World War II; bridged European ideas with Filipino socio-political realities.
  • Activity idea: Practice automatic writing—fill a page without censoring to mine subconscious imagery; same can be applied as automatic painting.

Abstract Expressionism (Action Painting)

  • Period & location
    • New York School, late 1940s–early 1950s.
  • Aims & theory
    • Reveal inner psyche through the act of painting itself; canvas as arena of action, not mere picture.
    • Image emerges from creative process, not predefined plan.
  • Techniques
    • Free, gestural application; dripping, pouring, slashing; thick impasto; large scale.
  • Iconic American artists
    • Jackson Pollock: drip method exemplified in Blue Poles No.2 (title cited) – laid canvases on floor, flung enamel with sticks; annihilated foreground/background distinctions.
    • Willem de Kooning: Women I (1950–1952) – aggressive brushwork melding abstraction and figuration.
    • Franz Kline: Cardinal (1950), Untitled series – bold black strokes over white; emphasis on visceral emotion; “final test is whether painter’s emotion comes across.”
  • Philippine pioneers
    • José Joya (National Artist): Granadian Arabesque (1958) – heavy impasto with sand, tropical palette referencing rice paddies & harvest; direct paint-tube squeezing.
    • Lee Aguinaldo: Homage to Pollock (1953) from “Flick” series – enamel flicks on cardboard translating Pollock’s gesturality.

Pop Art

  • Definition
    • Short for “popular art,” grounded in mass media, consumer goods, advertising; aims to democratize art by elevating everyday imagery.
  • Global exemplars
    • Andy Warhol: Green Coca-Cola Bottles (1982) – repetition highlights depersonalized mass production; Campbell’s Soup Cans series.
    • Roy Lichtenstein: Drowning Girl (1960) – enlarged Ben-Day–dot comic panels; faithful to source yet monumental.
  • Philippine Pop Art
    • JP Cuison: Collage “Meat Shop” & Painting “Plut” – appropriation of advertising icons.
    • Dyne Tajada: Fashion LB Mobile Poster; Limbo: illustration referencing local consumer culture.
    • Message: critique of imported commercialism and Filipino dependence on mass-market products.

Op Art (Optical Art)

  • Genesis
    • Mid 1960s USA; theoretical groundwork by Hungarian-born Victor Vasarely (e.g., Zebra 1937).
    • Influenced by M. C. Escher’s paradoxical architectures (Relativity 1953).
  • Aesthetic essentials
    • Geometric precision eliminating realistic subject matter.
    • Uses perspective, color contrast (often black-white), and figure/ground reversal to fool the eye—create vibration, pulsation, illusory depth or movement.
    • Positive and negative spaces carry equal weight.
  • Signature artists and works
    • Bridget Riley: Fall (1963), Making Waves (1965), Winter Palace (1981), Cataract 3 (1967) – waving lines cause retinal tension.
    • Yaacov Agam: Double Metamorphosis (1979), Agam Fountain (1988), Peaceful Communication with the World (2009) – viewer movement transforms image.
  • Viewer experience: prolonged staring triggers optical flicker, brain interprets flat canvas as kinetic.

Happenings, Performance Art & Art Mob

  • Evolution
    • From Abstract Expressionist “events” to Allan Kaprow’s 18 Happenings in 6 Parts (Reuben Gallery, New York, 1959)—first Happening; abolished art object, emphasized audience participation.
  • Definitions
    • Happenings: scripted yet flexible multi-sensory events; interactive, experimental, often no clear narrative.
    • Performance Art: artists use their own bodies to enact ideas (speaking, dancing) in any venue; chance embraced.
    • Art Mob: flash-gatherings in streets, parks, malls for entertainment, satire, or social commentary (e.g., Baguio Panagbenga flower parade; Cebu jail inmates’ mass dance).
  • Notable performers
    • Joseph Beuys: How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (1965) – gold leaf/honey-covered face, whispered to hare.
    • Marina Abramović: endurance pieces at MoMA; audience confronts presence/time.
    • Filipino example: Racquel de Loyola’s Banquet (2008, CCP) – participatory installation/performance.

Key Cross-Movement Connections & Implications

  • Scientific curiosity links Impressionist light studies to Op-Art optical experiments.
  • Anti-traditional revolt forms a continuum: Impressionists break salon rules → Dadaists reject reason → Surrealists mine subconscious → Abstract Expressionists mine psyche → Happenings bust gallery walls.
  • Consumer-culture critique runs from Dada ready-mades to Pop Art commodification.
  • Philippine modernism absorbed each wave, indigenizing techniques to comment on colonialism, industrialization, and local identity.

Study & Exam Tips

  • When identifying a style, scan for tell-tale signs:
    • Broken, luminous strokes ➜ Impressionism.
    • Jagged distortions + angst color ➜ Expressionism.
    • Faceted geometry, multiple viewpoints ➜ Cubism.
    • Nonsense, ready-made, chance ➜ Dada.
    • Dreamlike, illogical juxtaposition ➜ Surrealism.
    • Monumental drips, action surface ➜ Abstract Expressionism.
    • Mass-media imagery, flat graphics ➜ Pop Art.
    • Optical vibration, black-white grids ➜ Op Art.
  • For Filipino art questions, pair each movement with its local counterparts (Edades = Expressionism / Modernism, Manansala = Cubism, Joya = AbEx, etc.).
  • Remember to enclose all date references in if asked to present them in LaTeX on an exam or report.