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What is Modern Art?
The definition of "modern" is " of the present or recent times." To apply the term modern to art
work now is confusing. Did not artists of the Renaissance apply modern to their work as well? To label
the current period of art as Modern Art we can look to the attitudes and characteristics of our modern
world and what art means to artist and its viewers today. Modern Art can be viewed as a rapid and radical
art style with many variations. Technology brought change to society along with a differing attitude
towards art. In older times artists were commissioned by churches or wealthy families, but our times
brought about a change that had artists doing "art for art's sake." With the ongoing wars and political
upheaval artists found an escape with art. Artists wanted to provide a longer lasting escape from all the
world's problems. American artists of this time period were finally recognized as competitive artists and
brought the art world looking at art from America.
Art now became a movement into a world of color and expression, a world where an apple is only a
blotch of red pigment or a toilet is a work of art, leaving more than a few people wondering what can be
considered art.
Styles
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Expressionism: Any art that stresses the artist's emotional and psychological expression, often
with bold colors and distortions of form. Specifically and art style of the early 20th century
followed principally by certain German artists. (Matisse)
Impressionism: An art movement which took its name from one particular painting by Claude
Monet, Impression: Sunrise of 1872. Arising out of the naturalism of the Realists, as well as an
interest in the transitory experience of light and color on objects, Impressionism did two distinct
things to painting: it elevated color to the status of subject matter, liberating the artist's marks
from previous craft constraints, and it inadvertently asserted painting's relationship to the flat
surface.(O’Keeffe)
Formalism: The aesthetic arrangement of shapes, colors, and forms . (The formal elements of art)
Cubism: The first art movement of the 20th century systematically to reconsider the conventions
of painting since the Renaissance. Such work is epitomized by the severe flattening of the space
across the picture plane, a consistently inconsistent light source, and an imploding of the
traditional fore-, middle and background areas in painting composition. (Picasso)
Surrealism: A literary and visual art movement interested in unleashing and exploring the
potential of the human psyche. Loosely based on both Freud's and Jung's investigations into the
mind, it is also direct heir of earlier Dada strategies of unlocking of the unconscious by the use of
chance.(Dali)
Pop Art: (Popular Culture)- The elements of society that are recognized by the general
public. Popular Culture has the associations of something cheap, fleeting and accessible to all.
Abstract Expressionism: A common appelation for the first generation American abstract painting
after the Second World War, due to the primary of gesture and color while keeping consistent
with the aims of formalism (the all-over application of paint and the dispersal of depth across the
surface of the picture plane). (Bearden)
Retrieved from: http://www2.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/markport/lit/introlit/modart.htm
What is the Renaissance?
By the term Renaissance (new Birth), means new enthusiasm; learning which came forth from Italy by
the close of the Middle Ages. This movement employed a narrower sense of things, depicting the most
important phase of many-sided development. It was considered the intellectual movement which gives it a
place in universal history.
Styles
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Early Renaissance Sculpture: Early Italian Renaissance art began to emerge in Florence during
the first decade of the 15th century. Building upon Proto-Renaissance art, including the work
of Proto-Renaissance artists like Cimabue and Giotto (see the latter's Scrovegni Chapel frescoes)
- as well as the Pre-Renaissance paintingof Duccio di Buoninsegna), Florentine and other Tuscan
artists such as Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio and Andrea Mantegna, instigated a
series of discoveries and improvements in all the visual arts (architecture, sculpture, painting),
which effectively revolutionized the face of public and private art in Italy and beyond. It even
influenced the conservative Sienese School of painting in Siena. Although it eventually spread
throughout Italy, the Early Renaissance was centred on Florence and patronized by the
Florentine Medici family. Towards the end of the century, the movement reached its high point
during the period known as the High Renaissance(c.1490-1530): notably in the works of
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Titian. (Note: the term "Renaissance", used to
describe the upsurge of Italian art and culture, during the period 1400-1530, was first coined by
the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet 1798-1874.) (Michelangelo)
The Second Generation: The revolution begun by Brunelleschi, Masaccio, and Donatello was
continued in the second half of the 15th century. The Florentine architect Leon Battista Alberti
(1404-72) followed Brunelleschi's example of imitating the forms used in classical architecture.
But Alberti's buildings are much heavier and actually closer in form to ancient Roman buildings
than Brunelleschi's. St. Andrea, a church in Mantua begun in 1470, shows how Alberti took over
the motif of the Roman triumphal arch and made it the main theme of the facade. A triumphal
arch has three sections, with a large central opening. St. Andrea's facade is divided into three
similar parts, with an enormous central archway forming a dramatic entrance to the church.
(Leonardo Da’Vinci)
High Renaissance: The artists of the High Renaissance, which is loosely defined as the period
from 1450 to 1550, built upon the foundation laid by their predecessors. The best- known artists
of the Italian Renaissance grew famous during the High Renaissance. Wealthy patrons continued
to enthusiastically support theses artists as they traveled around Italy in search of commissions to
create their masterpieces.(Raphael)
Mannerism: The term mannerism describes the style of the paintings and bronze sculpture on this
tour. Derived from the Italian maniera, meaning simply “style,” mannerism is sometimes defined
as the “stylish style” for its emphasis on self-conscious artifice over realistic depiction. The
sixteenth-century artist and critic Vasari—himself a mannerist—believed that excellence in
painting demanded refinement, richness of invention, and virtuoso technique, criteria that
emphasized the artist’s intellect. More important than his carefully recreated observation of
nature was the artist’s mental conception and its elaboration. This intellectual bias was, in part, a
natural consequence of the artist’s new status in society. No longer regarded as craftsmen,
painters and sculptors took their place with scholars, poets, and humanists in a climate that
fostered an appreciation for elegance, complexity, and even precocity. (Domenico di Pace
Beccafumi)
Retrieved from: http://autocww.colorado.edu/~flc/E64ContentFiles/PeriodsAndStyles/Renaissance.html
What is Realism?
Realism heralded a general move away from the 'ideal' (as typified by the art of Classical mythology, so
beloved by Renaissance artists and sculptors) towards the ordinary. Thus, in their figure
drawing and figure painting, Realists portrayed real people notidealized types. From now on, artists felt
increasingly free to depict real-life situations stripped of aesthetics and universal truths. In this sense,
Realism reflected a progressive and highly influential shift in the significance and function of art in
general, including literature as well as fine art. It influencedImpressionism and several other modern art
styles, such as Pop-Art. The style retains its influence on the visual arts to this day.
Retrieved from: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/realism.htm
What is American Art?
Art of the 21st century emerges from a vast variety of materials and means. These include the latest
electronic technologies, such as digital imaging and the internet (see, for example, New media art in
India); familiar genres with a long history that continue to be practiced with great vigor, such as painting
(see, for example, Julie Mehretu and Shahzia Sikander); and materials and processes once associated
primarily with handicrafts, re-envisioned to express new concepts (see Craft and contemporary art). Many
artists regularly and freely mix media and forms, making the choices that best serve their conceptsand
purposes. Activities vary from spectacular projects accomplished with huge budgets and extraordinary
production values to modest endeavors that emphasize process, ephemeral experiences, and a do-ityourself approach. The notion of influences has also shifted with changes in communications and
technology; every location around the world has artists who respond to local geographies and histories as
well as the sway of global visual culture.
Retrieved from: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/public/page/themes/artin21cent
What is Pop Art?
Pop Art was the art of popular culture. It was the visual art movement that characterized a sense
of optimism during the post war consumer boom of the 1950's and 1960's. It coincided with the
globalization of pop music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and the Beatles. Pop Art was
brash, young and fun and hostile to the artistic establishment. It included different styles of
painting and sculpture from various countries, but what they all had in common was an interest
in mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture.
http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/pop_art.htm
Pop Artists challenged the traditions of fine art by incorporating images of popular
culture. We showcase the most influential artists of the Pop Art movement.
Pop Art was a visual art movement that emerged during the mid 1950s. A sign of the times, the
style focused on mass production, celebrity and the expanding industries of advertising, TV,
radio and print media - shaping a new cultural identity in the field of art and design.
Characterised by brash, bold, colourful and humorous artwork, Pop Art incorporated many
design elements, including different styles of painting, sculpture, collage and street art.
http://www.creativebloq.com/art/pop-art-8133921
(Keith Harring) gained international success during the 80sBorn and raised in
Pennsylvania, Keith Harring began creating pop art after leaving college in 1978. Between 1980
and 1989, Harring reached international recognition through independent and collaborative
exhibitions. Sadly passing away in February of 1990, Harring's works are still considered some
of the most influential in the pop art world.
(Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggenare) well known for bringing pop art to the masses,
by enlarging every day objects and placing them on top of buildings and in the middle of parks,
the team "We want to communicate with the public but on our own terms, even if the images are
stereotypical," Oldenburg explains."Our dialogue, which leads to the definition of a project, may
take place anywhere, but we usually make decisions in our studio where we are surrounded by
objects, models, notes, and drawings from the recent past and present, stimulated, whenever
possible, by recollected observations of a site."
(Robert Rauschenberg) is well-known for his 'Combines' collages of the 1950s, in which nontraditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations. Rauschenberg was
both a painter and a sculptor and the Combines are often a combination of both.
Working with photography, printmaking and performance, Rauschenberg was even awarded the
National Medal of Arts in 1993. Sadly, he passed away in 2008.
(Richard Hamilton).Regarded by many as the father of British pop art, Richard Hamilton
created a series of renowned works during the 1950s and 60s. Probably his most famous is his
1956 collage, 'Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?'
Created for This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, it's the ultimate
catalogue of pop art imagery, including reference to newspapers, comics, advertising,
applicances, food, packaging, television and the movies.
(Roy Lichtenstein) Based on an image from 1962 issue of DC Comics’ All-American Men of
War, Pop Artist Roy Lichtenstein's Whaam! (1963) is widely regarded as his most important and
influential piece. The vibrant. diptych image depicts a fighter aircraft firing a rocket, with a redand-yellow explosion in the background.
Born in 1923 in New York, Lichtenstein became a leading figure in the Pop art movement, his
paintings of comic strip cartoons, washing machines and baked potatoes now considered classics
of that era.
(Peter Blake). On the Balcony is an iconic piece of British Pop Art. At first glance it looks like a
collage but is, in fact, a painting, beautifully composed by Peter Blake - one of the most famous
British Pop Artists of the 1950s.
A pioneer of Pop Art, Blake's paintings often incorporated imagery from advertisements and
collaged elements. This On the Balcony piece, in particular, showcases the interest he had in
combining pop culture with fine art.
(David Hockney). British artist David Hockney is most often associated with sun-drenched
landscape paintings, which he created while living and working in LA from 1963 to 2005. His
early work, which featured a some what humorous mood, vivid colour and made use of
magazine-style images, quickly gained him a reputation of leading practitioner of Pop Art.
Developing his style, in the 1980s Hockey began to produce photocollages, initially of Polaroid
prints and later of 35mm colour prints. Still working today, Hockney's diverse skills include
printmaking, painting, drawing, filmmaking, and theater design.
(Andy Warhol) is probably the best known figure in the Pop Art movement. It was in the early
1960s that he began to experiment with reproductions based on mass-produced images
from popular culture such as Campbell's soup tins and Coca Cola bottles.
In 1962, four months after the death of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol created several mass-produced
images of the actress, all based on the same publicity photograph from the 1953 film
Niagra. Arguably his most famous artwork, the repetition of the image was representative of her
presence in the media. The diptych print featured the portraits in vibrant colours and fading black
and white, symbolising her the cult of a celebrity and her death. He went on to give a similar
treatment to celebrities such as Jackie Kennedy and Elvis Presley.