20th Century Art, Stella Paull

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Resource for ducators

The etropolitan useum rt





Resource for ducators

The Metropolitan us um of rt

Stella Paul

The Metropolitan Museum Art s teacher training programs and

accompanying materials are made possible through a generous grant

from Mr and Mrs Frederick Rose



Copyright © 1999 by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Written

by Stella Paul

Designed by

Tsang Seymour

Design

Production by Masha Turchinsky

Copy Edited by Katherine Balch

Photographs of works of a rt in t h e M u s eu m s collection are by

The Photograph Studio of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Permissions for reproducing images of works of art:

Reproduction of Kandinsky

The Garder

of Love

1999

Artists

Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGp, Paris.

Reproduction of Leger Woman with a Cat 1999 Artists

Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGp. Paris.

Reproduction of Mondrian Composition © 1999 Artists Rights

Society (ARS), New York/Beeldrecht

Amsterdam.

Reproduction of Klee

Cold

City © 1999 Artists Rights Society

(ARS), New York/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

Reproduction of Gorky Water of

the Flowery Mill

© 1999 Estate

of ArshiJe Gorky/Artists Right Society (ARS), New York.

Reproduction of Picasso

Gertrude Stein

and

Still Life with

Pipes

©

1999 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS).

New York.

Reproduction of Matisse

Nasturtiums with Dance ©

1999

Succession H. Matisse, Paris/Artists Rights Society (ARS).

New York

Reproduction of de Kooning,

Woman ©

1998

Willem de Kooning Revocable Tmst/Artists Rights

Society (ARS), New York.

Reproduction of Pollock,

Autumn Rhythm Number ]

© 1998 Pollock-Krasner Foundation/ Artists Rights

Society (ARS), :-;ew York.

Reproduction of Rothko,

Number

White, Red

on

Yellow) ©

1998 Kate Rothko Prizel

and

Christopher

Rothko/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Reproduction of Warhol,

Last SelF Portrait ©

1998 Andy

Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/ARS, New York.

Reproduction of Brancusi, Bird

in

Space, Miro,

Animated Landscape,

and Giacometti.

Three Me> Walking

©

1998

Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/

ADAGP, Paris.

Reproduction

of

Bearden,

The Block

Romare

Bearden

Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Reproduction

of

Wood.

The Ride

of

Paul

Revere

©

Estate

of Grant Wood/I.icensed by VAGA. New York.

Reproduction of Davis.

Report.from Rockport ©

Estate

of Stuart Davis/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

Reproduction of Johns, White Flag © Jasper Johns/Licenced by

VAGA. New York.

Reproduction

of

Kelly.

Blue. Grew.

Red

permission

of

the artist.

Reproduction

of

Close. LllcaS permission

of

the artist.

Permissions for reproducing comparative photographs:

Photograph of Gertrude

Stein

printed

with

the permission of

the law oCfices

of

Levin

&

Gann [or the esta te

of Gertrude

Stein

and the Yale Collection of American Literature. The Beinecke

Rare Book

and

Manuscript Library.

Photograph

of

Iberian

sculpture

courtesy

of

Archivo

Fotografico. Museo Arquologico Nacional, Madrid. <)8/261 Dp.

Photograph of Matisse. Dance (first version) printed with

permission,

T h e M u s eu m

of

Modern Art, New York.

Photograph © 1998 T h e M u se u m of Modern Art, New York.

Reproduction of the image © S.P.A.D.E.M .. Paris.

Photograph

of

Matisse from the Archives

of

T h e M u s eu m

of

Modern Art, New York. Photograph courtesy of T h e M u s eu m

of Modern Art, New York. Reproduction of the image

S.p.A.D.E.M., Paris.

Photograph of Gorky from the Estate of the Artist. Printed with

permission of the Artists Rights Society.

Pollock photograpl] from Herschel B. Chipp, Theories of

Modern Art:

A

Source Book

by

Artists and Critics,

Cniversity

of California Press, Berkeley and

Los

Angeles. © 1968 by

The Regents of the University of California. Reprinted

with

permission.

The lrascibles photograph by Nina Leen/Life Magazine.

© Time

Inc.

Permissions

for

reprinting poems and

archival texts:

The following writings drawn from Herschel B. Chipp, Theories

of Modern Art: A Source

Book

by Artists and Critics, University of

California, Berkeley and Los Angeles. © 1968 by The Regents

of

the University of California are printed with permission:

Wassily Kandinsky, The Effect of Color, 19II

Paul Klee, Creative Credo,

1920

Fernand Leger, from The Aesthetic of the

Machine, 1924

Piet Mondrian, Plastic Art a nd P ur e Plastic Art, [937

Adolph Gottlieb

and

Mark Rothko, Statement, 1943

For full citations and

information about

original sources

and translations, see individual sections

in

Appendix.

The following writings drawn

from

Kristine Stiles and

Peter Se z,

Theories and DOCllme> ts oIContemporary Art:

A Sourcebook of Artists Writings, University of California,

Berkeley and Los Angeles. © 1996 by The Regents of the

University

of

California are

printed

with

permission:

Mark Rothko, I Paint Very Large Pictures. 1951

Isamu Noguchi, A Sculptor's World, 1968

For full citations and information about original sources.

see individual sections in Appendix.

Matisse, Notes

of a

Painter

©

S.p.A.D.E.'v1., Paris.

Andre Breton,

Manifesto oISurrealism

excerpts drawn

from

translations by Richard Seaver and

Helen R.

Lane, Ann Arbor

Paperbacks, The University

of

Michigan Press.

©

1969 by

The University

of

Michigan. Originally published in Paris by

Jean-Jacques Pauvert Editeur as

Manifestes du Surrealisme.

This excerpt reprinted here with permission.

Grant Wood excerpts reprinted from James

M.

Dennis,

Grant

Wood:

A

Study in American Art and Culture.

by permission of

the University of Missouri Press, Columbia. Copyright © 1975

and 1<)86 by James M. Dennis.

David Smith passage originally from

Everyday Art Quarterly,

(Minneapolis) no. 23, 1952. Reprinted here by permission of

Walker ArtCenter.

The Great Figure byWilliam Carlos Williams, from

Collected Poems:

1909-19]9. Vol.

1.

Copyright

©

1938

by New Directions

Publishing

Corp. Reprinted by

permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.

Translation

of

Ingeborg Bachmann s Bohemia Lies by the

Sea

by

Mark

M.

Anderson. Printed with Mr. Anderson's

permission.

Paul. Stella.

20th-century art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: a

resource for educators/by Stella Paul.

cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-87099-899-4

1.

Art,

M ode rn-20t h

cenhlry-Study and teaching.

2.

Met

ropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) 3. Art apprecia

tion-Study

and

teaching-New

York

State)-New

York.

I.

Title. II. Title: Twentieth-cenhlry art.

N 65 87 ·N 4M 48 6 1 9 99

709 ·04 00747471-dc21 99-

18

3

06

CIP



able ontents

How to Use This Resource

A Note to Educators

Format

Student Goals

Some General Thoughts about 2oth.Century Art

Grouping Works of Art for Discussion

P· 9

P· 9

P· 9

p O

p 1I

P·15

Works i n t he

Museum s

Collection

Entries

Pablo Picasso,

Gertrude

Stein

Pablo Picasso, Still Life with

Pipes

Henri Matisse, Nasturtiums with Dance

Wassily Kandinsky, The

Garden

Love

Improvisation Number

27

Giorgio de Chirico, Ariadne

Marsden Hartley, Portrait a German Officer

Fernand Leger, Woman with a

Cat

Paul Klee, Cold City

Piet Mondrian, Composition

Constantin Brancusi,

Bird

in Space

Joan Mir6, Animated

Landscape

Charles Demuth, The Figure 5 in Gold

Georgia O Keeffe,

Red,

White and Blue

Grant Wood, The Ride Paul

Revere

Stuart Davis,

Report

from

Rockport

Willem de Kooning,

Woman

Arshile Gorky, Water the Flowery Mill

Alberto Giacometti,

Three

Men Walking II

Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm Number3

David Smith, Tanktotem II

Edward Hopper,

Office

in a Small City

Jasper Johns, White Flag

Mark Rothko, No.

White

Red

on Yellow

Ellsworth

Kelly

Blue, Green, Red

Romare Bearden, The Block

James Rosenquist,

House

Fire

Red Grooms,

Chance

Encounter at 3 M

Andy Warhol, Last SelfPortrait

Isamu Noguchi, Water Stone

Chuck Close, Lucas

Anselm Kiefer, Bohemia

Lies

by the Sea

Appendix

Artists Writings: A Selection of Primary Sources

Poems Related to Specific Paintings Included

in

This Resource

A Very Selective Glance at Some

Key

Historical

Events That Have Shaped

Ou r

Period

Selected Sources for Further Information

P·17

P·19

P·23

P·27

P·3

1

P·35

P·39

P·43

P·47

P·5

1

P·55

P·59

p.63

p.67

P·7

P·75

P·79

p 83

p.87

P· 9

1

P·95

P·99

P·

o3

P·

o7

p 1I1

P·1I5

P·1I9

P·

2

3

P·

2

7

P·13

1

P·135

P·139

P·143

P·

16

7



cl nowledgrnents

Many colleagues

here

in th e

Museum

participated

in

essential ways

in

the development of this resource; their

feedback was invaluable

on

too many levels to properly

note

h er e i n this short acknowledgment. Without the gen-

erous attention

o f

William S Lieberman, Jacques an d

Natasha

Gelman

Chairman

o f

2 th Century Art; Kay

Bearman, Administrator; Lisa M Messinger, Assistant

Curator;

an d

Anne

Strauss, Research Associate, these

materials could never have

been

produce d. I w ant to

extend a very special thanks to Kathleen Howard, Senior

Editor.

the Counsel s Office, special thanks to Cristina

Del Valle and to Julie Zeftel in the Photograph an d Slide

Library. James Bednarz was the greatest and certainly

most patient) sounding boa rd throughout; his help was

truly inestimable, an d I m grateful for it.

my

own department, many of

my

colleagues read

the manuscript, an d shared insights and direction that

have

been

essential. Not only useful, their feedback

through innumerable

dis cuss ions has prove n to be

among

th e

most

enjoyable offshoots of this writing assignment.

was a g re at p le as ur e to talk a bo ut t he ar t w it h m y o wn

colleagues h er e i n Education, among them Kent Lydecker,

Nick Ruocco, Rebecca Arkenberg, Nelly Silagy Benedek,

Felicia Blum, Deborah Howes, Elizabeth Hammer Mune-

mura, Jennifer Tesoro Reese, Amy Silva,

and

Jean Sora-

bella. I also want to extend thanks to Masha Turchinsky,

Terry Russo,

an d

Paul Caro for the ir w ork

in

producing

the resource, an d to Emily Roth, Naomi Niles, Joanna

Naratil, an d Vivian Wick, who are responsible for the bib-

liography. Ou r

many

stimulating discussions about books

w ere a real ple as ure. Tha nks also to Patrick Seymour for

the handsome design

of

this publication. Jeremy Stynes,

Kristina Kaczmarski Sears,

and

Lisa Syrianos played a big

role, as always. Special thanks to intern Joy McAlpine,

who

made an important

contribution

in

securing the

rights to all the archival material used in this resource.

Finally, three

high

school apprentices did excellent work

on this kit: Shay Melia, Ryan Lally

and

Ayelet Bacon.



orewor

o

student

or teacher should study th e art

o f

the

twentieth century without reference to masterworks in

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2 th Century rt

Resource for Educators provides you with some of th e

essential tools for your classroom: texts posters slides

a CD-ROM an d a video based on examples from the

twentieth-century collection of t he M us eu m. T he

Museum s

internet site www.metmuseum.org also

features educational content that may be

used

in th e

classroom.

Teachers can

us e

these resources to prepare classroom

activities

or

to pre pa re s tude nts for a visit e ithe r to the

Metropolitan Museum or to your local museum Students

can also u se t he materials as reference for class projects

an d reports. We invite you to explore an d innovate.

Follow th e teaching strategies suggested in the text bu t

adapt and select according to your own curriculum or

teaching goals.

Stella Paul associate

museum

educator at the

Metropolitan has consulted with

Museum

colleagues

and New York teachers to write these materials supported

by the D epartme nt

o f

Twentieth Century Art an d William

S Lieberman Jacques an d Natasha Gelman Chairman.

Ou r s pe cial thanks go to the m. 2 th Century rt

Resource for Educators is s upporte d by a generous gra nt

from Mr. an d Mrs. Frederick P Rose who share our

commitment

to New York s teachers

an d

to teachers

throughout America.

Philippe de Montebello

Director

Kent Lydecker

Associate Director for Education









How to Use This esource

NOTE

T EDU TORS

This res ourc e for e duca tors is des igne d to be a

flexible tool that can be

u se d i n

any n um b er o fways by

you

and

your students:

on

its own

in

the classroom

pre pa ra tory to a visit to the Muse um

or afterward as a

follow-up.

Similarly you may wish

to

concentrate on

only

a

few sections

or

on m ny in any order that you feel works

to

the benefit of your class The material is

not

meant to pro

vide a linear history of t he a rt

o f

ou r

century; rather the

guide s hould be c onside re d as a s et

of

opportunities to

familiarize your students with some

exceptional works

of

art in th e Museum s collection each of which is certainly

worthy of close examination and sustained discussion.

The resource packet is self-sufficient; you may

use

it as a

tool for classroom teaching without ever visiting the

Museum. If y ou do p la n a t ri p to t he M us eu m y ou will

find many

o f

the works discussed here on view in the gal

leries; other works though will

not

be

on

view

on

the

occasion

of

your visit. Since the collection is far larger

than available exhibition space the installations rotate.

Every visit to th e twentieth-century galleries will be differ

ent; enjoy the pleasures

an d

challenges of seeing some

familiar works an d encountering some new ones.

FORM T

Each work of

art

s discussed individually s that this resource

can

be

used in whole

or

in part

For each work a few key concepts

or

issues are

extracted

i n b ri ef

summaries. These as well as other

points are elaborated in a s hort es sa y that addresses each

work separately. It s up to you whether the essay serves as

your own bac kground or is pas se d a long to your s tude nts

particularly those at the

high

school level. The essays are

written in a straightforward manner with

no

arcane lan

guage

or

obscure references that

might

get in

the

way o f

looking closely at the art.

To structure classroom discussion you may use the

specific discussion strategies that accompany every work.

These discussion strategies propose questions or com

ments t ha t m ay b e p os ed to s tu de nt s to g ui de them

in

c om ing to the ir own understanding of each work

an d

in

developing their own vocabulary to articulate their

res pons es to art. The que stions a re des igne d to fos te r

active learning by

honing

critical thinking

an d

language

skills

and

by engaging students

in

discussion. These ques

tions and

th e

open-ended responses they are designed to

elicit have

been

developed to enable your students to

elucidate in their own words the issues addressed in the

short essays.

The discussion strategies that are incorporated in

th e

individual sections for every work

of

art function as

les sons . The se a re des igne d as a vehicle for you to lea d

your class to develop

an understanding

of each work

and

for each student to fra me his

or

he r perspective

in

their

own words. While these strategies or lessons are

presented here as verbal exercises innumerable written

assignments are a natural extension

o f

this kind

of

classroom dialogue. These assignments can be based

on further research or they can be more immediate

such

as a thoughtful written

summary of

e ac h s tudent s own

analysis o f a given work of art.



We invite you to peruse

the

section called Grouping

Works of Art for Discussion

p.

IS , where you will find

proposed linkages or comparisons between works. These

connections can stimulate discussion, refine a student s

analytical or interpretive skills, and lead to powerful

insights.

Some teachers may wish to

use

this kit in a continuing

way, scheduling discussions of individual works

or

group-

ings of works

on

a weekly basis over the course of

an

entire semester, for example. After you have led your class

through

a

number of

these discussions, you

might then

consider assigning students specific works for which they

will take teaching responsibility: leading the class in a dis-

cussion about a work

that

they have studied or prepared

in advance. This strategy will provide for you

some

project-

oriented

assessment

possibilities for each student.

There is

an appendix in this ki t a kind

of condensed

source book

of

artists own writings. Each

o f

the passages

featured

here

can provide a

most

interesting

point of

departure for student work. Students can engage in the

fascinating process of

coming

to terms with archival

sources, reading an d interpreting contemporaneous per-

spectives on work

that

we can now examine in broader,

historical contexts. Also in the appendix, you will find

three poems that bear a critical connection to specific

paintings presented in this kit. Finally, just to

remind

you

an d

your students

that

all art is created within

th e

broad

historical, cultural, social, an d political circumstances

of

its

time, we have included a highly selective timeline o f key

events i n t he twentieth century.

You are the best judge for deciding which sections will

elicit the

most

productive responses from your students.

Please feel free to use this mater ial as a point of departure

for planning your own related activities and projects,

or

for

developing your own

unique

discussion strategies.

STUDENT GOALS

• Learn to develop critical thinking: through close

analysis

an d

inquiry, students will arrive at their

own conclusions about the

meaning of

works.

• Consider artistic modes

of

problem solving.

Doing so carefully will alert students to the

vast universe

of

expressive, analytical, an d

intellectual possibilities.

• Understand that the art

of

the twentieth century

is challenging: artists develop original interpre-

tations, sometimes pushing the boundaries of

expectation or taste. Students can learn from

considering why a given object is considered

controversial or not, an d why society s views

about such matters change over time.

• Develop new insights into the creation

of

art

by considering its broader contexts: historical

events, philosophical movements, literature.

• Develop

an d

refine research skills. A close

examination

of

a work

of

art is an encounter

with

an

authentic, primary source. meaning-

ful probe

of

such a visual primary source will

sharpen

research skills for dealing with other

kinds

of

primary sources.

• Develop an ability to grapple with complexities,

with unanswerable questions, an d with unrec-

oncilable, competing multiple perspectives,

which are often a

component of

twentieth-

century art. Students will learn how to address

an ambiguous, complex worldview with

many

nuances.







Some General Thoughts about 2 th Century rt

THE

ROL

OF THE VIEWER

picture

is

not thought out an d settled before-

hand. While it is being done it changes as one s thoughts

change. And when it

is

finished, it goes on changing,

according to the state

of mind of

whoever is looking at it.

A picture lives a life like a living creature, undergoing the

changes imposed on us by ou r life from day to day. This is

natural enough, as the picture lives only through the

ma n

who is looking at it.

Pa b l o

Picasso 1935

I

don t

think

of

my

work ever as a complete thing.

I

think

of it as a tool to get someone of f on their own vision.

J a me s

Rosenquist 1972

There is reciprocal action between a work

of

art an d each

viewer.

A ns e l m Kiefer 1985

To interpret a work

of

art is to develop

an

understand

ing

of

and

an

appreciation for the vision

of

the artist who

has created it, bu t the interpretation is in equal measure

the fruit

of

each viewer s unique and reasoned perspective.

There is no point more central to this particular resource

kit. The work

of

the three artists quoted above spans the

century, yet each artist expresses

in

his own words the crit

ical role that every viewer brings to bear

on

understanding

a work of art. How can each of us learn to look carefully at

the art,

then

find the voice

and

build the vocabulary to

articulate a sound interpretation? That is the important

work

of

the viewer, and it is also his or he r greatest

pleasure.



WH T IS IT TO BE MODERN

This resource kit provides a dynamic tool for understand

ing works

of

art created in the twentieth century. Its

approach to close looking does

no t

supplant a comprehen

sive history o f the period, which is available in many

published forms in any library. But in order to achieve the

substantial student goals that have already been outlined,

here we examine the art from a slightly different vantage

point. With this in mind, it may be useful to

think

about

a few general perspectives when coming to terms with the

art of

our time.

Just as

in

all historical periods, artists

in

the twentieth

century help define the

meaning

of their times. Think

about

some

leitmotivs or themes that seem to come up

regularly, such as artists concentrated efforts to comment

on the structure

o f

reality, the

nature of

perception and

thought, the human condition, the interior world of the

human mind an d the complexities

and

contradictions

of

human nature. Common concerns

and

obsessions that

ru n through

the art

o f

this century include

• A s ense

of

active experimentation; risk taking

• A self-conscious examination

of

the nature of art; work

that reflects itself an d its status as art

• A keen attentiveness to the language

of

form and a

belief

in

its power to communicate

• A desire to provoke viewers to see things in new ways

• The beliefthat art unveils fundamental psychological or

phenomenological

truths

• A new approach to subjectivity that tests the limits of

objective standards of reality; changing attitudes about

the possibility-or impossibility-for objectivity

• A new, inclusive approach to subject matter

Consider the above focal points as you examine the

works included in this guide,

and

use them

in

comparing

and

contrasting works. To help in this process, see

Grouping Works

of

Art for Discussion (p.lS), where

you will find suggestions for linking specific works.

12

I ENTIFYING V RIOUS

MOVEMENTS

IN RT

Art historians categorize movements

in

art according to

style or doctrine, a profoundly interesting intellectual

discipline that can establish coherence and rigor.

Yet

it

can be very daunting to

memorize

and keep track

o f

the

appropriate art historical terms, and if we force a focus

on

the scholarly vocabulary we ru n the risk of diverting

our

attention from interpreting what a work communicates

through its visual makeup.

Also, once we start concentrating on labeling, a natur

al tendency develops to assign neatly illustrated examples

to every category, and arrange them all in an artificial, lin

ear fashion.

ife

is messier

than

that. Categories shift over

time,

and

artists approach their work with a great variety

of

concerns that may differ and even conflict; it s entirely

possible to have multiple, competing perspectives at play

in anyone artist s career. So if you re no t a specialist, you

ru n the risk

of

assigning the wrong labeL

About schools or formal artists groups: there are

times

when

artists

band

together, producing a catalytic

effect on one another s work. Occasionally these groups

are highly formalized, with shared ideologies and even

published manifestoes. But often artists groups consist of

loose associations

o f

friends with

no

overarching plan.

Pablo Picasso and his friend and fellow artist Georges

Braque came together for a

brief

period

in

the early part of

the century to develop one

of

the watershed movements in

ou r

period: Cubism. These two

m e n d id n t

function as col-

laborators before or after this particular interlude in their

development. The Abstract Expressionists-whose work

changed the course

of

the art world

in

the period immedi

ately following World War

II-were

never a formal school

or

group. Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Koon

ing,

and

others were only loosely associated. So be careful

about asserting binding categories, when real life is so

fluid.

you focus too much

on

the categories, you may

begin to feel that you cannot have a valid experience



without seeing all the important markers. But in no muse

um in

the world will you encounter a comprehensive and

definitive treatment

of

the whole century with all its devel

opments. Just teach your students to address what is

in

front of them and they will find great rewards wherever

they go.

Still

if

you do want to introduce your students to the

intellectual rigors of understanding art historical cate

gories or movements you can use this resource as a point

of

departure for considering

some but of

course not

all relevant

breakdowns. A few

of

the possibilities that

you may incorporate from this resource kit include

Cubism: see Pablo Picasso

till

Life

p

23

Neoplasticism: see Piet Mondrian

p 5

Surrealism: see Joan Mir6

p

59

Regionalism: see Grant Wood p 7

Abstract Expressionism: see Jackson Pollock

p

9 ;

Willem de Kooning p. 79; Mark Rothko p 107;

Pop Art: see James Rosenquist

P.II9;

Andy Warhol

p 127

THINKING OUT THE RO DER CONTEXT

Like

everything else in life art doesn t function

in

a vac-

uum; it exists

in

social historical an d intellectual contexts.

Every artist discussed

here

responds in his

or

her

unique

way to the rapidly changing circumstances

of

the modern

world. All artists function in response to historical context:

key events discoveries horrors and pleasures of the

society in which they live. It will prove very stimulating

to keep this in

mind

when examining an individual work

and to ask What is the artist s particular relationship to

the complexities

of

the world?

This resource kit doesn t

presume

to be a full history

of the art let alone a broad-based history of the period. But

in the appendix you will find a highly selective timeline

noting some events that have shaped our century. This is

to

remind

you that context provides a very rich avenue for

interpretation.

is also a marvelous jumping-offpoint for

student projects. Through their own research and discus

sion students can pursue the important question What

difference does context make? Incidentally you may also

wish to consider another important question What events

or

breakthroughs have

been

left out of this particular selec

tive timeline and how would you or your students change

it to reflect their perspective on history?



MOR SUGGESTIONS OUT LOOKIN

You may approach the art f rom any number ofvantage

points, each of which will certainly yield insights

and

help

your students develop skills.

ey

issues will emerge again

and again, providing rich areas for discussion; in the

twentieth century, artists draw upon a

tremendous

array

of techniques and materials, the realm of subject matter

becomes infinitely broad,

and

the boundaries of art

are extended.

One

issue to keep in mind: look closely at each object

and

see that meaning is embedded

in

every detail. Stu

dents will be able to come to

valid and

profound inter-

pretations

of

works on the basis of looking, even without

extra background research. s they study each object,

focus on

• Form: shape, configuration, structure, considered apart

from color

and

material; the way in which the parts

are organized

• Color:

the

artist s choice of

hue and treatment

• Medium: mater ia l

an

object is made

of

(for example, oil

paint, watercolor, wood, steel)

•

Manner

or style in which the image is painted or sculp

ted: For example, is the paint applied with a brush? Are

the brushstrokes evident? Is the pigment thick or thin?

Is a sculpture carved

of

wood? Are the chisel marks

evident? Is the surface smooth or textured?

• Scale: overall size

of

the work, and also relative sizes

of

images that are depicted

in

the work

Consider the Subject

You may wish to group works according to subject, such

as portraiture or landscape, making comparisons between

similar subjects treated differently by various artists. f

the work is abstract rather

than

figurative, do

not

rule

out

the question of subject; students will be enriched by

exploring expressive

or

symbolic

meanings

of form.

With

much

of the art represented in this guide, you

will explore the interplay between real and fantastic,

documentary

and

imaginative. It s useful to keep

in

mind

a fundamentally abstract core issue:

that

all art is

artificial

and

its imagery unreal. Picasso summed

up

this

important issue: They speak

of

naturalism in opposition

to

modern

painting. I would like to know if anyone has

ever seen a natural work of art. Nature

and

art, being two

different things, cannot be the same thing. Through art we

express our conception

of

what

nature

is not.

Consider Context and Inspiration

Sometimes, a work

of

art is created in direct response to

The art

of

the past

The art

of

other cultures

Specific historical events

Personal history or recollection

Aesthetic theory

General aspects of

contemporary life, such as politics,

current

events, or

consumerism

Cross-fertilization that comes from encounters with

parallel fields, such as literature or music







Grouping Works of rtfor Discussion

P·I9

P· 7

P·39

P

p.63

P·79

p.87

P·99

P·

I

5

p

I

3

p.

I

7

P·I35

You may choose to examine works of art individually or in

groups. Sometimes comparing works enriches the discus-

sion

n

brings students own analyses into a sharper

focus. With that strategy in mind consider the following

groupings and don t hesitate to establish your own mean-

ingful groupings

of

objects.

Within each suggested grouping select a few works

to compare; pairings of your own choice within these

headings will provide good ground for a productive class

discussion or individual project.

Our Place in the World: Thinking about the

um n

Figure and Portraiture

Pablo Picasso

Gertrude Stein

Henri Matisse

Marsden Hartley

Fernand Leger

Charles Demuth

Willem de Kooning

Alberto Giacometti

Edward Hopper

Romare Bearden

Red Grooms

Andy Warhol

Chuck Close

Considering Attitudes about Everyday Objects:

Nonheroic Subject Matter

Pablo Picasso Still-Life P 3

James Rosenquist P I9

Stuart Davis P 75

Depicting the World Around Us: Blending

Documentary and Fantastical Impulses

Henri Matisse

Wassily Kandinsky

Giorgio de Chirico

Paul

Klee

Joan Mira

Georgia O Keeffe

Grant Wood

Stuart Davis

Arshile Gorky

Edward Hopper

Jasper Johns

Ellsworth Kelly

Romare Bearden

Red Grooms

Anselm Kiefer

Divergent Attitudes about the Urban World

Stuart Davis

Edward Hopper

Romare Bearden

rtand Narrative

Grant Wood

Romare Bearden

Red Grooms

Nonfigurative rt Finding Meaning in Form

Piet Mondrian

Constantin Brancusi

Jackson Pollock

David Smith

Mark Rothko

Ellsworth Kelly

Isamu Noguchi

P· 7

P·3

I

P·35

PA7

P·59

p.67

P·7

I

P·75

p.83

P·99

P·

I

o3

p l

P·

I

5

p

I

3

P·I39

P·75

P·99

P·

I

5

P·7

I

P·

I

5

p

I

3

P·5

I

P·55

P·9

I

P·95

P·

I

o7

p

P·I3

I



The Power of Color to Evoke Meaning

Henri Matisse

Wassily Kandinsky

Paul Klee

Piet Mondrian

Joan Mira

Willem de Kooning

Mark Rothko

New Materials n Techniques: Pushing

Conventional Limits

Jackson Pollock

David Smith

Romare Bearden

Jasper Johns

Andy Warhol

Does Scale Make a Difference? Thinking about

Overall Size

Paul

Klee

Alberto Giacometti

Jackson Pollock

Mark Rothko

Anselm Kiefer

P·27

P·3

P·47

p·SI

P·S9

P·79

P·lo7

P·9

P 9S

p IlS

P·lo3

p 127

P 47

p 87

P·9

P·lo7

P· 39

Literature: References

n

Inspirations

Charles Demuth

Grant Wood

Anselm Kiefer

Language n Words: Thinking about Titles

of Works

Marsden Hartley

Arshile Gorky

Jackson Pollock

Edward Hopper

Anselm Kiefer

Thinking about Language n Words as

a Compositional Element

Pablo Picasso till ife

Stuart Davis

Music

n

Its Connections to Art

Wassily Kandinsky

Romare Bearden

p 63

P·7

P· 39

P·39

p 83

P·9

P·99

P· 39

P·23

P·7S

P·3

p IlS

More Questions about Scale: Relative Sizes

of

Images

in

a Composition

Georgia O Keeffe p 67

Romare Bearden p IlS

James Rosenquist P Il9

6





Works in the Museurn s Collection



NOTE BOUT THE YTHIS SECTION

ORG NIZED

The works are arranged chronologically. Each is

identified

in

a citation that includes the artist s

nationality, birth nd death dates, title nd date

of

the work, medium material), size height x width

for paintings, nd

h ei gh t x wi dt h x d ep th for

sculptures), credit line indicating how the work

came to the Mus eu m),

nd useum

accession

number.



blo ic sso



SOME POINTS TO CONSIDER

• Pi casso ha s conveyed a feeli ng about w ho t hi s

subject is an d

what he r

personality is like. Every

element

of

the

picture plays a role

in

ou r

interpre

tation

of

the

subject:

he r

posture,

he r

gestures,

the

overall compositional structure, th e specific colors

used, an d

the

style

in

which

the paint

is applied.

• Th e face-stylized planar, masklike-was painted

in after a long interval an d

without

having th e sub

ject pose.

is treated differently

from

the

figure.

•

Th e

difference in style between the face an d body

suggests a transition that Picasso was making in

his art:

from

an

interest

in

p r ption

what th e

eye c an see) to

on ption

what the mind knows or

believes).

• Fo r Picasso p or tr ai tu re is less a bo ut likeness

objective description

of

what a person looks

l k -

a nd m or e about hi s own responses to

the

subject

he

paints. Even so, this particular portrait does

resemble its subject.

Spanish, 1881-1973

ertru e

t in

19°6

Oil on canvas, 9 8 x

in.

Bequest

of

Gertrude Stein, 1946

47.

106

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

J us t by looking a t this portrait-with

no

prior knowledge

of who

th e

s itte r or the a rtis t is, or

the

circumstances of its

creation-we w ould c erta inly be a ble to formula te a dis

tinct

impression

of this woman s

strength

an d capabilities.

She is solid, massive, imposing, an d powerful.

How

do we

know? It s not a s imple ca se of accurate rendering

of

phys

icallikeness. In this portrait, Picasso turns away from

purely objective description

in order

to explore his ideas

or

responses to the subject. In fact, every aspect of the paint

ing communicates an impression

to us, inc luding its s truc

ture, color, and method of applying the pa int to the s urfa ce

of

the canvas.

In

this reduced palette,

brown

tones playa

prominent

role. The chair

an d

wall

behind

appear

in

muted,

warmer

versions of

t he s am e

basic color

scheme

as

th e

subject s

clothing. No

hot

spots

or

flashes

of

brilliant

hues

distract

ou r

eye; even

t he o ne p oi nt

of

heightened

color, he r coral

brooch,

sounds

a

modest

note.

The

figure is massive;

she s

the main event here, a nd o ur attention is

not

diverted by

extraneous background details. She leans forward slightly,

which makes he r an active, dominant presence, an d which

also compresses he r trunk, arms, and upper legs into one

tight, bulky shape. He r

perimeter

forms a pyramid, w ith

th e

effect of rooting

th e

form solidly in its space.

At the apex of this pyramid is

the

head-stylized angu

lar, planar-which stands ou t f ro m t he r es t of th e compo

sition. Notice th e asymmetrical facial features; consider th e

eyes

in

particular. The figure

seems

to b e w ea ri ng a wood

en or otherwise h ar d m as k r at he r t ha n a face of soft flesh

an d blood. By contrast,

th e

figure s h an ds a nd body are

blocky bu t lifelike. Those elements

and

the background are

rendered in

light brushstrokes; Picasso

uses

traditional

techniques of modeling an d shading to convey their



Gertrude Stein in her studio at Rue de Fleurus in Paris

rounded forms. A study

of

when and how Picasso made

this work will suggest to us reasons for these distinctions

between the figure s face and the rest of the painting.

The subject is Gertrude Stein, well-known author and

patron

of

the

arts. An American living in Paris, she

encouraged many exceptional artists by buying their work

and inviting them to gather for spirited discussions at

her home. Pablo Picasso was a young man of twenty-four

when Gertrude Stein (age thirty-two) posed for this

work, later to become one of his most famous portraits.

In a book she wrote called The Autobiography Alice B

Yoklas Gertrude Stein described the circumstances. She

wrote

of

ninety sittings, a staggeringly high

number.

All

of a sudden one day Picasso painted out the whole head.

I

can t

see you any longer when I look,

he

said irritably.

And so the picture was left like that.

After a long summer vacation

in

Spain, Picasso

returned to Paris and repainted the head

and

face,

bu t

without having Stein come for another sitting. Apparent

ly

friends-put

of f

by

the severe, stylized, immobile

face-wondered

whether Picasso had achieved

an

exact

likeness, or instead had reduced their friend to an expres

sionless mask. Picasso said, In the end she will manage

to look just like it. Stein herselfwas tremendously

pleased with this work. She hung it in her home in a

place

of

honor for the rest

of

her life and donated it to

the Metropolitan Museum upon

her

death.

Her

2

Fragment an ancient

Iberian

stone bas relief

Museo Arqueol6gico

Nacional Madrid

companion, Alice B Toklas, wrote: Gertrude always sat

on the sofa and the picture

hung

over the fireplace

opposite and I used to say in the old happy days that they

looked at each other and that possibly when they were

alone they talked to each other.

The contrast between the head and body is riveting.

This powerfully expressive artistic technique reveals

Picasso s development as an artist. What happened dur

ing that

summer

break that would set Picasso off in a

new direction? No doubt, several factors contributed to

his changing approach to art.

He

was inspired

by

newly

discovered ancient sculpture, created in pre-Roman times

on the Iberian peninsula. He may have seen such objects

during his travels in Spain. The artist may also have seen

examples

of

the ancient Iberian work at the Louvre Muse

um

in Paris, where such sculpture was on exhibition dur

ing the late spring

of

1906. Picasso was drawn to these

primal objects and their severe, stylized faces with large

eyes and distorted features.

Perhaps this encounter with ancient art inspired

him

to push his own art in new directions. He moved away

from describing what his eye could see-perceptual reali

ty-toward

an

exploration of what his

mind

could envi

sion-conceptual investigation. Almost a century later,

we look back on this particular painting as a pivotal work.

When we study this portrait, we gain key insights into

Picasso s career, and the work that would influence

many, many artists still to come. An artist

of

our own

time period, Frank Auerbach, reflected on the impor

tance of this particular painting. When asked, When did

Picasso grow up? he replied, With the portrait of

Gertrude Stein,

of

course

PABLO PICASSO,

Gertrude Stein 1906



STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION

Thinking about the Subject

Even

if

we didn t know her name or anything else about

the woman depicted here, we can tell a lot about

her and

about what the artist thought of her just by looking

closely at the picture.

Describe this woman s character and her personality

traits, and then discuss why you have come to various

conclusions about her.

syou reflect

on

who she is, think about how the artist

has communicated his feelings about her. Describe her

pose how she holds her body, where she places

her

hands, and the gestures Picasso has painted.

Do

you think

that such elements are expressive? How so

Describe the artist s use of color. Does it communicate

anything? What?

Now consider how she is positioned

in

this composition.

Is she central? Symmetrical? Does her presence fill the

bulk of the composition? What does this say about her?

PABLO PICASSO. ertrude Stein

9 6

The Circumstances of Making This Painting

Gertrude Stein (the subject) posed for Picasso ninety

times, but

he

was not satisfied with his treatment

of

her

face, so he painted it out. After a long interval, he

returned to the picture and painted

in

the face.

Do you notice any difference between his treatment of the

face

and

the rest of this composition? Be very specific in

describing the difference.

Does the face

remind

you

of

any other kind

of

art? Some

say that it is masklike. Do you agree? Do you think that

Picasso may have been inspired by another art form-

perhaps an art associated with ancient times? Why do you

think an artist would find influences i n an art not of his

time or

in some cases, not

of

his culture?

Consider two kinds of approaches: in one, the artist is

concerned with documenting tangible things the way the

eye sees them;

in

the other approach, the artist is con-

cerned with what he thinks or feels about a given thing. Is

it possible that both approaches are reflected in this paint-

ing? How?

21







Notice Picasso s almost monochromatic color scheme

of

muted browns, taupes, and grays. There is little dis

tinction between background and object. Can you tell

what is meant to be air space a nd w ha t is s up po se d to be

a solid object? Solids and voids have almost equal weight

h er e. O ne f or m bl ee ds i nt o t he next; t he re are few clear

boundaries between things. Myriad small, shardlike

shapes fill the composition, clustering especially in its

center. These small fragments are each delicately mod

eled, stippled with small strokes

of

paint. This kind of

marking reminds us of conventional techniques of tonal

modeling, techniques used for centuries to show round

ness the

illusion of depth or volume on a flat surface.

B ut here the markings are removed from their standard

descriptive function. Rather than accurately describing

the volume of solid forms in space, these markings are

floated randomly throughout the whole composition. But

every now and then, Picasso uses an illusionistic device

that is familiar

to

u s, s uc h as t he s ha do w ca st

by

the nail

mentioned earlier. This kind of tease impresses on us

just how radical his methods are.

C onsider the subject matter: we cannot read into it

any deep historical or moral lessons. T here s no lofty

narrative story to tell. We have to work quite hard to

decipher what is being shown here;

in

t he en d, i t s ee ms

to be a b un ch of rather ordinary objects assembled by

happenstance. Letters and words are incorporated into

the composition s

if

they were objects in themselves.

The word ocean appears twice. Picasso probably saw the

word on a packing crate or an advertisement. Letters are

inherently flat anti-illusionistic). Language is innately

understood to

be an abstract symbol. y bringing into

his pictures letters and language, Picasso further expands

the boundaries of visual art, challenging all of us to

redefine its limits.

PABLO

PICASSO

till Life wit Pipes 19II



STRATEGIES FOR DISCUSSION

Determining What Is Depicted

You have to study the picture very carefully

in

order to see

that it is a still life

an

arrangement

of

objects

on

a table.

A horizontal line appears to the left of the table it repre-

sents a rope. What are the three objects hanging from the

rope? How is the rope attached to the wall?

What does the rectangular shape with letters represent?

Can you identify the language of the words?

In

the central part

of

the composition can you make

out any shapes that might represent a water pitcher? A

coffeepot?

Letters and Words Introduced

into the Context of Fine Art

The letters

e

a n spell out an English word. They

are not attached to a particular object. Think about the

kinds oflettering

and

words we routinely see in everyday

life on billboards or signs or in newspapers. Such kinds

of advertisements or labels probably served as the inspira-

tion for

ocean

Why would random fragments of routine

life be appropriate subjects for a painting?

Fragments

of

words in French including excerpts

of

the

title of a book by a French author named Dumas appear

elsewhere in the picture. Find the words and then try to

analyze why Picasso might have incorporated this incom-

plete reference in the composition.

PABLO

PICASSO till

Life

wit

Pipes

II

In other periods in history artists tried to make

pictures that told an important story or revealed some-

thing heroic about past history mythology

or religion. o any of these concerns

playa

role

in Picasso s choice of subject matter?

What is an appropriate subject for art? Consider the

question from your own personal standpoint and from

that of Picasso.

How Picasso Responds to Real Objects: Moving Away

from a Record

of

Visual Perception

Picasso could have painted the objects in a very

recognizable way yet he chose not to. Instead he ana-

lyzed real objects

and

then reorganized them. Describe

how he has reassembled things in this new approach.

Why are objects depicted as fragments?

s there a great difference between the objects

and

the

background space in which they sit? What has Picasso

done to equalize these two elements? Consider color and

shading and other artistic techniques in formulating your

answers. Why do you think the artist would want to blur

the boundaries between solid objects and space?

Propose a few reasons for why

an

artist might decide

to reject a photographic or naturalistic approach.



enri atisse

French, 869 954



SOME

POINTS

TO

CONSIDER

• For Matisse, careful observation is a point

of

departure for creative transformation.

• Color

and

form are

expressive full of

meaning

and feeling rather than naturalistic or imitative.

• Matisse moved beyond the outward appearances

of

things in order to explore what he believed to

be their inner meaning.

• Each part of the composition functions in its rela

tionship to every other. The whole is one coherent

expression built through the interdependence

of

all

of

its components rather

than

through the power

of a few key elements.

• The subject

of

this work a picture within a

picture allows

for

numerous

ambiguities, both

spatial and psychological.

For writings by Matisse see Appendix

p

143

Nasturtiums with Dance

9

Oil on canvas, 75

liz

x 45 3/8 in.

Bequest

of

Scofield Thayer, 1982

9

8

+433.

6

NOTES

ABOUT

THIS

WORK

Even though we can easily identify every item shown in

this painting, at first glance we may not be able to identify

the subject: a picture within a picture. The graceful and

exuberant dancers that seem to be frolicking

in

the coun

tryside are actually a

fragment

of a large horizontal paint

ing, Dance shown leaning against

the

wall of the artist s

studio. In this interior view, the peach-colored area in the

foreground represents

the

floor

of

the room.

An armchair

with a striped

cushion

is partially shown on the left,

and a vase filled with nasturtium flowers sits

on

a type

of three-legged stand that artists sometimes use for

making sculptures.

Is this work merely a direct transcription

of

what

Matisse saw in his room? For this artist, careful observa

t ion serves as a point

of

departure for creative transforma

tions. Matisse said, I

must

interpret nature

and

submit it

to the spiri t of the picture. Through subtle effects of crop

ping and distortion, Matisse has blurred a few rational

boundaries and created a complex work that transcends a

commonplace image

of

an interior room in order to sug

gest his attitudes about

the

human condition. Consider

the

placement of

the

three-legged stand. The two legs in front

rest firmly within the space

of

the room,

but

the position

of

the third leg is ambiguous . Does i t res t within the space

of

the painted picture within the picture, on the grassy hill

where the dancers cavort?

How

is

that

possible, unless

Matisse is purposely playing with shifting boundaries?

Look at the fragment

of

the figure on the far r ight . We see

a bit

of

fleshy pink skin and the barest hint

of

a thin

arm

reaching

out behind the

vase. But

what

about

the green

lozenge shape that is positioned where the

head

should

be? Certainly it can represent the figure s head, bu t

i t also suggests a leaf,

both

in shape and color and adds

another

layer of possible ambiguity.



Dance first version 1909,

oil on

canvas, 8 6

I

12 9

I

in.

The

Museum

Modern Art

New

York.

Gift ofNe/son

Rockefeller

in honor

Alfred

H Barr, Jr.

With this work, Matisse was not interested in render

ing human anatomy accurately; the figures show tremen

dous liberties.

In

1912

when Matisse painted this work,

people didn t normally dye their hair green, yet one fig-

ure seems to have a green head. We cannot even identify

whether these androgenous dancers are male or female.

The limbs

of

each figure are distorted, distended, putty

like in appearance rather than muscular. The sinuous

limbs link together rhythmically, and their contours cre

ate a dynamic energy. In fact. the shapes created by the

empty spaces in between the figures are particularly

expressive. Matisse charges every single part

of

the com

position with meaning and importance: The place occu

pied by the figures or objects. the empty spaces around

them the

proportions-everything

plays a part.

Color plays a fundamental role. Just as the radically

simplified. distorted forms carry expression, so too does

the luminous color. Like form, color is emancipated from

imitation of the natural world in order to convey feeling.

Each area of color evokes an intense sensation. Even

more important, the interaction

of

the various colors and

their interdependence create a harmonic balance, the

underlying feeling of the work. The way Matisse has

applied the color also conveys meaning. Dynamic,

brushy, fluid strokes of paint allow the canvas to show

Matisse in 19 3 or 1904 with the painting The Monk in

Meditation

and

the

sculpture

The Serf

through in many places. Look at the central figure and

examine the edges in particular; there is no rigid border

or outline. Look at the peach-colored foreground where

sketchy pencil marks show through the final layer of

paint in this finished composition.

In this painting. Matisse has created a world with no

specific narrative story to tell. All the incidentals are

stripped away to revel in essential attitudes about life and

the human condition: joy harmony, purity, and balance.

Matisse noted that the work of art must carry within

itself its complete significance and impose that on the

beholder even before he recognizes the subject matter.

Matisse s goal was to reach beyond the external appear

ances of things

in

the world

in

order to describe the feel

ings generated by those things. Form, color,

and

line are

the means

he

used to express his vision.

HENRI MATISSE, Nasturtiums with Dance.

1912




Looking at the Subject

Take a few minutes to describe what Matisse has

painted in this scene.

In order to focus on the picture closely, think about

foreground, middleground, and background.

In the foreground, look at the chair on the left and

notice h ow it is c ropp ed a t t he left a nd bot to m. We s ee

only a fragment of the armchair. What does that tell us

about the scene? Now take a close look at the figures in

the background of the composition. Are there hints that

there are other figures that are not fully visible in

this composition?

What kind of furniture is shown in the middle ground-

the item with three legs and a tabletop? oyou recognize

this particular type of table? Artists use these tables

to

make sculpture.) What kind of room do we associate it

with?

is u sed i n

an

artist s studio. In such a studio,

paintings are often seen resting on the floor, leaning

against a wall.

Looking at Spatial Arrangements

Of course, since this is a painting, it is a two-dimensional

object. But artists have the capacity to show the illusion

of

space even on a flat surface.

Try to analyze where things rest in space. For instance,

examine the legs

of

the sculpture stand. Where do the two

front legs rest, spatially? How about the third leg? Is it

inside the artist s studio or outside

in

a landscape?

HENRI

M TISSE Nasturtiums with Dance

9

How Much Do We Know about T hese

Human

Figures?

C an you tell the gender of the figures? Their specific

location? The time

of

day T he time period in which

they live?

Why do you think that Matisse provided no clues to

any of the above questions? Does an absence of clues

have meaning?

What are the figures doing? How, exactly, do you know

the answer to that question?

Are these figures accurate representations

of human

anatomy? What distortions is the artist deliberately creat

ing? What is the effect of the distortions?

How Is Color Used?

Is the choice of color based

upon

observation of real

things? What distortions is Matisse using?

How is the paint applied? C an you see brushmarks?

oyou notice any sign of sketches that Matisse might

have made on the canvas even before he began to apply

paint?

Is each item clearly outlined? Are the edges smooth or

rough? Why What effect does this create?



Wassily andinsl<y

Russian, 1866 1944



SOME POINTS

TO

C ONSIDER

• In this imaginary landscape, some elements are

recognizable an d other areas

of

the composition

are abstract.

• Kandinsky believed that artists should reveal spiri

tual truths that lie behind external appearances.

• For Kandinsky, color itself had deepmeaning and

could be spiritually expressive.

He

felt equally

strong about form. He advised, Look at a painting

as a graphic representation

of

a mood

an d

not as

a representation

of

objects.

• This artist drew parallels between different art

forms-specifically, music and the visual arts.

orwritings

by

Kandinsky

see

Appendix p 147

The

Garden

Love

Improvisation Number

27

9

Oil

on

canvas,

473/8

x 55 ; in.

Alfred Stieglitz Collection,

1949

49·7°·1

NOTES AB OUT T HI S WOR K

Kandinsky gradually eliminated all traces of the natural

world in his paintings in order to create a purely abstract,

nonobjective art with no recognizable imagery. But with the

art of the twentieth century, it doesn t have to be either/or.

This work reveals just how rich that middle

ground

between abstraction an d figuration can be.

In

this painting,

external appearances are dematerialized, bu t references to

identifiable objects remain.

Garden Love Improvisation Number 27) is an imagi

nary landscape. I n t he center of this composition, a huge

su n

emits

orange rays. Three separate couples embrace.

The couple to

the

left of the su n appear to be seated with

their arms

entwined. In

the

lower right,

another

pair

recline a black shape

on

top

of

a white figure. The

third

pair of lovers (in green

an d

blue) is above

th e

sun, jus t

touching it. These figures are

not

specific people; they re

symbols that represent general humanity. The long, ser

pentine, black line to th e right

of

the

su n

represents a

snake in the garden. Above th e snake, other straight black

lines suggest a fence. Some imagery is implied yet

not

made

explicit by

the

fluid shapes

an d

large

translucent

patches

of

color;

perhaps there s

a

horse and

a dog

in

this

scene. In the upper right corner, an

ominous

patch of

scratchy black strokes

seems

menacing. H er e a nd i n

other

works by Kandinsky, this particular

mark

serves as his

visual metaphor for darkness an d rain. Like many artists,

Kandinsky acquired a repertory

of

recognizable forms that

often reappeared in his work. By examining a whole body

of work, art historians become familiar with

an

array of

forms an d the personal meanings that such forms convey

for the artist.



this dreamy scene, colors

and

forms

seem

to

almost

float in space, yet Kandinsky anchors them

here

and there

by

using

black accents at strategic points.

y

thinning the pastelike oil pigments, he produces trans-

parent

veils

of

color

that

appear as if washed onto

the

canvas-an oil painting

that

shares some of

the

charac-

teristics of a watercolor. Intuition and emotion,

not

opti-

calor sensory perception, dictate Kandinsky s choice

of

colors and forms.

He

believed

that

a work of art should

express

the inner

character of things,

not their

external

appearance. Kandinsky advised, Look at a painting as a

graphic representation

of

a mood and not as a represen-

tation of objects. For Kandinsky, every form and every

color carried expressive meaning alone and in nuanced

combination. He developed a new pictorial language to

express that complex meaning. Concerning color, he

wrote about

the

physical effect of seeing beautiful colors,

and then he described a deeper, psychological effect:

They produce a corresponding spiritual vibration, and it

is only as a step toward this spiritual vibration

that the

physical

impression

is of importance Generally

speaking, color directly influences the soul. He

expressed that concept in many ways in his writings. He

draws

an

analogy between

the

role of an artist

and that

of

a musician: Color is

the

keyboard,

the

eyes are

the

ham

mer

the soul is

the

piano with many strings. The artist is

the hand that plays, touching

one

key or

another

pur-

posely, to cause vibrations

in the

soul.

Kandinsky was acutely sensitive to music. Apparently,

he first experienced the sensation of colors evoked

specifically by

sound

while attending a performance

of

Wagner s Lohengrin This inc ident led to his theory of

mutual

exchanges, in which color evokes sound and

vice versa: colors have

an

inaudible

inner

sound. He

actively sought

out

connections with musicians. For

example, after attending a concert by Schonberg in 19 I I

he began a correspondence with

that

composer.

In

addi-

tion to the parallels between colors

and

sounds, Kandin-

sky found

other

connections between

painting

and the

composition

of

music. The word

improvisation

part

of

this painting s tit le, is a term used

in

music.

Kandinsky devoted a great deal of time to formulating

his complex theories

on

art;

in

1912

he

published the

important text

Concerning the Spiritual in Art.

He believed

that

an artist s major task was to reveal the

fundamental

spiritual realities

that

lie behind

the

world of apparent

substances. Kandinsky took this approach for many com-

plex reasons.

Key

personal events

inspired

new directions

in

his art.

In

addition to

such

events, we

might

ask about

broader historical circumstances that

perhaps

contributed

to Kandinsky s predisposition to look beyond the materi-

al, physical world to explore the inner spirit. Some

scholars have noted that Kandinsky was jolted by news

of physicist Ernest Rutherford s

bombardment

of the

atom in

1911.

With

new

knowledge

of

the fragile nature

of the

material world, perhaps Kandinsky reaffirmed his

fascination with an inner, spiritual content.

WAS SILY KAN

DIN

S

KY The Garden

Love

Improvisation Number 27), 1912




The Painting s Subject: Abstraction

and

Figuration

Some forms in this painting stand for specific things.

Find forms that relate specifically to a landscape.

For example look in the center

of

the composition and

identify what the large yellow circle represents.

Are there other elements that are identifiable?

This garden is populated with three pairs

of human

lovers. Find the pairs. The figures are not shown in a

very naturalistic fashion. How do you know they are

human

figures?

What does the word abstract mean?

Is this painting completely abstract? Completely

figurative?

In

between? Look closely at the painting

to

begin to answer these questions.

W

ASSI

LY KANDINSKY The

arden

ove

mprovisation Number 27 1912

Real or Imaginary?

Is it a real place? What leads you to your conclusion?

Are the human figures portraits of specific people

or do they represent anonymous types?

Notice the

u vy

black horizontal line whose left edge

touches the sun shape. This ma y be a case where a

shape suggests something rather than explicitly describes

something. What is

it

A snake in a garden often refers to another very famous

garden described in the Bible. In what Biblical garden

does a serpent

playa

major role? Why would a modem

artist refer back to the Bible?

The Special Power of Color

Does Kandinsky use color in a way that corresponds to

the

way

the eye sees things? In other words are the color

choices true to life?

Kandinsky had particular personal ideas about the

power

of

color and specific personal reasons for

selecting various colors.

Why would an artist purposely avoid using colors

to describe the way things actually look to our

eye

Color can convey mood or emotion. While thinking

about the colors in this picture name some moods the

colors seem to suggest alone and in combination.



iorgio

hirico

Italian,

1888-1978



SOME POINTS TO

CONSIDER

• De Chirico creates

an

unreal, dreamlike scenario.

Its components have mysterious relationships.

We can suggest some specific meanings in these

relationships, but other meanings transcend

rational explanation.

• Disparate elements are juxtaposed; allusions to

both the ancient and modern world, historical ref

erences, and personal memories all come into play.

• De Chirico reinforces the overall effect-anxiety,

foreboding, loneliness,

and

abandonment-

through artistic means, such as a pitched,

unsettled perspective.

• This

landscape which

has no

human presence-

evokes an impression

of

silence, stillness, and

desertion. Such impressions are reinforced when

we think about the title

of

the work, riadne

and the ancient story of Ariadne s desertion

by Theseus.

riadne

19

1

3

Oil and graphite on canvas, 53 3/8 x

71

in.

Bequest

of

Florene M Schoenborn,

1995

199

6

.4°3.

1

NOTES ABOUT THIS WORK

In

this depiction

of

a deserted public plaza, past fuses with

the present to evoke

an

enigmatic dream world. While its

precise meaning is impossible to penetrate, an overall

impression is clear: this dream world is rife with anxiety,

foreboding, loneliness, and abandonment De Chirico

admired

the German philosopher Nietzsche, who

described his own sense

of

foreboding that underneath

this reality

in

which we live

and

have

our

being, another

and altogether different reality lies concealed. Those

words could just as well describe de Chirico s point

of

view. This artist blends reflections

on

art, philosophy, the

ancient past, and the modern world with personal memo

ries to devise his own unique reality.

No human

beings populate this stark landscape, which

looks like a theatrical set. The scene

seems

frozen and the

air still. The light is mysterious and eerie; light and dark

elements contrast with a heightened, dramatic tension.

There is a sense of muteness We look down upon the

plaza, shown at an uncomfortable, slightly pitched angle.

This particular, unstable perspective

on

the scene con

tributes to our discomfort. To the right, a colonnade walls

in

the scene; it, too, pitches back into space in a steep

recession. Ominously, the somber arches cast

an

enor

mous shadow, which covers nearly two-thirds of

the

com

position.

The

plaza itself,

the

colonnade,

and

de Chirico s

fascination with rendering perspective all recall the early

Renaissance in Italy. He was inspired by Renaissance mas

ters who often structured their paintings around key archi

tectural elements, and whose experiments in perspective

so influenced the development of Western art over the fol-

lowing centuries.

But de Chirico goes back even further in t ime to reflect

on

antiquity. The

huge

statue

of

the reclining

woman

is de

Chirico s rendition

of

a specific ancient

work a

Roman



copy

of

an ancient Greek sculpture. The figure is Ari-

adne. In ancient mythology, Theseus sails to Crete, kills

th e

Minotaur,

and then

faces the

danger

of

becoming for-

ever lost i n t he labyrinth. Ariadne,

daughter

of

Crete s

King Minos, has fallen

in

love with Theseus and helps

hi m escape

f ro m t he

labyrinth by giving hi m a

thread

to

mark his path. The couple

then

flees to the island of

Naxos. But Theseus ultimately abandons poor Ariadne.

The ancient

statue

s ho wn h er e i n

de Chirico s composi-

tion

represents this

part

of

the

story. Ariadne is

a s l e e p

alone an d

forgotten-on

Naxos.

The deserted plaza depicted h er e i n this composition

can stand as a metaphor for the ancient story

of

Ariadne s

abandonment by Theseus. Mood is conveyed by the spe-

cific configuration

of

objects de Chirico chose to focus

on. It is also carried through formal means: th e height-

e ne d a nd stilted contrasts

o f

cast shadows, a nd t he tilted,

uncomfortable grounding of the whole scene. De Chirico

wrote about painting s special power to

communicate

through

fo rm-o n a

profound

level;

he

believed painting

to be t he m os t expressive of all the arts: Music cannot

express the non plus ultra

[sic] of

sensation. After all, one

never knows what

music

is about. After having

heard

any

piece of

music the

listener

h as t he

right to say, an d can

say, what does this mean? In a

profound

painting, on th e

contrary, this is impossible: one must fall silent when

o ne h as penetrated it in all its profundity. Then light an d

shade, lines

an d

angles,

an d

the whole mystery

o f

volume

begin to talk.

Various elements of the picture reflect different time

periods; the ancient world,

the

Renaissance,

a nd t he

modern

world all coexist

in

a relatively disjunct blend.

When

de Chirico painted this picture

he

lived

in

Paris,

b ut h e was b or n i n Greece a nd h ad s pe nt his childhood

there. In focusing on this image (an ancient representa-

tion of a mythological story), de Chirico reflects on

the

classical past an d also perhaps on memories of his child-

hood. The large ship with sails i n t he distance is of an

indeterminate time

period (neither ancient no r modern).

To its left, the modern world enters the picture: a loco-

motive billowing smoke moves across th e horizon. The

locomotive ma y also relate to childhood memories, since

de Chirico s father worked as an engineer for the Greek

railways. But

the

two vehicles

of

transport-train an d

ship-may

also suggest connections to the ancient Ari-

adne story.

th e

train an d ship

transport

somebody?

Perhaps we are glimpsing

an

outward sign

o f

a loved

one s departure.

De Chirico s work

had

a great impact

on

artists

an d

poets in France, whose surrealism was inspired by his

visionary paintings. The leader

of

th e Surrealist group,

Andre Breton,

admired

de Chirico s expression, which

he

described as irremediable human anxiety. De Chirico,

however, later called his approach metaphysical, a term

h e u se d to evoke his work s strange an d fantastic content.

Like those in a dream, th e disparate images in riadne

have mysterious metaphorical relationships. Sometimes

we can propose meanings conjured up by these

unusual interconnections; sometimes, they transcend

rational thought.

GIORGIO

DE

CHIRICO

riadne 9




What Kind of Landscape Is This?

Take a few minutes to describe the scene. Consider each

of

the items

in

the composition.

What kind of environment is this?

Can

we

identify whether this is a specific ( real ) place or

a completely imaginative one?

What exactly leads

you

to your conclusions?

Is the lack of humans significant? If so, describe the effect

this creates.

References to Past and Present: Thinking about Memory

and History

Some parts of the composition refer to the ancient world.

The statue depicts Ariadne a figure from ancient mythol

ogy who has been abandoned by her lover, Theseus, after

they fled from Crete to the island of Naxos). Why might

a twentieth-century artist find interest in ancient sources?

Would you say that the story of Ariadne s abandonment

is shown through pictorial means, in addition to being

suggested by the depiction of the statue itself? How so?

Consider different time periods that are shown together

here in this one composition: ancient, Renaissance, and

modern. You already examined references to antiquity.

Now identify elements that symbolize other periods.

Think about how or

whether they

connect with one

another. Do the different elements represented in this

picture relate

in

a logical way to one another?

GIORGIO DE CHIRICO riadne 9

Consider personal references that might relate to de

Chirico s own background. Hint: De Chirico grew up

in

Greece, and his father was a railway engineer.

Think about how de Chirico blended the past and the

present in this painting. Why do you think he used this

approach, and what do you think the overall effect of

such blending is?

Compositional Structure

Artists use techniques of perspective to show the illusion

of a three-dimensional world in a painting, which is

actually flat. How is perspective used here?

Does everything appear to rest firmly in space? If not,

describe the effects you see. Describe the feeling you get

from de Chirico s sloping, slightly skewed landscape.

7



arsden artley

American,

1877-1943



SOME P OI NT S T O

CONSIDER

• This is a portrait

of

a specific person,

and

yet it

is comprised entirely

of

symbolic and abstract

elements; there are no overt references to

human

anatomy or physiognomy.

• Military insignia, details drawn from uniforms,

and flag imagery help to identify the subject as

a soldier. Other clues to his identity are initials

and numbers.

• Among other formal attributes, assertive

patterning and bold coloration convey the artist s

feelings about his subject.

• Even tho ug h there are n o figural elements, this

portrait is a highly personal, deeply felt tribute:

an

elegy to a fallen soldier.

ortrait a erman ffi er

9

1

4

Oil on canvas, 68

x 4 3/8 in.

Alfred Stieglitz Collection,

1949

49.7°-4

2

NOTES

ABOUT THIS WORK

H ow c an this painting be called a portrait? Normally, we

expe ct a portrait to look like the person i t depic ts , to s how

recognizable features. Yet the composition lacks a head or

a body. Rendered entirely in abstract symbols

rather

than

physical, anatomical attributes, ortrait a erman

ffi er

is Marsden Hartley s highly personal reflection on a good

friend.

An effusion of bold stripes, checkerboards,

and

diago

nals are patched together in this composition

of

harsh, gar

ish

colors. The effect

of

this exuberant patterning recalls a

parade

of

flags

and banners

Military insignia, too, playa

major role. Positioned where you might normally expect to

fin d a

head in

a conventional portrait,

an

Iron Cross

a

German military decoration) appears, bold enough to dra w

our eye in quickly. But Hartley has emphasized it further

by outlining it in w hite , ringing it in red, then embedding

it in a triangle or a rrow s ha pe ), w hich is itse lf reminiscent

of

some kind

of spear.

In the upper

right corner, two

lances peak

out from behind a red, s as hlike s ha pe w ith

white stripes. At the lower right, we can see two tassels

hanging

from w ha t might be an epaulet. A spur,

such

as a

soldier might wear on horseback, projects from

the

side of

the

r ed cro ss a t t he

bottom

of the composition. Although

they serve as abstract emblems the

forms

and

patterns

also refer to specific, tangible materials associated with

military

uniforms and the

paraphernalia of ceremonial life.

We c an

surmise something

about

the

subject s identity

from these references. He was a soldier.

On

one level, there s

nothing

personal about

the

image;

it contains

no

human features.

The insistent

focus

on

mili

tary accoutrement reminds us that one of the effects of

m ilitary tra ining is to s trip away a s oldier s individua l

39



Related drawing:

Marsden Hartley. American 1877 1943

Military Symbols I ca.

1913 14

Charcoal

on

paper

4

4 x 8 4

in.

Rogers Fund 1962

62.15.1

idiosyncrasies in order to foster a larger team entity. Fur

thermore, the subject s

name

is omitted from the title of

the picture,

Portrait

a German

Officer which prevents

us

from focusing on a specific man.

On

another level, the

more

we look at the picture , the more

we

know about the

particular human being depicted here.

Some clues

to

the subject s identity: his initials,

KvF, appear in the lower left corner, and his age,

twenty-four, is noted toward the right. He was

Karl

von

Freyburg, whom Hartley described

as

a man

in

perfect

bloom of six-foot splendor. The painting is a memorial

to von Freyburg, a German soldier who was killed in

battle early in World War Hartley, an American,

had

gone to Berlin, where he was captivated

by

the pageantry,

ceremony, military order,

and

what

he

called spick

and

spanness in the order oflife,

the pavements shining

Related drawing:

Marsden Hartley. American 1877 1943

Military Symbols 3

ca.

1913 14

Charcoal

on

paper 4 4

x

8 4

in.

Rogers

Fund 1962 62.15-3

like enamel leather. The delight was tempered by the

death

of

his friend.

In visual terms, Hartley tries to express his unen

durable agony with this picture.

As

a memento, Hartley

was given von Freyburg s Iron Cross (awarded to him for

bravery just one day before his death) and the shoulder

straps from his uniform. He used these as a point

of

departure for his moving tribute. Larger than life, the

patterned flags, emblems, bits of uniform, and insignia

are laid out on a deep black background. The use of

black, a color traditionally associated with mourning,

reminds us that this picture is an elegy.

Hartley takes pattern and form and transforms

them

into specific meaning. He referred to the process

of

transformation as quickening plain things into a state

of true reality.

MARSDEN HARTLEY, Portrait ofa German Officer 1914



STRATEGIES FOR

DIS USSION

Looking at What Is Depicted: What Is a Portrait?

Traditionally when we think of the word portrait we

envision a picture showing recognizable human features.

Does this painting depict a recognizable face?

ody

Put aside the idea that a portrait must show physical

attributes and consider whether you can identify anything

recognizable in the painting.

Do

you see anything that

reminds you

of

flags or banners? What do you associate

such imagery with?

Notice the elements in the upper right corner. What are

they?

Can you find items associated with a military uniform

in the picture such as tassels or spurs?

W ha t c an we s ur mi se a bo ut t he p er so n h on or ed i n

this portrait?

Think about the following statement: there s no human

likeness depicted in this portrait nor is the subject s

name used

in

the title of this work yet it is a p ict ur e

of a specific human being. Is the painting personal or

impersonal? Now analyze exactly why you ve reached

these conclusions.

MARSDEN HARTLEY

Portrait

o

German Officer 1914

Looking at the Composition

Take a few minutes to describe how the composition

is organized. Describe the use

of

patterning. How does

the patterning affect how you feel about the picture?

Consider the words

symmetrical

and

frontal Do

such

words apply here? e specific.

What shapes and forms are positioned where you would

expect to find a head in a conventional portrait? Is this

significant? How so

T he Use

of

Color

Describe the color palette that Hartley used in this work.

How do you think his specific color choices contribute

to the feeling of this painting?

There are occasions when color is traditionally associated

with symbolic events or circumstances. The color black

is one such case. Notice that the background

in

this paint-

ing is a very dense black. Describe the possible signifi-

cance of this fact.



ernand

eger

French, 1881-1955




• This is an anonymous figure an d not a portrait

of a specific person.

• She looks unreal robotlike as if made out

of

metal tubing rather than flesh an d blood. This

robotlike stance is meant to be a

positive

attribute.

Leger evokes machines in celebration

of

the

modern age an d the promise it holds for all me n

and women.

• The way the paint is applied contributes to the

machinelike impression. There are no brush

strokes. The surface is clean, pristine, smooth.

The palette is reduced to a few colors.

• Leger has made the background equivalent to

the figure itself. He believed that beauty resides

everywhere.

Human

beings were one object

among

others and

all things were equivalent in

importance an d

in

aesthetic beauty.

For writings by

Leger

see ppendix p 5

oman with a at

19

2

Oil on canvas, 3/8 X

35

in.

Gift of Florene M Schoenborn, 1994

1994-4

86

NOTES

OUT

THIS WORK

A nude woman sits in an armchair, impassively reading an

unidentified book,

he r

black cat resting on

he r

lap. Do we

know anything about t he w om an w ho m Leger depicts cen

trally in this painting?

He r

body appears machinelike, the

parts apparently more akin to aluminum tubing than to

soft flesh and blood. He r limbs an d even he r neck and

head are smooth, steely, tubular forms. Geometrical

shapes define each part

of

he r anatomy simple spheres,

cones, an d tubes are combined together to create this

human form, much like various interchangeable machine

parts would be assembled to create a robot.

Every element of th e composition is treated in the

same manner. The

woman s

dark hair is a stark vertical

band, very similar to other dark bands used to suggest the

architecture

of

the room she sits in

an d

the edges

of he r

chair. She leans against a pillow the same color as

he r

skin;

both pillow an d flesh have

the

same

texture

an d

substance. Leger applies the paint

in

a pristine way; th e

surface is smooth and we don t see

much

evidence

of

individual brushstrokes. Leger has purposely reduced his

palette to a handful

of

colors: red, yellow, black, gray,

an d white.

Leger doesn t clothe this

woman s

metallic figure.

Clothing would have obscured the basic form of this

massive body, although it would have provided clues to

he r identity. She has no facial features an d therefore

no expression for us to read into. There s no narrative

or story to tell, no sentimental associations. She

remains anonymous.

Leger considered such anonymity a positive attribute,

not a negative judgment. The human figure is bu t one

object among others. Leger said, Beauty is everywhere.

43



44

He

celebrated the

modern

advances

of

his time finding

beauty in machine made and mass produced objects

applauding their functionalism and precision. This artist

saw great promise in these products of the

machine

age.

He

believed that technology would provide wonderful

new opportunities for all members of society leveling the

vast

and

unfair differences between rich and poor. Leger

wanted his ar t to reflect these concerns both in h is

choice

of

subject

matter

and in the way

the

images are

painted. He also felt strongly that by creating an art form

that spoke directly to his time

he

would be completely

accessible

to

everyone regardless

of

wealth or class.

Leger said that his powerful social convictions

came

as a revelation during his service

in

the French army dur-

ing

World War

He

had grown up in a privileged

milieu

but

in wartime

he

was suddenly working shoul-

der to shoulder with men from every walk of life. bat-

tle every member

of

the team

had

to funct ion in

harmony. He also came to a profound appreciation for

the

machines of

war. For

the

rest

of

his life Leger tried

in

his art to express the lessons he had learned from his

wartime experience: the

oneness

of man and machine

and total democratic equality among all people.

FERN ND

LEGER om n with Car

9



STR TEGIES FOR DIS USSION

The uman igure

Do we know anything about this woman?

What would

we

normally rely upon to reveal information

about a person depicted

in

a painting? Why doesn t she

have a face? Why doesn t she wear any clothing?

erbody comprises geometrical shapes that are only

vaguely reminiscent ofhuman anatomy. Describe the

kinds

of

geometrical forms that the artist uses here. What

do

the forms remind you of?

Why is her skin gray? What material does it resemble?

She is anonymous and machinelike. For some artists

these attributes might be construed as negative but not

for Leger. Describe how such characteristics might be

considered to be positive.

FERNAND LEGER

om n with at

9

The Way This Work Is Painted

Consider the colors used here. Describe the effect

of

this

limited palette.

Can you see any brushstrokes? Describe the

manner in

which the artist applied the paint in this work.

Is the background treated differently from the human fig-

ure? For instance look

t he w om an s h ai r a nd t he n look

at the black vertical strips painted in the upper back-

ground. What do you think the similarity in treatment

among all the elements of the composition might mean?



Paul Klee

German,

1879 194°



SOME POINTS

CONSIDER

• Klee has painted a landscape that includes refer

ences to the tangible world, bu t here the world as

we know it has been transformed into a fantastic

realm

of

the imagination.

• Subtle gradations of color are shown in overlap

ping planes

an d

echoing forms, providing a sense

of

motion an d weightlessness.

• The work is based on carefully considered theories

about the relationship

of

colors-specifically, the

properties

of

complementary h ues w hen

they interact.

For writings by

KIee

see ppendix

p

49

ol

ty

19

21

Watercolor on paper, 8 ; X 5/8 in.

The Berggruen Klee Collection, 1987

19

8

7 455

8

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

In this urban night-scene,

luminous

buildings float against

a velvety background. Each

form the

full

moon

above as

well as

the

various buildings b e lo w e c ho e s in space,

refusing to

maintain

a strict

or

stable perimeter. This mys

terious place

o f

the

imagination is a symbolic landscape

rather than a documentation

o f

a

known

environment.

Klee felt free to couple references to visible reality with

equal parts

of

fantasy.

In

much

o f

his work,

he

celebrated

the tension between two seemingly irreconcilable impul

ses, creating

ne w

harmonies that were capable ofbal-

ancing opposites: real and fantastic, childlike and

sophisticated, emotional an d intellectual.

The landscape is vaguely familiar yet unidentifiable.

Klee said, Art does

not render

the visible; it makes visi

ble. By that h e m e an t tha t art has th e power to transport

viewers from

the

constraints

o f

the external world as we

see it everyday to

new understandings

that can be genera

ted only by an internal vision i n t he m in d s eye. In this

cold city, buildings do

no t

obey

the

laws of physics. They

are no t fixed in space. They seem to levitate, gracefully an d

weightlessly hovering in the air. Their silhouettes never

coalesce into solid structures.

The picture is small in scale, approximately the dimen

sions of a standard sheet

o f

letter-sized paper. The work s

small size contributes to

th e

sense

of

intimacy we experi

ence

when

looking at

the

painting. But at

t he s am e

time,

the picture presents to

us

a bigger vision: a dreamy world

of

universal proportions. The painting is small

in

scale bu t

large in vision.

In

this work, Klee explores

one

of his theories about

the interaction o f color. The picture is designed to

analyze what he called diametrical movement. The word

diametrical

refers to

th e

placement

of

colors

on

a circle, a

device used by artists an d

students

to understand

47



Color

wheel Each hue

is

opposite its omplement

relationships among hues. In theory, all hues

can

be

obtained by mixing various combinations

of

three

prima-

ry colors: red, blue, and yellow. If you mix together blue

and yellow,

the

result will be green; blending

red

and

blue will yield purple; yellow and

red

combine to make

orange. These

hues

progress

in

a specific sequence

around

the

circle, called a color wheel. Pairs of colors

that

are positioned opposite (diametrical) to each

other

on

the

wheel can be

combined

to

make

a neutral gray. Such

pairs are called complementary colors. Klee s carefully

kept records reveal that

here

he is exploring the interac-

tion of

the

complementary colors yellow

and

violet.

He

blended them by ever so gradually painting

thin

washes

of

watercolor

on

top of

one

another, a glazing technique

that

creates a luminous effect. In this case, the blending

results in subtle shades of yellows and umbers that

seem

to glow. yechoing

the

forms layering

them Klee

develops

movement

from light to dark:

diametrical movement.

Klee developed his color theories as a teacher at the

Bauhaus, a pioneering

art

school in

Germany that

advo-

cated a complete synthesis of art, theory, and design. All

students

were required to take composition courses

(some

taught

by Klee in which they experimented with

a variety

of

theories, including,

no

doubt, Klee s notions

about diametrical movement. Elective workshops at

the

school were

taught

by teams including

both

a theor is t or

an artist and a

craftsman

practitioner.

mong

other offer-

ings, courses included cabinetmaking, metalworking,

sculpture, pottery, stage design, bookbinding, and paint-

ing

on glass the last two of which were

taught

by Klee.

Klee was endlessly inventive, constantly exploring

new techniques and theory in his art. Using a highly

personal and creative language

of

color, form, and

material, Klee created an art

of

both intellectual and

emotional resonance.

P U KL Cold City

9



STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION

Looking at This Particular Landscape

Is this a real place or a fantasy? What leads you to

your conclusions?

Who lives here? Is there any evidence of people?

Does the lack of a human presence contribute to any

specific mood? How?

Is it daytime or is this a night scene? Why?

Think about sources

of

light. Where does the light come

from? Is it naturalistic? Why or why not?

Are any lights illuminated in the buildings depicted?

Do the various buildings appear to be weighty? If not,

consider what makes them appear to float. Describe

what

Klee

has done to achieve this effect.

Is t he re a s en se

of

motion in this painting, and

if

so,

how is it achieved artistically?

PAUL KLEE, old ity

9

Color Theory: How Complementary Colors Interact

This painting is based upon a careful exploration of a pa ir

of colors: yellow and violet. In theory, the combination of

these two hues produces a neutral gray.

Very subtle gradations can be achieved by mixing the two

colors

in

a certain way Is there evidence

of

such grada-

tions in this painting? Describe the evidence that you see.

Notice the moon, shown as three overlapping or echoing)

circles. Has Klee painted three separate moons, or is this

one moon i n a st ate of gradual

flux

How does Klee s device

of

echoing the various buildings

relate to the color theory mentioned above?

The Effect

of

Scale

When you see an image projected from a slide, it is

difficult to know its true size. This painting is approxi-

mately the size

of

a standard sheet

of

typing paper.

What is the effect of its scale on your sense of this work,

and its ultimate meaning?

Is

scale itself an expressive element in art? Why?



iet ondrian

Dutch,

18

7

2

-

1

944

Composition



SOME

P OIN TS T O

CONSIDER

• Mondrian distilled the propertiesof artistic struc

ture to primary elements; compositions are built

on

straight lines that intersect at ninety-degree

angles, and color is restricted to the three basic pri

mary hues (red, yellow, and blue), plus black and

white (considered noncolors by the artist).

• This logical, ordered expression is far from simple;

the composition itselfis subtle

and

complex,

and

so are Mondrian s philosophical justifications for

this style

of

art.

• Among the compositional subtleties is a sense

of

dynamic tension in which every element seems to

be at

maximum

intensity. Mondrian achieves this

effect avoiding conventional symmetry, which

would be static or lifeless, and by avoiding the

appearance

of

spatial illusionism,

in

which some

color shapes would seem to recede

in

space while

others might advance.

• For Mondrian, the search for a pure

and

elemental

art form had the potential to shape the world

and

our

place

in

it. In his clear vision of reality, Mon

drian dreamed

of

a future

in

which

humankind

might live

in

harmony with the forces of the uni

verse. Every line, every angle, every color choice

had profound symbolic meaning.

orwritings by Mondrian

see

ppendix p

57

9

21

Oil

on

canvas,

19

1 0 x 9 1 0 in.

The Jacques and atasha Gelman Collection

NOTES

ABOUT THIS WORK

This spare, rigorously ordered geometry

of

simple shapes

and

primary colors is the visual expression of Mondrian s

complex theory about life itself. This artist believed in the

possibility (albeit long-range)

of

a utopian existence in

which humans

might

live

in

a mystical

harmony

with

all the forces of

the

universe. Mondrian constructed his

compositions with painstaking exactness, thinking

through

and

justifying every millimeter of the canvas, every deci

sion about size, shape, placement, and color. The end

result is

not

simply a search for beauty

or

decorative plea

sure. Each painting stands as a record

of

Mondrian s

vision of society and his search for an ar t form so pure that

it might actually redeem humankind revealing a

universal harmony.

To achieve his ideals to paint the universal

Mon-

drian

committed

himself to a process

of

rigorous investiga

tion.

He

analyzed

what

he

believed to be art s primary

elements, distilling

the

artistic structure to its essence,

always searching for simple, logical,

and ordered expres

sion. He created a new formal vocabulary and adhered to

it strictly; compositions are comprised

of

verticals

and

horizontals intersecting only at right angles, and color is

radically limited.

Mondrian established the principle of plastic equiva

lence, involving

not

just art

bu t

all

human

activity.

He

said the task of art is to express a clear vision of reality

Particularities of form obscure

pure

reality. The first

order

of business was to banish from his art conventional

representation. Each work should be self-sufficient: not a

copy

or an

illusion of a motif drawn from nature.

He

called his art abstract-real, a term that reinforces the

notion of a work of art as

an

entity

that

is in itselfa real

thing,

not

simply derived from

nature

(and

one

step

removed). The work of art

should

have its own reality.

51






Identifying the Basic Structural Elements

in

Mondrian s Art

Mondrian s approach required distilling art s structure

into its primary elements: specific types oflines

and shapes, and specific types of colors. Looking at

omposition of

1921

define what you feel are the

primary elements.

Are there any diagonal lines in this work?

Are there any curved lines or shapes

in

this work?

s you consider your answers to the above two questions,

think about whether the use

of

straight lines and ninety

degree angles is a mere coincidence or purposely planned.

Similarly, describe Mondrian s palette.

Red, yellow, and blue are called the three primary col-

ors, because from those three hues

an

artist can,

in

prin

ciple, create all other hues. What do you imagine might be

the significance of Mondrian s insistence on paring down

his color choices to this essential trio?

Mondrian used the three primaries plus black and white,

which he called noncolors. In your opinion, how could

he justify the use

of

light blue in this work?

Is

a Straightforward or Simple Geometry of Shapes?

Look closely at this work to understand how it is

structured, and think about whether i t s a simple or

complicated composition. s you formulate your

interpretation, consider the following:

PIET MONDRIAN, omposition 9

Is there any bilateral symmetry?

o

the black lines cir

cumscribe every rectangular shape completely, and do the

lines always extend to the edges of the canvas? (For exam

ple, look at how the large red square extends beyond the

upper perimeter

of

the black line at the top of the compo

sition, and look at whether or not the black line at the

right side of the lower yellow patch extends all the way to

the edge.) Describe other examples where Mondrian s

geometry veers from what might be straightforward

or expected.

Is there any illusionism

in

the picture? Does any shape

appear to recede or advance, or do they all appear to stabi

lize

in

the same plane? o you think this is intentional?

Propose some reasons for Mondrian s avoidance of

spatial illusionism.

Symbolic Meaning

Mondrian believed in the symbolic meaning of form.

He

used strict geometries (ninety-degree angles, for example)

because he assigned symbolic meaning to properties of

form, such as verticals and horizontals. For instance, he

associated with such form basic polarities, including male

and female, or spirit and matter. For Mondrian, funda

mentals in the form of art expressed a vision of harmony

with larger forces in the universe. o you feel that this

art or

ny

art could possibly have such power or

express such profound beliefs? Make your case for

answering yes or no.



onstantin rancusi

French,

1876-1957

ird

in pace




• Brancusi has portrayed the idea

of

flight by elimi

nating all references to anatomical detail

and

con

densing the work into a starkly reduced form.

• Brancusi wanted to convey a universal, elemental

truth;

he believed that such

an

essence lay beyond

the outward, physical appearance of an object.

• This work is the epitome of simplification of form

and purity

of

design: an elegant and subtle vertical

shape comprising the

most

graceful arcs

and

curves. The play of light and shadow on the

smoothly polished marble surface enriches the

effect

of

purity and elegance.

19

2

3

Marble, (with base) 56

in. h ; 6

ii

in. (diameter)

Bequest of Florene

M.

Schoenborn,

1995

199

6

-4°3·7

a

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

Without reference to wings or feathers or any other spe

cific anatomical element rancusi has created a soaring

impression

of a bird

in

flight. The

means

are abstract;

every trace of naturalistic detail is eliminated in this

elemental form of curved, polished marble. The basis is

rooted in the real world bu t

the

bird is presented as

an

idea

rather

than

a physical description. Brancusi said,

All

my

life I have

sought the

essence of flight. Flight

What

bliss

In

creating this starkly reduced work, Brancusi has

detached himself from myriad details relative to physical

appearances.

He

transcends details to reach the underlying

concept: an expression of truth,

something

universal

or

constant. For Brancusi, this goal could be achieved only

through

condensing and clarifying

an

idea and its formal

expression until i t reaches its

most

elemental shape.

He

said, There are imbeciles who call

my

work abstract;

that

which they call abstract is the

most

realist, because what is

real is

not

the exterior form

but the

idea,

the

essence of

things. Starting from this

truth

i t is impossible for anyone

to express anything essentially real by imitating its

exterior surface.

The form itselfis powerfully expressive.

ird

pace

assumes

a seemingly simple shape. The slender vertical

form itselfis actually far from simple. The

more

you exam

ine it,

the more

subtle and sophisticated its

harmonious

arcs

and

curves appear. Without a single straight edge,

without

using

any conventional geometrical shapes, with

its elegant lack of symmetry, this sculpture is anything bu t

geometric. The work appears to soar

upward

gracefully.

At

the

top a slanted oval plane (representing

the

idea of a

bird's

head and

beak,

compressed

into

one

expressive

form) establishes

the

directional thrust. The bird

seems

to

cut

effortlessly

through

space in its graceful trajectory

of



flight. The body, while

maintaining

its vertical stance,

subtly arcs in

one

direction.

The

volume swells

and

con

tracts; note

the

graceful

roundness

of

the

bird s belly,

the pinching

at

the

ankles,

and

the flaring

out

at

the

footing. This refined, organic shape is a sophisticated

condensation

of Brancusi s conceptual

impressions

of

flight itself.

The

sculpture is carved of marble, its continuous sur

face pol ished to a

translucent

luster. A master

of

carving

techniques, Brancusi was

known

for his sensitive respect

for

the

materials

he

worked with: wood, stone, and

metal.

He

grew

up in

Romania, and,

in

fact, apprenticed

to a cooper and a cabinetmaker before moving to Paris

to become an artist. Perhaps this early immersion in

artisanal traditions instilled

i n h im

a

fundamental

under

standing of a material s

inherent

properties. He believed

that an

artist must respect and reveal the particular quali

ties of a given piece of wood

or

stone.

In

this case, Bran

cusi has

transformed

a piece

of

stone, its

rough

surface

now

rendered

eminently smooth. The play

of

light is

an

integral

part

of

the work. Evocative shadows and high

lights are created through the interaction of volume and

surface texture.

Certain themes,

such

as the bird

in

flight, preoccu

pied Brancusi for years.

He

created seven different

versions of the bird in marble, n ine in polished brass,

and numerous plaster renditions, over a period of several

decades. Art historians speculate about what specific

incidents or influences prompted the artist to begin his

long-term exploration of this theme. Perhaps he was

inspired

by a Romanian folk legend about a miraculous

bird; perhaps

he

was

spurred on

by a vision of birds

nesting

outside his sick

room

window as

he

recovered

from

an

illness.

On

the other hand, perhaps

he

encoun

tered some other new art that considered

motion

or

f light as a point of departure,

and

then developed his

own approach. Whatever

the

origin of

the

idea probably

a complex combination

of many

factors this

concept

sustained him in a long, fruitful artistic search for form

and meaning.

When Brancusi created his Birds in Space, their

extreme simplification of form

and

purity of design were

radical and unsettling. A bronze version in

the

series was

the

subject of a lawsuit filed

in

1926. The sculpture

was shipped to New York for

an

exhibition, bu t customs

agents refused to believe

that

i t was a work

of

art,

and

they tried to

impose

a levy on the piece as an industrial

implement. Ultimately the court ruled

in

favor of

Brancusi: Although it

has neither head nor

feet

nor

feathers portrayed in the piece, it is beautiful and

symmetrical in outline and while

some

difficulty might

be encountered

in

associating it with

the

bird, i t is

nevertheless pleasing to look at

and

highly ornamental.

CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI Bird Space 923



STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION

Considering Subject Matter:

Form as dea Rather than escription

This work is entitled

Bird in

Space Is this a naturalistic

depiction of a bird?

What key elements are missing or altered?

Even though it has neither wings nor feathers this object

evokes the sense of a bird in space. In what way?

Does this sculpture portray a specific type of bird or is it

a generalized form that conveys the feeling

of

a bird?

What is the difference between these two approaches?

Looking Closely at Form

Describe the form itself being as fully descriptive

as possible.

Is it geometrical? Is it symmetrical?

How exactly does

the form deviate from rigid geometries?

Do you think that the subtleties of form contribute

to

the overall meaning or feeling of the work? In what

way?

CONST NTIN BRANCUSJ Bird

in

Space 1923

Thinking about Materials

C an you tell what material this work is made from?

How do you think the artist made it?

Is the surface smooth or rough?

Does the surface quality affect the way light falls on

the work: the play

oflight

and shadow? In what way?

What is the effect of surface texture on this

work s meaning?



oan ira

Spanish, 1893-1983

nim ted ndsc pe

9

2

7




• Mira depicts a fantastic world

of

the

imagination

intuitive, irrational,

an d

existing beyond the realm

of

the everyday,

in

a surreal universe.

• The paint ing presents a number of spatial paradox

es. The more closely you examine the image, the

more difficult it becomes to assign one rational or

exclusive reading of the space that Mira depicts. Is

it indoors or outdoors? A view from inside through

a window? A picture within a picture?

Or

all of the

above-and

more?

• Mira said, Form is never something abstract; it is

always a sign

of

something. Lyrical, organic, an d

at times schematic, the individual motifs comprise

the artist s private language

of

shifting signs.

orexcerpts from the Manifesto Surrealism

see

ppendix

p

52

Oil

on

canvas, x 76

J

in.

The Jacques an d atasha Gelman Collection

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

Mira said, What really counts is to strip the soul naked.

This artist developed his own eccentric

an d

enigmatic

language of symbolic form in order to strip away

the

constraints of the rational world of logic

an d

order so

that

his art would embody instead a surreal universe o f his

own creation.

Mira

has

created a vivid landscape

o f

heightened, satu

rated color. The composition is divided horizontally into

two planes. At first, i t

looks-structurally

at

least-like

a

conventional landscape, with blue sky above

an d

brown

ground

below. But the

more

we look,

the more ambiguous

th e

spatial

setup

appears to be,

an d

ultimately we can

propose several mutually exclusive-yet coexistent

scenarios to justify

th e

spatial relationships. Does

th e

brown part o f

th e

canvas represent an interior space,

an d

is the b lue sky a view of

the

outdoors

seen through

a window?

Or

is the whole scene set outdoors, with

th e

brown representing earth?

Now consider

the

large, bright yellow zone in

th e

lower

area of

the

composition. Within this yellow area,

there s

a

deep blue skewed rectangle, an d within

the

blue section is

a crescent-shaped moon, its radiance set of f brilliantly

against

the

blue ground. What are we seeing here,

and

where does it rest, spatially? Is

th e

dark blue par t a patch

of

night

sky, and,

if

so, why is it positioned down

on th e

brown earth? Maybe this detail depicts

another

view from

a window.

Or

maybe

the

image represents a reflection of

t he m oo n

outside, as

s ee n i n

a pool of water. On

the other

hand, might this image be a reflection seen through a

mirror? All of these possibilities coexist quite happily in

Mira s fantastic world of

th e

imagination, where

spatial geometries are

not bound by simple or r igid laws

of

order.

9



To stretch the limits

oflogic

or expectation, the basic

horizon line takes

an

upward

t urn on

the painting s left

side. This

bend

extends the brown zone to the very top

edge

of

the canvas, a complication that allows us to

dream of

the possibilities for spatial orientation that have

already

been

noted,

and

more. What if Miro has depicted

an

interior scene, perhaps a windowless wall

upon

which

a painting hangs? This composition might be Miro s ren-

dering

of

a picture within a picture.

There are evocative markings within the brown area

near the painting s upper left, difficult if

not

impossible

to assign specific

meaning

to. Some scholars have noted

that these markings resemble the kinds of cracks or

irregularities often seen

on

an old plaster wall, and that

Miro talked about studying such features s a way to free

his mind from predetermined design strategies when he

started a composition. Miro wanted to tap into the uncon-

scious mind, to explore

an

intuitive, irrational, and,

in

his

view, transcendent plane

of

existence. This approach

appealed very

much

to the Surrealists,

an

already estab-

lished group

of

poets and artists

under

the leadership

of

Andre Breton.

y

1925,

the Surrealists had asked Miro

to

join them,

and

Breton later noted that the painter could

perhaps pass for the

most

surrealist of us all. Breton

and

his group sought out irrational (almost hallucinatory)

thought

processes, calling their methods

to

free the

mind

from preconceived notions automatism. For the

Surrealists, Miro s unfettered, dreamlike creations and

60

the way he described their coming into

being held

enormous

appeal.

What about the scene Miro depicts in the upper

zone

of

the canvas? Who or what populates this artist s

magical world

of

fluid, multiple possibilities? Miro said,

For me, form is never something abstract; i t is always a

sign of something. is always a nun, a bird, something

else. For me, painting is never form for form s sake.

Miro s motifs comprise a private language

of

shifting

signs. While we can decode some

of

the symbols, we

should enjoy developing

our

own inferences for other

evocative signs that we may never fully decipher. In this

work, a bird is shown schematically as an arrow intersect-

ed

by an

arc that represents wings. To its left,

an

abstract-

ed water lily (huge in scale) floats in the sky. To the bird s

right, a dynamic kite flies upward through the sky. An

enormous creature

of

the imagination has entered the

scene

on

the ground to the extreme right. We can t iden-

tify this bright red being with its

monumental

blue eye.

The wavy lines at its neck area suggest a mane. Maybe

it s a

dragon inspired by

having seen a horse or some

other farm animal in the countryside.

Miro invented a personal artistic vocabulary

of

organic forms; oscillating, indeterminate space;

and

brilliant, saturated color.

In

a lyrical, freewheeling,

and

uninhibited manner, he combined his

unique

sensibili-

t ies toward form, color, and space to embody an entire

world of the imagination.

JOAN MIR6 Animated Landscape 927



STRATEGIES FOR DIS USSION

Spatial Orientation in a World of the Imagination

Is this a landscape? Why or why not?

Is there a horizon line

in

this picture? Where?

Can you identify one coherent spatial framework to justify

the various elements shown in this composition?

Carefully consider whether it is an indoor scene or an out

door scene, and then describe the setting as you see it

Is part

of

the picture indoors? Which part?

Has Miro shown us a view from a window? Which part

of

the composition suggests such a reading? Is there more

than one window?

Could the image stand as a view of a windowless wall

upon which a landscape painting hangs?

How can you decide which analysis is the correct one?

Now consider the yellow and blue part (with the crescent

moon) at the composition s bottom. Rationalize this

image. Propose more than one possible explanation

for what it stands for and what its spatial orientation

might be.

Spatially, Miro has created an ambiguous world

of

the

imagination. Is it appropriate to define this world as

surreal ? What constitutes Surrealism, and why might

we use this word in describing this scene?

JOAN MIRO nim ted

Landscape 927

Shapes and Colors

Describe Miro s use of color.

Is the color naturalistic? Why or why not? Is such a ques

tion meaningful in the context

of

this work?

Is each color saturated or veiled? Pale or vivid? Find the

vocabulary to describe the treatment of each

hue

and its

effect.

Do

you believe that color choice and treatment

conveys meaning? Be explicit.

Are the various shapes angular or curvilinear? Organic

or geometrical? Find your own words to describe the

characteristics of the shapes and forms here.

A Unique Vocabulary of Signs and Motifs

Can you identify the various individual elements

in

the

landscape? For example, there is a crescent moon at the

bottom. What does the schematic, arrow-like form in

the

sky represent? How about the items to its left

and

right?

Is the creature with the red body reminiscent of

anything you can think of?

Should we attempt to define each element? Do you think

we can be successful in decoding each separate motif?

Can

we

reach a valid and meaningful interpretation

of

this picture without becoming completely explicit in

the meaning of every single part? Justify your rationale,

and present your own interpretation.

6



Charles Demuth

American, 1883-1935

The igure

in Gold

9

8



SOME POINTS

TO

CONSIDER

• This work transcends categorization. It is both

a poem in paint and a nonfigurative portrait.

• Two art forms have cross-fertilized. Artistic devices

such as repetition of elements and radiating, over

lapping planes convey speed, urgency, and motion:

all expressed through words in the poem.

• Visual cues

and

names incorporated in the paint

ing allude to the poet s character, style, personality,

and background. Demuth s choice

of

this particular

poem, too, represents his interpretation

of

the poet

as a man.

Oil

on

cardboard,

35

liz

x 30 in.

Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949

49.59.

1


This dynamic study

of

the

number

5

in

motion is both a

portrait of a specific person and a visual representation of

a poem. The subject is the poet William Carlos Williams

and his one-sentence poem, The Great Figure :

mong the rain

and lights

saw the

figure

in

gold

on

a

red

firetruck

moving

tense

unheeded

to gong

clangs

siren howls

and wheels rumbling

through the dark

city

In

this pictorialization of the poem, three golden figure

5s

are positioned centrally. The

number

5 refers to

the

firetruck, as does the color red. By painting each 5

in

incre

mentally larger (or smaller) sizes

than

the next one,

Demuth

conveys a sense

of

motion

and

speed. It is as if

we were seeing all at once the

numbers

moving

through a sequence of elapsed time. The firetruck seems

to approach

us

abruptly, rushing forward with urgency.

Demuth

reinforces the dynamism by the raylike, overlap

ping planes that activate the painting s background. Build

ing facades, barely visible

in

the background, provide clues

of

an

urban

setting. The blue-gray background suggests

nighttime, as do the four yellow-white circles that stand for

headlights

and or

streetlights. Both form

and

color are

organized to express force

and

motion,

and

also to suggest

aural equivalents. Just as the

poem

identifies

sounds-

gongs

and

sirens, howling

and clanging the

painting



gives

an

impression of a wailing, raucous event. The

painting is

no t

a simple illustration of a poem.

Here, visual form and literary meaning have coalesced

in

a symbiosis

of

two art forms.

The paint ing is a t ribute to the poem s author

and

an

interpretation

of

his personality.

Demuth

identifies

William Carlos Williams in

numerous

ways in this work.

The

poet s initials, W.C.W., are positioned at the bottom

of the composition, just below the largest The

name

Bill appears at the

upper

left, the top of the letters slightly

cropped by the painting s edge. The

name

Carlos is

shown

in the upper

third

of

the composition, just above

the firetruck s right headlight. Why does Demuth

use

so

many different

naming

devices? Perhaps he s suggesting

Williams s

many

roles. Williams,

an

accomplished poet,

also practiced medicine. The words

art

co

probably refer

to his vital

and

active role as friend

and

adviser to so

many

members of

the art world. Williams s background

was as diverse as the many roles

he

played: the

names

Bill and

Carlos show the heritage of an English father and

a Puerto Rican mother.

Ultimately, the power

of

this work goes beyond spe

cific clues to be decoded; the painting evokes a sense of

the subject s character.

Demuth

focused

on

this poem

about a firetruck to express his concept of Williams the

man, a boisterous extrovert. Dynamism, the sense of

motion, the effect of hot red color tones, the forcefulness

associated with a careening

firetruck all

are properties

attributed both

to

the speeding firetruck and to the poet

Williams. Consider another connection: a firetruck

springs into action

in

an emergency, just as Williams the

physician saved lives.

When the work was first exhibited, one critic at the

time complained that portraits such as this one remain

locked in a code for which we have not the key. But art

gives us room

to

formulate our own interpretations.

Demuth s good friend William Carlos Williams gave

appropriate advice that the artist embraced: Leave a large

part of the thing to the imagination of the spectator; this

to arouse, also to give

him

work to do. For that is the

destiny

of

the

thing

to be produced: to have the beholder

take part in it

thus completely.

Thus and

only to

complete it.

The Figure 5

in

Gold transcends categorization. More

than

a poem in paint, more

than

a nonfigurative portrait,

this work establishes an entirely new, more complex

expression born from the cross-fertilization of different

art forms.

CHARLES DEMUTH

The

Figure 5 in

Gold

9 8



STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION

A FewVisual Impressions, Without Prior Knowledge

of

the Sources for This Painting

Do you have any overall impressions

of

this picture? What

mood is conveyed?

If

you feel a sense of speed, motion,

and

urgency,

describe the specific visual cues that communicate

these feelings. For instance, the three separate

number s

could be one 5moving toward us (or away from us)

in

space: becoming larger (or smaller) as it moves. Motion is

shown through repetition of elements that are altered in

scale.

What are some other techniques used to show the force

of

dynamic motion?

Do the colors communicate a mood to you?

Be

specific.

The Painting s Relationship to the Poem

Read the one-sentence poem that inspired this painting.

Describe how the painter Charles Demuth has depicted

the various individual images that the poet notes in this

poem. Find the visual symbols for lights, rain, the city,

and

the firetruck.

The poem contains references to sounds: gongs clang and

sirens howl.

In

what ways does the painting suggest the

same kinds

of

sounds visually?

Take some time to think about and then discuss the

differences

and

the similarities between the poem

and

the painting.

CHARLES

DEMUTH The

igure

5 in Gold 1928

The Painting as a Symbolic Visual Portrait

of

the Poet

In addition to representing the poem, this painting also

portrays its author, William Carlos Williams, a good

friend

of

the artist.

Find references to Williams s name(s). Describe three dif

ferent ways

he

is

named

in the painting.

Why do you think Demuth would use three different

names to define his friend?

What are some other clues as to his identity or personali

ty Do

you think that color could be used to communicate

something about a person s style or personality? What

does the color red convey? How about speed, motion, and

forcefulness all

of which we have noticed in this paint

ing? Could these traits describe a personality as well as

a scene?

One critic at the time complained about portraits like

this one, saying they were based

on

a code for which we

have

not

the key. Was this critic right or wrong

in

your

opinion and why?



eorgia O IZeeffe

American 1887-1986

Red

hite and

lue

193I

Oil

on

canvas 39

7 8

x

35

7 8

in.




• O Keeffe has extracted from the landscape one

symbolic element that evokes complex feelings

about nature.

• The artist ha s pa int ed a cow s skull in ways

designed to grab the viewer s attention and trans

port its m eaning from the realm of plain descrip

tion into a symbolic arena of metaphor. The skull

is oversized in close-up and sharp focus posi

tioned centrally and in complete symmetry.

• The background also carries meaning. Color is

symbolic emblematic of the American flag. There

may be religious symbols too: the vertical black

band becomes part of a cross motif if you consider

it in relationship to the horizontal cow horns.

Alfred Stieglitz Collection 1952

5

2

.

2

°3

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

A sun-bleached cow s

skull a

typical bit

of

detritus found

in

the desert of the American

Southwest looms

out

against a mysterious red white and blue background.

O Keeffe has presented the skull as an austere iconic

image. Exaggerated

in

scale it fills a great part of the can

vas. Positioned symmetrically its stark form commands

our attention; both the subject and t he f or m it a ss um es

within this frontal design carry evocative meaning.

O Keeffe s vision is a close-up view. Single-mindedly

she zeroes in on this cow s skull eliminating any distract

ing detail. The skull is meticulously rendered: every con

tour every jagged edge is depicted

in

sharp focus. Stripped

from a broader desert context the skull appears as an iso

lated rigorously scrutinized detail that

then

takes

on

a

greater meaning. Not only is this object oversized it floats

buoyantly. The effect is surreal: dreamy unworldly. What

might seem

ordinary if

examined

in

its documentary

context now

becomes extraordinary: nature imbued with

a special significance. O Keeffe s close-up viewpoint and

sharply focused images remind us

of

effects associated

with photography. She was married to a famous photogra

pher Alfred Stieglitz so the interconnections between the

two art forms would have been natural.

O Keeffe s focus on this

monumental

floating skull

reflects her profound interest in the landscape of the

Southwest. By the time she painted this work O Keeffe

was spending summers in the desert of New Mexico; she

would later settle there permanently. The isolation of the

desert landscape as well as its austere grandeur appealed

to her. In her forays she would collect bones and bring

them home to her studio. As O Keeffe described it I have

wanted to paint the desert and haven t known how

So

I brought home the bleached bones as my symbols of the

desert.

To me they are strangely more living than the



animals

walking around-hair eyes an d all with their

tails switching. The bones seem to cut sharply to th e cen-

te r of something that

is keenly alive

on

the desert tho

sic i t is vas t an d empty an d untouchable-and knows no

kindness

with all its beauty. Just as the bones are evi-

dence of an

animal s

death, they

stand

equally as evi-

dence

that the animal

once lived. They also

remind us

of

th e

life cycle:

th e

inevitability

of

all living

things

ultimate

death an d

th e

continuation

of

life

through

the birth

o f

ensuing

generations. O Keeffe was also attentive to

the

Christian crosses

sh e

saw

in the

New Mexico desert

an d

t he m an y

churches

there

as well.

In

fact,

she

painted

series of works focusing

o n b ot h

themes. The vertical

black stripe

i n t he

painting s background

s ee n i n

rela-

tionship

to

th e

horizontal spread of the cow s

horns

looks

very much l ike a cross. Perhaps O Keeffe was subtly sug-

gesting

some

religious symbolism.

To drive home

t he p oi nt t ha t

she was creating

an

expression profoundly linked to

he r

experience

of

the

American landscape, O Keeffe suspended the skull

in

front of a red, white, an d blue background: emblematic

o f

the American flag. O Keeffe was commenting on the

drive to create a specifically American expression that

seemed

to

s pu r o n

colleagues

in

allied fields: As I was

working I thought

o f

the

city men I h ad b ee n seeing in

the East. They talked so often

of

writing the Great Ameri-

can

Novel-the

Great American Play-the Great Ameri-

can Poetry. I am not sure that they aspired to the Great

American Painting

So

as I painted

on my

cow s skull

on

blue I

thought

to myself, I ll make it

an

American

Painting. They will

not think

i t great with the

red

stripes

down the

sides-Red

White,

an d

Blue-but

they will

notice it. The symmetrical red, white,

an d

blue vertical

bands

(or stripes) reveal subtle textures. This unspecified

backdrop evokes a number of impressions-including

draped cloth-but it

might

also

bring

to mind a furrowed

desert landscape.

O Keeffe uses the landscape symbolically. By extract-

ing

this single skull from its natural surroundings she

forces

us

to focus

on

it

a nd o n he r

particular attitude

about

nature

itself.

GEORGIA O KEEFFE Red

hite and Blue

93



STRATEGIES FOR

IS USSION

The Subject: Exploring Symbolic Meaning

Describe what O Keeffe has selected as

her

subject.

Where would you find bones that look like this?

Under what circumstances would you find a bone in

the landscape?

T he b on es m ig ht b e a symbol for t he de se rt i n w hi ch they

were found. Why do you think the desert landscape could

carry special meaning for

an

artist? Describe traits you

might associate with the New Mexico desert

and

consider

how the cow s skull symbolically represents those traits.

e

specific

in

making your connections.

We associate skeletal remains with death. O Keeffe associ

ated

them

with life as well. What would the connection

be? What do we mean

by

the term life cycle and how does

this

term

relate to this painting?

How the Work Is C omposed

and

Painted

Where is the skull placed within the overall design of

this composition?

Is

the composition symmetrical? What is the effect

of

this

artistic device? Does it change your impression of th e

object that is depicted? How?

Is i t i n s ha rp focus o r does it a pp ea r fuzzy

impressionistic?

Is the skull large or small? Bigger than life-sized?

GEORGIA O KEEFFE Red hite

and Blue

93

What gives you that impression?

Has O Keeffe provided any natural or realistic context

for this skull?

How does O Keeffe manipulate the scale of the image?

o

effects

of

scale contribute to your sense of the skull s

importance as a symbol?

The Background: Color Symbolism

and

Religious Symbolism

What do we normally associate with the colors red

white

and

blue? o you think there is any connection

here? If so be specific.

o you think that this background might suggest more

than one thing? Describe some possible images or

impressions that are evoked by this background.

Is there any possible religious symbolism?



rant ood

American, 1892 1942

The

Ride

Paul Revere

193

1

Oil

on

Masonite,

30

x

4

in.

Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1950



SOME POINTS TO

CONSIDER

• Grant Wood chose to paint a great moment in

American history. His impulse to paint this work

was sparked by a poet s interpretation of the event.

• The scene is idealized rather than real.

All of

the

forms are toylike. The light is unreal. Everything

appears in equal focus, regardless

of

distance.

• The composition is rendered with precision. Each

contour is clearly delineated, which contributes to

the sense

of

idealism.

For writings by

Wood, see

Appendix

P 54

Longfellow s

poem is reprinted in

the

Appendix P 63

5°·117

NOTES

ABOUT THIS WORK

In

selecting this

theme

for a composition, the artist Grant

Wood set out to celebrate patriotism. But this sweet,

sentimentalized version of a heroic American story turns

history into a nostalgic myth.

This work has a specific narrative story to tell. The

painting (made in

1931

recalls an event that took place

more

than

150 years earlier

on

the eve of the American

Revolution. The subject is Paul Revere s famous ride of

April

18, 1775

from Boston to Lexington, to warn the

colonists

of

the approach

of

the British and to call the

Minutemen to arms. Wood wasn t inspired by historical

accounts

or

textbook summaries of the event, but by one

of the most popular poems ever written: Longfellow s

Paul Revere s Ride, printed in 1863. Wood s attitude

about the

story a

sentimental , fairy-tale

vision is

filtered through someone else s equally sugar-coated

interpretation

of

an

actual historic event. We can get a

sense

of

Longfellow s spirit of celebration and pride by

looking at just one stanza drawn from his long poem:

A hurry hoofs in a village street,

A shape in the moonlight a bulk in

the

dark,

And beneath from

the

pebbles, in passing, a

spark

Struck out

by

a steed flying ftarless and fleet:

That was

all

And

yet,

through the gloom and

the

light,

The fate

a nation was riding that night

And

the spark

struck out

by

that steed, in his flight

Kindled

the land into flame with its

heat.

Wood has used specific techniques to establish an over

all feeling

of

sentimentality. This artist has no interest

in

rendering a naturalistic view. The town square looks like a

game

board. Nothing seems real. Paul Revere s horse

resembles a child s rocking horse. In fact, Wood did bor

row a neighbor s rocking horse to use as a model for the

image in this painting. Where is Longfellow s more power-



ful steed, his bulk in the dark that moved with a hurry

of

hoofs ? Th e boxlike houses don t appear to have any

real weight,

an d

neither do the lollypop trees. The sense

of light is contrived; light falls like a fluorescent ribbon

marking Revere s path.

From

ou r

bird s-eye view, the landscape stretches out

neatly

in

a pleasing, rhythmic pattern. The composition

clearly delineates each element near or far, an d brings

it into sharp focus. There are no fuzzy borders

in

this

pristine

an d

crisp picture.

Th e

dark bluffs

in

the background

don t

belong in a

New England landscape an d look instead like grain silos,

a characteristic feature

of

a midwestern landscape. That s

no accident. Grant Wood lived

in

Iowa all his life, an d

in his writings an d lectures he advised all painters to

remain

in

their native towns or regions rather than flock

to large

urban

centers. He was staunchly against

European influences, particularly trends

in

modern art.

His

9 5

essay, Revolt Against the City, outlines

his principles on art: Painting has declared its

independence from Europe, an d is retreating from the

cities to the more American village and country life.

Wood advocated an American way

of

looking at things

an d a utilization of the materials of our own American

scene. He and other artists

of

simular disposition called

this stance Regionalism. The Regionalists wanted to

create an

American expression that would be above

all true

to

the country s heartland.

In this painting, Grant Wood creates a fantasy, a form

of

propaganda idealizing a time long past

an d

a place

(New England) that

he

didn t know particularly

wel l -

even as he advocated subject matter an d style that was

supposed to derive from the rural experiences of the

American Midwest. Historically, Wood s own time was

one of crisis: the Great Depression an d its aftermath,

economic troubles, an d the natural disasters associated

with midwestern farming. With

The Ride

aul Revere

he chose not to depict the harsh circumstances of his

own time bu t an idealized episode in America s Revolu

tionary history.

GR NT

WOOD

The Ride

Paul

Revere 93




Narration: How DoWe Know a Story Is Being Told?

Does this look like a real landscape? Why not?

Is this a

modern

landscape? Or a historical one?

Is it a quiet landscape or is some event taking place here?

Describe specific aspects of the painting that guide you

in formulating your answers.

Are figures present in the landscape, and if so, what are

they doing?

The painting describes a specific event in the history of

Revolutionary America: the ride of Paul Revere. The artist

was inspired by a poem written about the event. Where is

Paul Revere in this composition?

How has the artist shown

us

where Revere comes from

and where

he

is going?

How Is Lighting Shown?

What time of day is it?

Where is the light coming from? Is this natural?

Notice how clear the road is even in areas of the compo

sition where everything else is obscured, the roadway is

visible. What does that tell us about the road s importance

to the story that is being told?

GR T WOO

The

Ride Paul Revere 93

Viewpoint: Perspective

What is

our

vantage point?

We are looking down

on

the landscape from very high

up.What is the effect of this bird s-eye view? Are we

involved in the scenario? Are we

on

the same level as

the action? Are we distanced from

it?

Explore the question of focus: are some areas of the

composition in crisp focus and other parts hazy? Or not?

Does this look naturalistic or the opposite?

Considering Historical or Theoretical Context

Grant Wood lived during the Great Depression.

Do you think that this economic and social situation

had any bearing

on

his choice

of

subject matter?

Describe your reasoning.

Wood believed that it was important to create an

authentic art that would express the viewpoint of the

nation s Midwest.

He

called this idea Regionalism.

Is this picture true to his goal? Why or why not?



Stuart avis

eport ro o kport

194

0

Oil

on

canvas, 24 x

3

in

Edith an d Milton Lowenthal Collection,



SOME POINTS TO ONSI ER

• Stuart Davis wanted to infuse his ar t with the

spirit and symbols of the modern world. In his

terms, everything qualifies as an

appropriate

subject for art, including everyday

objects-even

signs

an d

advertisements.

• Even with many freewheeling and abstract forms

and nonnaturalistic colors, this composition

depicts

an

actual landscape.

• Davis was very interested

in

aesthetic theory,

an d he developed concepts of how colors interact

an d

how these interactions create complicated

spatial relationships.

Bequest

of

Edith

Abrahamson

Lowenthal, 1991

199

2

.

2

4.

1

NOTES

ABOUT T S

WORK

In

eport ro ockport

th e

dynamic energy

o f modern

existence is palpable in visual terms. An explosion of

saturated, nonnaturalistic color an d freewheeling, assertive

abstract shapes expresses Davis's attitudes about modern

life in general an d

about

a specific small town in

New England.

Don t let th e

ho t

color an d

th e

exuberant

patterning

of

squiggly shapes

make

you lose sight

of th e

underlying

structure: this is a landscape. Toward

th e

composition's

center, Davis paints

th e

word garage

in

white letters on a

purple building with a large

re d

doorway. A gas

pump

(with a white pole

on

an orange base) stands in front

of

th e

garage. To th e left of

th e

garage, we see an A P super

market, shown

in

entirely abstract terms except for its

identifying

sign

in black with re d lettering. These elements

border

th e

town square in Rockport, Massachusetts. Th e

large expanse of yellow indicates th e ground. Th e sky

above glows in bubble-gum pink, with jaunty, free-form

clouds

of

white with re d an d black patterning. In the r ight

foreground, ther e s another gas

pump

this one in black

with cursive white script (spelling gas ).

Davis

wanted

to create

an ar t f or m

that would embrace

a full

range of modern

real-world subjects an d attitudes,

so t ha t t he art would be a product of everyday experi

ence. Everything is fair

game

as far as subject

matter

goes. To

some

eyes, gasoline p um p s m ig ht n ot s ee m

interesting enough to serve as a subject for a paint ing, for

instance. But for Davis painting is th e record

o f

1

impressions an d experiences, including New England

blue skies an d waters, superhighways,

th e

proportions

of

Ioo-stOry buildings, gasoline pumps taxis, billboards, ciga

rette packages, garages, neon tubes, music through radio,

motion

picture juxtapositions, skywriting, etc. Words an d

signs were also appropriated into this newly defined



context for fine art. Davis uses

the

words

and

letters in

this composition

both

for

their

visual, calligraphic prop

erties

and

for

their

verbal or linguistic associations.

For Davis, art

itself

was

part

of

the

rich

spectrum

of

ideas, subjects, and inspirations

that

he drew upon in

creating new painting. When he listed that panoply of

1 0 0 0 00

impressions,

he

stressed

that

it is

important

to note that ou r environment includes modern

art

as a

living element. He found inspiration in new French art,

adapting the conceptual and stylistic advances of French

Cubism

to his personal, American vision.

He

signals this

tribute on

the

right side of Report

ro

Rockport

The blue

field of color refers to water,

an

expected

element

in a

view of a New England fishing village. But Davis trans

ports

us

out of

the

ordinary or expected with the word

Seine

referring to

the

river

that runs through

Paris. This

explicit reference to the artist s debt to French culture is

embedded in

his celebration of the American vernacular.

Davis also uses his

own

past art to develop new ideas.

Report

ro

Rockport depicts a scene

he

first painted

fifteen years earlier.

Throughout

his career, Davis

returned

again

and

again to certain

themes

finding renewed insights

through

reworkings

and

reinvestigations.

Davis spent a good deal

of

time writing about his

concepts for a

new

art. Here the intricate juxtaposition

of raucous, contrasting

hues and

rhythmic, free-form

shapes reflects his concept called color-space. . . a

phrase

invented for myself in the observation and

thought that every

time

you

use

a color you create

a space relationship.

He

believed

that

certain color

contrasts corresponded to dynamic spatial relationships.

Davis integrated direct observation of

the phenome-

nological world with abstract, conceptual theories

of

art

making. He invented a unique language of visual form to

express

the

fullest range of stimuli he could define, in

the

interest of

making

an art

that

would truly speak to

his

own

t ime and

place

in

history.

STUART DAVIS

Report

from

Rockport

194

STRATEGIES

FOR DISCUSSION



Considering First Impressions

What is your first impression of this picture?

Does this work have a specific mood or a spirit?

Be

spe-

cific, and discuss why you reached your conclusions.

Consider shape, color, patterning, and rhythm-

and discuss the role of each in conveying a mood.

Finding the Landscape in This Picture

Is this an abstract image? A realistic one?

Could this be a combination of the two? Discuss which

elements you think are abstract and which are based more

closely upon direct observation. Consider the notion

of

abstract versus realistic with regard to color, and then

consider it with regard to form.

This scene is a town square in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Does that fact help you recognize any elements in this

landscape? Be specific.

Look in the central part of the composition, in the back-

ground,

to

find a garage and

an

P store. Identifying

these is fairly easy. Why?

Why do you think Stuart Davis made lettering and

signs so important in his painting?

Find two gasoline pumps in the picture; one is in

the foreground and one is in the background. How

STU RT D VIS Reportfrom

ockport

94

do elements like these function, compositionally, in

identifying this as a specific landscape?

Not every element is as straightforward; some are purely

abstract. Describe a few of the abstract areas and discuss

how they function in relationship to the parts of the

picture that are easily identifiable.

Beyond One Specific Landscape:

References to Other Places, Other Ideas

Find the word Seine in the picture.

Do you know where the Seine River is located?

Answer: France; more specifically, Paris)

Why do you think Davis included a reference

to Paris in this picture

of

an American town?

77



SOME POINTS

CONSIDER

Willern de I ooning

American, 9°4 997

om n

1944

Oil

and

charcoal

on

canvas,

46

x

32

in.

From the Collection

of

Thomas

B

Hess,

Gift

of

the heirs

of

Thomas B Hess,

1984



• De Kooning found a way to introduce figuration

into the context

of

groundbreaking developments

in

abstract painting. He took a traditional

subject-

a seated woman

in an

indeterminate

space

and

he made this subject express some very

modern ideas.

• Some

of

the anatomical distortions (bulging eyes,

garish lips, and exaggerated breasts) may strike

us

as both amusing and troubling. Ultimately, this

emblem

of

femininity leaves

us

with a

fundamentally unsettled feeling.

• Color choices contribute to the sense

of

discomfort.

Saturated, intense pigments create a jarring effect.

• The sense

of

agitation is echoed in the way the

medium

is applied to the canvas. Different layers

of

paint are scraped or rubbed to reveal underpin-

nings; similarly, charcoal lines show through.

This reflects an interest in letting viewers under-

stand something about the process

of

making

the painting.

9

8

4.

6

3

2

NOTES BOUT

T S

WORK

De Kooning periodically made completely abstract works,

but he

consistently

returned

to the

human

figure as a

subject. This fact distinguishes

him

from Abstract Expres-

sionist colleagues like Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock,

with whom de Kooning is often linked because they shared

many approaches to art. In a legendary dialogue with the

artist, one

of

the most powerful critics

of

the period,

Clement Greenberg, questioned whether a truly modern

artist could justify figurative painting, given the period s

groundbreaking trends

in

abstraction. He asserted that

in

today s world It s impossible to paint a face. De Kooning

replied, That s right. And it s impossible not to.

This work is called omanNotice how the title gener-

alizes the work rather

than

makes it specific; there is no

indication

of

the subject s

name

or any other particularity

to place

her in

context. This unspecified emblem

of

wom-

anhood is both frightening and hilarious at the same time.

Her

gaudy, puckered lips pass over the threshold from

sensuous to cartoonish. Her oversized eyes bulge in a way

that borders on caricature. In a kind of (ridiculous) halo

effect,

round

shapes, which echo

the

form

of the

eyes,

themselves appear to be curlers. Is this some kind

of

joke?

Maybe we can gain insight into the complexity

of the

expression by considering the artist s own words: Art

never seems to make

me

peaceful or pure. I always seem

to be wrapped

in

the melodrama

of

vulgarity. I do

not

think

of

art

in

general as a situation

of

comfort.

So

a serious undercurrent runs through the picture, a feeling

confirmed by de Kooning s own statement.

The prominent breasts certainly qualify as one outward

expression of de Kooning s melodrama of vulgarity.

Another element signals

her

forthright sexuality: the

garish fingernails

on her

agitated hand. That

hand

seems

to be

in

motion. The ocher

paint standing

for skin

79



tone-extends way beyond

th e

charcoal

markings that

delineate

the

actual fingers. Those bold fingernails are

the endpoint

to an ar m

that doesn t

appear to rest com

fortably as a body

part that

really belongs to this figure.

Has

he r

shoulder been

dislocated

out

of its socket?

Something is no t quite right. The other ar m (her right

arm) is sticklike; it doesn t match the left ar m at all.

De Kooning poses this w om an i n a familiar, tradition

al way. Just peruse the European painting galleries or the

collection of colonial American portraits in any

museum

for images of people positioned similarly: in shallow

space,

their

figures filling

most

of

the composition, seat

ed

in

a way that shows their head, torso, an d often their

knees. But de Kooning s treatment

of

th e

human

figure

is far from traditional.

Just as his depiction

of

various anatomical

elements

crosses over th e line from traditional to avant-garde, de

Kooning s us e of color also pushes the boundaries

o f

expectation. Highly saturated color-intense an d artificial

rather

than naturalistic-heightens the suggestion of

aggression or agitation. Those hot red fingertips demand

ou r

attention.

T he s am e

jarring color defines shadows

around the

figure s nose. The ocher-colored skin has

an

undercurrent

of

poison green; it s as unsettling to ou r

eye as de Kooning s

us e

o f

bright red

on

th e

nose area.

Look at the markings

around the

figure s breasts:

their volume is defined h er e i n t er ms

of

bright

green shadowing.

De Kooning often worked an d reworked his composi

tions, purposely leaving clues to the creative process

embedded

in

th e

en d result. Agitated charcoal lines are

visible i n m an y areas of the composition, both as accents

applied on top of fresh paint and also as vestiges of

underpainting. This gives us information about th e artis

tic process, insights that are integral to

the

finished work.

De Kooning often scraped

and sanded the

surfaces

of

his

pictures at various points during the working process.

The rubbing or scraping away

o f

part-but no t

al l - o f

one

layer of

paint

allows

an

earlier incarnation to show

through. The result creates interesting surface textures

an d reveals evocative coexisting layers

of

paint that tell us

about th e act

of

creating.

De Kooning has managed to transform a conventional

pose into

something

new.

Through paint handling

an d

color choice,

through

small bu t

potent

distortions

of

human anatomy, this artist explores evocative questions

about the

melodrama

of vulgarity.

WILLEM

DE KOONING Woman 944




lbinking about Subject Matter

The painting is called

oman

Do you think it s signifi-

cant that the artist doesn t refer to the subject by a

name

or any other distinguishing contextual feature? What is

the meaning of this lack of specificity?

Is there anything familiar about the woman s pose?

Does it remind you of traditional art in any way?

Using as

much

detail as you can, describe the ways this

image is familiar, and the ways it differs from what you

think

of

as a traditional portrait.

List the anatomical distortions that de Kooning invents.

What do you think his point is?

Choices of Color

If you were thinking of a scale ranging from naturalistic

to imaginative, where would the color selection fall in

this work?

Which areas

of

the composition are painted

in

colors

that strike you as jarring or unsettling and why?

Look at shading around the nose and then around the

breasts. Is there anything unusual about the color choices

in

those areas? Why do you think de Kooning selected

red to depict the shadows around this figure s nose?

Describe the skin tone. Is it naturalistic ? Why or why

not?

In

your view, what is the overall effect

of

de Kooning s

color scheme in this work?

WILLEM

DE

KOONING, Woman 944

Techniques: Finding Meaning in Ways the Paint

Is Manipulated

Consider the use of charcoal lines. Find areas where

such lines were applied

on

top

of

fresh paint, versus areas

where the lines appear to show through as

an

underpin-

ning and paint was applied

on

top of the charcoal. In your

opinion, what is de Kooning expressing

to

us through this

unique way

of

using charcoal line within a painting?

Are there other areas in the painting in which you can

find evidence of scraping or

sanding where

one layer of

paint is partially scraped away to reveal a previous coat

of

paint? Describe such an area.

Consider the meaning

of

how the paint is applied the

idea of showing different layers

of

work in the final

product. What meaning can

we

derive from de Kooning s

use

of this particular technique?




rshil

orl y

American,

19°4 1948

ter

the lowery ill

1944

Oil

on

canvas,

42

lit

48

in.

George

Hearn Fund,

1956

5

6

.

2

°5.

1



• This painting is based

on

a specific landscape,

bu t

the representation is vacillating

an d

suggestive rather than exact.

• Gorky uses imagery based

on

his life, past

an d

present. Memory an d reflection playa large role.

• Gorky's symbols are so personal that they are

almost secretive. The symbols consist of obscure

signs hidden within a framework of abstract

forms

an d

bright, nonrepresentational color.

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

At first this riot

o f

hot,

lush

color looks purely abstract: a

free-form celebration

of

organic shapes that

don t

corre

spond to known or palpable things. In fact, ater the

low ry ill

is deeply rooted

in

the world

of

representa

tion. The painting is a landscape that depicts a specific

place

in

th e Connecticut countryside, a place

of

special

importance for the artist. Like a visual diarist communicat

ing in a secret language

of

his own invention, Gorky paints

a scene

of the

present-day world enriched with

memories

an d fantasies

of

his past.

The shapes are not immediately recognizable to us, bu t

Gorky has embedded in this composition a framework of

personal, obscure signs symbols that represent places he

knew well an d the people he cared about. The painting

illustrates Gorky's metaphorical suggestions about

things

an d people: emotional reflections rather than exact, docu

mentary renderings. Gorky was captivated by th e land

scape of

th e Housatonic River

in

Connecticut; this view

shows the remains of an abandoned sawmill t ha t h e mis

took for a grain mil l, which explains why his t itle is a pun.

Gorky said, Down by th e road, by the stream, that old

mill, it was used to grind corn, now it's covered with vines,

birds, flowers. Flour

mill flowery

mill. That's funny I

like

that

idea. Even when we have Gorky's own words to

help us pinpoint this landscape view, decoding the

imagery explicitly

remains

almost impossible.

On e

scholar

examined the

painting

against old photographs

of

the

same view

an d

found a few parallels. For instance, the

dark diagonal wedge-shape at the painting's lower left

corresponds to the roadbed

of

the bridge that led to

th e

mill.

What if

we cannot become more explicit

than

that? We

can look at the

painting

itself the color, the forms, the



Arshile Gorky

n

his mother photograph

taken in Armenia

1912

Estate of the artist

method of applying paint to the canvas and derive

meaning. The mood is exuberant. This sense is conveyed

partly through t he u se of color, which is unbridled. Hot

eddies of paint in various shades

of

red, orange, and

yellow flow freely. Needless to say, the color reflects emo-

tion rather

than

description, free of representational con-

straints. The application of color in thin washes, like veils,

blurs boundaries between things, dematerializing the

forms. Shapes float buoyantly, adding to an overall feeling

of energy and pleasure. For Gorky, line is free from the

function

of

merely outlining shapes. Lines take on a

dynamic life of their own; they are fluid, free,

and

calli-

graphic. The composition looks spontaneous. Actually, we

know that Gorky always made preparatory studies for his

paintings, planning

ou t

his compositions through prelimi-

nary drawings before embarking on an oil painting such

s this one.

Each inexact, biomorphic shape carries a

number

of

meanings. Forms suggest plants, animal life, insects, and

human

anatomy including internal organs). A teeming,

voluptuous world unfolds, a world

of

dissolving bulk

and

submerged meaning. Gorky hides his personal codes

from us, bu t even so, we come away with a feeling about

the artist and his worldview.

For Gorky, the Connecticut landscape he loved

recalled childhood memories of other beloved landscapes

and people. Memory and reflection of idyllic times long

ago were tremendously important to him. B orn in Arme-

nia, Gorky experienced war and famine brought

on y

Turkish

and

Armenian hostilities. His

mother

starved to death. Gorky and his father and sister escaped

to America. Gorky cherished a photograph of himselfand

his mother

in

which she wears traditional Armenian

clothing a long loose dress and a head scarf. Decades

later Gorky often used these images in his art. O ne s uc h

image is so well camouflaged in Water of the Flowery Mill

that it takes great scrutiny to find it. Look at the paint-

ing s left edge, just below the middle, for a faint image

of

Gorky s mother, standing in the landscape wearing a

long brown coat, a lavender scarf covering her hair.

Nearly invisible to our eyes, she no doubt claims a very

significant presence for the artist.

Gorky has created a specific rather than generic world

here, derived from tangible life experiences, both past

and present. Tiny details, almost undecipherable, carry

enormous import.

ARSHILE GORKY,

Water of the

lowery

Mill 944




Looking at the Painting without Considering Explicit

Subject: Finding Meaning

in

Color and Form

Describe the colors used in the painting. Are they are

hot or cool ? Why do you think we generally break

down colors into those two categories? What does it

mean?

What is the effect Qr mood created by this emphasis

on a particular color family?

How is the color applied? For example, oil paint can be

thick or thin depending on

what the artist does with it.

Describe what you imagine Gorky s techniques might

have been.

Are drips evident? Can you see one color appearing

through another color that has been applied on top of it?

e specific.

Describe the forms. Are they geometrical ? Organic ?

What do these words mean?

Even though the forms invented

by

Gorky may not look

like real objects, they may remind you of things or types

of things. Name some possibilities. Can each shape

remind you of more than one thing simultaneously?

Looking at this painting, describe such a case.

What overall mood or emotion do you associate with this

work? Describe what Gorky has communicated to you

through form and color.

ARSHILE GORKY. Water of the lowery Mill

9

Considering Hidden Representation: A Landscape

Did Gorky develop a secret code,

in

which

an

abstract

looking form might stand for something quite specific?

Is there anything

in

this composition that looks like a

landscape?

e

specific in linking your thoughts to what

you see in front of you.

This is Gorky s private interpretation of a countryside

in

Connecticut, a real place that

he

loved. He inserted

in it symbols (abstract-looking forms) that stand for

certain memories of people he loved, such as his

deceased mother.

But he did not necessarily want us the viewers to

decode this landscape. He wanted the meaning to be

embedded in the painting s form and the color itself.

Has he succeeded? Why or why not?

o

you come away from this with an overall impression

that supports the idea that it is a known landscape, a real

world filled with happy memories?



SOME

P OI NT S T O

CONSIDER

lberto iacornetti

Swiss, 19°1-1966

hree en Walking

1949

Patinated bronze,

13

12 in.

The Jacques

an d

Natasha Gelman Collection



• Stripped

of

all props or personalizing effects, the

human figure is presented as an attenuated,

faceless, rail-thin form, seemingly without weight

or mass.

• Giacometti carefully calibrated the placementof

the three figures

on

the sculpture s platform so

that viewers can consider not just the bodies, bu t

the displaced air space surrounding each figure,

alone an d in combination. Ambiance has

become palpable.

• Surface texture, too, expresses mood. The heavily

textured form stands as a tangible record

of

the

process

of creation-with

all its

anxieties

showing evidence

of

Giacometti s workings

an d

reworkings, his many touches.

• Both form and subject suggest metaphors: among

them, consider the idea

of

loneliness and dread

in the

modern

age. Such impressions attracted the

attention

of

the Existentialist philosopher, Jean

Paul Sartre.

• For Giacometti, art had to be truthful to reality,

an

impossible goal

of

realizing

in

visual form the

fundamentals

of

perception. It was Giacometti s

rigorous study of observation that led to his gener

alized, stripped-down form

of

expression.

NOTES

ABOUT T HIS WORK

Giacometti s apparently stylized portrayal

of the

human

figure-haunting attenuated, without substance or

mass-is in fact an expression of this artist s long,

intense

search for a

true understanding

of th e phenomenology of

perception. Both

the

outward expression ofGiacometti s

investigation (the simplified, weightless figures)

a nd t he

artist s difficult process of reaching this expression (anxi

eties, disappointments, doubts) attracted the attention of

th e great French Existentialist philosopher, Jean-Paul

Sartre, who saw in this work the epitome of his own world

view. For Sartre, Giacometti s sculpture gave visual form to

Existential Man: isolated

an d

alone even in a group, exist

in g

in a modern world in a state of dread

and

anguish.

Three faceless, weightless figures stride across a plat

form. None

make

eye contact with another; each stares

straight ahead.

No

figure appears to gesture in a way

that

acknowledges

th e

presence of

other

beings. They criss

cross a featureless

ground that

has

no

identifying charac

teristics to mark i t as a specific place. These beings are

utterly without props:

no clothes, no features, no markers

of any

kind

to particularize

the

scene. Almost without

m as s o r volume, th e figures seem hardly even to have bod

ies; their forms have

been

reduced to attenuated, spare,

ultra-thin vertical silhouettes. Only

their

proportionally

oversized feet

seem

to have any heft; this roots them

on

their platform

of

uninflected ground.

The figures are depicted in motion, an d

their

wide

strides appear to be purposeful. But we

can t

really identify

a purpose here. These frail creatures walk across an empty

expanse, an d we en d up feeling haunted and anxious when

we try to consider where they have come from

an d

where

they might be going. The figures themselves an d the

environment

in which they move have all

been

stripped of

personalizing elements. The work depicts a group, yet each



individual is very much alone

in

this small gathering.

Should we carry this impression further and explore

whether the work s tands as a metaphor for loneliness,

depersonalization,

an d

anxiety

in th e modern

age?

Even the surface textures convey a

sense

o f

anxiety.

Nubby an d gnawed-looking, every millimeter of surface

here

s tands as a record of the artist s

many

touches.

Thanks

to this explicit texturing effect, you can

us e

your

imagination when

you examine this work to envision

th e

process by which this sculpture came into being.

Giacometti was famous for his endless (and agonizing)

workings an d reworkings. Nothing was ever fully com

plete in his view; each object was forever a work in

progress toward a complex an d seemingly unattainable

goal.

Giacometti was grappling with fundamentals of per

ception, an d

th e

impossibility

o f

realizing in visual form

the

effects of

rendering

only what

th e

eye sees. Earlier

in his career, he was a

committed

Surrealist, working

only from his imagination. But in 9 5 Giacometti made

a dramatic break; his own vision

of

reality required

closer contact with

th e

observable world,

a nd h e b eg an

to

work from models in order to

understand

ho w to

render

88

pure optical phenomena. This demanded the artist s

understanding

not

just

o f

the volumes an d shape of th e

object itself, bu t

o f

the

atmosphere and the

space sur

rounding

it as well,

not

to

mention the phenomenon

of

movement or

interaction between objects in a unified

space.

He

describes

innumerable

setbacks in his

research;

in

fact,

he

exhibited

no

ne w work

until

1946:

Nothing was as I ha d imagined. A head

became

for

me

an object completely unknown and without dimensions.

Giacometti was attempting to suppress memory and

knowledge from the act

of

looking,

in

order to see afresh

and to arrive at a b it

o f

truth. But th e task seemed

impossible. Even the

most

facile artist

cannot

transcribe

instantaneously what his eye perceives, because he

must look a w ay - ev e n i f only for an instant-from the

thing he s

studying to produce the artwork. Memory

does in fact come into play, even in this most

careful investigation.

Giacometti agonized over

th e

notion

o f

being truthful

to reality, trying to build his art

on

a framework of close

investigation. The result is a highly personal vision of

reality,

one that

often

prompts

in

the

viewer generalized

thoughts about man s place in

the

world.

ALBERTO

GIACOMETTI

Three Men Walking

9 9

STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION



Considering the Subject Matter

and

the Form Takes

How

much

do we know about these figures? Are there

any identifying characteristics that help

to

make

them

seem particular rather than general? Are there clothes or

faces or any other props?

Has Giacometti altered the basic

human

form in any

way

Are the various body parts true to life

in

terms of their

general proportions? If not how do they deviate from

your view of the standard human form?

Do the figures interact

in

any way Whether your answer

is yes or no describe what meaning this

interaction or

lack of it has in your view.

Even if they do not interact by gesturing or looking at

each other the figures are placed

on

the platform very

carefully; for Giacometti the spaces

etween

each figure

are important. Does this information change you attitude

about the relationship of each figure to the others

in

the group?

Where are the figures? Do we have any knowledge of their

whereabouts or the environment in which they move?

Is the flat platform

on

which the figures have been

placed an integral part of the artwork?

If

so what does

this platform suggest to

us

about the figures their

environment and the meaning or mood Giacometti was

expressing here?

Do

you think it s significant that Giacometti has portrayed

the human figure as opposed to some abstract design?

Why or why not?

ALBERTO GIACOMETTI.

hree Men Walking II 949

Continuing to Look at Form: Surface Texture

Describe the surface texture.

How is this surface a record of Giacometti s process

of

artistic creation?

Does the texture convey meaning or mood? How so

Can the Sculpture Stand as a Broader Metaphor?

Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre saw in Gia-

cometti s work

an

expression of modem humankind in

a state

of

dread and anguish. Do you agree?

e

explicit

in

describing why or why not and make sure you justifY

your reasons based

on

what you actually see in

this sculpture.

The Process of Observation: Giacometti s Idea of Truth

and Reality

Giacometti had a difficult goal: to understand the funda

mentals of perception and to record in his art only what

his eye perceived without resorting to memory or imagi

nation.

In

order to reach his goal he ended

up

creating an

art that looks very stylized. Can you accept Giacometti s

own logic and consider this work as the result of a careful

investigation into pure optical phenomena or is this total

ly unreasonable

in

your view Justify your answer to this

question by describing your rationale and the steps you

take in reaching your own conclusions.



SOME POINTS

TO

CONSIDER

acl son Pollock

American,

1912-1956

utu n

Rhythm Number

3

195°

Oil on canvas,

l S

x

2 7

in.

George

A Hearn

Fund, 1957

57.9

2



• Pollock disdained standard methods of painting

and developed his own new techniques: he placed

his canvas on the floor, he dripped and poured

paint instead of stroking it on by brush, and he

worked from all sides at once.

• The painting is huge in scale.

If

we stand in front

of it, it extends beyond our field of vision. It

envelopes us.

• Every inch of the painting s surface is equally

important. There is no central area of focus; the

emphasis is allover.

•

No

explicit recognizable imagery is depicted.

This abstract painting is nonrepresentational.

• Even though the painting is wholly abstract, there

is

content

in

this work: it is expressive

of

the artist

and

his emotions. Pollock communicates through

the painting s form and style. Viewers can also use

the title as a point

of

departure in interpreting

mood or emotion, but should avoid using the title

as a vehicle to find specific figurative imagery.

NOTES BOUT

THIS WORK

More

than

fifty years ago, Jackson Pollock developed a new,

unsettling painting style that cast aside established tradi

tions, both in the way art is made and in its subject matter.

Even today, these works look radical to many viewers.

In coming to terms with Autumn Rhythm consider

w it was made. Some people called works like this drip

paintings because

of

the way the paint is applied to the

canvas. Pollock stayed away from traditional painter s

tools. Rather

than

brushes,

he

preferred sticks, trowels,

and

knives. He

thinned

down the paint to a l iquid

consistency and

then

flung, dripped, scumbled, splotched,

pooled, and puddled it onto the surface

of

the canvas. This

was achieved by many means: for instance, a stick or other

implement would be dipped into

the

paint and then-

while holding the stick about a foot or so from the sur

face the

artist would flick it, creating a graceful arcing

line of color. With such motions, the act

of

painting

becomes almost like a dance. The marks

of

paint are the

lasting evidence

of

Pollock s motions,

and

these marks

give us insight into the very process

of

creating the work.

We can actually visualize the gestures that Pollock used to

create the painting by carefully examining the way the

lines look.

For Pollock, the process itselfwas important; spontane

ity was

key

He said,

I think

of

my paintings as dramas

Neither

the

action

nor the

actors can be anticipated,

or

described in advance Ideas and plans

that

existed in

the

mind

at the start were simply the doorway through

which one left the world in which they occur. Pollock

believed that the work

should

never be completely pre

planned because

in

the act

of

painting, various possibilities

would emerge. This issue caused a lot

of

controversy at the

time. Some people argued

that

the work was merely

Jackson Pollock

95

Photograph by Hans Namuth

New York



accidental. Dripping and pouring the paint seemed out

of control. Pollock said, I can control the flow of paint

there is no accident.

Pollock worked on the floor rather

than

at an easel.

He said, On the floor I

am

more at ease. I feel nearer,

more a par t of the painting, since this way I can walk

around it, work from all four sides, and literally be in the

painting. Because of its large scale, we, too, can feel as

though we are in the work of art. tover seventeen feet

long, utumn hythm is immense. The painting spreads

out beyond our peripheral view like a whole environ-

ment; we are enveloped by it.

Pollock worked on the painting from all angles, and

he created a composition in which every square inch is

equally important. The emphasis is allover; no one area is

more important

than another. A dense, intricate web of

color fills the entire arena. Layers of paint subtly overlap,

alternately advancing and receding in space.

this completely abstract painting, no hidden

imagery waits to be deciphered. Pollock said, Iwant to

express my feelings rather

than

illustrate them. The title

was determined after the work was complete. We can

consider it as we develop

our own interpretation of what

Pollock was communicating here. But we must be careful

not to

think

of the title as a description of specific figura-

tive imagery within the painting. utumn hythm is not a

landscape,

but

it is redolent

of

the natural world. Pollock

said that he wanted his work to be nature,

he

didn t want

just to

paint

it. The work rings out with emotion. Pollock

certainly wanted to convey meaning when he painted, but

his content is evocative rather than explicit.

JACKSON POLLOCK

utumn

Rhythm Number

30 1950

STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION



The Impact of Scale

Consider the size of the painting, pacing out its seven

teen-foot length on the floor

if

you are looking at a slide.

Imagine if the painting were small rather

than

large.

What effect does the size have on your experience

of

looking at it? Do you think that scale has meaning?

If so, describe it

Methods of Painting

Look carefully at the painting

and

try to reconstruct

how it was made.

Was it painted at an easel? Describe your reasons for

answering yes or no.

Was the paint thick or thin? Liquid or solid? How do

you know?

How was the paint applied to the canvas? By brush?

Spilled? Dripped? Name at least four methods you could

use to obtain the effects in this picture.

Did Pollock work from one position when he painted this

picture?

To

answer this question, consider

if

we can tell

anything about his position by the direction

of

the flow of

paint that is, top to bottom, left to right, bottom to top)?

Suggestion: take the slide out

of

the carousel and try

projecting it upside down or backward. Analyze what the

differences are and what you can learn from this experi

ment in close looking. For example, consider whether

t he re is a n

up

or down. Pollock certainly thought so, and

he signed the work accordingly. If you look at the image

upside down, does it appear to your eyes to be out of kil

ter? Why or why not?

JACKSON POLLOCK, utumn Rhythm Number30 1950

Use of Line, Form, Color

Where should we look when we examine this work?

Is there one important point of focus in this painting?

Is every area equally important? As you formulate

an

opinion, think about these questions in relationship to

other paintings you have seen,

and

compare them.

Does Pollock use line in order to describe enclosed forms?

Are any solid forms shown here?

What colors are used here? Is it a long list? Why would

Pollock choose to limit his palette? What is the effect?

Can you identify what color was applied first and

which came next? How do you determine the answer

to that question?

What s the Subject? Finding Content within the

Framework ofAbstraction

Is the artist painting something specific here?

Do

any

elements

of

the composition describe actual things?

Is this painting completely abstract?

Can a composition be totally abstract yet suggest impres

sions of something? Moods?

Is there anything about this composition that would make

you think

of

nature-in

an abstract way? How and why?

Try to find the words to describe f lings evoked by aspects

of nature without

naming

specific recognizable im g s of

nature.

9



SOME

POINTS

TO CONSIDER

avid mith

anktotem

195

2

-53

Steel and bronze,

80

1

2

49

12

x 18 1

2

in.

Fletcher Fund, 1953

53·93



• The sculpture is comprised of different found

materials that have been taken from their original,

industrial contexts

an d

transformed into a new

context as fine art.

• Consider Smith s use of the word

totem

to rein

force the power

of

such a transformation from one

context into another. Totems are potent, symbolic

emblems, held by some peoples in inestimable

regard as incarnations of ancestral kin.

• The aggregate

of

the different parts, now assem

bled in a meaningful whole, is infused with poetic

metaphor. Although entirely abstract, the work

makes several references to the

human

figure in

scale, stance, gesture, an d other attributes.

• The interplay between voids and solids provides an

expressive element

in

this work. The empty spaces

that are circumscribed by the metal parts become

particularly resonant.

For writings

by

Smith

see

ppendix P 56

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

This welded-metal sculpture is an assemblage of bits an d

pieces of machine parts an d other industrial materials that

have been removed from their original, functional contexts

an d then reassembled in a whole new context as a work

of art, resonant with new meaning yet still retaining

nuances

of

the material s past associations.

Smith talked about finding or discovering parts,

rather than ordering newly milled metals as material for

his sculptures. He said, I start with one part, then a unit

of parts, until a whole appears. Parts have unities an d asso

ciations an d separate after images even when they are no

longer parts bu t a whole. The after-images of parts lie back

on the horizon, very distant cousins to the image formed

by the finished work. For

Tanktotem

the starting point

was the large circular shape at the center of the aggregate

of

materials poised

on

top

of

the long, slender pole. This

convex, dish-shaped piece served as the lid or cap

of

an

industrial tank. Smith

made

a series

of

sculptures whose

inspiration was sparked by such lids. When we look at this

round shape we know it has

been

pulled from the world of

industry; it s easy enough to identify because Smith

s-

purposely not

camouflaged its origins. But even though

the piece is undisguised, it has been immeasurably trans

formed in this new context.

This sculpture does not sit on a traditional pedestal or

base

bu t

extends fully to the floor.

Tanktotem

occupies

the room it s in just as a

human

being does: standing on

its own terms directly on the floor. In other ways, too, the

work conjures up some human connections. The overall

scale is just over human size (80 inches high), which

renders the piece very approachable rather than

grand

or monumental.

If

you walk

up

to this sculpture in the

Museum s gallery, you feel that you can encounter it

directly in

a sense, almost eye to eye.

Tanktotem

is

an

95



abstraction; it is not

an

image

of

a

human

being. But this

work certainly does bear some parallels to the

human

form

and

it makes us

think

about

human

metaphors. Its

tall slender

stem

gives a very organic impression: grace-

fully positioning the work

in

space like a human leg or a

tree

trunk

would. The tank lid resembles a head or a

torso; other elements take on characteristics that evoke

gesturing limbs.

Although

made of

heavy metal the piece appears spry

and

buoyant; the shapes

seem

to gesture

in

a balletic

dance

an

effect achieved

in

part by a play between voids

and

solids. One

important

element

in

the sculpture is the

air space itself defined by the placement

of

the various

shapes. For instance the empty space encompassed by

the seven saw toothed objects becomes palpable here.

And the contours

of

the shapes take on a linear calli-

graphic feel.

In the process of transforming raw odds and ends

from

the

everyday world into something totally different

Smith infuses

the

work with poetic metaphor. The title

of

this sculpture reinforces the power

of

such a radical

transformation. Consider the word totem. Totems are po-

tent

emblems highly regarded by some peoples as incar-

nations

of

ancestral kin. Using his own language

of pure

form David Smith has conjured up a unique metaphor

for the great eloquence

of

abstract signs or emblems. We

can ponder a variety of meanings suggested through this

assemblage

of

industrial parts. Are our

modern

lives

built

upon

the

remnants

of

individuals who have lived

before us

and

the history they have established?

D VID SMITH

Tanktotem 1952 53

STRATEGIES FOR

DIS USSION



Thinking about Materials

and

Techniques

of

Fabrication

What is this sculpture made of?

H ow is i t ma de? Are the pieces welded together, or carved

or molded?

Do you think that David Smith fabricated each part

of

this

sculpture from scratch, or did

he

piece together various

preexisting materials?

Can you guess where certain parts originated? Are the

materials usually found

in

industrial objects or i n a rt

objects? Look carefully at the round part. t was not made

to be used

in

a sculpture but in a factory-made product.

What do you think

it

is?

In

creating his art, Smith used objects originally designed

for industrial functions. What difference does this make

in

the overall meaning and the effect

of

this piece?

Industrial materials are now transformed into a different

context. Are their origins completely lost to us? Or do we

retain some sense

of

how they were originally used?

What is the difference between these two concepts?

Look at the seven saw-toothed elements welded onto this

work. Do you think the empty space that they circum

scribe is

important in

this work? Are there other ways

that

Smith causes empty space to become palpable?

Some sculptors are

most

interested

in

questions

of

volume; others focus on different kinds of issues.

Discuss the idea of solid space versus void, as

used

in

this sculpture.

DAVID SMITH Tanktotem 1952-53

Metaphors: Is There a

Human

Connection?

When you look at this piece, do you think

of

a human

figure

in

any way e specific.

What is

t

about this sculpture that makes you

think

about a

human

being, even though the work is completely

abstract

and

has no explicit references to the

human

body?

Describe the sculpture in terms

of

gesture and stance two

words associated with figures.

Look at how the bottom

of

this sculpture meets the floor.

Is there an imposing base or pedestal? What is the effect

of

Smith s placement

of

the sculpture?

Does its size approximately six and one-halffeet tall)

seem significant

in

any way

Metaphors: Considering the Title

Tank

and

totem

have specific

meanings in

the English

language.

What is the meaning

of

the word tank here? Why does

Smith call attention to his use

of

industrial materials by

referring to it

in

this work s title?

Wha t is a totem Look it

up in

the dictionary and discuss

its meaning.

In

your opinion, why did Smith use this word,

and how does it contribute to the sculpture s meaning?

97



SOME

POINTS

TO CONSIDER

• This picture conveys a sense

of

loneliness, isola

dward opper

American, 1882-1967

Office in a mall ity

953

Oil

on

canvas,

28

x 40 in.

George

A

Hearn Fund, 953

53

8

3



tion,

an d

disquiet. The mood is established by both

the subject matter an d the formal properties

of

the

composition.

is as

if

we are peering

in

at a scene, unnoticed:

witnesses to a private

moment that we ll never

completely understand.

• We don t know much about the man depicted

here, no r can we read into the picture a specific

narrative story. Hopper s world is suggestive

rather

than

explicit.

• The painting is carefully composed; every element

is positioned with exactness. Framing

an d

crop

ping

an d

use

of

dramatic light

an d

shadows are

powerful techniques that communicate feeling to

the viewer.

NOTES

ABOUT THIS WORK

An eerie stillness pervades this vignette of isolation, as

if

a

moment

i n t im e were frozen. A man alone in his office

on what looks to be a high floor

of

a n u rb an office build

ing, stares

out

blankly into space. He does

not

interact

with any

other

human

beings, no r does he appear to be

engaged in active work. As viewers, we are shown a

glimpse of

something

private, a peek into someone else s

life.

Hopper

has cast

us

in the role of eavesdropper or

peeping Tom, looking in

on

a tableau tha t we have

no

right to explore. This act of looking-in gives us pause an d

makes

us

ask

some

disquieting questions about life

in

modern American cities.

Ou r vantage point is elevated. We occupy the same

plane as

the

man s office,

rather

than look

up

from street

level. There s

something

contrived about this.

He

looks

out-seeming

to focus

o n n ot hi ng i n

particular-and we

peer in. Who is he? We might impose upon the picture

ou r

own fantasies about this

ma n an d

his world,

bu t

we ll

never know for sure, since Hopper has chosen not to sup

ply specific answers to ou r questions about identity. Here,

Hopper

chooses to

present neither

portraiture no r a com

plete narrative story. At first glance,

th e

elements of this

scene seem very specific, bu t what is depicted is actually

very vague. Similarly, while we may have ou r own fan

tasies about this

man

an d his thoughts or deeds, Hopper

has

embedded

no straightforward narrative here; his world

is suggestive, not explicit. Think about the tit le

of

the pic

ture, Office

in a mall

ity Hopper might have gotten

more

specific bu t

he

elected

no t

to. Research shows

that

the small city is Truro, Massachusetts.

So

why didn t

Hopper

tell us? Perhaps

the

artist has stripped away all

the

particulars so that we can consider

the

image

99



metaphorically or generally, as a statement about the

modern human condition.

This picture is no t a mere random

snapshot

of th e

everyday modern world, bu t a carefully arranged compo

sition. Every square

inch

has

been thought

out, all

th e

elements

rigorously

structured around

a geometry of

overlapping rectangles an d cubes.

In

this interesting jux

taposition of old an d

new

architecture, every superfluous

detail is

eliminated in

order to

present

a pared-down,

almost

schematic

rendering

of form; it s highly abstract.

Notice

th e

window we look through. Positioned to frame

ou r view an d affect ou r mood, this large rectangle pro

vides a key structuring element in the composition. Deep

shadows

heighten the

clarity of

Hopper s

scenario,

an d

strong contrasts convey a

drama

(albeit inexplicit). These

techniques of

framing

an d cropping views,

t he u se

of

dramatic angles, an d

Hopper s

powerful cast shadows

carry

meaning and convey mood jus t as surely as th e fig

ure s gesture an d facial expression do.

Hopper is focusing on a scenario that

should

be invis

ible to

us an d an environment that

would normally be

easily

passed

over. Writing about a friend s paintings,

Hopper expressed thoughts that could be appl ied to his

own work: The blank concrete walls an d steel construc

tions of modern industry-all

the

sweltering, tawdry life

of th e

American small town,

and behind

all, sad desola

tion He

derives daily

stimulus

from these,

that

oth

ers flee f ro m o r pass with indifference. With this

painting,

H op pe r i mb ue s a n

ordinary scene with a sug

gestive symbolic content; it is an exploration

of

an inner

state of

mind

an d an interior life of the city.

EDWARD HOPPER Office in m ll

City

953

STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION

The Subject: What We Know and What We

Are you tempted to make any interpretations about life

in



Don t Know

Where is this man and what is he doing? What kind

of

environment is this?

Does the title help us read the picture? Does the title

situate the work in as explicit a way as you would like

it to Why or why not?

Is a special, momentous event depicted here? What kind

of situation is shown here?

Are there other

human

beings present in this composi-

tion? How do you think this fact contributes to the mood

of the picture?

Are there enough explicit details provided in the painting

for us to project onto it a complete narrative? What s the

difference between the kind of story that you can imagine

(using the picture as a point of departure) versus the

kind

of

story that is totally explicit in the image the artist

paints?

Where are we as viewers in relation to the picture?

What is our vantage point?

What is our role? Are we invited guests? Unnoticed

witnesses?

What exactly Ieads

you to your conclusion?

Consider the mood that is communicated by our vantage

point on the outside looking in and describe it as fully

as you can.

EDWARD

HOPPER Office in a Small ity 95

a modern city on the basis of the subject matter Hopper

paints here? Describe your overall interpretation, and note

what it is in the picture itselfthat leads you to your

particular analysis.

Composition: A Structure That Crops and Frames the

Viewer s Perspective

Define the geometrical shapes that structure this

composition. Look at where and how strong verticals

are positioned; think about cubes and rectangles and

how they are arranged.

Describe how Hopper has positioned the window that

we are peering through

in

order to see the

man

inside.

Look at how diagonals are set offagainst verticals and

horizontals. Are the angles set at ninety degrees, or do

certain corners converge at a raking angle? e specific.

Does this convey a mood? If so, what is it

Look at light and shadow. Describe angles created by

the light. Does this technique contribute to the mood?

How so




• Jasper Johns wanted to

use

ready-made images

sper ohns

American, b 1930

hit

l g

1955

Encaustic, oil, newsprint, and charcoal on canvas,

78

S

x 120

in.

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace, Reba and Dave Williams,

Stephen and Nan Swid, Roy R and Marie S Neuberger,

Louis

and

Bessie Adler Foundation Inc., Maria-Gaetana

Matisse, The Barnett Newman Foundation, Ruth

and Sey-



rather than images

he had

invented.

• For him, the American flag is a ubiquitous public

image so present

in modern

society that it has

become virtually invisible. The flag is something

seen out of the corner of the eye, yet not necessar

ily known.

hit l g

elevates the familiar and

asks

us

to consider the differences between seeing

something

and

knowing it.

• Johns avoids illusionism.

The

flag is the

same

shape and size as the canvas itself. There is no sug

gestion

of

three-dimensionality or spatial depth,

and there is no sense

of

foreground and back

ground.

• Johns develops a lush, dense surface

by

adapting

the ancient technique

of

encaustic,

in

which pig

ment is suspended in molten wax. The translucen

cy of

the wax allows us to see traces

of

everything

that went into the making

of

the picture, from the

artist s first charcoal markings, to the underlying

collage

of

cut newspaper and other materials, to

the many brushstrokes

and

layers of paint

and

wax

applied to the work s surface.

mour

Klein Foundation Inc., Andrew

N

Schiff, The Chace

und Inc., The Cowles Charitable Trust, The Merrill G and

Emita E Hastings Foundation, John J Roche, Molly and

Walter Bareiss,

and

Linda and Morton Janklow Gifts;

Kathryn

E

Hurd, Denise

and

Andrew Saul, George

A

Hearn,

and

Arthur Hoppock

Hearn

Funds; Florene

M

Schoenborn Bequest;

and

Gifts

of

Professor

and

Mrs. Zevi

Scharfstein and

Himan

Brown, and other gifts, bequests,

and funds from various donors, by exchange, 1998

199

8

3

2

9

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

I n a new kind

of

art, Jasper Johns investigates fundamental

issues

of

perception

and

aesthetic experience. Johns said,

ou can have a certain view

of

a thing at one t ime

and

a

different view

of

it at another. This

phenomenon

interests

me.

In

his choice

of

subject matter and his decisions about

form and techniques, Johns puts into play an intellectual

dialogue

in

which we grapple with the co-existence

of

illu

sion and reality, abstraction and representation. Along the

way we consider some profound questions about seeing

and

knowing.

The subject matter,

an

American flag, is one

of

the most

ubiquitous visual symbols in our culture. Its universal

familiarity is the great attraction for Johns. This is a ready

made design rather than an image of his own invention.

Johns wanted to focus

on

preformed, conventional, deper

sonalized, factual, exterior elements. In one sense, the flag

is so familiar that, for many people, it may be virtually

invisible, something so often seen that it is not noticed or

thought about. For Johns, the image

of

the flag is part

of

a

large body of things seen and not looked at, not exam

ined. Johns explores the commonplace aspect

of

the flag as

1°3

an everyday sight, and he does not consider it as a roman

the upper right, and the flag s remaining six stripes



tic emblem of heroism or patriotism, or as an icon

charged with political or psychological resonance.

Here

the

flag is a symbol

of

what is

most

familiar to us, and

Johns elevates

the

familiar

and

forces

us

as viewers to

ponder

the idea of knowing

an

image rather

than

just

seeing it

out

of

the

corner

of

your eye.

Johns considered

the

American flag as a truly found

object, a subject that he says came to

him

(ready-made) in

a dream one night: One night I dreamed that I painted a

large American flag,

and

the next

morning

I got up

and

I

went out and bought the mater ials to begin it. And I did.

I worked

on that

painting a long time. For Johns, this

dream image tapped into a world

of

mundane circum

stance,

not the

chaotic arena

of

the unconscious mind.

Here

the flag is rendered flat. Its edges correspond

exactly with the exterior edges of the painting itself. There

is

no

sense of illusionism

in

this depiction.

Think

about

some

of

the kinds of illusions that the artist omits. Johns

did not choose to depict a flag waving in the breeze, thus

appearing as a three-dimensional form. This work fuses

figure and background, eliminating conventional distinc

tions. Johns presents one unified surface. y

making

the

flag and the canvas (the painting surface) identical in size,

Johns dissolves the distinction between the painting itself

as

an object-in-the-world versus the thing that is being

depicted.

To further emphasize the painting s presence as a real

object,

hit

Flag

is

made

of

three separate canvases that

are joined together. We can see the edges demarcating the

three structural elements

of

this composition: forty-eight

stars at the

upper

left (when Johns made this work, there

were only forty-eight states), seven stripes

in

the section at

1°4

below.

Johns has stripped from the flag its characteristic red,

white,

and

blue color scheme, rendering the image in

monochrome,

in an

abstract, schematized

manner

It s

an

all-white composition, but the closer we look the more

lush and

varied it appears: white, beige,

and

other subtle

grey-white tones, in every

nuance and

inflection from

opaque to translucent. Not at all a sober, one-note compo

sition, this work is rich with undertone, lavish

in

its dense

and

varied surface handling. If you look closely, you begin

to see tha t under the paint, Johns first sketched the flag

design

in

charcoal

and then

applied a collage

of

cut pieces

of

newspaper, other kinds

of

paper,

and

bits of fabric.

He wanted to preserve

in

the finished work a record

of

its

coming-into-being. To retain evidence

of

the painting

process, Johns

turned

to an ancient

medium:

encaustic.

In

this technique, the pigments are

not

mixed with slow

drying oils

but

are

suspended in hot

beeswax. Johns

added oil paint to the wax instead of dry pigments, as

ancient artists did. The molten wax is applied to the can

vas with a brush; the wax cools very quickly. s soon as

the wax is cool, the next stroke can be applied without

altering the first. Even

hardened

beeswax is translucent.

So the surface

of

Johns s picture records every stroke,

and

we can see that the painting process is a sequence, con

sisting

of

many

separate marks

and

artistic decisions.

Jasper Johns created a hybrid; neither wholly abstract

nor

illusionistic, his art stands at the crossroads, revealing

new dimensions about familiar things. He invites us to

look at the world differently, to consider what it

means

to

see and what it means to know, and to ask what consti

tutes art itself.

JASPER JOHNS hit Flag

955


T hinking about the Image T hat Is Depicted

in

Can you tell

if

the artist has used any other materials



This Painting

Describe what you see.

What do you normally associate with the American flag?

Think about the many different contexts in which you

encounter the American flag. Perhaps you noted a range

of contexts: from patriotic events to the most everyday-

even commercial uses

of

American flag imagery.

Now consider why Jasper Johns might have chosen to

paint a flag. This artist wanted to focus on a ready-made

image that was totally known rather than one that

he

would invent himself. Suggest some reasons why some

body might take this approach to the creative process.

For Jasper Johns, some images are so familiar that they

are taken for granted: seen but not necessarily known.

Describe what you think this means, especially in the con

text of fine art.

Discuss your ideas about a few other familiar images

often taken for granted) that you might

consider in the

same terms.

Considering Technique: How the Work Is Made

We expect an oil painting

to

have a smooth, seamless sur

face. How does this work differ from this traditional

expectation?

Be

specific.

W ha t is t he effect and meaning of using three separate

canvases rather

than

one large one?

JASPER JOHNS hit Flag 955

besides paint in making this work? Is there evidence of

collage bits of newspaper or fabric affIxed to the surface)?

Is

the surface smooth or rough? C an you see evidence

of

each brushstroke, or are the strokes blended together?

What meaning can we draw from this ability to see every

mark

made by the artist s

hand

during the process of cre

ation?

Instead of mixing his paints with oil, Johns used

an

ancient technique called encaustic, in which the paint is

mixed with hot wax The wax cools fast, and the artist can

apply one stroke

on

top of another very quickly without

blurring or smudging.

Now look closely and describe the way t he p ai nt h as b ee n

applied. Is it opaque or translucent? A combination? What

effect does this have on your feeling about the work and

its meaning?

The Meaning

of

Form and Color

Is this work strictly monochromatic? Describe the varia

tions in color.

Is there any representation of three-dimensional form or

space? If the artist had wanted to show the illusion

of

three-dimensionality, how might he have done so

What is the effect of making the exterior edges of the

painting form the edges

of

the image itself? What is the

underlying meaning?



SOME

POINTS

TO CONSIDER

• References to identifiable objects are eliminated

to create

an

abstract composition in which color

ark othko

NO ] White

ed

on Yellow

195

8

Oil and acrylic with powdered pigments on canvas,

95

3/8

x

81

3/8

in.

Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation Inc., 1985

19

8

5

6

3 5

NOTES OUT THIS WORK



is the key expression.

• The composition is pared down to a streamlined

minimum Even so, the forms are simplified but

not rigid or geometrical.

• Applied

in

thin translucent layers, color is

ethereal, atmospheric. Borders between colors

are infinitely subtle.

or

writings

by

Rothko

see

ppendix

pp

159 16

This is an art in which many of the standard conventions

have

been

stripped away so that color itselfis the major

expressive means. Recognizable imagery is eliminated

in

this completely abstract work. Even the formal structure is

simplified, reduced to favor what the artist referred to as

the simple expression of the complex thought.

The composition is streamlined. Rothko created a

reduced format; three rectangular masses hover against a

simple background. With only slight variations

in

formal

structure, Rothko

used

this format for twenty years. How

can an art is t be susta ined for so long by two or three sim-

pIe horizontal bars of color aligned in a vertical composi-

tion? For Rothko, reductive form allowed color to reach a

transcendent expression, leaving behind any references to

the material world. Nothing else gets

in

the way

of

the fun-

damental expression.

Forms are simplified but not geometric; shapes are

softened. Notice the lack

of

abrupt transitions at the edges

of

the three color bars. These edges are not rigid, straight

lines, the kind of boundaries made by mechanical means.

As the bands of color meet the background, the two colors

fuzzily merge, creating a kind of halo effect. This feather-

ing of the edges helps to convey an ethereal mood. Within

each band of color, the paint appears luminous. We do not

see dramatic, gestural strokes

of

thick paint applied by

brushes. Here colors are applied

in

translucent veils

of

diluted pigment, often with rags and sponges rather than

brushes. In some areas, paint is scumbled. In other zones,

it acts as a stain, saturating the canvas s fibers. This sensi-

tive application of paint produces a rich, multilayered, atmo-

spheric field. It glows, conveying a sense of boundlessness.

Scale was important to Rothko.

In

a way, Rothko used

the large scale to create a kind

of

intimacy for his viewers.

He

said,

I f

you paint a large picture, you are

in

it. The

7

painting becomes a whole environment

in

which the

viewer is encompassed. This almost eight-foot-high work



produces a very different effect than a small, easel-sized

picture hung on a wall. The large scale also allows for

larger expanses of color fields, and within each field

a greater potential for ever

more

subtle

and

evocative

paint handling.

Rothko purified his style, paring it down to achieve a

contemplative, serene expression.

is not meant to be

merely pretty or comforting, bu t derives from a more

serious impulse. To describe the elemental impact,

Rothko

used

the word

sublime.

Works like this

one

have

meaning, even

though

the

meaning

is as abstract as the

forms themselves.

In the

artist s words, There is

no

such thing

as a good painting about nothing. We assert

that

the subject is crucial,

and

only that subject-matter is

valid which is tragic

and

timeless.

ro8

MARK ROT KO NO ] White Red on Yellow 1958

STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION

looking at the Composition

Describe the arrangement

of

forms in this composition

The Expressive Meaning of Color

Rothko found color and its expressive potential pro-



Is this work geometrical? Why or why not?

ow think once again about the first two questions

specifically looking at how Rothko has painted the edges

of

shapes Are the edges crisp or linear? Describe them

What kind

of

mood

is

generated

y

these hazy edges

or boundaries?

Is anything specific depicted here?

If

you feel that this

is an abstract painting then do you believe that abstract

forms can convey meaning? Propose some possible

emotions or moods suggested y these abstract forms

M RK ROTHKO o White, Red on Yellow , 1958

foundly interesting Consider the colors used in this work

and suggest the expression these colors convey

How do you think the color was applied to the surface

of

the canvas? With brushes? Sponges?

Does the color seem to be flat? If not find words to

describe these fields of color What mood is suggested

y

the color?

°



SOME

POINTS

TO

CONSIDER

• This composition derives from the artist s specific

observations.

is a record

of

visual experience.

llswort

elly

American, b.

1923

Blue Green

Red

19

62

-

6

3

Oil

on

canvas, 9 x 82 in.

Arthur Hoppock

Hearn

Fund,

1963

63·73

NOTES ABOUT T HIS WORK



• Kelly has extracted forms from their context

an d

transformed

them

into precise, abstract-looking

configurations. With sharp

an d

clear edges, the

shapes appear flat, unmodulated by bmshstrokes

or other evidence

of

the artist s hand.

• For the viewer, the original correspondence

between a given shape an d where or how Kelly

observed it

in

the tangible world

remains

mysterious, unknown.

Ellsworth Kelly s

art

is about a way of looking carefully at

th e

world. The forms in this abstraction are distillations of

something

specific he actually observed. Kelly takes a visu

al experience a nd t he n removes its context its recogniz

able bearings. The specific visual observation is

excerpted an d

transformed

into precise an d refined

works of

art such

as Blue Green Red

For Kelly the most valid subjects are ready-made,

rather than

composed by the artist.

He

avoids forms

that

carry a lot

of

emotional baggage:

th e human

figure,

or

any

thing

that alludes to a heroic, romantic, or narrative story.

Kelly eliminates

th e

imposition of

meaning

or interpreta

tion.

In

his words, Making art

has

first of all to do with

honesty.

My

first lesson was to see objectively, to erase all

meaning

of

the thing

seen. The source

might

be natural

or artificial. The shape

of

a

leaf or

a rock, or

the

shadows

cast by such objects, or the shape

of

the empty space

between

them

qualify as valid subjects for Kelly s

monu-

mentalized records of visual encounters.

Other

possibili

ties

might

include

the

image

of

a window or

some other

architectural detail, shadows

in

a s tree t or on a building,

th e splatter of tar on a road, or the play of light on water.

The point is to be a ttentive to the world a t large an d to con

struct a record of

th e

experience. Kelly describes it as a

new

freedom; there was no longer

t he n ee d

to compose.

The subject was already

made an d

I could take from

everything.

Yet we cannot look at Blue Green Red and expect a

flash of recognition. It s

no t

a picture meant to be decoded

by us,

and

we ll never derive an exact correspondence

between its forms an d the visual experience that inspired

it. This legitimate analysis of an artist s observations must

remain

a mystery

on that important

level.

The c olor is a s eparate iss ue . Intense unmodulated

planes of saturated color look like flat cutouts their edges



razor sharp.

The

surface reveals

no

evidence of the

artist s hand no brush marks no texturing to be s ee n.

The

opacity is unyielding;

no

inflections break

up

the

dense expanse

within

each

of the

color areas.

For Kelly each work of art records a real experience

drawn from the phenomenological world. But he has so

abstracted this reality that we

can

never know its origins.

Z

LLSWORTH K LLY lue Green Red

962 63


Looking at Form and Color

Describe the shapes and their arrangement

in

The Subject: Abstraction Based upon

Real but Hidden Experience



this composition.

Are these shapes cropped (cut offat the edges). or do

they appear to be complete? Describe your reasoning.

Notice the edges. Describe their characteristics (for

example, hard, smooth, jagged, hazy). Do you believe

the way the edges are painted creates a particular effect

or has a meaning? especific.

Describe the colors used and your reactions to these

colors. Similarly, describe the way the surface is

developed is

it flat or textured, is there modulation

in

color? eas specific as you can.

ELLSWORTH

KELLY lue Green Red 962 63

What s the difference between a ready-made subject

and

an

invented one?

Kelly

did not make

up

these shapes from his imagination

alone. The forms are based on something he saw in the

real world, although

we

may never know exactly what

inspired a given arrangement. Do you accept that these

highly abstract shapes are probably based on something

the artist actually saw? What kinds

of

actual things might

have inspired a composition such

as

this one?

Do you think it matters that this work is based on

something real ? Why does it matter?

Can we still reach a valid interpretation of this work

even

if

we never learn specifically what inspired

the composition?



The lock p nel one


• Bearden pays tribute to an urban neighborhood

in

Harlem and celebrates the African-American

expenence.

ornare earden

American,

19II 1988

he

lo k

197

1

Cut

and

pasted papers

on

Masonite (six panels),

48

x

216

in. (overall)

Gift of Mr.

and

Mrs. Samuel Shore, 1978

197

8

.

6

1 1 6

NOTES OUT THIS WORK



• Viewers have a unique, multifaceted view, incorpo

rating public, private,

and

imaginative events. Each

vignette is rich with narrative detail.

• Cut papers

and photographic images are juxta

posed in evocative incongruencies

of

scale and

proportion. These disjunctures enable

us

to con

sider a variety

of

viewpoints, all

of

which Bearden

somehow brings into equilibrium in this large

composition.

• Bearden was inspired by jazz,

and

some of his

approaches to composition function as visual

equivalents to music.

See

Bearden poster

set in luded in this Resource for Educators

Romare Bearden couples an almost journalistic instinct

for reporting

the

everyday rituals

of

life

on

this block

in

Harlem with imagery drawn from an extraordinarily rich

universe of fantasy and pure imagination. Two worlds

conjoin to create a dynamic, bright, moving, and rhythmic

celebration of the neighborhood which is emblematic

of

the African-American experience in modern times. Bear

den

spoke of painting

the

life of

my

people as I know

-

as passionately

and

dispassionately as Bruegel painted

the

life

of the

Flemish people

of

his day.

This eighteen-foot-Iong work is

an

expansive arena for

a wealth of narrative detail. The

Block

reflects a typical

street, a medley of assorted storefronts with residential

apartments

above. Signs identify a liquor store, church,

and barber

shop;

the

identity of other storefronts is left to

our imagination. Bearden s magical vantage

point

lets us

see indoor and outdoor scenes simultaneously; we have a

unique

view

of

public

and

private life.

In the

sphere

of

public behavior, we are witness to a variety

of

spectacles.

Moving from left to right, vignettes include pedestrians

ambling down a busy street; a funeral

in

progress, with

pallbearers carrying a casket

out

to a waiting hearse; chil

dren and their

pets a t play; a

woman

shown talking with

an individual who leans from a window above; a street per

son

lying on the sidewalk; and folks of all ages together

and alone, engaged in

the

daily routines of everyday life in

a busy urban environment. Imagine this scenario accom

panied by

the

recorded sounds of street activity;

that

is

how Bearden originally showed this work.

In addition to the public side of life, we see a variety of

private

moments thanks

to Bearden s

use

of

some

unreal

istically large windows in upper floors. Some people watch

television; a seemingly sick older

woman

either gets up or



The lock

lies down

in

bed; a couple embrace. In the fourth build

ing from the left, Bearden has moved beyond document

ing

the real world to depict

an

Annunciation scene. An

angel with a yellow halo tells a

woman

whose head is

actually

an

African sculpture

that she

is to have

a baby; we can even look right through

her

body to see

the

fetus.

A collage of cut papers that have been affixed to six

masonite panels, The lock mixes photographs

of

various

scales

and

proportions with brightly colored papers. One

of

the

more

evocative effects is a startling disjunction

in

scale. There are also incongruencies between elements

in

black

and

white

and

those

in

full color. Notice the interi

or view

in

the pink building with the liquor sign. In a

group

of

children shown

in

black-and-white photographic

images, the upper part

of

one boy s head suddenly

becomes full color. Maybe we re being given a glimpse

of

this particular boy s viewpoint. A gigantic

mousetrap-

larger

in

scale than a grown

man takes

up almost

half

the space in this vignette. In a fantastic apparition, a

hugely proportioned fragment

of

a boy s face looks

out

at

us from the exterior wall of the building

in

which the

annunciation

scene takes place. A few doors down,

an

enormous

blue lightbulb hangs from the ceiling of a

room in which two figures (tiny in comparison) are

n

shown talking. Bearden said, Such devices as

distortion

of

scale

and

proportion,

and

abstract col

oration, are the very means through which I try to

achieve a more personal expression is not my aim

to paint about the Negro in America in terms of propa

ganda.

is precisely my awareness

of

the distortions

required by the polemicist that has caused

me

to paint

the life

of

my people as I know it

Bearden was deeply interested in jazz,

and

music

inspired some

of

his compositional techniques. The

dynamic

rhythms the

way forms are laid

out

across the

surface

of

this

monumental collage function

as visual

counterparts to some jazz principles. Friendships with

musicians such as Fats Waller

must

have been inspira

tional to Bearden

in

his search for visual equivalents to

the jazz aesthetic.

He

wrote about listening to

music

as

he worked on his art: I l is tened for hours to recordings

of Earl Hines at the piano. Finally, I was able to block out

the melody and concentrate on the silences between the

notes. I found this was very helpful to me

in

the trans

mutation of sound

into colors

and in

the placement

of

objects

in

my paintings and collages. Jazz has shown

me

ways

of

achieving artistic structures that are personal

to me.

ROMARE BEARDEN, The

rock

9




Thinking about This Particular Block: The Fabric

of

an

Urban Neighborhood

Where is this block? o you think it relates to an actual

neighborhood? Why or why not?

Describe the neighborhood depicted here.

e

as specific

as you can.

What are people doing

in

this scene?

If you had to identify sounds that might be associated

with this picture, what would they be? Is such a question

relevant to our experience of looking at a visual work?

What time

of

day is this? Is i t possible that both night and

day are represented? If so, describe how the artist accom

plished this, and propose why he might have done this.

Consider vignettes that are shown indoors versus those

shown outside. Is there a difference?

Does the picture convey an overall mood? What is -

and why do you reach this conclusion?

Documentary and Fantasy: Two Approaches

Come Together

Describe which elements are documentary and which

are purely imaginary.

Is there religious imagery? Where? What might

this mean?

ROMARE BEARDEN

The Block 97

Thinking about Form

and

Color

The painting is eighteen feet wide, made up of six

separate panels. Pace this out on the floor in order to

understand the scale. What

do

you think the effect of

scale is on the concept behind this work?

Is the color naturalistic (does it look the way our eye

sees images in the world at large)? Why or why not?

e specific. Then describe the effect created by deviating

from naturalistic colors.

Describe the rhythm created by the varying shapes and

sizes of the forms of buildings and of windows. Romare

Bearden thought very carefully about such concerns, and

he believed in links between jazz music

and

these visual

effects. He talked about Earl Hines s music, for example.

Is this a valid connection? If so, describe how.

This collage of cut paper and photographic images juxta

poses images in different scales. Find examples of such

images and describe how Bearden mixes divergent sizes

or scales.

In

particular, look at the scene shown in the

window of the magenta building with the liquor sign.

Is a special mood achieved because of the play on scale?

If so, describe it.

Look for images that appear in black-and-white

rather than in color. Describe an example within

this composition.

II7



SOME POINTS

TO

CONSIDER

• Each element of the composition is rendered

in

a

unique scale; relative proportions are completely

ou t

of

alignment.

m s

os nquist

American, b. 933

House

ire

9

8

Oil on canvas, 78 x 198 in.

Purchase, Arthur Hoppock

Hearn

Fund, George

A

Hearn

Fund,

and Lila

Acheson Wallace Gift, 1982

1982·90.1a-c

NOTES ABOUT

THIS

WORK



• The individual elements do not coalesce into a

unified scenario. Assembled improbably, the

motifs suggest metaphorical meaning rather than

a specific narrative story.

• Images symbolize some aspects

of modern

American society: the interplay of violence,

passion, commerce, domesticity,

an d

industry.

Each element of this large picture is painted

in

a straight

forward, illusionistic style that makes it

seem

convincing.

Yet the overall impression is mysterious, since the

individual fragments refuse to coalesce into a rational

or unified scenario.

In this strange interior view, people are absent; we can

no t pi n down a specific human narrative to recount. On

the left, Rosenquist has painted a brown paper bag stuffed

with produce, eggs, an d bread. This is a sign

of

routine,

everyday domestic life. But

he

has painted the image

upside down. Even though he renders the

motif

in an illu

sionistic manner it defies the law

of

gravity; nothing is

falling out

of

the bag.

The central image brings into this picture an element

drawn from the world

of

industry. A heavy-duty bucket of

molten steel enters the scene through a partially opened,

ordinary window, its blinds

half

raised. The bucket is re d

hot; it radiates

an

aura

of

blinding white light.

At the painting s right, the entire panel is filled with

oversized lipsticks, each with its cover removed

an d

its red

or orange tube fully extended. The tubes create an aggres

sive diagonal thrust that reaches across a third of the com

position. They take

on

a passionate, phallic quality, with an

implied sense

of

sex, violence, or threat. These lipsticks are

highly reminiscent

of an

advertisement: a close-up view

of

multiple commodities

meant

to attract a

modern

con

sumer s

attention. Speaking about another work

of

art,

Rosenquist referred to his own personal reaction as

an

individual to th e heavy ideas of mass media an d communi

cation. Perhaps we can find reverberations

of

that senti

m en t i n

House

ire where simple lipsticks-now ou t

of

their usual contexts

of

a glossy advertisement

or

a

makeup

counter

or

a

woman s hand-are transformed

into

metaphors for violence an d sex.



What

do the three motifs have

in

common? s there

any way to explain their being together

in

this work?

Even as we ask ourselves these questions, we have to con

sider the opposite line of inquiry as well. What has

Rosenquist done to keep

the

motifs from gelling into a

unified scene

and

to reinforce the dissonances between

the images? This

monumental

work comprises three sep

arate canvases joined together. When it hangs in the gal

leries, the edges separating each canvas are visible.

Perhaps that s one clue as to how we can confront

the

imagery and derive meaning from it. Like a series of free

associations, the images are loosely linked yet never

forced to blend together seamlessly.

Scale is another critical issue. One reason the sepa

rate parts resist

our

attempts to see

them

as a unified

whole is that the art is t renders each image in a different

scale.

The huge

lipsticks dwarf the bucket and the bag of

groceries, which are themselves unnatural in their rela

tive proportions. Whole motifs and fragments collide in

strange juxtapositions of size and context.

Many art historians look to Rosenquist s background

for insights into how he developed this particular sensi

bility toward scale. Starting out as a young artist, Rosen

quist worked as a professional billboard painter. He

describes a typical experience: was a real worker.

They d say OK, James, you re going out to the Mayfair

2

Theater and paint a boy and his dog seventy-five feet

long. So I d get

the

material, take

the

elevator

up

to the

tenth floor and climb out onto the ironwork, mix the

paint up on the roof, step right out the window (there

was nothing there) to the edge

of

the sign, which went

down about seven stories, stick my leg out around the

edge

and

onto the scaffold and start to work. Perhaps

there are some parallels between this early experience

and the pictures that followed: a sense of cropping and

scale, a feel for

the monumental

fragment. Perfectly

smooth, almost slick, the surface shows no sign of the

artist s brushstrokes or the tactility

of

the paint. This

creates

an

overall feeling

of

anonymity, which is

reinforced by the imagery.

ous ire captures our attention with its fiery col

oration and its large, heroic size. The work is filled with

contradictions in scale and context that suggest meta

phors rather than specific stories. Because

of

their dis

placements, familiar images became symbols for some

attributes of

modem

American society: the assertiveness

of advertising, pervasive violence. the role of passion, and

the interplay bewteen domestic life and the world of

industry. Separately, the various images convey their own

conventional meaning; taken together, they convey mean

ing that remains open to each viewer s interpretation.

JAMES

ROSENQUIST

House

ire 1981


Making Sense of This Scenario

Take a few minutes to describe exactly

what

you see in

each section of this painting

How Is This Painting Made: Looking at Form

The painting measures approximately sixteen and one-

half feet wide Pace the width out on the floor of your



Do you have any

information that

places

the

scene

in t ime

or

space?

Is any

human

action shown? Is this significant? Why

or

why not?

Think about whether the various elements have anything

in

common.

Why do you think Rosenquist might have pu t

these images together

in o ne

painting?

Why is

the

bag

of

groceries upside down?

Under what circumstances might you f ind so many

lipsticks together? Does this barrage of tubes

remind

you

of

the kind of

images often used

in

advertising? If so

describe

the

parallels

What point

do you

think

Rosen-

quist is making?

The

Power of Scale

an d

Proportion

Consider the relative scale of the elements Is the scale

true to life? If not describe the ways Rosenquist has

altered the expected or

standard

scale

What is the effect

of

this play on scale? Do you think that

the

artist is using scale to suggest

meaning?

If so try to

pu t this meaning in words

JAMES

ROSENQUIST

House

ire

1981

classroom Do you

think

overall size is important in

considering the

meaning

of

this work? Why

and

how?

This work is comprised

of three

separate panels hung

adjacent to on e

another on

a wall You may

be

able to

make out the edges between the individual panels

Do you think that using this form which is called a

triptych has any meaning here? Describe the meaning.

Do

the

images

overlap extending from

one

panel to

the

next? Are they

kept

completely separate?

Describe the overall coloration Does color carry any

emotional

meaning?

Describe it

Metaphorical

Meaning

Without trying to

impose upon

this picture a

made up

narrative story consider

the

symbolic

meaning that

is

conveyed

through

the juxtaposition

of the

different

images

in

this

one

work

What

is your personal interpreta-

tion of

the

underlying meaning of this painting?

121



SOME

POINTS TO CONSIDER

• Red Grooms was inspired by an event he read

about in a newspaper.

• Taking that anecdote as a point of departure for

ed rooms

American,

b

1937

hance ncounter at

M

19

8

4

Oil on canvas, 100 x

155

in.

Purchase, Mr.

and

Mrs. Wolfgang Schoenborn Gift, 1984

19

8

4

1

9


Red Grooms is an interpreter of urban America with a



this composition,

he

blends both accurate details

and fantasy.

• Grooms plays around with basic proportions

of

human

anatomy,

and

he poses his figures

in

humorous ways. The facial expressions too are

amusing. Through such elements, plus his focus

on

certain anecdotal details, Grooms infuses the

work with wit and humor.

humorous

touch.

hance ncounter at

3

M

represents his

fantasy about the first meeting by

chance of

two well-

known and highly influential artists whom Grooms greatly

admired: Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning.

Grooms painted this work after reading an article about

de Kooning in the magazine section of The New York Times

(November 20, 1983). The article notes de Kooning s

insomnia, which often resulted in early morning walks.

Apparently,

during

one such walk, de Kooning first

met

his fellow painter Mark Rothko (also an insomniac) on a

bench in New York s Washington Square park. Each dis-

covered that the other was a painter, and that their work

shared some profound commonalities. The two became

friends and associates whose breakthroughs

in

painting

really did change the course of art history. To Grooms,

Rothko and de Kooning were towering figures: great

modern masters whose work Grooms admired and learned

from as he developed his own style. Grooms used a

reference in a newspaper story as a point of departure

for this large tribute.

On the one hand, Grooms depicts a scene that is

accurate and true

in

its documentary detail. New York s

Washington Square park is unmistakable; the distinctive

arch, the statue of Italian hero Garibaldi, the street lamps,

and the park bench all root the painting in this particular

locale. This

encounter

actually took place

during

the 1930s,

bu t

Grooms thought it had taken place in the 1950s, and

he includes elements from that decade. Notice the 1950s

cars and the newspapers in the

trash

can in the lower left,

their headlines referring to the Korean War and a meeting

between United States President Eisenhower and his

Russian counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev. In the fore-

ground, a matchbox from the Cedar Street Tavern links

12

3



The Irascibles photograph

by

Nina

Leen

1950

published in

Life January

15

1951 Rothko

is

furthest right

on

bottom row

De

Kooning

is

furthest

left

on

top row

this scenario to the art world

of

that time; the C edar

Street Tavern was a favorite hangout

of

de Kooning and

Jackson Pollock among others.

Grooms couples his documentary impulse with

an

idealizing vision tempered

by

fantasy and humor. Who

is that ethereal creature hovering above the park bench

in the night sky? She is obviously a figment of Grooms s

imagination: an angelic modern-day muse resembling

a society patron in her cocktail dress and pearls who

benevolently watches over the scene below. The exuber

ant purple mountain range just visible

as

a backgound

element is entirely fictional. The proportions of the

fig-

ures including t he dog a t t he l ow er right are exagger

ated cartoonlike. Their heads appear oversized in

12

4

relation to their bodies which creates an amusing effect

that permeates the entire composition. Grooms captures

the

moment

just before the two men make contact; each

man

surreptitiously glances at the other. The two artists

wariness is evident

in

their facial expressions and body

postures. But these men look silly not serious and they

make us chuckle.

Inspired by a straightforward account of an actual

event Grooms renders his own interpretation of the sce

nario inflected with wit and fantasy. The painting serves

as

a tribute

to

two men the artist greatly admired and at

the same time we see that it s a silly caricature. Grooms

shows

us

t ha t art can be

humorous

even though it

might

stern from serious impulses.

RED GROOMS

Chance Encounter at 3 A M 98

STRATEGIES FOR

DISCUSSION

Figuring Out What s Happening in This Picture

Is

it easy to determine where this scene takes place?

What specific details identify the location?

Humor

Is there anything in this composition that makes you

laugh? What is amusing about this picture?



How exactly do

we kn ow w ha t t im e it is

How can we tell

if

the scene is contemporary or set

in the past?

What clues help us determine the identity of the two

men

on the park bench?

o

you think they know each other? Why or why not?

What is Grooms s attitude toward these two men?

Does he like or dislike them? C an you make any

judgments based upon what you see in the painting?

Grooms s Inspiration:

A Documentary Impulse versus Fantasy

Red Grooms read a newspaper story about the chance

meeting of the two

me n

on the park bench and he

was inspired to make this painting.

Which elements

of

the picture seem totally unreal

in your view?

What is the relationship between reality and fantasy?

Why do you think Red Grooms is blending the two

approaches here?

RED GROOMS hance

ncounter

at 3 A M

98

Think about body postures anatomical proportions odd

facial expressions and other issues that contribute to a

sense of levity. How do these elements work together

in

your opinion to evoke humor?




• This self-portrait conceals as much as it reveals.

The camouflage design indicates that we will

not be able to make a deep psychological or

character analysis.

Andy

Warhol

American

1930-1987

st Self ortrait

9

86

Acrylic and silkscreen on canvas

80

x

80

in.

Purchase Mrs. Vera

G

List Gift

1987

9

8

7

88


This hovering disembodied head is a self-portrait of Andy



• Warhol painted celebrities

and

was famous him

self.

In

one sense the painting is a study of fame

and the dehumanizing impersonal nature of the

modern

consumer

society that generates

and

sus

tains celebrity status.

• Disembodying the head removes the portrait from

an everyday context and gives it an ethereal other

worldly quality.

• Warhol used photomechanical printing processes

in his work adapting techniques used for commer

cial purposes to a fine art context.

Warhol

an

artist who

among

other things became well

known for his pictures

of

celebrities: strangely uninflected

records

of

fame

in

twentieth-century society. The images

tell us about the engines that drive fame media exploita

tion mass consumerism and mass production rather

than about the individuals represented. Warhol said In

the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen min

utes. Elizabeth Taylor Elvis Presley Marilyn Monroe

Mao Tse-tung John

F

Kennedy

and

Jacqueline Kennedy

Onassis are just a few of the rich and famous that Warhol

depicted again and again. He himself was a celebrity

whose own

face and

identity became

a potent icon

of mass culture.

In this work Warhol shows himselfwith his character

istic wig a conspicuous shock of obviously artificial

unkempt silver hair. When we see that hairpiece we

immediately recognize the subject. But do we know any

thing about him? The facial expression yields nothing. The

overall impression indicates detachment indifference to

emotion. The head floats against a dark blank back

ground; it is a pallid expressionless face unrooted to a

body and therefore strangely

inhuman.

Warhol is the

observer not the observed.

As

the great chronicler

of

mod

ern times he sees us more clearly than we see him. As if

to drive

home

the point Warhol paints a camouflage

design across this canvas a signal to us the viewers that

this

ma n

is in disguise

and he

wants to remain unknown.

The image

of

the face is created through silkscreen

a photomechanical process developed for commercial

printing like printing techniques used for magazines or

advertisements. The artist has stepped outside the world of

accepted fine art techniques to appropriate a

method

drawn from an entirely different context. Warhol divorces

12

7

himself

from the standard notions

of

what constitutes

f ine art: a sense of the work as being handmade, or hav-

ing tactile qualities. We are two steps removed from that

conventional ideal; the image derives first from a photo-



graph, which is

then

further transformed

through the

mechanical silkscreen process.

In a strange twist on the expected, this portrait con-

ceals as

much

as it reveals. An image

of

a known individ-

ual-seemingly

straightforward, completely recogniz-

able-remains in the end impenetrable. Warhol resolute-

denied that his work could have moral or philosophical

implications.

He

said,

I f

you

want

to know all about

Andy Warhol,

just

look at the surface:

of

my

paintings

and

films

and

me,

and

there I am. There s

nothing

behind it. Yet we are tempted to go further

than

Warhol

might

condone; this work makes

us

question the impersonal nature

of modern

times

in

a

consumer society.

8

ANDY

WARHOL Last Self Portrait 98


The Subject: Self Portraiture

Here the artist has depicted his own face How much-

or little does he reveal about himself?

Composition: Looking at Formal Attributes

Describe the background and then give meanings that

might be drawn from it



Does the facial expression provide any insight into his

character or his thoughts?

Can

we

learn anything through body language or gesture?

s there any information in the background that would

help you understand who this individual is or what he

stands for?

How is the head positioned in

space?

What is the significance

of

the camouflage design

that overlays the face?

The artist depicts his face in gray tones rather than

in full color What is the possible meaning of this?

NDY W RHOL ast

lf

Portrait

98

How is this head positioned on the canvas? Centrally?

Frontally? Give possible reasons why Warhol decided

to place it s he did

s the head attached to a body? Is there any possible

significance to the fact that there is no evidence of a

body here?

Thinking about Medium: Painting versus Silk Screen

Warhol used two techniques

in

this composition: painting

with acrylic paints and a printmaking technique called silk-

screen Silkscreen printing was developed for commercial

use Why would this artist incorporate printmaking tech-

niques into a painting? Propose some possible meanings

2

9



SOME

POINTS

TO CONSIDER

• This work is based upon ancient Asian traditions

as well as modern European and American ideas; it

is a rich blend

of

cultural

and

artistic associations.

and

sarnu oguchi

American,

9°4 988

ter ton

9

Basalt, h.

25

in.,

w

in.

Purchase, Anonymous Gift,

1987

9

NOTES OUT THIS WORK

Isamu Noguchi said, To be modern does not

mean

to

copy,

bu t

to be yourselves, to look to your own roots. The



• In Japanese gardens, specially placed stones

water-filled basins have carried profound symbolic

meaning since ancient times. Noguchi's use

of

stone and water in Water Stone refers directly to

these longstanding cultural traditions.

• Rich in meaning, stone suggests cosmic origins

because the material itselfholds a record of the

immense span of geologic time.

• Many elements

of

Water Stone relate to principles

of

yin

and yang the

dynamic balancing

of

oppo

sites. Consider the

mediums of

water

and

stone as

polarities that are brought into balance here. Think

about the placement

of

these garden elements and

the way this brings together the inside

and

the out

side-symbolically. Rough

and

smooth, wet

and

dry,

sound

(the trickling as the water flows)

and

silence are some other dynamic opposites that

Noguchi explores here.

See Noguchi video included in the Resource for Educators

For

writings by Noguchi see ppendix p 161

son

of

a Japanese poet

and an

American writer, Noguchi

lived

in

both Japan

and the

United States at various times

in

his life and traveled extensively through Asia and

Europe, always engaged

in

intensive study. This artist

created a

unique and modern art

form that draws

extensively

on

the legacy

of

ancient Asian traditions

and

assimilates twentieth-century European art developments.

Water Stone

is directly linked to philosophical, spiritual,

aesthetic, and cultural issues central to life

and

history

in

Japan. Earliest human traces

in

Japan show a consistent

pattern of people marking their existence by selection and

placement of stones perhaps an expression of the sacred

attained

through

a focus

on

beauty.

By

the

time

of written

records, the practice

of

placing notable stones

in

gardens

associated with both

homes and

temples was long estab

lished.

Water Stone

is part

of

this tradition.

A central idea

behind

the

use

of stones

in

a Japanese

garden concerns linking the natural world with a

human-

made environment. In a Japanese home, you might first

walk through a room and

then

encounter a garden; you see

the natural world only after experiencing the interior set

ting. Another central idea is the incorporation

of

water

in

gardens; the flowing or trickling water makes a

sound

that

is integral to the experience.

Hearing

the garden (its flow

ing water) before seeing it, you make a gradual transition:

from the everyday world to an

inner

world of the spirit, as

represented

in

the garden design. Many gardens include

stone basins

that

collect water

that

has

been

diverted from

a special

mountain

stream. As a guest, you

might

be invit

ed to refresh

and

purify yourself from such basins.



Th e general issues noted above are very much present

in

Water Stone

a work

of

art designed especially for the

Museum s gallery ofJapanese art. s in a traditional

Japanese garden, visitors to the Museum may hear the

sound

of

water trickling before they catch their first

glimpse of this sculpture. s they approach the work, vis

itors see the stone on the other side of the slatted wooden

screen that situates the piece in the

Museum s

gallery.

This evokes the traditional idea of walking through an

interior (human-made) setting to encounter an element

of

the natural world. We have to think about seeing this

work as a process that occurs over time.

With his practiced and selective eye, the artist careful

ly selected the stone itself. For Noguchi, finding the right

form in nature is critical. A particularly resonant materi

al, rich with symbolic meaning, stone represents a record

of geologic time. Noguchi equated the material with ideas

about cosmic origins: The evidence of geologic time was

its l ink to

ou r

world s creation.

The ancient principles of yin and

yang-the

dynamic

balancing of opposites-underlie the entire work. For

instance, water an d rock are brought together here, just

2

s they come together in a traditional Japanese garden.

This stone is both a basic (primal) natural form and a

human-made one. Noguchi has integrated the two ends

of the spectrum by combining both rough and smooth,

carved and raw. Some sides of the work are carefully pol

ished to a glossy surface while others are left rough.

Notice how the surfaces react under light: one surface

will reflect light while another seems to absorb it.

Noguchi takes the idea of a traditional garden basin

an d changes it. In a traditional garden basin, the water

flows down into the receptacle. Here the reverse occurs.

The water rises up, its source at the stone s center. The

flow of the water is controlled so that it creates a shim

mering skin on the rock s surface. To reinforce the sym

bolic meaning of the work, the basalt rock rests on a bed

of

white stones that were taken from the Ise River near

the site of one

of

Japan s most sacred Shinto shrines.

Water Stone combines together into one eloquent

visual statement a rich blend

of

cultural

an d

artistic asso

ciations. Noguchi found original means to adapt tradi

tional principles and establish his own unique vocabulary

of

visual signs and symbols.

ISAMU

NOGUCHI Water Stone 987

STRATEGIES FOR DI SCUSSI ON

Approaching This Sculpture as an Environment

We have included three slides of this work, because one

slide alone cannot adequately convey the experience of

seeing it. First, look at the distant view of the sculpture.

Take a minute to describe what you see

in

this slide,

being as complete as possible.

One aspect of Noguchi s use of stones relates to how they

were formed by the earth and what they suggest to us

about time. Having said that, can you discuss what stones

might suggest here?

You have to look closely to get a sense

of

Noguchi s use

of



What materials did Noguchi choose for this work?

Does the large black stone

lon

make up this sculpture?

Are the small white stones that the dark one sits upon

an integral part of the sculpture? How about the wooden

screen that frames your view of the piece?

Is the setting itself significant? Try to define its role.

Does it make a difference to your understanding of this

work to know that Noguchi created it especially for the

Museum, an d that he designed it for this specific loca-

tion? What-exactly-is the difference in your view?

Th e Symbolic Meaning

of

Materials an d Form

Now project the other two slides of this sculpture.

How much has Noguchi changed the form of the large

dark stone-if at

all? Is

it natural or human made? If you

decide that he has reshaped part of the stone b ut n ot all of

it

please describe which part is which. Now consider why

he might have done so.

Do you think that natural materials have a layer

of

meaning that relates to their origins? For instance, the

white stones were taken from the Ise River, which is

near one

ofJapan s

most sacred Shinto shrines. What

significance can we assign to these materials?

ISAMU

NOGUCHI Water Stone 987

water in this work. At the top of the dark stone, a pool has

trickled up from the stone s core, and it forms a smooth,

glistening skin over the top surface.

also flows over

some

of the stone s sides. It s important to know that

Noguchi has made the water flow in a precise way

Obviously, you cannot hear the work when you look at i t

through slides; even so, use your imagination to consider

whether the work has any sounds associated with it.

Describe the sound and analyze whether it plays a part in

this work, and what its effect and its meaning might be.

Now think back to your initial discussions, when you

listed the materials this sculpture s materials. Would

you add sound

to that list?

The Dynamic Balancing

of

Opposites: Yin

an d

Yang

Ancient principles of yin and yang-the dynamic

balancing ofopposites-are embedded

in

this work in

many different ways and contribute to its meaning.

Describe how Noguchi has integrated different kinds

of opposites

in

this work. Be as specific as you can

an d note as many different kinds of oppositions as

you see here.

Did you list water and rock? Why are they opposite?

How are they integrated here? How about rough an d

smooth, polished and raw, natural and human made?

Be specific.

One kind of opposition relates to Japanese traditions in

garden design for both houses and temples: the dynamic

interaction between inside an d outside. Describe how this

concept relates to the sculpture.



SOME POINTS

TO CONSIDER

• Chuck Close explores here issues of visual percep

tion, including the differences between the way the

human

eye sees

an d

the way a camera records

information.

Chucl< Close

American, b

1940

uc s

9

86

-

8

7

Oil and pencil on canvas,

100

x

84

in.

Purchase,

Lila

Acheson Wallace Gift an d Gift

of

Arnold

an d

Milly Glimcher,

1987

9

8

7

282

NOTES ABOUT THIS

WORK

This image looks completely straightforward, a banal head

shot like photographs

on

ID cards. But this work

of

art

measures more than eight feet high; Close has meticulous



• The image

in

the painting originated in a photo

graph rather

than

a series of sittings by the subject.

Close transfers the visual information from the

small photograph to the large canvas by hand,

using a grid.

• The art is predicated upon rigorous constraints-

systems to

which Chuck Close adheres.

ly hand painted a monumental canvas. Because of its large

scale, uc s rivets the viewer s attention in the Museum s

galleries. Its unprepossessing matter-of-factness actually

provides a rich arena for exploring questions about realism

in the art of the twentieth century.

A huge face confronts us; it seems to be pushed very

close to the surface, in

ou r

face. The face is placed cen

trally on this canvas; it is symmetrical, frontal, an d posi

t ioned with little empty room to spare at the top

an d

sides.

This rigorous positioning of the figure s head within the

confines

of

the canvas is systematic. Close wants to devel

op specific, self-imposed limitations or conditions for his

art. He s not about to get sidetracked from th e issues that

he deems important by playing around with different

poses or body postures or gestures.

The painting is based on a photograph rather than a

series

of

live sittings. Close takes the photograph

of

his

subject. Using enlarging methods that date back centuries,

the artist

then

transfers the image from the small photo

graph onto the large canvas.

He

marks the small photo

graph with a grid pattern; he also overlays his large canvas

with a proportionately larger grid. T he n h e meticulously

transfers the information positioned within the small grid

to the larger one.

He

gets a very precise record

of

the pho

tograph

he

started with, yet he uses hand-made, low-tech

methods.

Within the basic grid, each small square is very dynam

ic: abstract, lush, blobs of bright color. If you stand very

close to the painting, the whole composition looks highly

abstract. The image breaks apart, an d you can hardly tell

that it is representational, let alone realistic.

When

you

5



Studyfor

Lucas, 1987,

Photograph and pencil

and tape pasted

on

cardboard 29 x

24

in ift

of

Leslie and huck

Close

1987 1987 329

stand back a few feet, the splotches of color coalesce into

a highly polished image that reads like an enormous

photograph.

Close explores the difference between the way the

human eye sees things and how a camera sees. In every-

day experience, our vision compensates for various in-

congruities, making allowances that help us see things

clearly. For instance, we can see a whole field

of

vision

in

equal focus, even though objects within

our

frame of

vision might be at various distances and therefore differ-

en t

degrees of focus. Our eyes make adjustments so that

the impression is basically stable and clear. But a camera

focuses on one point, letting all other areas fall out of

focus. f a camera is held very close to a person s face, for

example, the nose (which would be closer to the lens)

might be in sharp focus while the eyes or

mouth

or the

ears would be blurred. Seeing an image in which the

spectrum of focus is fully apparent is disorienting,

because we want to be able to resolve the focus. Close has

referred to this kind

of

visual experience as sharp focus

data within a sandwich of blur. By stepping away from

the normal expectations of visual perception, Close cre-

ates a highly abstracted

image so

real that is has

become unreal.

The subject is the artist Lucas Samaras, a friend of

the painter. Chuck Close paints only friends

and

family

members. He doesn t care

if

we recognize the sitter

because this is not a portrait in the conventional sense.

For all its specificity, the painting is more about issues

of visual perception and artistic systems than i t is about

likeness or psychological interpretation

of

the sitter.

Close said, My main objective is to translate photograph-

ic

information into paint information. n the process he

transforms a snapshot into an icon.

U K

LOSE Lucas

986 87

STR TEGIES FOR

IS USSION

The Subject Portraiture

Think about the choices an artist makes in composing a

picture . In a p ortrait h e or she mig ht show p art or all of

the body or depict telling postures.

What has Chuck Close decided to omit here and what

Thinking about Technique

Project the slide

of

the e ntir e ima ge a nd the n look a t the

detail a close-up view. This will give you a sense

of

what

it s like to look at the painting from a distance and from

closer up.



has he included?

Does the

way

the image is positioned on the canvas

communicate anything? What?

Does this

painting completelyhandmade resemble

a

photograph in any way? How? What kind of photograph?

Now consider the size

of

this painting: more than eight

feet high. Does its size change its effect or meaning?

How?

HU KCLOSE, ucas 986 87

Describe the different effects of seeing the distant view

and the detailed, closer view. Be specific.

On the detail slide, notice that the composition is divided

into a grid. A similar grid was placed over

an

actual

photograph much smaller in size). The artist then estab

lished a concordance so that the information in the

photograph could be transcribed onto the painting. Why,

in your opinion, would the artist choose to use such a

time-consuming and labor-intensive process, when faster

and simpler mechanical methods exist?

Chuck Close establishes systems that he adheres

to

in

making his art. For example, size, placement, shape,

and methods are all determined

in

advance. Propose

your views

on

why he would develop and stick to such

a rigorous, systematic approach to making art.

7



SOME POINTS TO

CONSIDER

• Kiefer s work constitutes a rich blend of references,

including recent history, the distant past, poetry,

and literature, that reflects a number of different

cultures and languages.

• The paint is highly textured, almost sculptural.

ns lm

iefer

German, b. 1945

Bohemia Lies

by

the Sea

199

6

Oil, emulsion, shellac, charcoal,

and

powdered

paint

on

burlap. Two panels, each

75

1 4 x

11 0

2

in.

Overall:

75

x 22 1 in.

Purchase, Lila

Acheson Wallace Gift

and

Joseph H.

Hazen

Foundation Purchase Fund, 1997

1997-4

a

,b

NOTES

ABOUT THIS WORK



The palpable texture plus the heightened perspec

tive of the centrally positioned road draw us into

the picture.

• The title describes

an

impossible situation, because

Bohemia is landlocked; Kiefer s Bohemia is imagi

nary, a place beyond ordinary geography. This title

relates to two texts: a poem, Bohemia

Lies

by the

Sea by the Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann,

about a longing for utopia; and The Winter s Tale a

play by Shakespeare.

Bachmann s poem is reprinted in the Appendix

P 165

Kiefer s paintings

present

a world of dense, varied refer

ences; metaphors invite each viewer to

ponder

personal

interpretations

rather than

to accept preestablished truths.

Kiefer writes about reciprocal action, the interplay

between a work

of

art

and each viewer. He says, There

are so

many

ideas afloat, any ofthem could have triggered

the work of art.

In

considering Bohemia Lies

by the

Sea

think

about layers of references: to history (both the recent

and

distant past), mythology, poetry,

and

literature of a

number of cultures,

in

a variety of languages.

An expansive, unpopulated landscape unfolds before

us. Central to this large picture is a rutted country road,

pitched at a s teep angle

and

leading

up

to a very

high

hori

zon line.

When

you

stand in

front

of

this very large paint

ing, it

seems

as

though

you can almost walk r ight into

the

picture; that s how palpable the sense

of

perspective

and

materiality are. The feeling also relates to

the

relative size

of the viewer

and

the painting, proportioned so that the

two worlds collide.

The texture

of

the

paint itselfis almost sculptural in

effect. The surface is deliberately cracked

in

places; it

resembles physically not

just

illusionistically a

cracked

road or field. Kiefer is endlessly inventive

in

his methods

of

applying paint to the canvas

and in

adding substances to

plain paint in order to change its texture and other physi

cal attributes; sand, straw,

and

lead are fair game. To cre

ate further surface play,

he

shellacs

some

areas of

the

painting to make them shiny; other spots are

unvarnished

and

appear dull.

39

The fields on either side of the road depicted here are

sprinkled with poppies. Kiefer painted the flowers by

Perhaps Bachmann is exploring the concept ofbor-

ders and limits. Exactly how are such limits imposed



first applying thick white paint to the canvas, followed

by

a thinner coat

of

red. The two colors mix to create the

pink poppies. Drips

of

red paint are left visible, remind-

ing us of drips of blood that have dried over time. Pop-

pies have been a symbol of sleep, dreaming, and death

since antiquity. In modern times, poppies have been

associated with World War I and death on the battlefield.

A line from John McCrae s famous poem

of

9 5 reads:

We shall

not

sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders

fields.

The ermantitle of the painting Bohmen liegt m

Meer appears

in two places: at the horizon line and

again alongside the road (shown vertically).

It

is the title

of a work

by

Austrian poet Ingeborg Bachmann that

explores the poignant longing for a utopia that can never

be attained.

In

one stanza, Bachmann writes:

Bohemia still

lies

by the sea I ll believe in the sea.

nd i I believe in the sea I can hope for land.

To close the poem, she writes:

I border like little else on everything more nd more

a m n

from

Bohemia a vagrant a player

who has nothing

nd whom

nothing holds

granted only by a questionable

sea

to gaze at the land

of

my

choice.

upon us

as

human beings? Borders that demarcate one

thing from another might be natural ones (such

as

rivers

or mountains), or simply political or historical constructs

(such as a country s frontier). Must we accept all such

boundaries? Maybe a poet (Bachmann) can dream of

bridging seemingly impassable borders, and a painter

(Kiefer) can create visual metaphors for those same

dreams.

The words Bohemia lies by the sea also offer an

allusion

to

Shakespeare s play The Winter s Tale. Both

Bachmann and Kiefer consciously draw

on

this reference,

the origin of words that later reverberate for both poet

and painter. In The Winter s Tale act 3 scene 3 is set

on

the seacoast of Bohemia. The former kingdom of

Bohemia, however, was a landlocked country in central

Europe; it could never have been

by

the sea. Shake-

speare s Bohemia is an imaginary place beyond our

ordinary sense of geography, a vision in which the extra-

ordinary becomes possible.

Kiefer has been described

as

a poet in paint. His

works are rich, complex enterprises, filled with intellec-

tual and historical associations.

At

the same time, the

works have an extraordinary, palpable presence as hand-

wrought paintings.

NS LM KI F R ohemia

Lies

by the Sea 1996









enri atisse

ot s

inter

A painter who addresses the public not just in

order to present his works, but to reveal some

of

his ideas on the a rt of painting, exposes

himself

to several dangers.

In the first place, knowing that many people

like to think

of

painting as an appendage oflit

erature and therefore want it to express not

W ha t I am after, above all, is.expression.

Sometimes it has been conceded that I have

a certain technical ability but that all the

same my ambition is limited, and does not go

beyond the purelyvisual satisfaction such as

can be obtained from looking at a picture.

But the thought of a painter must not be con

canvas to another larger one

must

conceive it

anew

in

order to preserve its expression;

he

must alter its character and not just square

it

up

onto the larger canvas.

Both harmonies

and

dissonances of colour

can produce agreeable effects. Often when I

start to work I record fresh and superficial sen



general ideas suited to pictorial means,

but

specifically literaryideas, I fear that one will

look with astonishment upon the painter who

ventures to invade the domain of the literary

man.

As

a matter

of

fact, I am fully aware that

a painter s best spokesman is his work.

However, such painters as Signac, Desval

lieres, Denis, Blanch, Guerin and Bernard

have written

on

such matters and been well

received by various periodicals. Personally, I

shall simply y to state my feelings and aspira

tions as a painter without worrying about

the writing.

But now I foresee the danger of appearing

to contradict myself. I feel very stronglythe tie

between my earlier and my recent works,

but

I

do

not

think exactly the way I thought yester

day. Or rather, my basic has not changed,

but my thought has evolved, and my modes

of

expression have followed my thoughts. I do

not repudiate.any of my paintings but there is

not one

of

them that I would not redo differ

ently, if I had i t to redo. My destination is

always the same

but

I work

out

a different

route to get there.

Finally,

if

I mention the

of

this or tha t

artist

it

will be to point out how our manne rs

differ, and

it

may se em tha t I am belittling his

work. Thus I risk being accused

of

injustice

towards painters whose aims and results I best

understand, or whose accomplishments I most

appreciate, whereas I will have used them as

examples, not to establish my superiority over

them, but to show more clearly, through what

they have done, what I am attempting to do.

sidered as separate from his pictorial means,

for the thought is w orth no more than its

expression by the means, which must be more

complete and by complete I do not mean

complicated) the deeper is his thought. I

am

unable to distinguish between the feeling I

have about life and myway

of

translating it.

Expression, for me, does

not

reside

in

pas

sions glowing

in

a

human

face or manifested

by violent movement. The entire arrangement

of

my picture is expressive: the place occupied

bythe figures, the empty spaces aroundthem,

the proportions, everything has its share. Com

position is the art

of

arranging in a decorative

manner the diverse elements at the painter s

command to express his feelings.

In

a picture

every part will be visible and will play its

appointed role, whether it be principal or sec

ondary. Everything that is not useful

in

the pic

ture is,

it

follows, harmful. A work of art must

be harmonious in its entirety: any superfluous

detail would replace some other essential

detail in the mind of the spectator.

Composition, the aim of which should be

expression, is modified according to the sur

face to be covered. If I take a she et of paper of

a given size, my drawing will have a necessary

relationship to its format. I would not repeat

this drawing

on

another sheet

of

different pro

portions, for example, rectangular instead of

square. Norshould I be satisfied with a mere

enlargement,

had I to tra nsfe rthe dra wing to a

sheet the same shape, but ten times larger. A

drawing must have an expansive force which

gives life to the things around it. An artist who

wants to transpose a composition from one

sations during the first session. A few years

ago I was sometimes satisfiedwith the result.

But today

if

I were satisfied with this, now that

I think I can see further, my picture would

have a vagueness

in

it: I should have recorded

the fugitive sensations of a

moment

which

could not completely define my feelings and

which I should barely recognize the next day.

I w ant to rea ch tha t sta te

of

condensation

of

sensations which makes a painting. I might

be satisfied with a work done at one sitting,

but I would soon tire

of

it; therefore, I prefer

to rew ork it so tha tla te r I may rec ognize it as

representative

of

my state

of

mind. There was

a time when I never left my paintings hanging

on

the wall because they reminded me of

moments of over-excitement and I did not like

to see them again when I was calm. Nowadays

I

y

to put serenity into my pictures

and

rework them as l on g a s I have not succeeded.

Suppose I want to paint a woman s body:

first

of

all I imbue it with grace and charm,

but

I kn ow t ha t I must give something more.

I will condense the meaning

of

this bodyby

seeking its essential lines. The charm will be

less apparent at first glance, but

it

must even

tually emerge from the new image which will

have a broader meaning, one more fully

human The charm will be less striking since

itwill not be the sole quality of the painting,

but it will not exist less for its being contained

within the general conception of

the figure.

Charm, lightness,

freshness such

fleeting

sensations. I have a canvas

on

which the

colours are still fresh and I begin to work on it

again. The tone will

no

doubt become duller.

4

I will rep la ce my o rigina l ton e with o ne of

greater density

an

improvement

but

less

seductive to the eye.

The Impressionist painters especially

Monet

and

Sisley

had

delicate sensations

q uite c lo se to e ac h o th er: as a res ult the ir

canvases all look alike. The word impression

ism perfectly characterizes their style for

evoke

them

through art. yremoving oneself

from the literal

r pr s nt tion of movement

one

attains greater beauty

and

grandeur. Look at

an

Egyptian statue: it looks rigid to us yet we

sense

in

i t the ima ge

of

a body capable

of

movement

and which despite its rigidity is

animated. The Gre ek s too a re ca lm: a man

h urlin g a d is cu s will be c au gh t a t the

moment

ea ch o th er . To do t hi s I must organize my

ideas; the relationship between the tones must

be such that it will sustain

and

not destroy

them. A new combination of colours will suc

ceed the first

and

render

the

totality

of

my

representation. I

am

forced to transpose until

finally my picture may seem completely

changed when after successive modifications



they register fleeting impressions. i s n ot

an appropriate designation for certain more

recent painters who avoid the first impression

and consider it almost dishonest. A rapid

rendering

of a landscape represents only one

moment of

its existence. I prefer by insisting

upon its essential character to risk losing

charm in

order to obtain greater stability.

Underlying this succession ofmoments

which constitutes the superficial existence of

beings and things

and

which is continually

modifying and transforming them one can

search for a truer more essential character

which the a rtis t will s eize so tha t h e may give

to reality a more lasting interpretation. When

we go into the seventeenth- and eighteenth

century sculpture rooms

in

the Louvre

and

look for example at a Puget we can see that

the expression is forced and exaggerated to the

point of being disquieting. is quite a differ

ent matter if we go to the Luxembourg; the

attitude

in

which the sculptors catch their

models is always the one which the develop

ment of the members and tensions of the

muscles will be shown to greatest advantage.

And yet

movement

thus understood corre

sponds to nothing

in

nature:

when

we capture

it by surprise

in

a snapshot

the

resulting

image reminds us of nothing that we have

seen. Movement seized while it is going

on

is

mea ning ful to u s o nly if we do n ot iso la te

the

present sensation either from that which

precedes it or that which follows it.

There are two ways of expressing things;

one is to s ho w

them

crudely the other is to

in which

he

gathers his strength or at least if

h e is s ho wn in the most strained and precari

ous position implied by his action the sculptor

will have epitomized and c on de ns ed it s o th at

equilibrium is re-established thereby suggest

ing

the idea

of

duration. Movement is

in

itselfunstable and is n ot s ui te d to something

durable like a statue unless the artist is aware

of the entire action of which he represents

only a moment

I

must

precisely define the character

of

the

object or of the body t ha t I w is h to p ai nt . To do

so I study my

method

very closely:

f

I

put

a

black dot on a s he et

of

white paper the dot

will be visible no matter h ow far away I h old it

i t is a c le ar n otatio n. B ut b es id e this d ot I p la ce

another one

and then

a third

and

already

there is confusion.

n

o rd er for the first d ot to

maintain

i ts v alue I must e nl ar ge i t as I

put

other marks on the paper.

fupon

a white c an va s I s et d own

some

sensations

of

blue

of

green

of

red each new

stroke diminishes

the

importance of the pre

ceding ones. Suppose I have

to

paint

an

interi

or: I h av e b efore

me

a cupboard; it gives me

a sensation of vivid red and I put d ow n a r ed

which satisfies me. A relation is established

between this red and

the white

of

the canvas.

Let me

put a g ree n near the red and mak e the

floor yellow;

and

again there will be relation

s hips b etwe en the g ree n o r y ellow a nd the

white of the canvas which will satisfy me. But

these different tones mutually weaken one

another. is necessary that the various marks

I u se b e b alan ce d so th at the y do n ot d es troy

the red h as s uc ce ed ed the g re en a s the d omi

nant

colour. I cannot copy nature

in

a servile

way; I

am

forced to interpret nature and sub

mit

it to t he s pi ri t of the picture. From the

relationship I have found

in

all tones there

must

result a living harmony of colours

a

harmony

analogous to that

of

a musical

composition.

For

me all is

in

the conception. I must

therefore have a clear vision of

the

whole from

the beginning. I could mention a great sculp

tor who gives us some admirable pieces:

but

for

him

a composition is merely a grouping of

fragments which results in confusion of

expression. Look instead at one

of

Cezanne s

pictures: all is so well arranged that no matter

a t wha t d is ta nc e y ou s tan d o r h ow

many

fig

ures are represented you will always be able to

distinguish each figure clearly and to know

which limb belongs to which body. f there is

order and clarity in the picture it means that

from the outset this same order and clarity

existed in the

mind

of the painter or that the

painter was conscious of their necessity. Limbs

may cross and intertwine

but in the

eyes

of

the spectator they will nevertheless remain

attached to

and

help to articulate

the

right

body: all confusion has disappeared.

The chief function

of

colour should be to

serve expression as well as possible. I

put

down my tones without a preconceived plan. f

at first

and

perhaps without my having

been

conscious of it one tone has particularly

seduced or caught me more often

than not

o nc e the p ic tu re is fin is he d I will n otic e th at I

have respected this tone while I progressively

altered

and

transformed all the others. The

expressive aspect

of

colours imposes itselfon

me

in a purely instinctive way. To paint

an

autumn landscape I will not try to remember

what colours suit this season, I will be inspired

only by the sensation that the season arouses

in

me: the icy purity of the sour blue sky will

What interests

me most

is neither still life

nor landscape, but the human figure. It is that

which best permits

me

to express my almost

religious awe towards life. I do not insist

upon

all the details

of

the face, on setting them

down one-by-one with anatomical exactitude.

If I have an Italian model who at first appear

ance suggests nothing

but

a purely animal

will be able to arrive at that totality which con

stitutes a picture. In any event I think tha t one

can judge the vitality

and

power of

an

artist

who, after having received impressions directly

from the spectacle of

nature, is able to orga

nize his sensations to continue his work

in

the

same frame

of mind

on different days, and to

develop these sensations; this power proves

he



express the season just as well as the nuances

of

foliage. My sensation itself may vary, the

autumn

may be soft and warm like a continua

tion of

summer

or quite cool with a cold sky

and

lemon-yellow trees that give a chilly

impression and already announce winter.

My choice of colours does

not

rest

on

any

scientific theory; it is based

on

observation,

on

sensitivity, on felt experiences. Inspired

by

cer

tain pages of Delacroix,

an

artist like Signac is

preoccupied with complementary colours, and

the theoretical knowledge of them will lead

him to use a certain tone in a certain place.

But I s imply try to

put

down colours which

render

my sensation. There is

an

impelling

proportion of tones that may lead

me

to

change the shape

of

a figure

or

to transform

my

composition. Until I have achieved this

proportion in all the parts of

the

composition

I strive towards it and keep on working. Then

a moment comes when all the parts have

found their definite relationships, and from

then on it would be impossible for me to

add a stroke to my picture without having to

repaint it entirely.

In reality, I think that the very theory of

complementary colours is

not

absolute.

In

studying the paintings of artists whose knowl

edge

of

colours depends

upon

instinct and

feeling, and on a constant analogy with their

sensations, one could define certain laws of

colour

and

so broaden the limits

of

colour

theory as it now defined.

existence, I nevertheless discover his essential

qualities, I penetrate amid the lines of the face

those which suggest the deep gravity which

persists in every human being. A work of art

must carry within itselfits complete signifi

cance and impose that upon the beholder even

before

he

recognizes the subject matter.

When

I see the Giot to frescoes at Padua I do not

trouble myselfto recognize which scene

of

the

life of Christ I have before me, but I immedi

ately understand the sentiment which emerges

from it, for i t is

in

the lines, the composition,

the colour. The title will only serve to confirm

my impression.

What I dream of is an a rt

of

balance, of

purity and serenity, devoid

of

troubling or

depressing subject matter, an art which could

be for every mental worker, for the business

man as well as the

man

of letters, for example,

a soothing, calming influence on the mind,

something like a good armchair which pro

vides relaxation from physical fatigue.

Often a discussion arises as to the value of

different processes, and their relationship to

different temperaments. A distinction is made

between painters who work directly from

nature and those who work purely from imagi

nation. Personally, I think neither

of

these

methods must be preferred to the exclusion of

the o ther . Both may be used in turn

by

the

same individual, either because he needs con

tact with objects in order to receive sensations

that will excite his creative faculty, or his sen

sations are already organized. In either case he

is sufficientlymaster of

himself

to subject

himself

to discipline.

The simplest

means

are those which best

enable an artist to express himself. If he fears

the banal he cannot avoid it by appearing

strange, or going

in

for bizarre drawing and

eccentric colour. His means of expression

must

derive almost

of

necessity from his tem

perament. He must have the humility

of

mind

to believe that

he

has painted only what

he

has seen. I like Chardin s way of expressing it:

I apply colour until there is a resemblance.

Or Cezanne s: I want to secure a likeness ,

or Rodin s: Copy nature Leonardo said: He

who can copy can create. Those who work in

a preconceived style, deliberately

turning

their

backs on nature, miss the truth. An artis t

must recognize,

when he

is reasoning, that his

picture is an artifice; but when

he

is painting,

he

should feel that

he

has copied nature. And

even when he departs from nature,

he

must do

i t with the conviction that is only to interpret

her

more fully.

Some may say that other views on painting

were expected from a painter, and that I have

only come out with platitudes. To this I shall

reply that there are no new truths. The role

of

the artist, like that of the scholar, consists of

seizing current truths often repeated to him,

but which will take on new meaning for him

and which

he

will make his own when he has

grasped their deepest significance. If aviators

had

to explain to us the research which led to

their leaving earth and ris ing in the air, they

5

would merely confirm very elementary princi

ples

of

physics neglected by less successful

inventors.

An artist always profits from information

about himself, and I am

glad to have learned

what is my weak point.

M.

Peladan in the

Revue

e Jdomadaire reproaches a certain

number

of

painters, amongst whom I think

I should place myself, for calling themselves

All artists bear the

imprint

of their time,

bu t

the great artis ts are those in whom this is

most

profoundly marked.

ur

epoch for instance

is better represented by Courbet than by Flan

drin, by Rodin better then by Fremiet. Whether

we like it or not, however insistently we call

ourselves exiles, between

ur

period and

ur-

selves an indissoluble bond is established, and

M. Peladan

himself

cannot escape it. The aes



'Fauves,' and yet dressing like everyone else,

so that they are no more noticeable than the

floor-walkers in a department store. Does

genius count for so little? If i twere only a

question

of

myselfthat would set M. Peledan's

mind

at ease, tomorrow I would call myself

Sar and dress like a necromancer.

In

the same article this excellent writer

claims that I do not painthonestly, and I

would be justifiably angry if h e h ad not quali

fied his statement by saying, 'I

mean

honestly

with respect to the ideal and the rules .' The

trouble is that

he

does not mention where

these rules are. I am willing to have

them

exist, but were it possible to learn

them

what

sublime artists

we

would have

Rules have no existence outside of individu

als: otherwise a good professor would be as

great a genius as Racine.

Anyone of

us is

capable of repeating fine maxims, but few can

also penetrate their meaning. I am ready to

admit that from a study of the works of

Raphael or Titian a more complete set of rules

can be drawn than from the works of Manet or

Renoir, but the rules followed by Manet and

Renoir were those which suited their tempera

ments and I pre fe r the most

minor of

their

paintings to all the work of those who are

content to imitate the Venus

Urbino

or the

Madonna Goldfinch

These latter are of no

value to anyone, for whether we want to or

not, we belong to our t ime and

we

share in its

opinions, its feelings, even its delusions.

theticians of the future may perhaps use his

books as evidence if they get it in their heads

to prove tha t no one

of ur

time understood

anything about the art

of

Leonardo da Vinci.

Originally published as Notes d u n peintre,

Grande Revue 52

no. 24;

25

December, 19

8

, pp.

731 45.

Translation from Jack

D.

Flam,

Matisse

on Art

New York, 1978. S.P.A.D.E.M., Paris.

assily {andinsky

The ffect olor

9

If you let your eye stray over a palette of colors,

you experience two things.

In

the first place

you receive a

purely physic l e1fect

namely

the

eye itself is

enchanted

by the beauty

and other

qualities

of

color. You experience satisfaction

and

delight, like a

gourmet

savoring a delicacy.

Or the eye is stimulated as the tongue is titil

lated by a spicy dish. But

then

it grows calm

and

cool, like a finger after touching ice. These

fast

and

automobiles still faster, that dogs bite,

that the

moon

is dis tant, that the figure seen

in a

mirror

is not real.

Only with higher development does the

circle of experience of different beings and

objects grow wider. Only in

the

highest devel

opment

do they acquire

an

internal

meaning

and inner

resonance.

It

is the

same

with color,

which makes a momentary

and

superficial

color,

not

only

upon

the eye

but

the

other

senses. One might say that bright yellow looks

sour, because it recalls the taste of a lemon.

But

such

definitions are

not

universal.

There are several correlations between taste

and color which refuse to be classified. A Dres

den

doctor reported that one

of

his patients,

whom he designated as an exceptionally sen

sitive person, could not eat a certain sauce



are physical sensations, limited

in

duration.

They are superficial, too, and leave no lasting

impression behind if the soul remains closed.

Just as we feel at

the

touch

of

ice a sensation

of cold, forgotten as soon as the fingers

become warm again, so the physical action

of

color is forgotten as soon as the eye

turns

away. On the other hand, as the physical cold

ness of ice, upon penetrating more deeply,

arouses

more

complex feelings,

and

indeed a

whole chain of psychological experiences, so

may also the superficial impression

of

color

develop into

an

experience.

On

the average man only impressions

caused

by

familiar objects will be superficial.

A first

encounter

with any new

phenomenon

exercises immediately

an

impression

on

the

soul. This is the experience

of

the child discov

ering the world; every object is new to him.

He

sees light, wishes to hold it,

burns

his

finger

and

feels henceforth a proper respect

for flame. But later he learns that light has a

friendly side as well, that it drives away the

darkness,

and

makes the day longer, is essen

tial to warmth

and

cooking,

and

affords a

cheerful spectacle. From the accumulation

of

these experiences comes a knowledge of light,

indelibly fixed

in

his mind. The strong, inten

sive interest disappears,

and

the visual attrac

tion of flame is balanced against indifference

to it. In this way the whole world becomes

gradually disenchanted.

The

human being

realizes that trees give shade, that horses

run

impression

on

a soul whose sensibility is

slightly developed. But even this simplest

effect varies

in

quality. The eye is strongly

attracted by light, clear colors,

and

still

more

strongly by colors that are warm as well as

clear; vermilion stimulates like flame, which

has always fascinated

human

beings. Keen

lemon-yellow

hurts the

eye as does a pro

longed

and

shrill bugle note the ear,

and one

turns

away for reliefto blue

or

green.

But to a

more

sensitive soul the effect

of

colors is deeper and intensely moving. And so

we come to the second result of looking at col

ors:

their

psychological effect They produce a

correspondent spiritual vibration, and it is only

as a step towards this spiritual vibration that

the physical impression is of importance.

Whether

the psychological effect of color is

direct, as these last few lines imply, or whether

it is

the

outcome of

ssoci tion

is

open

to

question. The soul being one with

the

body,

it may well be possible that a psychological

tremor generates a corresponding one through

association. For example, red may cause a

sensation analogous

to

that caused by a flame,

because red is the color

of

flame. A

warm

red

will prove exciting, another shade

of

red will

cause pain or disgust through association with

running

blood.

In

these cases color awakens

a corresponding physical sensation, which

undoubtedly works poignantly upon the soul.

If this were always the case, it would be easy

to define

by

association the physical effects of

without tasting blue, i.e., without seeing

blue. would be possible to suggest, by way

of

explanation, that in highly sensitive people

the approach to the soul is so direct, the soul

itselfso impressionable, that any impression

of taste communicates itselfimmediately to

the

soul,

and

thence to the

other

organs

of

sense

in this case, the eyes). This would imply

an

echo or reverberation,

such

as occurs some

times in musical

instruments

which, without

being touched,

sound in harmony

with

an

instrument

that is being played. Men

of

sensi

tivity are like good, much-played violins which

vibrate at each touch of the bow.

But sight has

been

known to

harmonize not

only with the sense

of

taste

but

with the other

senses. Many colors have been described as

rough or prickly, others as smooth and velvety,

so that one feels inclined to stroke

them

e.g.,

dark ultramarine, chrome-oxide green,

and

madder-lake). Even

the

distinction between

warm and

cool colors is based

upon

this dis

crimination. Some colors appear soft madder

lake), others

hard

cobalt green, blue-green

oxide), so that fresh from

the tube

they

seem

to be dry.

The expression perfumed colors, is

frequently

met

with.

The sound of colors is so definite that it

would be

hard

to find anyone who would

express bright yellow with bass notes, or dark

lake with the treble. The explanation

in

terms

of

association will not satisfy us,

in many

7

important cases. Those who have heard

of

chromotherapy know that colored light can

influence the whole body. Attempts have been

made with different colors to treat various

nervous ailments. Red light stimulates and

excites the heart while blue light can cause

temporary paralysis. f the effect of such action

can be observed in animals and plants as it

has

then

the association theory proves inade-



quate. In any event one must admit that the

subject is at present unexplored

but

that i t is

unquestionable that color can exercise enor-

mous influence

upon

the body as a physical

organism.

The theory

of

association is no more satis-

factory in the psychological sphere. Generally

speaking color directly influences the soul.

Color is the keyboard the eyes are the ham-

mers the soul is the piano with many strings.

The art ist is the

h nd

that plays touching one

key or another purposively to cause vibrations

in the soul.

It is evident therefore that

color

harmony must

rest ultimately on purposive playing upon the

human soul: this

is one

the guiding principles

internal necessity

Originally published as Chapter 5 in

Uber das

Geistige in

der

Kunst Munich 1912 pp. 37 42. English translation

by

Francis Golffing Michael Harrison and Ferdinand

Ostertag from

Concerning

the

Spiritual in Art

New York

1947. This excerpt from Herschel Chipp Theories

Modern Art A

Source Book by

Artists and

Critics

University

of

California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles 1968.

© 1968

by

The Regents of the University of California.

Reprinted with permission.

aul lee

re tive

re o

19

I. Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it

makes visible. A tendency toward the abstract

is

inherent

in linear expression: graphic

imagery being confined to outlines has a fairy

like quality and at the

same

time can achieve

great precision. The purer the graphic

work-

that is, the more the formal elements underly

ing linear expression are emphasized the less

adequate it is for the realistic representation

of

following a scent. Nor

am

I entirely sure

of

myself: there is another river, and fog rises

above it (spatial element). But then the view is

clear again. Basket-weavers return home with

their cart (the wheel). Among

them

is a chi ld

with bright curls (corkscrew movement). Later

it becomes sultry and dark (spatial element).

There is a flash

of

lightening on the horizon

(zigzag line), though we can still see stars over

the same token, the possibilities for expressing

ideas, are endlessly multiplied.

may be true tha t in the beginning there

was the deed, yet the idea comes first. Since

infinity has no definite beginning,

but

l ike a

circle may start anywhere, the idea may be

regarded as primary. In the beginning was

the word.

IV.

Movement is the source

of

all change.



visible things.

The formal elements

of

graphic art are

dot, line, plane, and

space the

last three

charged with energy of various kinds. A simple

plane, for instance that is, a p lane not made

up

of

more elementary

units would

result if I

were to draw a

blunt

crayon across the paper,

thus transferring an energy-charge with or

without modulations. An example

of

a spatial

element

would be a cloud like vaporous spot,

usually of varying intensity, made with a full

brush.

II. Let us develop this idea, let us take a lit

t le t rip into the land

of

deeper insight, follow

ing a topographic plan. The dead center being

the point, our first dynamic act will be the line.

After a short time, we shall stop to catch

our

breath (the broken line, or the line articulated

by several s tops). I lookback to see how far we

have come (counter-movement). Ponder the

distance thus far traveled (sheaf

of

lines). A

river may obstruct

our

progress: we use a boa t

wavy line). Further

on

there might be a bridge

(series

of

curves).

On

the other bank we

encounter someone who, like us, wishes to

deepen his insight. At first we joyfully travel

together (convergence), but gradually differ

ences arise (two lines drawn independently of

each other). Each party shows some excitement

(expression, dynamism, emotional quality of

the line).

We cross an unplowed field a plane tra

versed by lines), then thick woods. One of us

loses his way explores, and

on

one occasion

even goes through the motions

of

a

hound

head (scattered dots). Soon we reach

our

first

quarters. Before falling asleep, we recall a

number of things, for even so little a trip has

left many

impressions lines

of the most vari

ous kinds, spots, dabs, smooth planes, dotted

planes, lined planes, wavy lines, obstructed

and

articulated movement, counter-movement,

plaitings, weavings, bricklike elements, scale

like elements, simple and polyphonic motifs,

lines that fade and lines that gain strength

(dynamism), the joyful harmony of the first

stretch, followed by inhibitions, nervousness

Repressed anxieties, alternating with

moments

of

optimism caused by a breath

of

air. Before

the storm, sudden assault by horseflies The

fury, the killing. The happy ending serves as a

guiding thread even in the dark woods. The

flashes

of

lightning made us think of a fever

chart,

of

a sick child long ago.

III. I have mentioned the elements

of

linear

expression which are among the visual compo

nents of the picture. This does not

mean

that a given work

must

consist

of

nothing but

such elements. Rather, the elements must

produce forms, but without being sacrificed

in

the process. They should be preserved. In

most

cases, a combination of several elements

will be required to produce forms or objects

or other

compounds planes

related to each

other (for instance, the view of a moving

stream of water) or spatial structures arising

from energy-charges involving the three

dimensions (fish swimming in all directions).

Through such enrichment of the formal

symphony, the possibilities

of

variation, and by

n Lessing's

aocoon

on which we squandered

study time when we were young,

much

fuss

is made about the difference between temporal

and spatial art. Yet looking into the matter

more closely, we find that all this is but a

scholastic delusion. For space, too, is a

temporal concept.

When a dot begins to move and becomes

a line, this requires time. Likewise, when a

moving line produces a plane,

and when

moving planes produce spaces.

Does a pictorial work come into being at

one stroke? No i t is constructed bit by bit, just

like a house.

And the beholder, is he through with the

work at one glance? (Unfortunately he often

is.) Does not Feuerbach say somewhere that in

order to understand a picture one must have

a chair? Why the chair? So that your tired legs

won't distract your mind. Legs tire after pro

longed standing. Hence, time is needed. Char

acter, too, is movement. Only the dead point

as such is timeless. In the universe, too, move

ment is

the basic datum. (What causes move

ment? This is an idle question, rooted in

error.)

On

this earth, repose is caused by

an

accidental obstruction in the movement

of

matter. is

an

error to regard such a stoppage

as primary.

The Biblical story of the creation is

an

excel

lent parable of movement. The work of art,

too, is above all a process of creation, it is

never experienced as a mere product.

A certain fire, an impulse to create, is kin

dled, is transmitted through the hand, leaps

149

to the canvas, and in the form of a spark leaps

back to its starting place, completing the cir

cle back to the eye

and

further (back to the

source

of

movement, the will, the idea). The

beholder s activity, too, is essentially temporal.

The eye is made in such a way that i t focuses

on

each part

of

the picture in turn;

and

to view

a new section, it must leave the one just seen.

Occasionally the beholder stops looking and

(evil, stimulating, passionate) and the feminine

principle (good, growing, calm) result

in

a

condition of ethical stability.

To this corresponds the simultaneous

unification

of

forms, movement and counter

movement, or, to

put

it more naIvely, the

unification

of

visual oppositions (in terms

of

colorism: use of contrasts

of

divided color, as

in Delaunay). Each energy calls for its comple

ment of stability through

an

equilibrium of

movement, all these are difficult questions

of

form, crucial for formal wisdom, but not yet

art in the highest circle.

n

the highest circle

an

ultimate mystery lurks behind the mystery,

and the wretched light

of

the intellect is

of

no

avail. One may still speak reasonably

of

the

salutary effects of art. We may say that fantasy,

inspired by instinctual stimuli creates illusory



goes away the artist often does the same

thing. f he thinks it worth while,

he

comes

back again

like the artist.

The beholder s eye, which moves about like

an

animal grazing, follows paths prepared for

it in the picture (in music, as everyone knows,

there are conduits leading to the ear; the

drama has both visual and auditive trails). The

pictorial work was born

of

movement, is itself

recorded movement, and

is

assimilated

through movement eye muscles).

A man asleep, the circulation of his blood,

the regular breathing of his lungs, the intricate

functioning of his kidneys,

and

in his head a

world of dreams, in contact with powers of

fate. An organization

of

functions, which taken

together produce rest.

V.

Formerly we used to represent things

visible

on

earth, things we either liked to look

at or would have liked to see. Today we reveal

the reality that is behind visible things, thus

expressing the beliefthat the visible world is

merely

an

isolated case in relation to the

universe

and

that there are many more other,

latent realities. Things appear to

assume

a

broader and

more

diversified meaning, often

seemingly contradicting the rational experi

ence of yesterday. There is a striving to empha

size the essential character of the accidental.

By

including the concepts

of

good and evil

a moral sphere is created.

Evil

is

not

conceived

as the enemy whose victories disgrace us,

but

as a force within the whole, a force that con

tributes to creation and evolution. This simul

taneous existence of the masculine principal

15°

mentary energy to achieve self-contained

stability based

on

the play of energies.

Out

of

abstract elements a formal cosmos is ultimate

ly

created independent of their groupings as

concrete objects or abstract things such as

numbers

of letters, which we discover to be

so closely similar to the Creation that a breath

is sufficient to turn an expression of religious

feelings, or religion, into reality.

VI.

A few examples: A sailor of antiquity in

his boat, enjoying

himself

and appreciating the

comfortable accommodations. Ancient art rep

resents the subject accordingly. And now: the

experiences of a

modern

man, walking across

the deck of a steamer: 1 his own movement,

2

the

movement

of

the ship which could be

in the opposite direction, 3 the direction and

the speed

of

the current,

4

the rotation

of

the

earth, 5 i ts orbit , and (6) the orbits of the

stars and satellites around it.

The result: an organization of movements

within the cosmos centered

on

the

man

on

the steamer.

An apple tree in bloom, i ts roots and rising

saps, its trunk, the cross section with the an

nual rings, the blossom, its structure, its sexu

al functions, the fruit, the core with its seeds.

An organization

of

states

of

growth.

VII. Art is a simile of the Creation. Each

work

of

art is an example, just as the terrestrial

is

an

example of the cosmic.

The release of the elements, their grouping

into complex subdivisions, the dismember

ment of the object

and

its reconstruction into

a whole, the pictorial polyphony, the achieve-

states which somehow encourage or stimulate

us more

than

the familiar natural or known

supernatural states, that its symbols bring

comfort to the mind, by making it realize that

it is not confined to earthly potentialities, how

ever great they may become

in

the future; that

ethical gravity holds sway side

by

side with

impish

laughter at doctors and parsons.

But, in the long run, even enhanced reality

proves inadequate.

Art plays an unknowing game with ultimate

things, and yet achieves them

Cheer up Value such country outings,

which let you have a new point of view for

once as well as a change

of

air, and transport

you to a world which, by diverting you,

strengthens you for the inevitable

return

to the

greyness

of

the working day. More than that,

they help you to slough offyour earthly skin,

to fancy for a moment

that you are God; to

look forward to new holidays,

when

the soul

goes to a banquet in order to

nourish

its

starved nerves, and to fill its languishing blood

vessels with new sap.

Let

yourselfbe carried

on

the invigorating

sea,

on

a broad river or

an

enchanting brook,

such as that

of

the richly diversified, aphoristic

graphic art.

Originally published in Schiip ferische

Konfession

ed.

Kasimir Edschmid, Berlin, 1920. English translation by

Norbert Guterman. Printed in Herschel

B.

Chipp,

Theories

and Documents

Modern

rt Source Book rtists and

Critics

University

of

California Press, Berkeley and

Los

Angeles, 1968.

1968 by The Regents

of

the University

of

California. Reprinted with permission.

ern n

eger

h Aesthetic

th

Machine excerpt

19

2

4

Modem man

lives

more and

more

in a preponder-

antly geometric

order.

All human creation mechanical

or

industrial

is

dependant upon geometric intentions.

I wish especially to speak about the prejudice

which blinds three-fourths of mankind and

absolutely prevents them from ever attaining

a free judgement of the ugly or the beautiful

phenomena bywhich they are surrounded. I

believe that plastic beauty in general is totally

architecture, too, proceeds from geometric

intentions.

In Greek art horizontal lines were made to

dominate.

t

influenced the entire French

seventeenth century. The Romanesque: vertical

lines. The Gothic realized an equilibrium that

was often perfect between the play of curves

and of straight lines; it even arrived at that

astonishing thing a mobile architecture.

became a perfect whole logically organized for

its end. t was beautiful.

But we must not conclude from this exam

ple of the relationship between beauty and

utility

in

the auto that perfection of utility

necessarily implies the perfection

of

beauty.

I cannot deny that it may even be the contrary.

I have laid eyes upon,

but

not remembered,

frequent examples

of

the destruction

of

beauty



independent of sentimental, descriptive, or

imitative values. Every object, picture, piece

of architecture, or ornamental organization

has a value in i tself; it is strictly absolute and

independent of anything it may happen to

represent.

Many individuals would be sensitive to the

beauty of common objects, without artistic

intention if the preconceived notion of the

objet

d art were not a bandage over their eyes.

Bad visual education

is

the cause

of

this ten

dency, as is the modern mania for classifica

tion at all costs which categorizes individuals

as well as tools. Men are afraid

free considera-

tion which, however, is the only possible

spiritual state which permits reception of the

beautiful. Victims of a critical, skeptical, and

intellectual epoch, they strain themselves

in

the attempt to understand instead

of

relying

upon their sensibility. They have faith in the

fabricators the

arts

because they are profes

sionals. Titles and distinctions dazzle them

and

block their view.

My

aim here is to

attempt to prove: that there is no such thing as

Beauty that is catalogued, hierarchisee; this is

the worst possible error. Beauty is everywhere,

in the arrangement of your pots and pans, on

the white wall

of

your kitchen, more perhaps

than

in your eighteenth century salon or

in

the official museum

I would like therefore to speak about a

new architectural order: the architecture

the mechanical. All of ancient and modern

There are Gothic facades that vibrate like a

dynamic painting; this is the result of an inter

play of complimentary and contrasting lines.

One can asser t this: a machine or a manu

factured object may be beautiful when the

relation of the lines which define its volume

are balanced in

an

order corresponding to

those of preceding architectures. We are not,

then, in the presence of an intrinsically new

phenomenon, but simply of an architectural

manifestation like those of the past.

Where the question becomes more delicate

is when we envisage all the consequences, that

is, the purposes of mechanical creation. If the

objectives of preceding architectural monu

ments were the predominance of the Beautiful

over the useful, it is undeniable that, in the

mechanical order, the dominant aim is

utility

strictly utility. Everything is directed towards

utility with the greatest possible severity. The

tendency toward utility

does

not, however, impede

the accession to a state beauty.

The case of the evolution of the automobile

form is a striking example of my point; it is

even a curious fact that the more the machine

perfects its utilitarian functions, the more

beautiful it becomes.

That is to say, when vertical lines predomi

nated in the beginning, contrary to its purpose,

it was ugly; one looked for the horse.

t

was

called a horseless carriage. But when, with the

need for swiftness, t became lower and longer,

when, in consequence horizontal lines

balanced by curves became dominant, it

by emphasis

on

the utilitarian.

Chance alone presides over the appearance

of beauty in the manufactured object.

Originally published in Bulletin de

l Effort

Modeme Paris)

I nos . I and 2 January-February I9 24), pp. 5-9.

Printed in Herschel B Chipp, Theories and Doruments

of Modem Art:

Source

Book

by

Artists and

Critics,

University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles,

I968.

1968

by

The Regents of the University of

California. Reprinted with permission.

ndre reton

Manifesto

Surrealism excerpt

19

2

4

We are still living under the reign oflogic:

this, of course, is what I have been driving at.

But in this day and age logical methods are

applicable only to solving problems of sec-

ondary interest. The absolute rationalism that

is still in vogue allows us to consider only facts

relating directly to our experience. Logical

ends, on the contrary, escape us. is pointless

to add that experience itselfhas found itself

increasingly circumscribed. It paces back and

construed to be the province of poets as well as

scholars, and that its success is not dependant

upon

the more or less capricous paths that will

be followed.

Freud very rightly brought his critical facul-

ties to bear upon the dream.

is,

in

fact,

inadmissible that this considerable portion of

psychic activity (since, at least from

man s

birth until his death, thought offers no solu-

tion

of

continuity, the

su m of

moments

of

coordination

of

which is a question of will.

What is worth noting is that nothing allows us

to presuppose a greater dissipation of the ele-

ments of which the dream is constituted. I am

sorry to have to speak about i t according to a

formula which in principle excludes the

dream. When will we have sleeping logicians,

sleeping philosophers? I would like to sleep,

in

order to surrender myselfto the dreamers, the

way I surrender myselfto those who read

me



forth in a cage from which i t i s more and more

difficult to make it emerge. too leans for

support on what is most immediately expedi-

ent, and it is protected by the sentinels of com-

mon sense. Under the pretense of civilization

and progress, we have managed to banish

from the

mind

everything that may rightly or

wrongly be termed superstition, or fancy; for-

bidden

is

any kind

of

search for truth which is

not

in

conformance with accepted practices.

was, apparently, by pure chance that a part

of

our mental world which we pretended not to

be concernedwith any longer-and i n my

opinion by far the most important part-has

been brought back to light. For this we

must

give thanks to the discoveries of Sigmund

Freud. On the basis of these discoveries a cur-

rent opinion is finally forming

by

means of

which the

human

explorer will be able to carry

his investigations much further, authorized as

he will henceforth be not to confine himself

solely to the most summary realities. The

imagination is perhaps

on

the point

of

reasserting itself, of reclaiming its rights. If

the depths

of

our

mind

contain within it

strange forces capable of augmenting those on

the surface, or

of

waging a victorious battle

against them, there is every reason to seize

them; first to seize them, then, if need be, to

submit

them

to the control of

our

reason. The

analysts themselves have everything to gain by

it. But i s it worth not ing that no means has

been designated a priori for carrying out this

undertaking, that until further notice it can be

dream, from the point

of

view

of

time, and

taking into consideration only the time of pure

dreaming, that is the dreams of sleep, is not

inferior to the

su m

of moments of reality, or,

to be more precisely limiting, the moments of

waking) has still today been so grossly neglect-

ed. I have always been amazed at the

wayan

ordinary observer lends so much more cre-

dence and attaches so

much

more importance

to waking events

than

to those occuring in

dreams. is because man, when he ceases to

sleep, is above all the plaything

of

his memory,

and

in

its normal state memory takes pleasure

in weakly retracing for him the circumstances

of

the dream, in stripping it

of

any real impor-

tance, and

in

dismissing the only

determinant

f rom the point where he thinks he has left i t a

few hours before: this firm hope, this concern.

He is under the impression

of

continuing

something that is worthwhile. Thus the dream

finds itself reduced to a mere parenthesis.

as

is

the night. And, like the night, dreams general-

ly contribute little to furthering

our

under-

standing. This curious state of affairs seems to

me

to call for certain reflections:

r

Within the limits where they operate (or

are thought to operate) dreams give every evi-

dence of being continuous and show signs of

organization. Memory alone arrogates to itself

the right to excerpt from dreams, to ignore

the transitions,

and

to depict for us rather a

series of dreams rather than the dream itself

By

the same token, at any given

moment

we

have only a distinct notion of realities, the

with eyes wide open; in order to stop impos-

ing, in this realm, the conscious rhythm of my

thought. Perhaps my dream last night follows

that of the night before,

and

will be continued

the next night, with an exemplary strictness.

t s quite

possi le

as the saying goes. And since

it has notbeen proved

in

the slightest that,

in

doing so, the reality with which I am kept

busy continues to exist in the state of dream,

that i t does not sink back down into the

immemorial, why should I not grant to dreams

what I occasionally refuse reality, that is, this

value of certainty in itself which, in its own

time, is not open to my repudiation? Why

should I not expect from the sign of the dream

more than I expectfrom a degree

of

conscious-

ness that is daily more acute? Can t the dream

also be used in solving the fundamental ques-

tions of life? Are these questions the same in

one case

as

in the other and, in the dream, do

these questions already exist? Is the dream any

less restrictive or punitive

than

the rest? I

am

growing old and, more than that reality to

which I believe subject myself, it is perhaps

the dream, the difference with which I treat

the dream, which makes me grow old.

Let

me come back again to the waking

state. I have no choice

but

to consider i t a phe-

nomenon

of

interference. Not only does the

mind

display,

in

this state, a strange tendency

to lose its bearings as evidenced by the slips

and

mistakes the secrets of which are just

beginning to be revealed to us), but , what is

more, it does not appear that,

when

the

mind

is functioning normally, it really responds to

anything

b ut t he

suggestions which come to it

from

the

depths

of

that dark

night

to w hi ch I

commend

it. However conditioned it may be,

its balance is relative. scarcely dares express

itself and, if it does, it confines itselfto verify.

ing

that

s uc h a nd s uc h a n

idea, or

s uc h a n d

such

a woman , h as

ma de a n impr es sio n o n

it.

What impression i t wou ld b e hard pressed to

say, by which it reveals the degree of its subjec-

to mak e for himself too impoverished a notion

of

atonement.

4

F ro m th e

moment when

i t is s ub je cted to

a methodical examination, when, by means yet

to be determined, we succeed in recording the

contents of dreams in th eir entirety and that

presupposes a discipline

of memory spanning

generations;

bu t

let us nonetheless begin by

noting the

most

salient facts),

when

its graph

will expand with unparalleled volume

and

reg-



tivity, and nothing more. This idea, this

woman, disturb it, they

tend

to m ak e it l ess

severe.

What

the y do is iso la te the

mind

for a

second from its solvent

an d

spirit it to heaven,

as the beautiful precipitate it can be, that it is.

When

all else fails, it

then

calls

upon

chance, a

divinity even more obscure th an th e others to

whom

it ascribes all its aberrations. Who can

say to

me

that

the

a ng le by which th at ide a

which affects it is offered, that what it likes

in

the

eye

of that woman

is not precisely what

lin ks it to its d re am, b in ds it to tho se fun da -

mental facts which, through i ts o wn fau lt, it

has lost? And if things were different, what

might it be capable of? I would like to provide

it with

the

key to this corridor.

3 The m in d o f the ma n who dreams is fully

satisfied by what happens to h im. The agoniz-

ing question of possibility is no longer perti-

nent.

Kill fly

faster, love to your heart s

content. And if y ou s ho uld die, a re yo u

not

cer-

tain of reawaking among the dead? Let your-

self

be carried along, events will not tolerate

your interference. You are nameless. The ease

of

everything is priceless.

What

rea so n, I a sk , a rea so n s o

much

vaster

tha t the o th er, mak es d rea ms seem so natural

an d

allows

me

to welcome unreservedly a wel-

ter

of

episodes so strange that they would con-

f ou nd n ow as I wri te? A nd yet I c an beli eve m y

eyes, my ears; this great day has arrived, this

beast has spoken.

If

man s

awaking is harder, if it breaks the

spell too abruptly, it is because

he

has

been

led

ularity, we may hope that the mysteries which

really are not will give way to

the

great

Mys-

tery. I believe

in

the future resolution

of

these

two states,

d r ea m a n d

reality, which are seem-

ingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute

reality, a surreality,

if

one

may so speak.

is

in quest of this

surreality

t ha t I

am

going,

c erta in n ot to fin d it

bu t

too

unmindful of

my

death not to calculate to some slight degree

the

joys

of

its possession.

SURREALISM n Psychic automatism in its

pure

state, bywhich one proposes to express-

verbally, by

means

of the written word, o r in

any other

manner t he

actual functioning

of

thought. Dictated by thought,

in

the absence

of any control exercised by reason, exempt

from any aesthetic or moral concern.

ENCYCLOPEDIA Philosophy

Surrealism is

based

on

the belief

in

the superior reality of

certain forms of previously neglected associa-

tions,

i n t he

omnipotence

of

dream,

in

the

disinterested play of thought. tends to

ruin

once and for all other psychic

mechanisms

and

to substitute itselffor

them

solving all the

principal problems

of

life.

Translatedfrom the French by Richard Seaver and

Helen R. Lane. Published in Andre Breton,

an ifestoes

urrealism The University

of

Michigan Press, Ann

Arbor, 1974, Copyright © 1969 by The University

of Michigan. Reprinted with permission.

5

Grant

Wood

volt

Against

th

City excerpts

I9

In short, America has

turned

introspective.

Whether or not one adopts the philosophy of

the America Self-Contained group, it is cer

tain that

the

Depression Era has stimulated us

to a reevaluation

of

our resources in both art

and economics,

and

that this

turning of our

eyes inward

upon

ourselves has awakened us

to values which were little known before the

grand crash

of 9 9 and

which are chiefly

non-urban.

debts

by

European nations, the reaction

against entangling alliances which followed

upon PresidentWilson s effort to bring this

country into

the

League

of

Nations,

and

the depression propaganda for America

Self-Contained.

But one does not need to be an isolationis t

to recognize the good which our artistic and

literary secession from Europe

has

done for us.

For example, until fifteen years ago it was

to the more American village and country life.

Paris is

no

longer

the

Mecca

of the

American

artist. The American public, which used to be

interested solely

in

foreign

and

imitative work,

has readily acquired a strong interest

in

the

distinctly ingenious work of its own land; and

our

buyers

of

paintings

and

patrons

of

art

have naturally and honestly fallen in with the

movement awayfrom Paris and the American

pseudo-Parisians.

It

all constitutes

not

so



Mr. Carl Van Doren has pointed out the

interesting fact that America rediscovers her

self every thirty years or so. About once in each

generation, directed by political or economic

or

artistic impulses, we have re-evaluated or rein

terpreted ourselves.

It

happened in 1776,

of

course,

and

again a generation later with

the

Louisiana Purchase and subsequent explo

rations and the beginnings of a national litera

ture.

It

came again with

the

expansion

of

the

Jacksonian era

in

the eighteen-thirties, accom

panied by a literary flowering not only in New

England but in various frontier regions. It was

marked

in

the period immediately after

ou r

Civil War,

when

Emerson observed that a new

map

of

America had been unrolled before us.

In the expansionis t period at the

turn of

the

century, shortly after the Spanish War when

the

United States found

herself

a full-fledged

world power, we

had

a new discovery of

resources

and

values. And now, with another

thirty-year cycle, it comes again.

It

is always

slightly different, always complex in its causes

and phenomena

bu t

happily it is always

enlightening.

Moreover, these periods of national awaken

ing to our own resources have always been

in

some degree reactions from foreign relation

ships. These reactions are obvious even to the

casual reader of history and need not be lis ted

here except as to their bearings on the present

rediscovery. Economic

and

political causes

have contributed in these days to

turn

us away

from Europe high

tariffwalls, repudiation of

5

practically impossible for a painter to be recog

nized as an artist

in

America without having

behind

him

the prestige of training either in

Paris or Munich, while today the American

artist looks

upon

a trip to Europe as any touris t

looks

upon

i t not

as a

means

of

technical

training

or

a

method of

winning

an

art reputa

tion,

but

as a valid way to get perspective by

foreign travel. This is a victory for American

art

of

incalculable value. The long domination

of

our

own art by Europe,

and

especially by the

French, was a deliberately cultivated commer

cial

activity a business and dealers connect

ed

with the larger New York galleries played

into the hands of the French promoters

because they themselves found such a connec

tion profitable.

But sweeping changes have come over

American culture

in

the last few years. The

Great Depression has taught us many things,

and not the least

of them

is self-reliance. has

thrown down the Tower

of

Babel erected

in

the

years

of

a false prosperity; it has sent

men

and

women

back to the land; i t has causedus to

rediscover some of the old frontier virtues. In

cutting us

off

from traditional

but

more artifi

cial values, it has thrown us back upon certain

true

and

fundamental things which are distinc

tively ours to

use

and to exploit.

But painting has declared its independence

from Europe, and is retreating from the cities

much

a revolt against French technique as

against

the

adoption

of the

French mental

attitude

and

the use

of

French subject matter

which he can best interpret because

he

knows

it best. An American way

of

looking at things,

and

a utilization

of

the

materials

of

our

own

American scene.

This is no

mere

chauvinism. If it is patriot

ic, it is so because a feeling for one s own

milieu and for the validity of one s own life

and

its surroundings is patriotic. Certainly I

prefer to think

of

it, not in terms

of

sentiment

at all,

but

rather as a common-sense utilization

for art

of

native materials an

honest

reliance

of the artist

upon

subject matter which he can

best interpret because he knows it best.

Because

of

this new emphasis

upon

native

materials,

the

artist no longer finds it neces

sary to migrate even to New York, or to seek

any great metropolis.

No

longer is it necessary

for him to suffer the confusing cosmopoli

tanism, the noise, the too intimate gregarious

ness

of the

large city. True,

he

may travel,

he

may observe, he may study

in

various environ

ments,

in

order to develop his personality

and

achieve backgrounds and a perspective; but

this need be little

more than

incidental to

an

educative process that centers in his own

home

region.

As for my own

region the

great farming

section of the Middle West I find it, quite

contrary to the prevailing Eastern impression,

not

a drab country inhabited by peasants,

but

a

various, rich land abounding

in

painting mate

rial. It does not, however, furnish scenes of the

picture-postcard type that one too often finds

in New Mexico or further West, and some

times in New England. Its material seems to

me to be more sincere and honest, and to gain

in depth

by having to be

hunted

for. It is the

result

of

analysis,

and

therefore is less obscure

by picturesque surface quality. I find myself

But the very fact that

the

farmer is not h im

self

vocal makes

him

the richest kind of mater

ial for the writer and the artist.

He

needs

interpretation. Serious, sympathetic handling

of farmer-material offers a great field for the

careful worker. The life

of the farmer, engaged

in

a constant conflict with natural forces, is

essentially dramatic. The drouth

of

last Sum

me r

provided innumerable episodes of the

most gripping human interest. The nomadic

remarkable results i n the

brief

space

of

time

in which it was in operation. I should like to

see such encouragement to art work continued

and

expanded.

The

Federal Government should

establish regional schools for art instruction

to specially gifted students in connection with

universities or other centers

of

culture in

various sections.

But whatever may be the future course

of



becoming rather bored by quaintness. I lose

patience with the thinness of things viewed

from outside, or from a height. Of course, my

feeling for the genuineness of this Iowa scene

is doubtless rooted

in

the fact that I was

born

here and

have lived

here most

of

my life. I

shall not quarrel with the painter from New

Mexico, from further West, or from quaint

New England, ifhe differs with me; for ifhe

does so honestly, he doubtless has the same

basic feeling for his material that I have for

mine he

believes

in

its genuineness. After

all, all I con tend for is the sincere use

of

native

material by the artist who has command of it.

Central

and dominant

in

our

Midwestern

scene is the farmer. The depression, with

its farm strikes and the heroic attempts of

Government to find solutions for agrarian

difficulties, has emphasized for us all the fact

that the farmer is basic

in the economics

of

the

country and

further, that

he

is a human

being. The farm strikes, strangely enough,

caused little disturbance to the people of the

Middle West who were not directly concerned

in

them;

but

they did cause both surprise

and consternation in the East, far away as i t is

from the source of supplies. Indeed, the farm

strikes did much to establish the Midwestern

farmer in the Eastern estimation as a man

functioning as

an

individual capable

of

think

ing and feeling, a nd n ot a n oaf.

movements of cattlemen in Wisconsin,

in

South Dakota, and in other states, the great

dust storms, the floods following the drouth,

the milk strikes, the violent protests against

foreclosures,

the

struggles against dry-year

pests, the sacrifices forced

upon

once prosper

ous families all these elements

and

many

more are colorful, significant, and intensely

dramatic.

Let me

try to state

the

basic idea

of the

regional movement. Each section has a person

ality

of

its own, in physiography, industry,

psychology. Thinking painters

and

writers who

have passed their formative years in these

regions, will, by care-taking analysis, work

out

and interpret in their productions these vary

ing personalities. When the different regions

develop characteristics

of

their own, they will

come into competition with each other; and

out of this competition a rich American cul

ture will grow. It was

in

some

such manner

that Gothic architecture grew out of competi

tion between different French towns as to

which could build the largest and finest cathe

drals. And indeed the French Government

has sponsored a somewhat similar kind of

competition ever since Napoleon s time.

The germ of such a system for the United

States is to be found in the art work recently

conducted

under

the WP This was set

up

by geographical divisions, and it produced

the

regional competitions,

the

fact

of the

revolt

against the city is undeniable. Perhaps

but

few

would concur with Thomas Jefferson s charac

terization

of

cities as ulcers on the body

politic ; but, for the

moment

at least, much of

their lure is gone. Is this only a passing phase

of abnormal times? Having at heart a deep

desire for a widely diffused love for art among

our

whole people, I can only hope that the next

few years may see a growth of non urban

and

regional activity in the arts and letters.

Excerpts drawn from James M Dennis, Grant Wood A

Study in American t and Culture

University of Missouri

Press, Columbia I986. I975 and

I986

by James M

Dennis. Reprinted with permission.

avid mith

t tement

1935

The art ist has been the element of nature, and

the arbiter of nature; he who has sat

on

a cloud

and viewed it from afar, but at the same t ime

has identified

himself

as one

of

nature s parts.

The true art ist views nature from his own

time. The conflict with the audience is often

one

of

time-nature regard rather than art. The

hostile audience views nature in the rosy past.

The artist views nature expertly before making

his statement. The audience usually makes a

of other men. No man has seen what another

has not , or lacks the components and power

to assemble. is impossible to produce an

unperceiveable [sic] work. I believe only artists

truly

understand

art, because art is best under

stood by following the visionary path

of

the

creator who produces it. The Philistines will

not attempt the projection. A work

of

art is

produced by an expert. There must be expert

ness in its perception. There are degrees of

one rehearsed. The sculpture work is a state

ment of

my identity.

is a par t

of

my work

stream, related to

my

past works, the three or

four in process, and the work yet to come.

In

a

sense it is never finished. Only the essence is

stated, the key presented to the beholder for

further travel. My beliefin this direction is bet

ter stated by Picasso who once said, A picture

is not

thought

out and settled beforehand.

While i t is being done, i t changes as one s



prejudiced statement about nature before

view-

ing it inexpertly. This makes a breach even

before the mode

of

interpretation is consid

ered. The artist s creative position to nature is

much

the same as tha t of primitive man. He

does not take the scientific view

of

all impor

tant man and view nature as it.

He

is the

compassionate emotional man who is unques

tioning, who accepts

himself

as a par t of

nature viewing nature as thou.

I do not today recognize the lines drawn

between painting and sculpture aesthetically.

Practically, the law

of

gravity

is

involved, but

the sculptor is no longer limited to marble, the

monolithic concept, and classic fragments.

His conception

is

as free as that of the painter.

His wealth of response is as great as his drafts

manship. Plastically

he

is more related to

pagan cultures with directives from Cubism

and Constructivism. Modern tools

and

tech

nics grant the expression of complete self-iden

tity from origin of idea to material finish. His

work can show who

he

is, what

he

stands for,

with all the fluency

he

desires, for every step

and stroke is his own. The stream

of

time

and

the flow of art make it plain that no matter

what the sculptor s declaration or individual

vision,

he

cannot conceive outside his time.

His art conception takes place in dialectic

order. The flow

of

art, the time of

man

still

places

him

within his own period, out

of

which

he

cannot

fly and

within which all other

men

exist. For

no

object

he

has seen, no fantasy

he

envisions, no world he knows is outside that

expertness some

come close, some are

on

the fringe, some pretend; expertness naturally

applies to both the artists creating and the

audience response.

I was acquainted with metalworking before

studying painting.

When

my painting devel

oped into constructions leaving the canvas, I

was

then

a sculptor, with

no

formal training in

the sculpture tradition. When the constructions

turned

into metal lead brass,

aluminum

combined with stone and coral in

1932-

nothing technically was involved outside

of

factory knowledge. The

equipment

I use, my

supply

of material comes from factory study

and

duplicates as nearly as possible the pro

duction

equipment

used in making a locomo

tive. have

no

aesthetic interest in tool marks

or surface embroidery or molten puddles.

My aim in material function is the same as in

locomotive building: to arrive at a given func

tional form

in

the

most

efficient matter. The

locomotive method bows to no accepted theory

of

fabrication.

utilizes the respective merits

of casting, forging, riveting, arc and gas weld

ing, brazing, silver soldering.

combines

bolts, screws, shrink fits all because if their

respective efficiency

in

arriving at

an

object

or form in function.

I do notwork with a conscious and specific

conviction about a piece of sculpture.

is

always open to change and new association

should be a celebration, one of surprise, not

thoughts change. And when it is f inished it

still goes on changing, according to the state of

mind ofwhoever is looking at it. A picture

lives a life like a living creature, undergoing

the changes imposed on

us

by our own life

from day to day. This is natural , as the picture

lives only through the

man

who is looking at

it. There is

no

conceptual difference between

painting

and

sculpture. Both Picasso and

Matisse are sculptors

of

great origins. The

position of creating does not change for

them

just because the

medium

changes.

Originally published in veryday t uarterly (Minneapo

lis) no.

23

1952. Printed here with the permission

of

the

Walker Arts Center.

iet ondrian

Plastic Art and ur Plastic Art

Figurative Art and Nonfigurative Art

excerpts

1937

Today one is tired of the dogmas of the past

and of truths

once accepted

but

successively

jettisoned. One realizes

more and more

the

relativity of everything and therefore one

tends to reject

the

idea

of

fixed laws

of

a sin-

gle truth. This is very understandable

but

does not lead to profound vision. For there are

made laws discovered laws

but

also

laws a

truth

for all time. These are more or

less hidden in the reality which surrounds us

We live in a difficult but interesting epoch.

After a secular culture a

turning

point has

arrived; this shows itself

in

all the branches

of

human activity. Limiting ourselves here to sci-

ence and art we notice that just as

in

medi-

cine some have discovered the natural laws

relating to physical life

in

art some have dis-

covered the artistic laws relating to plastics. In

spite

of

all opposition these facts have become

movements. But confusion still reigns in

In life sometimes the spirit has been

overemphasized at

the

expense

of the

body

sometimes one has been preoccupied with the

body and neglected the spirit; similarly

in

art

content and form have alternately been overem-

phasized

or

neglected because

their inseparable

unity

has not been clearly realized.

To create this unity

in art balance the one

and the other must be cre ted

It is an achievement of

our

t ime to have



and

do

not

change. Not only science

but

art

also shows us that reality at first incompre-

hensible gradually reveals itself by the

mutual

relations that are

inherent in

things. Pure sci-

ence

and pure

art disinterested

and

free can

lead the advance

in

the recognition

of

the laws

which are based

on

these relationships. A great

scholar has recently said that pure science

achieves practical results for humanity. Simi-

larly one can say that

pure

art even

though

it

appear abstract can be

of

direct utility of life.

Art shows

us

that there are also constant

truths concerning forms. Every form every

line has its own expression. This objective

expression can be modified by

our

subjective

view

but

i t is

no

less

true

for that. Round is

always

round and

square is always square.

Simple though these facts are they often

appear to be forgotten in art. Many try to

achieve one and the same end by different

means. In

plastic art this is

an

impossibility.

In

plastic art it is necessary to choose

constructive

means

which are

of one

piece

with that which one wants to express.

Art makes us realize that there are fixed l ws

which

govern

and point

to the use the

construc-

tive elements the composition and the inher-

ent interrelationships between them These laws

may be regarded as subsidiary laws to the

fundamental

l w of equivalence which creates

dynamic equilibrium and

reve ls

the true content

reality

them. Through

science we are becoming

more

and

more conscious

of the

fact that

our

physi-

cal state depends in great measure on what

we eat on the

manner in

which our food is

arranged

and on

the physical exercise which

we take.

Through

art we are becoming more

and more conscious of the fact that the work

depends

in

large

measure on

the constructive

elements which we use

and on

the construc-

tion which we create. We will gradually realize

that we have not hitherto paid sufficient atten-

tion to constructive physical elements

in

their

relation to

the

human body

nor

to

the

con-

structive plastic elements

in

their relation to

art. That which we eat

has

deteriorated

through a refinement of natural produce. To

say this appears to invoke a return to a primi-

tive natural state and to be in opposition to the

exigencies

of

pure plastic art which degener-

ates precisely

through

figurative trappings. But

a

return

to

pure

natural

nourishment

does not

mean

a return to the state of primitive man; it

means on

the contrary

that

the cultured man

obeys the laws of nature discovered and

applied by science.

Similarly

i n n on

figurative art to recognize

and apply natural laws is not evidence

of

a ret-

rograde step; the pure abstract expression

of

these laws proves that the exponent of nonfig-

urative art associates

himself

with

the most

advanced progress and the mos t cultured

minds

that

he

is

an

exponent

of

a denatural-

ized nature of civilization.

approached towards

such

balance

in

a field

in

which disequilibrium still reigns.

Disequilibrium means conflict disorder.

Conflict is also a part of life and of art but i t is

notthe

whole

oflife

or universal beauty. Real

life is the mutual interaction

two oppositions

the same value but a different

spect

and

nature

Its plasticexpression is

universal

beauty.

I t is not enough to explain the value of a

work

of

art

in

itself; it is above all necessary to

show

the pl ce which a work occupies on the

sc le

the evolution

plastic

rt Thus in speaking

of art it is

not

permissible to say this is how

I see it

or

this is my idea. True art like

true

life takes a single ro d

The laws which

in

the culture of art have

become more and more determinate are the

gre t

hidden

l ws

nature which art

est blishes

in its own fashion

It is necessary to stress

the

fact that these laws are

more

or less

hidden

behind the

superficial aspect

of

nature.

Abstract art is therefore opposed to a natural

representation of things. But it is not opposed to

nature as is generally thought. It is opposed to

the raw primitive animal nature of man but it

is one with true human nature. It is opposed

to the conventional laws created

during

the

culture

of

the particular form

but

i t is one with

the laws of the culture of pure relationships.

First and foremost there is

the

fundamental

law

of dynamic equilibrium

which is opposed

7

to the static equilibrium necessitated by the

particular form.

The important task

then

of all a rt is to

destroy the static equilibrium by establishing

a dynamic one. Nonfigurative art demands an

attempt of what is a consequence of this task

the

destruction of

particular form

and the

construction of

a

rhythm of mutual

relations

of mutual

forms

of

free lines. We

must

bear

in

mind however a distinction between these

two forms of equilibrium

in

order to avoid

constructive forms

then

by

the mutual

rela

tions

of

these forms.

Through

the clarity

and

simplicity

of

neutral forms

non

figurative art

has made the rectangular relation more

and more determinate until finally it has

established it through free lines which inter

sect

and

appear to form rectangles.

In pure

plastic art the significance

of

different forms and lines is very important; it



confusion; for when we speak of equilibrium

pure and simple we may be for and at the

same time against a balance

in

the work

of

art. is

of

the greatest importance to note the

destructive-constructive quality

of

dynamic

equilibrium.

Then

we shall

understand

that

the equilibrium of which we speak

in

nonfigu

rative art is not without movement of action

but

is on the contrary a continual movement.

We then understand also the significance of

the name constructive art.

The fundamental law of dynamic equilibri

um

gives rise to a

number of

the

other

laws

which relate to the constructive elements

and

their relations. These laws determine the man

ner in

which dynamic equilibrium is achieved.

The relations of position and those of dimension

both have their own laws. Since the relation of

the rectangular position is constant it will be

applied whenever the work demands the

expression of stability; to destroy this stability

there is a law that relations

of

a changeable

dimension-expression

must

be substituted.

The fact that all

the

relations

of

position except

the

rectangular

one

lack that stability also cre

ates a law which we

must

take into account if

something is to be established in a determi

nate manner Too often right and oblique

angles are arbitrarily employed.

ll

art express

es the rectangular relationship even though

this may

not

be

in

a determinate

manner;

first

by the height

and

width of the work

and

its

is precisely this fact which makes it pure.

In order that art may be really abstract in

other words

that

it should

not

represent rela

tions with the natural aspect

of

things the law

of

denaturalization

of

matter

is

of

fundamental

importance. In painting the primary color that

is as pure as possible realizes this abstraction

of natural color. But color is in the present

state of technique also the best means for

denaturalizing

matter in the

realm of abstract

constructions

in

three dimensions; technical

means

are as a rule insufficient.

All art has achieved a certain

measure

of

abstraction. This abstracion has become more

and more

accentuated until

in pure

plastic

art not only a transformation of form

but

also

of

matter be it through technical

means

or

through

color a

more or

less neutral expres

sion is attained.

According to

our

laws it is a great mistake

to believe that

one

is practicing nonfigurative

art by merely achieving neutral forms

or

free

lines and determinate relations. For in com

posing these forms one

runs the

risk

of

a

figurative creation that is to say one or

more

particular forms.

Nonfigurative art is created by establishing

a dynamic rhythm of determinate mutual relations

which excludes theformation

of

ny

particular

form

We note thus that to destroy particular

form is only to do more consistently what all

art has done.

Originally published in Martin Nicholson and Cabo Cir-

le

Faber Faber London 1937. Printed in Herschel B

Chipp Theories and Documents

of

Modern Art: A Source

Book by Artists n Critics University of California Press

Berkeley and

Los

Angeles 1968. Copyright © 1968

by

The Regents

of

the University

of

California. Reprinted

with permission.

dolph ottlieb and Mark Rothko

t tement

1943

To the artis t

the

workings

of

the critical

mind

is one

oflife s

mysteries. That is why, we sup

pose, the artist s complaint that he is misun

derstood, especially by the critic, has become a

noisy commonplace. It is therefore an event

w he n t he w or m t ur ns a nd

the critic quietly, yet

publicly, confesses his befuddlement, that

he

is nonplused before our pictures at the feder

ation show. We salute this honest, we

might

say cordial, reaction toward our obscure

paintings, for i n o th er critical quarters we

We feel that

our

pictures demonstrate

our

aesthetic beliefs, some

of

which we,

therefore, list:

To us art is an adventure into an

unknown world, which can be explored only by

those willing to take the risks.

2.

This world of the imagination is fancy

free and violently opposed to

common

sense.

3

It

is

our

function as artis ts to make the

spectator see the world our way not his way.

4. We favor the simple expression of the



seem

to have created a bedlam

of

hysteria. And

we appreciate the gracious opportunity that is

being offered us to present our views.

We do

not intend

to defend

our

pictures.

They make their own defense. We consider

them

clear statements. Your failure to dismiss

or disparage

them

is

prima facie

evidence that

they carry some communicative power. We

refuse to defend

them

not because we cannot.

It is

an

easy

matter

to explain to the befuddled

that The Rape

Persephone [by Adolph Got

tlieb] is a poetic expression

of

the essence

of

the myth; the presentation of the concept of

seed

an d

its earth with all the brutal implica

tions; the impact of elemental truth. Would

you have us present this abstract concept, with

all its complicated feelings, by means of a boy

and girl lightly tripping?

It

is just as easy to explain The Syrian ull

[by Mark Rothko] as a new interpretation of

an

archaic image, involving unprecedented distor

tions. Since art is timeless, the significant ren

dition of a symbol, no matter how archaic, has

as full validity today as the archaic symbol

had

then. Or is the one 3 0 0 0 years old truer?

No possible set of notes can explain our

paintings. Their explanation must come out

of

a

consummated

experience between picture

and

onlooker. The point at issue, it

seems

to

us, is not an explanation of the paintings,

but

whether

the

intrinsic ideas carried within

the frames of these pictures have significance.

complex thought. We are for the large shape

because it has the impact of the unequivocal.

We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are

for flat forms because they destroy illusion

and

reveal truth.

5 It is a widely accepted notion among

painters that it does not matter what one

paints as long as i t is well painted . This is the

essence of academism. There is no such thing

as a good painting about nothing. We assert

that the subject is crucial

and

only that subject

matter is valid which is tragic and timeless.

That is why we profess spiritual kinship with

primitive and archaic art.

Consequently,

if our

work embodies these

beliefs it must

insult anyone

who is spiritually

attuned

to interior decoration; pictures for the

home; pictures for over the mantel; pictures

of

the American scene; social pictures; purity in

art; prize-winning potboilers;

the

National

Academy, the Whitney Academy, the Corn Belt

Academy; buckeyes; trite tripe, etc.

A response to remarks by the art critic Edward Alden

Jewell on their paintings in the Federation

of

Modern

Painters and Sculptors exhibition held in New York at

Wildenstein Gallery, June 1943. The statementwas origi

nally published in Mr. Jewell s column

in

T he New Y ork

Times June 13 1943. Printed in Herschel B.Chipp, Theories

and Documents Modem rt Source ook by rtists and

Critics University of California Press, Berkeley and Los

Angeles, 1968. Copyright 1968

by

The Regents of the

University of California. Reprinted with permission.

159

ark othko

aintVery arge

ictures

9

I paint very large pictures. I realize that histori-

cally the function

of

painting large pictures

is painting something very grandiose and

pompous. The reason I paint them however-

I think it applies to other painters I

know

is precisely because I want to be very intimate

and

human.

To paint a small picture is to

place yourselfoutside your experience to look

upon an

experience as a stereopticon view

with a reducing glass. However you paint the

larger pictures you are in it. It is something



you command.

Excerpt from A Symposium on Howto Combine Archi-

tecture Painting and Sculpture Interiors lIO no.

10

May

1951, p.

10+

1951

Interiors

1995 Kate Rothko Prizel

and Christopher Rothko/Artists Rights Society ARS), New

York. Printed in Kristine Stiles and Peter Selz Theories

and ocuments Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook Artists

Writings

University of California Press Berkeley Lose

Angeles London 1996. Printedwith permission.

r

samu oguchi

culptor s World

19

68

My regard for stone as the basic

element of

sculpture is related to my involvement with

gardens. My own work, I feel, is renewed each

t ime I work

in either periodic

activities that

thread my life. With earth as with stone, it

is the most physical involvement, to which I

return

with zest.

..

Why do I continuously go back to Japan,

except to renew my contact with the earth?

There still remains unbroken the familiarity

with earthly materials and the skill of the

floating world

through

consciousness

of

sheer invisible mass.

At

t imes I

am

deluded

into thinking that the meaning of sculptures

may be defined. Is it

not

the awareness

of

an

inner

reality, such as this, of which sculpture

is a reflection and a sign? The heavenly bodies

floating

in the firmament

are all connected, by

gravitational forces that link

them

one to the

other

to attract

and

repel. Earthbound

though

we are, we are free to move about its surface,

like filings on a magnet.



Japanese hands. How exquisitely functional

are their traditional tools. Soon these, too, will

be displaced by

the

machine.

In

the

meantime

I go there l ike a beggar or a thief, seeking the

last

warmth

of

the earth.

How limited I find my own abilities, always

seeming to become less than before. My

schooling has

been

only that

of

long experi-

ence; learning from each new piece a fresh

insight discovery that leads

me

always to the

next

and

the next, occasionally with a shock

of

recognition an

accident, perhaps, dragged

out

of

some unconscious memory. What is

the artist

but

the channel through which spirit

descends ghosts visions, portents, the tin-

kling

of bells.

I

remember

a conversation I once

had

with

Suzuki Daisetsu,

the

great

Zen

expositor,

on

the train from Kyoto to Tokyo. I

had

said that

in the West the ideal was to triumph over grav-

ity,

and

that in doing a rock garden

in

America

it would be logical to have the rocks them-

selves levitate as I was then doing in the

Chase Manhattan Garden .

He

replied, Ah,

that is why they will eventually have to come

back to us. Did

he

include

m e i n

us ?

In

Japan

the

rocks

in

a garden are so planted

as to suggest a protuberance from the primor-

dial mass below. Every rock gains enormous

weight,

and

that is why the whole garden may

be said to be a sculpture, whose roots are

joined way below. We are made aware of this

New concepts of the physical world and of

psychology may give insight into knowledge,

but the

visible world,

in human

terms, is

more

than

scientific truths. enters

our

conscious-

ness as emotion as well as knowledge; trees

grow

in

vigor, flowers

hang

evanescent, and

mountains lie

somnolent with

meaning. The

promise of sculpture is to project these inner

presences into forms that can be recognized as

important and meaningful

in

themselves. Our

heritage is now the world. Art for the first time

may be said to have a world consciousness.

My own contradictions enhanced perhaps

by my mixed parentage, are probably shared by

most

artis ts to some degree. We all look to the

past

and

to the future to find ourselves. Here

we f ind a hint that awakens us, there a path

that someone like

us

once walked.

I have

been

fortunate

in

the people I

met

at

critical junctures who inspired my choices.

Were they chance? After each bout with the

world I find myself returning chastened and

contented

enough

to seek, within the limits

of

a single sculpture, the world

Excerpts from

A Sculptor s World

foreword by R. Buck-

minster Fuller, Harper and

Row

New York, 1968. Printed

in Kristine Stiles

and

Peter Selz,

Theories and Documents

Contemporary Art: A ourcebook

Artists Writings Univer-

sity

of

California Press, Berkeley,

Los

Angeles, London,

1996. Printed with permission.

161







enry Wadsworth ongfellow

aul Revere s Ride

Listen

my

children,

and

you shall

hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul

Revere,

On the eighteenth ofApril, in Seventy jive;

Hardly a man

is

now

alive

Who remembers thatfamous day and year.

said to his

friend, lfthe British march

land or t o sea from

the town

to-night,

Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch

Of

the North Church

tower as

a signallight,

One, ifby land, and two, ifby sea;

And I on the opposite shore will

be,

Ready

to

ride and

spread

the alarm

Through every Middlesex village andfarm,

For the country folk

to be

up and to arm.

Wrapped in silence so deep and

still

That

he could

hear, like a sentinel's

tread,

The

watchfUl night-wind, as it went

Creeping alongfrom tent to tent,

And seeming

to

whisper, All

is

well

A moment

only

he ftels the spell

Of

the

place and

the

hour, and

the

secret dread

Of

the

lonely belfry

and

the

dead;

For suddenly all

his

thoughts are bent

On a shadowy somethingfar away,

Where

the

river widens to

meet the

bay -

A

line

of

black

that bends and floats

On the

rising

tide, like a bridge of boats.

It was twelve by the village clock,

When he

crossed

the bridge into Medford town.

He

heard the crowing of the

cock,

And

the

barking of

the

farmer's

dog,

Andftlt the damp of the riverfog,

That rises after the sun goes

down.

It

was

one

by

the village

clock,

When

he galloped

into Lexington.

saw

the

gilded

weathercock

Swim in the moonlight

as

he passed,

And

the

meeting-house

windows,

blank and bare,

Gaze at him with a spectral

glare,

As if they already stood aghast

At

the

bloody work

they

would

look

upon.



Then

he

said,

Good night and with mu.ffled oar

Silently

rowed

to

the

Charleston shore,

Just

as

the moon

rose

over the bay,

Where

swinging wide at her moorings

lay

The Somerset, British man-ofwar;

A phantom

ship,

with each mast and

spar

Across the moon like a prison bar,

And a

huge black

hulk, that

was

magnified

its

own

reflection in

the tide.

Meanwhile,

his

friend, through

alley

and

street,

Wanders

and

watches

with

eager

ears,

Till in

the

silence around him he hears

The

muster

of

men at the barrack

door,

The sound ofarms, and the tramp offtet,

And the measured

tread

of

the grenadiers,

Marching

down to

their

boats on

the

shore.

Then

he

climbed the

tower of

the Old North Church,

By

the

wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,

To

the belfry-chamber

overhead,

And startled

the

pigeons from their perch

On the

sombre

rafters, that round him made

Masses and moving shapes of shade

the

trembling

ladder, steep

and

tall,

To

the highest window in the

wall,

Where he paused to

listen

and look

down

A moment

on

the

rooft

of

the town,

And the moonlight flowing over

all.

Beneath, in

the

churchyard, lay

the

dead,

In their night-encampment on the hill,

Meanwhile, impatient

to

mount and

ride,

Booted and spurred, with heavy stride

On the

opposite shore

walked Paul

Revere.

Now he padded his horse's side,

Now gazed at the landscape far and near,

Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,

And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;

But mostly he watched with eager search

The belfry-tower of

the

old

North

Church,

A s it

rose

above the graves on the hill,

Lonely

and

spectral

and

sombre

and

still.

And lo as

he looks,

on the belfry's height

A glimmer, and then a gleam of light

springs to

the

saddle,

the

bridle he turns,

But lingers and gazes, till fUll

on his

sight

A second lamp in the belfry burns

A hurry ofhooft in a

village street,

A shape in

the

moonlight, a bulk in the dark,

And beneath, from the pebbles, in

passing,

a

spark

Struck out

by

a steed flyingfearless and

fleet:

That was all And yet, through the gloom and the

light,

The fate ofa nation was riding that night;

And

the

spark struck out by

the

steed, in his flight,

Kindled the land intoflame with

its

heat.

He has

left the

village

and mounted

the steep,

And beneath him, tranquil and broad and

deep,

Is

the

Mystic,

meeting the

ocean

tides;

And under the

alders

that skirt

its

edge,

Now sof t on

the sand, now

loud on

the

ledge,

Is

heard

the tramp of

his

steed

as he

rides.

It

was two by

the

village clock,

When

he

came to the bridge in Concord town.

heard

the bleating

of

the flock,

And the twitter of birds among the trees,

Andftlt the breath

of

the morning

breeze

Blowing over the

meadows

brown.

And one was saft and

asleep

in his

bed

Who a t the bridge would

be

the first to fall,

Who that day would be lying dead,

Pierced by

a British musket-ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have

read,

How the British

Regulars

fired and

fled -

How

the farmers gave them ball for ball,

From

behind

each

fence and farm-yard

wall,

Chasing

the

red-coats down

the

lane,

Then

crossing the

fields

to

emerge

again

Under the trees

at the

turn of

the road,

And only passing to fire and

load.

So through the night

rode

Paul

Revere;

And so through

the

night went his cry ofalarm

To every

Middlesex village

andfarm

A cry of defiance and not offtar,

A

voice

in the darkness a knock at the

door,

And a word that shall

echo

forevermore

For,

borne

on

the night-wind

of

the Past,

Through all

our

history,

to the last,

In the hour

of

darkness

and peril and

need,

The people

will

waken and listen

to

hear

The hurrying hoofbeats

of

that

steed,

And the midnight message

of

Paul

Revere.

illiam arlos illiams

he re t

igure

Among

the

rain

and lights

I saw the figure 5

ingold

on a

red

firetruck

moving

tense

unheeded

to

gong clangs

siren howls

and wheels rumbling

through the dark city



Printed in William Carlos Williams

Collected

Poems

19°9 1939 vol 1

Copyright

1938

b y ew

Directions

Publishing Corp Reprinted by permission New Direc-

tions Publishing Corp

ngeborg achmann

ohemi

ies the ea

the houses here are green I ll step inside a

house.

the

bridges

here are

strong

I ll

walk on solid ground.

iflove s labor is lost in every age I d

like

to

lose it

here.

I m not the one

someone

is

he s

just as good

as

I.

a word borders

on

me here I ll

let

it border.

Bohemia

still

lies by the sea

I ll

believe in the sea.

And

I

believe

in the

sea

I can

hope

for land.

I m

the

one then anyone is

he s

worth

as

much

as

I want nothing more for myself.

Let

me go under now.

Underground-that means the ocean there I ll find Bohemia

again.

From my ruins I

wake

up in

peace.

From

deep

down I know and am not

lost.



Come

here all

you Bohemians seamen harbor whores and

ships

unanchored. Don t

you

want to be Bohemians all you Illyrians

Venetians and Veronese.

Play

the

comedies

that make us laugh

to tears. And go astray a hundred times

as

I went astray and never stood

the trials.

Yet I did stand them each and every time.

As Bohemia stood them and one fine day

was pardoned to the sea and now

lies by

water.

I still border on a word and a

different land

I border like little else on everything more and more

a manfrom Bohemia a vagrant a player

who

has

nothing and whom nothing

holds

granted only by a questionable

sea

to gaze at

the

land o my

choice.

Translated by Mark Anderson From

In the Storm

o Roses:

Selected Poems by Ingeborg Bachmann

translated edited

and introduced by Mark Anderson Princeton University Press

Copyright

©

1986 by Princeton University Press Printed

wit

permission

6







Very Selective lance t

om

ey Historical vents

That Have Shaped Our Period

9°

Freud publishes nterpret tion

1939-45 World War II

1974

Nixon resigns U.S. presidency

reams

1943

Penicillin introduced as a drug

197

8 Personal computers available

Planck formulates quantum theory

First successful flights, Wright

1945

Atomic bomb dropped on

1979

Iranian Revolution

19°3

Hiroshima

Brothers

U.N.

founded

19

81

AIDS virus is recognized

19°5

Einstein formulates theory

of

1949

Communists led by Mao win

19

8

9

Tiananmen Square massacre

relativity in China in China

9°9

Ford introduces the assembly line

BerlinWall comes down

in

Detroit

1950-53 Korean War

Genetic code cracked

1989-91

Soviet bloc becomes patchwork of

19

Rutherford formulates theory

of

1953

independent states instead

of

one

positively charged atomic nucleus

1954

U.S. Supreme Court outlaws racial

monolithic union

19

12 Jung publishes

The Theory

segregation in U.S. public schools

99°

Reunification

of

Germany

sychoanalysis

McCarthy launches campaign denounc-

199

1 Persian GulfWar



Titanic sinks

ing communism

First hydrogen bomb (atomic fusion)

1994

African National Congress wins

19

1

3

The Armory Show (where

exploded

South African election; Mandela

Americans are introduced to a great

elected president

deal

of

avant-garde European art)

1955

Rosa Parks refuses to give

up

seat

on

Approximately 15 million people are

1914-18

World War I

bus in Montgomery, Alabama

now linked worldwide via computer on

19

1

7

Bolshevik Revolution

1957

First space satellite launched

the Internet, which began

in

the

I96 s

(Sputnik)

as a few linked computers.

Panama Canal opens

Hong Kong returned to China after

19

61

First manned space flight

1997

1920

First radio station begins regularly

being a British Colonyfor 153 years

scheduled broadcasts

19

6

3

John F. Kennedy assassinated

Scottish scientist Ian Wilmot clones a

19

22 Mussolini s Fascists seize Italian

19

68

Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated

sheep

government

Democratic convention in Chicago.

199

8

Articles

of

Impeachment voted against

19

2

5

Scopes found guilty

of

having taught

Clash between police and war

Clinton by U.S. House

of

evolution

in

high school protesters Representatives

19

28

First scheduled TV broadcasts in

19

6

9

First

manned

moon landing

1999

Articles of Impeachment against Clin-

the U.S.

Four Kent State students and two Jack

ton rejected by U.S. Senate

197°

19

2

9

Stock market crash in the U.S. World-

son State students are killed by Nation-

wide depression

al Guardsmen while demonstrating

Hitler seizes power in Germany

against the war in Vietnam

1933

First Earth

Day

April

Roosevelt proclaims New Deal

1973

Vietnam War ends

1935

Roosevelt establishes WPA and social

Roe versus Wade

security







Selected Sources for Further Information

SOURCES ND

DOCUMENTS

RTISTS

OWN

WRITINGS

Chipp,

Herschel B

compo

Theories of Modern

Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics.

Berkeley: University

of

California Press,

19

68

.

Stiles, Kristine,

and

Peter Selz, eds.

Theories

and Documents of Contemporary Art: A

Sourcebook ofArtists Writings.

Berkeley:

University

of

California Press,

1996.

or

more sources

and documents see

individual artist s

sections

GENERAL OVERVIEWS OF THE

METROPOLITAN

MUSEUM S

COLLECTION

OF

TWENTIETH-

CENTURY

ART

Hamilton, George Heard. The Alfred Stieglitz

Collection.

Metropolitan Museum Journal

3

1970):

37

1

2

Lieberman, William

S

Lisa Mintz Messinger,

Sabine Rewald,

and

Lowery Stokes Sims.

Twentieth Century Art: Selectionsfrom the

Collection of The Metropolitan Museum ofArt.

Vol. I:

19°5-1945.

Vol.

2:

1945-1985.

New York:

The

Metropolitan

Museum

ofArt,

19

86

.

Messinger, Lisa Mintz. American Art: The

Edith

and

Milton Lowenthal Collection.

The Metropolitan Museum

of rt

Bulletin 54

no. I

Summer

1996).

Rewald, Sabine.

Twentieth Century Modern

Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman

GENERAL BOOKS ABOUT

TWENTIETH CENTURY ART

Arnason, H. Harvard,

and

Marla

F

Prather.

History of Modern Art: Painting Sculpture

Architecture Photography.

4th ed. NewYork:

Abrams, 1997.

Barr, Alfred H., Jr. hat is Modern Painting?

New York:

The Museum

of Modern Art,

1943 first edition).

Davidson,

Abraham

A

Early American

Modernist Painting

1900-1935. New York:

Harper

Row, 1981.

Hughes,

Robert.

The Shock of the New.

Rev. ed.

New York: Knopf,

1996.

Kingsley, April.

The Turning Point: The Abstract

Expressionists and the Traniformation of

American Art.

New York:

Simon

Schuster,



Collection. Exh. cat.,

The

Metropolitan

Museum of

Art, New York,

1989.

Rosenblum,

Robert, Lowery Stokes Sims,

and

Lisa

Mintz

Messinger.

The Landscape in Twen

tieth-Century American Art: Selections

from

The

Metropolitan Museum ofArt.

Exh. cat., Ameri

can Federation of Arts and Rizzoli, New York,

1991.

Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Figure in Twentieth

Century American Art: Selectionsfrom The

Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Exh. cat.,

American Federation of Arts, New York,

19

8

4.

Sims, Lowery Stokes,

and

Sabine Rewald.

Still Lift: The Object in American Art 1915

1995 Selections from The Metropolitan Museum

of Art. Exh. cat., American Federation of Arts

and

Rizzoli, New York,

1996.

Thaw, Eugene Victor. The Abstract Expres

sionists.

The Metropolitan Museum

of rt

Bulletin

44, no. 3 Winter

1986-87).

199

2

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Madoff, Steven Henry, ed. Pop

Art: A Critical

History. Berkeley: University of California

Press, 1997.

Polcari, Stephen. Abstract Expressionism

and the Modern Experience.

New York:

Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Rose, Barbara.

American

rt

Since

1900. Rev.

ed. NewYork: Praeger, 1975.

Russell, John.

The Meanings of Modern Art.

Rev.

ed. NewYork:

The

Museum of Modern Art

and Harper

Row, 1981.

Varnedoe, Kirk.

A Fine Disregard: What Makes

Modern

rt

Modern. New York: Abrams,

199°·

Wheeler, Daniel.

rt

Since Mid-Century: 1945

to

the Present.

New York: Vendome Press, 1991.

FURTHER RE DING

ON

SPE IFI RTISTS N WORKS

Pablo Picasso

Ashton, Dore, compo

Picasso

on

Art:

A Selection of

Views. New York:

DaCapo Press, 1972.

McCully, Marilyn, ed.

A

Picasso

Anthology:

Documents Criticism Reminiscences.

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.

Picasso: The Man His Works the Legend. Grolier

(CD-ROM, Windows

and

Macintosh), 1997.

Richardson, John.

A

Life

of

Picasso.

Vol. I:

1881-

1906. Vol. 2: 19°7-1917. New York: Random

House, 1991 and 1996.

Rubin, William. Picasso

and

Braque:

Pioneering

Cubism.

Exh

cat., The Museum of Modern

Art, New York, 1989.

Ludington, Townsend. Marsden Hartley:

The

Biography of an American Artist.

Boston: Little Brown, 1992.

Femand

Leger

Kosinski, Dorothy, ed.

Femand

Leger

1911-1924:

The

Rhythm of Modem

Life. NewYork: Prestel,

1994·

Lanchner, Carolyn, et al

Femand

Leger.

Exh

cat., The Museum of Modern Art,

New York, 1998.

Paul Klee

Duchting, Hajo. Paul Klee:

Painting

Music.

New York: Prestel, 1997.

Klee Paul.

Pedagogical

Sketchbook. 2d ed.

New York: Praeger, 1953

Haskell, Barbara. Charles

Demuth.

Exh cat.,

The Whitney

Museum of

American Art,

New York, 1987.

Marling, William.

William

Carlos

Williams

and the Painters

19°9-1923. Athens, Ohio:

Ohio University Press, 1982.

Georgia O Keeffe

Cowart, Jack, and Juan Hamilton, eds.

Georgia O KeqJe: Art and

Letters. Exh

cat.,

National Gallery ofArt, Washington, D.C.,

19

8

7

Hassrick, Peter H., ed. The Georgia O Keeffe

Museum.

New York: Abrams, 1997

Messinger, Lisa Mintz. Georgia O Keeffe.

The

Metropolitan Museum ofArt Bulletin 42



Stein, Gertrude. The

Autobiography

of

Alice

Toklas. New York: Random House, 1990.

Henri

Matisse

Elderfield, John. Henri Matisse: A Retrospective.

Exh cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New

York,199

2

.

Flam, Jack D., ed. Matisse on Art. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1995.

Wassily Kandinsky

Hahl-Koch, Jelena.

Kandinsky.

New York:

Rizzoli, 1993.

Lindsay, Kenneth

c

and Peter Vergo, eds.

Kandinsky: Writings on Art.

New York:

DaCapo Press, 1994.

Messer, Thomas M

Vasily Kandinsky.

New

York: Abrams, 1997.

Giorgio de Chirico

De Chirico, Giorgio.

The Memoirs

of Giorgio de

Chirico. Translated by Margaret Crosland,

Coral Gables, Fla.: University of Miami Press,

1971

Rubin, William, ed.

De

Chirico: Essays. New

York: The Museum

of

Modern Art, 1982.

Marsden Hartley

Scott, Gail R ed. The Collected Poems

of

Marsden Hartley 19°4-1943. Santa Rosa,

Calif.: Black Sparrow Press, 1987.

Hartley, Marsden.

On Art.

Edited by Gail Scott.

New York: Horizon Press, 1982.

Lanchner, Carolyn, ed.

Paul Klee.

Exh cat.,

The Museum of Modern Art, New York,

19 8

7

Rewald, Sabine.

Paul Klee:

The Berggruen

Klee

Collection in

The

Metropolitan Museum ofArt.

Exh cat., The Metropolitan Museum

of

Art,

New York, 1988.

Piet Mondrian

Bois, Yve-Alain, et al Piet

Mondrian 1872-1944.

Exh

cat., Leonardo Arte, Milan, 1994-

Holtzman, Harry, and Martin S James, eds.,

trans. The New rt The

New Life:

The

Collected

Writings

of Piet

Mondrian.

Boston:

G

K Hall, 1986.

Constantin Brancusi

Bach, Friedrich Teja, Margit Rowell,

and

nn

Temkin.

Constantin Brancusi: 1876-1957.

Exh cat., Philadelphia Museum

of

Art, 1993.

Tacha, Athena. Brancusi s

Birds. NewYork:

New York University Press, 1969.

Joan Mir6

Lanchner, Carolyn.

Joan

Mira. Exh cat.,

The Museum of Modern Art, New York,

1993·

Rowell, Margit, ed.

Joan

Mira: Selected

Writings

and Interviews.

Boston:

G

K Hall, 1986.

Charles emuth

Frank, Robin Jaffee. Charles

Demuth:

Poster Portraits 1923-1929. Exh cat., Yale

University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1994.

no. 2 (Fall 1984).

Grant Wood

Corn, Wanda

M

Grant Wood: The Regionalist

Vision. Exh cat., Yale University Press,

New Haven, 1983.

Roberts, Brady

M Grant

Wood:

nAmerican

Master Revealed. Exh cat., Davenport

Museum ofArt, Davenport, Iowa, 1995.

Stuart Davis

Kelder, Diane, ed.

Stuart

Davis. New York:

Praeger, 1971

Sims, Lowery Stokes.

Stuart

Davis:

American

Painter. Exh cat., The Metropolitan Museum

of

Art, New York, 1991.

Willem de Kooning

Prather, Marla F

Willem

de Kooning:

Paintings.

Exh cat., National Gallery ofArt, Washing

ton,

D

c 1994.

Scrivani, George, ed. The Collected

Writings

of Willem de Kooning.

New York:

Hanuman

Books, 1988.

Arshile Gorky

Auping, Michael, et al

Arshile

Gorky: The

Breakthrough Years Exh cat., Modern Art

Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Tex.,

1995·

Rand, Harry.

Arshile

Gorky: The

Implications

of Symbols.

Montclair,

N

J : Allanheld

Schram, 1980.

Waldman, Diane. Arshile Gorky 19°4-1948:

A

Retrospective. Exh cat., Solomon R

Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1981.

Alberto Giacometti

Lord James. Giacometti: A Biography

New York: Farrar Straus Giroux 1985.

Schneider Angela ed. Alberto Giacometti:

Sculpture Paintings

Drawings

Translated

by

Elizabeth Clegg. New York: Prestel 1994-

Sylvester David. Looking at Giacometti.

London: Chatto Windus 1994

Jackson Pollock

Landau Ellen G Jackson Pollock New York:

Abrams 1989.

Varnedoe Kirk. Jackson

Pollock Exh

cat.

The Museum of Modern Art New York

199

8

.

David Smith

Ellsworth Kelly

Diane Waldman ed.

Ellsworth Kelly:

A

Retro-

spective

Exh. cat. Solomon

R

Guggenheim

Museum

New York 1996

Romare Bearden

Campbell Mary Schmidt

and

Sharon F

Patton. Memory and Metaphor:

The

Art o

Romare Bearden

194° 1987.

Exh cat. Studio

Museum in

Harlem

and Oxford University

Press New York 1991.

Schwartzman Myron.

Romare Bearden:

His Life

B

Art. New York: Abrams

1990

J

ames

Rosenquist

Brundage Susan ed. James Rosenquist:

The Big

Paintings Thirty

Years Leo Castelli

Exh. cat.

Anselm Kiefer

Rosenthal Mark Lawrence. Anselm

Kieftr Exh

cat.

The

Art Institute of Chicago 1987.

Rosenthal Nan.

Anselm Kiifer: Works on Paper

1969 1993.

Exh

cat.

The

Metropolitan

Museum of Art New York 1998.



Carmean E

A

David Smith. Exh cat. National

Gallery of Art Washington D.C. 1982.

Gray Cleve ed.

David Smith.

New York:

Holt Rinehart Winston 1968.

Wilkin Karen.

David Smith.

New York:

Abbeville Press 1984

Edward

Hopper

Edward Hopper: A Catalogue Raisonni.

New York: Whitney Museum

of

American

Art and W W Norton 1995.

Levin Gail.

Edward Hopper: n

Intimate

Biography

New York: Knopf 1995.

Jasper Johns

Rosenthal Nan and Ruth E Fine. The

Drawings o JasperJohns Exh cat. National

Gallery

of

Art Washington

1990

Varnedoe Kirk. JasperJohns: A Retrospective

Exh cat. The Museum of Modern Art

New York

1996

Varnedoe Kirk ed and Christel Hollevoet

compo Jasper Johns: Writings Sketchbook

Notes

Interviews New York: The Museum of

Modern Art and Abrams 1996.

Mark Rothko

Tate Gallery. Mark Rothko:

19°3 197°.

Exh

cat. Tate Gallery London 1987.

Waldman Diane. Mark Rothko in

New York

New York: Solomon R Guggenheim

Museum

1994.

Weiss Jeffrey. Mark Rothko.

Exh

cat. National

Gallery

of

Art Washington D.C. 1998.

Leo Castelli Gallery

and

Rizzoli New York

1994·

Goldman Judith.

James Rosenquist.

New York:

Viking 1985.

Red Grooms

Stein Judith

E

John Ashbery

and

Janet K

Cutler. Red

Grooms:

A

Retrospective 1956 1984-

Exh. cat. Pennsylvania Academy

of

the Fine

Arts Philadelphia 1985.

Andy Warhol

Honnef Klaus.

Andy Warhol: Commerce into

Art.

Cologne: Benedikt Taschen 1993.

MacCabe Colin ed.

Who

Is

Andy Warhol?

London: British Film Institute and

The

Andy

Warhol

Museum

1997.

McShine Kynaston ed. Andy Warhol:

A Retrospective Exh

cat. The

Museum of

Modern Art New York 1989.

Isamu Noguchi

Apostolos Cappadona Diane and Bruce

Altshuler eds.

Isamu Noguchi: Essays and

Conversations. New York: Abrams

and

The [samu

Noguchi Foundation 1994.

Ashton Dore.

Noguchi

East

and

West

New York: Knopf 1992

Isamu Noguchi: Retrospective 1992 Exh

cat.

National

Museum of

Modern Art Tokyo

1992.

Chuck Close

Storr Robert. Chuck

Close Exh

cat.

The Museum

of

Modern Art New York

199

8

.

CHILDREN S

OO S

Ball, Jacqueline, and Catherine Conant.

Georgia

KeeiJe:

Painter o the Desert.

New York: Blackbirch Press, 199I.

Beardsley, John.

First

Impressions:

Pablo

Picasso.

New York: Abrams, 199I.

Gherman

Beverly.

Georgia O KeeiJe:

The Wildness and Wonder o Her World.

New York: Atheneum, 1986.

Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan.

The

Painter s Eye: Learning to

Look

at Contemporary

American Art. New York: Delacorte Press,

199I.

Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan.

The

Sculptor s Eye: Learning to

Look

at Contempo

rary American Art.

New York: Delacorte Press,

1993·

VIDEOGR PHY

We advise all educators to preview these videos

before integrating them into lesson plans.

Onlyyou can be the judge of what materials

are best for your needs. Sometimes, biogra

phies of individual artists contain sensitive

information. You may elect to show all or

parts

of

a given tape.

Romare Bearden: Visual Jazz. L S Video

Enterprises, U.S., 1995. (28 min.)

Willem de Kooning. National Gallery of Art,

U.S., 1994-

12

min.)

Arshile Gorky. Strokes of Genius. Cort produc

tions, U.S., 1982. (29 min.)

Red

Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse. Polaris

The

Age

o

Anxiety. American Visions, Video

8. BBC-TVand Time; Great Britain and

U.S., 1996. 57 min.) Companion book and

CD-ROM available.

The Empire o Signs. American Visions, Video

7. BBC-TV

and

Time; Great Britain

and

U.S.,

1996. 57

min.)

Companion

book and

CD-ROM available.

New Ways o Seeing: Picasso

Braque

and the

Cubist Revolution. Philip Morris, Inc., and

The Museum of Modern Art, U.S., 1989.

58 min.)

Painters Painting:

The

N ew York Art Scene

1940 1970 Turin

Film Corporation, U.S.,

1972. (II6 min.) Companion CD-ROM

available.



Muhlberger, Richard. What Makes a

Picasso

a Picasso?

New York:

The

Metropolitan

Museum

of

Art

and

Viking, 1994

Munthe, Nelly.

Meet Matisse.

Boston: Little,

Brown, 1983.

Tobias, Tobi. Isamu Noguchi: The Lift o a

Sculptor.

New York:

Thomas Y.

Crowell

Company, 1974.

Turner, Robyn Montana. Georgia O Kee.ffe.

Boston: Little, Brown, 199I.

Von Schemm, Jurgen. Dreaming Pictures:

Paul

Klee. New York: Prestel, 1997.

Woolf, Felicity.

Picture This Century:

n

Introduction

to

Twentieth-Century Art.

New York: Delacorte Press, 1992.

Entertainment, Inc., U.S., 1986.

21

min.)

Jasper Johns: Ideas in Paint.

American Masters.

RM

Arts; WHYY, Inc. Productions;

and

WNET/New York, U.S., 1992. 56 min.)

Kandinsky. Portrait of an Artist. RM Arts and Le

Centre Georges Pompidou, France, and Bay

erischer Rundfunk, Germany, 1986.

55

min.)

Klee. Academic and Entertainment Video, Italy

and U.S., 1992.

25

min.)

Matisse

Voyages.

Portrait of an Artist. RM Arts,

Le

Centre Georges Pompidou, and

La

Sept,

France, 1988. 58 min.)

Mir6:

Theatre o Dreams. Portrait of an Artist.

RM

Arts

and

BBC-TV, Great Britain, 1978.

57 min.)

Piet

Mondrian:

Mr. Boogie

Woogie Man. RM

Arts

and

BBC-TV Great Britain,

1996.

Isamu Noguchi. Portrait of an Artist. Whitegate

Productions, Ltd., U.S., 1980. 56 min.)

Georgia O Kee.ffe. Portrait of an Artist.

WNET/Channel 13 U.S., 1977. (60 min.)

Picasso.

Portrait of an Artist.

RM

Arts and

Musee Picasso, France, 1985. 81 min.)

Jackson Pollock.

Portrait

of an

Artist. London

Weekend South Bank Show

and

RM Arts,

Great Britain, 1987.

52

min.)

In Search o Mark Rothko. Strokes of Genius.

Cort Production, U.S., 1982. (22 min.)

David Smith:

Steel

into Sculpture. Strokes

of

Genius. Cort Production, U.S., 1983.

58 min.)

Andy Warhol. Portrait of an Artist. RM Arts,

Great Britain, 1987. (78 min.)

Streamlines and Breadlines. American Visions,

Video 6 . BBC-TV

and

Time; Great Britain

and

U.S., 1996.

57

min.)

Companion

book

and CD-ROM available.

A Wavefrom the Atlantic. American Visions,

Video 5. BBC-TV and Time; Great Britain

and U.S., 1996. 57 min.) Companion book

and CD-ROM available.

Video Suppliers

Direct

Cinema

Limited, Inc., P.O.

Box

10003,

Santa Monica,

CA

9°410 (ph: 800/525-0000

or 3ro/396-4774,

fax:

3ro/636-8228).

Donnell Library Center,

The

New York Public

Library, 20 West 53rd St., New York, NY

roo18 (ph: 212/621-0642).

European Video Library, 433 East 51st St.,

Suite 4A, New York, NY 10022.

Home Vision, 5546 North Ravenswood, Chica

go,

IL

60640 (ph: 800/826-3456 or 778/878

2600 fax: 778/878-8648).

L

S Video, Inc., 45 Stornowaye, Chappaqua,

NY 10514-

Museum of

Modern Art Circulating Film

Library, II West 53rd St., New York,

NY

10019 (ph: 212/708-9530, fax: 212/708-9531).

Mystic Fire Video, Inc., 524 Broadway, New

York, NY 10012 (ph: 800/292-9°01

fax: 212/941-1443).

PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria,

VA 22314 (ph: 800/344-3337,

fax: 703/739-5269).

Time Warner Entertainment Company, L.P.,

4000 Warner

Blvd., Burbank,

CA

91522.

WORLD WIDE WE RESOUR ES

We encourage you to explore the Wodd Wide

Web for additional information on the era and

artists covered in this resource. Most major

museums have Web sites that provide informa-

tion and supplementary links. The Metropoli-

tan Museum

of

Art s Web site address is

http://www.metmuseum.org. T here are a

num r

of

mus ums devoted

to

the life and

work

of

one particular artist.

You

can try for

example the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum

http://www.noguchi.org/museum_info.html ,

the Andy Warhol Museum

http://www.warhol.org/warhol

and the Georgia O Keeffe Museum

http://www.okeeffe-museum.org .



7

