Notes

As this century progresses, new technologies like mass market cameras and motion pictures debase the value of realistic painting more and more.

This leads to an emphasis on individual style rather than skill as a means of differentiating oneself from another artist .

Art becomes an extremely diverse landscape and much of it defies any commonly accepted classification.

There are literally hundreds of new styles and movements, too many to capture in a systematic way. This presentation merely assemble a representative sample of what’s out there.

KOBI’s Intro to Western Art Part III – the 20th Century

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Notes

This is Part 3 of a 3 part series on the 1000 year history of Western Art beginning in 1000 AD.

The other two parts cover Classical Art and 19th Century Art.

Art movements are in white and the corresponding historical eras are in black.

1000

1200

1400

1600

1780

Renaissance Baroque

Rococo

High Middle Ages

Middle Ages Modern Ages

N. Renaissance Romanesque

Italo-Gothic

Intl. Gothic

Age of Discovery Age of Enlightenment Late Middle Ages

1780

1850

1900

2000

neo-Classicism

Romanticism

Modern Ages

Age of Revolution

Realism

Academism

Pre-Raphaelite

Impressionism

1945

Consumer Art

World Wars New World Order

Part I – Classical Era

Part II – 19th Century Part III – 20th Century

Nouveau - Deco

Timeline of Western Art

Age of Industry

Contemporary Age

Advant-Garde

Neo-Realism

Surrealism

Notes

These are the last of the meta-cultural movements influencing architecture, furniture, art, signage, jewelry etc.

Art Nouveau is predominant in the pre WW1 years and was based on the graceful curving forms and structures of nature.

Art Deco takes over from Art Nouveau after World War I. It was a stark change from Art Nouveau and was based on the look of the future and characterized by rich colours, bold geometrics with sharp corners.

Art Nouveau & Deco ( 1890 - 1940 ).

Paris Metro Entrance Sagrada Familia

Chrysler Building Rockefeller Plaza Entrance

a homage to

William Blake

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Art

Deco

Notes

The Czech Alphonse Mucha was the most famous exponent of Art Nouveau, which was even called Style Mucha in his lifetime.

His practice was to paint panels in sets of four according to a theme, each with a woman.

Many featured an elaborate frame typical of Art Nouveau (the 2 examples on the left ).

Others featured an ornate disc behind the head (the 2 examples on the right ).

As was to be common in the 20th century, his work took many forms including illustrations, advertisements, posters etc.

Alphonse

Mucha (1860 – 1939)

ART NOUVEAU

Morning Star

(Moon and the Stars series) Evening

(Times of Day series)

Emerald

(Precious Stones series)

Notes

Walter Crane was the consummate Victorian artist, working in a number of different styles and mediums.

Neptune’s Horses is a traditional painting in the style of William Blake.

Cornflower and Anemone are art nouveau ceramic tiles designed by Crane as part of a famous set of 6 called Flora’s Train.

Peacock garden was one of his many elaborate Art Nouveau wallpaper designs.

Imperial Federation is in an updated neo-classical style befitting of the subject matter. It was printed as part of a newspaper supplement to commemorate the Colonial & Indian Exhibition of 1886.

Walter

Crane (1845 – 1915)

ART

NOUVEAU

Neptune’s

Horses

Anemone

Imperial Federation: Extent of the British Empire in 1886

Cornflower

Peacock

Garden

Notes

Beardsley lived a short life but has a prolific body of work, captured mostly in printed media.

Ink illustrations were popular during the late 19th Century and he was the foremost practitioner of this art form in his day.

He created 2 iconic illustration styles that are frequently emulated and deeply associated with Victorian England.

One is his half empty style as exampled in Skirt and Venus. He was probably inspired by the arrival of Japanese woodblock to England.

The other is his two tone floral style which very often was used for framing. These patterns are typical art nouveau.

Aubrey

Beardsley (1872 – 1898)

ART NOUVEAU

Excalibur in the Lake

Venus Between

Terminal Gods

Cover and spine of

Le Morte De Arthur

The Peacock Skirt

Japonism

Notes

Henri Rousseau is particularly well known for his geometric simplification of jungle scenes.

He was self-taught and never formally trained, which made it easy for him to ignore the rules of perspective for size, colour and detail that have been in place since the Renaissance.

His paintings are of a genre called Naïve Art that originated with him. The name is a reference to its childlike simplicity.

Rousseau is sometimes considered an early surrealist, given the dream like nature of his works (Surrealism will be discussed shortly).

Henri

Rousseau

(1844 - 1910)

Woman Walking in

an Exotic Forest Fight between Tiger and Buffalo

NAIVE ART

The Dream

Notes

Tamara de Lempicka is probably the artist most closely identified with the Art Deco movement. As her second husband was a baron, she had the nickname ‘the Baroness with a Brush’.

Ms. Lempika was born in Poland, lived in Paris and moved to America before WWII.

Her style features clean high contrast colours and crisp lines, a style that will later be adopted by graphic novels.

One characteristic of her art is the subject staring off centre to the left. This is the case in all 4 examples here.

Madonna is a great fan and used Lempicka artwork in many of her music videos and world tours.

Girl with Gloves

Tamara de

Lempicka

(1898 – 1980 )

Nude with Dove

Portrait of Mrs. M

Mr Tadeusz de

Lempicki ART DECO

Notes

Hofman was a Dutch designer who specialized in posters, book covers and also stained glass.

His work exemplifies the art deco style of framing, lettering, and its use of gold on black and the stylized man.

--------------------------------------------

Rafael de Penagos is a Spanish artist famous for his hundreds of magazine and poster illustrations.

His works offer a window into the roaring twenties, a time when women were just beginning to get empowered.

Through his art he created a type of daring, well-dressed, sophisticated woman known as "mujer Penagos“

Pieter

Hofman (1886 – 1965 )

ART DECO

Rafael de

Penagos (1889 – 1954 )

Notes

Avant-Garde is French for vanguard - pushing the boundaries.

The movement is a sweeping classification of the myriad of successor movements to post-impressionism.

With the rise of individualism everyone wants to be original, leading to multiple art styles blossoming at the same time.

Artists rely on the ‘shock’ value of their works and become driven by sensationalism.

We are not sure if or when the Avant-Garde period was over, this is for future art historians to decide

Avant-Garde ( 1910 - ? ) .

FAUVISM CUBISM

FUTURISM NEOPLASTICISM BAUHAUS

Notes

Matisse painted in varying styles depending on the period in his life but he is best known for his work on Fauvism.

les Fauves is French for ‘the wild beasts’, meaning the Fauvists had no regard whatsoever for established convention.

His work featured complete flatness, wild brushwork, unbroken strong colours and a high degree of simplification and abstraction.

Matisse’s The Dance and Pink Nude are often cited as classic examples of Fauvist paintings.

Henri

Matisse

(1869 - 1954)

Pink Nude

The Dance Odalisque

with Raised Arms Odalisque on Turkish Sofa

FAUVISM

Notes

Picasso started out painting conventionally, in his Blue and Rose periods.

He then moved on to the Africa period where the idea of cubism began to take shape.

This further evolved into analytical cubism, which breaks down a subject into component basic shapes, allowing views from multiple angles.

He finally moved on to a surrealistic form of cubism with its characteristic split faces, recognized by the general public as his signature style.

The most expensive painting ever auctioned was Picasso’s Women of Algiers version 0, which sold for $179 million in 2015.

Pablo

Picasso

(1881 - 1973)

The Young Ladies of Avignon

Africa Period - proto Cubism

Guernica

Portrait of Kahnweiler

Analytical Cubism CUBISM

The Women of Algiers (ver. 0)

Garcon a la Pipe

Rose Period

Head of a Woman Reading

Surreal Cubism

Notes

Amadeo Modigliani is sometimes classified as one of the Fauvists because of the intentional distortions in his work, but being Italian he had no true links with the Fauvists.

His paintings are easily recognized through his unique style of elongated faces and rich colours.

--------------------------------------------

Umberto Boccioni was an important member of the Futurism movement.

Like the other Futurists, his innovative work centered on the portrayal of energy, motion, time, and technology.

From his talented work in multi-dimensions, he would surely have been more famous than Piccasso had he not died an early death in World War I.

Red Nude

Bride and Groom

Jeanne

Hebuterne

Horizontal

Volumes

Elasticity

Umberto

Boccioni (1882 – 1916)

FUTURISM Amadeo

Modigliani (1884 – 1920)

Notes

Mondrain was part of the Dutch artistic movement De Stijl (the Style) which advocated pure abstraction of form and colour.

When the ideas of De Stijl are expressed as an painting, it is called Neoplasticism.

The rules of Neoplasticism allowed only straight lines and the use of white, black and the 3 primary colours red, blue yellow.

--------------------------------------------

The Bauhaus Movement was a German sister movement of De Stijl which emphasized simplicity and functionality.

It was named after a German Design school from the between war years, and Wassily Kandinsky taught there until the Nazis closed the school.

Kandinsky is normally cited as the first painter of purely abstract works.

Piet

Mondrian

(1872 – 1944)

NEOPLASTICISM

unbroken line

Composition VII

Around

the Circle

Wassily

Kandinsky

(1866 – 1944) BAUHAUS

Notes

Jackson Pollock created ‘action art’ – by splashing and dripping household paint onto a large canvas on the floor.

Mural from his earlier Spring Period is supposed to be an animal stampede.

Autumn is from his Drip Period, the period for which is he is best known for.

--------------------------------------------

Franceis Bacon was a gay gambling drunk described by Margret Thatcher as "that man who paints those dreadful pictures”.

His Pope Innocent X is based on the portrait by Velazquez, part of his famous screaming pope series.

He is known for his triptychs; his Lucian Freud triptych sold in 2013 for US$142m (otherwise I would not have included him).

Francis

Bacon

(1909 – 1992)

3 Studies of Lucian Freud

Jackson

Pollock

(1912 – 1956)

Mural Autumn Rhythm

Study after Velazquez's

Portrait of Pope Innocent X ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

Notes

Damien Hirst is a prolific artists who sells his work at very high prices, even those which are just a few large dots of colour. This has made him reputedly the richest artist alive.

His works don’t make use of distortion or abstraction, which makes them easier for the average collector to appreciate.

A lot of his art is controversial and involves death. ‘I am become death’ is made from thousands of dead butterflies.

To generate shock value, he has also dissected and preserved animals in formaldehyde as art.

Some believe there is a Hirst bubble and the value of his art will eventually collapse.

Damien

Hirst

(1965 – )

Valium

Requiem, white roses and butterflies

Symphony in White Major

I am become death, shatterer of worlds

Notes

The foundation of Surrealism lies with Sigmund Freud and theories from his book the Interpretation of Dreams

Surrealism was founded in 1924 by André Breton (a writer) ‘to resolve the contradictory conditions of dream and reality into a super-reality’.

The Surrealist painters depicted fantasy imagery from the subconscious mind.

Surrealism can also thought of as a modern version of symbolism, instead of painting in a dream like style, they paint the dreams themselves.

Many surrealism works aim to stimulate the mind, through hidden images and thought provoking illusions that challenge reality.

Surrealism ( 1925 – 1970 )

Notes

Frida Kahlo’s paintings reflect events and emotions felt in her own life, and she often incorporated herself into her works.

Part of her appeal is how she manifested in her art her pain, from chronic medical conditions and her marriatal conflicts.

The Two Fridas is the story of her painful divorce from Deigo, another famous artist.

My Dress represents her emigration to the US, what she called Gringolandia.

Moses is a montage of Moses and Monotheism, a book written by Sigmund Freud.

Frida

Kahlo

(1907 – 1954)

My Dress Hangs There Moses

Little Deer

The Two Fridas

PRIMITIVISM

Notes

Rene Margritte was a Belgian surrealist celebrated for his thought provoking paintings that challenged our perceptions of reality.

His paintings are iconic, many of which contain a man in a suit with a bowler hat and sometimes an apple.

They also often feature a bright blue sky with clouds in the background.

Because of his style and choice of subject matter the palette of his works is typically charcoal and blue, with the occasional white and red.

The Son of Man

René

Magritte

(1898 – 1967)

Black Magic

Golconda

The Menaced Assassin Decalcomania

Notes

The name Salvador Dali has become synonymous with Surrealist art.

He described his own work as `hand-painted dream photographs’.

Many of his paintings had interesting optical illusions concealed by his artistic flair.

In Metamorphosis, the men kneeling are also hands holding an egg.

In Woman Horse Lion, the front of the horse is also a squatting woman giving oral sex to a man. The back of the horse is a headless torso and also a Lion facing the other way, and the body of the horse is also part of a boat.

Swans Reflecting Elephants is exactly what it’s name says.

Temptation of Anthony

the Woman, Horse and Lion

the Ecumenical Council

Metamorphosis of Narcissus

Swans Reflecting Elephants

Salvador

Dali

(1904 – 1989)

Notes

Though officially not a surrealist, MC Escher’s work shares a lot of its intellectually intriguing and dream-like nature.

Many of his works contained graphic illusions that exploit shortcuts the human mind uses to interpret 2D into 3D.

Relativity features the Escherian Staircase named after Escher.

Waterfall has water flowing in perpetual motion.

Belvedere has two perpendicular rectangular blocks fit exactly over each other.

He also liked to work on gradual transitions from one form to another (Sky and Water) and interlocking lattices of 2 objects (Circle Limit).

His art was mostly black and white and he would engrave them on blocks or plates so many copies could be printed.

Waterfall

Circle

Limit IV

Relativity Maurits Cornelis

Escher

(1898 – 1972 )

Bond of Union

Sky and

Water I

Belvedere

MAGIC REALISM

Notes

Rob Gonslaves is the obvious modern day surrealist heir to Escher although he relies noticeably less on geometric illusions.

His paintings are generally of two illusion styles: one uses the gradual one-object transition illusion pioneered by Escher, for instance the bridge transforming into a sailing ship.

The second type employs a more challenging twin-perspective technique to create its illusion as in Bedtime Aviation.

As children are his intended audience, his works do not have the shock attributes of Dali and Kahlo. His art is sold in book form, in calendars and limited edition prints, making him a successful consumer artist as well (Consumer Art is a later section).

Towers of

Knowledge

The Sun Sets Sail

Ladies Of The Lake

Water Dancing

Rob

Gonsalves

(1959 – )

Bedtime

Aviation

Unfinished

Puzzle

MAGIC REALISM

Notes

At the turn of the century certain ‘less-sophisticated’ nations are left behind by the radical evolution of the European art scene.

Realism continued in the form of genre art in places like the USA well up to the mid century.

On both sides of the Atlantic these works were often used as political messages and for promoting conservative core values.

neo-Realism ( 1900 - ).

Notes

Grant Wood’s American Gothic is one of the world’s 10 most recognized paintings.

He painted in a style called Regionalism, a reference to the homely everyday American scenes like Mid-west landscapes, farm life etc.

The long female neck and earthy palette are common features of Wood’s works.

The frame on Daughters of Revolution is left on to show the intended ‘painting within a painting’ effect. The inner painting is the famous Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze.

Young Corn

Sweater of Plaid

Daughters of

Revolution

Fall Plowing

American Gothic

Grant

Wood (1891 – 1942)

REGIONALISM

Notes

Norman Rockwell was an American illustrator and painter – famous for his WWII Rosie the Riveter which most people do not realize is based on Michelangelo’s Isaiah.

Rosie is stepping on a copy of Mein Kampf, a reference to women being instrumental in defeating the Nazis.

He illustrated the covers of the Saturday Evening Post for 50 years – and much of his art is simply the magazine cover without the masthead.

Freedom From Want is one of a series of 4, based on the Freedoms of Roosevelt (of Speech, of Worship, from Fear, from Want).

Rosie the Riveter

the Gossips

Triple

Self-Portrait

Christmas

Homecoming Norman

Rockwell

(1894 – 1978)

Freedom

From

Want

Michelangelo's

Sistine Chapel

Isaiah

Notes

Realism (and Academicism) was longer lived in Germany because the more modern art styles were considered degenerate by the Nazis.

Nazi Germany had its own ideological form of Realism that emphasized themes like the lean healthy look and wholesome family.

In spite of some decent works, German artists of the era are still sidelined because of the stigma of Nazism.

Hitler was actually a somewhat talented landscape painter. He was twice rejected by the Vienna Academy of Art as he lacked the proper academic credentials and that’s why we ended up with WWII.

Kahlenburg

Farm Family

By the Water

Sitting Female Nude

Adolph

Wissel

(1894-1973)

Adolph

Ziegler

(1892-1959)

Ernst

Liebermann

(1869-1960)

Notes

Photo Realism artists, of which Richard Estes is one, take photos and then paint from the photos.

His works always contain multiple reflections from windows and polished surfaces, always in daylight, and sometimes he removes the people. His paintings are typically combined from multiple photos - nobody can ever find the spot which matches his painting’s vantage exactly.

--------------------------------------------

Nelson Shanks is the portrait artist of choice for the royalty, politicians and celebrities of our generation.

Classical Realism as the title suggests is a combination of neoclassicism and realism from the 19th century. It is basically painting everything realistically in detail including the background, but with the subject in a contrived classical posture.

Times Square Paris Street Scene

Richard

Estes

(1932 – )

PHOTO REALISM

Nelson

Shanks

(1937 –2015)

CLASSICAL REALISM

Notes

After the emergence of the urban middle class creates a huge new market, art is commercialized and mass produced as a consumer item.

No skills or knowledge are required to appreciate this type of art. Subject matter is portrayed in a clearly recognizable manner and there is no abstraction, making it perfect for the masses.

Post-war America with its baby boomers come to dominate in this area.

Replica posters of original work become commonplace, as do everyday items like t-shirts and plates bearing prints.

Graphics, illustrations and even cartoons become accepted as real art forms.

Consumer Art ( 1960 - )

Notes

After WWII, Keane became famous by painting waifs (abandoned child) with disproportionally large black eyes. Because of sexual discrimination, her husband Walter posed as the painter so her works sold better.

He is credited as the first person to bring art to average consumer, by applying mass marketing techniques.

He built a broad following by giving free portraits to celebrities, and then sold the same art 1000s of times using posters and other products.

Although best known for her children, Keane painted adults too, many in a style influenced by Modigliani’s.

the Stray

Margaret

Keane

(1927 – )

No Dogs Allowed Natalie Wood with her Keane portrait

Anxiety of Influence

Nude Young Woman on Bed

limited edition 1975

balloon girl plate

Notes

Andy Warhol was the quintessential pop artist.

His favourite topics were soup cans, guns, knives, cow's heads, the last supper, but his most popular works are his Polaroid headshots of celebrities reworked to a few colours.

He rarely used more than one image of a person or thing, and instead made and remade dozens of different versions, listed by year.

This was an era before computer graphics so his technique was somewhat novel.

He coined the phrase ‘15 minutes of fame’, which was also a talk show he hosted.

Andy

Warhol

(1928 – 1987)

Liz 1964

10 Marilyns 1967

Jackie 1964 Marilyn 1964 Liz 1963

100 Cans 1962 Soup Can 1968

POP ART

15 Minutes

Notes

Roy Lichtenstein painted in a comic book style and often just copied outright from the pages of DC comics.

He manually applied Ben-Day Dots to colour the skin portions, a form of pointillism used by comic books to save on priniting costs.

The work of Lichtenstein was often criticized for its lack of originality, but its longevity has proven critics wrong.

Woman with Flowered Hat, an interpretation of a Picasso work, sold for $50 mil in 2013.

M-Maybe

Roy

Lichtenstein

(1923 – 1997)

POP ART

Drowning Girl

DC comic’s

Secret Hearts no.83

magnification of mouth to

show Ben Day Dots

Woman with

Flowered Hat

Picasso’s Dora Maar

Notes

Romero Britto Combines stereotyped elements of cubism, pop art and naive art into his signature ‘stained glass on paper’ style.

His works all use vibrant colours and typically have a subject hidden in a lattice of patterns (one being his signature)

He has had crossovers with Disney, Absolut Vodka, BMW, Pepsi etc.

--------------------------------------------

Takashi Murakami is known for his colourful murals, many of which contain flowers or skulls.

His signature style, Super Flat has a double meaning: the 2D-style of Japanese anime and the shallowness of post WWII consumer culture.

TM gained international fame after his crossover pattern for Louis Vuitton in 2002 became a mega hit.

Romero

Britto (1963 – )

NEO POP

Ha

pp

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b D

og

Little Horse

Hearts Rising

Takashi

Murakami (1962 – )

SUPER FLAT

Death and Rebirth Blue

Red and Blue Demons with 48 Arhats

Crossover Artists