Modernism, Post Modernism, and Art Education

National Art Education Association

Modernism, Post Modernism, and Art EducationAuthor(s): Patricia ClahasseySource: Art Education, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Mar., 1986), pp. 44-48Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193006 .

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Faster Than Sunshine, acrylic on canvas, by Nicholas Krushenick. Credit: State of New York: Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza, Albany.

Modernism, Post Modernism, And Art Education

Patricia Clahassey

M od nodernism is the name given to that period of Western culture that has prevailed for the last hundred years. Recently the beliefs, ideas, and values that formed the underlying

structure of Modernism have undergone dramatic change, and many believe we are in an unsettling period of transition from Modernism to what has been called Post Modernism (Gablik, 1984). Since Modernist beliefs about art are embedded in our culture and what we teach about art in schools reflects cultural beliefs, it might serve to speculate about connections between the tenets of Modernism and what has been the content of art education.

The beginnings of Modernism date from the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874 and reached their culmination in the work of Minimalists and Conceptualists at the end of the 1970's. In 1910, the Futurist painters issued a Manifesto that set forth the premises on which Modernism was built. They declared that:

1. all art of the past was dead and was to be rejected, 2. artists must focus on the future, progress was the

hallmark of the future, and progress would come through science and technology.

3. individual artists would invent that future and that "madman" would be looked upon as a title of honor (Chipp, 1968).i These three ideas have given form and substance to much of what has happened in 20th Century art. Formalism The rejection of past art meant that tradition no longer was a source of inspiration for artists. Each style that appeared had to be new and innovative. Gradually, emphasis shifted to innovation for its own sake giving rise to what Clement Greenberg (1973) called "avant- gardism." The problem with radical innovation as a motivating force in art is that criteria for judging the quality of art disappear. Judgments about works of art are usually based on accumulated experiences that form into sets of expectations called conventions or elements of taste. Whatever they are called, such expectations come into play as viewers confront a new work of art. The new work extends or confounds these expectations.

Art Education March 1986 44

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As artists deliberately set out to repudiate past art by producing radically new forms, however, viewers could no longer draw on previous experiences when forming judgments. The only criterion left was radical newness. Greenberg (1966) resolved this problem by acknowledging that since no criteria existed outside the work, judgments about the work must be referenced in the work itself. Visual art should confine itself exclusively to visual experience and make no reference to other modes of experience, such as the literary or social. He calls this the "scientific method," and the kind of consistency that counts is "aesthetic consistency". The visual experience was of the paint, color, surface, or two- dimensionality of the canvas - in other words, what we have come to know as the art elements. These ideas gave rise to the Formalism of the 50's and 60's and were central to the work of such artists as Stella, Newman, and others. Greenberg (1966) stated that even Abstract Expressionism, with its emphasis on spontaneity, could be understood only in terms of Formalist criteria. Expressionism Harold Rosenberg, another influential critic of this time, disagreed with Greenberg. As principal spokesperson for Abstract Expressionism, he explained that this art was not to be seen in terms of past development of art forms but as part of the human struggle for identity in a world of chaos. Rosenberg (1960) coined the term "Action Painting" in order to focus attention on the creative act itself. In his essay, "The American Action Painter" (1960) he pointed out that the canvas becomes an arena, a place on which the artist acts rather than a place to produce an object and "what was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event" (p. 25). It was the action of the artist that became central to this theory, and that action was a moment of time, a fragment of the artist's life that represented his or her struggle for identity. Mark Rothko would be quoted as saying, "I'm not an abstractionist. I'm not interested in the relationship of color or form to anything else, I'm interested in expressing basic human emotions"

(Gablik, 1984, p. 22). In 1951, Hans Hofmann stated that "there is nothing that is common to all of us except our creative urge. (Abstract art) means one thing to me, to discover myself as well as I can" (Chipp, 1968, p. 568). We see, therefore, the full flowering of that other tenet of Modernism, the primacy given to the creative act of the individual. Each artist is unique with unique experiences, and each artistic expression is unique. Science and Technology As Robert Hughes (1980) pointed out in Shock of the New, "the speed at which culture reinvented itself through technology in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth, seems almost preternatural" (p. 15). It was the experience of accelerated change that was the result and brought about feelings of unbounded optimism in the power of science and technology to solve the ills of mankind and create utopian worlds. World War I forced many to reassess their views, but faith in science and technology continued as one of the guiding principles of Modernism. The influence of science can be seen in the interest of early Impressionists in the science of optics, in the simultaneity of Monet and the Cubists, in the dynamism of the Futurists, and in the reductionist scientific method of Malevich, Mondrian, Albers, and many others.

New technology fascinated artists, and they have been on a continual search for new media and techniques while proclaiming the death of easel painting. This search has led to the use of "found objects," fabricated steel, neon, lasers, and the ubitiquitous computer as the latest bit of technology through which art can be made. The Public As twentieth century art attempted to strip itself of all meaning outside itself, becoming pure abstraction or pure self expression, it has gradually left its public further and further behind. In their relentless pursuit of of the new, artists have resorted to the outrageous to gain the attention of a public bombarded with new styles. Another consequence of the rejection of tradition was

In this article.. Clahassey notes relationships between major art movements

and art education in the schools. "The so called discipline-based

art education (DBAE) movement brings with it ideas similar to

those found in the new art world."

The-The #1, 1962, oil on canvas, by Grace Hartigan. Credit: State of New York: Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza, Albany.




In Need of Repair, mixed media, by Randolph James Danek, Niskayuna High School, Schenectady, NY.

Hot Dog!, colored pencil, by Catherine Taber, Argyle Central School, Argyle, NY.

rejection of craft. Craft is based on tradition, and it was the one aspect of art that the public could respond to as subject matter slipped away. This sense of loss and bewilderment turned to anger and outrage as the public began to suspect that this Modern art was, in fact, a hoax or a fraud perpetrated on them by the artists (Steinberg, 1966). Conclusion Thus we can see that the two directions that have most characterized Modern art are a drive towards abstraction with its increasing emphasis on formal aspects of works of art, and a drive towards self expression with its emphasis on the actions of individual artists with their inner feelings about the world. Both these drives are based on progress and creativity, and as a consequence, each work of art must be innovative and radically new. This innovation carries with it an implicit and sometimes explicit repudiation of existing styles of art. Traditional art does not serve as a guide or a source for the Modern artist. Art Education - Expressionism Anyone who has been in art education for any length of time will recognize that the Modernist theme of self expression has been dominant in the field since the 1930's. The opening sentence of Margaret E. Mathias' (1929) Art in the Elementary School, reads, "Art education. .. aims to foster and develop the child's natural impulse to express his feelings about his experiences through the use of materials" (p. vii). In Creative and Mental Growth, Viktor Lowenfeld (1947) described an art program that uses creative expression as a teaching method. Lowenfeld believed that creative expression could only occur if it were allowed to develop without any interference from the outside world. Children were not to look to tradition, the art that existed in the culture, but to look within themselves, to their own experiences and their subjective relationship with people and environment. This belief about the source of children's art is similar to Rosenberg's description of Abstract Expressionism during the 1950's.

Self expression was accompanied by an emphasis on creativity, and creativity was a central issue in art education for almost twenty years. Creativity is posited on innovation, the breaking of boundaries (Eisner, 1965), or deviation from the norm. But for children this was a difficult task because deviation from a norm is possible only when a norm exists.

Motivated by a spirit of innovation, interest in the latest technology, and desire to encourage creativity, art teachers searched for new and unusual media and art projects. Children were urged to express themselves in ever new and exotic techniques from blowing paint through a drinking straw to create "abstract expressionist" pieces, to the use of tongue depressors, toothpicks, and fruity smelling markers. As a result, distributors of art materials would vie with one another to present the newest stuff to art teachers at annual conventions. The Public Just as Modern art was rejected by its public, so school art programs began to lose the support of their public.

Art Education March 1986

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Parents and school administrators knew that children enjoyed experimenting with different materials for self expression and that they produced nice things to decorate the school or the refrigerator door at home. However, they questioned the educational values of such experiences. By 1970, self expression was no longer a sufficient justification for art. Children were in school to learn and in particular to learn the basics; art teachers had to prove the legitimacy of their programs and show that art is basic. They began to look for a content that was more cognitive and a bit less expressive. The model that existed in the art world was the Formalist model with its emphasis on problem solving and on learning "concepts" of line, form, and color. Formalism Teaching formal elements has long had a place in the high school curriculum. In Creative and Mental Growth, Lowenfeld (1947) makes this an integral part of an art program for adolescents. About 1970, instruction in the formal elements began to appear in elementary programs. In the 1972 NAEA publication, Art Education: Elementary, teaching of art through formal principles of design is presented as another approach to art in elementary schools. In many instances, elementary curricula were being structured in a Formalist mode with units on line, shape, and color, etc. (Cornia, Stubbs, Winters, 1976; Linderman, 1979). As Formalism began to pervade the curricula of both elementary and

Summer Workshops

secondary levels those programs ran the risk of making art less meaningful for students. To be able to manipulate positive and negative space did not seem to speak to the concerns of either secondary or elementary students who intuitively knew that art had to be about something. Post Modernism During the last several years, something has been happening in the art world. The tenets of Modernism have come increasingly under attack. The individualism of twentieth century art is being replaced by the appearance of teams of artists, such as Komar and Melamid (Indiana, 1985) and TODA, four anonymous New York artists whose group work was shown in the 1985 Whitney Biennial. Art history has taken on new importance for contemporary artists who are returning to it for ideas and images. Roy Lichtenstein was one of the first with his "Rouen Cathedral Series, After Monet" in 1969 and other romps through Classicism, Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism, and Expressionism (Cowart, 1981). Other artists are also looking back, such as Pat Steir with her monumental "Brueghel Series" (Gardner, 1985). Self expression has given way to expression of social concerns as seen in the work of Leon Golub or of myth as in the work of Sandor Chia and Susan Rothenberg. Content, image, symbol, and metaphor have all been rediscovered. It is a bewildering time called "Post Modernism" by both its promoters and its detractors.




During the last several years, something has also been happening in art education. The so called discipline- based art education (DBAE) movement brings with it ideas similar to those found in the new art world. The discipline in discipline-based art education is really four disciplines: art history, art criticism, aesthetics, and art production. Art programs are beginning to move away from a heavy emphasis on self expression and formalism. Art history has been rediscovered, and, from kindergarten through high school, teachers have been taking their students on trips through art history, introducing them to Picasso and Matisse, artists who have been relative strangers to them (Eisner, 1972). Students are learning to draw from observation and their imagination. They are being initiated into the use of metaphor, both in works of art and as they describe their encounters with art. For art teachers, this Post Modernism in art education is a bewildering time in which to try to develop coherent programs. Art teachers might be tempted to look with nostalgia on simpler times when all they had to consider when planning their lessons were self expression, formal elements, and a variety of media. But Post Modernism in art education is a challenging time: no single theory of art enjoys favored status, but all styles and content, all of art history, and all issues in criticism and aesthetics can be considered proper content for art programs. .

Patricia Clahassey is a coordinator of art education at The College of St. Rose in Albany, NY.

References Chipp, H.B. (1968). Theories of modern art: A source book by

artists and critics. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Cornis, I.E., Stubbs, C.B., and Winters, N.B. (1976). Art is

elementary: Teaching visual thinking through art concepts. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press.

Cowart, J. (1981). Roy Lichtenstein 1970-1980. New York: Hudson Hills Press.

Eisner, E.W. (1966). A typology of creative behavior in the visual arts. In E.W. Eisner and D.W. Ecker. (Eds.). Readings in art education. Lexington, MA: Xerox College Publishing.

Eisner, E.W. (1972). Educating artistic vision. New York: Macmillan. Gablik, S. (1984). Has modernism failed? New York: Thames and

Hudson. Gardner, P. (1985 November). Pat Steir: Seeing through the eyes of

others. ARTnews, 84, (9) pp. 80-88. Greenberg, C. (1966). Modernist painting. In G. Battcock. (Ed.).

The new art. New York: E.P Dutton. Greenberg, C. (1973). Counter avant-garde. In M. Rader. (Ed.).

A modern book of aesthetics. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston. Hughes, R. (1980). The shock of the new. New York: Alfred A.

Knopf. Indiana, G. (1985). Komar & Melamid confidential. Art in America,

73, (6) pp. 94-101. Linderman, M.M. (1979). Art in the elementary school. Dubuque,

IA: Wm. C. Brown. Lowenfeld, V. (1947). Creative and mental growth. New York:

Macmillan. Mathias, M.E. (1929). Art in the elementary school. New York:

Charles Scribner's. NAEA (1972). Art education: Elementary. Washington, DC: The

National Art Education Association. Rosenberg, H. (1960). The tradition of the new. New York:

McGraw-Hill. Steinberg, L. (1966). Contemporary art and the plight of its public.

In G. Battcock. (Ed.). The new art. New York: E.P. Dutton.

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This summer, the School of Education, Health, Nursing, and Arts Professions at New York Univer- sity offers Studio Art in Venice-a two-month graduate study abroad program.

The artistic resources of Venice are endlessly varied, making it an ideal place to study Artists, prospective art teachers, and students of art will study original art forms, have their own work critiqued by local and visiting artists, and enjoy intensive studio work for university credit.

Varied research and field trips to such renowned cities as Bologna, Padua, and Verona provide each student with a full and exciting summer schedule. Studio space will be assigned one week after classes begin. Lectures, seminars, and other course work will be offered each weekday morning and late afternoon.

Students who wish to earn an M.A. abroad can do so in three summers: two in Venice (for 24 credits) and one at our New York Washington Square Center (for 12 credits). Credits obtained by the completion of the Studio Art in Venice program may also be applied to a Ph.D., Ed.D., or D.A. degree.

For more information and an application, call (212) 598-2772 or return the coupon below.

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L _ ___________ Student works from HIGH SCHOOL DRAWING 1985, Picotte Gallery, The College of St. Rose, Albany, New York.




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Modernism, Post Modernism, and Art Education