Avant-Garde(by Dani)

There is not a lot of information on Avant-Garde but what I found is that avant garde works were experimental. Avant Gardes disaproved popular forms of art thinking that the academic practice complicates and compromises the work. Avant-Garde pushes the boundries of what was accepted as the normal academic way. Avant-garde is considered closely related to modernism and post modernism. Some people fix the date of the beginning of this era is May 17, 1863, which was the opening of Salon des Refuses in Paris. Painters started this expedition to show Paris Salon that paintings can be more than academic. The Salon des Refuses were held in 1863, 1874, 1875, and 1886. Painter Gustave Courbet's started avant-gardism by rebelling Realism. In 1855 two of his paintings: Burial at Ornans(1849) and The Artist's Studio(1855) were rejected by the jury of the International Exhibition. As time went on, the criticism grew for avant garde art because it was new and because there was more abundance of avant-garde art. With this, avant-garde became more newsworthy for it was covered by media. It helped that big money was invested in it.







Gustave Courbet- Burial at Ornans

Gustave Courbet- The Artist Studio

Gustave Courbet-The Edge of the Sea at Palavas

Olga Rozanova-Pub

Sitations

www.wikipedia.org

www.rollins.edu/foreignlang/russian/rozanova.html

Fauvism/Expressionism (by Abi)

FAUVISM

Les Fauves was a small group of 20th Century Modern artists that are essentially known as expressionist. Some of their values carried over from Impressionism, but had some stylistic changes that set them apart. The Fauves had styles of painting that were influenced by artists such as Paul Cezanne and Paul Guaguin, and Van Gogh but began their own movement by simplifying their subject matter and using highly vibrant colors and brush marks. Their subject matter often featured landscapes that were distorted with color and simplification. The movement made by the Fauves only lasted around 3 years, from 1905-1907, which gave them time for only 3 exhibitions. In the beginning, Fauvism was subjected to mockery and abuse but eventually became respected when major art buyers began purchasing their artwork. The leaders of Fauvism were Henri Matisse and Andre Derain.

Henri Matisse. Woman with a hat, 1905. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.


Andre Derain. The Turning Road, L´Estaque (1906), The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Fauvism can also be seen as a mode of Expressionism.

EXPRESSIONISM

Expressionism is best defined as a movement in which the artist's goal is to not only depict their subject matter, but the emotions that are being felt in response to the subject matter. The artists distorted subject matter through extremely visible and vigorous brushwork and strong, vibrant colors. A good example of the use of these concepts is Franz Marc's Yellow Cow:

Yellow Cow, Franz Marc.

Here we see exaggerated colors, colors that often were probably not the actual color of the subject matter. The cow probably was not bright yellow and purple, but rather, the artist "felt" these colors while creating this work.

There are many other individuals that were linked to the Expressionist movement. A few examples are Oscar Kokoschka, Georges Rouault, Egon Schiele, and Wassily Kandinsky. These artists were turned off by the naturalism of Impressionism, but somehow were still influenced by artists such as Munch, Vincent Van Gogh, and a lot of African Art.

Georges Rouault.

Egon Schiele (1890-1918), Self-Portrait With Arm Twisting Above Head, 1910. Gouache, watercolor, charcoal, and pencil on paper, 42.5 x 29.5 cm. Private collection, Courtesy Neue Galerie New York.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944 Transverse Line, 1923, 141 x 202 cm, Oil on canvas
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf.

The term "Expressionism" is usually linked to paintings and graphic work in Germany at the turn of the century which challenged the academic traditions, particularly through the Die Bruke and Der Blaue Reiter groups.

Die Brücke (The Bridge)

was a group of Expressionist artists named after the Bruke Museam in Berlin. Fritz Bleyl, Eich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff formed the group in Dresden in 1905. Later,Emil Nolde, Max Echstien, and Otto Mueller joined the group. Die Brucke had a major impact on Modern art in the 20th century by creating the style of Expressionism.

The group began their movement by isolating themselves in Erich Heckel's abandoned butcher shop. They described their studio as:

"that of a real bohemian, full of paintings lying all over the place, drawings, books and artist’s materials — much more like an artist’s romantic lodgings than the home of a well-organized architecture student." (wikepedia, 08.)

The group began their movement by creating "quarter hour poses " (to spark the mode of spontaneity) of nude drawings and paintings of people from the social circle, deviating from the norm of having a professional models. The group composed a manifesto (mostly Kirchner's work), which was carved on wood and asserted a new generation, "who want freedom in our work and in our lives, independence from older, established forces." (wikepedia, 08.)

Marzella (1909-10)

The group's first exhibition was held in September and October, 1906 in the showroom of K.F.M. Seifert and Co. in Dresden. The pieces focused mainly on the female nude. They made use of a technique of expressive distortion, crude, and clearly intentionally unsophisticated.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Bathers Throwing Reeds , from the portfolio Brücke V, 1909-10, woodcut complete: 7 7/8 x 11 1/2 inches (20 x 29.2 cm). Publisher: Künstlergruppe Brücke, Dresden; edition: c. 68.

Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider)

was a group of Expressionist artists from the Neue Kunstrlerverinigung Munchen in Munich, Germany. The movement caused by this group lasted from 1911-1914, not much longer than Die Bruke. The name of the group came from a painting by Kandinsky done in 1903, who was one of the founders of the group. It is thought to have come from Marc's love for horses and Kandinsky's love for the color blue. (see image below)

The Blue Rider, Kandinsky, 1903.

The group was formed after the painting, The Last Judgment done by Kandinsky was rejected from an exhibition.

Angel of the Last Judgment, Kandinsky.

Other founders of the group included Franz Marc, August Macke, Alexej Von Jawlensky, Marianne Von Werefkin, Lyonel Feininger, and Albert Bloch. The styles of each artist within the group gave their movement some variety, although they seemed to have shared a common concept that spiritual truth should be expressed within artwork. They also believed that there were spiritual and symbolic associations of color and an intuitive approach to painting. Thus we have Expressionistic styles, expressing emotion through art. Their influences came from Medieval art and primitivism, as well as the contemporary non-respresentational art that was occurring in France at the time. Their encounters with the Fauvist, Cubist, and Rayonist styles and concepts, the group moved toward abstraction.

Citations and Links:
http://www.artmovements.co.uk/fauvism.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauvism
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/marc.html
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/expressionism.html
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/kokoschka.html
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/kandinsky.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Br%C3%BCcke
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Blaue_Reiter

Do Ho Suh (By Heidi)

Do Ho Suh was born in Seoul, Korea in 1962. Before serving in the South Korean military he earned his BFA and MFA in oriental painting at the Seoul National University. After his enrollment in the army he traveled to the United States and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and at Yale University. Suh focuses his sculptural pieces on how viewers occupy and inhabit public space. His intricate sculptures defy conventional notion of scale and site-specificity. In many of Suh's floor sculptures viewers are encouraged to walk on glass pieces primarily held up by many tiny human like figures. These pieces signify the fact that many people make up a society and those people are what keep the society going or to Suh what holds a society up. In another piece Suh covers a gallery space floor with thousands of dog tags all leading to a hollow ghost like suit of honor also made from dog tags. Suh could be arguing the fine line between personal space and public space or he might be arguing strength in numbers verse homogeneity. Suh's sculptures question the identity of the individual in today's fast paced global society. A retrospective of Suh's work was presented at the Seattle Art Museum and the Seattle Asian Art Museum in 2002. Suh's work has also been presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris in 2001, Serpentine Museum in London in 2002 and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, MO in 2002-2003.

Impressionism and Cezanne (Sean)

Impressionism

Impressionism is a style of loose imagery and bright colors that attempts to convey the effects of light upon the subject. Short, quick brushstrokes adorn the canvas of an Impressionist painting and this brings about a sense of movement and action that quickly affirms the subjects that Impressionists most often depicted: outdoor scenes and daily activities. Within their composition, Impressionists attempted to recreate light’s effect upon the world by showing direct light upon the subject, the many colors that reflect on to the subject from adjacent objects, and the shadow that it creates. Often, they painted the same subject at different times of the day so as to see the affects of differing amounts of light and shadow. Rarely was black or grey used within a painting. Impressionists would apply contrasting colors atop each other or closely juxtapose to create a more intense hue from those used. These painters were interested in how color, hue and texture could be used to recreate a natural setting most effectively.

Manet- Dejeuner sur l’herbe

Impressionism began later in the nineteenth century at le Salon de Refuses if France with the showing of Manet’s “Dejeuner sur l’herbe.” This movement in art history was begun more as a reproach and a reaction to the current tradition of academic painting and romanticism. The term ‘impressionism’ was created by an unkind critic, Louis Leroy, in connection to a painting by Monet, entitled ‘Impression: Sunrise.’ The term was taken in by other, more kindly critics to give voice to, what they called, the impression that one has of a visual experience that is rapid and transitory, associated with only a single moment in time. During the later 1860’s, painters like Monet, Renior, Sisley, and Pissaro, those most readily associated with Impressionism (even though Manet is considered to be the father of the Impressionist movement, he did not show any pieces at any of the 9 group showings), chose to paint outside. They did this so they could better capture the quickly altering affects of light and atmosphere, and better record their own, individual sensations of the subject that stood before them. Their color choice and quick brushstrokes allowed them to be responsive the character and texture of the natural object. Impression saw it’s culmination in 1884-1885 when, due to rivalries and contrasting views, it faded into Post- and Neo- Impressionism.

Monet- Impression: Sunrise

Renior- Lace Hat

Sisley- Autumn Banks of the Seine Near Bougival

Pissaro- The Boulevard Montmartre at Night

Cezanne

Paul Cezanne was born in 1839 and died in 1906. Cezanne was a painter of remarkable quality and is most notable for his Post-Impressionist paintings. He was, however, also an Impressionist. He pushed beyond the sensibilities of his contemporaries by furthering his technique of how he put the paint upon his canvas. He had an analytical approach to conveying nature and also had a unique way of building form with color. In so doing, he created something, that he says, "is more solid and durable, like the art of the museums." Cezanne's work is divided into three phases. The first, was very much impressionist. Through his association with Pissaro, he gathered the techniques the impressionists used and loosened his brushstrokes. This is most evident in the painting "House of the Hanged Man" (shown below).

The next phase that Cezanne entered into in the later 1870's is known as the Constructive phase. In it, Cezanne used groupings of parallel and hatched brushstrokes to build up a sense of mass between them. He continued with this phase into the early 1890's. The painting below, "Card Players," is a prime example of this phase.

The last of Cezanne's three phases, his late phase, is one that many people most readily identify as his style. It is the most prominently Post-Impressionist. His subject matter dealt with still lives, bathers, and multiple views of a nearby landmark, Mont Sainte-Victoire. These later landscapes have a much more unfinished and light feeling to them, due in large part to Cezanne's works in watercolor.

Le Mont Sainte-Victoire

Citations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism

Matthias Weischer (Posted by Amanda)

Matthias Weischer (born 1973 in Rheine, Germany) is a contemporary painter working out of Leipzig, Germany.  He is part of what is know as the Leipzig School, a group of German painters that have become very prominent in the international art scene in the past decade or so.  Leipzig is located in East Germany; these artists began developing a distinctive style during the decades that East Germany was politically and socially separate from western Europe.  While the rest of the European art world was emphasizing abstraction and conceptual work, painters in Leipzig continued to make figurative work.  The result of this isolation developed an interesting, idiosyncratic group of artists working with surreal scenarios and spaces.

Egyptian Room. Oil, 2001

Automat. Oil, 2004

Weischer works less with the figure itself, and more with the space that figures occupy: domestic spaces.  The spaces in Weischer's work are typically banal, and a bit outdated, spotted with the kind of common, mass-produced, and slightly retro decor and furnishings that could be in any home.  This sense of familiarity combined with the emptiness of spaces creates both a nostalgic and an uneasy feeling.  The subjects of his images are uncanny, a feeling which is heightened by his formal approach.  Weischer walks an interesting line between representation and abstraction, using dizzying pattern, slightly "off" perspective, and liberal use of paint.  I am most interested in the way that Weischer can create a completely convincing representational space, yet also equally assert the material of paint, and the physicality of his 2-D surface.

Der Ecke (The Corner). Oil, 2005

Links:  

Matthias Weischer at The Saatchi Gallery

Matthias Weischer at Eigen Art

The New Leipzig School.  Arthur Lubow, New York Times 1/8/2006

Modern Art vs. Contemporary Art, Movement vs. Genre (Posted by Amanda)

Modern vs. Contemporary

Modern has multiple definitions dependent upon the context in which it is used.  Generally speaking, modern refers to something current or up-to-date; historically modern (Modernity) often refers to anything from the industrial revolution to present.  Modern Art (Modernism), however, identifies approximately a century of art and related cultural changes (1860-1970-ish), and was overarching movement containing many smaller movements (several of which will be addressed in future blog entries!).  

Some of the key concerns of Modern Art:

-breaking with tradition, experimentation

-expression of emotions and other intangibles

-development and use of new types of materials

-use of exaggerated, unnatural color and form

-acceptance of form as subject and content, rise of abstraction

  

Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles de Avignon.  1905

  

Piet Mondrian.  Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red.  1921

Contemporary should be used in reference to art from 1970 (ish) to present.   

Movement vs. Genre

An art movement describes a trend amongst multiple artists caused by similarities in concerns, whether aesthetic or conceptual.  These "organized" tendencies also tend to have time parameters, a general starting and ending date.  Examples of art movements include Impressionism, Futurism, Dada, and the Fluxus movement.  Movements are often bookended by other movements, as these trends often were inspired by or in rejection to previous movements.

Genre refers to categories of subject in art, such as landscape, portraiture, abstraction, or mythology.  Genres are not date specific, and do not necessarily share characteristics with other art/artists outside of basic subject matter.  

(source used: artlex.com)