Surrealism

Surrealism

This movement had begun in Paris thanks to a small group of writers and artists who wanted to unlock the power of the imagination. They were influenced by Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx. Surrealism was a movement of the twentieth century that was very influential. In this movement there were two artists who had an important influence: they were Salvador Dali and Man Ray. They worked in fashion photography, advertising and film, and brought style to a huge popular audience. Following the end of Minimalism in the 1960’s, its influence was also on art.

References:

 

Surrealism Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2013. Surrealism Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-surrealism.htm. [Accessed 19 May 2013].

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was the most dominant and influential artist of the first half of the twentieth century. Picasso is also associated with the movement of cubism, with Georges Braque. He also invented collage and made a lot of contributions to symbolism and surrealism. He saw himself as a painter, yet he also worked with materials like a sculptor, printmaking and ceramics. He was famous and had a charismatic personality. Picasso first emerged as a symbolist influenced by Edvard Munch and Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec. This shaped his so-called Blue period in which he liked to paint beggars, prostitutes and various urban misfits, followed by the brighter moods of his next period: the Rose period.

Reference:

 

Pablo Picasso Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story. 2013. Pablo Picasso Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-picasso-pablo.htm. [Accessed 19 May 2013].

 

 

De Stijl

De Stijl

The de stijl movement began in the 1917. De stijl was based on abstract and visual elements such as geometric forms and primary colours. Like other movements of the time, De stijl’s definition is “the style” in Dutch. This movement emerged largely in response to the horrors of the First World War and the wish to remake society as a consequence. The De stijl artists like Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian applied their style to a host of media in the fine and applied arts. These artists had envisioned nothing less than the ideal fusion of form and function and making De stijl in effect the ultimate style. In the end of this movement artists didn’t pay attention to fine arts  -only painting, sculpture, industrial design, typography, literature and music. This movement helped  give rise to the International style of the 1920’s and 1930’s.

Reference:

 

De Stijl Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2013. De Stijl Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-de-stijl.htm. [Accessed 19 May 2013].

Dada art

Dada art

Dada began at the time of the horror of the First World War. It was a literary and artistic movement born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1916. The artists were influenced by the ideas of Cubism, Constructivism and expressionism.  Its output was wildly diverse: the art was performed as poetry, photography, sculpture, painting and collage. This work had a powerful influence on artists in many cities, including Berlin, Hanover, Paris, New York and Cologne.

 

Reference:

Dada Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2013. Dada Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm. [Accessed 19 May 2013].

Abstract expressionism

This movement began in the 1940’s and 1950’s and took place in New York. In this movement not only included those artists who filled their canvases with fields of colour and abstract forms, but also included those artists who attacked their canvases with vigorous flourishes of expressionism. In this movement the artists had a lot of ideas in common. They were influenced by the era’s leftist politics and came to value an art grounded in personal experience. Their art was championed because it was American in spirit, monumental in scale, romantic in mood and expressive of a rugged individual freedom. David Smith and Aaron Siskind – a sculptor and a photographer – help to unite the Abstract Expressionism movement.
 

References:

Abstract Expressionism Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. 2013. Abstract Expressionism Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-abstract-expressionism.htm. [Accessed 18 May 2013].

Japanese art in nineteenth century in Europe

 

When Japan started to trade with the west in the 1850’s, the Japanese style influenced the western artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec among others.  

 

Examples of artists that were influenced by Japanese art:

 

Edgar Degas

Degas began to collect Japanese ukiyo-e prints which these prints influenced his painting style. Sometimes his figures are placed uneven and on a diagonal and his compositions are cropped by the edge of the canvas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Edgar Degas - Woman combing her hair

 

 

 

Vincent Van Gogh

Even Van Gogh was influenced by the ukiyo-e printings. He painted his paintings with the reed pen.

 

 

 

 

 

                          Vincent van Gogh
            Japonaiserie: Oiran (after Kesai Eisen)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Toulouse-Lautrec was influenced by the Japanese art that he saw in Paris. He started to do posters by using the Japanese woodcut. His style was bold, flat and full of movement as he experimented with lithographic techniques.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Moulin Rouge: La Goulue and Her Sister, 1892
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901)

 

 

 

 References:

 

Japanese Woodblock Print. 2013. Japanese Woodblock Print. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.mylearning.org/japanese-woodblock-print/p-319/. [Accessed 15 May 2013].

 

 

 

Edgar Degas – The Ballet Class

 

Edgar Degas went to the Paris opera house not only to be part of the audience but as a visitor backstage. He observed everything that was in front of him such as the ordinary gestures, how the ballerinas relaxed from practicing and how the ballerinas’ teacher stood there. Degas managed to capture this moment perfectly and it looks like he took a photo. This painting is made with oil on canvas.

 

 

           

 

 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - Divan Japonais

 

 

 

 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec did this poster for the Montmartre café concert that opened in 1883 that was called the ‘Divan Japonais’. From this poster one can see that the artist was influenced from the Japanese prints because there are flat colours and there are the black outlines. Here in this poster, the artist drew two of his friends that are watching the performance.

 

 

 References:

 

·         Musée d'Orsay: Edgar Degas The Ballet Class. 2013. Musée d'Orsay: Edgar Degas The Ballet Class. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search/commentaire/commentaire_id/the-ballet-class-3098.html. [Accessed 15 May 2013].

·         Divan Japonais (1883) – Presentation | Inspired Ideas. 2013. Divan Japonais (1883) – Presentation | Inspired Ideas. [ONLINE] Available at: http://inspiredideasheresecondary.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/divan-japonais-1883/. [Accessed 15 May 2013].