End of the 19 th century & beginning of the 20 th century modern art

END OF THE 19TH CENTURY & BEGINNING OF THE 20TH CENTURY MODERN ART

1860s - 1900s

IMPRESSIONISM

BACKGROUND TO THE IMPRESSIONIST PERIOD• Began in the 1860s• Centered in Paris around a loose collective of

artists/friends• Term “impressionists” coined as an insult of the painter

Claude Monet’s Impression – Sunrise (1872)• Argued that their paintings were just “impressions” or

sketches, not real paintings• Impressionist style spread to music and literature as well

as visual arts• Beginning of modern art?• Incredibly popular today

• 6 of 10 most expensive paintings are Impressionist or Post-Impressionist painters

A CRITIC OF THE IMPRESSIONISTS

• “Impression — I was certain of it. I was just telling myself that, since I was impressed, there had to be some impression in it … and what freedom, what ease of workmanship! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.”

• Impressionists were rebels• Napoleon III’s Academie des Beaux-Arts

controlled the world of French painting (both content and style)• They wanted historical/religious themes, realistic

depictions and portraits• Each year it held a salon• The rebellious painters were rejected each year

• Eventually they were allowed to have their own salon (salon des refuses) in 1863

• Afterwards they were further rejected, so by 1873 they started their own “society”

BACKGROUND TO THE IMPRESSIONIST PERIOD

CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPRESSIONIST ART

• Broad quick brush strokes (to capture the “essence” of the subject)

• Emphasized overall “impression” of the scene rather than specific details

• Examined the effect of light and color on a scene

• Painted landscapes

• Painted candid portraits and depictions of regular life

• Emphasized spontaneity, bright color, and light

CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPRESSIONIST ART

• Mix wet paint together to create shadows, greys

• Otherwise, very little mixing of colors (The blending is in the eye of the viewer)

• Opaque surfaces to the painting

• Paint at different times of day (including evening)

• No harsh lines

• Emphasize natural light

• Naturalistic scenes of everyday life, people and landscapes

CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPRESSIONIST ART• Impressionist style was not “brand new”• Just anti-establishment• NOTE: Impressionism was not a rebellion against

photographic “realism”. Impressionists were inspired by photography• Wanted to capture intimate day-to-day moments in life• They explored what photography lacked (i.e. color)

• Spiritual forefathers include:• Diego Velasquez• Peter Paul Rubens• J.M.W. Turner• Eugene Delacroix• Gustave Courbet

“PURE” IMPRESSIONISTS

CAMILLE PISSARRO (1830 - 1903)

CAMILLE PISSARRO

• “Father” of the impressionists

• Rebelled against the Salons in France

• Great supporter of younger artists like Cezanne, Gaugin and Seurat, even post-impressionists like Henri Matisse

• Saw his painting as a continued expression of freedom vs. control of government, society

• Hard to categorize his art into neat chronologies (early, middle, late)

NORWOOD (1871)

THE RAINBOW (1877)

HOARFROST (1877)

PEASANT GIRL DRINKING HER COFFEE (1881)

BOULEVARD MONTMARTRE, NIGHT (1897)

BOULEVARD MONTMARTRE, RAINY (1897)

BOULEVARD MONTMARTRE, AFTERNOON (1897)

CLAUDE MONET (1840 – 1926)

CLAUDE MONET

• Perhaps the most famous impressionist painter

• “pure” impressionist who moved the art style forward into the 1900s

• Famous for painting the same scene at different times of day or seasons

• Most famous for his “water lily” paintings

THE BODMER OAK, FONTAINEBLEU FOREST (1865)

HAYSTACKS AT SUNRISE (1865)

GARDEN AT SAINTE ADRESSE (1867)

THE MAGPIE (1869)

THE BEACH AT TROUVILLE (1870)

GARE ST. LAZARE (1877)

THE STROLL, CAMILLE MONET AND HER SON JEAN (1875)

THE CLIFFS AT ERETAT (1885)

WHEATSTACKS (END OF SUMMER) (1890-91)

BRIDGE OVER A POND OF WATER LILIES (1899)

HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT, SUNSET (1904)

WATER LILIES (THE CLOUDS) (1903)

WATER LILIES (1907)

WATER LILIES (1916)

PIERRE-AUGUST RENOIR (1841 – 1919)

PIERRE-AUGUST RENOIR

• Worked closely with Monet throughout the 1880s

• Lots of paintings of modernized Paris

• Scenes of middle-class leisure

• Painted lots of nudes

NINI IN THE GARDEN (1875 – 76)

DANCE AT LE MOULIN LA GALETTE(1876)

GYPSY GIRL (1879)

LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY (1881)

ON THE TERRACE (1881)

OTHER IMPRESSIONISTS

EDOUARD MANET (1832 - 1883)

EDOUARD MANET

• Never regarded himself as an impressionist

• His early nudes shocked critics

• “Who’s for lunch?” - about Luncheon in the Grass (1863)

• His early paintings set the stage for Impressionism

ABSINTHE DRINKER (1858)

LUNCHEON IN THE GRASS (1863)

OLYMPIA (1863)

THE EXECUTION OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN (1868)

A BAR AT THE FOLIES-BERGERES (1881 - 82)

EDGAR DEGAS (1834 - 1917)

EDGAR DEGAS

• Hated the term “impressionist”

• Most famous for his paintings of dancers

• Made art out of scenes/subjects that had never been made art before

• Yet borrowed many themes/subjects from earlier artists

• Quote: “We were created to look at one another, weren’t we?”

INTERIOR (THE RAPE) (1868)

MUSICIANS IN THE ORCHESTRA (1872)

THE DANCE CLASS (1873 - 76)

DANCE SCHOOL (1874)

THE STAR OF THE DANCE (1876)

L’ABSINTHE (1876)

BALLET DANCERS IN THE WINGS (1900)

AT THE STOCK EXCHANGE (1879)

An example of Anti-Semitic painting in the late 19th century

LITTLE DANCER OF FOURTEEN YEARS (SCULPTURE)

1890s - 1920s

POST-IMPRESSIONISM

BACKGROUND TO POST-IMPRESSIONISM

• Refers generally to styles following Impresionism

• Paved the way for 20th century artists

• While they followed the Impressionists, in some ways they rejected the Impressionist’s style

• Impressionism was too “naturalistic and casual”

• They sought a more effective way to convey emotion in art

PAUL CEZANNE (1839 - 1906)

• Transition painter between Impressionism and Post-Impressionism

• Laid foundations for 20th century painting

PAUL CEZANNE

THE BLUE VASE (1883 - 1887)

THE CARD PLAYERS (1890 - 92)

WOMAN WITH A COFFEE POT (1895)

RIDEAU, CRUCHON ET COMPOTIER (1893 -94)

SEATED PEASANT (1895 - 1900)

STILL LIFE WITH SKULL (1895 - 1900)

TABLE, NAPKIN AND FRUIT (1895 - 1900)

ROAD BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS (1898 - 1902)

CHATEAU NOIR (1900 - 1904)

VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853 - 1890)

VINCENT VAN GOGH• Dutch painter who moved to Paris in 1886

• Impression influenced his style early

• He took his style in a direction of pure expression of color, brushstrokes

• His paintings literally leave a texture on the canvas

• Wanted to use his painting to “say something comforting in the way that music is comforting”

• Only sold 1 work during his life (Red Vineyard)

• One of the most influential artists to 20th century art

• Influenced Fauvism, Expressionism

VAN GOGH’S DEPRESSION• Depressed much of his life• Yellow tinge to many later paintings

• Halo effect?• Many medical suggestions as to his ailments

• Lead poisoning• Absinthe• Schizophrenia, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, etc.

• Cut off his left ear during a seizure (or perhaps after an argument with Paul Gaugin) in 1888

• Killed himself in 1890• Walked into a field and shot himself in the chest with a revolver• Did not realize the wound was fatal and walked away• Died two days later• Last recorded words: “the sadness will last forever”

SELF PORTRAIT WITH DARK FELT HAT (1886)

THE RED VINEYARD (1888)

POET’S GARDEN (1888)

CAFE AT NIGHT (1888)

STARRY NIGHT OVER THE RHONE (1888)

VASE WITH SUNFLOWERS (1888)

VINCENT’S BEDROOM AT ARLES (1889)

STARRY NIGHT (1889)

SELF PORTRAIT WITHOUT BEARD (1889)

IRISES (1889)

SELF PORTRAIT WITH BANDAGED EAR (1889)

WHEAT FIELD WITH CROWS (1890)

THE CHURCH AT AUVERS (1890)

PORTRAIT OF DR. GACHET (1890)

Sold for $82,500,000 in 1996

PAUL GAUGUIN (1848 - 1903)

PAUL GAUGUIN

• Grandson of socialist leader Flora Tristan

• Was not always a painter

• Mentored by Pissarro

THE VISION AFTER THE SERMON (1888)

BLUE TREES (1888)

BRETON GIRLS DANCING (1888)

VAN GOGH PAINTING SUNFLOWERS (1888)

WHERE DO WE COME FROM? WHAT ARE WE? WHERE ARE WE GOING? (1897)

GEORGES SEURAT(1864 - 1901)

GEORGES SEURAT

• Style = pointilism

• Seen as too limited by other artists

SUNDAY AFTERNOON ON THE ISLAND OF LA GRAND JATTE (1884 - 86)

DETAIL OF LA PARADE (1889)

HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC(1864 - 1901)

HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC

• Broke both legs when an adolescent

• Stunted growth to only 4 ½ feet tall

• Lived and worked in the Montmartre section of Paris

• Writers, poets, painters living the “bohemian” style

• Toulouse-Lautrec loved to paint that world of dance halls, drinking and women

• Drank himself to death in 1901

DANCE AT THE MOULIN ROUGE (1890)

MOULIN ROUGE ADVERTISEMENT (1891)

IN BED (1893)

ALONE (1896)

LA TOILETTE (1896)

AT THE MOULIN ROUGE (C. 1890-95)

MODERN ART AND THE TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE PAINTINGS (2006)

2. Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Klimt (135,000,000)

5. Portrait of Dr. Gachet, van Gogh (82,500,000)

6. La Bassin aux Nympheas, Monet (80, 500,000)

7. Bal au Moulin de la Gallette, Renoir (78,000,000)

9. Portrait of the Artist without Beard, van Gogh (71,500,000)

10. Ridon, Cruchon et Compotier, Cezanne (60,500,000)

EXPRESSIONISM

EXPRESSIONISM• Indebted to Freud

• Art tries to penetrate the façade of bourgeois superficiality and probe the psyche—that which lurks beneath an individual’s calm and artificial posture

• Paintings illustrated the artist’s state of mind rather than the material world

CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPRESSIONISM

• Subliminal anxiety

• Dissonance in color and perspective

• Pictorial violence—manifest* and latent**• *Manifest (adj) readily perceived by the eye or the understanding; evident; obvious; plain

• **Latent (adj) present or potential but not visible, apparent, or realized

Edvard Munch

The Scream

1893

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Street Scene with a Cocotte in Red

1914

Oskar Kokoschka, The Tempest, 1914

Max Beckmann

The Night

1918-1919

SURREALISM

SURREALISM

• Also indebted to Freud

• Explores the dream world, a world without logic, reason, or meaning

• Fascination with mystery, the strange encounters between objects, and incongruity

• Subjects are often indecipherable in their strangeness

• The beautiful is the quality of chance association

CHARACTERISTICS OF SURREALISM

• The dream sequence

• Illogic

• Fantasy

Giorgio de Chirico

The Vexations of the Thinker

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory

Salvador Dali,The Face of War

Max Ernst

Two Children are Menaced by a Nightingale

Joan Miró, Dog Barking at the Moon

Marc Chagall

Self-portrait with Seven Fingers

1913

CUBISM

• No single point of view

• No continuity or simultaneity of image contour

• All possible views to top, sides, front, and back

• Picture becomes a multifaceted view of objects with angular, interlocking planes

CHARACTERISTICS OF CUBISM

• A new way of seeing

• A view of the world as a mosaic of multiple relationships

• Reality as interaction

Pablo Picasso

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

1905?

Pablo Picasso, Paysage Mediterraneen

Georges Braque, The Table

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

• Nonrepresentational art

• No climaxes

• Flattened-out planes; and values

• The real appearance of forms in nature is subordinated to an aesthetic concept of form composed of shapes, lines and colors

CHARACTERISTICS OF ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

• Personal and subjective interpretation

• “you see what you want to…”

Henry Moore, Reclining Figure 1977

Alberto Giacometti

Man Pointing

1947

(Bronze sculpture)

Mark Rothko

Ochre on Red

1954

Jackson Pollock, Stenographic Figure, 1942

REFERENCES/SOURCES

• Nearly all pictures are from

• “Mark Harden’s Artchive” --http://www.artchive.com/