Chapter 1The nature of art and creativity

What is art?

What is it good for?

What are some characteristics of creativity?

Janet Echelman, Her Secret is Patience, 2009, Polyester fiber twine, rope, height 100’, Civic Space Park, Phoenix, AZ

Mixed Media- art made from a variety of materialsconstruction amateur daytime

Pablo Picasso, “La Reve” (The Dream), oil on canvas, 1932, 51”x38”Portrait of Marie Therese Walter until recently owned by Steve Wynn

Pablo Picasso, “La Reve” (The Dream), oil on canvas, 1932, 51”x38“

Originally purchased for $7000 (100K) by Ganz, the first piece they collected. Sold at auction 1997 for $48, and in 2001 for $60 to Wynn. 2006 the “Wynn incident” drops to $85 after 90K repair. Claimed on

insurance and reportedly sold again to Cohen in March 2013 for $155!

“Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, Francis Bacon, triptych, oil on canvas, 78”x58” each. Sold seperately in the 70’s and then reassembled by a collector in Rome in

the late 80’s. Sold at auction in late 2013 for $142 mil

One of 4 versions of “The Scream” by Edward Munch, this one in pastel- not even a painting(!) sold for $120 mil in 2012. The other three versions are in museums.

Jackson Pollock, No.5, oil and enamel on canvas, 1948, 48”x96”Sold by David Geffen to David Martinez in a private sale in 2008.

Last known sale of a large work was 1973 (!)

Wassily Kandinsky, Composition iv, 1911, Oil on canvasArt is:

A visual expression of an idea or experience formed with skill through the use of a medium- material and technique

Art is also what the artist says is artTom Sachs, Prada Toilet, 2000, actual size

Robin Rhode. He Got Game. 2000.Twelve color photographs. Example of Creativity

The ability to bring forth something new that has valueRelevance or new way of thinking

Not a novelty. Potential to influence future thought or action

Romare Bearden. Prevalence of Ritual: Tidings. 1967.Photomontage. 36" × 48".

Suggestive of the AnnunciationIBM CEO interviews (1500 in 60 countries)-

Creativity

Video: Romare Bearden Discusses His Work

Romare Bearden.Influence of childhood in North Carolina, Grew up in Harlem- Harlem

RenaissanceJazz and musician friends a big influence. Studied in Paris

Author and song writer

Romare Bearden. Rocket to the Moon. 1971.Collage on board. 13" × 9-1/4".

Fascinated with ideas of Home, homecoming and place

Nuestro pueblo, Sabatino “Simon” Rodia, mixed media, Watts (LA) California 1921-1954, height 100ft. Rodia was an untrained artist, an Italian immigrant who was a

tile setter.

Sabatino "Simon" Rodia. Nuestro Pueblo. Watts, CA. 1921–1954.Height 100'. He built this piece out of cast off materials over many years.

Sabatino "Simon" Rodia. Detail of Nuestro Pueblo. Watts, CA. 1921–1954.

James Hampton, “Throne of the third heaven of the nation’s millennium general assembly”,1950-1964, mixed media 180 pieces 10’6”x27’x14’6”. Hampton was a

Baptist minister and night janitor in Washington DC who built this work in his garage.

Retablo. 1915.Paint on tin. 9" × 11".

Man falsely accused credits “the fervent prayers of my dear parents and my aggrieved wife” for saving him

Alana, age 3. Grandma.Until about age six, children depict the world in symbolic rather then

representational ways using more mental constructs that visual realism

Representational artwork-Depicts the appearance of things. Represents (presents again) objects in the everyday world- Objects represented are called

subjects.

William Harnett. A Smoke Backstage. 1877.Oil on canvas, 7" x 8 1/2".

An example of Trope l’oeil- “to fool the eye” Like a painting in HD

Rene Magritte, The treason of images, oil on canvas, 1929.Ceci n’est pas une pipe - “this is not a pipe”

What is it?

Richard Estes, Times Square, woodblock print, 2000 20 blocks

Jan Van Eyck, Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife ('The Arnolfini Portrait'), 1434, 80x60cm. While the figures are somewhat stiff, the room and everything in it is

extremely accurate in its representation.

Abstract- to extract the essence, “to

take from”

Natural objects are simplified, distorted,

exaggerated.

Artist changes natural appearance

to reveal or emphasize certain

qualities.

Chief's stool. Late 19th–early 20th century.Wood plant fibre. Height 16-1/2".Western Grasslands, Cameroon

Abstraction is common in many cultures- choice to emphasize certain elements

Chilkat Blanket. Tlingit. Before 1928.4' 7" x 5' 4". What creatures can you pick out?

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1916.4 5/8" x 6 1/4".

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Abstraction of a Cow. c. 1916.4 5/8" x 6 1/4".

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Composition (The Cow). c. 1917.15 5/8" x 22 3/4".

Theo van Doesburg (C.E.M. Kupper). Composition (The Cow). c. 1917.14 3/4" x 25".

Marlene Dumas, Wailing Wall, 2009, Oil on Linen, 70”x118”Dumas uses strong brushwork and solid shapes to convey emotion

Yoshitomo Nara, oil on canvas, 2001Nara exaggerates features like eyes and head.

Non-representational -Visual forms with no specific reference to anything outside themselves. Pure visual forms.

Alma Woodsey Thomas. Gray Night Phenomenon. 1972.Acrylic on canvas. 68-7/8" × 53-1/8".

Maori peoples, New Zealand. Tukutuku panels. 1930s.Dyed, plaited flax strips over wood laths. Dimensions variable.

Te Whare Runanga, Maori Meeting House, New Zealand

Jackson Pollock, Blue poles: Number 11, 1952 enamel and aluminum paint with glass on canvas, 82 7/8" x 15' 11 5/8”.

Pollock sought to activate the surface through line and color while not depicting any specific thing.

Bridget Riley, Current, 1964, emulsion on canvas 55x55.Riley is interested in how the eye sees images.

Richard Serra, Snake, forged steel, 1994-97, Bilbao, Spain.Serra uses large steel forms to carve space

Why is this photograph of a pepper so important?

“28 years of effort… have gone into the making of this pepper, which I consider a peak of achievement”

Edward Weston,Pepper#30, 1930

•Photograph exposed over 2 hours

•What is the difference between “looking” and “seeing”?•more than a pepper: abstract, in that it is now completely outside subject matter…takes one beyond the world we know in the conscious mind”

Much of our thinking is visual using visual memory and imagination.

“To see is itself a creative operation, requiring an effort. Everything we see in our daily life is more or less distorted by acquired habits…the effort needed to see things without distortion requires something very like courage”- Henri Matisse 1953

How much more true is this today in light of TV, cell phones, the internet, video games?

Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, marble, 1901-04Representational- bodies are defined in detail

Contantin Brancusi, The Kiss, 1916 Limestone, 23x13x 10.How does Brancusi’s sculpture differ from Rodin’s?

It’s abstract, how do you know that?

Cornelia Parker, Kiss, one mile of string and Rodin’s Kiss, 2003Form is what we see, content is the meaning we get from what we see.

How do they change in this Kiss compared to the previous two?

Georgia O'Keeffe. Oriental Poppies. 1927.30" x 40 1/8".

Georgia O'Keeffe. Jack-in-the-Pulpit No. V. 1930.48" x 30".

Albrecht Durer Knight, Death and Devil,1513, Engraving, 24 x 19 cm.Durer is using Iconography to tell a larger story.

Iconography is the symbolic meaning of signs, symbols and images.

Circle of Diego Quispe Tito. The Virgin of Carmel Saving Souls in Purgatory. Late 17th Century., oil on canvas, 41" × 29".

Christian symbols, actors, scapular garments for protection

Amida Buddha. 12th century. JapanWood with traces of lacquer, pigment, and gilding. Height 52-1/2".

Topknot- Enlightenment, Earlobes- previous life weath, lotus- enlightenment, hands meditative