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The Utopian Styles• “abstract art represents a new society free from

past associations”• Suprematism • Constructivism, • De Stijl,• Bauhaus – School of Art, Architecture, and

Design• During and after WWI,

artists sought a new Utopian world by creating art that could improve society

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Figure 33-52 KAZIMIR MALEVICH, Suprematist Composition: Airplane Flying, 1915 (dated 1914). Oil on canvas, 1’ 10 7/8” x 1’ 7”. Museum of Modern Art, New York (purchase).

Suprematism– the Supreme reality in the world is “pure feeling” – which attaches to NO object Non-objective art provides the “supremacy of pure feeling”

MALEVICH, Suprematist Composition1915 – RUSSIA-artist is “free from the burden of the object” - “nonobjective reality is greater than anything representative” b/c we respond more intuitively to universal symbols of color and shape than to imagery“wipe out past traditions & begin a new society”-Welcomed Russian Revolution b/c it could wipe out past tradition and begin a new culture

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Figure 33-53 NAUM GABO, Column, ca. 1923 (reconstructed 1937). Perspex, wood, metal, glass, 3’ 5” x 2’ 5” x 2’ 5”. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Constructivism – additiveRUSSIAGABO, Column, ca. 1923Transparent materials – plastic (new!)Relationship of mass and space…(we can see the volume of the column because its transparent)Space flows through and around materials (suggests dynamic movement, and maybe time)

“Space and time are the only forms on which life is built and hence of which ornament should be constructed” - Gabo

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Constructivism (Productivism)“Art is a social product, conditioned by the social environment”

Tatlin’s Tower

Vladimir Tatlin Monument to the 3rd Intnl, 1919–1920 MOSCOW-Commemorates 1917 Russian Revolution (gov’t commission)-”Ideal World”…art benefits society and is functionalIndustrialism benefits ALL people- structure has 3 chambers w/ different government activities:Lecture halls, information centers, gov’t offices of CommiesMade of steel and glass – industrial materials that rep. proletariat (working class)Meant to be a visual reinforcement of social reality

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De Stijl (“the Style”)- Holland-artists sought the “spiritual” in art-believed in purging art of references to the outside world because reality is opposed to the spiritual-Neoplasticism:“pure plastic” (refers to visual art – something created)MONDRIAN, Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1930believed that all artists try to achieve the essence of beauty… He does this through: COMPLETE abstraction-pure primary colors-“dynamic equilibrium”– trying to solve the conflict btwn tension and balance w/in paintings--SEVERE geometry w/ NO reference to nature-NO organic designs b/c they reference animal instincts of nature which need to be purified

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9Figure 33-56 GERRIT THOMAS RIETVELD, Schröder House, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 1924.

RIETVELD, Schröder House, Netherlands1924“plastic architect”Why “plastic”?Geometric, grid-likeBreaks “cubic units”Private / public spacesFree-flowing interior w/ partitions that open & close

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•Bauhaus•School of architecture and interior design•ALL art forms (simply crafted) should create a coherent whole•Marriage of art & technology, art and craft – using basic design principles to meet 20th c needs

•Synthesis of ART & industry free from embellishment – “less is more”•GROPIUS, Shop Block, the Bauhaus, Germany, 1925•Building lifted off the ground, glass walls reveal classrooms•Horizontal stringcourses embrace the building•NO embellishment or architectural motifs –no whimsy (ex: letters)

13Figure 33-60 MARCEL BREUER, tubular chair, 1925.

•Art should be incorporated into living environments

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1. Malevich was:A) A SuprematistB) A ConstructivistC) A DeStijl ArtistD) A Bauhaus artist

2. Mondrian was:A) A SuprematistB) A ConstructivistC) A DeStijl ArtistD) A Bauhaus artist

3. The Schröder House was influenced by which artist’s paintings?:A) GaboB) TaitlinC) MondrianD) Malevich

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