METHODS OF

PRESENTING ART

SUBJECTS

In presenting everything, certain methods are employed in order to be effective. Just for example, in presenting the art subject, the artist uses different methods to express the idea he wants to make clear.

The different methods used by the artists in presenting the art subjects are:

1. Realism 2. Abstraction 3. Symbolism 4. Fauvism 5. Dadaism 6 .Futurism 7. Surrealism

Realism In art this is the attempt to portray

the subject as it is. Even when the artist chooses a subject from nature, he selects, changes, and arranges details to express the idea he wants to make clear. Realists try to be as objective as possible. In realism, the artist’s main function is to describe as accurately and honestly as possible what is observed through the senses.

Barong-Barong by Vicente Manansala

Realism is a common way of presenting the art subject. Example of this are Amorsolo’s painting.

Realism as a wherent program of literary aesthetics emerged in Western Literature in 1980 in reaction against the idealism of the narrow social range of earlier literary attitudes.

Realism tended to stress the daily life of a common man, often concentrating on the sordid and disagreeable.

Poetry and drama were influenced by realism, but it was on the novel that realism achieved greatness

NOTE: In the process of selecting and presenting

his material, he cannot help being influenced by what he feels or thinks.

Examples of novels who were influenced by the ideas of realism:

1. Edgardo Reyes – Sa mga kuko ng liwanag.

2. Efren Abueg - Dilim sa umaga.

These are novels of social commentaries which are realistically vivid and clearly presented.

Abstraction This is used when the artist becomes too

interested in one phase of a scene or a situation that he does not show the subject as an objective reality, but only his idea, or his feeling about it.

Abstract means “ to move away or separate “. Abstract art moves away from showing things as they really are. The painter or artist paints the picture not as it really are. The painter or artist paints the picture not as it really looked. The picture is not just like life. It is not “realistic”.

In the field of sculpture, artists began doing abstract sculpture. They ignored the exact form of real-life object. They feel that the texture and shape of a sculpture were more important to them than the exact form.

Example: Constantin Brancusi’s “Bird in Space”

Brancusi was so impressed by the grace of a bird in flight, by the sweep of its body as it flew through the air, that he represented those qualities in his sculptural work. His work does not look a bird for it is supposed to convey an impression of a bird’s grace and speed.

Abstract subjects can also be presented in many ways like:

Distortion – this is clearly manifested when the subject is in misshapen condition, or the regular shape is twisted out.

Example: Henry Moore’s sculptural works and the ancient egyptian paintings and sculptural works are good examples of this kind.

Elongation – it refers to that which is being lengthened, a protraction or an extension.

Example: El Greco’s elongated body of Jesus Christ in his “Resurrection” is an example of elongation.

Mangling – this may not be a commonly used way of presenting an abstract subject, but there are few artists who show subject or objects which are cut, lacerated, mutilated or hacked with repeated blows.

Cubism – it stresses abstract from through the use of a cone, cylinder, or sphere at the expense of other pictorial elements. The cubists want to show forms in their basic geometrical shapes.

Example: Paul Cezanne’s works played an important part in the development of cubism. It was further developed by George Braque of France and Pablo Picasso of Spain.

Abstract Expressionism – a style of abstract painting that originated in New York city after World War II and gained an international vogue.

The term abstract expressionism was first applied to the New York school, whose work is characterized by great verve, the use of large canvases, and a deliberate lack of refinement in the application of the paint.

Typical characteristics of abstract expressionism:

1. Strong Color 2. Heavy Impasto 3. Uneven brush strokes 4. Rough textures

In other words, abstract expressionism departs completely from subject matter from studied precision, and from any kind of preconceived design. Jackson Pollock was one of the abstract expressionist painters of the New York school.

Symbolism – a symbol, in general, is a visible sign of something invisible such as an idea or a quality. It can be simply an emblem or sign like: % to represent percent, a lion to represent courage, a lamb to represent meekness. These well known symbols arise from conventional usage, association, and general relationship. The conventional type of symbol is not absent for works of art.

But in poetry and painting, the symbol has a freer development. It transcends the everyday run-of-the-mill sign and assumes a new and fresh meaning, originating from a highly personal and even unique association form in the mind of the poet or painters.

Example: Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Crossing the Bar”

Crossing the Bar by:

Alfred Tennyson

For tho’ from out our bourne of time and place

The flood may bear me farI hope to see my pilot face to face

When I have crost the bar.

Matthew 18:12-14

The last two lines are symbolical for it clearly shows the strong desire of the authors to see God when he dies.

If a man has a hundred sheeps and one of them strays, does he not live the ninety-nine on the mountains to go out in search of the stray one? And if he manages to find it, I assure you that he is happier over that one than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. So, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones should be lost.

A number of indispensable painting of noted Filipino painters are found in the National Museum. An example is the giant size painting of Juan Luna, painted in Rome, July 1883 to March 1884. This say painting won the first gold medal in the Madrid exposition of the fine arts in 1884. The “Spolarium” is an old painting on canvas 4.25 meter by 7.75 meter.

The “Lion of Lucerne”, famous masterpiece of the early 19th century is dedicated to the memory of the heroic fight and final defeat of the swiss guard in 1792 in Paris. August 10th of the year marks the beginning of the bloody days of the French Revolution with the storming of the royal palace. The lion always considered a symbol of courage and strength, served the artist to demonstrate a fragic event a fight to the death. The erection of the monument was made possible by donations of comrades from other regiments and friends, especially by the initiative of Ch. Pfyffer of Altishofen.

Fauvism

The model is the work of the famous Danish Sculptor Berrtel Thorwaldsen (1789-1056) and was hewn into the rock 1820/21 by L. Ahorn (1789-1856).

This was first important art movement of the 1900’s. Henry Matisse led the movement and the other important fauves included Andre Derain, Raoul Drify, George Rouault, all from France.

Dadaism Futurism

A process movement of arts was formed in 1916 by a group of artists and poets in Zurich, Switzerland. The name “Dada” a French word meaning “hobby horse”was deliberately choosen because it was nonsensical.

It developed in Italy about the same time Cubism appeared in France. Their paintings glorified the Mechanical energy of modern life included automobile , motorcycle, and railroad.

Surrealism This movement in art and literature was

founded in Paris in 1924 by the French poet Andre Breton. Like Dadaism, from which it arose surrealism uses art as weapon against the evils and restrictions that surrealists see in society. Unlike Dadaism, it tries to reveal a new and a higher reality than that of daily life. Surrealism is an invented word meaning super realism this movement was influenced by the Freudian Psychology which emphasizes the activities of the subconscious state of the mind.

Subjects of this kind attempt to show what is inside man’s mind as well as the appearance of his outside world. The surrealists claim to create forms and images no primarily by reason, but by unthinking impulse and blind feeling or even by accident. Using this methods the surrealists declare that a magical world - more beautiful then the real one - can be created in art and literature. Much of the beauty sought by surrealism is violent and cruel. In this way, the surrealists try to shock the viewer or reader and show what they consider the deeper and truer part of human nature. Benjamin Mendoza, Bolivian painter, is well-known in presenting violent and cruel surrealists paintings

An artistic movement of the early twentieth century that stressed fantasy and the subconscious mind, surrealism, in its broadest philosophical sense, is one of the poles toward which art an thought in all periods may be drawn – the world of dreams and fantasy.

However, there are also surrealist artistic works which are a far cry from cruelty and violence. They are informative and symbolical like Mark Chagall’s painting entitled “I and My Village”. This can be interpreted from the socio-economic and political standpoint that prevails in Russia up to the pesent.

“I and My Village”Mark Chagall

Expressionism This method was introduced in Germany during

the first decade of the twentieth century. Its influences were felt by the European artists from 1920 up to the present. It also seemed to have influenced the playwrights in English and Filipino like the work of Amelia Lapena-Bonifacio in “Sepang Loca” (1958). The exponents of expressionism believed in the necessity of a spiritual rebirth for man in an age that was fast incoming influenced by materialism. Paul Dumol’s “Mapait sa Baso” are plays which depicted the idea of rebirth of the individual as possible only within the context of the transformation of the entire society.

Hindi ninyo nauunawaan ang kirot ng paghihiwalay. Sol! ITO’Y KAMATAYAN! Araw-araw umuupo sa bangketa, binabantayan ang nagdaraang mga tao, nagmamakaawa, nagpapalimos, Diyos ko! PABAYAAN NAMAN NINYONG ILIGTAS KO ANG AKING SARILI MULA SA PAGKABULOK! Nabubulok na balat, nabubulok na kamay, nabubulok na laman, nabubulok na ugat, nabubulok na buto.

This is one of the dialogues of Mang Serapio from Dumol’s “Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio” which expresses truth, life, or reality

Design Relationships Between Painting and Other visual arts

The emotional expressions in expressionistic paintings could be described as involving pathos, morbidity, violence, or chaos, and tragedy. It sometimes portrays defeat.

The philosophy and spirit of a particular period in painting usually have been reflected in many of its other visual arts. The ideas and aspirations of the ancient cultures, of the renaissance , Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical periods of western art and, more recently of the 19th century art nouveu

and secessionist movements were expressed in much of the architecture, interior design, furniture, textiles, ceramics, dress design, and handicrafts, as well as in the fine arts, of their times. Following the the industrial revolutionwith the rebundancy of handcraftmanship and the loss of direct communication between the fine artist and society, idealists efforts to unite the arts and crafts in service to the community were made by William Morris in Victorian England and by the Bauhaus in 20th century Germany. Although their aims were not fully realized, their influences, like those of the short-lived de stijl and Constructivist movements, have been far-reaching, particularly in architectural, furniture,l and typographic design.

Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were painters, sculptors, and architects. Although no atists since have excelled in so wide a range of creative design, leading 20th century painters have expressed their ideas in many other mediums. In graphic design, for example, Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, and Raoul Dufy produced posters and illustrated books; Andre Derain, Fernand Leger, Mark Chagall worked in ceramics; Braque and Salvador Dalt designed Jewelry; and Dalt, Hans Richter, and Andy Warhol made films.

Painters, Sculptors, and Architects

Bonnard, Matisse, and Dufy

Painters have been stimulated by the imagery, techniques, and design of other visual arts. One of the earliest of these influences was possibly from the theatre, where the ancient Greeks are thought to have been the first to employ the illusions of optical perspective. The influence of Japanese woodcut prints in Synthetism and the Nabis, for example, and of African sculpture on cubism and the German expressionists helped to create visual vocabularies and syntax with which to express new visions and ideas