Modern and Contemporary Art PDF

UAEU Modern and Contemporary Art Introduction to Art History Dr. Clarisse Roche – HIS 133  Introduction: Definition of Modern and Contemporary Art  There is no precise definition of the term "Modern Art": it can accommodate a variety of meaning...

UAEU Modern and Contemporary Art Introduction to Art History Dr. Clarisse Roche – HIS 133  Introduction: Definition of Modern and Contemporary Art  There is no precise definition of the term "Modern Art": it can accommodate a variety of meanings.  Even so, it is traditional to say that "Modern Art" means works produced during the approximate period 1870-1970.  This "Modern era" followed a long period of domination by Renaissance-inspired academic art, promoted by the network of European Academies of Fine Art.  As Modernism began to look increasingly old- fashioned, it gave way to what is known as "Contemporary Art” or “Postmodernism”.  “Postmodernist art" or Contemporary art promotes a new set of aesthetics characterized by a greater focus on medium and style over the subject matter.  A/ Modern Art: 1870-1970 Historical background  The 19th century was a time of significant and rapid change. As a result of the Industrial Revolution (c.1760-1860) enormous changes in manufacturing, transport, and technology began to affect how people lived, worked, and traveled, throughout Europe and America.  Towns and cities grew and prospered as people left the land to populate urban factories.  In turn, this led to: more demand for urban architecture; more demand for applied art and design and the emergence of a new class of wealthy entrepreneurs who became art collectors and patrons.  The 19th century also witnessed a number of  Characteristics of Modern Art (1) Expressive Use of Colour: Movements of modern art like Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism and Colour Field painting were the first to exploit colour in a major way. (2) New Techniques: Modern artists developed new techniques. (3) Use of New Materials: Modern painters affixed objects to their canvases, such as fragments of newspaper and other items. Sculptors used "found objects”.  (1) Expressive Use of Colour: Impressionism  Paintings by Monet, Renoir, and Degas are the most famous of the Impressionist movement. Impressionism is the most popular art movement of all time.  This success can be explained by the Impressionism’s rapid stroke and bright-as-spring colours, which make this art invigorating.  The term impressionism, however, was originally intended as an insult. It meant that the paintings looked unfinished, and that the artist was too lazy to refine their brushstrokes. Colours dissolve each other in Impressionist art, and images blur a bit like an action shot in photography.  Impressionists were interested in the interplay of colour and light more than the precise contours of people and things.  They wanted to capture the fleeting quality of life: impressions, glances, gestures, a pleasant stroll in the sun.  The soft focus gives people the sense of a lovely impression caught before is slips away. Claude Monet, Reflections of the clouds on the Water-Lily pond,  “Water lilies series” painted by Claude Monet Claude Monet did 250 versions on the subject of Water lilies on huge canvas. Monet invented a style based on capturing the subtleties of colour and light rather than perfect lines and shapes: colour over contour. Monet was painting his own garden in the vicinity  (2) New Techniques: Cubism: all views at once  Modern artists also invented new techniques like collage. Collage was particularly popular among cubist artists like Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. COLLAGE: a creative work that resemble such a composition in incorporating material and elements.  Cubism revolutionized art by showing multiple views of a subject simultaneously (at the same time), something no artist had ever done before.  These artists believed that earlier artists had painted false pictures of life by depicting it from only one angle. The idea is that no single viewpoint has a monopoly on truth.  The viewer’s job is to pick up the pieces and to reconstruct them in his imagination. Pablo Picasso, The guitar. The art of Pablo Picasso dominates much of the 20th century, probably because he kept pace with progress.  For this piece of art, Picasso used cut-and- pasted newspaper, wallpaper, paper, ink, chalk, charcoal, and pencil on paper  In this type of cubism (synthetic cubism), Picasso pasted things together to create a semi- representational whole.  (3) Use of New Materials: The “found objects” or “ready mades” The “readymades” of Marcel Duchamp are ordinary manufactured objects that the artist selected and modified. The “readymades” are an aggressive protest against traditional art. A readymade is an object from everyday life transformed into art by the will rather than the craft of the artist.  By simply choosing the object (or objects) and repositioning or joining, titling and signing it, the Found object became art. Duchamp didn’t do anything to the readymades other than title and sign and date them. He simply Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle wheel, 1963, readymade, New York City.  Duchamp’s first readymade was a bicycle wheel mounted on a kitchen stool.  While mocking the art world, Duchamp’s readymade also raised interesting questions about the difference between art and non-art.  Art is about perception and about recognizing the aesthetic qualities on an object.  It is also the first example of kinetic art.  KINETIC ART: is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or depends on motion for its effect.  B/ Postmodern Art: 1970-nowadays Historical background  Postmodernism began in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s when artists started to doubt the truthfulness and originality of Modernism.  The time was ripe for a more popular art, that would bring back some of the personality, diversity and history that Modernism had put aside.  Today many Postmodern artists express doubt about progress, post-industrial capitalism, and grand arts movements.  The themes of Postmodern artists such as painter Gerhard Richter are usually personal and self- critical.  Installation art  An installation is an environment that the viewer navigates or somehow interacts with. Sometimes installations are set up in galleries and sometimes they confront viewers in public spaces.  Usually, they consist of many elements and can include sound, video, paintings, sculptures, commercial objects, and anything else the artist wants to weld to his artificial environment.  Although installation art is temporary, it tends to interact with the viewer more aggressively than a painting on the wall.  Christo and Jeanne-Claude were installation artists. Wrapped buildings: Christo and Jeanne- Claude’s large-scale installation art  The Bulgarian-born Christo Javacheff, known simply as Christo, and his wife Jeanne-Claude Donat de Guillebon wrap objects and buildings in order to show their aesthetic qualities, in other words their beauty.  According to them, if you shut off an object’s function by concealing it behind fabric or some other wrapping material, the aesthetic of the thing (cloaked and disguised) step into the limelight. .