american art Flashcards
watercolors of Native American life in the Eastern parts
ohn White, 1540-1606
the first well-known U.S. school of painting
the Hudson River School
depicted rural U.S. – the sea, the mountains, people who lived near them
Winslow Homer
naturalist artist, birds, The Birds of America
John James Audubon
influence of luminism
landscape painting, 1850s-70s, effects of light in landscape, concealment of visible brushstrokes, emphasis on tranquility, calm & reflective water, soft & hazy sky
influence of tonalism
1880s, landscape with an overall tone of colored atmosphere or mist, dark/neutral hues: gray, brown, blue dominated – critics used the word “tonal” to describe these works, emphasis on mood & shadow
Plate from The Birds of America
Carolina pigeon (now called mourning dove)
Audubon
Washington Crossing the Delaware - famous historical painting
Emanuel Leutze
American Realism, created subdued drama out of commonplace subjects, melancholy, common features of American life, emotional themes: solitude, loneliness, regret, boredom, resignation
Edward Hopper
paintings featuring flowers, bones, landscapes of New Mexico
“Mother of American modernism”
Georgia O’Keeffe
regionalism
realistic scenes of rural & small-town America, primarily in the Midwest; conservative & traditional style
social realism
draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures behind these conditions; reveals tensions between an oppressive force & its victims
action painting AE abstract expressionism
spontaneous reaction, powerful brushstrokes, dripped/splashed paint, strong physical movements in the production of a painting (Pollock, de Kooning, Kline, Rothko)
color field painting AE
emphasis and intensification of color and large open expanses of surface (Reinhardt, Rothko, Still, Newman); continued in the 1960s (Helen Frankenthaler)
“drip technique” – pouring/splashing paint
horizontal surface (view from all angles)
action painting
Jackson Pollock
geometric / biomorphic shapes & strong colours
inlfuenced by Picasso
woman – focus of desire, frustration, inner conflict, pleasure
Willem de Kooning
quick brushstrokes, lines & planes
black & white (depicting negative & positive space)
references to Japanese calligraphy
Franz Kline
color field paintings
spiritual experience
bright, vibrant colours (reds, yellows) – energy, ecstasy
later dark blues and greens (growing darkness inside)
Mark Rothko
influence on minimal art, monochrome painting
progressed from geometrical shapes to works in different shades of the same colour
1960s – black paintings (black & nearly black shades)
asking questions: can there be absolute black? is it a colour?
Ad Reinhardt
areas of color separated by thin vertical lines (“zips”)
zips define the spatial structure of the painting while simultaneously dividing and uniting the composition
Barnett Newman
use of fluid shapes, abstract masses, lyrical gestures
emphasis on spontaneity
paint soaked into canvas (ultimate fusion of image & canvas) – color field painting
Helen Frankenthaler
arge-scale, freely-scribbled, calligraphic, graffiti-like
Cy Twombly
Pop Art
using images of popular culture to emphasize the banal or kitschy elements of any culture through the use of irony
product labeling and logos are prominent in the images
exploration of the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, celebrity culture
media: silkscreening, film, photography, sculpture
Andy Warhol
inspired by the comic strip
precise compositions, using parody
large-scale paintings, hard-edged figures (thick outlines), ben-day dots
emotionally strong subjects (love, war, etc.) removed of deliberate painting techniques
later worked with sculpture
Roy Lichtenstein
“painting relates to both art and life” and he wanted to work “in the gap between the two”
questioned the distinction between art objects and everyday objects
“combines”- incorporated everyday objects into his artworks – blurred the distinctions between painting and sculpture
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) (Neo-dadaist)
American flag, and other US-related topics
series of flags, maps, targets, letters, numbers
reaction to abstract expressionism – well-known motifs could be read as representational (flag, target) and as abstract patterns (stripes, circles)
“What’s interesting to me is the fact that it isn’t designed, but taken. It’s not mine.”… these motifs are “things the mind already knows.”
asper Johns (1930 - ) (Neo-dadaist)
1980s, neo-expressionism (intense subjectivity, rough handling of materials, recognizable objects, such as human body, in a rough and violently emotional way, often using vivid colors)
dichotomies: wealth vs. poverty, integration vs. segregation, inner vs. outer experience
implemented poetry in his paintings
critical of politics, colonialism, racism
died at 27, heroin overdose
most expensive paintings
legacy in fashion, very stylish artist, model for fashion brands, his work used in pattern
Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988)
characterized by the idea of cultural pluralism
anything goes, everything is going on
no firm and clear direction
Contemporary Art
pop-art NY graffiti subculture
chalk outlines of figures, dogs, images
political / societal themes
Keith Haring (1958-1990)
dealing with popular culture
balloon animals in stainless steel (inflatables)
Jeff Koons (1955- )
massive-scale photorealist and asbtract portraits
partially paralyzed
Chuck Close (1940-2021)
organic architecture (harmony of humanity & environment)
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
look unfinished
metal plates/sheets
fluidity of structures
Frank Gehry (1929 - )
father of skyscrapers, father of modernism
Chicago School (mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright)
”form follows function” (shape of the building should relate to its intended function or purpose)
Louis Henry Sullivan (1856-1924)
most of his career in Paris
contributor to Dada & Surrealist movement
pioneering photography, fashion & portrait photography
Man Ray (1890-1976)
landscapes
favored sharp focus & use of full tonal range of a photograph (resulting in clarity & depth of the images)
environmentalist
US Department of Interior - make photographs of national parks
Ansel Adams (1902-1984)
1870
largest museum in the USA
over 2 million artworks
Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met)
New York
1929
Abby Rockefeller
25th most visited museum in the world
MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)
New York
1939
designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York
1879
35th most visited museum in the world
2nd largest in the USA
Art Institute of Chicago
Los Angeles, California
1974
J. Paul Getty Museum (the Getty)
British-founded auction house
Sotheby’s
New York
