Art After WWII Flashcards
American Social Realism
Focus on the ugly realities of contemporary life and sympathize with working-class people, particularly the poor.
Christina’s World
- Andrew Wyeth
- US
- 1948
- American Social Realism
Abstract Expressionism (1946 US)
Action Painting (for the artist’s existential feelings in the moment) and Color-Field Painting (a meditative, existential search for universal & primal forces).
Abstract Expressionism: Action Painting
The artist’s existential feelings in the moment that typically consists of large surfaces painted quickly with little or no references to the real.
Autumn Rhythm (AKA: #30)
- Jackson Pollock
- US
- 1950
- Abstract Expressionism: Action Painting
Woman #1
- William de Kooning
- NI/US
- 1952
- Abstract Expressionism: Action Painting
Abstract Expressionism: Post-Painterly Abstraction/Lyric Abstraction (1952 US)
Decorative, less complex, less existential angst.
Abstract Expressionism: Color-Field Painting
Flat colors & shapes with a meditative, existential search for universal & primal forces.
Homage to the Square
- Josef Albers
- Germany/US
- 1949
- Abstract Expressionism: Color-Field Painting/Spatialism
Art Informel (1948 Europe/Canada)
The existential force behind Art Informel is identical to American Abstract Expressionism.
Art Brut (1945 France)
Rough, raw at times, using abject materials.
Will to Power
- Jean Dubuffet
- France
- 1946
- Art Brut
Spatialism (1949 Italy)
Art is pierced or slashed.
Opening of Space
- Lucio Fontanna
- Italy
- c. 1950
- Spatialism
Tachisme (1946 France)
Casual, with a distinctive blot, smear or stain technique.
COBRA (1948 Denmark/Belgium/Netherlands)
Vary. Opposed to geometric abstraction, surrealism, and French traditions.
Gutai Group (1954 Japan)
The inner life of a material, often through its destruction.
Blue Calligraphic Lines on Dark Blue
- Jiro Yoshihara
- Japan
- 1963
- Gutai Group
Fluxus (1959 New York City, International)
Absurdity blended with cultural criticism.
Body Art (US)/Art Corporel (France)/Vienna Actionism (1965 Austria)
Artist’s body as medium.
Transfixed
- Chris Burden
- US
- 1974
- Art Corporel
Independent Group (1952 England)
Bring pop culture to high culture with found objects & images.
Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?
- Richard Hamilton
- UK
- 1956
- Independent Group
Pop Art (1955 US)
Bring mass culture to high culture.
Campbell’s Soup Can
- Andy Warhol
- US
- 1962
- Pop Art
Le Mouvement/Kinetic Art (1955 France/International)
Actual motion.
Happenings/Installations/Performance Art (1956 US)
Happenings: Events to witness that lead viewers through unscripted experiences.
Installations: Spaces-objects for viewer interaction, allowing viewers to tour a fixed scene.
Performance Art: Artist-performers act according to a plan.
TV Cello
- Naum June Paik (w/ Charlotte Moorman)
- Korean/US
- 1971
- Happenings/Installations/Performance Art
Situationism (1957 Europe)
Art must have a Marxist image. Often includes text.
Minimalism (1959 US)
Industrially manufactured materials, the artist’s hand is not evident, mathematically arranged, no base or pedestal, no imagery or symbolism, monochrome or economic in color.
Nouveau Realisme (1960 France)
A search for new approaches to reality, rejection of politics & idealization in art.
The Iron Curtain (AKA: Wall of Barrels)
- Christo & Jeanne-Claude
- Bulgaria/Morocco
- 1962
- Nouveau Realisme (Installation)
Op (optical) Art (1961 US/UK/International)
Non-objective, decorative, built on color theory & illusion.
Conceptual Art (1961 US)
The idea behind artwork is more important than the art subject.
Arte Povera (1962 Italy)
(Poor Art) criticism of institutions (government, industry, church).
Earthworks/Site-specific Art (1962 France/International)
Large to monumental, permanent or temporary, using the earth and/or objects.
- Earthworks: innovative modification of the natural terrain.
- Site-Specific: designed for a particular location.
Psychedelic Art (1967 US)
Acknowledge the influence of mind-altering, substances with bright colors, incomprehensible graphics, and images that communicate an unsettled mind.
Photorealism (1967 US)
Mass and everyday culture rendered realistically, sometimes on a large scale.
Feminist (/Gender) Art (1971 US)
Images/topics that replicate the female/other gender experience.
The Dinner Party
- Judy Chicago
- US
- 1974
- Feminist Art
Pre-WWII Movements that Continued After WWII
- Postwar Kinetic Art
- Postwar Constructivism
- Postwar Surrealism
- Postwar Harlem Renaissance
- Postwar Social Realism
Confrontation on the Bridge
- Jacob Lawrence
- US
- 1975
- Postwar Social Realism/Harlem Renaissance
Josef Albers
A former student of the legendary Bauhaus, he becomes a professor there in 1925, teaching color theory. With the help of MOMA’s curator, he teaches at Black Mountain College in North Carolina until 1949 then at Yale until 1958. A first edition copy of his book, The Interaction of Color, is on sale for $12,900. Color theories he studied: vibration, opacity/transparency/ascent/descent, one color looks like two, three colors look like two, migration, value shift, color shift, color influence or length, field movement, rotation, fadeout with contrasting afterimage, concentric illusion, negative space afterimage, and reversal.
Black Mountain College
Located in North Carolina, Josef Albers is a professor until 1949.
Existentialism
Human life seems to have no meaning and it becomes acknowledged and a global force.
John Kacere
Iowa pop artist who does large portraits of women’s hips. During second-wave feminism, he was trying to provoke & start a conversation.
Ana Mendieta
Produces more than 200 works of art in her brief career.
Andy Warhol
Sets the scene for pop art. Becomes the leader (de facto) of the modern art movement.
Andrew Wyeth
The greatest American Realism painter.
Nam June Paik
Father of video art, he coins the term “information superhighway.”
1950-2011
Nuclear reactor meltdowns & accidents.
Postmodernism
- All movements have equal validity.
- Materials may be impermanent or subject to decay.
- Low art is valued equally with fine art.
- Viewers create personal interpretations.
