Canon works Flashcards
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Last Supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci, 1495-1498
b) Italian Renaissance
c) The orderly, clarifies the painting’s meaning. The largest window is right behind Jesus. He is perfectly centered, the vanishing point is right behind his head. The composition is symmetrically balanced. Jesus arms form an equilateral triangle. He chose the psychologically most powerful scene in the story. The most difficult part was to paint “the intention of a man’s soul.” He had difficulties with Judas and grouped him with other apostles to create contrast.
- ordely, balanced
- vanishing point
- Christ forms symmetrical triangle, he is perfectly centered
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Trinity’ by Masaccio, 1425-1427
b) (Early) Italian Renaissance
c) This work summarizes several characteristics of the Renaissance: interest in life-like portraiture, donors with a real prominent presence (unlike Middle Ages), succes in linear perspective that the chapel appears to be in the wall, vanishing point is just below the bottom of the cross, coffered barrel vault, Ionic and Corinthian capitals, and the moldings all based upon ancient Roman models.
- Prominent donors present in painting
- linear perspective
- interest in life-like portraiture
- vanishing point
- interest in antiquity: Ionic and Corinthian capitals, moldings based upon ancient roman models.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro’ by Piero della Fransesca, ca.1465
b) (Early) Italian Renaissance
c) Piero della Francesca was deeply interested in portraiture, a reflection of the renaissance concern for the individual. Side profile was popular in the Early Renaissance, revealing the sitter’s most distinctive features. We can assume they looked exactly like this. New rulers, with new money, that wanted portraits. Self-confidence of new type of ruler.
- portraiture; a reflection of the Renaissance concern for the individual.
- side profile; revealing sitter’s most distinctive features.
- Realistic depiction; we can assume that they looked exactly like this.
- self confidence of new type of ruler demanding art.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘David’ by Donatello, 1425-1430
b) Italian Renaissance
c) A popular subject in the Early Renaissance, he depicted David both before and after the conflict, providing a condensed version of the story. First large-scale nude since Roman antiquity, wearing only boots and a hat. David in the nude is to link him with heroic nudes of antiquity. In addition, David adopts the antique contrapposto posture, putting the spine in an ‘s’.
- first beautiful nude
- free standing
- naturalism
- contrapposto
- heroic (because of nude depiction)
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘The School of Athens’ by Raphael, 1510-1511
b) Italian Renaissance
c) The school of Athens embodies the Renaissance humanist quest for classical truth. In the center are Plato and Aristotle. Plato points upwards, indicating realm of his ideal forms. Aristotle holds Ethics and points towards earth, indicating emphasis on material reality. Pope Julius II had made him protect of antiquity. Self-confidence of artist; Raphael is in the painting.
- embodies the Renaissance humanist quest for classical truth; plato and aristotle in the center.
- Pope Julius II made Raphael protect of antiquity.
- self-confidence and glorification of the artist; Raphael painted himself among all the classical figures.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘David’ by Michelangelo, 1501-1504
b) Italian Renaissance
c) Michelangelo believed ‘figure is trapped in marble like the soul is trapped in the body.’ He carved David 13 feet tall, and was intended to stand 40 feet above the ground in Florence Cathedral, but it was thought to be too perfect for that, so the ‘masterpiece’ was placed on the square in the political center to symbolize freedom. It’s in contrapposto, humanist spirit; imagining the beauty of human beings, focus on the story is very subtle.
- contrapposto
- nude
- linked to greek antiquity (Trojan War) story of Goliath.
- man is beautiful
- the artist is the creator of beauty
- Neoplatonic idea; figure is trapped in marble like soul is trapped in the body.
- considered as a masterpiece, so instead of on top of chruch, it was placed on square in political center to symbolise freedom.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Haywain’ by Jheronymus Bosch, 1495-1500
b) Renaissance in Northern Europe
c) In Bosch’s world people believed in witches, astrology was taught at university and visions were accepted as facts. His works display an extraordinary imagination. He painted alla prima; without any preliminary drawings. He was less concerned with painterly problems (shadows) but more with moralistic impact of his subjects. Hay Wain is a tryptich and illustrates the Flemish proverb “The world is a hay wagon and each seeks to grab what he can.” It is symbol of worldly goods and pleasures, and the painting is a satire on the evils of greed. All classes of people fight for hay.
- dissatisfied with loose morality and catholic church
- satire on the evils of greed
- signature on work
- alla prima
- popular because of humor
- medieval mindset
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘The Peasant Wedding’ by Pieter Breughel the Elder, ca. 1567-1568
b) Renaissance in Northern Europe
c) Brueghel depicted the daily life of ordinary people, known as genre painting. This work records thee commotion of a rustic wedding. The composition is carefully constructed to appear informal and draw the viewer into the event. The foreground is brought close to the viewer by figures in the lower left.The arrangement in space is diagonal. His strong, stocky figures convey the robustness and earthy liveliness of the celebration.
- foundation for genre painting
- he gave surroundings prominence
- depiction of event with ordinary people
- arrangement in space is diagonal and leads the eye
- his strong, stocky figures convey robustness and earthy liveliness.
- foreground is brought close to viewer.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Self Portrait’ by Albrecht Dürer, 1500
b) Renaissance in Northern Europe
c) Dürer most embodied the ideals of the Northern Renaissance and the spirit of discovery that defines it, he made more than 1000 prints. He believed that he -as artist- was endowed with a god-given gift, a humanistic and individualistic view. His fame derives from his prints woodcuts and engravings, the apocolypse (1498) spread his fame. Dürer portrayed himself as Jesus to show his God-gifted talent. Later his subjects became more secular, as he became a follower of Luther.
- Self-glorification
- Prototypical Renaissance Artist
- From 1519 follower of Luther
- he believed that he was endowed with a god-given talent to paint so accurately. Humanistic and individualistic view that he shared with michelangelo and other renaissance artists. He painted himself as jesus to show this.
- Since he was a follower of Luther from 1519, his subjects became more and more secular and he created works with Adam and Eve as an excuse to study the human figure.
- famous for his prints; woodcuts, engravings. For example the apocalypse.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘The Ghent Altarpiece’ by Jan en Hubert van Eijck, 1432
b) Renaissance in Northern Europe
c) Vasari said Jan van Eijck was inventor of oil paint. Jan van Eijck recorded the world in detail, like Robert Campin. He finished the commission his brother worked on, which died. The Ghent Altar piece is an enormous polyptych. An inscription on the outer frame reads “Hubert van Eijck, the most famous painter ever known.” Little is known about Hubert, still, mention of the artist’s name on the work itself indicates a shift from the anonymity of the medieval guild system toward the recognition of individual artists. The altarpiece focuses on the salvation and redemption of humankind. The crowds of people; old testament prophets, classical poets and philosophers, New testament apostles and people of all classes and times and places. Various body types and facial expressions individualize the figures with their blemishes included. Atmospheric perspective. Adam’s foot, so that people look up to him.
- polyptich, 24 panels
- first large scale nudes in Northern Europe
- Glorification of human body
- Realistic manner in details
- foot of adam, you look up to him
- inscription on outer frame; “Hubert van Eyck, the most famous painter ever.” (anonimity of medieval guilds toward recognition of individual artist.
- various body types and expressions individualize the figures.
- classical poets and philosophers depicted.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Garden of Love’ by Peter Paul Rubens, 1630-35
b) Baroque in the Southern Netherlands
c) He was the most financially successful artist of the age. The drama in this composition is characteristic of the Baroque style, as is the love for movement in an open space. Ruben’s painting is rich, luminous, glowing color and light rather than line. Certainly Ruben’s main interest in this work is the voluptuous female figure.
- One of the two opposing groups of Royal academy, subordinating line to color.
- movement in composition
- rich and luminous
- main interest; voluptuous female figure.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘David’ by Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1623
b) Italian Baroque
c) Bernini’s David captures the split second before David flings the stone that kills Goliath, implying a second figure to complete the action. David’s pose and facial expressions charge the space surrounding the sculpture, with tension, so effectively that people viewing the statue avoid standing between David and his implied target.
- captures the split second before David flings the stone that kills Goliath.
- action and movement
- emotional
- in the moment.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Calling of St. Matthew’ by Caravaggio, 1599-1602
b) Italian Baroque
c) Despite his lifestyle, Caravaggio was a great religious painter whose work established the major direction of painting in the Baroque Age. The large painting depicts the moment of Matthew’s calling; Jesus points to the tax collector Matthew, who gestures with disbelief, Who? Me? The biblical tale is shown in a tavern. Jesus’s halo is barely visible. Yet a religious atmosphere is created by Caravaggio’s dramatic use of light known as tenebrism – a dark manner in which light and dark contrast strongly, the highlights picking out only what the artist wants the viewer to see. The light comes from above, like a spotlight centering on an actor on stage, no obvious light source is shown.
- tenebrism
- example of counter-reformation art
- intended to involve the audience emotionally
- religious subject in a familiar environment
- Caravaggio defined largely baroque painting
- commissioned by catholic church
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘The Night Watch’ by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642
b) Baroque in the Northern Netherlands
c) He took Caravaggio’s Baroque lighting to new heights. Most important commission paid for by Amsterdam civic guard. All the men in the group had contributed equally. The painting shows Cocq’s company in the morning welcoming Marie de Medici, Queen of France, at Amsterdam’s city gate.
- follower of caravaggio, took tenebrism to new heights
- group portrait
- for community space
- large piece for amsterdam civic guard
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Rape of the Sabine Women’ by Nicolas Poussin, ca. 1636-1637
b) French Baroque, Classicism
c) He represents the classicizing and restrained tendency within the usually dramatic Baroque, favoring academic history painting, his rape of the sabine women shows Romulus, on the left, raising his cloak to signal his men to abduct the Sabine Women. The figures make wild gestures and expressions, yet the action is frozen and the effect unmoving. This style is intended to appeal more to the mind than to the eye: appreciation of the painting depends largely upon knowing the depicted story. Poussin said the goal of painting was to represent noble subjects to morally improve the viewer. His approach to painting was disciplined, organized, and theoretical. Poussin worked in terms of line rather than terms of color - in this he was the opposite of Rubens.
- prototype for classicism
- academy favorite
- clarity, order and logic
- appeals to mind (vs. Rubenist)
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Las Meninas’ by Diego Velázquez, 1656
b) Spanish Baroque
c) The painting raises the question ‘is it a portrait or a genre painting?’ in fact, it’s both.
-portrait and genre painting
- status of court artist
- painting about painting
- royal functions and political powers
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Flowers in a Glass Vase’ by Rachel Ruys, ca. 1690-1720
b) Baroque in the Northern Netherlands
c) Her fame derives from the many still lifes of flowers she executed. The scientifically accurate record of a variety of flowers shows that she had learned the importance of careful observation of nature. Vanitas.
- scientific observation leads to realism
- middle-class taste
- moral message about brevity of life
- careful observation of nature
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘The Jolly Topper’ by Frans Hals, ca. 1628-1630
b) Baroque in the Northern Netherlands
c) Differing from stiff formality of earlier portraiture, the Jolly Topper is balancing a glass of wine, and perhaps caught in a conversation. Hals broke with the fashion of his time, which was to paint with careful contours, and attention to detail. Instead, his paint ranged from thick impasto to thin fluid glazes and he left the seperate brush strokes clearly visible. Spontaneity matches the subject.
- baroque influence middle class
- lack of formality
- mix of portrait and genre painting
- moral undertones
- hand, trick to invite you (Caravaggio)
- broke with fashion of careful contours, instead; thick impasto, brush strokes clearly visible.
- spontaniety matches the subject.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘View of Haarlem from the Northwest, with the Bleaching Fields in the Foreground’ by Jacob van Ruysdael, ca. 1650-1682
b) Baroque in the Northern Netherlands
c)
- middle class taste
- belgian immigrant, supplying in demand of rich northern merchants
- huge sky; faster to paint and cheaper and view of foreigner of Holland.
- importance of church and dramatic light on the field, engine of Haarlem industry/ economy.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘A Burial at Ornans’ by Gustave Courbet, 1849
b) Realism
c) Gustave refused to idealize working life. A realist, Courbet preferred simply to tell things as they are. After the revolution, he returned to his native village Ornans to paint the realities of life experienced by the peasant farmers. In A Burial at Ornans his subject was a distant relative of his being buried, but in a pretentious way: with the size generally reserved for only the most serious allegories and histories. The painting is emotionally unfocused, no one’s eyes are fixed on the same place. The emotional impact of death is entirely deromanticized: we are witness here to a simple matter of fact.
- History size
- History title
- Event of ordinary people depicted
- Emotional impact of death is entirely deromanticized, just a simple matter of fact.
- Caused sensation at the salon, was way too pretentious.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘La Liberté guidant le peuple’ by Eugène Delacroix, 1830
b) Romanticism
c) Representation of all different social classes fighting for the revolution. The composition rises in a pyramid of human forms, the dead sprawled along the base of the painting and liberty herself (allegorical figure) waving the French tricolor, crowns the composition. Beside liberty is a youth of the streets. To liberty’s right, a working class rebel in white and a bourgeouis gentleman. Delacroix depicts the cross-section of society that actually took part in the uprising.
- Art as social and political tool
- Revolution of July 28, 1830 that led to July Monarchy under reign of King Louis - Philippe.
- Delacroix one of the leaders of French Romanticism
- Romanticized depiction of July Revolution
- Allegorical figure of liberty; naked woman with tricolor as crown to the composition.
- Depicted the cross-section that took part in the uprising; rebellion youth, working class, bourgeois gentleman.
- against principle of hereditary right, Charles X wanted more power.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘El Tres de Mayo de 1808 en Madrid’ by Goya, 1814-1815
b) Romanticism
c) At first, Goya was in favor of Napoleon’s invasion of Spain, hoping Spain would be modernized as a consequence. But on May 3rd, 1808 Napoleon’s armies executed innocent Spanish hostages. That execution is the subject of one of Goya’s most powerful works. It marks Goya’s change of heart. The French presence, had brought Spain only savage, atrocity, death, famine and violence. The soldiers on the right, faceless, inhuman, and machine-like, turn their backs to the viewer in anonymity and raise their weapons to destroy. The light is very theatrical, the light illuminates their next victim. The man stands christlike, as a saviour, but he will die. The work gives visual form to hopelessness. The church is in dark, God has left them. Although it possesses all the emotional intensity of religious art, here people die for liberty rather than for God and they are killed by political tyranny, not Satan.
- Emotional scene.
- Dissatisfaction with modern life (war)
- Visual form to hopelessness.
- The Church is in dark; God left them
- Theatrical light on suffering
- Execution of innocent Spanish hostages
- Expression of humanitarian concerns
- Colors of the pope, christ-like pose
- Art used as political tool
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Voltaire Seated’ by Jean-Antoine Houdon, ca. 1780
b) Neoclassicism
c) He took precise measurements of his sitters. Realistic, not more beautiful.
- very realistic depiction face features
- he took precise measures of his sitters.
- he is wearing a Roman toga
- no frivolity
- fragile but sharp
- depicting one of the greatest thinkers of 18th century
- Voltaire was jailed for criticizing morality of french aristocracy
- candide, his most famous work; rejected christian idea of personal god, he was a deist; there was a divine creator of the world but he lost interest, once created.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Slave Ship’ by Turner, 1840
b) Romanticism
c) His distortion of the subject and interest in nature and light would pave the way to Impressionism.
- Humanitarian feelings; based on real accident
- The sublime landscape; mankind is not able to overcome the strength of nature.
- Distortion of subject paved the way to impressionism.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Oath of the Horatii’ by Jacques Louis David, 1785
b) Neoclassicism
c) He was a follower of Poussin. In Oath of Horatii, three brothers from Rome pledge an oath about their weapons, which are being held by their father. They vow to fight to their death against the Curatii, three brothers from Alba, to resolve a conflict. All figures are accurately drawn, carefully modeled in cold light, and as solid as sculpture. In accordance with Neoclassical ideals, the scene is set against the severe architecture of the Roman revival. He subordinated color to line. As a result his painting seems a drawing that were colored. David’s subject is a display of Roman heroic stoicism and high principles: the horatii place patriotic duty above concern for their family and themselves. It promoted values that many people lacked in the king and his court. By 1789 (french revolution) the painting was almost universally read as an antimonarchist statement. He came closely associated with the revolution.
- classic theme
- symmetry
- strict linear perspective
- sharp linear contours; poussinist method
- set against severe architecture of roman revival
- roman heroic stoicism; horatii place patriotic duty above concern for family and theirselves, thus promoted values that many people lacked in king and court.
- by the revolution, read as antimonarchist statement, and thus antidote to rococo art.
- David became painter of Napoleon.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Pilgrimage to Cythera’ by Antoine Watteau, ca. 1717-1718
b) French Rococo
c) Most noted for his fêtes galantes; depictions of elegant outdoor parties known for their amorous conversations, graceful fashion, and social gallantry. this work is a mythologized vision of just such a scene. The party takes place on Cythera, the birthplace of Venus and the island of love. Lovers go there to honor Venus, portrayed by a statue. Cupids fly above the crowd. The lovers are boarding the boat back to the real world. Conversation piece. This painting gained entry into the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, even though it did not adhere the academic rules: it was small, subject neither historical nor religious nor portraiture, it did not glorify a king or state. The Academy created a new official category: fetes galantes. (Rubenistes triumph)
- conversation piece
- fetes galantes
- world of pleasure
- light colours, pastel
- fantasy
- extravagance
- it gained entry to the academy, although it did not adhere to academic rules, new category was created; fetes galantes.
- moral ignorance/distraction of French aristocracy
- love; cythera, birthplace of Venus, island of love, cupid has nothing to do.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Starry Night’ by Vincent van Gogh, 1889
b) Post-Impressionism
c)
- Expressive and emotional use of color
- expressionist father; color to convey emotion
- brushwork; sometimes even paint squeezed out of tube
- seems spontaneous but is very thought through.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Dimanche d’été à La Grande Jatte’ by Georges Seurat, 1884-1886
b) Post-Impressionism; Pointillism
c)
- systematized impressionism; pointillism; created by system of rules
- Intellectual, scientific, mathematical
- underpinned by color theory
- typically impressionist subject; sunday afternoon, social gathering of the french middle class.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe’ by Édouard Manet, 1863
b) Realism, and early Impressionism
c) Manet had an academic training, which included copying works at the Louvre
- Academically trained artist
- painted in 1863, the year of the first organization of the ‘salon des refuses’ where it was exhibited; even there regarded as shocking.
- Tells the truth of modern life; two gentleman with a prostitute; frog/clothes. First big nonallegorical female nude.
- He painted directly on canvas with thinned oil
- Brush strokes are strong and quick and fully visible; criticized as incompetent or careless.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘Impression, Soleil Levant’ by Claude Monet, 1872
b) Impressionism
c)
- the very term of impressionism derives from this work, exhibited at first exhibition of the impressionism art.
- began whit white canvas
- painted en plein air for natural light.
- momentary depiction of nature’s transitory light.
- availability of oil paint in small, portable tins and tubes.
- brushwork is deliberately sketchy and loose.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) ‘The Gates of Hell’ by Auguste Rodin, 1880-1917
b) Fin de Siècle Sculpture
c) anxiety. zondagavond voor nieuwe schooljaar.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky, 1913
b) German Expressionism, from Der Blaue Reiter to be exact.
c) The leader of Der Blaue Reiter, born in Moscow, studied arts in Munich and became friends with the Cubists and the Fauves. Der Blaue Reiter refers to St. George slaying the dragon on city emblem of Moscow, which was thought would become the capital of the world. He believed color caused vibrations in the soul. Der Blaue Reiter founded in Munich in 1911.
- under the surface
- express spirituality
- art free from references of outside world
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Le Portugais, by Georges Braque, 1911-12
b) Cubism, Analytical Cubism to be exact.
c) Braque’s ‘the portuguese’ depicts a guitarist playing at a café, but there is no fully realized figure; all is a fleeting glance as if seen through a broken mirror that distort everything. Analytical Cubism is more abstract through fragmentary appearance of multiple viewpoints and overlapping planes. It has a more simplified color palette and a complete loss of perspective.
- No emotion
- Shapes function as uncertain signs
- everything is in flux
- internal logic
- simple color palette
- complete loss of perspectives.
- analysis forms through fragmentation.
- breaking down object
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Abstract Speed by Giacomo Balla, 1913
b) Futurism
c) The Futurism movement, based in Italy before WW1, used Cubist forms in a dynamic way. Conceived by it’s founder, the poet Filippo Marinetti, in his Manifesto of Futurism, published in 1909. The Futurists wanted to render “universal dynamism” in painting. They valued simultaneous perspective, as did the Cubists, but the Futurists recorded the various aspects of a moving object, whereas the analytical Cubists recorded those of a static one.
- Abstraction of movement/dynamics.
- Dynamic, strong lines.
- Progress and new technology.
- No point of rest or focal point.
- Reflect own time.
- Modern world in motion; art should be part of this new society.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, by Pablo Picasso, 1907
b) Cubism, Proto-Cubism to be exact.
c) Cubism differs from earlier styles of painting in its depiction of objects in their most reduced geometric form, particularly, as cubes.
Cubism in general; focuses on order, reflection and construction. Father of Cubism is Paul Cézanne, with his dictum: you must see in nature the cylinder, the sphere and the cone. It focuses on primal forms; the essential. It shows objects from different angles simultaneously, it breaks down the object into distinct areas or planes, it reduces objects to basic (often geometric) forms, it emphasizes the 2d canvas, inventors of cubism are Picasso and Braque. Different types; proto-cubism, analytical cubism, synthetic cubism. This painting is a turning point in history; the anatomy of the figures shows distorted proportions. Solid and Void are depicted in terms of structural units, similar to Cézannes “little planes”. The style is also deliberately primitive. African masks, inundated Paris in the first decade of the century, and Picasso took full advantage of their expressive force.
- Spatial ambiguity
- Flattening of space
- Fragmentation of image
- Show objects from different angles simultaneously
- “Primitive” influences; imperialism and “Lesser artists borrow, greater artists steal.”
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Dancing around the Golden Calf by Emil Nolde, 1910
b) German Expressionism, from Die Brücke to be exact.
c) Emphasis on artist’s inner feelings. Abstraction of emotions. Simplified shapes, bright colors, gestural brushstrokes. Two German schools; Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter. Both were directly indebted to the example of the Fauves in terms of the liberation of color. Emil Nolde was the most daring of Die Brücke. His Dancing around the Golden Calf distinguishes itself from the Fauves by the painting’s lack of contour and outline. Instead, there is an emphasis on the use of color which fully exploits the dissonances between it’s colors. The energy of this style helps create a sense of violence, fury, and sexuality that is alien to Matisse’s work.
- Die Brücke, Dresden 1905; bridge to a new society.
- Vivid non-naturalistic colors and emotional tension.
- Expression psychological anxiety and social commentary.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Guitar, Sheet Music and Wine Glass, by Pablo Picasso, 1912
b) Cubism, Synthetic Cubism to be exact.
c) Both Picasso and Braque began to introduce recognizable pieces of material reality into their compositions, asking the questions; what is real and what is art? By pasting real materials on the canvas they engaged in a technique called ‘collage’ which became the new playground of the artist.
- adding textures and patterns (collage)
- Papiers Collés
- Increased recognizability
- Reintroduction color
- flattening out the image
- elements reality are added
- simpler forms, bright colors
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Portrait of Madame Matisse/The Green Line, by Henri Matisse, 1905
b) Fauvism
c) The 1905 Salon D’automne was liberal in its acceptance policies and included a room of paintings by a group of artists including Henri Matisse, they exhibited for the first time together. The Art critic Louis Vauxcelles was quick to label these artists ‘Les Fauves’ (The Wild Beasts) because of there paintings’ violent and arbitrary colors. Their work was intended to shock the audience. Henri Matisse made a portrait of Madame Matisse. He broke the colors into broad zones and makes no attempt to harmonize them; green, red and purple are used at maximum intensity.
- Salon D’automne - Paris, 1905
- Les Fauves, art critic Louis Vauxcelles
- Abstraction of color
- Extreme extension of Post-Impressionism
- Rejection 3D space
- Flatness, bright colors, spontaneous brushstrokes
- Color is not representational; thus, abstraction of color.
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Fountain, by Marcel Duchamp, 1917
b) Dadaism
c) The war had an immense impact on art; profoundly affected by the destruction, a group of artists founded a new art movement: Dada, a nonsense word. Dadaists thought that if tradition was responsible for the Great War, it did not deserve respect; it resulted in childlike, absurd behavior. Tristan Tzara wrote the Dada manifesto. Founded in 1915 in Zürich and other places e.g. New York.
Marcel Duchamp was one of the most important Dadaists. He saw Dada as a kind of Anti-Art that opposed all recognized values in art and literature. In 1917, Duchamp submitted a sculpture to an exhibition in New York. Entitled Fountain, it was a porcelain urinal signed with a pseudonym, it caused an uproar. Duchamp suggested that what mattered most about a work was not aesthetic concerns but who made it. By setting it in an exhibition, Duchamp changed the meaning; he had taken something mundane and by reframing it had revealed an aesthetic dimension. He engaged in many demonstrations against traditional aesthetics. He retouched a poster of the mona lisa with a moustache.
- Look at the world as children do
- Anti-art
- Position artist shifts; from creator to picker.
- Assisted readymade
- Status art is questioned
- Presentation and title change meaning
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Painting, by Joan Miró, 1933.
b) Automatic Surrealism
c) The spirit of the Avant-Garde continued to thrive after the war. Paris was its center. In 1924, poet André Breton appropriated the word Surrealism to name his own movement. Delighting in the irrational and its lack of aesthetic or moral concerns, it was indebted to Dada. Where it differed was its fascination with the realm of dreams, supported by a wilful misunderstanding of Freud. Where Freud considered neurosis as an illness demanding a cure, Breton found it liberating. The neurotic person was free to behave in any manner, and the dreams opened whole new vistas of subject matter, many of them previously taboo. Automatic Surrealism was based on Breton’s notion of psychic automatism; drawing liberated from the necessity of plan. Automatist Surrealists should accept any apparent accident as psychologically predetermined and therefore revelatory. Joan Miro’s painting is a rendering of machine forms he saw in a catalog, transformed into abstract shapes, more organic than mechanical.
- Automatism: drawing liberated from the necessity of plan.
- Peinture automatique
- anything as psychologically predetermined and therefore revelatory.
- Based on Andrë Breton’s ideas
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) La persistance de la memoire, by Salvador Dalí, 1931.
b) Oneiric Surrealism
c) The Oneiric Surrealism focused on representing the world of dreams accurately, deliberately, and particularly without self-censorship.
- no automatism
- dream-like scenes
- decontextualization
- hand-painted dream photographs
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Black square, by Kazimir Malevich, 1915.
b) Suprematism
c) Russian Avant-Gardes.
- Utopian movement; abstract art to build a new world
- complete abstraction, objectless art.
- supremacy of pure artistic feeling
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Tower by Vladimir Tatlin, 1919-20.
b) Constructivism
c)
- Art should directly reflect the modern industrial world.
- Social Idealism: join art and society
- Utilitarian approach
- Importance of the surrounding space
- Monumental Propaganda
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Number 5, by Jackson Pollock, 1948.
b) Abstract Expressionism; Action Painting
c) Existentialism became the dominant postwar philosophy, and the arts became to emphasize individual expression. In the United States, a brand of highly personal and subjective painting developed, known as abstract expressionism. Although varied in style, the work of Abstract Expressionists was unified in its emphasis on expressive gesture and its rejection of art as representation. Abstract Expressionism was US businesscard.
By the mid-40’s Pollock had begun to develop a body of work with his drip technique. His working method was to unroll a huge canvas on the floor and throw, drip and splatter paint onto it as he moved around it. The entirety is a web of countless swirling marks, seemingly pushing and pulling each other.
His style became known as action painting because it conveys the artist’s physical activity. For Pollock, the activity of getting paint onto the canvas was the important part.
- gesture painting
- no composition, but improvisation!
- dripping technique
- large scale
- spontaneous means of expressing the artist’s feelings
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Number 14, by Mark Rothko, 1960.
b) Abstract Expressionism; Colorfield Painting
c) Existentialism became the dominant postwar philosophy, and the arts became to emphasize individual expression. In the United States, a brand of highly personal and subjective painting developed, known as abstract expressionism. Although varied in style, the work of Abstract Expressionists was unified in its emphasis on expressive gesture and its rejection of art as representation. Abstract Expressionism was US businesscard.
The color-field abstraction is recognized by an absence of a subject, an absence of an illusion of space and large areas of flat color with blurry outlining. Rothko’s subtle colors are mediation fields with which he wished to evoke certain emotions.
- mediation fields
- impact on viewer
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Grey, and Blue, by Piet Mondriaan, 1921.
b) De Stijl or Neoplasticism
c) De stijl represents an utopian response to WW1. De Stijl championed a “pure” abstraction. In the movement’s first manifesto, they wrote; “the war is destroying the old world with its contents… the new art has brought forward what the new consciousness of time contains; balance between the universal and the individual. The leading painter of Neoplasticism was Mondriaan, he had defined a mature style, believing the flat plane was integral to painting and that it must be respected rather than falsified by perspective. Mondriaan created a surface grid of horizontal and vertical lines; the rectangle and square are its basic shapes. The colors are restricted to the primary colors. Using these simple elements, Mondriaan established a sense of balance.
- 1918, first manifesto by Theo van Doesburg
- Neoplasticism
- Hollow and pretentious language; very elitist
- Journal; theories and essays.
- sense of balance
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Ophir, by Frank Stella, 1960-61
b) Abstract Expressionism; hard edge painting
c) Existentialism became the dominant postwar philosophy, and the arts became to emphasize individual expression. In the United States, a brand of highly personal and subjective painting developed, known as abstract expressionism. Although varied in style, the work of Abstract Expressionists was unified in its emphasis on expressive gesture and its rejection of art as representation. Abstract Expressionism was US businesscard.
- interest in geometry
- shaped by form of canvas
- hard edge painters at canvas as unit
- opposition between (color) paint and (white) canvas
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Sony Building, by Philip Johnson, 1978-84
b) Postmodern architecture
c)
- Charles Jencks - The language of Postmodern Architecture
- Leaves behind Functionalism and Minimalism
- Eclecticism; creates a-historical buildings
- Experience of building is important; subjectivism!
- Combines styles from the past (historicism), using irony, -decontextualization.
- pink granite, pedestal
- bricolage; mixed media
- fragmentary classicism
- chippendale building
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Campbell’s Soup Cans, by Andy Warhol, 1962
b) Pop-Art
c) In the 1950s and 1960s, the material dreams of the post-war era seemed to be coming true. As consumerism increasingly preoccupied life, artists and intellectuals turned their attention to the cycle of production, consumption, and waste that defined experience. It is explicitly not against consumer society. In USA: reaction against Abstract Expressionism. Intrigued by rich visual culture of television, film, advertisements, pop music, comics, product packaging, those are all sources of this art.
- cross-pollination art and mass culture
- Traditional boundaries between high and low art disappear
- strives for innovation combining different elements
- raises everyday objects and icons to artistic status
- Andy Warhol’s studio was called ‘the factory’
- meaning is up to viewer
- art as imitation and parody
- loss of meaning by decontextualization
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) One Top Prop (House of Cards) by Richard Serra, 1968-69
b) Minimal Art
c) John Cage’s minimalism also attracted sculptors, who saw principles relevant to their work in it; first, they saw that a formal but minimal sculptural statement would be interpreted varyingly according to its situation.
- Extreme visual reduction; primary structures
- Artwork as material, worldly object
- Importance of environment of work and experience viewer
- “Art can just be”
- What are the minimal requirements for something to be art?
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) One and Three Chairs, by Joseph Kosuth, 1965.
b) Conceptual Art
c) Art is “pure information” and could exist simply as information rather than as an object. In Conceptual Art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.
- Next logical step after Minimalism
- Follow the immaterial
- Art as an idea
- Materialization: by someone else or not at all
- language and science
- process of thinking of the essence as art
- different modes of representation
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Flag, Jasper Johns, 1954
b) Neo-Dada
c)
- heirs of Marcel Duchamp
- against abstract expressionism
- focus on the commonplace, everyday objects
- representation of a flag
- forerunners Pop Art, but more clearly mocking
- built-in ambiguity; object or artistic rendering of an object?
- collage of newspapers, focus on materiality
- using things the mind already knows (bricolage)
- did not want to create anti-art
- no medium specifity
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Villa Savoye, by Le Corbusier, 1928-31.
b) The International Style
c) Unlike the other arts, in architecture a single international style developed over the first half of the 20th century. Based primarily on the nature of modern materials an structure, slender posts and beams, and concrete reinforced by steel. Many leading architects in 1930s fled from Europe to USA. One influential architect of the International Style was Le Corbusier. His Villa Savoye caused a revolution in domestic architecture. Le Corbusier called these buildings “machines a habiter” reflecting his admiration for the neatness and precision of machines. The Savoye Villa is elevated on stilts of reinforced concrete. Smooth walls in pure geometric shapes enclose space in abstract composition of simple planes and clean lines, like a large sculpture that can be inhabited.
- functionalism; form follows function (Louis Sullivan’s axiom)
- standardized architecture
- wrote Les Cinq points (1926); 1. Pilotis 2. Free Façade 3. Ribbon window 4. Open floor plan 5. Roof Terrace.
- machines a habiter
- no decorations or organic forms (opposed to Art Nouveau)
- no references to architectural tradition
- rectilinear and clean
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago, 1974-79
b) Feminist Art
c) The single most important development in the art world in recent decades has been the rise to prominence of visions previously excluded from the mainstream.
Judy and many other women created the Dinner Party, a history of women’s accomplishments. Each place setting at a triangular table represents a specific woman, from Prehistoric and ancient goddesses to the modern novelist Virginia Woolf and the painter Georgia O’Keeffe. The 39 place settings are arranged with 13 on each side, recalling depictions of Jesus’s last supper. Additional 999 names of women on table runner. The Dinner Party took what had routinely been dismissed as a woman’s domain (knitting,porcelain painting etc.) and transformed it into a monumental sculpture that brought public attention to women’s art.
- first epic feminist artwork
- reading history, but highlighting the names in the margins
a) Who made this work, and when?
b) In what period/movement was it made?
c) And why is this work part of the Canon (why is it a good example
for the period)?
a) Do women have to be naked to get in the met. museum?, by Guerilla Girls, 1989
b) The Pictures Generation
c) In 1982, the coalition of women’s art organizations reported that only 2% of museum exhibitions by living artists were devoted to women. This imbalance was the focus of a socially active group of women, known as the Guerilla Girls, their identity hidden by their gorilla masks. From 1985 they plastered New York City with posters, publicly questioning the inequity with which women are represented, exhibited, and funded in the arts.
- Originality is no longer possible (Derrida)
- Second hand images
- Examine strategies and codes for representation
- Baudrillard: simalucrum; images have lost their connection with reality.
- using Ingres’ depiction and decontextualizing it.
- use the medium already prominent in consumerist society.
- decontextualization and deconstruction combined
- bricolage; took on a political aspect and it was used by artists to bypass the commercialism of the art world.
