Midterm Flashcards
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket
James McNeil Whistler
1875
Early Modern Art
Whistler filed slander against art critic Ruskin who said what he didm and so quickly was not art. Art should represent nature at its most elevated level. Whistler argued for art for art’s sake, the aesthetic experience. Not to be morally uplifting. The time spent creating it doesn’t determine art’s value, but the lifetime of something special.
The Birth of Venus
William Bouguereau
1879
Realism
At the center of the painting, Venus stands nude on a scallop shell (a visual metaphor for the female vulva) being pulled by a dolphin, one of her symbols. Venus was modeled by Rosalie Tobia, who also modeled for other works by Bouguereau. Fifteen putti, including Cupid and Psyche, and several nymphs and centaurs have gathered to witness Venus’ arrival. Most of the figures are gazing at her, and two of the centaurs are blowing into conch shells, signaling her arrival. Venus was considered to be the embodiment of sex, beauty, enticement, seduction and persuasive female charm, and these traits are shown in the painting. Venus’ head is tilted to one side, and her facial expression is calm but seductive, unembarrassed of her nudity. She raises her arms, arranging her thigh-length brown hair, and shows off her breasts. She sways elegantly in an “s” curve contrapposto, seductively emphasizing the feminine curves of her body, and drawing attention to her naked vulva. Despite her frank sexuality, she holds her thighs together in “virginal refusal.”
Boulevard du Temple, Paris
J.L.M. Daguerre
1838
Early Photography Realism
Straightforward record of the everyday world, devoid of theatrics or sentiment. Called “city of the dead” since the only people in it was one man who happened to stay still long enough for his shoes to be shined and by chance this photograph.
A Burial at Ornans
Gustave Courbet
1849-50
Realism
About realism. “Show me an angel and I’ll paint one.” Bottom of painting cuts sharply across grave. Harsh coloring of grays, browns and blacks. Critics called it ugly, perverse and called him a socialist. Death is a real life factor and we all experience it. Doesn’t include mythcal elements of religion. Community coming together. In death everyone is equal which could be why everyon’es heads line up horizontally.
Olympia
Edouard Manet
1863
Realism
Transition figure between Realism & Modern Art. Based on interior female nude. A Look at a past artwork, but modernized. Critics thought he mocked traditional art.
Boulevard des Capucines, Paris
Claude Monet
1873-74
Impressionism
Looked at photographs to see how differently the world looked. Kind of askew or no particula individuals. Anonymous people. Bluriness of Boulevard suggests movement; an idea from photography. Creates feeling of crowd and their movement. Impressionists interested in showing changes of their city.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
Georges Seurat
1884-86
Post- Impressionism
Shown in last Impressionist exhibit and a big hit. Admired tradition, but had interest in color. Composition of Renaissance style perspective (depth perspective) & modern ideas of color. Brushed on color in areas, but dotted on dots of complementary colors. Green w/ dabs of green & red, etc.
Still Life with Basket of Apples
Paul Cezanne
1893
Post- Impressionism
Table edge doesn’t match up. Whatever you chose to focus on instantly becomes the main focus. Moving still life; instability.
Mount St. Victoire Seen from Les Lauves
Paul Cezanne
1902-06
Post- Impressionism
Diagonals don’t indicate movement back in space i.e. trees & mountains. Tree branch & mountain curve meet up & you see the closest & furthest at once.
Roger and Angelica
Odilon Redon
1910
Symbolism
Rescue of Angelica by Roger, based on a Renaissance poem. Can hardly decipher both figures. Roger on a winged horse-like hippogriff & Angelica chained to a rock naked. Lost amid clouds of brilliant, amorphous color where nothing is sumbsumed in an atmosphere of overpowering sensuality.
Iris, Messenger of the Gods
Auguste Rodin
1890-91
Modern Sculpture
Headless and lacking the left arm. The tension in her acrobatic body and her bare, exposed crotch add to the powerful erotic charge of this female figure.
The Gates of Hell
Auguste Rodin
1880-1917
Impressionism
Entryway for a new museum of decorative arts. Commissioned, but never built.
Worked on separate elements to be added to the gate. Fugitive Lovers, The Falling Man, Paolo and Francesca (forever chasing after someone; elusive).
Referencing Gates of Paradise from Renaissance. Separate scenes, but eventually merged into one. What is ugly in life can be beautiful in art.
The Sower
Vincent Van Gogh
November 1888
Post-Impressionism
Reminds us of the Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints.
Where Do We Come From? Where Are We? Where Are We Going?
Paul Gaugin
1897-98
Post-Impressionism
Tahiti. Fantasized the painting like clothes or lack of clothes. Tahiti had changed and not what he imagined. Title written in French in upper left. Could express Gaugin’s existentialism. What is the purpose of life?
Gauguin—after vowing that he would commit suicide following this painting’s completion, something he had previously attempted—indicated that the painting should be read from right to left, with the three major figure groups illustrating the questions posed in the title. The three women with a child represent the beginning of life; the middle group symbolizes the daily existence of young adulthood; and in the final group, according to the artist, “an old woman approaching death appears reconciled and resigned to her thoughts”; at her feet, “a strange white bird…represents the futility of words.” The blue idol in the background apparently represents what Gauguin described as “the Beyond.” Of its entirety he said, “I believe that this canvas not only surpasses all my preceding ones, but that I shall never do anything better—or even like it.”
The painting is an accentuation of Gauguin’s trailblazing post-impressionistic style; his art stressed the vivid use of colors and thick brushstrokes, tenets of the impressionists, while it aimed to convey an emotional or expressionistic strength. It emerged in conjunction with other avant-garde movements of the twentieth century, including cubism and fauvism.
The Entry of Christ into Brussels, 1889
James Ensor
1888-89
Expressionism
Critics didn’t like it. Rebelled against academy. Early expressionism. Exaggerated colors and forms to create a feeling. Frotesque masks featured. His mother sold masks. MAsks symbolic of the masks people wear so you couldn’t see their true self. Distrust in humanity. Figures with their backs to Christ. If Christ came, people wouldn’t care. They lost touch of spiritual values.
The Scream
Edvard Munch
1893
Expressionism
Human figures. Distorted background. Representation of his feelings. Bridge is straight while background is wavy and character is in the middle separating the two.
The Paris Opera
Charles Garnier
1861-74
Modern Architecture
Outside evokes the rhythm, movement and grandeur of the anticipated performances inside.
Guaranty Trust Building
Louis Sullivan
1894-95
Modern Architecture
First functional building built in U.S. Specifically Chicago. First master of skyscaper. “Form follows function.” Steel skeleton that emphasizes verticality of building. With steel skeleton, could fill with a lot of windows. Roman influence…base, shaft & capital…basic structure building.
Church of the Sagrada Familia
Antoni Gaudi
1883-1926
Art Nouveau
Took over church with existing neo-gothic parts. Stalagmite looking. Look inspired by Islamic architecture.
Tassel House (Stairwell)
Victor Horta
1892-93
Art Nouveau
Worked on private residences. Inspired by medieval art. Light, slender lines with lots of curves (art nouveau).
Luxe, Calme, et Volupte
Henri Matisse
1904-05
Fauvism
Vacationing in St. Tropez. Exaggerated form of pointilism. Title from poem by Boudelaire. Pleasure, calm & luxury.
The Joy of Life
Henri Matisse
1905-06
Fauvism
Sums up feeling of joy and pleasure. A sort of hidden paradise of sorts. Colors, nudity (freedom), outdoor, private oasis. Figures are separate vignettes, isolated from one another and varying in scale.
London Bridge
Andre Derain
1906
Fauvism
Commissioned to capture the special atmosphere of London.
Portrait of Derain
Maurice Vlaminck
1906
Fauvism
Dramatic portrait. Derain’s face predominantly intense red with black contours, yellow highlights and a few strokes of contrasting green shadow along nose bridge. Reminiscent of Matisse’s Portrait of Madame Matisse.
Le Luxe II
Henri Matisse
1907-08
Fauvism
Typical contrapposto pose of Venus. No shell, but standing inside of a white area. Open eyes make her more accessible than Venus. More dynamic suggestion of movement. Birth of Venus has a low horizon line so we look up at her, but here horizon line is higher so we’re on her level.
Music
Henri Matisse
1909-10
Post- Impressionism
Trance like inwardness of figures. Figures reminiscent of Greek red figure pottery. Older and newer instruments played. Possible progression of life due to posture. Sitting to standing
The Street, Dresden
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
1907-08
Expressionism
Looked to contemporary life for subject matter. Assembly of curvilinear figures who undulate like wraiths moving away and toward the viewer. Probably had Munch’s Spring Evening on Karl Johan Street in mind.
Man in the Plain
Erich Heckel
1917
Expressionism
Helped establish printmaking as an art form. Lines and curves go in all directions. Man holding head, face lines suggest he’s worrying and in the middle of something chaotic.
Indian and Woman
Max Pechstein
1910
Expressionism
Illustrates expressionist’s interest in exotic subject and fauvist color scheme. Sculptural and curvilinear.
Large Blue Horses
Franz Marc
1911
Expressionism
Simple primary & secondary colors. Similar shapes between horses & landscape. High horizon line so horse bodies echo hills. Round hills & horse bodies. Heads, ears & leaves. Manes and trunks.
Sketch for Composition II
Vasily Kandinsky
1909-10
Expressionism
Artwork communicate directly with soul like music. Chaos & renewal… a lot going on. Diagonal lines create instability. Unsure of subject matter. Rapid brush strokes. “Subject matter detrimental to artwork” Renewal…warm colors cominate…hope? Green shapes could be plants. Garden of Eden or Matisse’s Joy of Lifein top right. Communicating with soul by getting rid of obvious subject matter.
Composition VII
Vasily Kandinsky
1913
Expressionism
Expressionist who moved farthest in their abstraction. Though subject matter was detrimental to his work. Simple color palette of primary and secondary colors plus black and white.
Conflict & renewal theme. Boat with 3 oars in bottom left.
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer
Gustave Klimt
1907
Art Nouveau
Supported himself primarily from portraits. Even with conventional genre, he exerted himself through the abstraxt and decorative. Didn’t customary flattering poses, instead made her look like Byzantian royalty.
Self Portrait
Egon Schiele
1910
Expressionism
Schiele had a short career before succumbing to influenza. Work was grotesque, disturbing and erotic.
Portrait of Adolf Loos
Oskar Kokoschka
1909
Expressionism
Architect friend who provided him with moral and financial support. Figure projects from dark background and tension in his contemplative face echoed in clasped hands. Kokoschka thought ornament was a crime in his art.
The Portuguese
Georges Braque
1911
Analytic Cubism
Portuguese immigrant holding guitar ready to embark in new land on a harbor. Figure is made evident by a series of descending diagonal lines which help concentrate on central figure.
Fruit Dish and Glass
Georges Braque
1912
Synthetic Cubism
Combined faux bois wood texture with charcoal drawing. Faux bois allowed him to introduce color into his monochromatic composition. Simple black and white drawings with chiaroscuro. Wood grain suggests atmosphere of bar. Draws attention to the fact that shapes are painted and not the illusion of what they appear to be. Location is space is unclear, but faux bois up top is wall and bottom is bar.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Pablo Picasso
1907
Cubism
Pre-modern, ancient, archaic, tribal. Inspired by ancient Iberian artifacts. 5 women represent prostitutes. Title is not Picasso’s. Eliminated male figures in original painting. Now women stare out at us and engage the viewer. No deep space whichcontributes to the confrontational feel.
Still Life with Chair Caning
Pablo Picasso
1912
Synthetic Cubism
Adopted the technique of collage. Cafe setting . Letters JOU could mean journal . Objects scattered through out painting. Goblet, knife, lemon slice. Uses oil cloth with chin caning texture on it to symbolize a chair. But chair caning represents something it is not. Chair caning = chair, but oil cloth = table. Oval composition. Real rope around composition could represent wooden table molding.
Maquette for Guitar
Pablo Picasso
1912
Cubist Sculpture
Sound hole pokes out instead of inward. cardboard, string and wire.
Guitar, Sheet Music, and Wine Glass
Pablo Picasso
1912
Synthetic Cubism
Hand painted wood grain cut out and applied to painting instead of faux bois. Signifies faux bois, but instead is hand painted. Background could represent the guitar strings.Wallpaper shows the guitar hanging on a wall
Eiffel Tower in Trees
Robert Delaunay
1910
Orphism
Framed by a foreground tree, depicted in light hues of ochre and blue, and by a pattern of circular cloud shapes that accentuate the staccato tempo of the painting. The fragmentation of the tower and foliage introduces not only the shifting viewpoints of Cubism, but also rapid motion, so that the tower its environment seem to vibrate.
Blanket
Sonia Delaunay
1911
Orphism
Orphism was an offshoot of Cubism that focused on pure abstraction and bright colors, influenced by Fauvism.
Delaunay’s first abstract piece of art. Brought attention to a different approach to art.
Torso of a Young Man
Constantin Brancusi
1924
Bronze. Roundness and curve. Figure suggests male, but roundness of the cyllindrical shapes and lack of male genitalia give it femininity. Base is geometric, but hourglass shape equated with female form.
Birds in Space
Constantin Brancusi
1925
Highly polished marble. Abstraction of arc. Symbolizes movement and flight of a bird. Basic shape with highness. Bird’s trajectory through the air. On x’shaped wooden pedestal.
