back to: Chapter 18

The Red Room
Fauvist
oil on canvas<
1908
by Henri Matisse

The Scream
Expressionism
oil on canvas
1893
by Edward Munch

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
Cubism
oil on canvas
1907
by Pablo Picasso

Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow
De Stijl
oil on canvas
1930
by Piet Mondrian

20th Century Art and Architecture

Modernism was a movement that started around 1880 and ended in 1980. It was characterized by its theoretical approach to art. "Art for art's sake" was a term which exemplified this movement because it basically said that art should be examined further to find out more about itself. The Modernists worked on theories of color, spirituality, universality, psychology, perception and the idea behind the art sometimes became more important than the image produced.

-worked from ideas in psychology like Faber Birren's Psychology of Color. Birren found that people reacted differently when exposed to different colors. For instance, red made people hungry; blue was a calming color; etc.

Expressionism

Edward Munch, The Scream, 1893, oil on canvas.
-expressive character and mode of communication.

the Fauves
-means "wild beasts" in French, referring to use of wild color and flat planes
-associated with the work of Cezanne
-Andre Derain's on the Thames

Henri Matisse
-used flat planes and bright vivid color. He was most interested in planes.

Portrait of Mdme. Matisse (the Green Stripe), 1905, oil on canvas, 16"x 12"
-used light that is reflected from different sources
-complementary colors are used
-portrait of Matisse1s wife

Vassily Kandinsky
-believed that colors had a spiritual quality and that sounds could be associated with particular colors
-believed that good art was a reflection of good moral character in an artist

Painting Number 201, 1914, oil on canvas, 5'4"x 4'
-based on a "symphony of colors"
-used abstract lines and shapes

The Futurists
-believed in the positiive effects of industrialization in the Western World
-in their manifesto, they included support for WWI, which they thought would be a great cleansing and would end war forever

Umberto Boccioni, Unique Form of Continuity in Space, bronze sculpture, 1913.

Cubism
-was developed as a way to show all sides of an object in a two-dimensions
-developed by Georges Braque but made most public by Picasso
-analytical Cubism worked with paint, synthetic Cubism used collaged objects.

Picasso
-Spanish artist who worked in expressionist and cubist movements

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907, oil on canvas, 8'x 7'8"
-influence from African masks
-picture of prostitutes in Avignon, France done in harsh, primitive way

Three Musicians, 1921, oil on canvas, 6'7"x 7'3"
-flattened abstracted forms
-arranged in rhythmic patterns
-slight diagonals add to rhythms

Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas, 11'6"x 25'6"
-painting memorializing first saturation bombing of a civilian area
-Picasso stipulated that the painting not be returned to Spain until democratic rule was restored

DE STIJL (the style)
This abstractionist movement was based in the idea that a "universal" aesthetic be produced. The members of the movement abstracted the world by using vertical lines (man) and horizontal lines (the horizon) to produce a grid. From their perspective, they are creating a form of art that has no basis in any other aesthetic tradition, i.e., African, Asian, etc.. Members of the movement include Piet Mondrian and Theo Van Doesburg, both Dutch artists.

the Bauhaus
-a school in Dessau, Germany that was founded with the intention of creating a universal International Style. The basis for this aesthetic idea was taken from the use of new materials like glass, metal, concrete, etc. The term "form follows function" was used to describe the importance of the use of an item over its aesthetic beauty. The use had to be the most important element, then the beauty of the object would follow.
-this school worked in architecture, art, and all facets of design. The building was designed by Walter Gropius.

ARCHITECTURE

Le Corbusier (the Raven)
-French architect who created "machines for living," they are designed around the needs of the people who occupy them
-felt that architecture should be designed independent of nature so that it would not be tied to any one environment.

Villa Savoye, 1928-30, France
-International Style house that was not tied to any single site.
-created so that it could be mass produced.
-designed for the needs of the occupants.

This reflects the new aesthetic that the Bauhaus was establishing. A universal style that is not tied to any one culture and is related to simplicity. Pieces of architecture like this one are relatively inexpensive to build and materials are mass-produced. The rectangle was regarded as an ideal form by the De Stijl artists.

Frank Lloyd Wright
-believed that architecture should be site-specific
-thought that architecture should reflect the surroundings

Falling Water, 1936, Bear Run, Pennsylvania
-specifically designed for that surrounding environment
-unique and could not be reproduced anywhere else
-used some materials that were taken from that environment, i.e. stone quarried in the vcinity of the house, wood from nearby trees