Postwar Modern Movements

                                                                              Marina Abramovic

The Artist is Present (2012)

Marina Abramovic is a Serbian perfomance Artist who currently lives in New York. Abramovic bases her work on the relationship between performer and audience, the limits of the body and the possibilities of the mind. Abramovic is one of the pioneers of Perfomance art. Performance art became popular in the 1960's and 1970's. This type of art is performed and presented to an audience. 

Embracing Fashion (2012)

Throughout her career, Abramovic has focused on confronting pain, blood and physical limits of the body. Her works include:         Rhythm 10 (1973), Rhythm 5 (1974), Rhythm 2 (1974), Rhythm       0 (1974), Rest Energy (1980), The Artist is Present (2012) and           Embracing Fashion (2012). 

Week of May 20 - Museum of Modern Art

1. Cubism is an early-20th-century art movement. It began between 1907 and 1911. Cubism revolutionized European painting and sculpture. This is the most significant art movement from the 20th century. Important artists from this movement were Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Andre Lhote, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes and Robert Delaunay. Cubists artworks are made in an abstracted form. The objects are not depicted from one viewpoint but from a multitude of viewpoints in order to represent the subject in a greater context. Cubist artists challenged conventional forms of representation such as perspective.
This painting on the left is titled Ma Jolie by Pablo Picasso. It was painted around 1911/12 in Paris. Ma Jolie (My Pretty Girl) was the refrain of a song performed at a Parisian music hall that Picasso used to frequent. This was also the nickname that he gave to his lover Marcelle Humbert. In this painting, Picasso loosely built her figure using the shifting planes of Analytical Cubism. The Central triangular mass subtly indicates the shape of a woman's head and torso, and a group of six vertical lines at the painting's lower center represent the strings of a guitar which the woman strums. Picasso also included the words Ma Jolie. This painting has a combination of dark colors such as black and brown and lighter colors like yellow. Its dimensions are 3'3" x 2'1".  

 

2. Pop Art is an art movement that began in the late 1950's in the United States. It includes imagery from popular culture like advertising and news. Pop art contains a hard-edged composition and it is very representational. It looks like comic book images and cartoons. This type of art connects and critiques society. pop art tries to reach the audience and it is grounded in consumer culture and mass media.
The image on the right is a representation of American Actress Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol. It is known as Warhol's Gold Marilyn Monroe. It contains bright flat colors such as yellow, black, purple and blue, clean edges and it is not messy. This artwork was created in 1962 after Monroe's death. Its dimensions are of  6'11 1/4" x 57" (211.4 x  144.7 cm).

Assignment #5: Between World Wars

  1. Dada was an artistic movement that began in the early 20th century in Zurich, Switzerland. It began as a reaction to World War I and the nationalism that many people thought had caused the war. Dada artists usually used readymade objects and everyday objects that can be bought and presented as art with little manipulation by the artist. The use of readymade objects questioned the artists' creativity and the definition of art as well as its purpose in society. Dada was a way of criticizing society through art. It also broke away from traditions and ridiculed conventional rules. For this reason, humor and irreverence played a significant role in these artworks. Dada was known for rejecting the aesthetic values of previous art styles. The world did not make sense to these artists who were experiencing world war I. An example of a Dada artwork is Woman with a Head of Roses by Salvador Dali. It was painted in in 1935. Dali often replaced the human head with other heads or objects. He did this in order to express his dislike of the lack of intelligence and excess of perfume of the rich people around the surrealist group.
  2. Jacob Lawrence was an African American painter who is best known for his portrayal of African-American life. He was also an educator. Lawrence defined his style as "dynamic cubism". However, his primary influence was the shapes and colors of Harlem. Lawrence was also influenced by social struggles and international artistic trends. He used blacks and browns juxtaposed with vivid colors in order to depict the African-American experience. An example of his work is Home Chores painted in 1945. In this painting, Lawrence depicts the everyday life of African-America women. We can see how Lawrence uses a dark and thick brown to represent an African-American woman doing home chores. We can also see the use of vivid colors in her dress, the floor and the background.

Assingment #4: Impressionism and Post Impressionism

Impressionism began in 1874 in France. It portrays what the eyes see instead of what the mind knows. Landscapes and ordinary scenes are the main subjects of these artworks. This style of painting is known for its thematic use of repetition. Impressionism characterizes for its small and thin brush strokes and open composition. It emphasizes accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities. An example of an impressionist artwork is The Woman with a Parasol by Claude Monet. This piece of art depicts Monet's wife and their son. In this artwork, we can see how Monet uses light and spontaneous brushwork in order to create splashes of color. He also creates the impression of movement. For this reason, we can see how Mrs Monet's veil and dress is blown by the wind. We can also see Mrs Monet's Shadow in the green grass. The simultaneous contrasts make the colors appear more vibrant and vivid.


Post-Impressionism is an art movement that began in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It is an extension of impressionism. However, post-impressionism rejects the limitations of impressionism by implementing vivid colors, thick application of paint and real-life subject matter. Post impressionists artists also emphasized geometric forms, distort form from expressive effect, and unnatural or arbitrary color. An example of a post impressionist artwork is The Centennial of Independence by Henri Rousseau. This piece of art was painted in 1892. It depicts the one-hundredth anniversary of the proclamation of the first French Republic in 1792. In this artwork we can see how Rousseau uses vibrant and contrasting colors and tones. Rousseau also uses thick application of paint and geometric forms. He does a good job expressing the feeling of happiness with this artwork by painting peasants dancing the Farandole which was a popular Southern French dance.

Renaissance and Baroque Art

                                                           Art in the Renaissance 

Madona and Child (1520) by Francesco Granacci.

This painting is titled Madona and Child. It was painted by Italian artist Francesco Granacci in 1520. In this artwork, we can see how the virgin Mary and the baby Jesus are depicted in a realistic way. This is because
painters had discovered the significance of form and anatomy during this period of time. For this reason, painters tried to portray the human forms in a very accurate way. Humanism played an important role in Renaissance art. It minimized religious and secular dogmas and emphasized the dignity and value of the individual.
In this piece of art, we can see the use of bright colors. In the Renaissance, artists used bright colors and implemented other characteristics such as realism, expression, perspective and focus on the individual. For this reason, Mary and Jesus are clearly the focal points of this painting instead of the surroundings. It is interesting to me to see how the majority of the artworks from this period of time were religious or had religion as a theme.


                                                                       Baroque Art

Marie Antoinette with a Rose in 1783 by Vigee Le Brun. 

This painting titled Marie Antoinette with a Rose is one of the most popular artworks done by French artist Vigee Le brun. Le Brun painted this portrait of Queen Marie Antoinette in 1783. She was considered the official portraitist of Marie Antoinette. Baroque painters were more interested in light than in forms and figures unlike painters from the Renaissance.
This is why, we can see how the face, torso and arms of Marie Antoinette look brighter than the rest of the painting.
We can also see that Marie Antoinette is depicted in a realistic way as well as the background. The techniques of implementing light and dark shadows as well as realism made Baroque artworks look more dramatic and real than the ones from the Renaissance period. For this reason, this portrait of Marie Antoinette almost look like a photograph of her.

Assignment # 2 - Design Elements & Principles in Art

 1. Unity is the appearance or condition of oneness in an artwork. Artists achieve unity by adjusting the parts of a work in order to make them related to each other. However, if there is too much unity, the artwork might seem boring. Therefore, Artists have to make a balance by implementing variety to their artworks. An artwork is balanced if it has variety and unity. Ways in which artists unify their work are the use of repetition of color, objects and shapes. An example of unity in an artwork is the painting titled Butterflies by Marcia Baldwin. In this work, we can see how this artist uses the colors blue and white in a repeated way. This artwork also has variety because the butterflies seem to be flying in different directions.


2. Asymmetrical balance is when the left and the right sides of a work appear to be different. Some elements are balanced depending on their size, weight, color and also meaning. In other words, large forms are heavy and they can be balanced with two or more smaller forms in the other side. Warm colors can be balanced with cold colors. Shadows, light and dark sides are significant parts of these types of artworks. The painting above titled A Bigger Splash by David Hockney is an example of asymmetrical balance in an artwork. This is because, the building is placed off center, to the left. However, it is balanced by the impressive angle of the diving board and also its projection to the viewer's space.



3. Scale in art refers to the relationship that the size of one object has with another. This is one of the first things that an artist has to agree on before creating a piece of art. Scale could be too large or too small depending on the artist's intentions. By doing this, the artist shows or emphasizes the importance of the object. The picture above is a good example of scale in art. Narmer who was a predynastic ruler in Ancient Egypt appears to be larger than the other men that are depicted carrying the standards of some local gods. This shows the importance and power that Narmer had as a ruler over other men. For this reason, he is depicted as being larger than the other men in this piece of art.

Egyptian and Greek Art

 Anubis




                                                   













Goddess Athena


Egyptian art has many different qualities. Symbolism is an important quality of the art that was created in ancient Egypt. Another quality is the compact figures that represent strength and geometric clarity. The first picture is a representation of the Egyptian God Anubis. Anubis was considered the God of embalming and death. Therefore, Anubis was also the guardian of the dead and guide of the afterlife. In this picture, Anubis is depicted standing stoically which represents authority. He appears holding the divine sceptre which was carried by kings and Gods as a symbol of power. Anubis is usually depicted as a jackal having black skin, a color that symbolizes death.

Greek and Egyptian art have qualities in common. However, Greek art is more lively than Egyptian art. Egyptian art is more hierarchical. Therefore, their art forms are strong and formal which represented the nobility. This was in order to maintain authority. The second picture is a sculpture of the Greek Goddess Athena. This sculpture is a well-preserved example of Greek art. The human form was considered the highest creation of nature. For this reason, the Greeks considered the human body to be perfect. In this picture Athena is depicted as having a perfect human form and standing in an elegant way.