What is modern art?
Modern art is the certain styles and philosophy of the art, it is extended from the 1860s to the 1970s and it includes hundreds of thousands of artistic artworks. This was a phase of experimenting with new techniques, theories and ideas by completely ignoring and changing the old ways of expressing yourself. This period had extreme changes in the tendencies of art. This was shaped because of the birth of photography, since it could capture perfectly all the details artists started to develop abstract expressions and art became more conceptual. It also includes a wide variety of movements (from abstract impressionism, symbolism, cubism, futurism, pop art, social realism to the minimalist and so much more) that shaped the social aspect, this includes the way in which people live, make relationships and understand art. “Art was never about beauty” -Susie Hodge. I think this period represents this quote perfectly, since at this time it was not the skill to make something look beautiful, but to convey a deeper meaning with non figurative paintings, sculptures and architecture.
Characteristics of modern art:
- Response to surroundings: Shows the contrasts between the architecture of the time before modern art and then the time after modern art, this is to reflect the history of landscape and its shapes.
- Expansive: This means that the art piece its not only on the canvas, it is what’s expressed beyond the canvas
- Iconography: These are the elements, scenery and details that are expressed in the piece. For example: the color you used meant a certain emotion.
- “Real Value”: With modern art artists painting what they wanted and what they like, it wasn’t influenced by outsiders and it does not follow any rule.
Investigating modern artists and different artistic movements:
Futurism: Line of speed, by Giacomo Balla
Balla, G. (Giacomo Balla). (1913). “line of speed” [oil on canvas]. Italy
This artwork was made by Giacomo Balla (Italian) in 1913, it belongs to the modern art movement futurism. The media used is oil paint on canvas. During this year (1912-13-14) Giacomo Balla was experimenting with several movements and chose automobiles as a symbol to be represented differently in each of the movements, more specifically the idea of speed as an abstract force. This is only a little bit over a decade after the first car was manufactured in Italy, therefore we can see how this technology and this change in the lives of people is portrayed in art. Cars made life so much easier and I think that we can observe this fact in Giacomo’s paintings. My first impression of this is actually why I choose to analyze it. The colors and the movement have caught my eye. If we start by analyzing the shapes we can see that this painting has what seems to be three large abstract shapes that consists of smaller shapes such as triangles and half circles. Then, if we take a look into the colors there are triad of colors, composed of blue, yellow-orange and red which is a split complementary color combination. The colors are very bright, but they contrast with one another. There are some shadows to make it have more depth, nonetheless what stand out are these extremely strong colors. I think that this tone is perfectly used to portray cars and speed because it shows that movement and excitement. Another aspect of the elements of this artworks that expresses what was stated before is the use of straight and curved lines and shapes. This is funny because everything in this artwork clashes, but they also flow. Such as freedom and speed.
Futurism?
Surrealism: The Lovers II, by René Magritte
Magritte, R. (Magritte René). (1928). “The Lovers II” [oil on canvas]. Paris, France
This artwork called The Lovers II is an oil painting by René Magritte. It belongs to the movement of modern art called Surrealism. It was created in 1928 along with three other artworks called Lover I, III and IV. In Magritte’s works this is the most current theme is the frustrated desires of lovers. In this artwork a piece of cloth divides a couple from kissing. While describing his paintings Magritte said that his goal was to evoke mystery by mixing reality and the imagination. His art is mainly influenced by his mother’s suicide, where he saw her dead with a cloth wrapped around her face just as in this piece. At the time this artwork was made Magritte recently moved to Paris, where his relationship with his wife began to deteriorate. Because of this he met a new muse that became his lover. Knowing this and knowing the meaning behind the clothes covering the lover’s faces, this artwork makes me feel uncomfortable and sad. I think this is due to the use of: the dull palette of colors (mainly red, blue, white and black) which are extremely opaque, the use of light and shadow to create contrast and finally the use of composition. The colors, as mentioned before, are pretty dull to express the feeling of sadness due to the frustration these lovers live in. The colors that are used are red; that expresses the anger and irritation. And blue; that expresses calm and serenity. This contrast creates the theme of the frustrated desire of lovers. Lights and shadows are extremely important in this piece because it gives it the real aspect, and you feel like you can almost feel what the lovers are feeling. Lastly, the composition as in the fact that the couple is in the middle tells us that their suffering is the center of all this.
Surrealism?
Fauvism: Madame Matisse, by Henri Matisse
Matisse, H. (Matisse Henri). (1907). “Madame Matisse” [oil on canvas]. Copenhagen, Denmark
This artwork called Madame Matisse was made by Henri Matisse in 1907. It is a portrayal of Matisse’s wife, Amélie. This is one of the most popular pieces of the modern art movement called fauvism, which is characterized by the use of powerful and bright colors, strong brushwork and is extended from 1905 to 1910. The context of this artwork is after he had just exhibited “Blue Nude” as a fauvist painting, this created a large shock amongst the French and Matisse was seen as controversial. But, with criticism came also fame and recognition. Even though this painting was burnt in Chicago, the fact that it went from France all the way to The United States communicates how big he is. To start with the analysis we could say that the most important aspects of this piece are of course Amélie’s portrait, the colors used and the brush work. To generally start we can see that her face is divided into two and painted with several colors, it is the same with the background, composed of division painted in different colors. The colors used are extremely bright and powerful, such as yellow, red, pink, purple and blue. Some of them seem to be applied straight from the tube, but mostly they are mixed. We could say that these colors express Matisse’s feelings for his wife, and that his ability to use colors to portray and appeal to the viewer’s feelings is amazing. Also, instead of using shadows he uses other colors to create the same effect. For example, the green line in the middle of her face acts as a shadow and divides the face into two, this gives it a sense of depth. The brushwork in this piece is violent, this adds texture and also I think that it makes it so much better because for example her hair would just be a plain blue shape if it weren’t for the brush marks.
Fauvism?
