ART OF THE 1920S BY: FREDDIE MCDONALD, JESSE OBERSTEIN, KRISTINA BORRELLI, AND AURORA EPHRAIM

SURREALISM Salvador Dali

 The Surrealism movement began in post-World War I European avant-garde literary and art circles, and many early Surrealists were associated with the earlier Dada, Cubist, and Impressionist movements, as well as heading the later Abstract Expressionist movement of the 1940’s. The Surrealist movement was founded in Paris by a small group of writers and artists who sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Heavily influenced by the teachings of Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, these artists sought to discard rationalism and realism they believed suppressed imagination with taboos form the conscious mind.

"The Musician", oil on canvasby Tamara de Lempicka, 1929, oil on canvasTamara de Lempicka

 Art Deco was a movement in decorative arts that also affected architecture. It derived its name from the World's fair held in Paris in 1925, which showcased French luxury goods. Art Deco did not originate with the Exposition; it was a major style in Europe from the early 1920s, though it did not catch on in the U.S. until about Art Deco is characterized by use of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin, and zebra-skin. The bold use of zigzag and stepped forms, and sweeping curves, chevron patterns, and the sunburst motif.

Piet Mondrian is recognized as the purest and most methodical of the early abstractionists. He radically simplified the elements of his artwork in an effort to reflect what he believed to be the order underlying the visible world. In his ground breaking paintings of the 1920s, Mondrian strictly limited his color palette to black, white, and the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Mondrian's use of asymmetrical balance and a simplified pictorial vocabulary were crucial in the development of modern art. His iconic abstract works remain influential in design and familiar in popular culture.

 Inspired by Pit Mondrian, Yves Saint Laurent created this dress inspired by the 1920’s.

FAMOUS ARTISTS FROM THE 1920S

C. Coles Phillips  He started his drawing/painting career at Kenyon College  At the age of 26 he was hired to do artwork for LIFE Magazine  He did many cover artwork  His trademark is the fade away girl

The Fade Away Girl

Maxfield Parrish  He attended Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts  He did a lot of illustration, but then decided to paint and draw just for himself  Androgynous nudes in fantastical scenes were often his main focus  This continued until the 1930s, when he decided to only paint landscapes  His art helped shape the Golden Age of illustration and the future of American visual arts  His secret in creating great pieces of art included using many coats of oil and varnish, which he applied to every one of his paintings

THE GROUP OF SEVEN (also known as the Algonquin School) a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to Franklin Carmichael -Lawren Harris -A.Y. Jackson -Frank Johnston -Arthur Lismer -J.E.H. McDonald -Frederick Varley 2 artists commonly associated: -Tom Thomson -Emily Carr

GROUP OF SEVEN CONTINUED Believed that a distinct Canadian art could be developed through direct contact with nature. The Group of Seven is most famous for its paintings inspired by the Canadian landscape, and initiated the first major Canadian national art movement. The Group of Seven has received criticism for its reinforcement of terra nullius (land belonging to no one) presenting the region as pristine and untouched by humans when in fact the areas depicted have been lived on for many centuries.

RED MAPLE, 1914, BY A.Y. JACKSON They often met at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto to discuss their opinions and share their art. The informal group was temporarily split up during World War I, during which Jackson and Varley became official war artists.

GAS CHAMBER AT SEAFORD A PIECE OF WAR ART BY FREDERICK VARLEY The seven who formed the original group reunited after the war. They continued to travel throughout Ontario especially the Muskoka and Algoma regions, sketching the landscape and developing techniques to represent it in art. Before this, many artists believed the Canadian landscape was not worthy of being painted. Reviews for the 1920 exhibition were mixed, but as the decade progressed the Group came to be recognized as pioneers of a new, Canadian, school of art.

RENE MAGRITTE THE LOVERS (1928) Rene Magritte was a Belgian surreal artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images that fell under the category of surrealism. His work challenges observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality.Magritte's work frequently displays a collection of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. He described the act of painting as "the art of putting colors side by side in such a way that their real aspect is effaced, so that familiar objects—the sky, people, trees, mountains, furniture, the stars, solid structures, graffiti—become united in a single poetically disciplined image. The poetry of this image dispenses with any symbolic significance, old or new." René Magritte described his paintings as "visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?'. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable." Magritte's constant play with reality and illusion has been attributed to the early death of his mother. Psychoanalysts who have examined bereaved children have said that Magritte's back and forth play with reality and illusion reflects his "constant shifting back and forth from what he wishes—'mother is alive'—to what he knows—'mother is dead' ".