Twentieth Century The Modernist Revolution (1900-1914)

Table of Contents Science and Technology 1901, first radio broadcast by Gugliemo Marconi 1903, Henry Ford introduces the Model A automobile 1903, the Wright brothers make the first successful airplane flight Modernism Challenges all that preceded it Avant-garde artists questioned the function of art as a faithful representation of the visible world Experimentation with tools and techniques of artistic expression Abstraction: non-representational Cubism and Fauvism represent two ways of solving the question posed by late 19th century artists: the rational, through mathematics and composition; and the emotional, by means of color Cubism Parallels Einstein’s Theory of Relativity (1916) in which time and space are relative and can exist as overlapping dimensions Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon ------------------------------ Precursor to Cubism, in which objects appear to have been taken apart and reassembled in geometric pieces Table of Contents

The viewer is simultaneously presented with multiple viewpoints Inspired by an exhibition of Cezanne paintings (Large Sunbathers) and an exhibition of African sculpture ----------------------------------- Simplified, abstracted forms and truth to materials, characteristic of tribal art, became known as primitivism Igor Stravinsky, Rite of Spring -------------------------------------------- Modern dance depicting pre-historic Russian fertility rites Brutal tonal dissonances and throbbing rhythm Analytic Cubism Picasso, Man with a Violin ----------------------------------- Muted color and geometric forms predominate Synthetic Cubism 1. Georges Braque, Still Life on a Table ------------------ Second phase of Cubism Collage: mixing three-dimensional media with a flat surface Often included common objects such as wall paper swatches, playing cards, and newspaper scraps Table of Contents

Table of Contents Fauvism Henri Matisse, The Dessert or Harmony in Red ----------------------- “Mine is an art of balance, purity, and symmetry, devoid of depressing subject matter.” Art is “the playpen of the mind.” Legacy from the Impressionism and Nabis movements “Fauve” means “wild beast,” coined by a negative critic, who reviewed the 1905 salon exhibition of the group The emotional message of color and pictorial pattern is primary. No perspective or modeling in light and shadow. Objects are flattened and frontal Color functions independently of subject matter Matisse, The Dance ---------------------------------------------- Futurism Founded by the Italian Filippo Thommaso Marinetti The group, which included artists and poets, issued a series of manifestos (published statements) calling for the eradication of visual traditions, museums, and academy The style was linked to industry, technology, speed, dynamism, violence, and city life. Futurist art was the “caffeine of Europe.” Table of Contents

Influenced by Cubism, photography, and X-ray technology The Futurist Manifesto of 1909 declared “war was the only health giver of the world…A roaring motorcar is more beautiful than the Winged Victory of Samonthrace” Gino Severini, Armored Train ------------------------------------- Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space --------- Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase ---------------------------- German Expressionism Like the Fauves, German Expressionism was concerned with color and the emotional response to it, but the effect was intended to arouse feelings of torture and anguish. Art arouses and disturbs with violent color dissonances and expressive, disturbing subject matter. Ludwig Kirchner, Street, Dresden ------- Vasily Kandinsky, Improvisation ----------------------- Gradually eliminated objects, dissolves forms and improvises color according to moods. Believed that color was “ a replica of an inner emotion,” and that certain colors were related to musical notes. Wrote Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1911 Table of Contents

Table of Contents Egon Schiele, Self-portrait with Twisted Arm ------- Emphasis on grotesque distortion of figures Powerful emotional effect The Ashcan School Purposeful resistance to European classical and avant-garde models Distinguished a nationalistic style by pursuing typical American subjects Centered in New York City Emphasized commonplace and ordinary elements of urban life The new working-class, comprised of immigrants and women George Bellow, Stag at Sharkey’s ---------------------------------------- Edward Steichen, Flatiron Building, New York ------------ Table of Contents

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, oil on canvas

Paul Cézanne, The Large Bathers, 1906, oil on canvas

Man with a Violin Picasso, Man with a Violin, 1911, oil on canvas

Georges Braque, Still Life on a Table, ca, 1914, collage

Matisse, The Dessert or Harmony in Red, 1908, oil on canvas

Henri Matisse, Dance 1, 1909, oil on canvas Dance I Henri Matisse, Dance 1, 1909, oil on canvas

Armored Train Gino Severini, Armored Train, 1915, oil on canvas

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, 1913, bronze

Nude Descending a Staircase Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, 1912, oil on canvas

Ludwig Kirchner, Street, Dresden, 1908, oil on canvas

Vasily Kandinsky, Improvisation 30, 1913, oil on canvas

Self-Portrait with Twisted Arm Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait with Twisted Arm, 1910, watercolor

George Bellows, Stag at Sharkey’s, 1909, oil on canvas

Flatiron Building Edward Steichen, Flatiron Building, New York, 1909, photograph

Cubism an early twentieth-century style and movement in art, especially painting, in which perspective with a single viewpoint was abandoned and use was made of simple geometric shapes, interlocking planes, and, later, collage. Cubism was a reaction against traditional modes of representation and Impressionist concerns with light and color. The style, created by Picasso and Braque, was inspired by the later work of Cézanne and by African sculpture.

Einstein’s Theory of Relativity the dependence of various physical phenomena on relative motion of the observer and the observed objects, especially regarding the nature and behavior of light, space, time, and gravity.

Primitivism a belief in the value of what is simple and unsophisticated, expressed as a philosophy of life or through art or literature

Analytic Cubism a phase of Cubism in which natural forms are “analyzed” and reduced into basic geometric parts on the picture plane. Rather than an emphasis on color, Analytic Cubists focused on geometric forms to represent the natural world.

Synthetic Cubism a late phase of Cubism, characterized by an increased use of color, and the imitation or introduction of a wide range of textures and materials into painting.

Fauvism a style of painting with vivid expressionistic use of color that flourished in Paris, although short-lived had an important influence on subsequent artists, especially the German expressionists. Matisse was regarded as the movement’s leading figure.

Futurism an artistic movement begun in Italy in 1909 that violently rejected traditional forms so as to celebrate and incorporate into art the energy and dynamism of modern technology.

German Expressionism a style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the external world. Expressionists characteristically reject traditional ideas of beauty or harmony and use distortion, exaggeration, and other non-naturalistic devices in order to emphasize and express the inner world of emotion; insists on the primacy of the artist’s feelings and mood, often incorporating violence and the grotesque

The Ashcan School a group of American Realist painters active from ca. 1908 until World War I, who painted scenes from the slums of New York