Modernism in American Art Arthur Dove Nature Symbolized 1911 Pastel on paper 18 x 21 5/8 in. The Art Institute of Chicago Life in the 1910s Click for read aloud.

Patrick Henry Bruce Composition II 1916 Oil on canvas 38 1/4 x 51 in (97.2 x cm) Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven Look at the painting on the right. How do you think artists created images from deep within themselves? During the Modernist art movement in America, the artistic traditions of several centuries were shaken to their very foundations. Artists working under the modernist philosophy believed art could come from deep within themselves. They abandoned any obligation to realistic depiction, casting aside allegiance to an academic ideal in favor of a newfound freedom of color and design. The artists assert the aesthetic validity of the work of art, independent of the natural world, even though that may have been the source of inspiration. Click for read aloud.

Morgan Russell Synchromie Cosmique 1915 Oil on canvas 17 x 13 in. Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Museum of Art Utica, New York Look at the painting on the right. How do you think artists created images without evidence of history or culture? At the height of modernism, artists wanted to create images without evidence of history or culture. Russell believed his paintings to be more original in the search for pure form and more adventurous in liberating color from subject matter and natural objects. Here, there is no reference to natural form, but a superbly controlled organization of color and pigment on the plane of the canvas surface. Click for read aloud.

Modernist artists strived to abstract subjects into dynamic patterns of brilliant color which suggests the pulsating real world. Even forms that are normally inert take on a lively existence. In this painting, the sweeping “force lines” of the suspension cables dominate the composition. You can see abstractions of skyscrapers, the dynamic, archetypal city scene of the twentieth century. Here, Stella captured the spirit he found in the bridge and the two New York boroughs, rather than the actual reality of the scene. Joseph Stella The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme 1939 Oil on canvas 5 ft 10 in x 3ft 6 in Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Look at the painting on the right. How do you think artists created images portraying the spirit of an object? Click for read aloud.

Artists strived to find the universal truth in their works through color. In this artwork by Patrick Henry Bruce, the eye is provided with a brilliant feast of pure color, but there is also a careful construction in the composition. Artwork during the Modernist movement began to liberate color from subject matter and natural objects. Patrick Henry Bruce Still Life (Flower Pot and Bananas 1911 Oil and charcoal on canvas 18 in x in Collection of The Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey Look at the painting on the right. How do you think artists tried to find the universal truth through color? Click for read aloud.

Artists strived to find the universal truth in their works through shape. Georgia O’Keeffe opened her eyes to the abstract beauty of form and color. She produced this remarkable watercolor inspired by nature that treats color and form as separate entities. Georgia O’Keefe Evening Star, III 1917 Watercolor on paper 9 x in The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. Straus Fund. Look at the painting on the right. How do you think artists tried to find the universal truth through shape? Click for read aloud.

Let’s review the concepts of Modernism in American Art. Art comes from deep within yourself. Art is without evidence of history or culture. Art strives to find the universal truth through color and shape. Click for read aloud.