Modernist Photography

In AustraliaFrom approximately 1920 to 1970

Harold Cazneaux Sydney Bridge c1934

Modernism sought to build a better future in the aftermath of World War I. As an international movement, modernism encapsulated the possibilities of the 20th century. It celebrated the romance of cities, the healthy body and the ideals of abstraction and functionalism in design. Modernist Photography is not simply a style but more of an attitude, a determination to break with the past and free the artist from the rules of convention and etiquette.

To better understand the Modernist approach to photography…

Let’s first look at examples of modernist abstract art from around the world.

Artists such as:

• Piet Mondrian

• Wassily Kandinsky

• Kasmir Malevich

• Vladimir Tatlin

• Robert Delaunay

Robert DelaunayLe manege de cochons1922Óleo sobre lienzo250 x 250 cmMusee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, París

Wassily Kandinsky

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/kandinsky/kandinsky.comp-4.jpgComposition IV 1911 (170 Kb); Oil on canvas, 159.5 x 250.5 cm (62 7/8 x 98 5/8 in); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfallen, Dusseldorf

Kasimir Malevich

An Englishman in Moscow 1914Oil on canvas, 88 x 57 cm Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Vladimir Tatlin

Tatlin’s Tower or The Monument to the Third International was a grand monumental building envisioned by the Russian artist.

1919-1920

Piet Mondrian

Life with Gingerpot 2, 1912, oil on canvas.

Modernism in Australia

Roland Wakelin, New Zealand/Australia 1887-1971 The Bridge under construction 1928 -29Oil on composition board

Grace Cossington Smith

The Bridge in-curve, 1930Tempera on Cardboard

The curve of the bridge, 1928-29Oil on Cardboard

Photography

• After World War 1, the photographic scene in Australia was shaped by modernist influences from abroad (Europe and later America).

• The world was changing.• The goal was to express a modern life, a modern city.

http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/nation-built/clip1/

Max Dupain, Building the Opera House, Sydney 1962

Max Dupain

Morning Rush Hour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1938

Max Dupain, Rush Hour Kings Cross, 1938

Max DupainStairwell, ANZ Regional Proof Centre, Lidcombe August 1975.

Max DupainStairwell, 1978.

Max Dupain, Australia Square: a keyhole to the future, 1968

Max Dupain, Opera House and Harbour Bridge, circa 1973.