The Emergence of Modernism• As the 20th century progressed, artists who always looked for new art styles emerged.• After Post-Impressionists, a group of artists led by Henry Matisse used intense colors unknown to

critics and the public. they used arbitrary color, where color no longer replicated reality called fauves (“wild beasts”)

• Natural form was attacked. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque developed a whole new style; they broke down and

analyzed form in new ways – Cubism. Portrayed that people remember scenes as overlays of visual impressions seen from different

angles and moments in time. Influenced by African art.

• Germany – emphasized emotional responses – Expressionism Die Brücke – took brilliant arbitrary colors and combined them with intense feelings Der Blaue Reiter – abstract pictures with no subject

• WWI Shifts art center from Paris to New York The Armory Show in America– 1st major show of modern art Harlem: African –American creativity center – Harlem Renaissance Dada Movement: protested against everything in society and ridiculed norms

• The Bauhaus (Germany) Established standards for architecture and design w/ profound effects. Reconciled industrial mass-manufacture with aesthetic form.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso

Abstraction

• WWII: organized art came to a standstill• Post-war, NYC became the center for international

art• Abstract Expressionists: said art, like music, could be

free from the limitations of pictorial subject matter Action paintings: dramatic brushstrokes or dripping

technique from Jackson Pollock Color field paintings – broad areas of color and simple,

geometric forms Led many artists to return to naturalism and influenced

pop art.

Pop Art, Minimalism, and Photorealism

• Pop Art: 1960s Incorporated images of mass culture – violated the traditional unspoken rules for

art subject matter Andy Warhol – icon of pop art; used a factory-like silkscreen approach to mock

the art world Roy Lichtenstein

• Minimalism: sought to reduce art to its barest essentials Simplification of form Monochromatic palettes Aided with invention of acrylic paint – precise outlines Frank Stella, David Smith, Dan Flavin

• Photorealism: aimed to create a kind of super-realis A hyper-real quality comes from the depiction of the subject matter in sharp

focus, like in a photograph Clear contrast to sfumato (made images hazy) Chuck Close, Duane Hanson

Andy Warhol

Earthworks, Installations, and Performance

• Earthworks: Art was no longer limited to the indoors – challenged orthodox

ideas on art and its functions Christo – introduced idea that landscape/architecture is

something that can be packaged• Performance Art:

Combination of theater and art in which artists become the work.

Ex. Guerilla Girls in NY• Postmodernist Art: reaction to modernist styles

Reintroduces traditional elements or exaggerates modernist techniques

Return to earlier styles

Chinese Art

• Most famous Ancient Chinese art – two thousand mile long Great Wall

• Dynasties of China also impacted history of art – many of these rulers left elaborate tombs that have objects now considered treasures of art

• Terra Cotta Warriors of Emperor Qin are most famous – full army of soldiers and their equipment, even their horses

• Buddhism: During the Tang dynasty (China’s Golden Age), artists made great ceramic sculptures with its influence.

• Great value on ink drawing - these scrolls show contemplative aspect in Asian art

• With the communism revolution, art became infused with political ideals but has gradually become less political since the late 1970s

The Great Wall of China

Japanese Art

• Isolation led to their art forms to be more traditional• The dynastic cycle leaves its mark on Japanese artistic

styles• During the rise of the impressionist movement in

Europe, Japan sent a group of artists to study in France – these artists brought back what they learned to Japan and brought Western influences to Japanese art.

• Soon, however, the Japanese rejected these ideas and went back to traditional styles (isometric perspective, flat areas of color)

• Best known for printmaking – had profound impacts on Western art, esp. in France

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

African Art• Art of sub-Saharan Africa usually separated with that of Northern Africa

because of different histories and cultures• Art emerged in about 23000 BCE – predates any known European paintings• Nok Civilization: West Africa

– produced fantastic lifelike terra cotta sculptures, several of which were probably portraits of religious and political leaders

– may have influenced the Yoruba and other later cultural groups• Benin Kingdom; Nigeria

– art produced in association with rich life in royal court– bronze portrait heads were intended for ancestral altars; other objects

reinforced the tremendous power of the Benin king (oba)– treasures destroyed by the British raid on the royal palace in 1897

• Many art pieces are gone because– They were not preserved well – European traders and settlers on the continent destroyed many pieces– the context of many pieces in existence is lost with museums

Oceanic Art

• Oceania: collective name for the thousands of islands including Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia

• many items lost due to the fragile materials used in a sometimes hostile climate

• Tattooing and body arts, which were important in these societies, have been lost for obvious reasons.

• Carved masks were very important– used in ceremonies that summoned the spirits of

ancestors to honor the dead

Islamic Art

• Copies of the Qur’an (Muslim holy book) beautifully produced are some of the most valued art pieces from the time

• Art – nonfigurative; uses mostly abstract and calligraphy

Dome of the Rock

Art in the Americas

• Art considered “products of simple craftsmanship”, not considered works of art up until now

• Civilizations– Olmecs– Toltecs– Mayan – Incans– Aztecs

• Great pyramids are prominent – Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico is one

• Due to poor preservation, only art pieces from the last 2000 years are present