PHILOSOPHY- ABSTRACT PAINTING

-by

Charul Garg

B.Arch 3rd Sem.

EXCAVATION

The painting is the work of Willem De Kooning and is entitled Excavation (1950).

Viewers will understandably be struck by the lack of a rice field, a woman, or anything that could be a shape of a person. There are, however, abstract images of animals and human body parts like noses, eyes, teeth, necks, and jaws.

Rice field

These artists use large and expressive brushstrokes coupled with various background textures to portray an overall mood.

These techniques define abstract expressionism.

It is easy to feel the tension present in De Kooning's painting, not only in the line-work itself, but also in the overall visual atmosphere they create. It isn't entirely pleasant and it isn't meant to be.

The woman is not there because the piece is not about her physically, but about the mental disillusionment the field workers feel. Although a human figure is not directly discernible in the painting, the human presence is implied.

this is an odd piece for his visual style.

It is strangely structured, and while De-

Kooning is known for visually separating

his subject matter into imaginary planes,

there is something else going on here.

It only seems appropriate that the

overall structure of the painting is

vertically aligned into approximate rows

when the subject matter at hand is a rice

field.

None of De- Kooning's other works

exhibit the intentional vertical alignment

like we see in Excavation.

Each individual feels the tension when

they look at this piece, even though they

may not understand why.

This contention and the extent of

abstraction used by the artist are both

reasons why this work of art has stood

the test of time.

ABSTRACT SCULPTURE-

“BIRD SWALLOWING A FISH”

By -Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

The sculpture

reflects Gaudier's

fascination with both

animal life and the

mechanistic forms of

the new machine

age. The abstracted

bird and torpedo-like

fish have been read

as symbols of the

war that began in

1914.

Both the bird and the

fish have been

reduced to their

essential elements.

• The thick bulk of the

bird earths a poetically

balanced fish, which

points downwards,

hinged on the beak, tail

upturned; its bold round

eye staring outwards,

quietly forming a

centrepiece.

• The geometry defines

of Gaudier-Brezska’s

conception of ‘planes’,

reducing the curved

surfaces to their basic

components.

THANK YOU