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A (BRIEF) HISTORY INTRODUCTION TO MODERN ART

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DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS WE WILL

See examples of Modern Artists and Modern Art and Art Movements
Learn about and discuss how modern art developed – what happened in the time leading up to 1860s and after
Understand that context is very important to understanding art
Why is Modern Art important to us today. Is it important today?
What can we learn to help our creative practice?
Could any a five year old child make Modern Art?

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WHY DID ART EXIST?

Art in its various forms, was a way of documenting history and culture or, sometimes to make political statements.

Art has acted as a timeline for understanding human civilization.

Through art we understand about society, culture and politics of that time.

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WHAT IS ART?

The way of communicating human creative skill and imagination.

Art often takes a visual form such as painting or sculpture.

Artists produce things to be appreciated for their beauty

Art is increasingly important for delivering unique social, cultural and political messages

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SO, WHY IS THIS ART? �� I AM PRETTY �SURE A FIVE YEAR OLD COULD HAVE DONE THIS

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WHAT IS MODERN ART?

Also referred to as ‘Modernism’

Modern art includes artistic work produced roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s

Modern Art is often connected with the non-traditional ideas - created with the excitement of experimentation.

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WHAT IS MODERN ART?

To understand what Modern Art is and why/how is exists, we need to understand about culture and history at the time of its creation – This is called CONTEXT.

CONTEXT helps us understand WHY something happened and is relevant and so HOW is was produced

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WHAT IS MODERN ART? IMPORTANT MOVEMENTS

Impressionism
Constructivists
Cubism
Futurism
Abstract Expressionism
Surrealism

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When I say the word MODERN, what do you think of?

Shout out with your examples

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WHAT DOES MODERN MEAN?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIdflecvQG8

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THE VIDEO LISTED THESE AS THE DEFINING AREAS OF MODERN LIFE:

Religious/Spiritual belief

Progress

Science

Individualism

Cities

Nature

Speed

Fear

Envy

Loneliness

Sentimentality

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SO… �WHY IS THIS MODERN ART OR IS IT JUST A BLACK SQUARE?

WHAT COULD IT REPRESENT?

WHAT DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL?

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MALEVICH IS AN EXTREME BUT VALUABLE EXAMPLE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY5PtopO-LI

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DOES THE CONTEXT GIVE IT MORE VALUE?

IS IT MORE INTERESTING IF WE KNOW ABOUT WHY AND HOW IT WAS CREATED?

Precision is only a tool not the meaning.

There is uncertainty about what is in front and behind.

The uncertainty enables us to make our OWN opinion.

She has spent a long time refining her process to be able to create the most direct meaning. She needs the intese colour to not make new meaning from brush marks or unintentional details. Condensed reality of the world – direct simplicity.

MALEVICH – Took inspiration from Jesus inside geometric shapes – 15C byzantine era – a simplified style compared to classical style.

Higher reality using simplified symbolism.

FORM IS FEELING – Kandinsky

Pure geometry – supremetism – created during WW1

Poverty, war, despair. Death.

Simplified black and white – paint can make so much more decoration so this is clearly an important simplicity. Hard. Direct contrast.

Is the square tilted? Is it falling? Our eye will tell us what we want to see

Re-painted to ensure the paint is solid and pure. But clearly painted.

It is a little silly to have a black square on a white background.

Art should abandon logic and embrace the idea of its absence

ZEAL – a changed future – the idea of modernity to create utopia – using cows to highlight the saviours or humanity through animal - FUTURE

The black square is feeling

White background is the void beyond feeling

SUPREME – over reality. Object anchor us in reality so. A higher state of thought – FEELING without objects.

Abstraction = a way of creating stronger FEELING by removing the recognizable object

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SOME ABSTRACT ARTISTS WE CAN RECOGNIZE��SHOUT OUT IF YOU CAN NAME THE ARTIST OR THE ARTISTIC MOVEMENT.

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VINCENT VAN GOGH

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GREAT ART EXPLAINED: VINCENT VAN GOGH

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WASSILY KANDINSKY

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SALVADORE DALI

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FRIDA KAHLO

Lifespan: July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954

Movement: Surrealism

On 17th September 1925, Frida Kahlo riding in a bus when it crashed into a street trolley car. Due to the grave injuries she suffered in the accident,

While in hospital, Kahlo began painting and she ultimately abandoned her career in medicine to become an artist.

Frida Kahlo is most famous for her self-portraits which often incorporate symbolic portrayals of physical and psychological wounds.

She said, “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.”

Frida Kahlo is ranked among the greatest artists in the genre of self portraiture.

Frida Kahlo is undoubtedly one of the most famous modern artists

the most renowned female painter. She also remains a feminist icon for the way she led her life.

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LINK TO GREAT ART EXPLAINED: FRIDA KAHLO

https://youtu.be/_nwLqMbU1II?t=128

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PABLO PICASSO

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MARK ROTHKO

Mark Rothko was an American abstract painter of Latvian Jewish descent. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular regions of color, which he produced from 1949 to 1970

Orange & Yellow,

Part of the Colour Field series

Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. Technically, an important predecessor is surrealism, with its emphasis on spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation.

Modernism is both a philosophical movement and an art movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, and social organization which reflected the newly emerging industrial world, including features such as urbanization, new technologies, and war. Artists attempted to depart from traditional forms of art, which they considered outdated or obsolete

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JACKSON POLLOCK

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What can we do to help broaden our knowledge?

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Why and How does broadening our knowledge help us improve?

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You might want to use Google Translate to help you understand a little better. This is how I do it

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I HAVE PRINTED SOME PAGES FROM ‘WHY YOUR FIVE YEAR OLD COULD NOT HAVE DONE THAT’

We can take some time to have a look.
If you do not understand something then ask.
You can swap and share the different pages that I have printed
You can use Google Translate to help you if the language is too difficult.
Write notes on the artists in your sketchbook. Do quick sketches.

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LET’S TRY TO MAKE OUR OWN (WRITE THESE DOWN)

Please select an artist from one of these art movements:

Impressionism
Constructivists
Cubism
Abstract Expressionism
Surrealism
Pop Art

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MY FAVOURITE REFERENCES:

YouTube:

Louisiana Channel
Great Art Explained Channel
Rules of Abstraction
Artsy
The Art Assignment

Tate.org
MOMA.org
Art21.org

Netflix – Abstract: The Art of Design

TED Talks

Pintrest – has an interesting remix/collage feature in the app

Museums – get a Museokortti. Take your sketchbooks.

REAL LIFE. Take photos. Put them in your sketchbook.
Talk to eachother.

ASK QUESTIONS!

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!

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LET’S TRY TO MAKE OUR OWN (WRITE THESE DOWN)

Please select an artist from one of these art movements:

Impressionism
Constructivists
Cubism
Abstract Expressionism
Surrealism
Pop Art

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THIS AFTERNOON I EFTERMIDDAG

I need to join a teachers’ meeting at 1445. You can leave at your normal time. Please make sure that you have cleaned anything that you were using.

Jag måste gå på ett lärarmöte kl. 14.45. Du kan gå vid din normala tid. Se till att du har städat bort allt som du har använt.

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USING AN ARTIST, ARTWORK OR ART MOVEMENT YOU HAVE CHOSEN

make your own version
I recommend that it is not bigger than A3.
It doesn’t have to be 2D. It can be 3D.
Try to learn a little about how and why the artist created their piece.
You can replicate that style using your own ideas

OR

Make it your version of an artist’s work