invention of abstraction

Abstract ArtExpressionism & Fauvism

Abstract art came about in the early 20th century (1900s) after Expressionism & Fauvism.

Both are by the same artist...

Pablo Picasso’s Les Desmoiselles D’Avignon is considered to be the first painting in “Modern Art”.

What is abstract art?

• Essentially the opposite of Expressionism because the subject matter is often devoid of emotion/psychological meaning

• Main focus is design; how all the parts of the composition relate to one another

• Point is to simplify/reduce an image to its elemental forms (shape, colour, line, etc.)

• There were a variety of ways in which abstract art was explored. Three important movements are Cubism, Futurism, & De Stijl.

Therefore, these aren’t abstract art...

Emotional Realistic Meaningful

and these are abstract art.

CubismFuturism

De Stijl

Mostly unemotional Mostly not meaningful

Geometric shapes

Invention of Abstraction: Cubism

• Subject is broken apart and reassembled in an abstract form, emphasizing geometric shapes

• Sometimes looks like shattered images (Analytic Cubism)

• Sometimes looks like combining various synthesized views/aspects of an object, based on collage (Synthetic Cubism)

• Part representation, part abstraction

Reassembled into

geometric sh

apes

Multiple views

Shattered images

Pablo Picasso. Les Desmoiselles D’Avignon. (1907) Oil on canvas.

• Abstracted/simplified images of female models (common Parisian prostitutes)• Considered to be the first painting in “Modern Art”; shatters all conventions• Multiple views; i.e. frontal and profile simultaneously seen (no logical perspective)• Influence: visual power of African masks• Primitivism – idealizes non-Western cultures as being more ideal and less corrupt than Europe• Picasso once said it took him many years to learn to draw like children

Invention of Abstraction: Futurism

• Style of painting and sculpture that emerged in Italy in the early 20th century

• Lots of industrial growth & political chaos (World War I) at this time

• Emphasized the machine-like quality of “modern” living

• Often there was a focus on dynamism/“lines of force” in objects.

Industrial

Dynamism

Joseph Stella. Brooklyn Bridge. (1918-1920) Oil on canvas.

• Shows the beauty of this man-made structure• Perhaps viewed from a speeding car crossing the bridge• Idealized view of city life & the benefits of industrialization

Umberto Boccioni. Unique Forms of Continuity in Space. (1913) Bronze.

• Focused on the “miracles of contemporary life”; the industrial age (i.e. railroads, boats, planes)• Tried to “revive” sculpture. This piece is a futuristic Nike of Samothrace.

Invention of Abstraction: De Stijl

• (literally “The Style” in Dutch) A cold & intellectual approach to design begun by Piet Mondrian

• Developed into a specific non-representational style

• Complete reliance on design and no feeling/emotion

• Meant to show precise, mechanical order not existing in nature

Just design

Non-representational

Piet Mondrian. Diagonal Composition. (1921) Oil on canvas.

•Based on straight lines & squares/rectangles•Creates a sense of harmony & order (not existing in the war torn world)•Mondrian’s view: vertical lines = vitality, horizontal lines = tranquility, & crossing them creates “dynamic equilibrium” •Used only black, white, grey, & primary colours•Calculated placement of colours & shapes create asymmetrical balance

De Stijl-inspired House

Identify abstract art & the movement...

Identify De Stijl...

Identify abstract art & the movement...