Early Modern Art

March 3, 2008

Before continuing with the artists of the Early Modern period, I addressed a question about "naive" and "folk art" and children's art. While some people paint in the style of "folk art" because it is part of their culture and all that they have been exposed to, others might paint that way because they are not trained in art and paint the world as it appears to them. Still others might make a deliberate choice to use a "folk art" style because it fits the "message" they are trying to deliver. The selection of a style of art depends upon a number of factors: exposure to alternative styles, a genetic component of physical visual acuity and talent, resources available, and the artist's values and intent.

The question of children's art came up and I spoke about the film about the child who became famous for her abstract paintings until there was an expose about "coaching" by the father. In the film the child had been compared to Pollock who was said to have splashed his paint expressively on the canvas. The difference, however, is that Pollock had art training, was exposed to many styles of art and experimented with many, before deliberately choosing his style for his particular purposes. The film represented exploitation of the child every step of the way in her short career.

We then went back to the survey of the styles of art that were popular at the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century. Our focus is on the concept of "styles" in art - ways of doing art that have different prominent values and rules for presenting them. It is only by understanding the main intents of each style, and their restrictive rules, will we be able to understand Post-Modern/Contemporary art.

We looked next at the colorists Gaugin, Van Gogh, Seurat, Matisse and the Fauvists, and Kandinsky, all of whom believed that color delivered its own message of emotions and was more important than objects or any representation of reality. Next we looked at the Cubists and their contributions to perceptual awareness with their representations of shapes looked at from many perspectives at one time. And then at the Futurists who represented time now and in the future with paintings and constructions. As art became more and more absurd, two other styles developed: Dada and Surrealism. Dada attempted to return to the innocence of children at play and Surrealists depicted a dream world of incongruities and exaggerations to increase our awareness .

While these artists were concerned with space and time and color and perception, another group was concerned with the ordinary lives of people in actual places. Robert Henri influenced artists for forty years, who showed "real life" including the "seamy side" . His students included Edward Hopper, Ben Shahn and John Sloan. In Mexico, the muralists were painting their messages in public buildings and did so in the U.S. with more or less success. Rivera and Siqueros were not accepted here because of their radical social depictions, but Orozco was able to complete his murals in Dartmouth.

The paintings of the early twentieth century were in keeping with the changes that developed in music and in literature. Next week we'll start by looking at this cultural milieu and then go on to Modern Art after WW II.