Liam Donaldson
Art 473 Modern Art
Robert Tracy
October 22, 2020
The seed that Sprouts the Flower
“Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.” (George Braque) Art and emotion go hand in hand. And many of the most famous artworks express the deepest emotions of the artist who made it. This is very true of the well known artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Kirchner was known for his interesting perception of shapes and subjects, and his piece, “Street, Dresden” from 1908 shows this in a perfect way. This piece is great at shows the Urban tension of the street of Dresden while also not following the proper vanishing points and other points of interest in the painting.
Kirchner was a member of the Brücke artists group. The group was founded in 1905, and this painting was made just a few years after. It is thought that the very bright colors were influenced by many different French fauve artists. The scene pictured is a very busy street. The street is actually colored pink to bring a very inviting feel to the painting. Kirchner typically painted similar to the way the streets of Berlin look. His palette matches many German scenes and architecture. When he painted this, however, this palette ended up being very different. This palette matched what Kirchner was feeling when he lived in Dresden. This crowded city street—, what is called Dresden’s fashionable Königstrasse, was the subject of many works for the German Expressionist group known as Die Brücke (The Bridge). The group sought an authenticity of expression that its members felt had been lost with the innovations of modern life. Kirchner used this scene to express the colors in a much more vibrant way. He shows his figures with faces that almost look like masks, and hollow eyes that he felt people were succumbing to because of modernization. On the backside of the painting Kirchner painted a nude woman bathing in a landscape. Many Die Brücke artists like to paint and draw scenes of this. This painting creates a fitting juxtaposition to the jarring city scene it mirrors. Street, Dresden is Kirchner’s attempt to show what a crazy, hectic modern street was representing. This scene shows tension, packed with many different pedestrians in a small space. The sidewalk plane is a very bright pink, almost uncomfortably, as it clashed with the other bright colors in the scene. The slope of the street is upward, and at the back is a trolley car that is blocking the street. The street of Dresden’s is always crowded, everyone is very close together, but Kirchner rendered everybody to look like they are alone. The women on the right are almost dead looking. A little girl is shadowed by her hat. All the figured are stuck together yet so fa apart. Many German artists of Die Brücke wanted to explore the festive capabilities of bright exuberant colors, and how those colors brought the composition together in a contemporary setting. Street, Dresden is Kirshner’s attempt at a bold expression of the intensity, craziness, and anxiety of the modern city. Kirchner later wrote, “The more I mixed with people the more I felt my loneliness.”
This is a perfect example of showing emotion in art. Emotion is the seed in the ground, creating the foundation of the flower that will later bloom in the space of the artists creation. Kirchner was great at displaying his emotions, and what was the pinnacle of expressionism in the subject of artwork. Whether you know or understand it or not, emotion is everywhere in the art world. It may not be the leading subject in every piece of art but is the foundation of what the artwork will be. The Kirshner’s Street, Dresden shows the capability of what the seed of emotion can blossom in the form of art.
Mikaela Nettlow
Dr. Robert Tracy
October 22, 2020
ART 473 1001
Second Writing Assignment
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
When I first came across this quote by going through the list, I knew at an instant that I would be using this for this assignment and I believed that Picasso described Cubism right on the nose with that quote. Cubism, when introduced in the 20th century, was largely misunderstood (much like other art movements) as what these artists were trying to portray and the actual meaning behind. Picasso, one of the if not the most recognized Cubist artists, described the movement as just forms that can come to life. As an example of that, Picasso’s own Les Demoiselles d’Avignon made in 1907 personifies that quote and Cubism in general.
As I looked at this painting and tried to form my opinion on it, I believe that it’s the perfect piece to introduce to someone about Cubism. The extremely stylized forms of the women’s bodies, the exaggerated lines that make their faces, the chaotic yet serene feeling, it’s just quintessential cubism. It plays on the idea of realism by not following the most anatomically accurate proportions yet having this feeling of life breathed into it.
When Picasso stated that, “…when a form is realized it is there to live its own life…” I interpreted that as any form that has been recognized has its own life, it’s own way to create and be realized at the same time. It does not matter whether the shape is organic or not, it can still bring on a sense of form and recognition that the human mind is familiar with; an example being the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon with shapes forming to replicate the human form. Those forms replicated life within itself and it has its life residing in the painting. Picasso just simply brought that out.
Cubism has been a largely misunderstood art movement as the public took it as mainly experimental, but artists like Pablo Picasso proved that that was not the case. All they did was that they used shapes, organic or geometric, and they used it to give their artworks life through albeit unconventional means. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon signifies that life through it’s unrealistic yet living proportions as you can recognize throughout the painting.
Alex Panzer
Tracy, Robert
Oct. 22, 2020
Art History 473 + 477
“Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.” – George Braque
Picasso is such a household name within the art world, that even those on the outside know the name and could point out at least one of his paintings. There is good reason for this. After all Picasso did in a way, invent cubism; an entire art movement. No big deal.
Aside from the new technicalities and ways of painting that Picasso presented with Cubism, it would be the idea, expressions, and overall thought behind the pieces that Picasso would give emphasis to. This isn’t to say that the way he painted and the ideas he was presenting were not intertwined. In fact, more often than not, they seemed to influence one another. This made for a painting that would capture a greater context. It wasn’t just about the portrait itself as it may have been in the past. One could form the idea that Picasso was giving us the idea and thought behind the subject’s eyes, rather than the viewer attaching a meaning to the expressions of the subject.
Picasso did exactly this. He used his ideas as a seed, and through thought and expression, the work became the flower. On this flower, each petal would represent both the literal angles within the painting, as well as the various view points and ideas Picasso intended to include.
As a matter of fact, the idea of interconnectedness is something I want to focus on for a minute. When studying Picasso and deeply analyzing his catalog of work, you begin to realize this is what he as an artist is all about, as well as cubism altogether. You are able to understand that Cubism was more than just an art style and a way of painting. Similar to most other movements there becomes this understanding of why it is referred to as an ‘art movement’. The ideas and motives behind the artist and art are the very components that drive these movements we see throughout time. As Picasso did with Cubism, the sort of style that accompanies the movements, again, is the flower made up of all these seeds. The seeds are then represented through the petals of the flower. In short, it has been said that a painter paints what he feels.
Consequently, there are many ways an artist may go about this and express their ideals. These various techniques are often present within each art movement. In regards to cubism, Picasso decided to put an emphasis on multiple viewpoints, and paint with concern to form, layout, and the pictorial space. Aforementioned emphasis of multiple viewpoints is a huge part of cubism and is the very thing Picasso would be known for.
Subsequently, one of the first instances of this would be in his portrait of Gertrude Stein, 1906. At first sight, this painting is exactly what it seems, a portrait. Once you sit with it for a few seconds you realize there is something slightly off. Something about the face. The face of Gertrude appears to have no sense of structure, proportion, and overall just feels crooked and off balance.
When first presented to the public, Picasso received quite a bit of push back. Unanimously, it was said the portrait simply did not look like Gertrude. Picasso’s response was that it doesn’t matter if it looks like her, because it will. Alluding to his use of multiple viewpoints. In the literal sense he means that at various angles, the painting resembles Stein, and Stein resembles the painting. Gertrude herself even said that she is satisfied with his work. Simply stating that it is her, and the only production that will be her; again, referencing this way of showing multiple angles (of her) simultaneously.
As a result, this way of painting would become a monumental revolution for Picasso and his career. Not only did this painting present a shift in Picasso’s career and life, but another shift for the entire art world as well. In the early 20th century art was still being taken very seriously, in that people were still opposed to this form of expressive freedom. Picasso helped open the world to a new creative energy.
In the end, Picasso would give the world several flowers, each with their own ideas. This would be achieved with the help of his concern to composition, layout, and the pictorial space.
Parker Coloma
ART 434&473
Dr. Robert Tracy
Oct. 15, 2020
The constant and rapid growth of consumerism has taught people to find the joy in things that don’t have any more value than paper money. It seems odd to start an art assignment with that sentence, but it really is something that cubism has made me understand.
Finding joy in materials–it’s a short lived joy, yet humans continue to do it because it forms an emotional pattern–and emotional patterns are everything. “Learning cubism was the greatest freedom,” and it was for me! Cubism breaks down the world into the very limited tools that artists have. The absolute beauty of it is that the Cubist movement said, “Ok we have a straight line, a curved line, a a square, circle, triangle, and uh these colors: red green and blue, what can we do with just these tools?” And you know, then that’s always where all of the creativity just explodes out of.
Through realizing that we are only surrounded by a very limited amount of shapes and colors, you then begin to become aware of other things like how we utilize these lines and colors to define ourselves. How they structure everything around us and how there are ways of rearranging and combining these elements to make them more beautiful. And there are ways to manipulate them and make people feel a faux sense of what real art can deliver.
Wassily Kadinsky was an artist that really stood out to me, yes because a lot of his quotes drew me to these conclusions, but I connected with his art. I feel very emotionally pulled toward Kandinsky as a person and as an artist–I think that those are two different things sometimes.
The painting that stood out to me the most was his piece, Light Picture, 1913, Oil on Canvas. The first words that play through my mind when I look at this painting are “injected with emotion.” The splotches of purposeful color schemes with black scratch-like spots focused in the center of color say “release.” I see very comforting and simple shapes that communicate forms that everybody is familiar with–mountains, water, grass. As I begin to focus on the shapes, more dimension and depth begin to build in the center. The painting then begins to stretch outwards into our space as my eye goes to the top left and I am pulled gently back in as my eye naturally falls to the bottom right.
This painting tells me, “the anger is ok” all of the energy and frustrations that I am feeling inside can just be let go and I can seek comfort in the sunset behind the mountains and the mysterious figures down in the water. I can lose myself in the world that the curves of colors make. The thick black lines with quick curved markings communicate to me “grunge” and I hear Kurt Cobain singing “In Bloom.” I can find whatever I need to within this painting because all of the shapes, lines and colors are there–I just have to allow my brain to interpret it into something that I can form an emotional connection with.
Like I mentioned earlier, emotional patterns are everything. “The scope of architecture is man’s total physical surroundings outdoors and indoors.” Humans are a part of nature, and so naturally, patterns from outside are comforting when brought inside. Now, just like an artist, there is a specific way that architects utilize the same tools to make spaces more beautiful.
Which is why I am inspired by the Barnsdall house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. To create an entire structure inspired by the Hollyhock flower? What could be more simple? Just like in the cubism movement, using simple objects to create complex meaning is a technique/skill. Reduce your tools and ideas down to a very limited set and the creativity and ideas will begin to flow and evolve.
The Barnsdall house made me realize–much like cubism–let go of form. When you stop associating the shape of a flower with only a flower, then you can start to see flowers within everything. Letting go of thinking “this shape is a flower” and “this shape is a house,” then the flower can actually become the house!
I think “interconnection” because Wright’s harsh lines and Mayan style architecture are meaningful to me. I like lines–power lines, the lines in Kadinsky’s painting, lines that my own window blinds throw across my wall. I connect with lines, and more strongly with Wright’s because I am Guatemalan and my ancestors are Mayan. I see the rectangles and triangles thrown across the walls in the shadows. The outside structure screams “Mayan” to me, a concrete exterior with stairs leading up, intricate pattern work and flowers everywhere. After reading that his style was influenced by pre-Columbian work, an emotional connection was made.
Emotions are what allow us to define art and form is something that restricts it. It is important to train your eye and be able to breakdown/understand the forms around you and how they shape you. Kadinsky’s abstract painting, Wright’s Mayan influenced style and both of their understandings of nature speak to me. Their works have taught me that what I am looking for is already within their work. I am the one that needs to develop my eye and work to create those meaningful connections. The materials that people spend money on, to fill themselves with that short-lived joyous feeling–can be replaced with simple shapes and forms that are already in my environment, creating a never ending joy.
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
As I was looking through many of the other quotes, I wasn’t agreeing with a lot of the ones that were available. I felt that in this quote amongst the others, described in a way that directly answered a few of those said before, called for a small correction to what Cubism should be and would be. Not the way that things are perceived within the eye on the surface, but of the essence which best describes ‘itself’ in its most simple and effective form.
Although not a true cubism painting, the Portrait of Gertrude Stein was an example in which the portrait was to not portray what’s perceived on the outside, but the power and presence of who she is and the character that stands out the most. Cubism pulls into the out of the box thinking as where you would need to redefine what you see.
Another work that falls closer into what is known as a popular example of cubism is the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Picasso abandoned the known form of traditional art and distorted each subject into bold, geometric forms. Each piece of the puzzle becomes detached from one another. A small thought is that if not for Picasso’s fame, this would certainly grab my attention, but what of it? Why is it so strange and distorted? Why does it describe the images the way it does? I would then find myself out and away from this painting without giving it a second thought. The fact that you have to take your time to see what lays below each figure, each block, each stroke of the painting, gives another dimension to its meaning and the reason of why it is. Just as Picasso said, Cubism is not an art of transition, but a form that is supposed to express itself. When a form is realized, it is there to live its own life. Over hundreds of sketches went into the work of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. I learned that there was an earlier sketch of Les Demoiselles that the left figure was a male medical student with a skull in hand entering the brothel, but was decided that such a customer added a nature of narrative that would distract from the overall impact of the scene that was wanting to be portrayed. The name Avignon that’s in the title referred to a name of a street in Barcelona rather than the name of a city in Provence. The street in Barcelona was known as a district that was known for its prostitution. And with each of these new things that I learn in regards to the painting, I can already see and agree with it.
The art of Cubism seems simple but it’s more complicated. But, it is also easy to understand from some perspectives.
Picasso describes how his works flow towards a different direction from how these ideas have changed to form a better concept for his works and Cubism.
Wassily Kandinsky – Light Picture, 1913, Oil on Canvas
“Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.” (George Braque)
I think this quotation by George Braque can give any person viewing a piece of artwork, a new way of thinking about it. We almost always have a personal level of emotion and feeling when we look at art, but this makes us step into the painter’s shoes. In this case we will be stepping into Wassily Kandinsky’s shoes. What where his emotions when he painted Light Picture? How does this painting make me feel, and what do I visually takeaway from it?
My first impression of Kandinsky is that he must have been a free spirit. To find such light and happiness within his color palettes that are expressed with an ease through his paintbrush strokes. I think this piece comes off as airy, with a touch of aggression through his dark, black, scratching marks laid down on top of the colors. Though I must emphasize that the aggression is perhaps more excitement than anger. His flowing lines help alleviate this. It is the darker scratch marks that add another layer of emphasis to the overall color. To be able to create something that is unrecognizable as a specific object yet convey a picture that tells a different story to every individual is a true feat.
In Light Picture by Kandinsky, this oil on canvas piece conveys a sense of calm. It is strong pastel yellow that envelopes most of the canvas, with a blended effect of added blues, reds, and purples that meld together beautifully into a tie dye style. The black line work of sweeping motions across the canvas and some scribble like marks, help create a depth, and bring out the bright colors laid down behind. I love how free flowing the entire piece is. I think I envy this of Kandinsky, as it is a style I am personally trying to embrace at the moment. To give more fluidity to the work. Emotionally I feel calm, and happy when I look at this piece. I feel as though it would make any room brighter.
Visually this painting reminds me of the outdoors, as if I were on a camping trip. Looking at the mountains and the animals. Plant life surrounding as well. I feel like this is what this abstraction conveys to my senses. I see a dragonfly in the upper left corner, bigger than the mountains below, that are scattered in all different directions. There are more creatures buzzing around the canvas, all highlighted with a brighter splash of color behind them. Set on a beautifully blended sky made of all the colors you would find in a sunrise, or a sunset reflected on water. I think the most interesting part of this is that someone else could see something completely different than what I see.
This whole definition of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and its distinction of unrecognized and recognized goes hand in hand with Kandinsky’s work. I love his abstractions within his art. From where he first began as an artist to where he ends up, we can see a progression of recognizable objects to unrecognizable. Both having beauty in their own ways. His technique with color from the bold to the softer palettes are what attract me to his work. This idea that emotion cannot be added, nor can it be imitated is the same as to how a painting starts, we do not always see where the result will be. Like planting the seed, and then the beauty of the flower that comes later, with time, is how many paintings are produced. I do not know how long Light Picture took Kandinsky to paint, but in the end it is a beautiful production of paint, and color.
Lizbeth Ramirez | Writing Assignment #2 for both ART 473 and 477
The quote “emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.“ (George Braque) is one that confuses me a bit but that still resonates with me. From what I understand from the quote, emotions don’t need to be represented by exaggerated feelings. These feelings don’t need to be stacked on top of each other to convey something and don’t/can’t be copied. For only oneself can understand their own true emotions. The emotions one feels is what can help inspire or produce work and the work is the fruit or results of that emotion. I want to focus on the last sentence of the quote “It is the seed, and the work is the flower” because I truly believe that most if not all the work that an artist produces was sparked due to an emotion, that one might have not expressed in the physical sense but instead through art. Ultimately, unless told by the artist the viewer can only assume the backstory of what inspired the artist. So with assumption, I wanted to take a look at art by Ernst Kirchner and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
When I first looked at Kirchner’s work, specifically the piece Street, Dresden, 1908 my mind thought about vision. I feel like I am the one looking at this scene and my vision is starting to fail. In a way I feel dizzy and overwhelmed. As I read about him and his pals, I learned that they “desired to express extreme emotion through color and very agitated line” and I could say in my opinion Kirchner succeed at that. The colors of his painting aren’t pleasing, they’re rather uncomfortable to look at. I don’t enjoy looking at this painting, its just feels so disgusting. Not to say that his work isn’t good but just this is what it makes me feel or what comes to mind. For example, the figures’ faces have such a queasy green or orange color and it only makes me think of sickness. The pink background is also hard to look at. That brings me back to vision and how I feel like this is the last scene I would see before I pass out or throw up. The lines as well they’re all pretty much curved and they all lead me to the small figure in the middle. The lines also feel suffocating or claustrophobic. As if I’m being forced to look at the figure in the middle and if my eye looks elsewhere it just leads me right back to that figure.
Going back to the quote, Kirchner mentions how “The struggle for existence is difficult here (Berlin)”. I can almost feel that struggle looking at this painting, because it created some sort of struggle for my eye and mind to focus. The brush strokes or just all the elements help add to that struggle. Whether it is being the uncomfortable colors or the curved yet claustrophobic lines or the subject themselves. It’s just difficult to look at. Point being Kirchner succeeded in recreating that struggle for the viewer, similar to how Basquiat was able to convey strong emotions through his work.
As soon as I looked at Basquiat work, I immediately formed a stereotype about him without looking at him as an artist or his background first. I formed this idea of a kid in a lower income, bad neighborhood, making art specifically street art as a form of expression for whatever hardships he was dealing in his home. As I began to read more on his background, I learned that he ran away from home, he had divorced parents, He was smart but didn’t have the right environment to grow. I can only assume that he used art as his way of expressing these exaggerated emotions he was feeling, because it didn’t matter to show them in a physical sense but he needed to let them out through creating.
His graffiti art feels so disturbing and his imagery is so graphic. It’s almost scary to me, but I can understand that all these dark, disturbing emotions he might have been feeling could produce this kind of work. Specifically, I’m looking at the piece of what I would assume to be him and a dog. They are filled in with black but outlined in white and then stained with red. The black to me doesn’t represent a color but rather a sort of evil or darkness that lurks inside of him. And then the red feels as if it’s blood. It’s a little funny though because all though the subjects are so dark and stained the background is so lively and filled with life. Perhaps, it’s his internal conflict versus the outside world.
Thinking back to Kirchner’s work, both him and Basquiat created uncomfortable feelings for me. The difference is that Kirchners piece was uncomfortable and queasy while Basquiat is uncomfortable and angry. Focusing on Basquiat, his work is very much in your face. I feel like with most street art it is overexaggerated so that you take the time to really look at it. Looking at Kirchner’s work it’s also in your face but it’s something that you want to stop looking at cause it makes you uncomfortable but you can’t. As a viewer, both artists succeeded in producing work from an emotion that triggered the sprout or subject of their work. These intense emotions are “the seed, and the work is the flower”. I can only imagine that they created art based on their own emotions, but whether they did it based on their own experience or somebody else’s they succeeded in conveying those intense emotions through their art.
Braque’s piece, created from 1908-1909 entitled “Fruit Dish,” is a great embodiment of Andre Salmon’s quote, “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” In this example, Braque pairs a fruit dish down to almost unrecognizable forms, turning a complex scene into simple shapes. But this simplicity Braque achieved was not a simple feat or task. His analysis of objects required viewing his subject from multiple angles and viewpoints and then re-assembling the image in an abstracted form, taking away the natural instinct to try to make the painting look similar to the observed subject. This in turn took away the common thought that objects have a single absolute form. Braque in essence reimagined an entire scene, in this case a still life, and represented it in a new way by considering different perspectives and perceptions of the subject.
The cubism movement itself was based in simplicity, founded on visual abstraction and focused on converting images into geometric representations. Human forms were broken down into geometric shapes, and therefore intentionally became devoid of too much detail, and allowed the human form to take on a different kind of life. Organic material and form read as more artificial rather than natural, and often the subject became quite vague. As art historian Ernst Gombrich said of Cubism, it was the “most radical attempt to stamp out ambiguity and enforce one reading of the picture—that of a man-made construction, a colored canvas.” Braque exhibits these ambiguous and man-made qualities through his work, and especially through his piece, “Fruit Dish.”
First, he creates a shallow, almost non-existent depth of field, contrary to what the original scene most likely showed. The piece therefore becomes relatively flat, which helped to create a man-made portrayal of the still life, a signature trait of Cubism. He created this two-dimensional field by combining a multitude of different viewpoints into one single representation. He showed all viewpoints and angles in one piece, and presented the audience with a flat painting, which ironically gives them only one option, one angle, one perspective to view the piece from. The depth of field is also skewed by the way the background and object planes interact with each other. Braque blurs the line between the background and objects by ignoring the traditional order of these planes.
Braque was successful in his effort to achieve an ambiguous reflection of his subjects. For example, in “Fruit Dish,” the only thing that gives away the idea of fruit are the stems displayed on the forms in the background and foreground of the piece. Other than that, the piece of fruit that seems to be the relative focal point of the painting has some added detail to the form of what is assumed to be the bottom of a fruit with a slice cut out. These are the only obvious indications of what the piece is supposed to be of. Aside from these, objects are broken up and re-analyzed into simpler shapes and forms. The various shapes become intertwined at seemingly random angles as they blend into each other, which in turn obscures any realism of the subject. The lack of diversity in color also adds to the ambiguity of the piece; as the shapes intertwine with each other, the separation between them becomes less noticeable and seamless, which is only exemplified by the harmonious yet minimal color palette.
Because of the way these abstracted shapes blend into one another, the purpose of each object becomes skewed as the object becomes less and less recognizable. Stripping objects of their intended purpose and defining characteristics adds to the simplification of subjects in Cubism. Braque’s display of varying planes and viewpoints, his minimal choice in color palette, and his skill in creating geometric representations of organic forms results in a harmonious end product. Concerned with pictorial space and composition, his placement of the ambiguous subject matter worked to bring movement and balance to the abstract shapes. The way he carefully constructed his pieces effectively guide the viewer’s eyes throughout the composition, nudging viewers towards the focal point amongst the overall ambiguity of the piece.
Quote:
What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form, it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
Work:
Giacomo Balla – (Abstract Speed 1913)
Introduction
In the world of art, the styles/techniques used never stay stagnant. I would argue that they always change with society’s views and advancements. During the late 20th century, we began to see improvements in tech and a growing industrial revolution. These ideas brought massive changes to how people viewed technology, industrial life, as well as art. What do we think about when we hear the concept of Futurism? Advancement in robotics, flying cars, maybe even smart cities. The 20th century exploded with new thoughts of forward-thinking, which ultimately led to the birth of the futurism art movement. For my second writing assignment, I want to focus on Giacomo Balla’s work, “Abstract Speed.” Specifically, I want to focus on how his other works centered around the rejection of past styles and embraced the advancement of technology, industry, and art.
Initial thoughts
While scrolling through the PowerPoint for the futurism section, this painting instantly jumped out at me! The name, color palette, and composition are magnificent. I have always been a car buff, so choosing this work based on the title and concept alone was easy! I have never heard of Giacomo until writing this paper, but after viewing many of his other artworks online, he quickly became one of my favorites to date. Balla was a man of forward-thinking and believed art should reflect this. Abstract speed is really unlike any other work I have ever seen. It is truly the full representation of abstraction, chaotic nature, and beauty. “Abstract Speed” is a perfect example of what Andre Salmon referred to in his quote. “No longer are we in the age of simple abstract paintings.” At first glance, the image is the furthest thing from simplistic. It is full of lines, folds, and color. The work almost appears to have a third and fourth dimension rather than be a 2D flat surface.
An in-depth look at the work
Analyzing the work more closely, we can see everything that appears in the painting is “in-motion.” Ballas’s philosophy behind the artwork was to represent pure motion and speed, just like an automobile. You can see that he has tried to convey this throughout the work as much as possible by using wavy lines, motion blur, and quick brush strokes. From birth until adulthood, his fascination for the automobile industry greatly affected what kind of art he created. If one were to look at “Abstract Speed” for the first time, you might wonder, I don’t see an automobile! All I see are waves and different applications of color spread across the canvas. Giacomo states in one of his interviews, “Here we see then that the focus is not on the car, or even the speed of the car, but on the very concept of speed itself.” While the actual work may not showcase a realistic image of an automobile, the idea of speed is represented not only through the title but also through the philosophy in which Balla created it.
Conclusion
Giacomo Balla was indeed an iconic figure in the development of Futurism. His work and philosophy pushed what it meant to be a futurist and forced many around him to adopt this new style. “Abstract Speed” and many of his other works centered around a rejection of past styles and embraced a new wave of art. Perhaps, one of the most essential aspects of futurist thinking was recognizing the importance of breaking free from tradition. As stated in my introduction paragraph, art and the styles it consists of never stay stagnant. Giacomo’s work is a true representation of this artistic vision and what it means to break the norm. Making a painting with no absolute form that broke the means of preception was at the time unheard of. But, as Balla inspired more and more artists, many slowly began to adopt the style. Futurism is never an easy topic to comprehend. However, Giacomo was able to concur and progress the idea through the chaotic beauty of his art.
Ralph Mallare
ART 473 – Modern Art
Robert Tracy
October 21st, 2020
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
Pablo Picasso. Girl with a Mandolin 1910
In the early 20th Century, the world was being introduced into another art movement known as Cubism, and as with most movements, there were misunderstandings as to what Cubism meant and what this movement was trying to portray. That is why I wanted to focus on this quote by famed artist, Pablo Picasso, to try to break down and understand what he truly meant by this quote. In order to do so, I wanted to focus on his painting “Girl with Mandolin”, made in 1910.
Within the early 1900s, Pablo Picasso’s work had already become difficult to decipher for the average viewer. He had focused on transitioning from making paintings to follow the likeness of his subject, but now it was becoming more abstract and was using more geometrical forms. He was a pioneer for this movement and I had chosen this particular quote because of what I believe Picasso was trying to portray. He wanted to portray a sense of form without following a standard guideline and I believe that he was successful with this painting.
Despite there being no smooth lines or no standard structure when creating a self portrait, he was still able to take and arrange various shapes to portray various parts of the subject’s form. As a viewer, you are still able to make out the shape and the line of the woman’s figure because your eyes and mind are able to construct that particular form to match the shape that you are envisioning. I also can understand the use of his color palette, focusing on brown tones and blue-grey accents. The coloration also helps to portray a feeling of loneliness and quiet and evokes an emotion that makes me feel compassion for this particular subject.
When Picasso says “when a form is realized, it is there to live it’s own life.”, I understand that as an artist saying that any shape or form can be realized, no matter the way they are portrayed. Whether it be through collage and geometric shapes, or realistic figurines, there’s always a sense of form that can be brought out. Cubism was one of the biggest art movements in modern history because there was still a sense of realism in each painting that you see. Picasso just showed us that forms can be represented or created in a way that we did not realize beforehand.
Many may have seen cubism as experimental and difficult to decipher, but this was a movement that revolutionized the way forms were presented and showcased. Every shape or every object in the background interconnect with one another and create this shallow, ambiguous space to further elevate the paintings. Girl with a mandolin is such an interesting art piece made by Picasso and as he once said, he was able to bring life into his artwork by showcasing just how forms can be created. There was no more single viewpoints, instead having objects broken up, analyzed and reassembled in abstract forms, eventually allowing subjects to be understood from a multitude of viewpoints, and in turn, of greater context.
Opinion Assignment 2: Dominant Curve (1937) by Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was an artist fascinated with organic shapes and joined these with more geometric inspired lines and shapes. Kandinsky’s earlier work shown that he was experimenting with different styles and expressive strokes when painting landscapes or figures. Some of his work was a soft blend of colors with shapes and lines that feel and look organic, but his other work is more tightly painted with crisp and dark lines. In his later work, Kandinsky heavily leaned more towards abstract depictions. This change in style is in line with his art and spiritual theming. To quote Guillaume Apollinaire: “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Kandinsky’s paintings are symbolic of the landscapes and figures inspired by or what they look like in his “mind’s eye”, they are not hyper-realistic works of art. How it translated in his art was in an abstract way, whether with organic or geometric looks. Merging these elements together, Kandinsky painted the Dominant Curve in 1937, combining different elements from his earlier works.
The Dominant Curve has bright sections of color that dance together and lines and shapes moving through the space to a beat or a song. I see a playful symphony of shapes and lines, forms captured in a state of motion. I feel happy when I look at the fun shapes and oblique lines and uneven curved forms. There is a sense of freedom to the art, nothing is really confined in a space and the shapes inside seem unrestrained. The sheer variety the composition provided by the painting is enough to keep me looking at it for a long time, every time I look there is something I didn’t notice before.
Visually, Kandinsky’s painting looks flat, though not in a bad sense, it is purposefully implemented. There is no “realistic” shading or light source, the flatness is mildly offset by with some parts clearly opaque while others are transparent. It is common for abstract art to lack realistic shading because it is not a carbon copy of an image from reality. The muted green and brown colors in the background give the piece an illusion of depth as the bright figures in the foreground mingle and dance. The color contrast between of some areas is sharp while others have low contrast and colors more on the pastel side of the spectrum, almost blending in with the background or the shape they rest on top of. Somehow swath of colors is used in a way where it feels soothing. I think it’s because the softer colors give the viewer some relief from the bold and bright colors.
In some areas there is high contrast in shapes as well coupled with a plethora of colors it is only enhanced, a mix of organic curves to geometric planes clearly different from one another but woven together. The larger surfaces or sections of the painting are decorated with sprinkles of color in the form of small, dots, squiggly lines, and triangles. Layered on top of each other, pieces seem to be constantly shifting as they overlap, the colors change when they do. Some shapes when they meet show a negative color, they live in different planes. Some shapes, featured in sets, such as the block “stairs” to the right of the painting and the circles outlined in thick black lines above them. The swipes of lines look like plants or blades of grass moving as they sway in wind. Towards the center of the painting is a curved section painted with a bright white in comparison to the off-white used in the rest of the painting. Draws your focus to the area with sharply. How Kandinsky used the space on this canvas is simply amazing. There is just enough negative space where it gives you some breathing room from the busy mix of shapes and colors in the painting. Some paintings I find are much too busy to look at for too long, my eyes just want to give up on looking at it and register what is going on. I am not a big fan of abstract art, but I honestly love this painting; I find it engaging and beautiful.
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon).
Art can consist of different elements of perception or none at all. In James Abbott Mcneill Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, there are many elements that are comprised in this sensational artwork. The background is filled with a blueish gray tone that resembles a pitch-black sky. The scene is set with tufts of a light blue that blend the sky with the crashing waves at night. The figures in the foreground are viewed at a blurry distance and is expressed impressionistically. The splatter and streaks of what resembles burning embers crackle throughout the composition. Natural hues were used to give form of an atmospheric environment. These aspects combined gracefully display a subtlety of quiet violence and serenity. In research of Whistler, he had mentioned that his painting is depicted through moments and sensations similar to how a person feels goosebumps on their skin when placed in a certain setting. He has quite an extensive background of work in his portfolio but I think what sets him apart is that he paints with a kind of honesty that I appreciate. The artist is known for realism; however, he uses traditional ideology but blends in expressionism and impressionism in his brush strokes as a silent recognition of these genres at his time. Truly a relaxed master at the craft of painting. The elements are synesthized in a particular way that makes it almost non-objective. Throughout the power point lectures, he has been mentioned with the Marc and Kandinsky group, Der Blaue Reiter. I can visualize as how this painting is associated with the synesthesia driven, music exploration, truth-seeking art group.
Throughout the time periods of impressionism and expressionism, it feels as if Whistler’s attachment was an inspired precursor to these movements. If art at this period started from traditional form and resulted in abstracted forms of relaying artful information, Whistler would be the middle due to his tonalism and subtlety of impressionistic brush strokes as he blends tradition and the post-current. He captures the moment in his painting objectively but also relays a sensation to the viewer that parallels the object in space. I can see that some inspirations of this period claimed that there was Sino-Japanese influence as the paintings showed landscapes not only as compositional scenes but as moments of perspective. Asian artworks have their own timeline and during this time it seems as if the Western artists reached out in the art world by adopting international ideologies in approaches to making art. In Whistler’s painting, it sets the viewer out at the beach in the midnight sky through hazy perspective and sensation. Furthermore, Whistler’s painting does not set out to create a world, but to depict non-objective expressionistic and realistic moments in time for the viewer. A sensation or feeling is casted on the viewer which is the ultimate goal in art.
Tammy Martinez
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
21 October 2020
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
The City Rises (1911) by Umberto Boccioni (Reggio Calabria, 1882 – Verona, 1916)
The City Rises by Umberto Boccioni seems like the perfect embodiment of Andre Salmon’s quote. This painting is one of Boccioni’s first large scale futurist paintings; it is 199 x 310 cm. It might be considered the most popular futurist painting known today although it lacks some elements of cubism. The content inside the painting mainly contains horses and Laborers. There is one giant horse in motion in the middle with laborers surrounding it. In the background there are buildings in construction and trams. The subject matter is typical for Futurist work. The painting depicts Milan under construction and shows an urban setting in the making. Boccioni emphasized the motion of the laborers and horses in this painting. He depicted a time of technological advancement and depicted the rise of modernity.
The subject matter is very dynamic and each figure is melted in with each other. The figures aren’t completely blended in with each other because there is still a lot of contrast that separates the figures. The colors are very vibrant and create simultaneous contrast. He uses a primary palette that stands out from the background. The brushstrokes are short and gestural and define the direction of the painting. The main horse in the center has tiny brush strokes and it is very detailed. The brush strokes create a sense of energy and movement in the figures. The curvilinear strokes look like they were well thought out even though the image looks so chaotic there is a lot of detail in the movement of the figures. I learned that this brushstroke style is called divisionism. Divisionism conveys directional brush strokes and gives an illusion of movement within the figures of a painting. The brush work is impressive in this painting because there are different colored strokes placed together and it creates a dynamic effect. There are hints of blues in the red areas and hints of red in the blue areas of the painting. The figures themselves almost look weightless because of the divisionism.
Andre Salmon’s quote reminds me of this painting because it depicts many forms within a form for example the brushstrokes within each body has movement and shows speed and energy within a form. The brushwork itself creates a different perception of reality. Boccioni wanted to depict modernism not only through a visual perception but also wanted to convey the movement and sound of objects through brushstrokes. It is sort of mind boggling to think that a painting can portray motion and sound but that is basically what futurism is. I think Andre Salmon meant by “there are planes in the region of perception,” is that futurism captures the sense of smell, sound, and movement. The City Rises goes beyond the perception of the third dimension and in a way is symbolic in the sense that there is energy within each form. The laborers are stretched out in form and tense and might symbolize the relentless movement of technological advances. Futurism celebrates urban industrial life and machinery. Technology had a great impact on how artists viewed the world. The invention of cars and factories might have seemed very bizarre to the people in Milan and the fact that futurism encapsulates their excitement about these advancements fascinates me. I can’t imagine how it must have been to live in that time period but I think this painting captures emotions of hope, strength and pride.
Grigor Giandjian
Professor Tracy
ART 473–1001
22 October 2020
Five Figures, Infinite Perspectives: The Dynamic Nature of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
It was the French poet, writer, and art critic André Salmon who exclaimed, “What simplicity! An object has not one absolute form; it has many. It has as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” Such a perspective is ground in the idea that the only limit to one’s creativity is their own imagination, and that wherever we see more than what is plainly in front of us, we see potential. No single work of art is interpreted in the same manner by all those who view it, and similarly, an artist’s understanding of their own subject matter may differ heavily from what common audiences intuit. An exemplary case of such phenomena is Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which presents an extraordinary view of unclothed Spanish brothel women in the early twentieth century.
In Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Picasso portrays a group of nude female figures gathered around one another at a brothel situated amongst the streets of Barcelona. With each one bearing a remarkably different face and posture, the women pose before a draped background with an arrangement of fruit sitting at their feet. The contours of the figures’ physical features are ever so slightly distinguishable an arranged in an unorthodox and highly figurative manner; conventional proportions are all but apparent in this work of Picasso’s. The women’s bodies, pink and plump, narrowly mimic the drapes that graze against their skin. Each of their arms is affixed in a unique manner, with some reaching outward towards the curtains and some folded behind their heads. The eyes of the figures are anything but immaculate in their execution, leaving those caught in their gaze puzzled as to what they attempt to communicate.
Picasso’s execution of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon with such impassioned geometric shapes and iconoclastic representations of the human form work to convey his avant-garde interpretation of everyday scenes and objects. Virtually every component of the figures in Picasso’s piece, from their haunting faces to their angular limbs, alludes to an intuition beyond the sensuality and lust commonly associated with such individuals. These creative decisions of Picasso’s are a distinct ode to his underlying interpretation of the scene; as opposed to creating a piece that exists to depict women in their natural, unfiltered form, Picasso endeavors to evoke fury and fright. In this odd, sensational work of his, the artist strives to provide the general public with a glimpse into parts unknown, seeking inspiration from Iberian sculptural forms and African masks to achieve a degree of cultural antiquity that does more than merely grasp the attention of its viewers. The painting itself acts as somewhat of an oxymoron; these women, who would otherwise inhabit an inviting, comforting, and lustful atmosphere, instead make their patrons uneasy, upset, or purely puzzled. In interpreting Picasso’s stylistic decisions, one is made aware of just how limitless their the human mind’s ability to perceive can be.
Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon exists to remind the people of the world that art is not defined by any singular frame of thinking or style of execution. The piece dares us to see beyond the face value of that which befalls our eyes, and furthermore, to push beyond conventional methods of understanding. As opposed to creating a true-to-life homage to feminine beauty and lust, Picasso clutches our interest with a thought-provoking venture into new territory.
Christian Cruz
ART 473 – 1001
22 October 2020
Robert Tracy
Second Opinion/Position Writing Assignment
“Luxe, Calme et Volupté” by Henri Matisse
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” -Andre Salmon
I think this quote best represents Henri Matisse’s work: Luxe, Calme et Volupté, which translates into “Luxury, Calm, and Voluptuousness.” The painting is oil on canvas and was made in 1904. The painting features several humanoid figures who appear to be relaxing and spending time at the beach. Matisse was criticized for his use of strong color and decorative aspects over representational or realistic values (Fauvism).
When I first looked upon Matisse’s work, I was surprised by how vibrant and colorful it is. For me, the painting draws out positive feelings and emotions such as joy, playful, relaxing, comforting, warm, and so on. While the use of strong colors definitely contributes to this response, the way Matisse created the painting plays a major factor as well. One can see the entirety of the composition is made up of or composed of spots of color that are created through quick and repeating brushstrokes, similar or akin to the pointillism technique of painting. The spots of color help to make the overall painting feel playful and light by leaving white space in between each spot. It prevents the painting from being as intense as it would be if the strong colors filled in the white space and overwhelmed the entire composition. I feel like the painting would have lost a lot of its value had that been the case. Even though he was criticized for moving away from realistic depictions, I think Matisse did a great job balancing all the components within his painting while creating the painting in the way that he saw how it should be perceived as.
While I am not certain what the exact focal point for Luxe, Calme et Volupté would be, my eyes were first drawn to the boat that is slightly off center of the composition. Particularly, the vertical black or dark blue line that is connected to the boat. I would be inclined to think the focal point reside there. The reason for this being that the dark line stands out due to the bright colors behind it and several lines, both direct and indirect, point towards or intersect with the dark line. From there, my eyes are led towards the human figures that reside on the beach. From the way the figures are posed, it is clear that the people are relaxed. Some are sitting or laying down. The two that are standing still resonate a relaxed response, with one holding their arms out to the side playfully and the other is tying up her hair, probably preparing to take a dip into the water. To reinforce my point, the human figures are painted mainly with cool or cold colors, which indicate that they are not radiating much energy. In other words, they are relaxed. The ground around them has been given a lot of warm coloring to balance out the cold colors of the figures, providing a warmth that the figures lack due to their lack of clothing.
While the bottom of the composition mainly has its warm and cool colors separated for the most part, the scenery for rest of the painting has those color schemes mixed with one exception. The sky, the sea, and the trees are comprised of both warm and cool colors. The one exception is the landscape or hills that is at the back of the painting above the sea and below the sky. This landscape serves to separate the similarity of the sky and the sea as without the landscape, the sky and sea would mix and thus the composition would not be as coherent. The colors of the scenery are balanced quite well, and the white space certainly helps the colors from being too intense or saturated. The sea takes on brighter colors the closer it gets to the sky, reflecting the light from the sky. While the use of these strong colors does not depict a beach realistically, it has a hierarchy that makes sense, which allows people to infer what the painting is about.
Overall, I think Matisse did a great job achieving his goal of wishing his work to “have a light joyousness of springtime,” at least for this painting. Seeing the figures relaxing on the beach surrounded by a calm sea and sky make me feel relaxed and happy. While Matisse’s way of painting moves away from realism, he is still able to convey a story and incite positive emotions from the way he composed his composition.
ART 473
Picasso, Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, 1910
“Cubism is the means, not the end.”- Jean Metzinger
Honestly, I am not a fan of Cubism. I do recognize the importance of it through art history and I also the skill it requires to achieve works like Pablo Picasso’s or Georges Braque’s, but I simply do not like it. As Metzinger claims, it is about the means and not the end, which makes me conclude that it is just like an experiment with the sole purpose of explore and not really communicate. That is what I feel like Cubism is about and why I do not like it. It is soulless to me.
In order to be more precise, I will focus on Picasso’s piece, Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, from 1910. I remember seeing this piece a long time ago, in another one of my art history classes, but this time, by having the photograph of the person portrayed next to the piece; it is easier to recognize him in Picasso’s painting.
I must say, I am drawn to the composition and the shapes used there. I feel like calls me to keep looking to make some sense of most of those said shapes. After a moment, I realized there are no completed shapes. Their sides blend with other ones and get lost in the abyss. Nevertheless, they feel like they are there, completed, and making the shape of the man portrayed. Again, there are key components that help guide me through the painting in order to recognize the figure that hides in it. I would not be surprised to hear someone say that they can see the man clearly there. I do see someone, but no entirely and literally completed. Besides the man I think to spot a bottle of some sort next to him, but how can I be sure among the mess of ghostly shapes and monochromatic-like gradient? Again, I am submerged into the middle of the piece, staring at what it is supposed to be his chest, jacketed or suited chest, with a glimpse of a white-like shirt, accompanied by an upside-down triangle, or close enough, with some volume on it that looks like a tie, even if I am not sure if. His hands are meeting each other, there is no sign of arms, but the long rectangular shapes on the right suggests one of them. Meanwhile, the left arm is suggested by the bright part of the gradient until it meets an opposite angle line conformed by the edge of two opposite hues.
Here I am now staring at what is supposed to be his head. There are five aspects of it that help me to read a human form out of this mess: his hair, nose, ears, eye socket, and cheekbone. The figure’s hair and hand might be the most evident parts of this portrayal. I am not able to spot the left side of his face, but the right side becomes clearer every time I stare at it.
Leaving the figure and the barely discerned objects next to it aside, the colors are one of the elements of Cubist works I do not like. The hues used are close to monochromatic and they are dull. I wonder what made the artists pick this type of palette, because most of the things I have read about Cubism is about their form, like the incoherent sense of depth and angles that create ambiguity on the viewpoints.
I guess after all this time staring at Picasso’s piece I kind of like it. Indeed an interesting technique offers so much to read on a painting. Although I have not changed my mind about its meaning. Again, Metzinger’s quote highlights my point that Cubism has no purpose but to offer a new chaotic perspective. Like an experiment, I feel like they were more focused on getting all these different viewpoints and angles that did not leave room for a message, just as Metzinger pointed out. With this, I am not trying to depreciate or belittle these amazing pieces of art and their respective artists, but only to clarify where my interest in art stands. Perhaps my inexperience in technique and analysis of such pieces is a significant component of such interests, but I am not going to pretend I know better.
Aranza Acosta
Dr. Robert Tracy
ART 473
October 21, 2020
Girl with Mandolin, Picasso
“What simplicity! An object does not have absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
After reading this quote, I began to think about how hard it can be sometimes to turn a three dimensional object into a flat art piece. It is even more difficult to depict such an object at multiple angles at once in a single frame. That is what I find so interesting about cubism.
Picasso focusing on form as a whole but at the same time breaking each section apart is quite fascinating. In his Girl with Mandolin, it is not obvious right away that it is a girl holding a mandolin in position to play it. I think it is a combination of the geometric shapes trying to come together to depict an organic form and the multiple perspectives it is being painted from. Once you identify the subject, you could start thinking about what is the angle that the artist is looking at the subject from. Some parts of the figure would be impossible to see if it was done traditionally. Like the right side of the face, if it did not mimic the same shape that the left side has, especially the top curve, the viewer would have not recognized that as the other side of the face.
Thinking about the first part of the quote which exclaims, “What simplicity!,” it seems almost funny to me while looking at this piece. It does not seem simple at all. Maybe the almost monochromatic look could play into this simplicity aspect but the shapes, position and even mood being showcased are anything but simple. Part of me is trying to decide whether the figure is coming out into the light or falling back into the background. The way that the shapes in the background and the body kind of blend into each other makes it more intriguing to keep looking at it. It is almost like a mind puzzle, but I suppose that is common with cubism and other abstract movements.
In beginning art courses, they usually teach you to break apart each piece to be able to identify the shapes so later on as you begin to shade it can turn to a whole image. In a way, I guess the same is being done here but each shape stays as their own. They do not blend to make up a whole image, they simply put together next to each other. Even though the image has sharp lines all throughout, the position of the girl’s head looks quite soft. Even the way that the mandolin is being held looks quite gentle.
The more I look at this piece, I keep wondering what is in the background? Or are those just random shapes that Picasso thought were just needed to fill the space. The latter would not surprise me as it was mentioned in the lectures that as a painter, one does not paint what he sees but what he feels. So, if it was up to him to feel that those shapes are there, then they are. Even then, in my opinion, the shapes were placed thoughtfully, where they fit the main subject as well as the rest of the image.
I think that is a very important aspect of Cubism. It is the feeling that is portrayed in the piece, the mood that it creates when the audience looks at it and we see how it varies from person to person. Even when it is not clear what the subject is, shapes can still have an effect on someone.
Gabrielle Link
Robert Tracy
ART 473 1001
16 October 2020
During the acceptance of the avant-garde style of Matisse and Picasso gave rise to further look at the color and abstract perception. Artist began to look at the idea from perspective saying, “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception” referring to the art style of cubism that originates from Africa (Andre Salmon). In Der Blaue Reiter, a few artists show a part of each of their artistic styles and perspectives of spirituality differently. One artist, in particular, will be Franz Marc using the past previous artist’s styles as the motivation of color usage and abstract cubism followed in the artwork. Looking at the art piece called Stables by Marc, we can see the different shapes of the forms of horses and vast color. I can also see the multiple symbols of horses that are represented in many of Marc’s art pieces containing animal figures entailing the lives of multiple or a single animal expressed to the audience. The colors express a warm and cold feeling to me as well as knowing the overall aspect of trying to achieve spirituality of understanding with humans and animals. The art piece creates a sense of calming from the blue, yellow, and green tones as the red holds a more boldening or powerful feeling or a weight to the art piece.
The shapes all appear to hold geometric proportions, organic flow on the horses, and multiple different line perspectives cutting through the page to peer similar to a spectator from in a stall or perhaps a corridor way. Many of the obstruct but clear images reveal horses waiting in a stall as we see horses perhaps eating or resting. The size of the horses gives off a powerful yet graceful appearance seeing their tails in a wave of mane in a half-circle curvature. The stalls have a more rectangular and box-like arrangement similar to a cube towards the front that seems inviting to head over to take a look. The horse stall also has a narrow archway in green and yellow pigments that feels like it leads to a more open space or area. The horse stall also gives off a feeling of being immersed or pulled within the art piece. The movement of the horses in the stalls also shows another daily routine at the ranch. One of the horses has its head peering back and eye glancing towards the audience feels more humanistic with a personality coming from the warm and cold color tones. Overall the piece has diversity in the different line forms and the shapes that the human eye can connect the shapes and placements to give off multiple emotions that convey mixed feelings. The forms alternate as well that helps to amplify the movement of the piece and the perspective of each horse and person within the art piece making connections to interact with a deeper meaning and emotion evoked.
Olivia Rodriguez
ART 473-1001
Professor Tracy
Fall 2020
Franz Marc, Stables, 1913, Oil on Canvas
Out of all of the quotes offered for this assignment, I felt that the quote “Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live its own life,” by Pablo Picasso best described cubism. I noticed that there were a few quotes that compared or contrasted cubism to a “seed,” which I found to be very interesting (George Brack compared it to a seed, where Picasso says it is not a seed). The way Picasso described cubism, as it deals with forms that take on their own life, as opposed to mainly being a means of transition in art forms, is illustrated well in the work Stables, by Franz Marc.
Franz Marc focused most of his work around scenery and animals, which can be seen especially in his Sketchbook from the Battlefield, where he illustrated many different scenes and animals he encountered. Horses are a common recurrence in his work, and the one painting that stood out the most to me was his work, Stables. The painting Stables is one of his last big works before his passing in 1916. In this painting, Marc created a composition which flattened the figures and combined stables and horses with different forms and colors. Through this composition, Marc has illustrated how he truly saw the stables and the horses, and abstracted it into emotions and how it felt than how it looked literally. Even though the figures have been abstracted and flattened, the color and composition give the work a sense of motion. The use of forms in this painting gives it a sense of life, as Picasso describes in the quote. It forces the viewer to look at the painting not literally, but to see the emotions expressed through his painting. This is something that Marc concentrated on in much of his works, not the surface value of the subject he was painting but rather the more abstract values that he saw.
Picasso emphasized the use of forms in cubism in his quote, and how cubism is not a means of transition to a different form of art but rather that it is it’s own style that focuses on forms and giving them life. Stables supports this quote, where Marc illustrated horses and a stable, but gave them different forms that intermingle and flow together to create one whole composition. This work was not a transition into anything, or an experiment to produce new outcomes, but rather its own form of art that can stand independently from other types of art.
Amanda Galvan
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
22 October 2020
Second Writing Assignment
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form– it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” – (Andre Salmon)
I chose to discuss the quote “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form– it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception” by Andre Salmon because I believe it accurately describes Cubism art as a whole. Pieces traditionally depicted their subject as it was seen by the eye, yet Cubism dissected what was seen and translated it onto different planes. I believe that is a way Salmon’s quote can be interpreted as it places value on abstraction and the different ways a single piece can be seen. The piece I would like to look at in relation to this quote is Violin and Palette (1913) by Georges Braque, because to me this piece is a fantastic representation of what Cubism is and how it is executed.
Violin and Palette (1913) shows what Cubism is in many different ways. For one, the violin is broken into different lines and planes while the sheet music that lies behind it is almost unrecognizable. This abstraction of the objects is what makes the viewer question what they are looking at and truly think about the piece; this relates to the multiple forms Salmon mentions in the chosen quote. The subjects can be perceived in several different ways, allowing both the violin and other figures in the drawing to take different forms. This type of non-representational art requires more critical thinking than representational art, making it more open to interpretation and thus in a way more catered to the viewer. Violin and Palette (1913) does not only exist in the way Braque intended it to, it changes meaning and form depending on the person that is looking at the piece. Another way this piece displays Cubism is through the way the canvas is blocked out and looks as if there is a grid. Paintings are a look at life in a 2-dimensional perspective, yet Braque’s Cubist take brings in a 3-dimensional illusion that encourages deeper thinking.
Arron Adams
Art 473-1001
Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler by Pablo Picasso
“The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” – Guillaume Apollinaire
The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality. The idea that, instead of painting a representation of the literal, physical image of an object, one paints an image of a more conceptual aspect of the object – some aspect of an object that cannot be seen directly with the eyes. However, while this can be used to describe Cubism, I feel like this statement can be applied to other styles of painting as well; it can describe Cubism, but is not exclusive to it – Cubism seems to me to be a rather more specific style of painting than this statement would imply.
In the course of researching and learning about Cubism during this class and considering the different quotes presented for this assignment, something I have noticed is that there is an interesting parallel between the Cubist style of painting and certain much older styles of painting – in particular my thoughts went to Medieval painting (and Medieval artwork in general, but I will mainly be focusing on painting here). The parallel I noticed specifically is that the idea of painting the “conceived rather than perceived reality” is something that both styles actually have in common.
For example: perspective. Both Cubist and Medieval paintings have little regard for proper perspective, they are not concerned with creating an accurate illusion of depth, and tend to appear quite flat and shallow as a result. Instead they are more focused on, as Guillaume Apollinaire’s quote says, conceived reality. In Medieval paintings different things are often way out of proportion from one another, for example: human figures can appear the same size as castle walls. In Cubist paintings, the subject is painted from multiple different points of view. In both cases, however, the focus is more on attempting to show the greater context of the subject, although in very different ways.
This is not to say that the Medieval and Cubist styles are the same or even that they are trying to achieve the same things in any way. For one thing, Medieval paintings are usually focused on depicting some kind of narrative, whether that be a representation of some kind of allegorical or mythological story, or a depiction of some historical event. Whereas Cubism is more concerned with a more abstract representation of the subject from multiple points of view. Like, for example, in Picasso’s Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, which is a human portrait, but is almost like multiple different paintings with different viewpoints of the same person all combined into one single work.
Furthermore, there may be other painting styles as well that I am unaware of that could also fit the criteria of “painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” so while this statement can be used to help describe Cubism, I feel like it is a bit presumptuous to suggest that this idea can only be applied to Cubism, or even that it sums up Cubism in its entirety – in the end the statement is simply too overly generalized to be used as the an exclusive description of Cubism.
Xiyuan yu
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
22 October 2020
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is a large oil painting created in 1907 by Pablo Picasso. The work portrays five nude female prostitutes from a brothel on Carrer d’Avinyó (Avinyó Street) in Barcelona. “Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
Picasso’s ” Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” was created in 1907, which is considered to be the “first work” with Cubism. This painting is based on the image of prostitutes he saw. This painting a sign of Picasso’s inner struggle and a mature symbol of his painting style, as well as a collision between old and new painting concepts. It not only marks a significant turning point in Picasso’s personal art process, but also a revolutionary breakthrough in the history of modern western art, which triggered the birth of the Cubism movement. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is Picasso’s first work that fully shows his own technique. In this painting, we can see Picasso disorganizes the principle of realism by changing his attitude towards life and natural forms. The “three-dimensional” in Picasso’s ways: the characters are presented in a new and different way. In the painting, the faces of the five naked women are scary. The front face has a lateral nose, and even one face’s facial features are all misplaced, showing an elongated or extended structure. The light and dark lines are extremely concise, which are composed of many irregular geometric forms. The figure’s outline is separated by straight lines and curves.
In this painting, the viewer can feel the painter’s interest in pastoral humor. The colors of the five naked women contrast the blue background. The blue reminded him of the beautiful scenery of the background. A woman sitting on the right seemed to put on a mask. When she turned around, her face looks like a ghost. On the far left, a woman is pulling up the ochre curtain to show off her sisters’ diamond-shaped bodies. The serious expression is memorizing. There is also a pile of fruit in the middle. In short, these images make people feel nauseous. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is different. Artists describe objects from multiple angles and put them in the same picture to express the most complete image of objects.
Cubism is a form of pursuing recombination. Cubism can be divided into two stages. The first stage was the analytical Cubism before 1912. Painters tried to construct a kind of painting space and body structure by decomposing and reconstructing space and image. The second stage can tell by the use of color. It is usually more obvious and more decorative. The painters created a new artistic technique and language to collage the pictures with real objects, which further strengthened the texture changes of the pictures. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.
Lauren Dominguez
Professor Tracy
ART 473
October 22, 2020
Girl with Mandolin
Girl with Mandolin is a painting by Pablo Picasso painted in 1910. A beautiful painting with contrasting cool grey and warm ochre, Picasso depicts a nude girl playing a mandolin. Painted in the Cubist style, which Guillaumin Apollinaire describes as, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” the girl in the composition as well as detail in the background are all made up of various sizes of squares and rectangles. Juxtaposing the harsh angles of the girl and the background is the mandolin; which is easily identifiable due to its rounded shape. The figure is central in the composition and the detail of the background seems to radiate out from her as if she is giving life and meaning to the background with her music.
Cubism allows the artist to depict a subject through combining multiple angles to depict the true essence of the subject. It’s a truly beautiful thing to witness. You get an inside look into the mind of the artist and see how they perceive the world. While looking at the torso of the girl I have noticed something odd. If you look at how the breast closest to the picture pane is depicted versus how her shoulders are depicted you can see that she is painted on multiple planes. Parts of her are painted so she is full facing the picture plane and other parts are in three quarter view. It isn’t so readily noticeable and it works due to the nature of Cubism. Art movements that aren’t fully seated in reality are endlessly interesting. As described above by Apollinaire, Cubism is how Picasso is conceiving his reality and how he is choosing to portray it. He is utilizing it as a tool to portray this multi-planned world, which combined with the color palette and the subjects of the painting, seem other worldly. The coolness of the grey utilized mainly in the background helps push back the shadows and give dimension to the piece as well as giving the figure more softness by contrast.
The shading in the piece is kept fairly minimal and remains close to the sides of each shape. It should make less sense visually, however the contrast of the cool grey and warm ochre help give the figure a soft frame despite the angular structure. The roundness and higher detail of shading in the mandolin helps give the viewer a safe and definitive place in the composition where they can then work outward and pick up more detail in the piece. It acts almost like the northern star to a sailor. Once you see it you can work your way around the composition with ease.
Girl with Mandolin is a beautiful piece with surprising depth. It’s sad that when the majority of people think of Picasso they only think of Mr. Potato Head-esque figures that look like they were put together by toddlers. Cubism is a tool for expression. A tool for portraying a reality as he chooses to conceive. He is able to successfully use multiple perspectives in his composition to tell a story that he chooses. That kind of creative control allowed by the Cubism art movement is freeing. Not only to the artist, but to the viewer as well.
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior
results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live
its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
-Braque Violin: Mozart Kubelick, 1912-
For my second writing, I want to further explore and discuss Cubism. Further observation at another interpretation of the theme “violin”. But this time completely drove away from Braque’s previous use of dimension and shapes. One could argue that it’s even more vague and abstract from his previous painting of the violin(Violin and Palette, 1909-10). As Pablo Picasso said: “ Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” Although completely different in every way possible, both paintings would still share the same attribute: that is the viewer would interpret the primary object in the painting as a violin. But the journey that takes them to realize the violin would be two very polarized approaches. The Violin: Mozart Kubelick is a puzzle for the viewer to piece together the clues and forms a Cognition of “it’s a violin”. Whereas Violin and Palette, the viewer would register the violin right away, but further breaking down its forms into more simplified shapes and values.
At first glance of Violin: Mozart Kubelick, the shapes and forms are free, boldly painted onto the canvas. The lines are dynamic in directions and length, but not in depth and thickness. It is the color that sets the value and dimension for the painting, by giving a darker shade to the squares, the overall shape of the object was formed. But that is not how the object gets its identity as a violin, it is the few lines that break the rules Braque has developed that stands out and defines the object as a violin. For example, the strings placed diagonally onto the center-left side of the canvas. As well as the curled lines that define the scroll on the right side. These simple lines set the theme and would give all the other simple shapes and lines a purpose of defining an object that is interesting enough to look at. It’s different, even different compared to the other cubism paintings Braque and many others have done. This piece is ahead of its time, and one other element that defends my point would be the popping colors, as well as the text placed on the top right corner. “MOZART KUBELICK” serves as the most funky, unique piece that not only helps identify the music-related theme for the piece, it compliments the violin from its almost boring use of color, and helps establish the pieces’s cohesiveness. Now there is contrast, but at the same time balance. A focal point is also being developed thanks to the unique color. The form is being established and now is living its own life.
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior
results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live
its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
-Braque Violin: Mozart Kubelick, 1912-
For my second writing, I want to further explore and discuss Cubism. Further observation at another interpretation of the theme “violin”. But this time completely drove away from Braque’s previous use of dimension and shapes. One could argue that it’s even more vague and abstract from his previous painting of the violin(Violin and Palette, 1909-10). As Pablo Picasso said: “ Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” Although completely different in every way possible, both paintings would still share the same attribute: that is the viewer would interpret the primary object in the painting as a violin. But the journey that takes them to realize the violin would be two very polarized approaches. The Violin: Mozart Kubelick is a puzzle for the viewer to piece together the clues and forms a Cognition of “it’s a violin”. Whereas Violin and Palette, the viewer would register the violin right away, but further breaking down its forms into more simplified shapes and values.
At first glance of Violin: Mozart Kubelick, the shapes and forms are free, boldly painted onto the canvas. The lines are dynamic in directions and length, but not in depth and thickness. It is the color that sets the value and dimension for the painting, by giving a darker shade to the squares, the overall shape of the object was formed. But that is not how the object gets its identity as a violin, it is the few lines that break the rules Braque has developed that stands out and defines the object as a violin. For example, the strings placed diagonally onto the center-left side of the canvas. As well as the curled lines that define the scroll on the right side. These simple lines set the theme and would give all the other simple shapes and lines a purpose of defining an object that is interesting enough to look at. It’s different, even different compared to the other cubism paintings Braque and many others have done. This piece is ahead of its time, and one other element that defends my point would be the popping colors, as well as the text placed on the top right corner. “MOZART KUBELICK” serves as the most funky, unique piece that not only helps identify the music-related theme for the piece, it compliments the violin from its almost boring use of color, and helps establish the pieces’s cohesiveness. Now there is contrast, but at the same time balance. A focal point is also being developed thanks to the unique color. The form is being established and now is living its own life.
(I apologize if the duplicate thing happened again where I posts the same content two times. But I do not see the writing the first time I post it, this is the second attempt)
In the Beginnings of Cubism, French poet and playwright Guillaume Apollinaire states, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Though this sentiment was a cornerstone ideal to the fundamentals of Cubism, so too can it apply to Francisco Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (1799), a masterpiece in depicting an alternative actuality. As a prominent etching in his satirical series Los Caprichos, Goya tells a cautionary tale on the ignorance of logic and conceives his own reality where monsters are real and represent manifestations of superstition and fear. It is through this exploration of the shortcomings of humanity where we see the foundations building for Surrealism.
In 1799, Goya advertised Los Caprichos as a “A Collection of Prints of Capricious Subjects” in Diario de Madrid, as a scathing commentary on Spain’s conservative ideals and society. In a way, Los Caprichos exists as Goya’s own conceived universe, as it relied heavily on his own imagination to communicate his indignance. Goya produced the Los Caprichos through etching and aquatint, creating a unique visual style between all the sheets, characterized by high contrasts in value and jarring yet precise linework. By using this technique, Goya’s creatures feel more sinister. They are composed of scathing, sharp, imposing lines which give such clear detail to their grotesque features.
Along with monsters, Goya produces birds with human heads, demons, goblins and donkeys riding humans. Shifting focus back to The Sleep of Reason, Goya’s disdain for Spain’s aloofness towards rationality and hesitance to adopt the ideals of the Enlightenment becomes clearer. As a figure (possibly, Goya himself) sleeps on a desk that reads “El sueño de la razon produce monstruos” (The sleep of reason produces monsters). In the background, animals begin to surround him and as they grow and climb up the composition, they become more vicious, ominous and threatening. The monsters grow darker in value as more erupt, and they become less and less distinguishable. An owl– which at the time was a representation of foolishness– prods the artist with a pen as he rests, encouraging him to manifest his darkest delusions. These monsters represent the onslaught of fear, the omnipresence of a mind gone unchecked.
However, this isn’t to say that the entirety of the world should be subscribed to reason; rather, that there is a balance between practicality and fantasy. Goya explains further on a caption on the sheet, “Imagination, if not restrained by reason, brings forth monsters, but combined with reason is the mother of the arts and the source of wonders.” It is with this imagination that he uses to construct The Sleep of Reason and the entirety of Los Caprichos. His depictions of this creatures are created and manifested from Goya’s own mind, not perceived or based in visual reality. He chooses to depict fears as fictional creatures, challenging the viewer to use reason and make the connection between the demons in our dreams to the demons in society.
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters was a piece of a much larger whole in reflecting Goya’s overall worldview. He treated his concerns for society with both a wild imagination and an utmost concern and embodied them through his own perceptions. The Art Gallery of NSW summarizes Los Caprichos perfectly where “the young and the old, clergy and nobility, peasants and prostitutes, witches and goblins all coexist in a dark netherworld of moral corruption.”
Brandon Azar
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
22 October 2020
Second Writing Assignment
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
This quote by Andre Salmon perfectly captures the idea of what cubism illustrates—it wants to emphasize the multitude of perspectives that one could observe an object and forcing them all together to capture the subject. The piece I wanted to focus on that had piqued my interest was Girl with Mandolin by Picasso. I think this is one of my favorite cubist pieces after looking through them because it captures the shape and figure of the girl as well as the mandolin but in a simplified form. One thing I am fond of regarding cubism is that the abstraction of form takes away a lot of humanistic and organic qualities, creating a contradiction of life and lifelessness.
There are some qualms I have about cubism, because while looking at other cubist pieces, I literally cannot tell what is going on in the image. I know that may be the intent, but without the title of the piece paired with it, I likely would not be able to tell what is going on. It is great to make the viewer of the piece ponder while looking at art, but when things become indistinguishable without the title paired with it I personally do not like that. Coming back to the Girl with Mandolin, the reason I like this piece is even without the title I can distinguish the body of the girl, as well as the mandolin she is holding. The abstraction is just enough that fine details are lost, but not so much that I cannot tell what it is. The way the girl almost blends into the background aids in obscuring the form, but she is not enveloped and is still distinctly different from it.
Back to the quote, I love this idea of no object having one definitive or absolute form, because it is true. While an object might technically exist and not physically change at all, perspective can imply change and alter form just by looking at the object differently. While two people may observe things in a similar manner, no two people will perceive something in the exact same way. Cubism captures many conflicting or jarring perspective shifts into one piece, creating visual interest and depth that would not normally be there. One thing that catches my attention is how she has no face, aside from what could be interpreted as an eye. And based on the direction of the head, she is likely looking at the mandolin as she is playing it. Another subject of interest is how the minimal use of curves helps to accentuate the parts that have them. What seems to be her hair is mostly made up of curves, as well as the shape of her breast, and the base of the mandolin; these curves, also shown in the arms and a few other places, add more visual contrast and allow more emphasis on specific aspects.
Overall, the Girl with Mandolin executes the cubist idea effectively by utilizing geometric shapes and conflicting planes meeting at angles to simplify the form of a woman and a mandolin. Cubism is great in showing, as Salmon said, that “an object does not have a single absolute form.” By combining these alternating perspectives, forcing the viewer to see them all at once, creates a whole new perspective in itself. Although sometimes I find things getting a little too abstract, it is entertaining to see how things we perceive every day can be broken down and reduced into geometric shapes, while still functioning the same.
Sohee Park
Art 473 & 477
Professor Robert Tracy
Oct 22, 2020
“Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” (Helen Frankenthaler)
A Spanish painter, who must be respected for the reason for inventing cubism, is Pablo Ruiz Picasso, a name which many of us would have heard of. Thanks to the invention, Cubism had made it possible for artists to learn that it is more interesting to trace how a new art style is created rather than to know and learn already-established art styles and systems. As Helen Frankenthaler, an American abstract expressionist painter has said, Cubism, indeed, had created the greatest freedom.
First of all, what is freedom? Why are people so obsessed with this “freedom?” And how did Cubism become the greatest Freedom? The word freedom itself can be defined in many ways; it can be defined as something negative or positive. However, an artist’s freedom is focused in that it provides an opportunity to develop and create innovative ideas to the artists. Innovative ideas go beyond stereotypical ideas and therefore, giving liberty to express the artist’s personal views of the world, which also gives freedom to the audience to go beyond their original perception of the world.
Indeed, the desire for freedom in the art world is evident in many paintings. For instance, Barnett Newman, an American Artist, expresses freedom in his unique painting titled, “Concord.” Painted on Canvas with oil, the center of Concord places two vertical bands as an abstract element, which the artist called it the “zip.” These two zips may seem to create boundaries between the surface, separating the painting into three spaces. However, if one were to look at the painting with perceptional freedom, the two lines have a starting and an ending point, from top to bottom or the opposite. This freedom is derived from the artist’s freedom, to abandon the use of narrative description, using the zips for his painting’s abstract elements.
In respect to cubism, the name of the aspect of cubism does not have an exact point of orientation, but was born accidentally and advances toward new art. In history, the problems faced by contemporary artists was to find a way to formally portray a new dynamic vision of life. Especially for the painter, the dilemma was to express the flow of time, movement, and space as a medium that simply captures the fleeting moment. In response to solve this predicament, Picasso began to apply cubism in his paintings. In fortune, Picasso’s rebellion has cleared this problem: the freedom to create and construct a new pictorial language rather than imitate it.
To be specific, one of the great works painted in Cubism is the “Portrait of Gertrude Stein” by Picasso. Although the portrait can be said it’s not painted in true cubism, it was an introduction of cubism, a path for freedom. From its name, Portrait of Gertrude Stein is a painting of a woman, Gertrude Stein. As an art collector, she was famous for discovering and encouraging fauvist and Cubist painters in the early 20th century.
However, for a long year in history, the portrayal of men and women had been clearly shown in art, especially in portrait paintings; men were portrayed imposing power whereas women were shaped by ideals of beauty and constrained social roles. However, Portrait of Gertrude Stein has made it possible to break this idea that was held for such a long time. Having to know no information about Gertrude Stein, the portrait visualizes a mysterious person without revealing his or her gender identity. As a result, Stein became free out of the limiting category of Western art with women as a lasso; she is neither old nor young, neither sexual nor submissive.
In addition, Picasso cleverly exploited Stein’s large body by illustrating her body forward, which actively dominates the whole space of the painting. Stein’s rounded shoulders are formed steady as a rock, with a curved-back chair and a corner, establishing the axis of the space. Strong and harsh energy emanates from her simplified face like the shape of her face, clear eyebrows, and thick eyelids resemble the statues of ancient Spanish and Iberian civilizations the artist saw while traveling; the simple yet powerful facial lines and rough and bold expressions predict the future of cubism. In the majestic presence of the ancient sculpture’s strong face and sturdy body, Picasso discovered her inner self, not Stein’s appearance.
As Picasso, had once noted, “Every act of creation begins with destruction,” the artist liberates the form, destroys the traditional notion of seeing and drawing objects from a single point of view, and recombining the parts of the object seen from various perspectives into one to paint the subject. One may criticize that the look of Gertrude Stein is different, but the Portrait of Gertrude Stein is different from traditional portraits that realistically reproduce the figure of a person; the Portrait discarded the traditional message that painting should be beautiful and focused on expressing the form in a new and different way. Picasso did not follow perspective, nor did he care about the faithful representation of the figure or the ideal balance of Stein; Picasso was clearly facing a new turn for his style, which is created with the freedom that visualizes life from a new perspective.
In conclusion, although art had began with imitating the shape of natural objects, with Cubism, art became free of this boring imitations as we can see from other abstract paintings. In other words, artists became free to stay away from using approved materials to create what audiences originally think of what and how art should be. As a result, artists were given freedom as the way of expression of a picture was treated more importantly than the object or subject of the picture and as they were freed from the bondage of having to portray objects as to how they look, artists could make various attempts to find their own unique and original expression methods.
Frank Lloyd Wright was a great Californian architect who was known for creating buildings that equally gave nature an equal part into his structures. An infamous building in Southern California known as the ‘Barnsdall’ House was Wrights most favorite that he created. Julia Morgan once said, “never turn down a job because you think it’s too small; you don’t even know where it can lead,” with that being said, Wright took on the challenge of pleasing the Barnsdall’s needs. At first glance, you can see that he easily met the theme of nature within. He included Barnsdall’s favorite flower, a hollyhock, several times on the inside and surrounded the outside landscape with them as well. The house itself has lots of windows that are elongated horizontally and vertically allowing for a lot of natural light from all times of the day. The house begins feeling a little small and compact on the outer rooms from the house, but as you enter from the drawing room into the living room, it is a “sense of relief” to feel it ‘breathe’. The house is set up to naturally flow like how it would feel if you were in an open park, or walking through the woods, you have a slight sense of direction of which way you’re supposed to go because it feels natural. Wright embodied the meaning of natural. The elements originally used for the house did succumb to nature, but the house itself has consistently been touched up to keep the house maintaining the natural flow of things. If a house were able to give someone ASMR, this house gives it visually. Everything the mind wants is clarity, flow, and natural ease, and Wright gave us that in this fantastic build. However, he gave a point of focus to the fireplace area in the center of the house. The ‘heart’ of the home that brings in the warmth and light, hollowed out slightly into the foundation of the home becoming a place to come down with others and relax. Although the inside of the home is eye-candy, the outside appears as a giant cement shape figure on a hill, with a fantastic view of LA. Although you may overlook it, the inside will make you feel outside as well and one with nature, which the family and architect wanted to be portrayed so easily with their “community” home.
Annie Lin
Art 473
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the imagination of the artist, James Abbott McNeill Whistler. As Guillaume Apollinaire once noted, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the conceived ideas, rather than portraying a distinguishable form. With Whistler’s unique style, more than one story is live within the piece.
From the first glance, My eyes are instantly captured by the somber color of the painting. Splashes of gold and yellow are sparkes of lights that guide the eyes at night. A smoky shade is at the middle ground. It looks like a piece of lace, wrapping around the rough shape at the left. This white shade also seems like a creature that is crawling in the dark. The denser part at the top can be identified as its horn, and the lighter part is it’s face and body. The creature is leaving a trail of smoke, as it is moving slowly to the left side of the plane. To the left, a small burst of fire is floating at a reflective surface. There is a reflection shown on the other side. The somber color creates an unsettling feeling. There is danger lurking in town. With all these suspenseful elements, I saw a disaster. There is a monster passing by this little town, and he burns wherever he has been. Only the dust and sparks can explain what had happened. Two tiny people are looking at the ruin, they appear to be lost and helpless.
If we start to connect the painting with its title, Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, another story starts to reveal. Looking into the distance, a subtle silhouette of a building is hiding in mist, only a few hints of fainted light can be distinguished. On the left side, a shade of dark green occupies the space, it is the shadow of a mountain. Moving closer to the foreground, a few hints of shadow are sitting on top of the lighter green shade. This setup captures the reflective texture of water, the uneven stripes of dark green is reminiscent of ripples. There is a sense of movement, or it is suggesting a windy weather at this moment. At the edge of the painting, a shade of dark yellow is the land. Two people are standing at shore, enjoying the fireworks. Different from the other story, this story is peaceful and serene. I can feel people are quietly enjoying the fireworks on a windy night. They saw the fireworks light up the building for a brief second, and it fell. Darkness came again, only a trail of sparks and smoke remained. Through simple shapes and layouts, Whistler successfully captures another cinematic imagery. Although the information is limited, yet there is space for unlimited imagination.
Looking back to Apollinaire’s comment, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket demonstrated a painting that was conceived from Whistler’s reality, and it is a better reality. It is a reality that allows the viewer to stretch their imagination. The vague forms, splashed dots, and shades of color created a realm for stories to grow.
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the imagination of the artist, James Abbott McNeill Whistler. As Guillaume Apollinaire once noted, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the conceived ideas, rather than portraying a distinguishable form. With Whistler’s unique style, more than one story is live within the piece.
From the first glance, My eyes are instantly captured by the somber color of the painting. Splashes of gold and yellow are sparkes of lights that guide the eyes at night. A smoky shade is at the middle ground. It looks like a piece of lace, wrapping around the rough shape at the left. This white shade also seems like a creature that is crawling in the dark. The denser part at the top can be identified as its horn, and the lighter part is it’s face and body. The creature is leaving a trail of smoke, as it is moving slowly to the left side of the plane. To the left, a small burst of fire is floating at a reflective surface. There is a reflection shown on the other side. The somber color creates an unsettling feeling. There is danger lurking in town. With all these suspenseful elements, I saw a disaster. There is a monster passing by this little town, and he burns wherever he has been. Only the dust and sparks can explain what had happened. Two tiny people are looking at the ruin, they appear to be lost and helpless.
If we start to connect the painting with its title, Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, another story starts to reveal. Looking into the distance, a subtle silhouette of a building is hiding in mist, only a few hints of fainted light can be distinguished. On the left side, a shade of dark green occupies the space, it is the shadow of a mountain. Moving closer to the foreground, a few hints of shadow are sitting on top of the lighter green shade. This setup captures the reflective texture of water, the uneven stripes of dark green is reminiscent of ripples. There is a sense of movement, or it is suggesting a windy weather at this moment. At the edge of the painting, a shade of dark yellow is the land. Two people are standing at shore, enjoying the fireworks. Different from the other story, this story is peaceful and serene. I can feel people are quietly enjoying the fireworks on a windy night. They saw the fireworks light up the building for a brief second, and it fell. Darkness came again, only a trail of sparks and smoke remained. Through simple shapes and layouts, Whistler successfully captures another cinematic imagery. Although the information is limited, yet there is space for unlimited imagination.
Looking back to Apollinaire’s comment, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket demonstrated a painting that was conceived from Whistler’s reality, and it is a better reality. It is a reality that allows the viewer to stretch their imagination. The vague forms, splashed dots, and shades of color created a realm for stories to grow.
Brad Pozdol
Dr. Robert Tracy
Art 473 1001
22 October 2020
Second Writing Assignment
Quote: “Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” (Helen Frankenthaler)
Artwork: Giacomo Balla Boccioni’s Fist, 1915
While I am not going to be talking about Helen Frankenthaler’s work, I feel like her quote applies to anyone who has learned about cubism and anyone who has tried to create artwork using the style. I will be writing about Boccioni’s Fist which was heavily influenced by Cubism. Cubism opened up almost infinite new possibilities for the treatment of visual reality in art, not only in paintings, but also in objects. Synthetic cubism was characterized by simpler shapes and brighter colors and that is exactly what Boccioni’s Fist consists of. Furthermore, instead of realism, Cubism takes real life, deconstructs it, and interprets it from infinite angles through geometry and abstraction. This composition employs the element “line” as one of its primary focuses. The deep curves in the piece create an unsettling feeling and the diagonal lines create a sense of movement. The juxtaposition of the two types of line effectively stirs up the assertive feeling of chaos within the viewer.
In real life, everything moves and changes depending on the angle you view it. Cubism attempts to bring the 3D onto a 2D canvas, portraying motion, complexity, and the temporal experience without leaving the page. As the viewer, we are given a puzzle to decipher. There is no specific meaning to any of the artworks. They are abstract and the art’s meaning is up to the viewers’ interpretations. The artist no longer has to limit him or herself to depicting the object as it would appear from one given viewpoint, but wherever necessary for fuller comprehension, can show it from several sides, and from above and below. Cubism had a greater freedom of expression art. That being said, Cubism started a movement of introducing the world to other new similar art styles including Futurism which is the style of Boccioni’s Fist. Forms found in nature were reduced to angular lines, wedges, and facets, having no relationship to each other than the geometrical linear quality they took on. In this new spatial concept in art history, planes flowed into other planes and at times became transparent revealing other planes behind them. Both Picasso and Braque were part of this phase, in fact their art was so close at this time it is difficult sometimes to tell their art apart.
The beauty of Cubism, and largely the reason for its lasting legacy, is its ability to work its way into other art styles. As I mentioned before, styles like Futurism and Surrealism started because of Cubism. Without it, these styles might not have ever existed. Art would be so different in our day and age. If Cubism has never existed, artists would take a while longer to find out how much creative freedom art really has. In its works, Cubism, in accordance with it role as both constructive and representational art, brings the form of the physical world as close as possible to their underlying basic forms with as much creative freedom as possible.
Andrea Tellez- Giron
Art 473 Modern Art
Robert Tracy
Oct. 22, 2020
Quote: “ Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” Helen Frankenthaler
Painting: Large Nude 1908 – Baraque
Cubism is an interesting art style that was expressed amazingly by the artists Picasso and Baraque. The paintings were very unique because they didn’t focus on the likeness of the object or people they were painting but the presence. Which is why I believe Hellen Frankenthaler quote expresses the feeling of freedom in cubism. Cubism though mainly focused on geometric forms did not mean that the painting or objects presented had to be laid out accordingly. Cubism painting actually interacted seemingly random in angles and there was a sense of depth to the images but no coherent order. It was given its name due to the fact that the paintings looked like they were full of little cubes.
One of my favorite paintings mentioned was the Large Nude painted in 1908 by Baraque. Baraque incorporated the use of bright, expressive colour and was beginning to use more geometric shapes like Cezanne when he created this picture. His nude appears reclined and twisted to the side, lying upon a sheet or towel. He used a palette of mainly browns and greys. Baraque mentions that in this painting he could not portray the woman’s loveliness. So he created a new sort of beauty. In which appears in terms of volume of line, mass, weight, and through that beauty interprets subjective impressions. In which he translated emotions and freedom of art with the style of cubism. It’s a very expressive piece I enjoy because even though it is a cubism piece the surfaces don’t interact so much at angles that the image of the woman is distorted. Unlike Picasso Women of Avignon that is more focused on the idealist figure of woman, Baraque expresses the fullness and depth of his figure. Baraque was not focused on the likeness of the model but the proportional and figurative composition and presence of his model. Though many were displeased by the figure of the painting he used it as a way to express a different type of beauty.
When it comes to comparing Picasso and Baraque style in cubism you can really identify that feeling of freedom and expression. In many of the paintings that were shown Picasso and Baraque painted similar ideas. Yet these two artists used the same style of art where their art work was expressed differently. This was greatly identified when the painters did a still life side by side in 1911. Though it was hard to distinguish what painter had done what picasso cubism art always had a sense of movement. Picasso’s work was loaded with iconological commentary and Baraques was concerned primarily with pictorial space and composition. Picasso cubism art celebrates animation, while Braque celebrates contemplation.
I feel that for both artists “Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” Both Baraque and Picasso expressed their artwork in ways that were with the style of cubism but expressed different ideals. So is cubism an art work of freedom. Yes I do believe it is. By these two artists it was adapted greatly into sub subjects. The invention of Cubism was a joint effort between Picasso and Braque.
Quote: “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form – it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
Artwork: Portrait of Gertrude Stein by Picasso (1906)
Cubism, from my initial thoughts, was an art movement that was very representative of modern art. For me, it also represented a criticism of modern art that I would often hear. Dramatically said, there are those who think that modern art is a sham. There are also those who think that modern art has fallen too much into the grasps of capitalism. And that art today is nothing in comparison to its predecessors from eras like the Renaissance. Or that it doesn’t hold the same value as it did before. It’s an interesting perspective and I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t thought similarly in the past.
Before taking this art history class, I previously was not the biggest fan of Cubism. I was never visually intrigued by the art produced in this movement and shallowly thought that it was just subjects represented in the simplest form. It was just that and it didn’t hold much of a meaning when I analyzed it with the little amount of knowledge I had. And yet, after this class, I’ve come to have a different perspective of how I feel towards this specific art movement. I think that my current view of cubism is nicely summarized in the following quote by Andre Salmon, “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form – it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.”
Over time, I’ve learned that art overall has no singular requirement or criteria to determine what is good and what is not. The ways in which one would analyze art from the 15th century would not be the same as art from 20th century. With that being said, I think that there’s a charm in knowing that modern art is often analyzed from the perspective of the artist. Art isn’t always about the technicalities that can be directly shown in the artists’ skill set. There isn’t much of a sole focus on proportions or one’s ability to create the most detail-oriented piece. In my interpretation of Andre Salmon said, art can represent the simplest forms and still have a deep standing of perception. I think that this helps me perceive cubism as more than just simple shapes.
Picasso, who is best known for his co-founding of Cubism, has a specific art piece that I sincerely like and am captivated by. The piece I am talking about is Picasso’s 1906 painting of Gertrude Stein. The piece itself intentionally does not focus on the likeness to its main subject. It doesn’t have the intention to reproduce an exact physical copy of Gertrude Stein and yet it holds true to her essence as well. It does not try to show realism, but the aura that Picasso produced was exact to what Stein emulated. I like the way that Picasso can give life to the subject while playing around with two-dimensional versus three-dimensional space. I would describe Stein’s face to be a three-dimensional shape that is pushed onto one, flat plane. Although not realistic, her face has a sternness to it. Her body language is portrayed as almost leaning to one side and forwards, which expresses her as someone with authority and vigor. This piece is a statement within a portrait and could not have represented Stein in a more flattering perspective.
Picasso’s Gertrude Stein portrait helped me view cubism in a different light. His portrait of Stein is said to be one of the starting points of cubism. When I look at Picasso’s work after Stein’s portrait, I have a newfound appreciation for his vision. It’s a different interpretation of how shape, space and planes can be used to create a “new visual language.” To reiterate what Andre Salmon said, in the “region of perspective” there is no singular way to represent something. I think that cubism encompasses this concept exceptionally. It was only shapes to me at first, but I realize that there is more to it. I think that there is a skill within itself to be able to take something, again it’s simplest form, and yet have it represent so much.
Nicole Nitschke
Dr. Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
October 21, 2020
Expression Within
The work of an artist is not always plain to the ordinary eye. Not only does work and labor go into an art piece, but part of the artist goes into it as well. As George Braque states, “Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower” (George Braque). An artist worth taking a look into is Henri Matisse.
Matisse was a French artist emerging in the early twentieth century along with Pablo Picasso. He was a part of helping define the revolutionary developments in the visual arts, especially in painting and sculpture. Matisse’s intense colorism along with his intense, rigorous style that emphasized flattened forms and decorative pattern cause him to stand out as an artist. One of his works, Luxe, Calme et Volupté, follows the theme “escape to an imaginary, tranquil refuge”, which references a refrain of Charles Baudelaire’s poem, Invitation to a Voyage. The piece shows a paradise with several nude women and a clothed man. Eluding to Baudelaire’s poem, the oil painting by Batisse shares the theme of this paradise. The colors used within the piece emphasize the surreal paradise. Matisse’s style is of rigorous lines expressing flattened patterns of forms. This is similar to the era of cubism.
In Luxe, Calme et Volupté, the viewer takes in a sense of Matisse’s inner desires. His need for escapism and lust for a paradise filled with beautiful women. He pulls the viewer into this fantasy and without realising it too much tells a part of himself. Matisse could have either been lonely, or lusting for something not within the times of reality. Truly desperate escape.
One of the quotes from Henri Mattise, “I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me”, gives a sense of Matisse’s almost sacrifice in his work (Henri Matisse). He creates an inviting scene filled with almost music and warmth within it. Matisse indicates that there is more than meets the eye in his work. More goes into each brush stroke, not just paint and precise. Unknowingly, Mattise adds emotion into his art. Every piece shows that part of him and that gives something within the painting.
Going back to George Braque, the stress in what an artist does to create to give a piece of their soul. One could even make the argument that an artist projects their emotions into each stroke, however an artist can not force emotion into a piece. There is possibly not art without the artist’s emotion or mentality having an effect on what is created. The general definition of art is an expression of oneself. “Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower”, having this emotional connection in art is what causes it to blossom (George Braque). Art is a human connection being expressed through brushes strokes that ultimately tell a story or have a piece hidden within. What can cause an artwork to gain such power and beauty can simply be having that emotion. Artists use what they put into a work to emphasize a subject, move an audience, or speak about their inner thoughts.
Expression of the heart can not be false, it can only bloom into something much more.
Alerys Ortiz-Amador
ART 473 1001 2020 Fall
Writing Assignment 2
Pablo Picasso’s Girl with Mandolin is a great example of Guillaume Apollinaire’s idea that Cubism is, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Here we see a painting with an original arrangement composed of elements that were taken not from what was perceived in reality, but what was conceived from it.
Girl with Mandolin is a purely analytical cubism painting; the subject is broken down into different perspectives repeatedly and reassembled into an abstract form. And although it is an abstract depiction, the figure is still recognizable. It might be that the name of the piece gives it away, but some aspects of the painting do still convey the features of the figure despite the fact that she has been broken up and reassembled so many times in this piece. The geometric form of her head and neck, although simplified, still show as a two-thirds perspective of her face. The curve of her hair over her face and the rounded elements on the back of her head describes how she wears her hair. The shape of her eye, arm, breast, and hand have all also been treated with the same geometric abstraction as the rest of her figure. The use of color in this painting gives her life, for the piece employs the use of earthly and human skin tones for most of the composition. However, trying to find the girl amidst the painting is also not made easy by the fact that the backdrop behind her has the same treatment of forms; geometric squares and cubes the same color as the figure that simultaneously makes her stand out and blend in.
One curious thing about this piece is how the mandolin itself is treated. It lacks the heavy broken and reassembled aspect that the rest of the piece has. Most of the instrument is still intact except for a few moments in the neck and the base, and it’s definitely not as broken as the figure; more of a depiction of reality than conceived reality. You could argue that maybe because the instrument is inorganic is doesn’t receive the same treatment, but then wouldn’t the backdrop, which we assume is inorganic, also lack fragmentation?
Picasso focused on portraying objective nature, and depicting reality in as many viewpoints as he saw. Which is maybe why the figure in this piece is much more fragmented than her instrument. Humans always present complicated natures; mentally, emotionally, socially. What’s most interesting about this piece is that it’s not just a work of cubist art in which the subject is presented in different perspectives that the artist wanted to show us, this piece also uses that abstract depiction to show the complexities of humans. So while he is showing us the different physical depictions of this figure through the broken up forms, we are also seeing how the subject itself is a complicated, abstract, and sophisticated as a human being. Or you could also say that Picasso is using this fragmented depiction to convey to us, the viewers, that the girl depicted here was more complicated and enigmatic than any realism painting could ever portray.
What makes cubism so individual to the artist is that it is their unique depiction of their subjects. As Apollinaire said, it is a complete, “…original arrangement of elements…” using their conceived reality. The artist is showing us how they see their subjects in far more depth and understanding that reality can ever show us.
Jonathan Quinones
ART 473
Professor Tracy
October 22, 2020
Opinion paper #2/The laugh -1911
La Risatta
“To paint a human figure, you must not paint it; you must render the whole of its surrounding atmosphere” (Umberto Boccioni). The painter created an overall description of cartoons living in an Italian futurism world. This painting from 1911 portrays future changes in a world where art and war overlap during the early 20th century. This masterpiece represents an Era where painters could use their freedom to create social-political statements about a confusing and chaotic world through their visions and dreams. This painting also unifies history and beliefs from different countries that experienced World War I under devastating conditions. Boccioni paintings are energetic and have vibrant palettes that represent dynamism. This painting reminds me of the inside of an artist’s brain that contains disorganized thoughts and ideas. The painter used his background as a sculptor to add volume to his paintings on a two-dimensional surface by using shadows, different shades of values, and linear perspectives to recreate different angles of the same objects. Boccioni used divisionism and pointillism by applying small strokes or dots of colors and blending them. He also used cubism as a technique to separate different scenes and geometric shapes of the composition. Looking at this painting, it feels like we are at an art gallery looking at a sequence of people experiencing the world differently as though we were reading a history book.
This composition is divided into two segments. The first segment references a naturalistic and traditional world painted in different shades of green. The green values represent mother nature. It explains how she is being replaced by industrialism. As part of the conventional world, we can observe a bird in the middle of a forest as a symbol of freedom.
The second part is the use of technology and the glorification of World War I. There are different elements of war such as helmets, arsenals, and airplanes that inspired other artists to create compositions based on scenes of destruction, but these types of settings also represent the beginning of free-thinking in art and science. Fire describes humanity’s emotional involvement during war, and it also represents the passion that came from artists’ minds and souls for creativity.
The focal point of this painting is the woman on the upper left side. This wealthy woman is wearing a red hat. She is holding her hands while she witnesses the world around her. This woman is wearing bright makeup and rings; her laugh represents relaxation that relieves the tension of World War I. The painter decided to include power and balance among women and men. The painter highlights women’s existence as the main part of the composition. There is a reflection of light coming down from the sky that represents knowledge and new ideas that can inspire change in humanity. The human’s hand translates to the tangible things that people can appreciate in real-time. I can see tables with wine bottles, martini glasses on a table; some of the legs of the table are missing. The wine represents a traditional element of Italy that brings people together and as a symbol of celebration for the ending of World War I.
In conclusion, this painting is as valuable as an art history book because it describes the effort that an artist had to face during World War I by isolating himself and telling a story through his vision. It is controversial to think about positive things that happened during and after the Wolrd War I, but humans must destroy or change their traditional way of thinking to build a new world. The use of utopia and dystopia shared science fiction, fantasy, and art in a technological world that created a contrast between exciting and miserable living conditions for humanity.
Phichapa Tippawang
ART 473
Dr. Robert Tracy
22 OCT, 2020
Second Writing Assignment: Stream of Consciousness on Duchamp’s Fountain (1917)
World War I was the war that shocked and terrified everyone in the turn of the 20th century. It was the war that involved so many powerful nations. At that point, no one can could be certain about the future and nothing was the same. If art reflects the current and future, of course, the style would change. Dadaism was also the art style that emerged that reflected that change. It was thought provoking and it challenged what was considered the norm. After the horrors, regular people and artists would need changes after everything they lived through. Something that would capture and reflect the advancement and uncertainty of that time. As George Braque states “Emotions must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is flower,” the thought provoking art from dadaism movement, especially Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) captures the absurdity and frustrates the viewer, making them think harder about what is and what should be.
The Fountain was a piece that shocked me, humored me, and made me think. So of course the piece has accomplished the job. From first glance, it is a urinal that has a hole that would lead the urine right back to the user. So the use of this piece would create nothing but trouble and frustration. Then that’s where the name of the piece comes on to add onto the confusion. A fountain is something that we associate with clean water or at least something refreshing. This was just human waste, feeding back to itself. So if the urinal that would turn into a fountain that creates dirtiness, then it can’t be used for its purpose. It is not as it seems to present itself. Duchamp’s words ring true. Words and even objects, then, cannot be fully trusted.
Speaking of trust, this is when people are betrayed by their government. When leaders of the world are in chaos, they bring trouble to the regular citizens. The world powers fought one another and would shape the world into an extremely different place. Paralleled to the art world, Dadaism would also bring change into what was known. Art style has changed from the classical style that is traditional and expected into something more conceptual and asks audience to think and to engage with the pieces.
I think that the viewer of Fountain would have to walk around and ponder how would this piece react in the real world context. Just in that act of thinking and interacting, it would already add to the contribution and purpose of Duchamp’s art (the thinking and engaging is the seed and what is represented in the physical world is the flower).
Human emotions, whether it be happiness, horror, terror, sadness, are innate and cannot be added or replicated by anything physical. The wonder that we feel towards the piece is also a real human trait. Fountain is something so contradictory and so thought provoking that it kind of frustrates me. I think the piece is humorous and absurd, but at the same time, I wonder: is it enough? The satire to make fun of how the society to hurt itself, is that enough for Duchamp and other abstract artists? Maybe it is all a part of the wonder.
The piece I’ve chosen to discuss is Street, Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Krichner. As a German Expressionist and active member of Die Brucke he explored a style that borrowed from an array of different time periods and artists from German Medieval to other Modern artists of his time. His work was incredibly expressive, incorporating vibrant, otherworldly colors, warped, skewed perspectives and imaginative depictions of daily scenes from life. One quote from the list seemed most able to help expand on the concept of expressionist painting, which is “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived
rather than perceived reality.” by Guillaume Apollinaire.
This is an oil painting of a crowd of people, each making their way through a crowded street in Dresden. Instead of a more classical approach to building a composition, in which an artist might try and settle on a specific space and then let that space govern the way people are rendered within that space, Krichner paints the people as a governing element of the space created in this scene. There are no signs of buildings, sidewalks, lamp posts or designated street areas but instead there are men, women and children all moving about in different directions. The outlines of the bodies in the crowd are solid in the sense that they block out some individuals in the foreground but as the space recedes the outlines become less distinct so that a crowd is more represented by flowing, bumpy lines that are meant to symbolize a crowd. Within the bustling, tight-knit composition one can see how Krichner definitely favors a more original and free flowing space that aligns more closely with a conceived depiction of reality.
The colors that Krichner chooses are also fairly unconventional. The rich greens, blues, reds and whites he uses seem almost too vivid to be realistic to the everyday person, who might have dressed in more subdued greys, blacks and subtle blues. The ground is made up of a an almost bubblegum pink shade, with patches of darker shades of pink and even some light greens, yellows and blues. Krichner also includes outline colors on his subjects in the crowd. A woman in a bright red coat is outlined with touches of green, another woman’s bright green hat is heavily lined with bits of fiery orange. It seems that these expressive color choices are meant to create a hyper realistic depiction of city life and again distinguish this image as one meant to convey a conceived reality rather than a perceived one, as Apollinaire suggested in his quote.
Krichner uses this conceived reality to bring up the issue of a burgeoning, yet not necessarily benevolent, modern way of living in early 20th Century Germany. Because German Expressionists began breaking down the classical conventions of Western painting, they were able to use their unique style as an experiment to create emotion through their brushwork, line, color and form. The skewed, tightly squeezed composition puts emphasis on the growing population of cities and how this changes human interaction. Even though the lines of his crowd ebbs and flows, there is still a tense pattern that strains the individuals within the crowd. Though one might initially associate vibrant colors with a sense of joy or positivity, Krichner purposefully makes his abundance of shades clash and compete for attention within the composition. Growing urban centers of a more industrial era valued an individual as a source of labor as well as the masses to be divided into market audiences. The concept of anonymity also rose in the industrialized 20th century, the idea that one could exist but not really have an identity attached to it. Though more and more people populate smaller and smaller areas, there is still a capacity for feeling alone and experiencing dissonance as people get caught up in the bustle of their urban lives.
The piece I’ve chosen to discuss is Street, Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Krichner. As a German Expressionist and active member of Die Brucke he explored a style that borrowed from an array of different time periods and artists from German Medieval to other Modern artists of his time. His work was incredibly expressive, incorporating vibrant, otherworldly colors, warped, skewed perspectives and imaginative depictions of daily scenes from life. One quote from the list seemed most able to help expand on the concept of expressionist painting, which is “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived
rather than perceived reality.” by Guillaume Apollinaire.
This is an oil painting of a crowd of people, each making their way through a crowded street in Dresden. Instead of a more classical approach to building a composition, in which an artist might try and settle on a specific space and then let that space govern the way people are rendered within that space, Krichner paints the people as a governing element of the space created in this scene. There are no signs of buildings, sidewalks, lamp posts or designated street areas but instead there are men, women and children all moving about in different directions. The outlines of the bodies in the crowd are solid in the sense that they block out some individuals in the foreground but as the space recedes the outlines become less distinct so that a crowd is more represented by flowing, bumpy lines that are meant to symbolize a crowd. Within the bustling, tight-knit composition one can see how Krichner definitely favors a more original and free flowing space that aligns more closely with a conceived depiction of reality.
The colors that Krichner chooses are also fairly unconventional. The rich greens, blues, reds and whites he uses seem almost too vivid to be realistic to the everyday person, who might have dressed in more subdued greys, blacks and subtle blues. The ground is made up of a an almost bubblegum pink shade, with patches of darker shades of pink and even some light greens, yellows and blues. Krichner also includes outline colors on his subjects in the crowd. A woman in a bright red coat is outlined with touches of green, another woman’s bright green hat is heavily lined with bits of fiery orange. It seems that these expressive color choices are meant to create a hyper realistic depiction of city life and again distinguish this image as one meant to convey a conceived reality rather than a perceived one, as Apollinaire suggested in his quote.
Krichner uses this conceived reality to bring up the issue of a burgeoning, yet not necessarily benevolent, modern way of living in early 20th Century Germany. Because German Expressionists began breaking down the classical conventions of Western painting, they were able to use their unique style as an experiment to create emotion through their brushwork, line, color and form. The skewed, tightly squeezed composition puts emphasis on the growing population of cities and how this changes human interaction. Even though the lines of his crowd ebbs and flows, there is still a tense pattern that strains the individuals within the crowd. Though one might initially associate vibrant colors with a sense of joy or positivity, Krichner purposefully makes his abundance of shades clash and compete for attention within the composition. Growing urban centers of a more industrial era valued an individual as a source of labor as well as the masses to be divided into market audiences. The concept of anonymity also rose in the industrialized 20th century, the idea that one could exist but not really have an identity attached to it. Though more and more people populate smaller and smaller areas, there is still a capacity for feeling alone and experiencing dissonance as people get caught up in the bustle of their urban lives.
Kelsey Neill
ART 473
Professor Robert Tracy
October 22, 2020
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as
there are planes in the region of perception.” – Andre Salmon
Looking at The Guitarist, 1910, oil on canvas, 100 x 73 cm (Centre Pompidou, Paris) by Pablo Picasso, you initially see nothing but boxed out polygons with quick, but precise strokes. You see colors akin to mud gracing the canvas grading into tints and shades. Initial reactions from most would be that it’s, “oh you know, just art,” without fully understanding the context of the piece. Most would completely disregard the subject of the artwork without looking twice. Most would note the simplicity of painting “something like this” and say they could do the same easily. What they are missing out on is the analytic side of cubism. To fully understand what is going on, what the artist is trying to convey, one must be able to analyze the separate parts and components of the piece. The Guitarist is an abstraction– the multiple blocks coming together almost like a jigsaw puzzle. The closer you stand in front of it, the more nonsensical it seems, but the further away you stand from it, the more you do realize that it does resemble the figure of a man and his guitar.
You can make out the head at the top, the shoulders, the slant of his elbows, and a rough outline of a fingerboard of the guitar. If you were to transform the painting horizontally, it would translate into a different image. However, Picasso never truly meant for his abstractions to be a puzzle, but an exact replication of what he perceives of the subject within different regions of perception. For many years prior, humanity has always tried to represent the world through art as we see it in the most realistic style as possible. “Good art” was subject to how real it looked on canvas. However, with the emergence of photography and technological advancements, turn-of-the-century upheavals, Picasso wanted to reject these old ways of painting. Painting was an illusion, its own system of representation, to Picasso. What we actually see is not reliable, therefore he created his own language through cubism.
There is a tension between the title of the painting, The Guitarist, and the actual painting. At first glance, you would not be able to tell that it is about a guitarist at all. It is not until you read the title, then analyze the shapes the painting has, to begin to understand the abstraction. However, the work does not fully sway to abstract, as it’s not fully flat polygons. Picasso gave life through the careful stipples, resembling shadows and light and dimension.
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso) The similarities between choosing to live as an abstract artist and choosing to live in an abstracted world are very strong because both require their own desire to rise above the constant of their past.
“The paradox of increasing car accessibility and decreasing intensity of users can be seen at its extreme in Los Angeles…It would seem that Los Angeles ought to be approaching the point of equilibrium because 95 percent of travel within Los Angeles is now done by private automobile. Yet, even so, the pressures have not been sufficiently equalized, for into Los Angeles’ eroded and drab downtown 66 percent of users still come by public transportation.” (Jane Jacobs) The Ennis House House designed by Frank Loyd Wright brings in the sense of Los Angeles with the unity in cubism and abstraction that Picasso infused into his art during his life. Each square of concrete leads delicately to the next generating an entirely abstract way of existence. Frank paid homage to Mayan Architecture and used the soil from the property itself in order to instill the same earthy vibes throughout the entirety of the house. Frank was so moved when he saw the mayan architecture in a recent visit that he started experimenting with the use of concrete to recreate the aesthetic of cohesion of art with nature.
The Ennis house has been used for films like Day of the Locust and Blade Runner. Blade Runner has an extremely futuristic feel which totally contradicts the Mayan vibes of the past but somehow they were both abstract enough to become cohesive.
The square nature of the house represents pixels from a computer generated image which look a lot like Picasso’s work. There is a subtle design within some of the art choices throughout the house. When Franks wife had passed, he became almost engulfed in Mayan Architecture and how it could help him stay distracted. Often art can heal people in ways that can be achieved in no other manner.
Picasso lived through much pain and suffering much like Frank Loyd Wright, maybe in a way that influenced their art in similar ways. They began to create what they felt more so than what they were being influenced to see. Los Angeles is Abstract in that they do not act like other cities, they choose to mainly drive their own cars while only 66 percent use public transportation. They would rather abstract their lives and live in their own bubbles instead of harmonizing with the rest of the city like they would in New York where taxi’s reign supreme. Having a city life that can be permeated by public transport will have to become more commonplace in Los Angeles so I do not know how long their single use car lifestyle is going to survive the elements of time.
The world needs Los Angeles to rise up and find a new way to be enticed by public transport and Uber or Lyft have been starting to fill that void. Maybe with time there can be a new wave of throughout where just relying on someone to pick you up is more sought after. There would be countless opportunities for the community to thrive instead of just surviving when it comes to pollution and reducing harmful emissions. Los Angeles is a modern Abstract on reality because public transport is more appealing to other cities but here they do not care similar to how Picasso chose to see the world in a cubism and abstract manner as well even though he was way ahead of the Los Angeles lifestyle.
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Art 473 Modern Art I 
Liam Donaldson
Art 473 Modern Art
Robert Tracy
October 22, 2020
The seed that Sprouts the Flower
“Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.” (George Braque) Art and emotion go hand in hand. And many of the most famous artworks express the deepest emotions of the artist who made it. This is very true of the well known artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Kirchner was known for his interesting perception of shapes and subjects, and his piece, “Street, Dresden” from 1908 shows this in a perfect way. This piece is great at shows the Urban tension of the street of Dresden while also not following the proper vanishing points and other points of interest in the painting.
Kirchner was a member of the Brücke artists group. The group was founded in 1905, and this painting was made just a few years after. It is thought that the very bright colors were influenced by many different French fauve artists. The scene pictured is a very busy street. The street is actually colored pink to bring a very inviting feel to the painting. Kirchner typically painted similar to the way the streets of Berlin look. His palette matches many German scenes and architecture. When he painted this, however, this palette ended up being very different. This palette matched what Kirchner was feeling when he lived in Dresden. This crowded city street—, what is called Dresden’s fashionable Königstrasse, was the subject of many works for the German Expressionist group known as Die Brücke (The Bridge). The group sought an authenticity of expression that its members felt had been lost with the innovations of modern life. Kirchner used this scene to express the colors in a much more vibrant way. He shows his figures with faces that almost look like masks, and hollow eyes that he felt people were succumbing to because of modernization. On the backside of the painting Kirchner painted a nude woman bathing in a landscape. Many Die Brücke artists like to paint and draw scenes of this. This painting creates a fitting juxtaposition to the jarring city scene it mirrors. Street, Dresden is Kirchner’s attempt to show what a crazy, hectic modern street was representing. This scene shows tension, packed with many different pedestrians in a small space. The sidewalk plane is a very bright pink, almost uncomfortably, as it clashed with the other bright colors in the scene. The slope of the street is upward, and at the back is a trolley car that is blocking the street. The street of Dresden’s is always crowded, everyone is very close together, but Kirchner rendered everybody to look like they are alone. The women on the right are almost dead looking. A little girl is shadowed by her hat. All the figured are stuck together yet so fa apart. Many German artists of Die Brücke wanted to explore the festive capabilities of bright exuberant colors, and how those colors brought the composition together in a contemporary setting. Street, Dresden is Kirshner’s attempt at a bold expression of the intensity, craziness, and anxiety of the modern city. Kirchner later wrote, “The more I mixed with people the more I felt my loneliness.”
This is a perfect example of showing emotion in art. Emotion is the seed in the ground, creating the foundation of the flower that will later bloom in the space of the artists creation. Kirchner was great at displaying his emotions, and what was the pinnacle of expressionism in the subject of artwork. Whether you know or understand it or not, emotion is everywhere in the art world. It may not be the leading subject in every piece of art but is the foundation of what the artwork will be. The Kirshner’s Street, Dresden shows the capability of what the seed of emotion can blossom in the form of art.
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Mikaela Nettlow
Dr. Robert Tracy
October 22, 2020
ART 473 1001
Second Writing Assignment
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
When I first came across this quote by going through the list, I knew at an instant that I would be using this for this assignment and I believed that Picasso described Cubism right on the nose with that quote. Cubism, when introduced in the 20th century, was largely misunderstood (much like other art movements) as what these artists were trying to portray and the actual meaning behind. Picasso, one of the if not the most recognized Cubist artists, described the movement as just forms that can come to life. As an example of that, Picasso’s own Les Demoiselles d’Avignon made in 1907 personifies that quote and Cubism in general.
As I looked at this painting and tried to form my opinion on it, I believe that it’s the perfect piece to introduce to someone about Cubism. The extremely stylized forms of the women’s bodies, the exaggerated lines that make their faces, the chaotic yet serene feeling, it’s just quintessential cubism. It plays on the idea of realism by not following the most anatomically accurate proportions yet having this feeling of life breathed into it.
When Picasso stated that, “…when a form is realized it is there to live its own life…” I interpreted that as any form that has been recognized has its own life, it’s own way to create and be realized at the same time. It does not matter whether the shape is organic or not, it can still bring on a sense of form and recognition that the human mind is familiar with; an example being the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon with shapes forming to replicate the human form. Those forms replicated life within itself and it has its life residing in the painting. Picasso just simply brought that out.
Cubism has been a largely misunderstood art movement as the public took it as mainly experimental, but artists like Pablo Picasso proved that that was not the case. All they did was that they used shapes, organic or geometric, and they used it to give their artworks life through albeit unconventional means. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon signifies that life through it’s unrealistic yet living proportions as you can recognize throughout the painting.
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Alex Panzer
Tracy, Robert
Oct. 22, 2020
Art History 473 + 477
“Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.” – George Braque
Picasso is such a household name within the art world, that even those on the outside know the name and could point out at least one of his paintings. There is good reason for this. After all Picasso did in a way, invent cubism; an entire art movement. No big deal.
Aside from the new technicalities and ways of painting that Picasso presented with Cubism, it would be the idea, expressions, and overall thought behind the pieces that Picasso would give emphasis to. This isn’t to say that the way he painted and the ideas he was presenting were not intertwined. In fact, more often than not, they seemed to influence one another. This made for a painting that would capture a greater context. It wasn’t just about the portrait itself as it may have been in the past. One could form the idea that Picasso was giving us the idea and thought behind the subject’s eyes, rather than the viewer attaching a meaning to the expressions of the subject.
Picasso did exactly this. He used his ideas as a seed, and through thought and expression, the work became the flower. On this flower, each petal would represent both the literal angles within the painting, as well as the various view points and ideas Picasso intended to include.
As a matter of fact, the idea of interconnectedness is something I want to focus on for a minute. When studying Picasso and deeply analyzing his catalog of work, you begin to realize this is what he as an artist is all about, as well as cubism altogether. You are able to understand that Cubism was more than just an art style and a way of painting. Similar to most other movements there becomes this understanding of why it is referred to as an ‘art movement’. The ideas and motives behind the artist and art are the very components that drive these movements we see throughout time. As Picasso did with Cubism, the sort of style that accompanies the movements, again, is the flower made up of all these seeds. The seeds are then represented through the petals of the flower. In short, it has been said that a painter paints what he feels.
Consequently, there are many ways an artist may go about this and express their ideals. These various techniques are often present within each art movement. In regards to cubism, Picasso decided to put an emphasis on multiple viewpoints, and paint with concern to form, layout, and the pictorial space. Aforementioned emphasis of multiple viewpoints is a huge part of cubism and is the very thing Picasso would be known for.
Subsequently, one of the first instances of this would be in his portrait of Gertrude Stein, 1906. At first sight, this painting is exactly what it seems, a portrait. Once you sit with it for a few seconds you realize there is something slightly off. Something about the face. The face of Gertrude appears to have no sense of structure, proportion, and overall just feels crooked and off balance.
When first presented to the public, Picasso received quite a bit of push back. Unanimously, it was said the portrait simply did not look like Gertrude. Picasso’s response was that it doesn’t matter if it looks like her, because it will. Alluding to his use of multiple viewpoints. In the literal sense he means that at various angles, the painting resembles Stein, and Stein resembles the painting. Gertrude herself even said that she is satisfied with his work. Simply stating that it is her, and the only production that will be her; again, referencing this way of showing multiple angles (of her) simultaneously.
As a result, this way of painting would become a monumental revolution for Picasso and his career. Not only did this painting present a shift in Picasso’s career and life, but another shift for the entire art world as well. In the early 20th century art was still being taken very seriously, in that people were still opposed to this form of expressive freedom. Picasso helped open the world to a new creative energy.
In the end, Picasso would give the world several flowers, each with their own ideas. This would be achieved with the help of his concern to composition, layout, and the pictorial space.
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Parker Coloma
ART 434&473
Dr. Robert Tracy
Oct. 15, 2020
The constant and rapid growth of consumerism has taught people to find the joy in things that don’t have any more value than paper money. It seems odd to start an art assignment with that sentence, but it really is something that cubism has made me understand.
Finding joy in materials–it’s a short lived joy, yet humans continue to do it because it forms an emotional pattern–and emotional patterns are everything. “Learning cubism was the greatest freedom,” and it was for me! Cubism breaks down the world into the very limited tools that artists have. The absolute beauty of it is that the Cubist movement said, “Ok we have a straight line, a curved line, a a square, circle, triangle, and uh these colors: red green and blue, what can we do with just these tools?” And you know, then that’s always where all of the creativity just explodes out of.
Through realizing that we are only surrounded by a very limited amount of shapes and colors, you then begin to become aware of other things like how we utilize these lines and colors to define ourselves. How they structure everything around us and how there are ways of rearranging and combining these elements to make them more beautiful. And there are ways to manipulate them and make people feel a faux sense of what real art can deliver.
Wassily Kadinsky was an artist that really stood out to me, yes because a lot of his quotes drew me to these conclusions, but I connected with his art. I feel very emotionally pulled toward Kandinsky as a person and as an artist–I think that those are two different things sometimes.
The painting that stood out to me the most was his piece, Light Picture, 1913, Oil on Canvas. The first words that play through my mind when I look at this painting are “injected with emotion.” The splotches of purposeful color schemes with black scratch-like spots focused in the center of color say “release.” I see very comforting and simple shapes that communicate forms that everybody is familiar with–mountains, water, grass. As I begin to focus on the shapes, more dimension and depth begin to build in the center. The painting then begins to stretch outwards into our space as my eye goes to the top left and I am pulled gently back in as my eye naturally falls to the bottom right.
This painting tells me, “the anger is ok” all of the energy and frustrations that I am feeling inside can just be let go and I can seek comfort in the sunset behind the mountains and the mysterious figures down in the water. I can lose myself in the world that the curves of colors make. The thick black lines with quick curved markings communicate to me “grunge” and I hear Kurt Cobain singing “In Bloom.” I can find whatever I need to within this painting because all of the shapes, lines and colors are there–I just have to allow my brain to interpret it into something that I can form an emotional connection with.
Like I mentioned earlier, emotional patterns are everything. “The scope of architecture is man’s total physical surroundings outdoors and indoors.” Humans are a part of nature, and so naturally, patterns from outside are comforting when brought inside. Now, just like an artist, there is a specific way that architects utilize the same tools to make spaces more beautiful.
Which is why I am inspired by the Barnsdall house built by Frank Lloyd Wright. To create an entire structure inspired by the Hollyhock flower? What could be more simple? Just like in the cubism movement, using simple objects to create complex meaning is a technique/skill. Reduce your tools and ideas down to a very limited set and the creativity and ideas will begin to flow and evolve.
The Barnsdall house made me realize–much like cubism–let go of form. When you stop associating the shape of a flower with only a flower, then you can start to see flowers within everything. Letting go of thinking “this shape is a flower” and “this shape is a house,” then the flower can actually become the house!
I think “interconnection” because Wright’s harsh lines and Mayan style architecture are meaningful to me. I like lines–power lines, the lines in Kadinsky’s painting, lines that my own window blinds throw across my wall. I connect with lines, and more strongly with Wright’s because I am Guatemalan and my ancestors are Mayan. I see the rectangles and triangles thrown across the walls in the shadows. The outside structure screams “Mayan” to me, a concrete exterior with stairs leading up, intricate pattern work and flowers everywhere. After reading that his style was influenced by pre-Columbian work, an emotional connection was made.
Emotions are what allow us to define art and form is something that restricts it. It is important to train your eye and be able to breakdown/understand the forms around you and how they shape you. Kadinsky’s abstract painting, Wright’s Mayan influenced style and both of their understandings of nature speak to me. Their works have taught me that what I am looking for is already within their work. I am the one that needs to develop my eye and work to create those meaningful connections. The materials that people spend money on, to fill themselves with that short-lived joyous feeling–can be replaced with simple shapes and forms that are already in my environment, creating a never ending joy.
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Justin Katano
Art 473
10/16/20
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
As I was looking through many of the other quotes, I wasn’t agreeing with a lot of the ones that were available. I felt that in this quote amongst the others, described in a way that directly answered a few of those said before, called for a small correction to what Cubism should be and would be. Not the way that things are perceived within the eye on the surface, but of the essence which best describes ‘itself’ in its most simple and effective form.
Although not a true cubism painting, the Portrait of Gertrude Stein was an example in which the portrait was to not portray what’s perceived on the outside, but the power and presence of who she is and the character that stands out the most. Cubism pulls into the out of the box thinking as where you would need to redefine what you see.
Another work that falls closer into what is known as a popular example of cubism is the Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Picasso abandoned the known form of traditional art and distorted each subject into bold, geometric forms. Each piece of the puzzle becomes detached from one another. A small thought is that if not for Picasso’s fame, this would certainly grab my attention, but what of it? Why is it so strange and distorted? Why does it describe the images the way it does? I would then find myself out and away from this painting without giving it a second thought. The fact that you have to take your time to see what lays below each figure, each block, each stroke of the painting, gives another dimension to its meaning and the reason of why it is. Just as Picasso said, Cubism is not an art of transition, but a form that is supposed to express itself. When a form is realized, it is there to live its own life. Over hundreds of sketches went into the work of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. I learned that there was an earlier sketch of Les Demoiselles that the left figure was a male medical student with a skull in hand entering the brothel, but was decided that such a customer added a nature of narrative that would distract from the overall impact of the scene that was wanting to be portrayed. The name Avignon that’s in the title referred to a name of a street in Barcelona rather than the name of a city in Provence. The street in Barcelona was known as a district that was known for its prostitution. And with each of these new things that I learn in regards to the painting, I can already see and agree with it.
The art of Cubism seems simple but it’s more complicated. But, it is also easy to understand from some perspectives.
Picasso describes how his works flow towards a different direction from how these ideas have changed to form a better concept for his works and Cubism.
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Kaylie Sheffield
Art 473
Wassily Kandinsky – Light Picture, 1913, Oil on Canvas
“Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.” (George Braque)
I think this quotation by George Braque can give any person viewing a piece of artwork, a new way of thinking about it. We almost always have a personal level of emotion and feeling when we look at art, but this makes us step into the painter’s shoes. In this case we will be stepping into Wassily Kandinsky’s shoes. What where his emotions when he painted Light Picture? How does this painting make me feel, and what do I visually takeaway from it?
My first impression of Kandinsky is that he must have been a free spirit. To find such light and happiness within his color palettes that are expressed with an ease through his paintbrush strokes. I think this piece comes off as airy, with a touch of aggression through his dark, black, scratching marks laid down on top of the colors. Though I must emphasize that the aggression is perhaps more excitement than anger. His flowing lines help alleviate this. It is the darker scratch marks that add another layer of emphasis to the overall color. To be able to create something that is unrecognizable as a specific object yet convey a picture that tells a different story to every individual is a true feat.
In Light Picture by Kandinsky, this oil on canvas piece conveys a sense of calm. It is strong pastel yellow that envelopes most of the canvas, with a blended effect of added blues, reds, and purples that meld together beautifully into a tie dye style. The black line work of sweeping motions across the canvas and some scribble like marks, help create a depth, and bring out the bright colors laid down behind. I love how free flowing the entire piece is. I think I envy this of Kandinsky, as it is a style I am personally trying to embrace at the moment. To give more fluidity to the work. Emotionally I feel calm, and happy when I look at this piece. I feel as though it would make any room brighter.
Visually this painting reminds me of the outdoors, as if I were on a camping trip. Looking at the mountains and the animals. Plant life surrounding as well. I feel like this is what this abstraction conveys to my senses. I see a dragonfly in the upper left corner, bigger than the mountains below, that are scattered in all different directions. There are more creatures buzzing around the canvas, all highlighted with a brighter splash of color behind them. Set on a beautifully blended sky made of all the colors you would find in a sunrise, or a sunset reflected on water. I think the most interesting part of this is that someone else could see something completely different than what I see.
This whole definition of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and its distinction of unrecognized and recognized goes hand in hand with Kandinsky’s work. I love his abstractions within his art. From where he first began as an artist to where he ends up, we can see a progression of recognizable objects to unrecognizable. Both having beauty in their own ways. His technique with color from the bold to the softer palettes are what attract me to his work. This idea that emotion cannot be added, nor can it be imitated is the same as to how a painting starts, we do not always see where the result will be. Like planting the seed, and then the beauty of the flower that comes later, with time, is how many paintings are produced. I do not know how long Light Picture took Kandinsky to paint, but in the end it is a beautiful production of paint, and color.
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Lizbeth Ramirez | Writing Assignment #2 for both ART 473 and 477
The quote “emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower.“ (George Braque) is one that confuses me a bit but that still resonates with me. From what I understand from the quote, emotions don’t need to be represented by exaggerated feelings. These feelings don’t need to be stacked on top of each other to convey something and don’t/can’t be copied. For only oneself can understand their own true emotions. The emotions one feels is what can help inspire or produce work and the work is the fruit or results of that emotion. I want to focus on the last sentence of the quote “It is the seed, and the work is the flower” because I truly believe that most if not all the work that an artist produces was sparked due to an emotion, that one might have not expressed in the physical sense but instead through art. Ultimately, unless told by the artist the viewer can only assume the backstory of what inspired the artist. So with assumption, I wanted to take a look at art by Ernst Kirchner and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
When I first looked at Kirchner’s work, specifically the piece Street, Dresden, 1908 my mind thought about vision. I feel like I am the one looking at this scene and my vision is starting to fail. In a way I feel dizzy and overwhelmed. As I read about him and his pals, I learned that they “desired to express extreme emotion through color and very agitated line” and I could say in my opinion Kirchner succeed at that. The colors of his painting aren’t pleasing, they’re rather uncomfortable to look at. I don’t enjoy looking at this painting, its just feels so disgusting. Not to say that his work isn’t good but just this is what it makes me feel or what comes to mind. For example, the figures’ faces have such a queasy green or orange color and it only makes me think of sickness. The pink background is also hard to look at. That brings me back to vision and how I feel like this is the last scene I would see before I pass out or throw up. The lines as well they’re all pretty much curved and they all lead me to the small figure in the middle. The lines also feel suffocating or claustrophobic. As if I’m being forced to look at the figure in the middle and if my eye looks elsewhere it just leads me right back to that figure.
Going back to the quote, Kirchner mentions how “The struggle for existence is difficult here (Berlin)”. I can almost feel that struggle looking at this painting, because it created some sort of struggle for my eye and mind to focus. The brush strokes or just all the elements help add to that struggle. Whether it is being the uncomfortable colors or the curved yet claustrophobic lines or the subject themselves. It’s just difficult to look at. Point being Kirchner succeeded in recreating that struggle for the viewer, similar to how Basquiat was able to convey strong emotions through his work.
As soon as I looked at Basquiat work, I immediately formed a stereotype about him without looking at him as an artist or his background first. I formed this idea of a kid in a lower income, bad neighborhood, making art specifically street art as a form of expression for whatever hardships he was dealing in his home. As I began to read more on his background, I learned that he ran away from home, he had divorced parents, He was smart but didn’t have the right environment to grow. I can only assume that he used art as his way of expressing these exaggerated emotions he was feeling, because it didn’t matter to show them in a physical sense but he needed to let them out through creating.
His graffiti art feels so disturbing and his imagery is so graphic. It’s almost scary to me, but I can understand that all these dark, disturbing emotions he might have been feeling could produce this kind of work. Specifically, I’m looking at the piece of what I would assume to be him and a dog. They are filled in with black but outlined in white and then stained with red. The black to me doesn’t represent a color but rather a sort of evil or darkness that lurks inside of him. And then the red feels as if it’s blood. It’s a little funny though because all though the subjects are so dark and stained the background is so lively and filled with life. Perhaps, it’s his internal conflict versus the outside world.
Thinking back to Kirchner’s work, both him and Basquiat created uncomfortable feelings for me. The difference is that Kirchners piece was uncomfortable and queasy while Basquiat is uncomfortable and angry. Focusing on Basquiat, his work is very much in your face. I feel like with most street art it is overexaggerated so that you take the time to really look at it. Looking at Kirchner’s work it’s also in your face but it’s something that you want to stop looking at cause it makes you uncomfortable but you can’t. As a viewer, both artists succeeded in producing work from an emotion that triggered the sprout or subject of their work. These intense emotions are “the seed, and the work is the flower”. I can only imagine that they created art based on their own emotions, but whether they did it based on their own experience or somebody else’s they succeeded in conveying those intense emotions through their art.
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Braque’s piece, created from 1908-1909 entitled “Fruit Dish,” is a great embodiment of Andre Salmon’s quote, “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” In this example, Braque pairs a fruit dish down to almost unrecognizable forms, turning a complex scene into simple shapes. But this simplicity Braque achieved was not a simple feat or task. His analysis of objects required viewing his subject from multiple angles and viewpoints and then re-assembling the image in an abstracted form, taking away the natural instinct to try to make the painting look similar to the observed subject. This in turn took away the common thought that objects have a single absolute form. Braque in essence reimagined an entire scene, in this case a still life, and represented it in a new way by considering different perspectives and perceptions of the subject.
The cubism movement itself was based in simplicity, founded on visual abstraction and focused on converting images into geometric representations. Human forms were broken down into geometric shapes, and therefore intentionally became devoid of too much detail, and allowed the human form to take on a different kind of life. Organic material and form read as more artificial rather than natural, and often the subject became quite vague. As art historian Ernst Gombrich said of Cubism, it was the “most radical attempt to stamp out ambiguity and enforce one reading of the picture—that of a man-made construction, a colored canvas.” Braque exhibits these ambiguous and man-made qualities through his work, and especially through his piece, “Fruit Dish.”
First, he creates a shallow, almost non-existent depth of field, contrary to what the original scene most likely showed. The piece therefore becomes relatively flat, which helped to create a man-made portrayal of the still life, a signature trait of Cubism. He created this two-dimensional field by combining a multitude of different viewpoints into one single representation. He showed all viewpoints and angles in one piece, and presented the audience with a flat painting, which ironically gives them only one option, one angle, one perspective to view the piece from. The depth of field is also skewed by the way the background and object planes interact with each other. Braque blurs the line between the background and objects by ignoring the traditional order of these planes.
Braque was successful in his effort to achieve an ambiguous reflection of his subjects. For example, in “Fruit Dish,” the only thing that gives away the idea of fruit are the stems displayed on the forms in the background and foreground of the piece. Other than that, the piece of fruit that seems to be the relative focal point of the painting has some added detail to the form of what is assumed to be the bottom of a fruit with a slice cut out. These are the only obvious indications of what the piece is supposed to be of. Aside from these, objects are broken up and re-analyzed into simpler shapes and forms. The various shapes become intertwined at seemingly random angles as they blend into each other, which in turn obscures any realism of the subject. The lack of diversity in color also adds to the ambiguity of the piece; as the shapes intertwine with each other, the separation between them becomes less noticeable and seamless, which is only exemplified by the harmonious yet minimal color palette.
Because of the way these abstracted shapes blend into one another, the purpose of each object becomes skewed as the object becomes less and less recognizable. Stripping objects of their intended purpose and defining characteristics adds to the simplification of subjects in Cubism. Braque’s display of varying planes and viewpoints, his minimal choice in color palette, and his skill in creating geometric representations of organic forms results in a harmonious end product. Concerned with pictorial space and composition, his placement of the ambiguous subject matter worked to bring movement and balance to the abstract shapes. The way he carefully constructed his pieces effectively guide the viewer’s eyes throughout the composition, nudging viewers towards the focal point amongst the overall ambiguity of the piece.
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Quote:
What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form, it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
Work:
Giacomo Balla – (Abstract Speed 1913)
Introduction
In the world of art, the styles/techniques used never stay stagnant. I would argue that they always change with society’s views and advancements. During the late 20th century, we began to see improvements in tech and a growing industrial revolution. These ideas brought massive changes to how people viewed technology, industrial life, as well as art. What do we think about when we hear the concept of Futurism? Advancement in robotics, flying cars, maybe even smart cities. The 20th century exploded with new thoughts of forward-thinking, which ultimately led to the birth of the futurism art movement. For my second writing assignment, I want to focus on Giacomo Balla’s work, “Abstract Speed.” Specifically, I want to focus on how his other works centered around the rejection of past styles and embraced the advancement of technology, industry, and art.
Initial thoughts
While scrolling through the PowerPoint for the futurism section, this painting instantly jumped out at me! The name, color palette, and composition are magnificent. I have always been a car buff, so choosing this work based on the title and concept alone was easy! I have never heard of Giacomo until writing this paper, but after viewing many of his other artworks online, he quickly became one of my favorites to date. Balla was a man of forward-thinking and believed art should reflect this. Abstract speed is really unlike any other work I have ever seen. It is truly the full representation of abstraction, chaotic nature, and beauty. “Abstract Speed” is a perfect example of what Andre Salmon referred to in his quote. “No longer are we in the age of simple abstract paintings.” At first glance, the image is the furthest thing from simplistic. It is full of lines, folds, and color. The work almost appears to have a third and fourth dimension rather than be a 2D flat surface.
An in-depth look at the work
Analyzing the work more closely, we can see everything that appears in the painting is “in-motion.” Ballas’s philosophy behind the artwork was to represent pure motion and speed, just like an automobile. You can see that he has tried to convey this throughout the work as much as possible by using wavy lines, motion blur, and quick brush strokes. From birth until adulthood, his fascination for the automobile industry greatly affected what kind of art he created. If one were to look at “Abstract Speed” for the first time, you might wonder, I don’t see an automobile! All I see are waves and different applications of color spread across the canvas. Giacomo states in one of his interviews, “Here we see then that the focus is not on the car, or even the speed of the car, but on the very concept of speed itself.” While the actual work may not showcase a realistic image of an automobile, the idea of speed is represented not only through the title but also through the philosophy in which Balla created it.
Conclusion
Giacomo Balla was indeed an iconic figure in the development of Futurism. His work and philosophy pushed what it meant to be a futurist and forced many around him to adopt this new style. “Abstract Speed” and many of his other works centered around a rejection of past styles and embraced a new wave of art. Perhaps, one of the most essential aspects of futurist thinking was recognizing the importance of breaking free from tradition. As stated in my introduction paragraph, art and the styles it consists of never stay stagnant. Giacomo’s work is a true representation of this artistic vision and what it means to break the norm. Making a painting with no absolute form that broke the means of preception was at the time unheard of. But, as Balla inspired more and more artists, many slowly began to adopt the style. Futurism is never an easy topic to comprehend. However, Giacomo was able to concur and progress the idea through the chaotic beauty of his art.
Work Cited
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism
https://garethleaman.com/2009/12/11/the-sublime-and-giacomo-ballas-abstract-speed-the-car-has-passed-1913/
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/300
https://sites.google.com/site/museumofkineticformsmokf/abstract-speed-and-sound
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Ralph Mallare
ART 473 – Modern Art
Robert Tracy
October 21st, 2020
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
Pablo Picasso. Girl with a Mandolin 1910
In the early 20th Century, the world was being introduced into another art movement known as Cubism, and as with most movements, there were misunderstandings as to what Cubism meant and what this movement was trying to portray. That is why I wanted to focus on this quote by famed artist, Pablo Picasso, to try to break down and understand what he truly meant by this quote. In order to do so, I wanted to focus on his painting “Girl with Mandolin”, made in 1910.
Within the early 1900s, Pablo Picasso’s work had already become difficult to decipher for the average viewer. He had focused on transitioning from making paintings to follow the likeness of his subject, but now it was becoming more abstract and was using more geometrical forms. He was a pioneer for this movement and I had chosen this particular quote because of what I believe Picasso was trying to portray. He wanted to portray a sense of form without following a standard guideline and I believe that he was successful with this painting.
Despite there being no smooth lines or no standard structure when creating a self portrait, he was still able to take and arrange various shapes to portray various parts of the subject’s form. As a viewer, you are still able to make out the shape and the line of the woman’s figure because your eyes and mind are able to construct that particular form to match the shape that you are envisioning. I also can understand the use of his color palette, focusing on brown tones and blue-grey accents. The coloration also helps to portray a feeling of loneliness and quiet and evokes an emotion that makes me feel compassion for this particular subject.
When Picasso says “when a form is realized, it is there to live it’s own life.”, I understand that as an artist saying that any shape or form can be realized, no matter the way they are portrayed. Whether it be through collage and geometric shapes, or realistic figurines, there’s always a sense of form that can be brought out. Cubism was one of the biggest art movements in modern history because there was still a sense of realism in each painting that you see. Picasso just showed us that forms can be represented or created in a way that we did not realize beforehand.
Many may have seen cubism as experimental and difficult to decipher, but this was a movement that revolutionized the way forms were presented and showcased. Every shape or every object in the background interconnect with one another and create this shallow, ambiguous space to further elevate the paintings. Girl with a mandolin is such an interesting art piece made by Picasso and as he once said, he was able to bring life into his artwork by showcasing just how forms can be created. There was no more single viewpoints, instead having objects broken up, analyzed and reassembled in abstract forms, eventually allowing subjects to be understood from a multitude of viewpoints, and in turn, of greater context.
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Michelle Chung
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
21 October 2020
Opinion Assignment 2: Dominant Curve (1937) by Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was an artist fascinated with organic shapes and joined these with more geometric inspired lines and shapes. Kandinsky’s earlier work shown that he was experimenting with different styles and expressive strokes when painting landscapes or figures. Some of his work was a soft blend of colors with shapes and lines that feel and look organic, but his other work is more tightly painted with crisp and dark lines. In his later work, Kandinsky heavily leaned more towards abstract depictions. This change in style is in line with his art and spiritual theming. To quote Guillaume Apollinaire: “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Kandinsky’s paintings are symbolic of the landscapes and figures inspired by or what they look like in his “mind’s eye”, they are not hyper-realistic works of art. How it translated in his art was in an abstract way, whether with organic or geometric looks. Merging these elements together, Kandinsky painted the Dominant Curve in 1937, combining different elements from his earlier works.
The Dominant Curve has bright sections of color that dance together and lines and shapes moving through the space to a beat or a song. I see a playful symphony of shapes and lines, forms captured in a state of motion. I feel happy when I look at the fun shapes and oblique lines and uneven curved forms. There is a sense of freedom to the art, nothing is really confined in a space and the shapes inside seem unrestrained. The sheer variety the composition provided by the painting is enough to keep me looking at it for a long time, every time I look there is something I didn’t notice before.
Visually, Kandinsky’s painting looks flat, though not in a bad sense, it is purposefully implemented. There is no “realistic” shading or light source, the flatness is mildly offset by with some parts clearly opaque while others are transparent. It is common for abstract art to lack realistic shading because it is not a carbon copy of an image from reality. The muted green and brown colors in the background give the piece an illusion of depth as the bright figures in the foreground mingle and dance. The color contrast between of some areas is sharp while others have low contrast and colors more on the pastel side of the spectrum, almost blending in with the background or the shape they rest on top of. Somehow swath of colors is used in a way where it feels soothing. I think it’s because the softer colors give the viewer some relief from the bold and bright colors.
In some areas there is high contrast in shapes as well coupled with a plethora of colors it is only enhanced, a mix of organic curves to geometric planes clearly different from one another but woven together. The larger surfaces or sections of the painting are decorated with sprinkles of color in the form of small, dots, squiggly lines, and triangles. Layered on top of each other, pieces seem to be constantly shifting as they overlap, the colors change when they do. Some shapes when they meet show a negative color, they live in different planes. Some shapes, featured in sets, such as the block “stairs” to the right of the painting and the circles outlined in thick black lines above them. The swipes of lines look like plants or blades of grass moving as they sway in wind. Towards the center of the painting is a curved section painted with a bright white in comparison to the off-white used in the rest of the painting. Draws your focus to the area with sharply. How Kandinsky used the space on this canvas is simply amazing. There is just enough negative space where it gives you some breathing room from the busy mix of shapes and colors in the painting. Some paintings I find are much too busy to look at for too long, my eyes just want to give up on looking at it and register what is going on. I am not a big fan of abstract art, but I honestly love this painting; I find it engaging and beautiful.
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Randall Quillopo
Art 473
10/21/2020
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon).
Art can consist of different elements of perception or none at all. In James Abbott Mcneill Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, there are many elements that are comprised in this sensational artwork. The background is filled with a blueish gray tone that resembles a pitch-black sky. The scene is set with tufts of a light blue that blend the sky with the crashing waves at night. The figures in the foreground are viewed at a blurry distance and is expressed impressionistically. The splatter and streaks of what resembles burning embers crackle throughout the composition. Natural hues were used to give form of an atmospheric environment. These aspects combined gracefully display a subtlety of quiet violence and serenity. In research of Whistler, he had mentioned that his painting is depicted through moments and sensations similar to how a person feels goosebumps on their skin when placed in a certain setting. He has quite an extensive background of work in his portfolio but I think what sets him apart is that he paints with a kind of honesty that I appreciate. The artist is known for realism; however, he uses traditional ideology but blends in expressionism and impressionism in his brush strokes as a silent recognition of these genres at his time. Truly a relaxed master at the craft of painting. The elements are synesthized in a particular way that makes it almost non-objective. Throughout the power point lectures, he has been mentioned with the Marc and Kandinsky group, Der Blaue Reiter. I can visualize as how this painting is associated with the synesthesia driven, music exploration, truth-seeking art group.
Throughout the time periods of impressionism and expressionism, it feels as if Whistler’s attachment was an inspired precursor to these movements. If art at this period started from traditional form and resulted in abstracted forms of relaying artful information, Whistler would be the middle due to his tonalism and subtlety of impressionistic brush strokes as he blends tradition and the post-current. He captures the moment in his painting objectively but also relays a sensation to the viewer that parallels the object in space. I can see that some inspirations of this period claimed that there was Sino-Japanese influence as the paintings showed landscapes not only as compositional scenes but as moments of perspective. Asian artworks have their own timeline and during this time it seems as if the Western artists reached out in the art world by adopting international ideologies in approaches to making art. In Whistler’s painting, it sets the viewer out at the beach in the midnight sky through hazy perspective and sensation. Furthermore, Whistler’s painting does not set out to create a world, but to depict non-objective expressionistic and realistic moments in time for the viewer. A sensation or feeling is casted on the viewer which is the ultimate goal in art.
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Tammy Martinez
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
21 October 2020
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
The City Rises (1911) by Umberto Boccioni (Reggio Calabria, 1882 – Verona, 1916)
The City Rises by Umberto Boccioni seems like the perfect embodiment of Andre Salmon’s quote. This painting is one of Boccioni’s first large scale futurist paintings; it is 199 x 310 cm. It might be considered the most popular futurist painting known today although it lacks some elements of cubism. The content inside the painting mainly contains horses and Laborers. There is one giant horse in motion in the middle with laborers surrounding it. In the background there are buildings in construction and trams. The subject matter is typical for Futurist work. The painting depicts Milan under construction and shows an urban setting in the making. Boccioni emphasized the motion of the laborers and horses in this painting. He depicted a time of technological advancement and depicted the rise of modernity.
The subject matter is very dynamic and each figure is melted in with each other. The figures aren’t completely blended in with each other because there is still a lot of contrast that separates the figures. The colors are very vibrant and create simultaneous contrast. He uses a primary palette that stands out from the background. The brushstrokes are short and gestural and define the direction of the painting. The main horse in the center has tiny brush strokes and it is very detailed. The brush strokes create a sense of energy and movement in the figures. The curvilinear strokes look like they were well thought out even though the image looks so chaotic there is a lot of detail in the movement of the figures. I learned that this brushstroke style is called divisionism. Divisionism conveys directional brush strokes and gives an illusion of movement within the figures of a painting. The brush work is impressive in this painting because there are different colored strokes placed together and it creates a dynamic effect. There are hints of blues in the red areas and hints of red in the blue areas of the painting. The figures themselves almost look weightless because of the divisionism.
Andre Salmon’s quote reminds me of this painting because it depicts many forms within a form for example the brushstrokes within each body has movement and shows speed and energy within a form. The brushwork itself creates a different perception of reality. Boccioni wanted to depict modernism not only through a visual perception but also wanted to convey the movement and sound of objects through brushstrokes. It is sort of mind boggling to think that a painting can portray motion and sound but that is basically what futurism is. I think Andre Salmon meant by “there are planes in the region of perception,” is that futurism captures the sense of smell, sound, and movement. The City Rises goes beyond the perception of the third dimension and in a way is symbolic in the sense that there is energy within each form. The laborers are stretched out in form and tense and might symbolize the relentless movement of technological advances. Futurism celebrates urban industrial life and machinery. Technology had a great impact on how artists viewed the world. The invention of cars and factories might have seemed very bizarre to the people in Milan and the fact that futurism encapsulates their excitement about these advancements fascinates me. I can’t imagine how it must have been to live in that time period but I think this painting captures emotions of hope, strength and pride.
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Grigor Giandjian
Professor Tracy
ART 473–1001
22 October 2020
Five Figures, Infinite Perspectives: The Dynamic Nature of Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
It was the French poet, writer, and art critic André Salmon who exclaimed, “What simplicity! An object has not one absolute form; it has many. It has as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” Such a perspective is ground in the idea that the only limit to one’s creativity is their own imagination, and that wherever we see more than what is plainly in front of us, we see potential. No single work of art is interpreted in the same manner by all those who view it, and similarly, an artist’s understanding of their own subject matter may differ heavily from what common audiences intuit. An exemplary case of such phenomena is Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which presents an extraordinary view of unclothed Spanish brothel women in the early twentieth century.
In Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Picasso portrays a group of nude female figures gathered around one another at a brothel situated amongst the streets of Barcelona. With each one bearing a remarkably different face and posture, the women pose before a draped background with an arrangement of fruit sitting at their feet. The contours of the figures’ physical features are ever so slightly distinguishable an arranged in an unorthodox and highly figurative manner; conventional proportions are all but apparent in this work of Picasso’s. The women’s bodies, pink and plump, narrowly mimic the drapes that graze against their skin. Each of their arms is affixed in a unique manner, with some reaching outward towards the curtains and some folded behind their heads. The eyes of the figures are anything but immaculate in their execution, leaving those caught in their gaze puzzled as to what they attempt to communicate.
Picasso’s execution of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon with such impassioned geometric shapes and iconoclastic representations of the human form work to convey his avant-garde interpretation of everyday scenes and objects. Virtually every component of the figures in Picasso’s piece, from their haunting faces to their angular limbs, alludes to an intuition beyond the sensuality and lust commonly associated with such individuals. These creative decisions of Picasso’s are a distinct ode to his underlying interpretation of the scene; as opposed to creating a piece that exists to depict women in their natural, unfiltered form, Picasso endeavors to evoke fury and fright. In this odd, sensational work of his, the artist strives to provide the general public with a glimpse into parts unknown, seeking inspiration from Iberian sculptural forms and African masks to achieve a degree of cultural antiquity that does more than merely grasp the attention of its viewers. The painting itself acts as somewhat of an oxymoron; these women, who would otherwise inhabit an inviting, comforting, and lustful atmosphere, instead make their patrons uneasy, upset, or purely puzzled. In interpreting Picasso’s stylistic decisions, one is made aware of just how limitless their the human mind’s ability to perceive can be.
Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon exists to remind the people of the world that art is not defined by any singular frame of thinking or style of execution. The piece dares us to see beyond the face value of that which befalls our eyes, and furthermore, to push beyond conventional methods of understanding. As opposed to creating a true-to-life homage to feminine beauty and lust, Picasso clutches our interest with a thought-provoking venture into new territory.
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Christian Cruz
ART 473 – 1001
22 October 2020
Robert Tracy
Second Opinion/Position Writing Assignment
“Luxe, Calme et Volupté” by Henri Matisse
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” -Andre Salmon
I think this quote best represents Henri Matisse’s work: Luxe, Calme et Volupté, which translates into “Luxury, Calm, and Voluptuousness.” The painting is oil on canvas and was made in 1904. The painting features several humanoid figures who appear to be relaxing and spending time at the beach. Matisse was criticized for his use of strong color and decorative aspects over representational or realistic values (Fauvism).
When I first looked upon Matisse’s work, I was surprised by how vibrant and colorful it is. For me, the painting draws out positive feelings and emotions such as joy, playful, relaxing, comforting, warm, and so on. While the use of strong colors definitely contributes to this response, the way Matisse created the painting plays a major factor as well. One can see the entirety of the composition is made up of or composed of spots of color that are created through quick and repeating brushstrokes, similar or akin to the pointillism technique of painting. The spots of color help to make the overall painting feel playful and light by leaving white space in between each spot. It prevents the painting from being as intense as it would be if the strong colors filled in the white space and overwhelmed the entire composition. I feel like the painting would have lost a lot of its value had that been the case. Even though he was criticized for moving away from realistic depictions, I think Matisse did a great job balancing all the components within his painting while creating the painting in the way that he saw how it should be perceived as.
While I am not certain what the exact focal point for Luxe, Calme et Volupté would be, my eyes were first drawn to the boat that is slightly off center of the composition. Particularly, the vertical black or dark blue line that is connected to the boat. I would be inclined to think the focal point reside there. The reason for this being that the dark line stands out due to the bright colors behind it and several lines, both direct and indirect, point towards or intersect with the dark line. From there, my eyes are led towards the human figures that reside on the beach. From the way the figures are posed, it is clear that the people are relaxed. Some are sitting or laying down. The two that are standing still resonate a relaxed response, with one holding their arms out to the side playfully and the other is tying up her hair, probably preparing to take a dip into the water. To reinforce my point, the human figures are painted mainly with cool or cold colors, which indicate that they are not radiating much energy. In other words, they are relaxed. The ground around them has been given a lot of warm coloring to balance out the cold colors of the figures, providing a warmth that the figures lack due to their lack of clothing.
While the bottom of the composition mainly has its warm and cool colors separated for the most part, the scenery for rest of the painting has those color schemes mixed with one exception. The sky, the sea, and the trees are comprised of both warm and cool colors. The one exception is the landscape or hills that is at the back of the painting above the sea and below the sky. This landscape serves to separate the similarity of the sky and the sea as without the landscape, the sky and sea would mix and thus the composition would not be as coherent. The colors of the scenery are balanced quite well, and the white space certainly helps the colors from being too intense or saturated. The sea takes on brighter colors the closer it gets to the sky, reflecting the light from the sky. While the use of these strong colors does not depict a beach realistically, it has a hierarchy that makes sense, which allows people to infer what the painting is about.
Overall, I think Matisse did a great job achieving his goal of wishing his work to “have a light joyousness of springtime,” at least for this painting. Seeing the figures relaxing on the beach surrounded by a calm sea and sky make me feel relaxed and happy. While Matisse’s way of painting moves away from realism, he is still able to convey a story and incite positive emotions from the way he composed his composition.
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ART 473
Picasso, Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, 1910
“Cubism is the means, not the end.”- Jean Metzinger
Honestly, I am not a fan of Cubism. I do recognize the importance of it through art history and I also the skill it requires to achieve works like Pablo Picasso’s or Georges Braque’s, but I simply do not like it. As Metzinger claims, it is about the means and not the end, which makes me conclude that it is just like an experiment with the sole purpose of explore and not really communicate. That is what I feel like Cubism is about and why I do not like it. It is soulless to me.
In order to be more precise, I will focus on Picasso’s piece, Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, from 1910. I remember seeing this piece a long time ago, in another one of my art history classes, but this time, by having the photograph of the person portrayed next to the piece; it is easier to recognize him in Picasso’s painting.
I must say, I am drawn to the composition and the shapes used there. I feel like calls me to keep looking to make some sense of most of those said shapes. After a moment, I realized there are no completed shapes. Their sides blend with other ones and get lost in the abyss. Nevertheless, they feel like they are there, completed, and making the shape of the man portrayed. Again, there are key components that help guide me through the painting in order to recognize the figure that hides in it. I would not be surprised to hear someone say that they can see the man clearly there. I do see someone, but no entirely and literally completed. Besides the man I think to spot a bottle of some sort next to him, but how can I be sure among the mess of ghostly shapes and monochromatic-like gradient? Again, I am submerged into the middle of the piece, staring at what it is supposed to be his chest, jacketed or suited chest, with a glimpse of a white-like shirt, accompanied by an upside-down triangle, or close enough, with some volume on it that looks like a tie, even if I am not sure if. His hands are meeting each other, there is no sign of arms, but the long rectangular shapes on the right suggests one of them. Meanwhile, the left arm is suggested by the bright part of the gradient until it meets an opposite angle line conformed by the edge of two opposite hues.
Here I am now staring at what is supposed to be his head. There are five aspects of it that help me to read a human form out of this mess: his hair, nose, ears, eye socket, and cheekbone. The figure’s hair and hand might be the most evident parts of this portrayal. I am not able to spot the left side of his face, but the right side becomes clearer every time I stare at it.
Leaving the figure and the barely discerned objects next to it aside, the colors are one of the elements of Cubist works I do not like. The hues used are close to monochromatic and they are dull. I wonder what made the artists pick this type of palette, because most of the things I have read about Cubism is about their form, like the incoherent sense of depth and angles that create ambiguity on the viewpoints.
I guess after all this time staring at Picasso’s piece I kind of like it. Indeed an interesting technique offers so much to read on a painting. Although I have not changed my mind about its meaning. Again, Metzinger’s quote highlights my point that Cubism has no purpose but to offer a new chaotic perspective. Like an experiment, I feel like they were more focused on getting all these different viewpoints and angles that did not leave room for a message, just as Metzinger pointed out. With this, I am not trying to depreciate or belittle these amazing pieces of art and their respective artists, but only to clarify where my interest in art stands. Perhaps my inexperience in technique and analysis of such pieces is a significant component of such interests, but I am not going to pretend I know better.
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Aranza Acosta
Dr. Robert Tracy
ART 473
October 21, 2020
Girl with Mandolin, Picasso
“What simplicity! An object does not have absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
After reading this quote, I began to think about how hard it can be sometimes to turn a three dimensional object into a flat art piece. It is even more difficult to depict such an object at multiple angles at once in a single frame. That is what I find so interesting about cubism.
Picasso focusing on form as a whole but at the same time breaking each section apart is quite fascinating. In his Girl with Mandolin, it is not obvious right away that it is a girl holding a mandolin in position to play it. I think it is a combination of the geometric shapes trying to come together to depict an organic form and the multiple perspectives it is being painted from. Once you identify the subject, you could start thinking about what is the angle that the artist is looking at the subject from. Some parts of the figure would be impossible to see if it was done traditionally. Like the right side of the face, if it did not mimic the same shape that the left side has, especially the top curve, the viewer would have not recognized that as the other side of the face.
Thinking about the first part of the quote which exclaims, “What simplicity!,” it seems almost funny to me while looking at this piece. It does not seem simple at all. Maybe the almost monochromatic look could play into this simplicity aspect but the shapes, position and even mood being showcased are anything but simple. Part of me is trying to decide whether the figure is coming out into the light or falling back into the background. The way that the shapes in the background and the body kind of blend into each other makes it more intriguing to keep looking at it. It is almost like a mind puzzle, but I suppose that is common with cubism and other abstract movements.
In beginning art courses, they usually teach you to break apart each piece to be able to identify the shapes so later on as you begin to shade it can turn to a whole image. In a way, I guess the same is being done here but each shape stays as their own. They do not blend to make up a whole image, they simply put together next to each other. Even though the image has sharp lines all throughout, the position of the girl’s head looks quite soft. Even the way that the mandolin is being held looks quite gentle.
The more I look at this piece, I keep wondering what is in the background? Or are those just random shapes that Picasso thought were just needed to fill the space. The latter would not surprise me as it was mentioned in the lectures that as a painter, one does not paint what he sees but what he feels. So, if it was up to him to feel that those shapes are there, then they are. Even then, in my opinion, the shapes were placed thoughtfully, where they fit the main subject as well as the rest of the image.
I think that is a very important aspect of Cubism. It is the feeling that is portrayed in the piece, the mood that it creates when the audience looks at it and we see how it varies from person to person. Even when it is not clear what the subject is, shapes can still have an effect on someone.
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Gabrielle Link
Robert Tracy
ART 473 1001
16 October 2020
During the acceptance of the avant-garde style of Matisse and Picasso gave rise to further look at the color and abstract perception. Artist began to look at the idea from perspective saying, “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception” referring to the art style of cubism that originates from Africa (Andre Salmon). In Der Blaue Reiter, a few artists show a part of each of their artistic styles and perspectives of spirituality differently. One artist, in particular, will be Franz Marc using the past previous artist’s styles as the motivation of color usage and abstract cubism followed in the artwork. Looking at the art piece called Stables by Marc, we can see the different shapes of the forms of horses and vast color. I can also see the multiple symbols of horses that are represented in many of Marc’s art pieces containing animal figures entailing the lives of multiple or a single animal expressed to the audience. The colors express a warm and cold feeling to me as well as knowing the overall aspect of trying to achieve spirituality of understanding with humans and animals. The art piece creates a sense of calming from the blue, yellow, and green tones as the red holds a more boldening or powerful feeling or a weight to the art piece.
The shapes all appear to hold geometric proportions, organic flow on the horses, and multiple different line perspectives cutting through the page to peer similar to a spectator from in a stall or perhaps a corridor way. Many of the obstruct but clear images reveal horses waiting in a stall as we see horses perhaps eating or resting. The size of the horses gives off a powerful yet graceful appearance seeing their tails in a wave of mane in a half-circle curvature. The stalls have a more rectangular and box-like arrangement similar to a cube towards the front that seems inviting to head over to take a look. The horse stall also has a narrow archway in green and yellow pigments that feels like it leads to a more open space or area. The horse stall also gives off a feeling of being immersed or pulled within the art piece. The movement of the horses in the stalls also shows another daily routine at the ranch. One of the horses has its head peering back and eye glancing towards the audience feels more humanistic with a personality coming from the warm and cold color tones. Overall the piece has diversity in the different line forms and the shapes that the human eye can connect the shapes and placements to give off multiple emotions that convey mixed feelings. The forms alternate as well that helps to amplify the movement of the piece and the perspective of each horse and person within the art piece making connections to interact with a deeper meaning and emotion evoked.
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Olivia Rodriguez
ART 473-1001
Professor Tracy
Fall 2020
Franz Marc, Stables, 1913, Oil on Canvas
Out of all of the quotes offered for this assignment, I felt that the quote “Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live its own life,” by Pablo Picasso best described cubism. I noticed that there were a few quotes that compared or contrasted cubism to a “seed,” which I found to be very interesting (George Brack compared it to a seed, where Picasso says it is not a seed). The way Picasso described cubism, as it deals with forms that take on their own life, as opposed to mainly being a means of transition in art forms, is illustrated well in the work Stables, by Franz Marc.
Franz Marc focused most of his work around scenery and animals, which can be seen especially in his Sketchbook from the Battlefield, where he illustrated many different scenes and animals he encountered. Horses are a common recurrence in his work, and the one painting that stood out the most to me was his work, Stables. The painting Stables is one of his last big works before his passing in 1916. In this painting, Marc created a composition which flattened the figures and combined stables and horses with different forms and colors. Through this composition, Marc has illustrated how he truly saw the stables and the horses, and abstracted it into emotions and how it felt than how it looked literally. Even though the figures have been abstracted and flattened, the color and composition give the work a sense of motion. The use of forms in this painting gives it a sense of life, as Picasso describes in the quote. It forces the viewer to look at the painting not literally, but to see the emotions expressed through his painting. This is something that Marc concentrated on in much of his works, not the surface value of the subject he was painting but rather the more abstract values that he saw.
Picasso emphasized the use of forms in cubism in his quote, and how cubism is not a means of transition to a different form of art but rather that it is it’s own style that focuses on forms and giving them life. Stables supports this quote, where Marc illustrated horses and a stable, but gave them different forms that intermingle and flow together to create one whole composition. This work was not a transition into anything, or an experiment to produce new outcomes, but rather its own form of art that can stand independently from other types of art.
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Amanda Galvan
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
22 October 2020
Second Writing Assignment
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form– it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” – (Andre Salmon)
I chose to discuss the quote “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form– it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception” by Andre Salmon because I believe it accurately describes Cubism art as a whole. Pieces traditionally depicted their subject as it was seen by the eye, yet Cubism dissected what was seen and translated it onto different planes. I believe that is a way Salmon’s quote can be interpreted as it places value on abstraction and the different ways a single piece can be seen. The piece I would like to look at in relation to this quote is Violin and Palette (1913) by Georges Braque, because to me this piece is a fantastic representation of what Cubism is and how it is executed.
Violin and Palette (1913) shows what Cubism is in many different ways. For one, the violin is broken into different lines and planes while the sheet music that lies behind it is almost unrecognizable. This abstraction of the objects is what makes the viewer question what they are looking at and truly think about the piece; this relates to the multiple forms Salmon mentions in the chosen quote. The subjects can be perceived in several different ways, allowing both the violin and other figures in the drawing to take different forms. This type of non-representational art requires more critical thinking than representational art, making it more open to interpretation and thus in a way more catered to the viewer. Violin and Palette (1913) does not only exist in the way Braque intended it to, it changes meaning and form depending on the person that is looking at the piece. Another way this piece displays Cubism is through the way the canvas is blocked out and looks as if there is a grid. Paintings are a look at life in a 2-dimensional perspective, yet Braque’s Cubist take brings in a 3-dimensional illusion that encourages deeper thinking.
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Arron Adams
Art 473-1001
Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler by Pablo Picasso
“The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” – Guillaume Apollinaire
The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality. The idea that, instead of painting a representation of the literal, physical image of an object, one paints an image of a more conceptual aspect of the object – some aspect of an object that cannot be seen directly with the eyes. However, while this can be used to describe Cubism, I feel like this statement can be applied to other styles of painting as well; it can describe Cubism, but is not exclusive to it – Cubism seems to me to be a rather more specific style of painting than this statement would imply.
In the course of researching and learning about Cubism during this class and considering the different quotes presented for this assignment, something I have noticed is that there is an interesting parallel between the Cubist style of painting and certain much older styles of painting – in particular my thoughts went to Medieval painting (and Medieval artwork in general, but I will mainly be focusing on painting here). The parallel I noticed specifically is that the idea of painting the “conceived rather than perceived reality” is something that both styles actually have in common.
For example: perspective. Both Cubist and Medieval paintings have little regard for proper perspective, they are not concerned with creating an accurate illusion of depth, and tend to appear quite flat and shallow as a result. Instead they are more focused on, as Guillaume Apollinaire’s quote says, conceived reality. In Medieval paintings different things are often way out of proportion from one another, for example: human figures can appear the same size as castle walls. In Cubist paintings, the subject is painted from multiple different points of view. In both cases, however, the focus is more on attempting to show the greater context of the subject, although in very different ways.
This is not to say that the Medieval and Cubist styles are the same or even that they are trying to achieve the same things in any way. For one thing, Medieval paintings are usually focused on depicting some kind of narrative, whether that be a representation of some kind of allegorical or mythological story, or a depiction of some historical event. Whereas Cubism is more concerned with a more abstract representation of the subject from multiple points of view. Like, for example, in Picasso’s Portrait of Daniel Henry Kahnweiler, which is a human portrait, but is almost like multiple different paintings with different viewpoints of the same person all combined into one single work.
Furthermore, there may be other painting styles as well that I am unaware of that could also fit the criteria of “painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” so while this statement can be used to help describe Cubism, I feel like it is a bit presumptuous to suggest that this idea can only be applied to Cubism, or even that it sums up Cubism in its entirety – in the end the statement is simply too overly generalized to be used as the an exclusive description of Cubism.
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Xiyuan yu
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
22 October 2020
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is a large oil painting created in 1907 by Pablo Picasso. The work portrays five nude female prostitutes from a brothel on Carrer d’Avinyó (Avinyó Street) in Barcelona. “Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
Picasso’s ” Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” was created in 1907, which is considered to be the “first work” with Cubism. This painting is based on the image of prostitutes he saw. This painting a sign of Picasso’s inner struggle and a mature symbol of his painting style, as well as a collision between old and new painting concepts. It not only marks a significant turning point in Picasso’s personal art process, but also a revolutionary breakthrough in the history of modern western art, which triggered the birth of the Cubism movement. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is Picasso’s first work that fully shows his own technique. In this painting, we can see Picasso disorganizes the principle of realism by changing his attitude towards life and natural forms. The “three-dimensional” in Picasso’s ways: the characters are presented in a new and different way. In the painting, the faces of the five naked women are scary. The front face has a lateral nose, and even one face’s facial features are all misplaced, showing an elongated or extended structure. The light and dark lines are extremely concise, which are composed of many irregular geometric forms. The figure’s outline is separated by straight lines and curves.
In this painting, the viewer can feel the painter’s interest in pastoral humor. The colors of the five naked women contrast the blue background. The blue reminded him of the beautiful scenery of the background. A woman sitting on the right seemed to put on a mask. When she turned around, her face looks like a ghost. On the far left, a woman is pulling up the ochre curtain to show off her sisters’ diamond-shaped bodies. The serious expression is memorizing. There is also a pile of fruit in the middle. In short, these images make people feel nauseous. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is different. Artists describe objects from multiple angles and put them in the same picture to express the most complete image of objects.
Cubism is a form of pursuing recombination. Cubism can be divided into two stages. The first stage was the analytical Cubism before 1912. Painters tried to construct a kind of painting space and body structure by decomposing and reconstructing space and image. The second stage can tell by the use of color. It is usually more obvious and more decorative. The painters created a new artistic technique and language to collage the pictures with real objects, which further strengthened the texture changes of the pictures. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.
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Lauren Dominguez
Professor Tracy
ART 473
October 22, 2020
Girl with Mandolin
Girl with Mandolin is a painting by Pablo Picasso painted in 1910. A beautiful painting with contrasting cool grey and warm ochre, Picasso depicts a nude girl playing a mandolin. Painted in the Cubist style, which Guillaumin Apollinaire describes as, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” the girl in the composition as well as detail in the background are all made up of various sizes of squares and rectangles. Juxtaposing the harsh angles of the girl and the background is the mandolin; which is easily identifiable due to its rounded shape. The figure is central in the composition and the detail of the background seems to radiate out from her as if she is giving life and meaning to the background with her music.
Cubism allows the artist to depict a subject through combining multiple angles to depict the true essence of the subject. It’s a truly beautiful thing to witness. You get an inside look into the mind of the artist and see how they perceive the world. While looking at the torso of the girl I have noticed something odd. If you look at how the breast closest to the picture pane is depicted versus how her shoulders are depicted you can see that she is painted on multiple planes. Parts of her are painted so she is full facing the picture plane and other parts are in three quarter view. It isn’t so readily noticeable and it works due to the nature of Cubism. Art movements that aren’t fully seated in reality are endlessly interesting. As described above by Apollinaire, Cubism is how Picasso is conceiving his reality and how he is choosing to portray it. He is utilizing it as a tool to portray this multi-planned world, which combined with the color palette and the subjects of the painting, seem other worldly. The coolness of the grey utilized mainly in the background helps push back the shadows and give dimension to the piece as well as giving the figure more softness by contrast.
The shading in the piece is kept fairly minimal and remains close to the sides of each shape. It should make less sense visually, however the contrast of the cool grey and warm ochre help give the figure a soft frame despite the angular structure. The roundness and higher detail of shading in the mandolin helps give the viewer a safe and definitive place in the composition where they can then work outward and pick up more detail in the piece. It acts almost like the northern star to a sailor. Once you see it you can work your way around the composition with ease.
Girl with Mandolin is a beautiful piece with surprising depth. It’s sad that when the majority of people think of Picasso they only think of Mr. Potato Head-esque figures that look like they were put together by toddlers. Cubism is a tool for expression. A tool for portraying a reality as he chooses to conceive. He is able to successfully use multiple perspectives in his composition to tell a story that he chooses. That kind of creative control allowed by the Cubism art movement is freeing. Not only to the artist, but to the viewer as well.
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Qitian Xie
Art 473-1001
10/22/2020
Robert Tracy
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior
results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live
its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
-Braque Violin: Mozart Kubelick, 1912-
For my second writing, I want to further explore and discuss Cubism. Further observation at another interpretation of the theme “violin”. But this time completely drove away from Braque’s previous use of dimension and shapes. One could argue that it’s even more vague and abstract from his previous painting of the violin(Violin and Palette, 1909-10). As Pablo Picasso said: “ Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” Although completely different in every way possible, both paintings would still share the same attribute: that is the viewer would interpret the primary object in the painting as a violin. But the journey that takes them to realize the violin would be two very polarized approaches. The Violin: Mozart Kubelick is a puzzle for the viewer to piece together the clues and forms a Cognition of “it’s a violin”. Whereas Violin and Palette, the viewer would register the violin right away, but further breaking down its forms into more simplified shapes and values.
At first glance of Violin: Mozart Kubelick, the shapes and forms are free, boldly painted onto the canvas. The lines are dynamic in directions and length, but not in depth and thickness. It is the color that sets the value and dimension for the painting, by giving a darker shade to the squares, the overall shape of the object was formed. But that is not how the object gets its identity as a violin, it is the few lines that break the rules Braque has developed that stands out and defines the object as a violin. For example, the strings placed diagonally onto the center-left side of the canvas. As well as the curled lines that define the scroll on the right side. These simple lines set the theme and would give all the other simple shapes and lines a purpose of defining an object that is interesting enough to look at. It’s different, even different compared to the other cubism paintings Braque and many others have done. This piece is ahead of its time, and one other element that defends my point would be the popping colors, as well as the text placed on the top right corner. “MOZART KUBELICK” serves as the most funky, unique piece that not only helps identify the music-related theme for the piece, it compliments the violin from its almost boring use of color, and helps establish the pieces’s cohesiveness. Now there is contrast, but at the same time balance. A focal point is also being developed thanks to the unique color. The form is being established and now is living its own life.
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Qitian Xie
Art 473-1001
10/22/2020
Robert Tracy
“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior
results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live
its own life.” (Pablo Picasso)
-Braque Violin: Mozart Kubelick, 1912-
For my second writing, I want to further explore and discuss Cubism. Further observation at another interpretation of the theme “violin”. But this time completely drove away from Braque’s previous use of dimension and shapes. One could argue that it’s even more vague and abstract from his previous painting of the violin(Violin and Palette, 1909-10). As Pablo Picasso said: “ Cubism is not either a seed or a
foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realized it is there to live its own life.” Although completely different in every way possible, both paintings would still share the same attribute: that is the viewer would interpret the primary object in the painting as a violin. But the journey that takes them to realize the violin would be two very polarized approaches. The Violin: Mozart Kubelick is a puzzle for the viewer to piece together the clues and forms a Cognition of “it’s a violin”. Whereas Violin and Palette, the viewer would register the violin right away, but further breaking down its forms into more simplified shapes and values.
At first glance of Violin: Mozart Kubelick, the shapes and forms are free, boldly painted onto the canvas. The lines are dynamic in directions and length, but not in depth and thickness. It is the color that sets the value and dimension for the painting, by giving a darker shade to the squares, the overall shape of the object was formed. But that is not how the object gets its identity as a violin, it is the few lines that break the rules Braque has developed that stands out and defines the object as a violin. For example, the strings placed diagonally onto the center-left side of the canvas. As well as the curled lines that define the scroll on the right side. These simple lines set the theme and would give all the other simple shapes and lines a purpose of defining an object that is interesting enough to look at. It’s different, even different compared to the other cubism paintings Braque and many others have done. This piece is ahead of its time, and one other element that defends my point would be the popping colors, as well as the text placed on the top right corner. “MOZART KUBELICK” serves as the most funky, unique piece that not only helps identify the music-related theme for the piece, it compliments the violin from its almost boring use of color, and helps establish the pieces’s cohesiveness. Now there is contrast, but at the same time balance. A focal point is also being developed thanks to the unique color. The form is being established and now is living its own life.
(I apologize if the duplicate thing happened again where I posts the same content two times. But I do not see the writing the first time I post it, this is the second attempt)
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Ana Charvet
ART 473 – 1001
TRACY
22 October, 2020
In the Beginnings of Cubism, French poet and playwright Guillaume Apollinaire states, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Though this sentiment was a cornerstone ideal to the fundamentals of Cubism, so too can it apply to Francisco Goya’s The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (1799), a masterpiece in depicting an alternative actuality. As a prominent etching in his satirical series Los Caprichos, Goya tells a cautionary tale on the ignorance of logic and conceives his own reality where monsters are real and represent manifestations of superstition and fear. It is through this exploration of the shortcomings of humanity where we see the foundations building for Surrealism.
In 1799, Goya advertised Los Caprichos as a “A Collection of Prints of Capricious Subjects” in Diario de Madrid, as a scathing commentary on Spain’s conservative ideals and society. In a way, Los Caprichos exists as Goya’s own conceived universe, as it relied heavily on his own imagination to communicate his indignance. Goya produced the Los Caprichos through etching and aquatint, creating a unique visual style between all the sheets, characterized by high contrasts in value and jarring yet precise linework. By using this technique, Goya’s creatures feel more sinister. They are composed of scathing, sharp, imposing lines which give such clear detail to their grotesque features.
Along with monsters, Goya produces birds with human heads, demons, goblins and donkeys riding humans. Shifting focus back to The Sleep of Reason, Goya’s disdain for Spain’s aloofness towards rationality and hesitance to adopt the ideals of the Enlightenment becomes clearer. As a figure (possibly, Goya himself) sleeps on a desk that reads “El sueño de la razon produce monstruos” (The sleep of reason produces monsters). In the background, animals begin to surround him and as they grow and climb up the composition, they become more vicious, ominous and threatening. The monsters grow darker in value as more erupt, and they become less and less distinguishable. An owl– which at the time was a representation of foolishness– prods the artist with a pen as he rests, encouraging him to manifest his darkest delusions. These monsters represent the onslaught of fear, the omnipresence of a mind gone unchecked.
However, this isn’t to say that the entirety of the world should be subscribed to reason; rather, that there is a balance between practicality and fantasy. Goya explains further on a caption on the sheet, “Imagination, if not restrained by reason, brings forth monsters, but combined with reason is the mother of the arts and the source of wonders.” It is with this imagination that he uses to construct The Sleep of Reason and the entirety of Los Caprichos. His depictions of this creatures are created and manifested from Goya’s own mind, not perceived or based in visual reality. He chooses to depict fears as fictional creatures, challenging the viewer to use reason and make the connection between the demons in our dreams to the demons in society.
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters was a piece of a much larger whole in reflecting Goya’s overall worldview. He treated his concerns for society with both a wild imagination and an utmost concern and embodied them through his own perceptions. The Art Gallery of NSW summarizes Los Caprichos perfectly where “the young and the old, clergy and nobility, peasants and prostitutes, witches and goblins all coexist in a dark netherworld of moral corruption.”
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Brandon Azar
Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
22 October 2020
Second Writing Assignment
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
This quote by Andre Salmon perfectly captures the idea of what cubism illustrates—it wants to emphasize the multitude of perspectives that one could observe an object and forcing them all together to capture the subject. The piece I wanted to focus on that had piqued my interest was Girl with Mandolin by Picasso. I think this is one of my favorite cubist pieces after looking through them because it captures the shape and figure of the girl as well as the mandolin but in a simplified form. One thing I am fond of regarding cubism is that the abstraction of form takes away a lot of humanistic and organic qualities, creating a contradiction of life and lifelessness.
There are some qualms I have about cubism, because while looking at other cubist pieces, I literally cannot tell what is going on in the image. I know that may be the intent, but without the title of the piece paired with it, I likely would not be able to tell what is going on. It is great to make the viewer of the piece ponder while looking at art, but when things become indistinguishable without the title paired with it I personally do not like that. Coming back to the Girl with Mandolin, the reason I like this piece is even without the title I can distinguish the body of the girl, as well as the mandolin she is holding. The abstraction is just enough that fine details are lost, but not so much that I cannot tell what it is. The way the girl almost blends into the background aids in obscuring the form, but she is not enveloped and is still distinctly different from it.
Back to the quote, I love this idea of no object having one definitive or absolute form, because it is true. While an object might technically exist and not physically change at all, perspective can imply change and alter form just by looking at the object differently. While two people may observe things in a similar manner, no two people will perceive something in the exact same way. Cubism captures many conflicting or jarring perspective shifts into one piece, creating visual interest and depth that would not normally be there. One thing that catches my attention is how she has no face, aside from what could be interpreted as an eye. And based on the direction of the head, she is likely looking at the mandolin as she is playing it. Another subject of interest is how the minimal use of curves helps to accentuate the parts that have them. What seems to be her hair is mostly made up of curves, as well as the shape of her breast, and the base of the mandolin; these curves, also shown in the arms and a few other places, add more visual contrast and allow more emphasis on specific aspects.
Overall, the Girl with Mandolin executes the cubist idea effectively by utilizing geometric shapes and conflicting planes meeting at angles to simplify the form of a woman and a mandolin. Cubism is great in showing, as Salmon said, that “an object does not have a single absolute form.” By combining these alternating perspectives, forcing the viewer to see them all at once, creates a whole new perspective in itself. Although sometimes I find things getting a little too abstract, it is entertaining to see how things we perceive every day can be broken down and reduced into geometric shapes, while still functioning the same.
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Sohee Park
Art 473 & 477
Professor Robert Tracy
Oct 22, 2020
“Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” (Helen Frankenthaler)
A Spanish painter, who must be respected for the reason for inventing cubism, is Pablo Ruiz Picasso, a name which many of us would have heard of. Thanks to the invention, Cubism had made it possible for artists to learn that it is more interesting to trace how a new art style is created rather than to know and learn already-established art styles and systems. As Helen Frankenthaler, an American abstract expressionist painter has said, Cubism, indeed, had created the greatest freedom.
First of all, what is freedom? Why are people so obsessed with this “freedom?” And how did Cubism become the greatest Freedom? The word freedom itself can be defined in many ways; it can be defined as something negative or positive. However, an artist’s freedom is focused in that it provides an opportunity to develop and create innovative ideas to the artists. Innovative ideas go beyond stereotypical ideas and therefore, giving liberty to express the artist’s personal views of the world, which also gives freedom to the audience to go beyond their original perception of the world.
Indeed, the desire for freedom in the art world is evident in many paintings. For instance, Barnett Newman, an American Artist, expresses freedom in his unique painting titled, “Concord.” Painted on Canvas with oil, the center of Concord places two vertical bands as an abstract element, which the artist called it the “zip.” These two zips may seem to create boundaries between the surface, separating the painting into three spaces. However, if one were to look at the painting with perceptional freedom, the two lines have a starting and an ending point, from top to bottom or the opposite. This freedom is derived from the artist’s freedom, to abandon the use of narrative description, using the zips for his painting’s abstract elements.
In respect to cubism, the name of the aspect of cubism does not have an exact point of orientation, but was born accidentally and advances toward new art. In history, the problems faced by contemporary artists was to find a way to formally portray a new dynamic vision of life. Especially for the painter, the dilemma was to express the flow of time, movement, and space as a medium that simply captures the fleeting moment. In response to solve this predicament, Picasso began to apply cubism in his paintings. In fortune, Picasso’s rebellion has cleared this problem: the freedom to create and construct a new pictorial language rather than imitate it.
To be specific, one of the great works painted in Cubism is the “Portrait of Gertrude Stein” by Picasso. Although the portrait can be said it’s not painted in true cubism, it was an introduction of cubism, a path for freedom. From its name, Portrait of Gertrude Stein is a painting of a woman, Gertrude Stein. As an art collector, she was famous for discovering and encouraging fauvist and Cubist painters in the early 20th century.
However, for a long year in history, the portrayal of men and women had been clearly shown in art, especially in portrait paintings; men were portrayed imposing power whereas women were shaped by ideals of beauty and constrained social roles. However, Portrait of Gertrude Stein has made it possible to break this idea that was held for such a long time. Having to know no information about Gertrude Stein, the portrait visualizes a mysterious person without revealing his or her gender identity. As a result, Stein became free out of the limiting category of Western art with women as a lasso; she is neither old nor young, neither sexual nor submissive.
In addition, Picasso cleverly exploited Stein’s large body by illustrating her body forward, which actively dominates the whole space of the painting. Stein’s rounded shoulders are formed steady as a rock, with a curved-back chair and a corner, establishing the axis of the space. Strong and harsh energy emanates from her simplified face like the shape of her face, clear eyebrows, and thick eyelids resemble the statues of ancient Spanish and Iberian civilizations the artist saw while traveling; the simple yet powerful facial lines and rough and bold expressions predict the future of cubism. In the majestic presence of the ancient sculpture’s strong face and sturdy body, Picasso discovered her inner self, not Stein’s appearance.
As Picasso, had once noted, “Every act of creation begins with destruction,” the artist liberates the form, destroys the traditional notion of seeing and drawing objects from a single point of view, and recombining the parts of the object seen from various perspectives into one to paint the subject. One may criticize that the look of Gertrude Stein is different, but the Portrait of Gertrude Stein is different from traditional portraits that realistically reproduce the figure of a person; the Portrait discarded the traditional message that painting should be beautiful and focused on expressing the form in a new and different way. Picasso did not follow perspective, nor did he care about the faithful representation of the figure or the ideal balance of Stein; Picasso was clearly facing a new turn for his style, which is created with the freedom that visualizes life from a new perspective.
In conclusion, although art had began with imitating the shape of natural objects, with Cubism, art became free of this boring imitations as we can see from other abstract paintings. In other words, artists became free to stay away from using approved materials to create what audiences originally think of what and how art should be. As a result, artists were given freedom as the way of expression of a picture was treated more importantly than the object or subject of the picture and as they were freed from the bondage of having to portray objects as to how they look, artists could make various attempts to find their own unique and original expression methods.
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Frank Lloyd Wright was a great Californian architect who was known for creating buildings that equally gave nature an equal part into his structures. An infamous building in Southern California known as the ‘Barnsdall’ House was Wrights most favorite that he created. Julia Morgan once said, “never turn down a job because you think it’s too small; you don’t even know where it can lead,” with that being said, Wright took on the challenge of pleasing the Barnsdall’s needs. At first glance, you can see that he easily met the theme of nature within. He included Barnsdall’s favorite flower, a hollyhock, several times on the inside and surrounded the outside landscape with them as well. The house itself has lots of windows that are elongated horizontally and vertically allowing for a lot of natural light from all times of the day. The house begins feeling a little small and compact on the outer rooms from the house, but as you enter from the drawing room into the living room, it is a “sense of relief” to feel it ‘breathe’. The house is set up to naturally flow like how it would feel if you were in an open park, or walking through the woods, you have a slight sense of direction of which way you’re supposed to go because it feels natural. Wright embodied the meaning of natural. The elements originally used for the house did succumb to nature, but the house itself has consistently been touched up to keep the house maintaining the natural flow of things. If a house were able to give someone ASMR, this house gives it visually. Everything the mind wants is clarity, flow, and natural ease, and Wright gave us that in this fantastic build. However, he gave a point of focus to the fireplace area in the center of the house. The ‘heart’ of the home that brings in the warmth and light, hollowed out slightly into the foundation of the home becoming a place to come down with others and relax. Although the inside of the home is eye-candy, the outside appears as a giant cement shape figure on a hill, with a fantastic view of LA. Although you may overlook it, the inside will make you feel outside as well and one with nature, which the family and architect wanted to be portrayed so easily with their “community” home.
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Annie Lin
Art 473
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the imagination of the artist, James Abbott McNeill Whistler. As Guillaume Apollinaire once noted, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the conceived ideas, rather than portraying a distinguishable form. With Whistler’s unique style, more than one story is live within the piece.
From the first glance, My eyes are instantly captured by the somber color of the painting. Splashes of gold and yellow are sparkes of lights that guide the eyes at night. A smoky shade is at the middle ground. It looks like a piece of lace, wrapping around the rough shape at the left. This white shade also seems like a creature that is crawling in the dark. The denser part at the top can be identified as its horn, and the lighter part is it’s face and body. The creature is leaving a trail of smoke, as it is moving slowly to the left side of the plane. To the left, a small burst of fire is floating at a reflective surface. There is a reflection shown on the other side. The somber color creates an unsettling feeling. There is danger lurking in town. With all these suspenseful elements, I saw a disaster. There is a monster passing by this little town, and he burns wherever he has been. Only the dust and sparks can explain what had happened. Two tiny people are looking at the ruin, they appear to be lost and helpless.
If we start to connect the painting with its title, Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, another story starts to reveal. Looking into the distance, a subtle silhouette of a building is hiding in mist, only a few hints of fainted light can be distinguished. On the left side, a shade of dark green occupies the space, it is the shadow of a mountain. Moving closer to the foreground, a few hints of shadow are sitting on top of the lighter green shade. This setup captures the reflective texture of water, the uneven stripes of dark green is reminiscent of ripples. There is a sense of movement, or it is suggesting a windy weather at this moment. At the edge of the painting, a shade of dark yellow is the land. Two people are standing at shore, enjoying the fireworks. Different from the other story, this story is peaceful and serene. I can feel people are quietly enjoying the fireworks on a windy night. They saw the fireworks light up the building for a brief second, and it fell. Darkness came again, only a trail of sparks and smoke remained. Through simple shapes and layouts, Whistler successfully captures another cinematic imagery. Although the information is limited, yet there is space for unlimited imagination.
Looking back to Apollinaire’s comment, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket demonstrated a painting that was conceived from Whistler’s reality, and it is a better reality. It is a reality that allows the viewer to stretch their imagination. The vague forms, splashed dots, and shades of color created a realm for stories to grow.
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Annie Lin
Art 473
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the imagination of the artist, James Abbott McNeill Whistler. As Guillaume Apollinaire once noted, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality,” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket is a painting that comes from the conceived ideas, rather than portraying a distinguishable form. With Whistler’s unique style, more than one story is live within the piece.
From the first glance, My eyes are instantly captured by the somber color of the painting. Splashes of gold and yellow are sparkes of lights that guide the eyes at night. A smoky shade is at the middle ground. It looks like a piece of lace, wrapping around the rough shape at the left. This white shade also seems like a creature that is crawling in the dark. The denser part at the top can be identified as its horn, and the lighter part is it’s face and body. The creature is leaving a trail of smoke, as it is moving slowly to the left side of the plane. To the left, a small burst of fire is floating at a reflective surface. There is a reflection shown on the other side. The somber color creates an unsettling feeling. There is danger lurking in town. With all these suspenseful elements, I saw a disaster. There is a monster passing by this little town, and he burns wherever he has been. Only the dust and sparks can explain what had happened. Two tiny people are looking at the ruin, they appear to be lost and helpless.
If we start to connect the painting with its title, Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket, another story starts to reveal. Looking into the distance, a subtle silhouette of a building is hiding in mist, only a few hints of fainted light can be distinguished. On the left side, a shade of dark green occupies the space, it is the shadow of a mountain. Moving closer to the foreground, a few hints of shadow are sitting on top of the lighter green shade. This setup captures the reflective texture of water, the uneven stripes of dark green is reminiscent of ripples. There is a sense of movement, or it is suggesting a windy weather at this moment. At the edge of the painting, a shade of dark yellow is the land. Two people are standing at shore, enjoying the fireworks. Different from the other story, this story is peaceful and serene. I can feel people are quietly enjoying the fireworks on a windy night. They saw the fireworks light up the building for a brief second, and it fell. Darkness came again, only a trail of sparks and smoke remained. Through simple shapes and layouts, Whistler successfully captures another cinematic imagery. Although the information is limited, yet there is space for unlimited imagination.
Looking back to Apollinaire’s comment, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket demonstrated a painting that was conceived from Whistler’s reality, and it is a better reality. It is a reality that allows the viewer to stretch their imagination. The vague forms, splashed dots, and shades of color created a realm for stories to grow.
Link to Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket: https://www.dia.org/art/collection/object/nocturne-black-and-gold-falling-rocket-64931
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Brad Pozdol
Dr. Robert Tracy
Art 473 1001
22 October 2020
Second Writing Assignment
Quote: “Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” (Helen Frankenthaler)
Artwork: Giacomo Balla Boccioni’s Fist, 1915
While I am not going to be talking about Helen Frankenthaler’s work, I feel like her quote applies to anyone who has learned about cubism and anyone who has tried to create artwork using the style. I will be writing about Boccioni’s Fist which was heavily influenced by Cubism. Cubism opened up almost infinite new possibilities for the treatment of visual reality in art, not only in paintings, but also in objects. Synthetic cubism was characterized by simpler shapes and brighter colors and that is exactly what Boccioni’s Fist consists of. Furthermore, instead of realism, Cubism takes real life, deconstructs it, and interprets it from infinite angles through geometry and abstraction. This composition employs the element “line” as one of its primary focuses. The deep curves in the piece create an unsettling feeling and the diagonal lines create a sense of movement. The juxtaposition of the two types of line effectively stirs up the assertive feeling of chaos within the viewer.
In real life, everything moves and changes depending on the angle you view it. Cubism attempts to bring the 3D onto a 2D canvas, portraying motion, complexity, and the temporal experience without leaving the page. As the viewer, we are given a puzzle to decipher. There is no specific meaning to any of the artworks. They are abstract and the art’s meaning is up to the viewers’ interpretations. The artist no longer has to limit him or herself to depicting the object as it would appear from one given viewpoint, but wherever necessary for fuller comprehension, can show it from several sides, and from above and below. Cubism had a greater freedom of expression art. That being said, Cubism started a movement of introducing the world to other new similar art styles including Futurism which is the style of Boccioni’s Fist. Forms found in nature were reduced to angular lines, wedges, and facets, having no relationship to each other than the geometrical linear quality they took on. In this new spatial concept in art history, planes flowed into other planes and at times became transparent revealing other planes behind them. Both Picasso and Braque were part of this phase, in fact their art was so close at this time it is difficult sometimes to tell their art apart.
The beauty of Cubism, and largely the reason for its lasting legacy, is its ability to work its way into other art styles. As I mentioned before, styles like Futurism and Surrealism started because of Cubism. Without it, these styles might not have ever existed. Art would be so different in our day and age. If Cubism has never existed, artists would take a while longer to find out how much creative freedom art really has. In its works, Cubism, in accordance with it role as both constructive and representational art, brings the form of the physical world as close as possible to their underlying basic forms with as much creative freedom as possible.
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Andrea Tellez- Giron
Art 473 Modern Art
Robert Tracy
Oct. 22, 2020
Quote: “ Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” Helen Frankenthaler
Painting: Large Nude 1908 – Baraque
Cubism is an interesting art style that was expressed amazingly by the artists Picasso and Baraque. The paintings were very unique because they didn’t focus on the likeness of the object or people they were painting but the presence. Which is why I believe Hellen Frankenthaler quote expresses the feeling of freedom in cubism. Cubism though mainly focused on geometric forms did not mean that the painting or objects presented had to be laid out accordingly. Cubism painting actually interacted seemingly random in angles and there was a sense of depth to the images but no coherent order. It was given its name due to the fact that the paintings looked like they were full of little cubes.
One of my favorite paintings mentioned was the Large Nude painted in 1908 by Baraque. Baraque incorporated the use of bright, expressive colour and was beginning to use more geometric shapes like Cezanne when he created this picture. His nude appears reclined and twisted to the side, lying upon a sheet or towel. He used a palette of mainly browns and greys. Baraque mentions that in this painting he could not portray the woman’s loveliness. So he created a new sort of beauty. In which appears in terms of volume of line, mass, weight, and through that beauty interprets subjective impressions. In which he translated emotions and freedom of art with the style of cubism. It’s a very expressive piece I enjoy because even though it is a cubism piece the surfaces don’t interact so much at angles that the image of the woman is distorted. Unlike Picasso Women of Avignon that is more focused on the idealist figure of woman, Baraque expresses the fullness and depth of his figure. Baraque was not focused on the likeness of the model but the proportional and figurative composition and presence of his model. Though many were displeased by the figure of the painting he used it as a way to express a different type of beauty.
When it comes to comparing Picasso and Baraque style in cubism you can really identify that feeling of freedom and expression. In many of the paintings that were shown Picasso and Baraque painted similar ideas. Yet these two artists used the same style of art where their art work was expressed differently. This was greatly identified when the painters did a still life side by side in 1911. Though it was hard to distinguish what painter had done what picasso cubism art always had a sense of movement. Picasso’s work was loaded with iconological commentary and Baraques was concerned primarily with pictorial space and composition. Picasso cubism art celebrates animation, while Braque celebrates contemplation.
I feel that for both artists “Learning Cubism was the greatest freedom.” Both Baraque and Picasso expressed their artwork in ways that were with the style of cubism but expressed different ideals. So is cubism an art work of freedom. Yes I do believe it is. By these two artists it was adapted greatly into sub subjects. The invention of Cubism was a joint effort between Picasso and Braque.
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Catherine Mariano
ART 473-1001
22 October 2020
Quote: “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form – it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.” (Andre Salmon)
Artwork: Portrait of Gertrude Stein by Picasso (1906)
Cubism, from my initial thoughts, was an art movement that was very representative of modern art. For me, it also represented a criticism of modern art that I would often hear. Dramatically said, there are those who think that modern art is a sham. There are also those who think that modern art has fallen too much into the grasps of capitalism. And that art today is nothing in comparison to its predecessors from eras like the Renaissance. Or that it doesn’t hold the same value as it did before. It’s an interesting perspective and I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t thought similarly in the past.
Before taking this art history class, I previously was not the biggest fan of Cubism. I was never visually intrigued by the art produced in this movement and shallowly thought that it was just subjects represented in the simplest form. It was just that and it didn’t hold much of a meaning when I analyzed it with the little amount of knowledge I had. And yet, after this class, I’ve come to have a different perspective of how I feel towards this specific art movement. I think that my current view of cubism is nicely summarized in the following quote by Andre Salmon, “What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form – it has many, as many as there are planes in the region of perception.”
Over time, I’ve learned that art overall has no singular requirement or criteria to determine what is good and what is not. The ways in which one would analyze art from the 15th century would not be the same as art from 20th century. With that being said, I think that there’s a charm in knowing that modern art is often analyzed from the perspective of the artist. Art isn’t always about the technicalities that can be directly shown in the artists’ skill set. There isn’t much of a sole focus on proportions or one’s ability to create the most detail-oriented piece. In my interpretation of Andre Salmon said, art can represent the simplest forms and still have a deep standing of perception. I think that this helps me perceive cubism as more than just simple shapes.
Picasso, who is best known for his co-founding of Cubism, has a specific art piece that I sincerely like and am captivated by. The piece I am talking about is Picasso’s 1906 painting of Gertrude Stein. The piece itself intentionally does not focus on the likeness to its main subject. It doesn’t have the intention to reproduce an exact physical copy of Gertrude Stein and yet it holds true to her essence as well. It does not try to show realism, but the aura that Picasso produced was exact to what Stein emulated. I like the way that Picasso can give life to the subject while playing around with two-dimensional versus three-dimensional space. I would describe Stein’s face to be a three-dimensional shape that is pushed onto one, flat plane. Although not realistic, her face has a sternness to it. Her body language is portrayed as almost leaning to one side and forwards, which expresses her as someone with authority and vigor. This piece is a statement within a portrait and could not have represented Stein in a more flattering perspective.
Picasso’s Gertrude Stein portrait helped me view cubism in a different light. His portrait of Stein is said to be one of the starting points of cubism. When I look at Picasso’s work after Stein’s portrait, I have a newfound appreciation for his vision. It’s a different interpretation of how shape, space and planes can be used to create a “new visual language.” To reiterate what Andre Salmon said, in the “region of perspective” there is no singular way to represent something. I think that cubism encompasses this concept exceptionally. It was only shapes to me at first, but I realize that there is more to it. I think that there is a skill within itself to be able to take something, again it’s simplest form, and yet have it represent so much.
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Nicole Nitschke
Dr. Robert Tracy
ART 473-1001
October 21, 2020
Expression Within
The work of an artist is not always plain to the ordinary eye. Not only does work and labor go into an art piece, but part of the artist goes into it as well. As George Braque states, “Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower” (George Braque). An artist worth taking a look into is Henri Matisse.
Matisse was a French artist emerging in the early twentieth century along with Pablo Picasso. He was a part of helping define the revolutionary developments in the visual arts, especially in painting and sculpture. Matisse’s intense colorism along with his intense, rigorous style that emphasized flattened forms and decorative pattern cause him to stand out as an artist. One of his works, Luxe, Calme et Volupté, follows the theme “escape to an imaginary, tranquil refuge”, which references a refrain of Charles Baudelaire’s poem, Invitation to a Voyage. The piece shows a paradise with several nude women and a clothed man. Eluding to Baudelaire’s poem, the oil painting by Batisse shares the theme of this paradise. The colors used within the piece emphasize the surreal paradise. Matisse’s style is of rigorous lines expressing flattened patterns of forms. This is similar to the era of cubism.
In Luxe, Calme et Volupté, the viewer takes in a sense of Matisse’s inner desires. His need for escapism and lust for a paradise filled with beautiful women. He pulls the viewer into this fantasy and without realising it too much tells a part of himself. Matisse could have either been lonely, or lusting for something not within the times of reality. Truly desperate escape.
One of the quotes from Henri Mattise, “I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me”, gives a sense of Matisse’s almost sacrifice in his work (Henri Matisse). He creates an inviting scene filled with almost music and warmth within it. Matisse indicates that there is more than meets the eye in his work. More goes into each brush stroke, not just paint and precise. Unknowingly, Mattise adds emotion into his art. Every piece shows that part of him and that gives something within the painting.
Going back to George Braque, the stress in what an artist does to create to give a piece of their soul. One could even make the argument that an artist projects their emotions into each stroke, however an artist can not force emotion into a piece. There is possibly not art without the artist’s emotion or mentality having an effect on what is created. The general definition of art is an expression of oneself. “Emotion must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is the flower”, having this emotional connection in art is what causes it to blossom (George Braque). Art is a human connection being expressed through brushes strokes that ultimately tell a story or have a piece hidden within. What can cause an artwork to gain such power and beauty can simply be having that emotion. Artists use what they put into a work to emphasize a subject, move an audience, or speak about their inner thoughts.
Expression of the heart can not be false, it can only bloom into something much more.
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Alerys Ortiz-Amador
ART 473 1001 2020 Fall
Writing Assignment 2
Pablo Picasso’s Girl with Mandolin is a great example of Guillaume Apollinaire’s idea that Cubism is, “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived rather than perceived reality.” Here we see a painting with an original arrangement composed of elements that were taken not from what was perceived in reality, but what was conceived from it.
Girl with Mandolin is a purely analytical cubism painting; the subject is broken down into different perspectives repeatedly and reassembled into an abstract form. And although it is an abstract depiction, the figure is still recognizable. It might be that the name of the piece gives it away, but some aspects of the painting do still convey the features of the figure despite the fact that she has been broken up and reassembled so many times in this piece. The geometric form of her head and neck, although simplified, still show as a two-thirds perspective of her face. The curve of her hair over her face and the rounded elements on the back of her head describes how she wears her hair. The shape of her eye, arm, breast, and hand have all also been treated with the same geometric abstraction as the rest of her figure. The use of color in this painting gives her life, for the piece employs the use of earthly and human skin tones for most of the composition. However, trying to find the girl amidst the painting is also not made easy by the fact that the backdrop behind her has the same treatment of forms; geometric squares and cubes the same color as the figure that simultaneously makes her stand out and blend in.
One curious thing about this piece is how the mandolin itself is treated. It lacks the heavy broken and reassembled aspect that the rest of the piece has. Most of the instrument is still intact except for a few moments in the neck and the base, and it’s definitely not as broken as the figure; more of a depiction of reality than conceived reality. You could argue that maybe because the instrument is inorganic is doesn’t receive the same treatment, but then wouldn’t the backdrop, which we assume is inorganic, also lack fragmentation?
Picasso focused on portraying objective nature, and depicting reality in as many viewpoints as he saw. Which is maybe why the figure in this piece is much more fragmented than her instrument. Humans always present complicated natures; mentally, emotionally, socially. What’s most interesting about this piece is that it’s not just a work of cubist art in which the subject is presented in different perspectives that the artist wanted to show us, this piece also uses that abstract depiction to show the complexities of humans. So while he is showing us the different physical depictions of this figure through the broken up forms, we are also seeing how the subject itself is a complicated, abstract, and sophisticated as a human being. Or you could also say that Picasso is using this fragmented depiction to convey to us, the viewers, that the girl depicted here was more complicated and enigmatic than any realism painting could ever portray.
What makes cubism so individual to the artist is that it is their unique depiction of their subjects. As Apollinaire said, it is a complete, “…original arrangement of elements…” using their conceived reality. The artist is showing us how they see their subjects in far more depth and understanding that reality can ever show us.
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Jonathan Quinones
ART 473
Professor Tracy
October 22, 2020
Opinion paper #2/The laugh -1911
La Risatta
“To paint a human figure, you must not paint it; you must render the whole of its surrounding atmosphere” (Umberto Boccioni). The painter created an overall description of cartoons living in an Italian futurism world. This painting from 1911 portrays future changes in a world where art and war overlap during the early 20th century. This masterpiece represents an Era where painters could use their freedom to create social-political statements about a confusing and chaotic world through their visions and dreams. This painting also unifies history and beliefs from different countries that experienced World War I under devastating conditions. Boccioni paintings are energetic and have vibrant palettes that represent dynamism. This painting reminds me of the inside of an artist’s brain that contains disorganized thoughts and ideas. The painter used his background as a sculptor to add volume to his paintings on a two-dimensional surface by using shadows, different shades of values, and linear perspectives to recreate different angles of the same objects. Boccioni used divisionism and pointillism by applying small strokes or dots of colors and blending them. He also used cubism as a technique to separate different scenes and geometric shapes of the composition. Looking at this painting, it feels like we are at an art gallery looking at a sequence of people experiencing the world differently as though we were reading a history book.
This composition is divided into two segments. The first segment references a naturalistic and traditional world painted in different shades of green. The green values represent mother nature. It explains how she is being replaced by industrialism. As part of the conventional world, we can observe a bird in the middle of a forest as a symbol of freedom.
The second part is the use of technology and the glorification of World War I. There are different elements of war such as helmets, arsenals, and airplanes that inspired other artists to create compositions based on scenes of destruction, but these types of settings also represent the beginning of free-thinking in art and science. Fire describes humanity’s emotional involvement during war, and it also represents the passion that came from artists’ minds and souls for creativity.
The focal point of this painting is the woman on the upper left side. This wealthy woman is wearing a red hat. She is holding her hands while she witnesses the world around her. This woman is wearing bright makeup and rings; her laugh represents relaxation that relieves the tension of World War I. The painter decided to include power and balance among women and men. The painter highlights women’s existence as the main part of the composition. There is a reflection of light coming down from the sky that represents knowledge and new ideas that can inspire change in humanity. The human’s hand translates to the tangible things that people can appreciate in real-time. I can see tables with wine bottles, martini glasses on a table; some of the legs of the table are missing. The wine represents a traditional element of Italy that brings people together and as a symbol of celebration for the ending of World War I.
In conclusion, this painting is as valuable as an art history book because it describes the effort that an artist had to face during World War I by isolating himself and telling a story through his vision. It is controversial to think about positive things that happened during and after the Wolrd War I, but humans must destroy or change their traditional way of thinking to build a new world. The use of utopia and dystopia shared science fiction, fantasy, and art in a technological world that created a contrast between exciting and miserable living conditions for humanity.
Sources
The laugh, Umberto Boccioni, Moma, URL https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80199
Utopia/Dystopia, The laugh, Analysis of Boccioni’s Painting, The Laugh, URL , https://utopiadystopiawwi.wordpress.com/futurism/umberto-boccioni/the-city-rises/
Richard Humphreys, Futurism: Movements in Modern Art, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 31.
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Phichapa Tippawang
ART 473
Dr. Robert Tracy
22 OCT, 2020
Second Writing Assignment: Stream of Consciousness on Duchamp’s Fountain (1917)
World War I was the war that shocked and terrified everyone in the turn of the 20th century. It was the war that involved so many powerful nations. At that point, no one can could be certain about the future and nothing was the same. If art reflects the current and future, of course, the style would change. Dadaism was also the art style that emerged that reflected that change. It was thought provoking and it challenged what was considered the norm. After the horrors, regular people and artists would need changes after everything they lived through. Something that would capture and reflect the advancement and uncertainty of that time. As George Braque states “Emotions must not be expressed by an excited trembling; it cannot be added, neither can it be imitated. It is the seed, and the work is flower,” the thought provoking art from dadaism movement, especially Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) captures the absurdity and frustrates the viewer, making them think harder about what is and what should be.
The Fountain was a piece that shocked me, humored me, and made me think. So of course the piece has accomplished the job. From first glance, it is a urinal that has a hole that would lead the urine right back to the user. So the use of this piece would create nothing but trouble and frustration. Then that’s where the name of the piece comes on to add onto the confusion. A fountain is something that we associate with clean water or at least something refreshing. This was just human waste, feeding back to itself. So if the urinal that would turn into a fountain that creates dirtiness, then it can’t be used for its purpose. It is not as it seems to present itself. Duchamp’s words ring true. Words and even objects, then, cannot be fully trusted.
Speaking of trust, this is when people are betrayed by their government. When leaders of the world are in chaos, they bring trouble to the regular citizens. The world powers fought one another and would shape the world into an extremely different place. Paralleled to the art world, Dadaism would also bring change into what was known. Art style has changed from the classical style that is traditional and expected into something more conceptual and asks audience to think and to engage with the pieces.
I think that the viewer of Fountain would have to walk around and ponder how would this piece react in the real world context. Just in that act of thinking and interacting, it would already add to the contribution and purpose of Duchamp’s art (the thinking and engaging is the seed and what is represented in the physical world is the flower).
Human emotions, whether it be happiness, horror, terror, sadness, are innate and cannot be added or replicated by anything physical. The wonder that we feel towards the piece is also a real human trait. Fountain is something so contradictory and so thought provoking that it kind of frustrates me. I think the piece is humorous and absurd, but at the same time, I wonder: is it enough? The satire to make fun of how the society to hurt itself, is that enough for Duchamp and other abstract artists? Maybe it is all a part of the wonder.
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Isabel Valadez
Robert Tracy
ART 475-1001
Krichner and His Experimental Style
The piece I’ve chosen to discuss is Street, Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Krichner. As a German Expressionist and active member of Die Brucke he explored a style that borrowed from an array of different time periods and artists from German Medieval to other Modern artists of his time. His work was incredibly expressive, incorporating vibrant, otherworldly colors, warped, skewed perspectives and imaginative depictions of daily scenes from life. One quote from the list seemed most able to help expand on the concept of expressionist painting, which is “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived
rather than perceived reality.” by Guillaume Apollinaire.
This is an oil painting of a crowd of people, each making their way through a crowded street in Dresden. Instead of a more classical approach to building a composition, in which an artist might try and settle on a specific space and then let that space govern the way people are rendered within that space, Krichner paints the people as a governing element of the space created in this scene. There are no signs of buildings, sidewalks, lamp posts or designated street areas but instead there are men, women and children all moving about in different directions. The outlines of the bodies in the crowd are solid in the sense that they block out some individuals in the foreground but as the space recedes the outlines become less distinct so that a crowd is more represented by flowing, bumpy lines that are meant to symbolize a crowd. Within the bustling, tight-knit composition one can see how Krichner definitely favors a more original and free flowing space that aligns more closely with a conceived depiction of reality.
The colors that Krichner chooses are also fairly unconventional. The rich greens, blues, reds and whites he uses seem almost too vivid to be realistic to the everyday person, who might have dressed in more subdued greys, blacks and subtle blues. The ground is made up of a an almost bubblegum pink shade, with patches of darker shades of pink and even some light greens, yellows and blues. Krichner also includes outline colors on his subjects in the crowd. A woman in a bright red coat is outlined with touches of green, another woman’s bright green hat is heavily lined with bits of fiery orange. It seems that these expressive color choices are meant to create a hyper realistic depiction of city life and again distinguish this image as one meant to convey a conceived reality rather than a perceived one, as Apollinaire suggested in his quote.
Krichner uses this conceived reality to bring up the issue of a burgeoning, yet not necessarily benevolent, modern way of living in early 20th Century Germany. Because German Expressionists began breaking down the classical conventions of Western painting, they were able to use their unique style as an experiment to create emotion through their brushwork, line, color and form. The skewed, tightly squeezed composition puts emphasis on the growing population of cities and how this changes human interaction. Even though the lines of his crowd ebbs and flows, there is still a tense pattern that strains the individuals within the crowd. Though one might initially associate vibrant colors with a sense of joy or positivity, Krichner purposefully makes his abundance of shades clash and compete for attention within the composition. Growing urban centers of a more industrial era valued an individual as a source of labor as well as the masses to be divided into market audiences. The concept of anonymity also rose in the industrialized 20th century, the idea that one could exist but not really have an identity attached to it. Though more and more people populate smaller and smaller areas, there is still a capacity for feeling alone and experiencing dissonance as people get caught up in the bustle of their urban lives.
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Isabel Valadez
Robert Tracy
ART 475-1001
Krichner and His Experimental Style
The piece I’ve chosen to discuss is Street, Dresden by Ernst Ludwig Krichner. As a German Expressionist and active member of Die Brucke he explored a style that borrowed from an array of different time periods and artists from German Medieval to other Modern artists of his time. His work was incredibly expressive, incorporating vibrant, otherworldly colors, warped, skewed perspectives and imaginative depictions of daily scenes from life. One quote from the list seemed most able to help expand on the concept of expressionist painting, which is “The art of painting original arrangements composed of elements taken from conceived
rather than perceived reality.” by Guillaume Apollinaire.
This is an oil painting of a crowd of people, each making their way through a crowded street in Dresden. Instead of a more classical approach to building a composition, in which an artist might try and settle on a specific space and then let that space govern the way people are rendered within that space, Krichner paints the people as a governing element of the space created in this scene. There are no signs of buildings, sidewalks, lamp posts or designated street areas but instead there are men, women and children all moving about in different directions. The outlines of the bodies in the crowd are solid in the sense that they block out some individuals in the foreground but as the space recedes the outlines become less distinct so that a crowd is more represented by flowing, bumpy lines that are meant to symbolize a crowd. Within the bustling, tight-knit composition one can see how Krichner definitely favors a more original and free flowing space that aligns more closely with a conceived depiction of reality.
The colors that Krichner chooses are also fairly unconventional. The rich greens, blues, reds and whites he uses seem almost too vivid to be realistic to the everyday person, who might have dressed in more subdued greys, blacks and subtle blues. The ground is made up of a an almost bubblegum pink shade, with patches of darker shades of pink and even some light greens, yellows and blues. Krichner also includes outline colors on his subjects in the crowd. A woman in a bright red coat is outlined with touches of green, another woman’s bright green hat is heavily lined with bits of fiery orange. It seems that these expressive color choices are meant to create a hyper realistic depiction of city life and again distinguish this image as one meant to convey a conceived reality rather than a perceived one, as Apollinaire suggested in his quote.
Krichner uses this conceived reality to bring up the issue of a burgeoning, yet not necessarily benevolent, modern way of living in early 20th Century Germany. Because German Expressionists began breaking down the classical conventions of Western painting, they were able to use their unique style as an experiment to create emotion through their brushwork, line, color and form. The skewed, tightly squeezed composition puts emphasis on the growing population of cities and how this changes human interaction. Even though the lines of his crowd ebbs and flows, there is still a tense pattern that strains the individuals within the crowd. Though one might initially associate vibrant colors with a sense of joy or positivity, Krichner purposefully makes his abundance of shades clash and compete for attention within the composition. Growing urban centers of a more industrial era valued an individual as a source of labor as well as the masses to be divided into market audiences. The concept of anonymity also rose in the industrialized 20th century, the idea that one could exist but not really have an identity attached to it. Though more and more people populate smaller and smaller areas, there is still a capacity for feeling alone and experiencing dissonance as people get caught up in the bustle of their urban lives.
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Kelsey Neill
ART 473
Professor Robert Tracy
October 22, 2020
“What simplicity! An object does not have a single absolute form—it has many, as many as
there are planes in the region of perception.” – Andre Salmon
Looking at The Guitarist, 1910, oil on canvas, 100 x 73 cm (Centre Pompidou, Paris) by Pablo Picasso, you initially see nothing but boxed out polygons with quick, but precise strokes. You see colors akin to mud gracing the canvas grading into tints and shades. Initial reactions from most would be that it’s, “oh you know, just art,” without fully understanding the context of the piece. Most would completely disregard the subject of the artwork without looking twice. Most would note the simplicity of painting “something like this” and say they could do the same easily. What they are missing out on is the analytic side of cubism. To fully understand what is going on, what the artist is trying to convey, one must be able to analyze the separate parts and components of the piece. The Guitarist is an abstraction– the multiple blocks coming together almost like a jigsaw puzzle. The closer you stand in front of it, the more nonsensical it seems, but the further away you stand from it, the more you do realize that it does resemble the figure of a man and his guitar.
You can make out the head at the top, the shoulders, the slant of his elbows, and a rough outline of a fingerboard of the guitar. If you were to transform the painting horizontally, it would translate into a different image. However, Picasso never truly meant for his abstractions to be a puzzle, but an exact replication of what he perceives of the subject within different regions of perception. For many years prior, humanity has always tried to represent the world through art as we see it in the most realistic style as possible. “Good art” was subject to how real it looked on canvas. However, with the emergence of photography and technological advancements, turn-of-the-century upheavals, Picasso wanted to reject these old ways of painting. Painting was an illusion, its own system of representation, to Picasso. What we actually see is not reliable, therefore he created his own language through cubism.
There is a tension between the title of the painting, The Guitarist, and the actual painting. At first glance, you would not be able to tell that it is about a guitarist at all. It is not until you read the title, then analyze the shapes the painting has, to begin to understand the abstraction. However, the work does not fully sway to abstract, as it’s not fully flat polygons. Picasso gave life through the careful stipples, resembling shadows and light and dimension.
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“Many think that Cubism is an art of transition, an experiment which is to bring ulterior results. Those who think that way have not understood it. Cubism is not either a seed or a foetus, but an art dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live its own life.” (Pablo Picasso) The similarities between choosing to live as an abstract artist and choosing to live in an abstracted world are very strong because both require their own desire to rise above the constant of their past.
“The paradox of increasing car accessibility and decreasing intensity of users can be seen at its extreme in Los Angeles…It would seem that Los Angeles ought to be approaching the point of equilibrium because 95 percent of travel within Los Angeles is now done by private automobile. Yet, even so, the pressures have not been sufficiently equalized, for into Los Angeles’ eroded and drab downtown 66 percent of users still come by public transportation.” (Jane Jacobs) The Ennis House House designed by Frank Loyd Wright brings in the sense of Los Angeles with the unity in cubism and abstraction that Picasso infused into his art during his life. Each square of concrete leads delicately to the next generating an entirely abstract way of existence. Frank paid homage to Mayan Architecture and used the soil from the property itself in order to instill the same earthy vibes throughout the entirety of the house. Frank was so moved when he saw the mayan architecture in a recent visit that he started experimenting with the use of concrete to recreate the aesthetic of cohesion of art with nature.
The Ennis house has been used for films like Day of the Locust and Blade Runner. Blade Runner has an extremely futuristic feel which totally contradicts the Mayan vibes of the past but somehow they were both abstract enough to become cohesive.
The square nature of the house represents pixels from a computer generated image which look a lot like Picasso’s work. There is a subtle design within some of the art choices throughout the house. When Franks wife had passed, he became almost engulfed in Mayan Architecture and how it could help him stay distracted. Often art can heal people in ways that can be achieved in no other manner.
Picasso lived through much pain and suffering much like Frank Loyd Wright, maybe in a way that influenced their art in similar ways. They began to create what they felt more so than what they were being influenced to see. Los Angeles is Abstract in that they do not act like other cities, they choose to mainly drive their own cars while only 66 percent use public transportation. They would rather abstract their lives and live in their own bubbles instead of harmonizing with the rest of the city like they would in New York where taxi’s reign supreme. Having a city life that can be permeated by public transport will have to become more commonplace in Los Angeles so I do not know how long their single use car lifestyle is going to survive the elements of time.
The world needs Los Angeles to rise up and find a new way to be enticed by public transport and Uber or Lyft have been starting to fill that void. Maybe with time there can be a new wave of throughout where just relying on someone to pick you up is more sought after. There would be countless opportunities for the community to thrive instead of just surviving when it comes to pollution and reducing harmful emissions. Los Angeles is a modern Abstract on reality because public transport is more appealing to other cities but here they do not care similar to how Picasso chose to see the world in a cubism and abstract manner as well even though he was way ahead of the Los Angeles lifestyle.
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