20th century art
witnessed all the influential movements in the history of the arts. It brought
forth new perspective and opportunities that gave rise to what we call “Modern
art”. It was also the stage for some of the greatest modern artists in history.
Beginning in the late 19th century, artists started to experiment
with subjects which create a more realistic reflection of their own inner
visions. This inspired many artists to break away from tradition and previous
methods. They focused on new artistic ideas and rejected conventional art
techniques, opening a wide range of new forms and style.
The first
movement of this period was Fauvism. Developed in France during the beginning
of the 20th century by Henri Matisse and André Derain, Fauvism is a
style in which color ruled supreme. Artists who used this style were known as “'Les
Fauves” or wild beasts in French. The name came from a sarcastic remark in a
review by art critic Louis Vauxcelles. Les Fauves believed that color should be
used at its highest degree to express the artist's feelings about a subject,
rather than simply to describe what it looks like. They greatly admired Vincent
van Gogh, who describes his own work: “Instead of trying to render what I see
before me, I use color in a completely arbitrary way to express myself
powerfully”. They carried this idea further by expressing their feelings into
color with a rough, almost clumsy style. Fauvist paintings feature two main aspects:
extremely simplified drawing and intensely exaggerated color.
In the north
of Europe, Fauvism was pushed to a new emotional and psychological depth. This
became known as Expressionism. Emerged in Germany in the early decades of the
20th century, Expressionism is a style of art that is charged with
an emotional or spiritual vision of the world. It was characterized by heightened,
symbolic colors and exaggerated imagery that tended to dwell on the darker,
sinister aspects of the human psyche. The term “Expressionism” is used to
describe any form of art that raises subjective feelings above objective
observations. The purpose is to project the artists’ state of mind rather than
the reality of the external world.
The most
famous groups of Expressionists were the Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter. Die
Brücke (The Bridge) was an artistic community of young artists in Dresden who
aimed to overthrow the old-fashioned traditions of German art. The founding
members include Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl
Schmidt-Rottluff. Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider) was a group of artists
whose publications and exhibitions sought to find a common creative ground
between the various Expressionist art forms. Its founding members were Wassily
Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, Franz Marc, August
Macke and Gabriele Münter.
As they began
exhibiting their work to the public, Der Blaue Reiter also paved the way
towards “abstraction” and its stand for free experimentation and originality. Wassily
Kandinsky, the most influential member of the group often credited with the
distinction of painting the first “abstract” picture, was convinced by the
emotional properties of shape, line and above all, color in painting. The use
of color and shape to move the observer was paramount in the development of
abstract art. The word 'abstract' means to withdraw part of something in order
to consider it separately. Abstract art or non-objective art, is art in which
little or no attempt is made to objectively replicate or illustrate the appearances
or forms of objects in the realm of nature or the existing physical world.
Considered as
the most influential art movement in the 20th century, Cubism
transformed European painting and sculpture and inspired related movements in
music, literature and architecture. Cubism was invented around 1907 in Paris by
Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. The French art critic Louis Vauxcelles coined
the term “Cubism” after seeing the landscapes Braque had painted in 1908 at
L'Estaque in emulation of Cézanne. Vauxcelles called the geometric forms in the
highly abstracted works "cubes". The Cubist style disregards the
tradition of perspective drawing and instead, demonstrates the many views of a
subject at a single time. Cubist painters present a new reality in paintings
that illustrates radically fragmented objects, whose several sides were showing
different aspects of the object simultaneously.
Another
revolutionary movement in the history of art was Futurism. Futurism celebrated
modernity and emphasized the dynamism, speed, energy, and power of the machine
as well as the vitality, change, and restlessness of modern life in general. The
name “Futurism” was coined by the Italian poet and editor, Filippo Tommaso
Marinetti. He emphasized on the discarding of what he conceived to be the
static and irrelevant art of the past and the celebration of change,
originality, and innovation in culture and society. Futurism was introduced on the
Paris newspaper Le Figaro, as they published a manifesto by Marinetti. His
manifesto glorified the new technology of the automobile and the beauty of its
speed, power, and movement. The manifesto’s rhetoric was quite impactful, with
its aggressive and provoking tone. It was intended to incite public anger and astonishment,
to trigger controversy and attract widespread attention.
The first
major anti-art movement, called Dada or Dadaism, also belonged to the 20th
century. It was a revolt against the culture and values that were believed to had
caused and supported the carnage of The First World War. Dada was an informal
international movement, with participants from both Europe and North America. Key
figures included Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, Hans Arp, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah
Höch, Johannes Baader, Tristan Tzara, Francis Picabia, Richard Huelsenbeck,
George Grosz, John Heartfield, Marcel Duchamp, Beatrice Wood, Kurt Schwitters,
Hans Richter, and Max Ernst. The name “Dada” was coined in Zurich in 1916. The
word was randomly selected from the German-French dictionary by poet Richard
Huelsenbeck and painter-musician Hugo Ball.
According to Hans Richter, Dada was "anti-art”
because it was the opposite of everything that art stood for. If art was concerned
with traditional aesthetics and appeal to sensibilities, Dada ignored aesthetics
and was intended to offend. As an anti-art group, Dada used outrageous strategies
to assault the established traditions of art through an onslaught of
demonstrations, manifestos, and displays of absurdist art, intended to outrage
and shock both the authorities and the general public. Ironically, despite its
nihilistic mission, Dadaism prompted the rise and refinement of several
important changes in the fine arts, including collage and photo- montage, and
later, affected other modern art developments like Surrealism, Pop-Art and
contemporary workmanship styles.
Overall, I can say that I am quite enthralled with
the innovation and vision brought upon by the artists and their artworks. I
admire how they broke free from the typical art styles from the past eras, and
instead, developed a myriad amount of advanced art movements that initiated a
revolution throughout the world of art. I am also immensely influenced and
inspired by the rebellious nature of this era, as I believe that art is a
freedom of expression. In the future, I desire to create my own art style that
would have the same independence and distinctive qualities found in this
period. I am also hoping that fellow artists would also realize and be inspired
by the brilliance of this generation.
References:
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Images from:
ibibilio.org
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