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HU300: Unit 2 Art

Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889

Subjects in art

What does the picture show?

The subject of a picture can be described as its genre.

Some common genres of pictures:

LandscapeStill Life Portrait Genre scene (this one is a little confusing – a genre scene is basically a scene of everyday life.)

Georgia O’Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Mary’s II. 1930. Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ in. Collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Mary’s II. 1930. Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ in. Collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

Abstract: art that takes from reality only what the artist wants or that renders a visual depiction of the concepts in the artist’s mind.

Georgia O’Keeffe, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico / Out Back of Mary’s II. 1930. Oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ in. Collection of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

Chiaroscuro (key-ah-row-SCUR-oh): Italian term denoting a way of reproducing in a work of art the interplay of light and shadow in the real world.

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CubismDeveloped by

French artists Georges Braque and Spanish artists Pablo Picasso in Paris, around 1908.

They became aware of the work of Paul Cézanne through posthumous exhibitions that were held in Paris.

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10

Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

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Cubism

What do you expect from a portrait of a person?

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10

Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

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Cubism

Pierre-August Renoir (French,1841-1919)

Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1908

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10

Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

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Cubism

What do you expect from a portrait of a person?

Likeness: the reproduction by an artist of a person or landscape with the aim of being as close to reality as possible; popularity began to diminish with the invention of photography in the 19th century.Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Portrait of Ambrose Vollard, 1909-10

Oil on canvas, 36 ¼” x 25 5/8”. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.

Georges Braque (1882-1963)Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912

Mixed media, 24” x 17 ½” Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT

Still Life: a genre of painting in which the artist reproduces the likeness of a particular arrangement of objects, such as a bowl of flowers or fruit or other kinds of food on a table.

Collage: a work of art in which a variety of materials such as newsprint, magazine pictures, crepe paper, even glass and wood are glued together, forming a new whole, expressive of the artist.

Georges Braque (1882-1963)Fruit Dish and Glass, 1912

Mixed media, 24” x 17 ½” Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT

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SurrealismDeveloped in the

1920s and 1930s in Europe and America.

Themes and images in surrealist art draw from the subconscious mind, dream imagery, as well as visual puns.

René Magritte (Belgian, 1898-1967) The Treachery of Images, 1928-29

Oil on canvas, 1’ 11 5/8” x 3’ 1”Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Translation: This is not a pipe.

SURREALISM

Salvador Dalí (Spanish,1904-1989)The Persistence of Memory, 1931

Oil on canvas, 9 ½” x 1’ 1”Museum of Modern Art, New York

ABSTRACT ART

Abstract art: art that takes from reality only what the artist wants or that renders a visual depiction of concepts in the artist’s mind; a work of art that in no way resembles the real world.

“I was returning from my sketching deep in thought, when, on opening the studio door, I was suddenly confronted with a picture of indescribable incandescent loveliness. Bewildered, I stopped, staring at it. The painting lacked all subject, depicted no recognizable object and was entirely composed of bright patches of colour. Finally, I approached closer, and only then recognized it for what it really was – my own painting standing on its side on the easel…

One thing became clear to me – that objectiveness, the depiction of objects, needed no place in my paintings and was indeed harmful to them.” ~ Vassily Kandinsky

Vassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) Painting with Houses, 1909

Expressionism

What is your reaction to this work of art by Wassily Kandinsky?

Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944), Improvisation 30 (Cannons), 1913Oil on canvas, 43 11/16” x 43 13/16”. Art Institute of Chicago.

Vassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) Composition VII, 1913

Oil on canvas, 6’ 6 ¼” x 9’ 11 1/8”State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

John Sloan (American, 1871-1951)Hairdresser’s Window, 1907

Oil on canvas, 32 x 26” Wadsworth Athaneum, Hartford, CT

genre scene: a picture representing everyday life.

Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977) Three Graces, 2005

Oil and enamel on canvas, 6’ x 8’. Private collection.

Kehinde Wiley (American, b. 1977) Three Graces, 2005

Oil and enamel on canvas, 6’ x 8’. Private collection.

Sandro Botticelli (Italian, c. 1455-1510 ) Primavera (Spring), c. 1482Tempera on panel, 6’ 8” x 10’ 4”.

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

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Art can often mean different things to different people.

Is this a strength or a weakness?

Mark Rothko (American, 1903-1970), No. 61 (Rust and Blue), 1953

Oil on canvas, 45” x 36”Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

FORM and FUNCTION

Simply put, form is shape, design, or organization.

Function refers to use or function.

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Larkin Building, 1904

(formerly Buffalo, New York)

FORM and FUNCTION

Simply put, form is shape, design, or organization.

Function refers to use or function.

Imagine you are an architect designing an office building.

What are some things you would think about concerning the building’s function? 25

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Larkin Building, 1904

(formerly Buffalo, New York)

FORM and FUNCTION

Simply put, form is shape, design, or organization.

Function refers to use or function.

Imagine you are an architect designing an office building.

And what about the building’s form?

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Larkin Building, 1904

(formerly Buffalo, New York)

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Larkin Building, 1904

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Larkin Building, 1904

What are some important concerns when it comes to the form and function of a home?

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Robie House, 1909

Chicago, Illinois

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Robie House, 1909

Chicago, Illinois

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Robie House, 1909

Chicago, Illinois

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1943-46

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1943-46

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I. M. Pei (b. 1917, Chinese)Pyramid du Louvre, 1989

Paris, France

What do you think about the form and function of I. M. Pei’s entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris?

Thoughts on the materials of glass and steel?

35I. M. Pei (b. 1917, Chinese)

Pyramid du Louvre, 1989

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Frank Gehry (b. 1929, Canadian) Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain), 1997

DECONSTRUCTIVIST ARCHITECTURE

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Frank Gehry (b. 1929, Canadian)

Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao, Spain), 1997

Architectural forms become destabilized and asymmetrical

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Any questions?

Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889

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Thanks for your participation, have a great week!

Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night, 1889