ART OF THE 19TH CENTURY

…PRESENT TODAY

Directory

A – María Navarro Partida: Find out

what is the influence of the 19 the

century art present in the artwork

assigned.

B – María Andrea Sánchez:

Contexts: historical, social and

cultural-artistic

C – Luis Daniel Ayala: The artists

and their work

http://vimeo.com/33976373

A

A Little Introduction

The symbolism is an artistic movement that was born in XIX

century in France and Belgium. This style of art tried to

expressed the deep emotions of a person (generally an artist),

rather than portray a representation of reality. One of the most

famous artist in this movement is Edvart Munch (1863- 1944)

who painted “The Scream”.

A

Melancholy, 1891 The Murderess, 1906 Golgotha,

1900

Things to recognize in

SymbolismGenerally, symbolist artworks expressed strong emotions, disturbing feelings or problems.

This movement was born in a “bad time” for society (French and English revolutions) and was influenced in “technique” by the post-impresionism.

Commonly used dissonant, complementary or “sad” colors to create anxiety (when using yellow , purple was added; when orange, then blue).

Symbolist art is generally considered disturbing (because use of its “strong themes”).

Some common topics are: fear, death, eroticism, anxiety, distress and loneliness.

A

The Scream, 1893

Sebastian Cosor and his

version of “The Scream”Now, we can go to the work of Sebastian Cosor. He is a Romanian artist that had the idea of expressing his vision about “The Scream” of Edvard Munch, inspired by some of the words what the painter said when he created his famous work.

Edvard gave us a painting and Sebastian, a video in 3D.

“Walking along a path with two friends - the sun set -suddenly the sky turned red blood, I stopped and leaned on a fence dead tired - blood and tongues of fire lurking on the dark blue of the fjord and city - my friends continued and I was still trembling with anxiety, I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.” Edvard Munch

A

Historical contextThe historical context that influenced the development of Symbolism was

the Elightenment movement.

The Enlightenment focused in what was happening inside the human mind:

the profound thoughts, dreams, goals and imagination of the human being.

Arthur Loureiro Study for 'The spirit of the new moon’ 1888 (detail)

Queensland Art Gallery.

B

Social Context

Society was developing new and

revolutonary thoughts that were more

concentrated in what the individual

human needs were. So events like

Revolutions where happening in

Latinoamrica because they people

demanded wanted personal

freedom, specially freedom of

speech and thought.

Horse-drawn tram, Hove, Brighton &

Hove, late 19th century

B

Cultural – Artistic context

B

“Louisa May Alcott, known best as the author

of Little Women, was a popular female author

of the late 1800s. Long before her literary

career, Alcott was an army nurse in the Civil

War where she broke the ban on admitting

single women. After the war and a trip to

Europe, Alcott returned to America to find her

family once again in debt. She resolved to

change that with the publication of Little

Women”.

• (http:/savethelobsters.wordpress.com/categor

y/uncategorized/)

B

Edvard Munch1873 – 1944

(late 19th century, early 20th century)

•Lost his mother and sister at early ages. Raised by his mentally

ill father to fear death, hell and the external forces of the

unknown.

•During his first travel to Paris in 1885, he was influenced by the

impressionist artists of the moment, which focused on inner

perceptions, rather than objective portrayals of things.

•His subjective portrayal of his inner anxieties were product of

both his unhappy life and the difficulties of his curren times. His

art not only reflected his own fears and torments, but also those

that any human being could experience, specially in that time

period.

•During his adult life, he suffered from alcoholism and was heavily

affected from a difficult romantic relationship, which led him to be

comitted to a psychiatric hospital. He eventually rehabilitated.

•During the later years of his life after his recovery, the pessimistic

tones on his works were less prominent and they now showed

traces of peacefulness, as if Edvard had been coming into terms

Self-portrait, 1895

C

“Anxiety”, 1894

The the black-clothed line of people are reminescent of a group leaving from

(or marching to) a funeral, while their green-pale faces make them look as if

they were the ones dead. Likewise, their expressions look death in the sense

that they’re emotionless, but also penetrating, specially from the woman in the

very front. Fear of death was one of Munch’s sources of anxieties and it is

clearly shown here.

C

“Separation”, 1900

Here depected is a faceless (thus emotionless) and bright woman, leaving

behind a dark and pale-faced man, who clutches his heart in pain. Heartbreak

from love is a common source of pain and torment for any man and woman,

and Munch himself had suffered from it after many difficult relationships (one of

which became a partial reason for his mental breakdown), so those same

emotions he had gone through can be seen here.

C

“Worker and Child”, 1907

Perhaps an early hint of Munch’s slight overcome of his torments before his

breakdown one year later, here we see a group of dark-clothed workers. The

most prominent of them seen at the front, is seeing holding the hands of a little

girl, who contrasts with her bright colors. It could be seen as a man’s

rediscovery of the enjoyment of life, which Munch would do to some extent

after rehabilitating from his psychiatric treatment.

C

•The work of Munch is considered symbolic as it doesn’t seek to represent an

external part of life, but rather a personal emotion, or a source of thereof, experienced

internally.

•Munich uses the reocorruing use of certain elements in order to symbolize certain his

themes, mostly negative in nature. In “Worker and Child” and “Separation”, the dark

clothing of the characters on the left, who evoke a negative feeling of sadness,

frustration and pessimism, contrast against the bright figures on the right, both

reflective of liveliness and perhaps optimism.

•Aside from common symbolism, Munch also makes use of personal symbols. Notice

how in “Anxiety” he reuses the same background mostly remembered from “The

Scream”. The Oslo Bridge is seen as a personal motif of his, which express his

sensation of feeling like a lost wanderer in a strange environment. This same

background would also reappear in another of his paintings: “Despair” (1893).

C

References

Save The Lobsters!. (n.d.). Save The Lobsters. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://savethelobsters.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized

Ya está el listo que todo lo sabe. (n.d.). Ya está el listo que todo lo sabe. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://blogs.20minutos.es/yaestaellistoquetodolosabe/tag/sebastian-cosor/>.

vintage everyday. (n.d.). : Headless Portraits From the 19th Century. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://www.vintag.es/2012/12/headless-portraits-from-19th-century.html

Biografia de Edvard Munch. (n.d.). Biografia de Edvard Munch. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/m/munch.htm

Biografía de Edvard Munch - quién es, información, datos, historia, obras, vida. (n.d.). Biografía de Edvard Munch - quién es, información, datos, historia, obras, vida. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://www.buscabiografias.com/bios/biografia/verDetalle/92/Edvard%20Munch

Edvard Munch. (n.d.). - paintings, biography, and quotes of. Retrieved January 27, 2014, from http://www.edvardmunch.org/

Edvard Munch - The Dance of Life Site. (n.d.). Edvard Munch - The Dance of Life Site. Retrieved January 28, 2014, from http://www.edvard-munch.com/index1.htm

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