RESPONSES TO MODERNISM IN THE WEST

THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

WHAT IS MODERNISM ?

Modernism refers to the movement that gained momentum in the West in the early 20th century, that influenced art and literature. It is characterized by a deliberate rejection of the styles of the past, emphasizing instead on the innovation and experimentation in forms, materials and techniques in order to create artworks and literature that better reflected modern society.

WHY DID MODERNISM OCCUR IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY?

• First World War (1914-1918)• Nationalism• Decolonization• Technological advancement in transport and communication• World population growth• Cultural homogenization

MODERN ART MOVEMENTS OF THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY

• Fauvism (1904-1908)• Die Bruke (formed in 1905)• Der Blaue Reiter (1911-1914)• Expressionism • Futurism (1909-1914)• Cubism (1907-1920s)• Orphism• Photography• Suprematism• Synchronism• Vorticism• Dadaism (1916-1924)

VISUAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MODERN ART AND

THE PREVIOUS ART MOVEMENTS FROM

RENAISSANCE TO 19TH CENTURY IN EUROPE

ART FROM RENAISSANCE TO 19TH CENTURY

Mere visual representation of the world.MODERN ART OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Expressionism and abstraction

The Monalisa, Leonardo da Vinci, High Renaissance period (1503-1504)

Portrait of Madame Matisse (The Green Stripe), Henri Matisse, Fauvism, (1906)

ART FROM RENAISSANCE TO 19TH CENTURY MODERN ART OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Landscapes of Toledo, El Greco, Mannerism (1596–1600)

'Factory, Horta de Ebbo', Pablo Picasso, Cubism (1909)

ART FROM RENAISSANCE TO 19TH CENTURY MODERN ART OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY

The Union of Earth and Water, Rubens, Baroque Tanzschule, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Expressionism (1914)

ART FROM RENAISSANCE TO 19TH CENTURY MODERN ART OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Portrait of Madame Maria Zeffirina, Jean-Marc Nattier, Rococo Art (1751)

Cat on Yellow Cushion, Franz Marc, Blue Rider (1913)

ART FROM RENAISSANCE TO 19TH CENTURY MODERN ART OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Cupid and Psyche, Antonio Canova, neoclassicism (1793)

Fountain, Marcel Duchamp, Dadaism(1917)

ROGER FRY(art critic)

• Denied cyclical theory of history which was earlier put forward by Giorgio Vasari.

• Challenged revivalism of art from its previous movements.

• Modern art was independent and unique of its kind.

INFLUENCE OF

THE PREVIOUS ART MOVEMENTS ON

MODERN ART IN EUROPE

1. PAUL CEZANNE INSPIRED FROM NICOLAS POUSSIN

Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with a Calm, 1651 Paul Cézanne, 'Mont Sainte-Victoire’, 1885-87

2. GEORGES SEURAT INSPIRED FROM RENAISSANCE

Georges Seurat, 1887-88, Parade de cirque

Madonna del Cardellino, Raphael, Renaissance

3. PAUL GAUGUIN INSPIRED FROM ART OF MIDDLE AGES

‘Savior of the World’, unknown German artist, ca. 1100-1150

Self-portrait, Paul Gauguin

ESTABLISHING THE METHODS OF MODERN ART

IN EUROPE

1. REJECTION OF THE PAST

• Rejected naturalistic standard.

The Calling of Saint Matthew , Caravaggio, Baroque (1599–1600)

Kazimir Malevich, Suprematism (1916-17)

• Rejected the cycle of history.

The Raft of the Medusa, Géricault (1819)

Le critique d'art, Raoul Hausmann, Dadaism (1919)

• Rejected cultural context

Portrait of Madame de Pompadour, François Boucher, Rococo (1756)

Cubist Portrait by Pablo Picasso

2. INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE ARTISTS DURING MODERNISM

• Styles of the art movements during Modernism• General progress of Modernism• The grouping of individual styles into schools• Comparison between Different groups and/or styles

3. FACTORS FOR IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL AUTHORSHIP

• Iconographical analysis• Psychoanalytic dimension• Empirical analysis• Technique of Morellian connoisseurship

4. WOLFFLIN’S PRINCIPLES FOR DEFINING FORMS

• Linear and Painterly

Violin and Candlestick, Georges Braque, Cubism (1910)

Portrait of a Man, Erich Heckel, Expressionism

• Planar and recessional

Suprematism No. 58 (yellow and black), Kazimir Malevich, Suprematism (1916)

Black Square, Kazimir Malevich, Suprematism (1913)

• Closed and open form

Poster of Die Bruke

Seated Girl, Max Pechstein, Expressionism (1910)

• Multiplicity and Unity

Bürgerliches Brautpaar, Hannah Höch, Collage, Dadaism (1919)

Violin and Candlestick, Georges Braque, Cubism (1910)

• Absolute Clarity and Relative Clarity

"Portrait of Ambroise Vollard“, Pablo Picasso

Suprematism 18th, Kasimir Malevich,

5. A NEW METHOD BY ALFRED H. BARR

INFLUENCES OF MODERNISM ON EXISTING METHODS OF ART HISTORY

• Max Dvorak’s treatment of El Greco as a proto-expressionist.• Meyer Schapiro’s psychoanalytic analysis of Flemish Altarpiece.• Kenneth Clark’s treatment of Pierro Della Francesca as a modern formalist.• Willibald Sauerlander’s description Jean Bony’s vision of French 13th

century architecture as ‘mod gothic’