MAPEH 10

EXPRESSIONISM

I n the early 1900s, there arose in the Western art world a movement that came to be
known as expressionism. Expressionist artists created works with more emotional
force, rather than with realistic or natural images. To achieve this, they distorted
outlines, applied strong colors, and exaggerated forms. They worked more with their
imagination and feelings, rather than with what their eyes saw in the physical world.
NEOPRIMITIVISM
NEOPRIMITIVISM WAS AN ART STYLE THAT
INCORPORATED ELEMENTS FROM THE NATIVE ARTS OF THE
SOUTH SEA ISLANDERS AND THE WOOD CARVINGS OF
AFRICAN TRIBES WHICH SUDDENLY BECAME POPULAR AT
THAT TIME. AMONG THE WESTERN ARTISTS WHO ADAPTED
THESE ELEMENTS WASAMEDEO MODIGLIANI, WHO USED THE
OVAL FACES AND ELONGATED SHAPES OF AFRICAN ART IN
BOTH HIS SCULPTURES AND PAINTINGS.
HEAD
Amedeo
Modigliani, c. 1913
YELLOW
SWEATER
Amedeo Modigliani,
1919
FAUVISM
FAUVISM WAS A STYLE THAT USED BOLD,
VIBRANT COLORS AND VISUAL DISTORTIONS.
ITS NAME WAS DERIVED FROM LES FAUVES
(WILD BEASTS), REFERRING TO THE GROUP
OF FRENCH EXPRESSIONIST PAINTERS WHO
PAINTED IN THIS STYLE. PERHAPS THE MOST
KNOWN AMONG THEM WAS HENRI MATISSE.
BLUE WINDOW
HENRI MATISSE, 1911
OIL ON CANVAS
DADAISM
DADAISM was a style characterized by dream fantasies, memory images, and
visual tricks and surprisesas in the paintings of marc Chagall and Giorgio de
Chirico below. although the works appeared playful, the movement arose from
the pain that a group of European artists felt after the suffering brought by world
war I. wishing to protest against the civilization that had brought on such horrors,
these artists rebelled against established norms and authorities, and against the
traditional styles in art. they chose the childs term for hobbyhorse, dada, to refer
to their new non-style.
Melancholy and Mystery of a Street I and the Village
Giorgio de Chirico, 1914 Marc Chagall, 1911
Oil on canvas Oil on canvas
SURREALISM
SURREALISM WAS A STYLE THAT DEPICTED AN
ILLOGICAL, SUBCONSCIOUS DREAM WORLD BEYOND
THE LOGICAL, CONSCIOUS, PHYSICAL ONE. ITS NAME
CAME FROM THE TERM SUPER REALISM, WITH ITS
ARTWORKS CLEARLY EXPRESSING A DEPARTURE
FROM REALITYAS THOUGH THE ARTISTS WERE
DREAMING, SEEING ILLUSIONS, OR EXPERIENCING AN
ALTERED MENTAL STATE.
PERSISTENCE
OF MEMORY
SALVADOR DALI, 1931
OIL ON CANVAS
Many surrealist works depicted morbid
or gloomy subjects, as in those by
Salvador Dali. Others were quite playful
and even humorous, such as those by
Paul Klee and Joan Miro.
Diana Personages with Star
Paul Klee, 1932 Joan Miro, 1933
Oil on wood Oil on canvas
SOCIAL REALISM
THE MOVEMENT KNOWN AS SOCIAL REALISM.EXPRESSED THE ARTISTS ROLE IN
SOCIAL REFORM. HERE, ARTISTS USED THEIR WORKS TO PROTEST AGAINST
THE INJUSTICES, INEQUALITIES, IMMORALITY, AND UGLINESS OF THE HUMAN
CONDITION. IN DIFFERENT PERIODS OF HISTORY, SOCIAL REALISTS HAVE
ADDRESSED DIFFERENT ISSUES: WAR, POVERTY, CORRUPTION, INDUSTRIAL
AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS, AND MOREIN THE HOPE OF RAISING
PEOPLES AWARENESS AND PUSHING SOCIETY TO SEEK REFORMS. BEN SHAHNS
MINERS WIVES, FOR EXAMPLE, SPOKE OUT AGAINST THE HAZARDOUS
CONDITIONS FACED BY COAL MINERS, AFTER A TRAGIC ACCIDENT KILLED 111
WORKERS IN ILLINOIS IN 1947, LEAVING THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN IN
MOURNING
MINERS WIVES
BEN SHAHN, 1948
 GUERNICA
PABLO PICASSO, 1937
 PABLO PICASSOS GUERNICA HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS THE
MOST MONUMENTAL AND COMPREHENSIVE STATEMENT OF
SOCIAL REALISMAGAINST THE BRUTALITYOF WAR.
FILLINGONEWALL OF THE SPANISH PAVILION AT THE 1937
WORLDS FAIR IN PARIS, IT WAS PICASSOS OUTCRY AGAINST
THE GERMAN AIR RAID OF THE TOWN OF GUERNICA IN HIS
NATIVE SPAIN.
CREATED IN THE MID-1900S, GUERNICA COMBINED ARTISTIC
ELEMENTS DEVELOPED IN THE EARLIER DECADES WITH
THOSE STILL TO COME. IT MADE USE OF THE EXAGGERATION,
DISTORTION, AND SHOCK TECHNIQUE OF EXPRESSIONISM. AT
THE SAME TIME, IT HAD ELEMENTS OF THE EMERGING STYLE
THAT WOULD LATER BE KNOWN AS CUBISM.
 ABSTRACTIONISM

A nother group of artistic styles emerged at the same time as the expressionist
movement. It had the same spirit of freedom of expression and openness that
characterized life in the 20th century, but it differed from expressionism in certain
ways.This group of styles was known as abstractionism.
THE ABSTRACTIONIST MOVEMENT AROSE FROM THE
INTELLECTUAL POINTS OF VIEW IN THE 20TH CENTURY.
IN THE WORLD OF SCIENCE, PHYSICISTS WERE
FORMULATING A NEW VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE, WHICH
RESULTED IN THE CONCEPTS OF SPACE-TIME AND
RELATIVITY. THIS INTELLECTUALISM WAS REFLECTED
EVEN IN ART. WHILE EXPRESSIONISM WAS EMOTIONAL,
ABSTRACTIONISM WAS LOGICAL AND RATIONAL. IT
INVOLVED ANALYZING, DETACHING, SELECTING,
ANDSIMPLIFYING.
 IN PREVIOUS CENTURIES, WORKS OF ART
WERE A REFLECTION, IN ONE WAY OR
ANOTHER, OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD. IN 20TH
CENTURY ABSTRACTIONISM, NATURAL
APPEARANCES BECAME UNIMPORTANT.
ARTISTS REDUCED A SCENE INTO
GEOMETRICAL SHAPES, PATTERNS, LINES,
ANGLES, TEXTURES AND SWIRLS OF COLOR.
THE RESULTING WORKS RANGED FROM
REPRESENTATIONAL ABSTRACTIONISM,
DEPICTING STILLRECOGNIZABLE SUBJECTS
(AS IN THE ARTWORK ON THE LEFT), TO PURE
ABSTRACTIONISM, WHERE NO
RECOGNIZABLE SUBJECT COULD BE
DISCERNED
OVAL STILL LIFE (LE VIOLON)
GEORGES BRAQUE, 1914
OIL ON CANVAS
GROUPEDUNDER ABSTRACTIONISM ARE THE FOLLOWING ART
STYLES:

CUBISM
FUTURISM
MECHANICAL STYLE
NONOBJECTIVISM
CUBISM
The cubist style derived its name from the cube, a
threedimensional geometric figure composed of strictly measured
lines, planes, and angles. Cubist artworks were, therefore, a play
of planes and angles on a flat surface. Foremost among the cubists
was Spanish painter/sculptor Pablo Picasso (right).
In earlier styles, subjects were depicted in a three-
dimensional manner, formed by light and shadow. In
contrast, the cubists analyzed their subjects basic
geometrical forms, and broke them up into a series of
planes. Then they re-assembled these planes, tilting
and interlocking them in different ways.
 Three Musicians Girl Before a Mirror (detail)
Pablo Picasso, 1921 Pablo Picasso, 1932
Oil on canvas Oil on canvas
IN ADDITION, THE ART OF THE PAST CENTURIES HAD DEPICTED A SCENE FROM A
SINGLE, STATIONARY POINT OF VIEW. IN CONTRAST, CUBISM TOOK THE
CONTEMPORARY VIEW THAT THINGS ARE ACTUALLY SEEN HASTILY IN
FRAGMENTS AND FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW AT THE SAME TIME. THIS WAS
REFLECTED IN THE DEPICTION OF OBJECTS FROM MORE THAN ONE VISUAL ANGLE
IN THE SAME PAINTING (E.G., THE BULLS HEAD IN PICASSOS GUERNICA, PAGE 207).

HUMAN FIGURES AS WELL WERE OFTEN REPRESENTED WITH FACIAL FEATURES

AND BODY PARTS SHOWN BOTH FRONTALLY AND FROM A SIDE ANGLE AT ONCE.
THIS GAVE A SENSE OF IMBALANCE AND MISPLACEMENT THAT CREATED
IMMEDIATE VISUAL IMPACT. IT ALSO GAVE CUBISM ITS CHARACTERISTIC FEELING
OF DYNAMISM AND ENERGY. TO THIS DAY, VARIATIONS OF CUBISM CONTINUE TO
APPEAR IN MANY CONTEMPORARY ARTWORKS.
Futurism

The movement known as futurism began in Italy in

the early 1900s. As the name implies, the futurists
created art for a fast-paced, machine-propelled age.
They admired the motion, force, speed, and strength of
mechanical forms. Thus, their works depicted the
dynamic sensation of all theseas can be seen in the
works of Italian painter GinoSeverini.

Armored Train
Gino Severini, 1915
Oil on canvas
Mechanical Style

As a result of the futurist movement, what became known as the mechanical style
emerged. In this style, basic forms such as planes, cones, spheres, and cylinders all fit
togetherprecisely and neatlyin their appointed places.

This can be seen in the works of

Fernand Lger.
Mechanical parts
such as
crankshafts, cylinder
blocks, and pistons are
brightened only by the use of
primary colors. Otherwise, they
are lifeless. Even human figures
are mere outlines,
rendered purposely
without expression.

The City Fernand Lger, 1919

Nonobjectivism
The logical geometrical conclusion of abstractionism
came in the style known as nonobjectivism. From the
very term non-object, works in this style did not make
use of figures or even representations of figures. They
did not refer to recognizable objects or forms in the
outside world.
Lines, shapes, and colors were used in a
cool, impersonal approach that aimed
for balance, unity, and stability. Colors
were mainly black, white, and
the primaries (red, yellow, and blue).
Foremost among the nonobjectivists
was Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.

New York City

Piet Mondrian,
1942
Oil on canvas