The journey into modern art is an assent into abstraction.
We begin with Paul Cezanne (French, 1838-1906). Cezanne defied
classical tradition with his distortion of reality. Take for instance
ÒStill Life With ApplesÓ 1895-98:
The bowl on the table goes too far wedged back into the corner
to be physically sensible. Also the table extends to the left and
behind infinitely. These traits, while expressive, do not come from reality.
While the work of Cezanne is just barely surrealistic, Vincent
van Gogh (1853-1890) delved further into abstraction. van Gogh was probably
bipolar although the condition wasnÕt understood during his life time.
He was a little crazy but didnÕt cut his own ear off. It was mauled in a
drunken bar fight. Take his hallmark piece ÒStarry NightÓ 1889:
van Gogh uses curves to express motion that you donÕt actually see like
the wind (top left to bottom right), the land/sky boundary (top right to
bottom left) and the tree (vertical). The landscape was real but the town
was not there, including the people looking out the windows. The subject
matter thus does not come from the world around the artist, but rather
somewhere else. The sense of gesture depends on the viewers own sensibility.
van GoghÕs career lasted barely more than a decade and he only sold one painting,
dispite his brotherÕs art profession: art dealer. Although people didnÕt
understand yet what van Gogh was doing and thought he was nuts, nobody ever
called Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) an ass hole. Until Picasso, art was
predominantly a head-on view of the subject. Picasso was intensely analytical,
approaching subjects from 360 degrees and incorporating multiple views into representations,
constituting his major contribution to abstraction. Take for example
ÒLes Demadmoiselles dÕAvignonÓ 1907:
This highly ÒcubistÓ or sharp angled piece depicts scenes from brothel.
The two central European ladies of the night are lying on a bed.
On the left is an Egyptian and on the right, 2 Africans with masks.
Picasso kept this one private for a while because it was so provocative.
Note the feminine AND masculine qualities. To contrast the cubist
ÒLes Demadmoiselles dÕAvignon,Ó consider ÒThe BatherÓ 1885:
Note the manly legs yet seemingly frail arms and flaws in the chin
and on the right breast. In PicassoÕs career, the printing press
threatened artists with its invention and prudction of fungible art pieces.
Consider ÒThe ArchitectÕs TableÓ 1912:
This piece actually depicts an architectÕs table, try and find some architect tools.
The ÒMAJOLIEÓ (PicassoÕs romantic interest, left) resembles printed text with serifs,
striking a nerve with the artistic community.
The first artist to jump right off the deep end into abstraction was
Vasily Kandinsky (1866-11944), who said he was trying to Òpaint music.Ó
Ò4 Panels for Edwin R. CambellÓ 1914:
The above panels were painted to fit the walls in part of CambellÕs house,
hence their non-uniform size. There is probably nothing recognizable from
the real world in these paintings, take a look:
My favorite piece is by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German 1880-1938).
Kirchner exposed the ugliness of urban civilization because at the time
Germany was growing rapidly. The concentration of people is high yet the
characters appearily without sould in his ÒStreet DresdenÓ 1907:
Note how crowded the people are, like farm animals. Note the vacant
black holes in the eyes. Note the alien-green face on the right hand lady
and the hand on the left hand lady. Note the child all alone in the middle of the street.
Is her hat about to bite off her head!?
Lastly, take a look at ÒThe Red StudioÓ 1911 by Henri Matisse (1869-1954):
Notice how the emphasis is on the art and not the studio.
Matisse shows his classical proficiency with the immaculately detailed
glass goblet on the left of the table. Even refraction in the glass of
the edge of the table is precise. What heÕs saying with it is
Òhey look, I can paint classically but donÕt want to this is my life,
the life of the abstract artist!Ó
To leave you feeling antsy, hereÕs a Dali Statue:
