Before we start…our WTF essay question of the day (from last year’s exam.) Explain what paintings are about other than their subject matter.

ESSAY Q.7: Explain how different aspects of artists’ worlds affect their art- making. Refer to specific artists and artworks in your answer. ‘The artist’s world’ can be a very personal thing; or it can be a response to what is happening more generally in the world.

Landscape painting is a way of representing your world. It can indicate what is considered important in a certain culture at a certain time. One very influential painter was Claude Lorrain (French, ) His landscapes were idealised…they seemed nobler and more beautiful than they would have literally been in real life. Claude Lorrain, Judgement of Paris, 1645

Manet, Luncheon on the Grass, 1863, a painting of contemporary life. Edgar Degas, The Dance Class, Degas was interested in describing contemporary life. He depicted dancers not merely as things of beauty, but as hard-working women. Many of his works read as if they were photographs – they have interesting perspective and sometimes involve cropping of an Image. This makes them feel very modern.

Carlos Schwabe, German, (1866 – 1926) Death of the Grave-digger, 1895 Clip of some of Schwabe’s work: What do we see as recurring themes in his work? These are more or less typical of Symbolist art. Of course, these themes never really went away, and are certainly still popular today. Symbolist art – end 19 th / beginning 20 th century. Fernand Khnopff (Belgium, ), The Sphinx 1896

Gustav Klimt, The Kiss, , oil and gold leaf on canvas, 180 x 180cm

m/watch?v=8o- tLrI2K6Y&list=PL2D885F 5ED630353D&index=11 &feature=plpp_video m/watch?v=8o- tLrI2K6Y&list=PL2D885F 5ED630353D&index=11 &feature=plpp_video Hugo Ball, performing at Cabaret Voltaire Hans Arp, Collage Squares arranged according to the laws of chance, 1917.

John Heartfield, The meaning of the Hitler salute: Little man asks for big gifts, 1932 Hannah Hoch, Love, photomontage, Fwx- gA&list=PL2D885F5ED630353D&index=8&fe ature=plpp_video

Victor Brauner, (Romania, ) Loup-table (Wolf-table), table and fox parts, An Example of a ‘surrealist object’ – nonsensical and unexpected juxtaposition of objects, possibly originally based on chance, and which questions reality in some way. The idea was that some inner reality; some more real reality could be reached through a shake-up of the normal, conventional rules and regulations we live under. Man Ray, Gift, Salvador Dali, Lobster Telephone, 1936

Jackson Pollock, BLUE POLES NO 11, x 4.9m Mark Rothko, # 20, 1957

Donald Judd, Untitled, stainless steel and plexiglass, 1968, 83.8 × × cm Flavin was interested in abstract shapes, line and colour and experimented with using light as though he was painting. His light installations were a half-way point between painting and sculpture. The light Involves the walls, corner etc. of the gallery as well. Dan Flavin, Pink out of a corner (to Jasper Johns), 1963

Janet Laurence – what world does her art practice revolve around? Imants Tillers – what world is he concerned with? Walter De Maria – what world is he interested in?

Surrealist art: surrealistart-en.htm#rayographs Dan Flavin: surrealistart-en.htm#rayographs