Art of the Early Twentieth Century Art in Focus Chapter 23

The beginning of the twentieth century is recognized today as a period of revolution and change in art. Renaissance 20th Century

Pg.516 The Fauves A group of younger French painters under the leadership of Henri Matisse. The Fauves carried ideas of Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. They built an art style that was unrealistic, free, and wild. Their paintings were so simple in design, so brightly colored and so loose in brush work that enraged critic called the artists Fauves, or “Wild Beasts” -Trisha Keiman -Henri Matisse

Pg. 516 Henri Matisse (1869-1954) Leader of the Fauves, turned to art when he was 20 years-old law student. He spent a brief year as a student of an academic painter, but found his experience almost as frustrating as studying law. Later Matisse studied with a different artist, who wasn’t as rigid and strict. Gustave Moreau encouraged Matisse to be free in his use of color. He became associated with him the Fauve movement. -1954 -1905

Pg. 518 German Expessionism Artist who are interested in communicating their deep emotional feelings through their artwork, were called Expressionist. Their art movement, Expressionism, is the result of art that is communicated with strong emotional feelings. - Paula Modersohn-Becker -Joseph Hitchcock

Pg. 520 Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) Käthe was another of Germany’s Great Expressionist. She used her art to protest against the tragic plight of the poor before and after World War 1. She chose to express her ideas with etchings, woodcuts, and lithographs. Her lithograph Woman Greeting Death is a perfect example of her work. It shows a woman--- frail, weak, and defeated--- extending her hand to Death.

Pg. 522 Nonobjective Art Until the 19th century artist used recognizable images in their works. This approach changed when artist began to alter the appearance of objects they painted. By the beginning of the 20th Century more and more artist were getting away from literal interpretations. - Wassily Kandinsky -Liubov Popova

Pg. 522 Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) Perhaps the 1st artist to reject the use of figures and objects was a Russian artist named, Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky experimented unsuccessfully with several different styles. Then around 1909 he turned away from all the outside influences and listened to his own instincts. A 29-year-old lawyer went to see his work in Moscow and was overwhelmed. -1911 -1912

Cubism Pg. 523 Artist such as Pablo Picasso and George Braque started with Cezannes idea that all shapes in nature are based on the sphere, the cone, and the cylinder. They carried this idea further by trying to paint 3 dimensional objects as if they were seen from many different angles at the same time They developed this style of painting called Cubism. In which artist tried to show all sides of three-dimensional objects on a flat canvas. -Pablo Picasso -George Braque

Pg. 524 Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Pablo Picasso passed through many different stages. After working in the cubist style, he returned to paintings of the human figure in which he used a greater range of colors. In 1937 he painted his famous antiwar picture, Guernica. Guernica is a large mural (11.5 X 23.16) The work was inspired by the bombing of the ancient Spanish city of Guernica.

Pg. 526 George Braque Unlike Picasso, George Braque did not go through a series of dramatic style changes during his career. Changes in his paintings style were more subtle and evolved gradually during time. He always mainly focused on ways to make a flat surface more interesting by using colors, lines, shapes, and textures. -1909 -1908

Pg. 528 The Muralist in Mexico Mexican muralism was the promotion of mural painting starting in the 1920s It was generally with social and political messages. Messages to reunify the country under the post mexican revolution government. They did not want there paintings placed in museums, galleries, or private homes, where only a few people would see and respond to them. There woks was intended to be public property. -1913 -1919

Diego Rivera (1886-1957) Pg. 528 Rivera was one of the most famous muralist painters. He created the first modern mural painting in Mexico. When Rivera was young he studied the art of the great Italian fresco artist. This study helped him realize his own artistic goal: to record in art the great struggle of the Mexican peasant. -1929 -1929

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