The Avant-Garde In the Arts
Artists placed a premium on experimentation and self-expression within the media of paint, architecture, print and music
Painting Photography altered the purpose of the artist Emerged as both an artistic medium and a means of photojournalism
Impressionism First major artistic trend following the invention of philosophy Attempted to capture “how the eyes really see”
Claude Monet
Renior
Postimpressionism Moved away from fascination with light and shadow More interested in form and structure
Vincent Van Gogh
Paul Cezanne
Paul Gauguin
Georges Seurat (pointillism)
Expressionism A group of French painters emphasized strong fields of color and simple lines to convey expression over detail Paintings gradually moved toward abstraction designed to convey musical compositions in visual form (abstract expressionism)
Henri Matisse
Edvard Munch
Cubism and Futurism Directly showed the influence of technology on artistic expression Cubism broke apart scenes into analyzable parts and reassembled them in unique ways to provide the viewer with simultaneous multiple perspectives
Georges Braque
Pablo Picasso
Futurists published manifestos calling for the abolition of traditional aesthetics in favor of automobiles, airplanes and industrial plants
F.T. Marinetti
Umberto Boccioni
Literary Trends Darwin’s ideas influenced the literary movement of Naturalism Emile Zola’s novels portray the destructive influence of heredity on the lives of his characters They seem unable to determine their own actions freely
Russian literary geniuses Tolstoy and Dostoevski Tolstoy’s War and Peace show social and economic forces trump the designs of great men Dostoevski’s Crime and Punishment raised the moral dilemma of whether good ends justify evil acts
Music Romanticism did not die out after 1848 Many composers worked to establish national styles and continued to explore national traditions
German Richard Wagner used his music to express his vision of a revolutionary and nationalist Germany Russian Igor Stravinsky also explores nationalist themes