Lec 2 - Primitivism in Modern Art PDF

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Professor Allison Young, Spring 2021 semester...

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Lecture 2 – Primitivism in Modern Art Jan 15, 2020

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Fauvism – A movement in early 20th century modern art, wherein works emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism Primitivism – a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate “primitive” experience, through an engagement with non-western art, folk art, children’s art, or other outside influences. Post-Impressionism – the work of the late 19th century artists who reacted against the naturalism of the impressionists, exploring color, line, and form, and the emotional response of the artist. These concerns led to the development of expressionism. Pointillism – a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image Imperialism – a policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force Iberian Sculpture – the sculptural art of the ancient Iberian Peninsula, often defined by monumental proportions and flat, planar approach to representation of the human figure West and Central African Sculpture – the sculptural art of various peoples of west and central Africa, often defined by proto-abstract geometric distortions of the human figure

Post Impressionism o Not a coherent group o Multiple styles and techniques, more experimental o Emphasis on experimentation in color and painterly style o High influential on Fauvism and Cubism o Figure out what is unique about painting, how different paints behave Pointillism o Invented by George Surat o Artist puts dots of complementary colors next to one another to create new impressions o Based on scientific theories surrounding “retinal halos” produces by adjacent hues Paul Cezanne o Painted with multiple perspectives, spatial distortion Van Gogh o Expressive, psychological power of painting o Color, line, brushwork to convey mental states Early Fauvist Landscapes o Unmodulated color, accentuated brushstrokes Henri Matisse o Joy of Life (Le bonheur de vivre), oil on canvas, 1905-06

o Inspired by symbolic use of color by Gauguin Conventional composition: garden, trees, reclining and standing nude figures  Landscape with nude figures common in classical traditional art  Example of combination of conventional style of European art and abstract experimentations  Shifting sense of scale, not proportional, hard outlines, bright colors, unrealistic and bright, expresses a feeling of hot summer sun Open Window, Collioure, oil on canvas, 1905  

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View from large window looking at Mediterranean coast Uses the opposite of atmospheric perspective, uses thick brush strokes for the landscape Symbolism of window is significant, traditionally represents facing out into another world to lose yourself; but he uses thick brush work and makes viewer aware of materiality rather than vision, is rejecting the idea of creating a convincing window into another world

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Blue Nude – Souvenir de Biskra, oil on canvas, 1907

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Primitivism fauvism Woman figure meant to be archetype of the non-western world Face – very flat, seems like a mask, strong outlines, some blurred; shadows, torso is in motion, Influence of Paul Cezanne, showing from multiple points of view, moving away from one point perspective Landscape – exotic location, primitivism, tropical oasis, landscape isn’t accurate Influence of sub-Saharan African sculpture in his painting

Fauvism o Always characterized by bright, unrealistic colors but use traditional genres (landscape and figure painting), shocking color pallets, bold brushwork, o First truly new artistic style of 20th century, only lasts about 5 years Paul Gauguin o Visionary potential, fantasy, vivid colors o Believed art should be used to create new world views o Bold approach to color and composition o La Orana Maria (Hail Mary), 1891, oil on canvas

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Fled western civilization to island of Tahiti – had exotic birds, beautiful women, flora and fauna; paradise was fantasy, affected by colonization o Depiction of Polynesian culture through the lens of European fantasy o Not a transcription of reality, fantasy of virgin Mary o Racialized and sexualized fantasies of Tahitian culture Primitivism o Borrowing “primitive” motifs, such as tropical landscapes o Return to less modern lifestyle, interest in visionary spiritual experience o Artist typically know nothing about the culture but copy their artistic style to escape west art styles o Two forms of Primitive style –  1. Picasso was inspired by formal and visual abstractions that he saw in nonwestern art  2. Gauguin – more culturally and value based, primitivism was a lifestyle, more philosophical Part 2

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European Imperialism o Colonization - Settling and establishing control over indigenous people of an area o Imperialism – policy extending a countries power and influence through diplomacy of military force Picasso o Born in Spain, worked in Paris o Went through several phases of artistic styles

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Portrait of Gertrude Stein, oil on canvas, 1905-06

o Early patron of art, commissioned portrait to Picasso Forceful, insightful gaze, Not extremely realistic portrayal, post-impressionist, experimental depiction, emoting a feeling than exact likeness  Sculptural space, deeply set eyes, large protruding nose, each side of face is at a different angle  Thickly applied paint Iberian Sculpture o Iberian Phase of Picasso o Ancient people of present day Spain and Portugal, unique approach of primitivism o Look outside traditional techniques to create realistic depictions o Inspired by formal qualities of Iberian sculpture; broad, flat planes, deep eyes, mask like   

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