Unit-2-Art-Appreciation module arts appreciation arts PDF

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Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

Unit 2 Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

Introduction Artists are considered persons with the talent and the skills to conceptualize and make creative works. They have sharp senses, which anywhere and everywhere they can just pick out subject/s with delighted stories. They see things in different forms but have one vision and that is to inspire people through their creative works. They try to effectively express or convey more their messages. Thus, this Unit introduces you the methods in which the artists can use in presenting their art subjects making them more inspiring and stimulating.

Learning Outcomes At the end of the session, you will be able to: a. Identify and describe the characteristics of different methods of presenting the art subject, and b. Research the work of an artist (historical or contemporary) whose work responds to the politics, social mores, or significant local or international events of their time.

Presentation of Content In the given activity above, you learned that the artists used various methods in presenting their subjects just to express the ideas they wanted to share. This means that the manner of representing subject varies according to the intent and inventiveness of each artist.

What are the methods in presenting art subject? The following are the commonly used methods in presenting the art subject:

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Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

1. Realism Realism, in the arts, is the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances (https://www.britannic a.com/art/realism- art). Fernando A rice harvesting scene by Fernando Amorsolo Amorsolo was a Filipino painter active in the early half of the 20th century whose masterful handling of light made him one of Asia’s most prominent portraitists and landscape artists. His compositions often depict the traditional culture, customs and celebrations of the Filipino community. Popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light, he was regarded as the Father of Philippine Realism for his numerous realistic paintings. After returning to Manila, Amorsolo set up a studio and began an enormously productive period. Using subject matter that he had borrowed from Fabian de la Rosa – scenes of rice planting and harvesting — he created a series of paintings that captured the popular imagination. His 1922 painting Rice Planting soon appeared on calendars, posters, and travel brochures.

2. Abstraction Abstract art is an art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead use shapes, colors, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect. Abstraction indicates a departure from reality in depiction of imagery in art. Abstraction exists along a continuum; abstract art can formally refer to compositions that are derived (or abstracted) from a figurative or other natural 2

Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

source. Picasso is a well-known artist who used abstraction in many of his paintings and sculptures: figures are often simplified, distorted, exaggerated, or geometric (https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sac-artappreciation/chapter/oer-14/). Girl Before Mirror was painted in March 1932. It was produced in the style Picasso was using at the time and evoked an image of Vanity such as had been utilized in art in earlier eras, though Picasso shifts the emphasis and creates a very different view of the image. The work is considered in terms of the erotic in Picasso's art, and critics in different periods have offered their assessments of the work to show a wide range of reactions. The young girl was named Marie Therese Walter and was painted multiple times during the 1930's by Picasso (https://www.pablopicasso.org/girlb efore- mirror.jsp) .

Pablo Picasso, Girl Before a Mirror, 1932, MOMA Photo by Sharon Mollerus CC BY

Abstraction has been presented in different manners such as: A. Distortion A distortion is a change, twist, or exaggeration that makes something appear different from the way it really is. You can distort an image, a thought, or even an idea (https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/distortion). Distortion is the alteration of the original shape of something, be it a person or an object. While this is normally not the desired outcome in most instances, it is exactly what artists who use the technique want (https://fineartamerica.com/art/paintings/distortion) .

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Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

Henry Moore sculptures are tangled representations of the human figure stretched and distorted. Considering Moore was a war artist, how could this link to the concept of 'disorder'.

Woman with two mouth lying on the Couch

Kenneth Clark: Looking For Henry Moore Recumbent Figure

B. Elongation "Elongation art" refers to paintings that feature figures that are painted with their forms elongated much more than they are in reality. Elongation is a form of abstract art that often depicts the stretched forms of people or objects in nature. Among the artists who created elongation art was early 20th-century artist Amedeo Modigliani, who is renowned for his use of elongation in portraits as well as more abstract paintings. Some other artists known for using elongation in their paintings are modern African-American painter Ernie Barnes and Italian Renaissance artist Parmigianino, who is noted for the painting "Madonna of the Long Neck (https://www.reference.com/art- literature/meaning-elongationartrelation-painting-47ea573325c5899f).

Madonna with the Long Neck is typical of Parmigianino's later work, which was defined by unusual spatial compositions and elongated figures. The painting is also known as Madonna and Child with Angels and St Jerome but earned the name Madonna with the Long Neck because of the curious length of the Madonna's swan-like neck.

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ng the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

The Madonna does not have normal human proportions; her neck, shoulders and fingers have all been elongated to make her appear more elegant and graceful. Her hair is also elaborately curled and decorated with pearls to frame her beautiful face and complexion. The robes she is wearing are luxurious and flowing. Madonna of the Long Neck Parmigianino

Resurrection, 1584-94 by El Greco by El Greco

Looking more like a creation from the twenty-first century than the sixteenth, The Resurrection by El Greco stands out as a work ahead of its time. The dramatically elongated figures, bold colors and loose brush strokes were considered somewhat odd in the Baroque period in which it was painted. But El Greco considered spiritual expression to be more important than public opinion and it was in this way that he developed a unique style that has allowed him to be regarded as one of the great geniuses of Western art (http://www.dianablake.net/ArtHistoryArticles/ElGrecoResurrection.htm) .

C. Mangling This may not be a commonly used way of presenting an abstract subject, but there are few artists who show subject or objects which are cut, lacerated, mutilated, torn, hacked or disfigured.

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the Art Subject

The

Mangled Man is a painting Michael Noeltne which

by

was uploaded on October 29th, 2011.

D. Cubism One of the most influential art movements of the early twentieth century and one that remains a major source of inspiration for many artists today is Cubism. Cubism marked a major turning point in the whole evolution of modernist art. In the field of literature, its influence was most notably in the writings of Gertrude Stein, James Joyce and William Faulkner, who applied the principles of abstract language, repetition and use of multiple narrators. And, in music, the composer Igor Stravinsky credited Cubism for having an impact on his work (https://manhattanarts.com/what- is-cubism/). This movement was pioneered by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) and Georges Braque (French, 1882-1963. The Cubist painters rejected the inherited concept that art should copy nature, or that artists should adopt the traditional techniques of perspective, modeling, and foreshortening. They dismantled traditional perspective and modeling in the round in order to emphasize the twodimensional picture plane. They reduced and fractured objects into geometric forms, and then realigned these within a shallow, relief-like space. This painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, was painted in 1907 and is the most famous example of cubism painting. In this painting, Picasso abandoned all known form and representation of traditional art. When it first exhibited in 1916, the painting was regarded as immoral (https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cube/hd_cube.htm) .

The painting presents us with an uncomfortable mosaic of angular and overlapping fragments of five female nudes, at least two of whom stare 6

Unit 2: Exp

provocatively at the viewer. Its "Cubist features" combine powerfully with its violent forms and animalistic masks to both shock and challenge the viewer (http://www.visual- artscork.com/paintingsanalysis/les- demoisellesdavignon.htm) .

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

By Pablo Picasso

Types of Cubism a. Analytical Cubism This form of Cubism analyzed the use of rudimentary shapes and overlapping planes to depict the separate forms of the subjects in a painting. It refers to real objects in terms of identifiable details that become—through repetitive use—signs or clues that indicate the idea of the object. It is considered to be a more structured and monochromatic approach than that of Synthetic Cubism.

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Unit 2: Explorin

The portrait of Henry Kahnweiler is considered to be one of the best examples of this stage of cubism. A great desire to penetrate into the inner nature of the threedimensional object, to comprehend the essence of space which it occupies, as well as that space, within limits of which it is situated, brought a closer analysis to life, making all the familiar surface contours of an object deprive of their usual opacity (http://cubismsite.com/analy

Daniel Henry Kahnweiler by Picasso (1910)

tical-cubism/).

b. Synthetic Cubism It became a popular style of artwork that includes characteristics like simple Still-Life With Chair Caning by Picasso shapes, bright colors, and little to (1912) no depth. It was also the birth of collage art in which real objects were incorporated into the paintings. In 1912, Picasso creates the work called “Still-Life with Chair Caning”. He inserts an oilcloth with a pattern that simulates bars of the chair in the oval composition of the painting, the oval itself being bordered by a thick twine – it’s a “frame” of the picture. The prototype of all ready-made experiments of the 20th century was created (https://www.thoughtco.com/synthetic-cubism- definition183242). E. Abstract Expressionism Leo Tolstoy could be called a father of abstract expressionism and the expressionist movements of the 19 th and 20th centuries. His “Expression Theory” centered on the idea that art elicits and provokes emotion in the viewer. Tolstoy believed that the role of the artist was to provide the viewer with something that would bring out these effects. Abstract Expressionism achieves this by letting the medium and composition communicate for itself. Artists like Pollock believed that it was the viewer (and not the artist) who defines and interpret the meaning of 8

Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

the abstract expressionist artwork thus, there is no relevance on what artist thinks or conveys while producing the work. Abstract Expressionism is an artistic movement of the mid-20th century comprising diverse styles and techniques and emphasizing especially an artist’s liberty to convey attitudes and emotions through nontraditional and usually nonrepresentational means (https://www.theartist.me/art/abstractexpressionismdefinition/) .

Characteristics: The Two Styles Abstract Expressionism movement encompassed two broad groupings. These included: (1) the so-called “action painters” such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning who focused on an intensely expressive style of gestural painting; and (2) the more passive, notably Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman and Clyfford Still, who were concerned with reflection and mood. Action painting, is characterized by a loose, rapid, dynamic, or forceful handling of paint in sweeping or slashing brushstrokes and in techniques partially dictated by chance, such as dripping or spilling the paint directly onto the canvas. Pollock had created his first "drip" painting in 1947, the product of a radical new approach to paint handling. With Autumn Rhythm, made in October of 1950, the artist is at the height of his Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950 by Jackson Pollock powers. In Courtesy of www.Jackson-Pollok.org this nonrepresentational picture, thinned paint was applied to unprimed, unstretched canvas that lay flat on the floor rather than propped on an easel. Poured, dripped, dribbled, scumbled, flicked, and splattered, the pigment was applied in the most unorthodox means. The artist also used sticks, trowels, knives, in short, anything but the traditional painter's implement to build up dense, lyrical compositions comprised of intricate skeins of line. There's no central point of focus, no hierarchy of elements in this allover composition in which every bit of the surface is equally significant. The artist worked with the canvas flat on the floor, constantly moving all around it while applying the paint and working 9

Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

from all four sides(https://www.jacksonpollock.org/autumnrhythm.jsp#prettyPhoto).

Color Field Painting marks a major development in abstract painting, since it was the first style to resolutely avoid the suggestion of a form or mass standing out against a background. Instead, figure and ground are one, and the space of the picture, conceived as a field, seems to spread out beyond the edges of the canvas.

Although Rothko never considered himself a Color Field painter, his signature approach - balancing large portions of washed colors - matches up to critics' understanding of the style. Rothko considered color to be a mere instrument that served a greater purpose. He believed his fields of color were spiritual planes that could tap into our most basic human emotions. For Rothko, color evoked emotion. Therefore each of Rothko's works was No. 2, Green, Red and intended to evoke different meanings Blue(1953) depending on the viewer. In the time No. 2, Oil on canvas-Private Green, Red and Blue was made, Rothko was collection still using lighter tones, but as more years passed and Rothko's mental health increasingly declined, his Color Fields were constituted by somber blacks, blues, and grays(https://www.theartstory.org/movemen color-field-painting.htm).

3. Symbolism Symbolism is really an intellectual form of expression. Not content using color and shape to communicate their feelings, symbolist artists inject their compositions with messages and esoteric references. It is this narrative content which turns a work of art into a symbolist work of art.

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Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

Symbolist painters and sculptors were inspired by literature and poetry of the day, as well as the history, legends, myths, Biblical stories and fables of the past. In expressing themselves, symbolist artists endowed their subjects (eg. women, heroic males, flowers, landscapes, animals), with mythological or other esoteric meanings. Many artists turned to stimulants like alcohol and drugs to fuel their imagination. Favourite symbolist subjects included: sensual issues, religious feelings, occultism, love, death, disease and sin, while decadence was a common feature (http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/symbolism.htm).

Caresses (detail; 1896), Fernand Khnopff. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels. Photo: J. Geleyns Art Photography

Women play a major role in Belgium Symbolism, as they emboy all the duality and ambiguity of the world. Khnoff and Rops were Belgian Symbolists who captures and expressed the mystery of women. In khnopff’s case, the woman was variously angel, muse, and a companion rushing to recue the man, yet she also appears as a tempress, femme fatale with more than a cash of the perversethe very symbol of the Supreme Vice. The theme of women constitutes an inexhaustible one of the Symbolists, both painters and authors. Just as Khnopff did in his Caresses, which is perhaps Khnopff’s most famous creation, he represents this mysterious beauty, but alas the woman sells herself and her master becomes Satan(https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/caresses/_AGlYSd0kETwGw).

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Unit 2: Exploring the Methods of Presenting the Art Subject

4. Fauvism Fauvism was a style of painting developed in France at the beginning of the 20th century by Henri Matisse and André Derain. The artists who painted in this style were known as 'Les Fauves'. The title 'Les Fauves' (the wild beasts) came from a sarcastic remark by the art critic Louis Vauxcelles. Les Fauves believed that color should be used to express the artist's feelings about a subject, rather than simply to describe what it looks like. In 1905, Matisse and Derain went to stay in the port of Collioure in the south of France and the Fauvist pictures that they painted there revolutionized attitudes towards color in art. The sheer joy of expression that they achieved through their liberated approach to color was a shot in the arm for the art of painting. In Matisse's painting, 'The Open Window, Collioure', color is used at its maximum intensity. The window frames, clay flower pots and masts on the yachts have all been painted in a blazing red. These are a bold complement to the range of greens that punctuate the painting. In order to arrange the various colors of the work into Henri Matisse (1869-1954) an effective composition he creates 'The Open Window, Collioure', 1905 (oil on a counterchange between the greenish canvas) wall on the left and its reflected color in the right hand window, with the purple wall on the right and its reflected color in the left hand window. To unify the interior/exterior relationship of space, the dense spectrum of colors used inside the room is echoed more sparingly in the distant view through the window.

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André Derain (1880-1954) 'The Pool of London', 1906 (oil on canvas)

Derain manages to balance the expressive and descriptive qualities of color in 'The Pool of London'. He uses the conflict between warm and cool colors to express the noise and activity of this busy dockyard. An illusion of depth in the painting is created by using stronger and warmer tones in the foreground, which gradually become weaker and cooler towards the background. This organized arrangement of tones in a landscape is called Aerial Perspective. The drawing of the image is typically simplified into shapes and forms whose details are conveyed by unmodified brushstrokes of roughly the same size. This gives the painting an overall unity that you would not expect in a composition of such conflicting colors (http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/fauvism.htm).

5. Expressionism Expressionism is art that is more associated with emotion or feeling than with literal interpretation of a subject. Expressionistic art uses vivid colors, distortion, two-dimensional subjects that lack perspecti...