Category Art

In the 1800s, when the Industrial Revolution began to change the way people had lived their lives for centuries in Europe, it created an intense longing for the past among some. This gave birth to Romanticism, which brought to the fore the feelings of artists and how they expressed it, as opposed to creating within a definite set of rules. It was used mostly in art, literature and music.

It began to take shape in many countries in Europe, and emotions, nature and the past were gloried in paintings through bold brushstrokes. It used an intense emotion to create something authentic and new. Terror, awe, grief and horror were other strong emotions artists played with at this time.

Artists aimed to evoke the sublimity and raw beauty of nature and things gone by. And unlike the Rationalist movement, which aimed to stay close to the present, Romantic artists always looked back, elevating folk and myths to antiquity, in the hope that they could escape the early urbanism of the industrial Revolution. This, indirectly, also stoked nationalistic ideals among the people.

The movement was named Romantic during the 18th century in England and France –‘Romantique’(French), meant beautiful scenery or in general, the praise of a natural phenomenon such as sunsets. And since the art movement placed a lot of emphasis on nature and its beauty, the name stuck on.

But if one were to define what the movement really was, poet and critic Charles Baudelaire put it rather succinctly in 1846-“Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject nor in exact truth, but in a way of feeling”.

Examples of Romantic art:

Wanderer above the sea of fog: Painted in 1818 by Caspar David Friedrich, considered the most important German romantic artist, the painting shows a man is formal clothing standing on top of a mountain of rocks with his back to the viewer. The viewer can see a thick blanket of fog and his contemplative body language. The artist aims to show how small humans are in comparison to the grandness of nature.

The Raft of the Medusa: Medusa was a ship that fought in the Napoleonic wars. It survived them all but crashed in 1816 in a sandbank while transporting people to Senegal. The 400 people in it were forced to evacuate and over 150 of them set said on a small raft. They went through many ordeals and 13 days later, when the raft was found, only 15 men were alive. The artist Theodore Gericault studied the scandal and created this masterpiece. This painting is considered one of the most iconic in French Romantic art.

Liberty Leading the People: Liberty is a folk goddess in French culture – not only is she goddess but also women of the people. And so, during the French revolution, she was personified in many works of art. This painting by EUGENE Delacroix commemorates the July revolution of 1830 in which king Charles X was overthrown. Here, Liberty is leading the people of France to victory. The goddess also inspired the Statue of Liberty in New York.

 

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In the late 1800s, there was a change of thought among some artists. This was around the time that scientific thinking was beginning to spread, and so the idea that what the eye saw and the brain transmitted were two different things was something that artists pounced upon. This new group, with its bright unblended colours and short brushstrokes wanted to create art out of an impression, a fleeting second in time. These paintings were part of Impressionism.

In 1870, the Anonymous Society of Painters organized an exhibition in Paris where they displayed art that went against what was taught at major institutions and what artists in the era strived to be. The sketch-like paintings that many critics called ‘unfinished’, was the birth of Impressionism and focused on light and its effect on the surroundings. The founding members of this movement were Claude Monet, Edger Degas and Camille Pissarro. In fact, it was Monet’s painting “Impression, Sunrise” that gave the movement its name, since a critic called it an ‘impression’ of a painting.

As more painters got drawn to this style, they began to leave their studios and step outside to catch moments to paint. Everyday suburban and rural leisure became popular muses for these painters. Hence, boating and bathing establishments that flourished in that time became popular haunts for impressionists. They used brighter and innovative colours, coloured shadows and even featured industrialisation encroaching on the serenity of the landscape. This would have been allowed in the traditional painting style.

The moment was fleeting and powerful, and eventually, the collective of painters that began and nurtured it developed their own distinct styles, causing raptures in the organisation. Many began to focus on the purity of colour, thereby creating Neo-Impressionism.

Examples

Impression Sunrise:

Painted by Claude Monet in 1872, the painting became a symbol of Impressionism after it gave the movement its name. The subject is the Le Havre harbour in France or so it is suggested, since the brushstrokes are very loose and not defined. Monet captures the scene through light and colour rather than definition.

Le Boulevard Montmartre, effet de nuit:

This painting by Camille Pissarro depicts a scene of Paris in the 19th Century. Pissarro took a room on the Montmartre Boulevard and painted it at different times of the day. This one, painted at night, plays exclusively on light to capture the dramatic effect of the movement.

Paris Street; Rainy Day:

Considered one of the most ambitious paintings of urban lifestyle in the 19th Century, this painting by Gustave Caillebotte depicts de Dublin, an interesting near Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris. The painting was appreciated for its precision and photograph-like quality. Caillebotte creates the idea of overcast, rainy day just through the light and the reflection on water on the street.

Wow facts

• Impressionists were more concerned with the light and colour of the moment than its vivid details. They mostly painted outdoors and worked quickly to capture the moment before the light changed. For this, they used brush strokes and unmixed colour to save time. Often they had very unusual visual angles too.
• Impressionists were often accused of having unfinished paintings and dealing with social or banal subjects. Most of them could not sell their paintings and lived in poverty for years. In fact, Van Gogh – a post-Impressionist artist – sold only one painting in his lifetime and his buyer was his brother!

 

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A post-World War II movement that developed in New York in the mid 1940s. abstract Expressionism was all about filling the canvas with vibrant brushstrokes that exuded intense emotions. The most famous painters of this movement are Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Franz Kitne. The movement inspired artists to create monumentally-sized works that represented the inner psyche, breaking away from traditional forms of art.

The name Abstract Expressionism came to be accepted by the group of artists since they all expressed intense emotions and universal themes but were also inspired by Surrealist art. In the beginning, the artists looked at primitive and ancient cultures to inspire them, and hence, their early works had pictographic elements. Later on, the movement showcased different techniques of abstraction developed along the way. In 1947, Jackson Pollock developed a radical new technique, wherein he dripped and poured paint on a canvas. The paintings were large in scale and shocked many viewers, who were also exposed to Kooing’s new style of using figurative elements in abstract style.

The first generation of abstract expressionists grew between the mid-1940s and 1950s and changed the focus of the art world from Paris to New York. And, in a time of uncertainty and doubt, this movement emerged as the first authentically American avant garde art movement.

Examples

Excavation: This painting, made in 1950 by Willem de Kooning, showcases his innovative brushstroke techniques and organisation of space. It has a great mix of tension between abstraction and figurative elements. Over six-and-a-half feet tall and eight feet wide, this painting is the biggest he ever made.

The Moon Woman: This Jackson Pollock painting was during the days he shifted from Regionalism to Abstract Expressionism. There is a moon woman, a regionalist theme, strong and challenging. But there is also more because the painting doesn’t merely show everything clearly but abstracts it, and adds fiery colours to elevate its intensity. This is the perfect juxtaposition of two art movements.

Symphony No. 1, The Transcendental: Richard Pousette-Dart painted this monumental piece thick with dark colours. The work is a mix of Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and mural painting. The title allows us to believe that Pousette-Dart was trying to create an elevated, aesthetic experience, like an orchestral symphony.

Wow Facts

• Due to the chaos and tumultuous times in Europe, many artists migrated to New York, and suddenly, New York became the centre of modern art. And Abstract Expressionism, deemed an American art movement, created art that was large, individualistic and romantic.
• In the 1940s, Jackson Pollock’s approach to art changed the potential of contemporary art and redefined it. His technique of dripping paint on canvas to express intense emotions made him realize that the journey of making art was as important as the art itself.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Regionalism (1930 to 1935 AD)

During the Great Depression, many American artists rejected urban and modern art movements and went back to traditional paintings and using art as a form of storytelling. Regionalism was born. The artists so they can be enjoyed by a larger audience. The art depicted rural and rustic America, particularly the Midwest and the Deep South, and was appreciated for the positive images it created during a hard time.

What regionalists tried to do was to create something distinctly American, and rejected the idea of abstraction. So they painted the rustic world around them – farmers, ranches, the atmosphere, small cities, everyday life and generally imbibed American culture and traditions into their art. Three artists were at the forefront of this movement – Grant Wood, John Steuart Curry and Thomas Hart Benton.

Unlike other art movements that had a manifesto and agenda, Regionalism developed rather organically. It was a natural response to a situation, and this is probably also why it didn’t last long. At the end of World War II, Regionalism lost its status. There was peace and prosperity and the upcoming Cold War also changed the political and social situations, which led to the movement’s decline.

Examples

American Gothic: This 1930 piece by Grant Wood is instantly recognisable as one of America’s timeless works of art. It shows an aloof couple, where the man stares straight at the viewer at the while the woman looks at the frame.

The People of Chilmark: Thomas Hart Benton summered in the Chilmark area of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, where he found several inspirations to paint – from waves and boats to dramatic skies and people. “ The People of Chilmark” was one of his works there, and it featured family and friends busy with several activities from boating to playing basketball.

Baptism in Kansas: Painted in 1928 by John Steuart Curry, this painting depicts a baptism in a water tank. The sky has a dove and raven, a reference to the birds Noah first released from the Ark. The painting has spiritual and religious significance.

Wow facts

• All three artists of the Regionalist movement studied in Paris and grew to create art distinctly American. They believed that the solution to the Great Depression and all of America’s problems was for it to return agrarian roots.
• Regionalism became a bridge between abstract and realistic art, so much so that following this movement came the intense and daring Abstract Expressionism. This is similar to how Impressionism was a bridge between academic art and post-Impressionism.

 

Picture Credit : Google