The History of Fauvism - Essay Example

Trace the complex seemingly contradictory relationship between the exotic newness of primitivism and the urge to explore ethnic or national roots Fauvism Fauvism was among the first movement to use the pervasive desire for expressionism. Fauvism was formed in 1905, when some young painters exhibited their artworks with a simplified design in very bright color which startled a critic called Louis Vauxcelles who called the artists fauves. The desire of Fauve movement was to develop an art that was direct in Impressionism while using intense color juxtapositions that has the capability to emanate emotions. Fauve artistes liberated the use of color from its descriptive form and used it for structural as well as expressive ends as a legacy of artists Gauguin and van Gogh. The canvas included portraits, still lifes, landscape, verve, nudes of spontaneity with rich textured surfaces, bold colors and lively linear patterns. The Fauves used startling contrasts of emerald green, vermilion, vivid orange and cerulean blue in bold strokes and sweeping brush strokes. Fauves desired to use both sides of Expressionism. Outward expression was expressed in the bold release of internal thoughts in wild color, brutal and powerful brushworks and the depiction of inward expression awakened the emotion of the viewers through the designs. There was no official organization of Fauve painters. The laxity of stylistic affinities and personal connections led the Fauve movement to disintegrate as soon as the art form emerged. The artists who followed Fauve principles departed from the idea and followed their own personal styles. The short tenure of Fauvism however made remarkable contribution to the art of painting by experimenting expressive, structural and aesthetic capabilities. Henri Matisse was a prominent figure among the Fauve group.1 ----------------------------- 1.Fred S. Kleiner, Gardners Art Through the Ages: A Global History (Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008) p.911 Greman Expressianism Die Burke & Blaue Rieter German Expressionism evolved from Fauvism and moved beyond the art in compelling, dramatic portrayal of people and scenes. Three main groups of German Expressionism were Die Brucke, Der Blaue Reiter and Die Neue Sachlichkeit. Der Blaue Reiter or the Blue Rider group took shape in Munich which is home of avant-garde New Artist Association. The most famous artist of Der Blaue Reiter was Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc. Der Blaue Reiter was a loose association with artists like Paul Klee, August Macke and Gabriele Munter. The objective of the Blue Rider was to infuse art with spiritual values with the use of color. Blue riders mean vague. Marc instilled the idea that animal had innocence and so it is superior to human. The Blue Rider Expressions are mild forms which are seen in Cossacks by Kandinsky, Little Blue Horse and The Little Blue Horses by Marc. Die Brucke was formed by Karl Schmidt – Rottluff and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in 1905. Die Brucke was a powerful expression group in Dresden. The group followed the primitive painting methods of Paul Gaugin. They expressed radical social ideas through modern urban pictures, figure painting and landscape. The objective of Die Brucke was to gain freedom of life and take action against established older forces. Die Brucke mixed tradition art with Oceanic and African motifs and tribal art together with Fauvist coloring to make an ultimate modern style. Gap in the Dyke, Two Women and Berlin Street Scene are some of the Die Brucke paintings.2 ----------------------------- 2. German Expressionism Art Available: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/german-expressionism.htm Ashcan school A group of urban realist painters in America creating work around the early part of 20th century. The group, founded by the artist and teacher Robert Henri, began its activities in Philadelphia around 1891. Henri attracted a gathering of newspaper illustrators--George Luks, John Sloan, William Glackens, and Everett Shinn--and led them in a new artistic movement. Ash can school was formed by a group of realist painters with a revolutionary subject instead of changes in style. Robert Henri, a teacher and artist gathered newspaper illustrators William Glackens, John Sloan, George Luks and Everett Shinn to form the new artistic movement. They painted urban reality and real life. The Ashcan school believed that the real and true things in world were what was beautiful and formed the art. The subjects of their painting included the poor, gritty urban scenes and disenfranchised in America. The painting have a spontaneous and loose style that does not follow the polished techniques used in American art academies. The rapid handling of paint imprinted individual brushstrokes with thick application of paint. Ash can painted utilized subdued dark palette. Three more artists joined the Ash Can school under Henri. The group of eight artists protested the restrictive academic exhibition policies and organized an exhibition which was marked as a rebellion in modern art and America. The revolutionary nature of the school to exhibit modern art became the model for the Armory Show of 1914.3 ----------- 3.Ashcan School Available: http://www.artmovements.co.uk/ashcanschool.htm Cubism - The departure of Expressionists from following strict rules in art to the use of illusionism was the method artists followed during primitivism. Pablo Picasso radically challenged conventional artistic methods and moved into the sphere of abstraction. Picasso epitomized modernism in his continuing quest for innovation that lead to sudden shifts in style. The final works of Picasso evolved from the sober Realism of Spanish painting to an Impressionistic phase to the Blue Period that depicted the melancholy state of mind. Picasso mostly used blue color to portray pathetic, worn and alienated figures. The paintings of Picasso have taken ideas from the early Iberian sculpture of his native and related primitive cultures. The picture of Gertrude Stein was painted on the basis of this idea in a simplified planar form though it is an insightful portrayal of a vivacious and forceful woman. Authentic cubism is an art of portraying new wholes using formal factors taken not from the actuality of vision, but from conception. Futurism - Futurism followed several ideas of Cubism with a well defined socio political objective. Futurism was formed as a literary movement but soon comprised the cinema, visual arts, music, theatre and architecture. Resentful about the cultural and political downfall of Italy, Futurists released a number of manifestos that aggressively required revolution in art as well as in the society. Futurists wanted a new more enlightened period. ‘Unique forms of continuity in space’ is a work of Umberto Boccioni that highlights the spatial and formal effects of movement. Boccioni has sculpted the picture to depict dynamic action which is an evolution of the primitive Nike of Samothrace but apt for the dynamic change aspect of Futurism.4 ------------- 4. Fred S. Kleiner, Gardners Art Through the Ages: A Global History (Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008) p.918-927 Architecture Avant-garde thoughts about architecture were pioneered by F.L.Wright. Wright is of the notion that a composition is considered to be dead if the building is considered as an entity. Wright was against the use of classical forms nostalgic posture. The architectural designs of F.L.Wright did not adhere to mainstream design. Wright stood for organic architecture in the place of constructing eclectic skyscrapers. He did not adhere to the essential rhythm of building instead envisaged architectural ideas from a wider perspective by presenting a sure and slow development of mind that marvelously combined the facts of logic with the wonders of imagination with subtle sensibility.5 The contrast between the various avant-garde art forms are clearly understood by the method of portrayal, the use of color, theme and ideologies that overwhelmed the contemporary in search of primitive and nation based art forms. --------- 5.Anthony Alofsin, Frank Lloyd Wright: Europe and beyond (California: University of California Press, 1999) p.107-115 Bibliography Alofsin, Anthony. Frank Lloyd Wright: Europe and beyond (California: University of California Press, 1999) p.107-115 Ashcan School Available: http://www.artmovements.co.uk/ashcanschool.htm Retrieved on October 13, 2009 Kleiner, Fred S. Gardners Art Through the Ages: A Global History (Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2008) p.918-927 German Expressionism Art Available: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/german-expressionism.htm Retrieved on October 13, 2009 Read More