Primitivism in Modern Art - Essay Example

Primitivism in Modern Art 0 Introduction There are many well-documented art movements in the of human history and each of them have been inspired by some kind of belief in a feeling or in an idea. The belief that an inner emotional or spiritual feeling can be best conveyed by the artist was fashionable not only in German artists but also in intellectual circles in 20th century German society and was the primary inspiration for the movement called "Expressionist" art. While the term has been used as a stylistic label denoting and accounting for the quality of distortion and exaggeration of forms found in the work of any artist or period, "expressionists" differentiate themselves from other art movements by defining themselves as artists who are "expressing" themselves because their painting and production of artworks involves their own perceptions, personalities and interests. (Jordan, 1998) Foremost of the "Expressionist" artists were the group called Brcke which was founded in 1905 by architecture students Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Beyl, Karl Schmidt-Rotluff and Erich Heckel and later joined by remarkable artists such as Emil Nolde, Cuno Amiet, Max Pechstein and Otto Mueller. Thru the efforts of the group in its first eight years, the world was able to witness the greatest development of the first period of German expressionism which went through various stylistic phases inspired by the stylistic objectives shared by its members. The movement had one very important tendency and that is propensity to look into 'primitive' culture for inspiration on the form of their artwork. While they were belonging to the modern era (i.e. they were modern artists), German expressionists Brcke explored into non-European, tribal cultures to try to distinguish their works of arts with others and gave rise to the term 'Primitivism'. 'Primitive' art was considered to be closer to unmediated expression and more 'authentic' than the civilized. The idea of 'nature/culture' was most appealing to German expressionists because 'nature' was considered as being direct, unfettered, non-intellectual, instinctual, anti-civilized, and 'culture' being rationality, civilization and repression. The primitive was particularly represented by the concept of the 'other' which to Expressionists were Africans, Polynesians and other tribal groups. The 'woman' was also considered to be belonging to the primitive group. In this paper, I will be looking into how primitive art inspired modern artists by exploring the concept of primitive art and how it influenced modern artists such as the Brucke in their artworks. A case study involving the analysis of how African sculptures inspired Erich Heckel is provided for a more specific and clear discussion of how primitive art influenced modern artists. 2.0 Exploring the Primitivism Concept 2.1 What is 'Primitive' Whenever one hears of the word 'primitive', there is a tendency to associate it with the word 'barbarian' or 'uncivilized' which connotes untamed and direct expression. While the definition of the term is a major issue in art historical writing, central to the term is the concept of the 'other'. The concept is derived from postmodern theory that describes a tendency to misrepresent another culture, society, social group or object as different, even alien and speak of it as 'other' to the artist's own culture and experiences. The primitive is often associated with tribal and Oriental (those from the East) people but Expressionists also associates it with the nude particularly the nude female. The woman is considered to be a creature of 'primitive' textile prone to 'natural' impulses as opposed to the notion male rationality. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the Brucke's leader, is particularly fond of nude women and his works is said to display the affinity between culture/male rationality and nature/female impulses (Lloyd, 1991). This is shown in his work displayed in Figure 1: Figure 1. Nude. Kirschner (1910). The sight of Nude females incited some form of raw desire. They were also considered as impulsive which is attributed to an uncivilized being. Source: Groniger Museum Online (2008) 2.2 Development of Primitivism The time between 1890 and 1950 not only saw the 'heroic' period of modern art and the height and decline of Western political power but also witness the fascination of Western artists with the "primitive". They were labelled as such primarily because they look into so-called tribal peoples from Africa, Oceania, and North America. Through the use of ideas generated by looking into the art and world-view of primitive societies, these modern artists tried to break free from their society's established beliefs. (Jordan, 1998) Artworks of the group Brucke were particularly notable because of the enthusiastic reception given by the painters to the art and lifestyles of non-European populations. The group developed used African and Polynesian people as models for their new primitivist sculpture and were deeply inspired with the dances and exotic rituals they observed and experienced in anthropological exhibitions. The young Expressionists were so into primitive culture that they aspired to turn primitivism into the ideal bearer of their own creative freedom. Why is primitivism so closely tied to the Brucke group According to Lloyd (1991), primitivism essentially grew from the "living fabric" (p. 42) of the lives of the Brucke artists as they tried to find a means to conceive a new medium or trend in art that could address the dullness of the modern society to which they belonged. 2.3 Ideals The desire to challenge the norms of the modern society to which they belonged can be attributed to the influence of the writings of Nietzsche who encouraged artists to seek "new freedoms" by breaking free from civilized constraints and Academic conventions and seek a way to express their selves more freely. Perry (1993) relates that a year after the group was formed, the Brcke painters produced a group manifesto published and shown to the public in their first group exhibition in the Lbtau district of Dresden. The manifesto is as follows: "With faith in progress and in a new generation of creators and spectators we call together all youth. As youth, we carry the future in us and want to create for ourselves freedom of life and of movement against the long-established older forces. We claim as our own everyone who reproduces that which drives him to creation with directness and authenticity." The desire to break free from conventions was actually echoed by many of the groups' peers as well writers and intellectuals who sought radical alternatives to bourgeois culture and its values. Brcke's philosophy was particularly influenced by Nietzschean ideas calling for the destruction of the sterile middle-class values so as to facilitate an artistic renewal which enables new forms of creative expression. Modernity, according to Nietzsche, can be associated with cultural decadence which must be overcome by a re-evaluation and overcoming of self. In Thus Spake Zarathustra (published in parts in the 1890s), a book often cited by Brucke members, Nietzsche calls for his readers to seek out other forms of expression and meaning and ultimately become the Obermensch (overperson or overman). For the Brcke group, whose name can be traced as the metaphor die Brucke in Thus Spake Zarathustra, the idea of breaking free or rebelling can be accomplished thru the understanding of "primitive" sources. These sources were considered by the group to be 'truthful' as they were unsophisticated art and were therefore uncorrupted by modern bourgeois culture as they have arrived at by looking into primitive artefacts. The group's interest in primitive sources was mostly derived from their observations of the Dresden Ethnographical Collections. Germany, with its colonies in Africa and Oceania, was able to acquire and bring home tribal objects and was thus able to establish ethnographical collections in Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg and Dresden. Public exhibitions were particularly intense in Dresden which hosted a series of 'primitive' and 'exotic' cultural shows. Dresden even had a set-up of an African village and dancers which Heckel and Kirchner reported with enthusiasm. 3. Primitive Art 3.1 Primitivism in Nude Women Paintings As was mentioned earlier, primitive art not only involved tribal objects but also the representation of women in their nude form. Brucke painters and other graphic artists were very fond of the nude female and, on occasion, the male. For them, the nude female body is a central motif that is very rich in literal and symbolic meaning the most important of which is the implicit and explicit association between 'primitive' woman/nature and the 'civilized' masculine intellectual. Bruke artists particularly Kirchner and Erich Heckel produced several nude artworks that seems to questions on symbolic meaning. Kirchner works include Bathers in Moritzburg, Bathing Women and Standing Nude with a Hat while Heckel had Reclining Nude. Figure 2. Kirchner's Bathers at Moritzburg(1909) Source: TATE ORG (2003) Figure 3. Heckel's Reclining Nude. Source: MOMA ORG (2003) Figure 4. Kirchner's Bathing Women Source: UCLA Online (2005) These Brucke works were all painted with a style different from the previous applied brushwork and vibrating surface effects of their earlier artworks. It was observed that there while there are areas of loose brushwork, the paint seems to have been applied in flatter areas with forms reduced to more angular and spiky shapes which was a style influenced by the techniques of the woodcut medium favoured by Brcke artists. The use of vibrant, often non-natural color, as in the lurid green body of the Bathers in Moritzburg conveys a sense of awkwardness and distortion and awkwardness. Most art critics such as Perry (1993) argue that these works were aimed at rejecting conventions established by contemporary German painting: the Courbet-influenced school of naturalist painters and the German Impressionists. However, upon inspection, one can note that the relative technical radicalism of the Brcke works draws on another source which is the "primitive" and "exotic" ideas, design and artefacts. The woman/nature 'primitive' theme can be readily perceived. In Bathers in Moritzburg and Bathing Women, one can easily note the forested background which implies living in the forest much like tribal groups. While the city setting is for the civilized, the woman is placed in the forested setting which is the setting for primitive tribes. One can also observe that in the three paintings that were shown, the nude woman can be seen as a being that evokes desire that are considered by society to be confined within the limits of the bedroom. There is a primal energy that is within woman and it is her that brings out the 'primitiveness in man'. It should be worth noting that Kirchner, Heckel and other Expressionists associated 'natural' sexuality with African culture and even went so far as using African models in the studio. Kirchner's Bathers at Moritzburg or Heckel's Bathing Women are also significantly primitive since they show both men and women bathing naked and participating in nudist cults. Cults, again, are mostly associated with tribal groups who undergo rituals in an almost naked state. Also, cults were associated by Germans to vegetarianism, dress reform and nature cures all of which are characteristics of primitive groups. Other works such as the Bathers in a Room and the Standing Nude by the Brucke artists were heavily influence by Oceanic and African objects that were displayed in the Dresden Ethnographical Museum which had among its collections, carved and painted house beams from the Palau Islands which was a German colony in the South Seas. In this collections, erotic scenes can be found carved and painted on house beams from the Palau islands. Copulating couples can be found in the drapes protecting the room to left of the Bathers. Erotic scenes can also be found in Kirchner's Girl under Japanese Umbrella which is shown below: Figure 5. Girl under Japanese Parasol Erotic scenes can be found in the background Source: Art Archive (2006) The extent to which primitive objects and people influenced the Expressionist group came to a head when Kirchner made use of Negro dancers as models for his works in 1909-1911. In a photograph, Kirchner combined the primitive with his paintings when he made his black models Sam and Mille pose in the nude against a backdrop of drapes that he painted in the background of the Bathers. 3.2 Primitivism in Sculpture The Brucke were also engaged in sculptures primarily that of the wood carvings type. This alone can serve as evidence to the influence of primitive groups as they usually have carvings made of wood. Upon inspection, one can note that there is a 'tribal' theme to the carvings as can be shown by the following sculpture by Heckel: (a) (b) Figure 6: a) Heckel's African-inspired model and b) one of Kirchner's surviving sculpture Source: Cartage Org (1998) 4. Erich Heckel and Primitivism According to Gabler (1983), Brucke's business manager Heckel lacks the luster that his contemporary Kirchner enjoyed because of his isolationism. However, it does not mean that his artistic ability is second only to Kirchner as his untaught daring of his woodcuts were to be adapted by Kirchner to replace his stylistic sculpturing which were not very stylish. Heckel's work also serves as proof of non-European influence in modern art as shown by the Palau beams and Ajanta walls present in his paintings. What is remarkable about Heckel is that he was very much influenced by African sculptures as shown by the resemblance in his artworks and African art. I have already shown one of Heckel's sculptures in Figure 6a. The association between nude woman, the "primitive" and nature was also made explicitly in Heckel's famous Day of Glass where a naked woman is shown against an awesome nature of snowy mountain peaks that was reflected by a lake. What is significant to note is the position of her arms which were raised. As a consequence, she displays a body painted to resemble an African sculpture. She has pendulous breasts, pot belly and partly visible face. As she is denied her recognizable features, she functions as both a symbolic and literal icon of the "primitive," of "woman as nature." Heckel was predominantly a woodcut artist which was inspired by being able to view African sculptures made of wood. Two of his woodcuts are shown below: (a) (b) Figure 7. a) Crouching Woman (1917) and b) Portrait of a Man (1919) Source: Collection of the National Gallery of Australia (2005) 5.0 Conclusion The influence of 'Primitive' objects and ideas was expressed the German Expressionist movement spearheaded by the Brucke group. The group's primary aim was to consciously break with tradition and reject the academy with its preference for smooth, slick and pristine surfaces. Die Brcke artists wanted to harness the emotions in all their expressive force by creating works whose surface aesthetic manifested and mirrored the very emotional content they sought to express: rough, elemental, primitive, elemental. They often produced works using recycled pieces of unfinished timber or lithographic stones thereby consciously rejecting the technical mechanised perfection that dominated late 19th-century litho-graphically produced images in favour of something that gave the look of rawness, of being untamed and of the primal energy that they sought. Their aim was expressive and transformative. In that process of breaking free from social norms, they turned to primitive objects. References: Art Archive (2007). Primitive Art. Viewed May 11, 2008 from http://www.artchive.com/artchive/k/kirchner/japanese_parasol.jpg Carthage ORG (2008). Modern Primitive Art. Viewed May 11, 2008 from http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/scultpurePlastic/AfricanSculpture/AfricanArtAesthetics/TheExhibition/aa10.jpg Jordan, Daniel (1998). Flight from Modernity: Time, the other and the Discourse of Primitivism Jordan Time Society.1995; 4: 281-303 Gabler, Karlheinz (1983). Erich Heckel und sein Kreis. Germany: Belser Verlag. Groninger Musem (2008). Nude. Viewed May 11, 2008 from http://www.groningermuseum.nl/uploads/2.%20Kirchner%20Nacktes%20Madchen.jpg Lloyd, Jill (1991). German Expressionism: Primitivism and Modernity. New Haven: Yale University Press MOMA ORG (2003). Brucke Art Collection. Viewed May 11, 2008 from http://www.moma.org/images/collection/FullSizes/00183002.jpg National Gallery of Australia (2005). Heckel's artwork. Viewed May 11, 2008 from http://www.nga.gov.au/InternationalPrints/Tyler/Default.cfmMnuID=6&Essay=artonview29 Pan, David (2001). Primitive Renaissance: Rethinking German Expressionism. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. UCLA (2005). Brucke Arts. Viewed May 11, 2008 from http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/resources/1521/Kirchner.jpg Read More