Modern art can be Bizarre and baffling Funny
Modern art can be… Bizarre and baffling. Funny, frivolous, Puzzling, or pointless. But it can also be … Stimulating, thought-provoking, absorbing, and exciting.
What is Modern Art ‘An artist is not a special kind of person. Every person is a special kind of artist. ’ Meister Eckhart
Why would artists think its worth risking everything for? Freda Karlo "Self-Portrait with Monkey ". 1938
Whatever their reasons and whatever the meanings behind it, this unit aims to help you discover the answers to the many questions modern art provokes, helping you to enjoy and understand better. Otto Dix Triptych" War ". 1929 -1932
The History Art is always changing. Before 1500 the Christian Church was extremely powerful and art was dominated by it. Michelangelo “The Sintine Chapel” 1508 and 1512.
Gradually as the Church’s influence declined subjects such as landscape, portraits and historical events became more acceptable. The Modern artists became the apprentices of the older artist and learnt the accepted rules with the materials available. During the industrial revolution the middle classes commissioned artists and because of this, artists had a chance to make the art they wanted to make. Edouard Manet, Olympia, 1863 Edouard Manet. A Bar at the Folies-Bergere 1882
Soon artists began to realise it was not as important to copy the real world and they began to create art about feeling, atmosphere and real people doing everyday things. Soleil levant - Claude Monet Degas, The Tub, 1886
In 1884 the first film camera was invented. What was the point of artists trying to copy the real world if photography can do it easily? Shouldn’t art do something else? Window in the South Gallery of Lacock Abbey made from the oldest photographic negative in existence. August 1835 - William Fox Talbot
Botticelli , The Birth of Venus, 1485 Julio Cesar and Leon Pena, The Birth of Venus Remake, 2010+ If technical skill such as accurate shapes, perspective and tones can be seen, What about the skill of ideas.
The modern world in which we live is full of ideas. Modern art moved forward, opening new concepts, making us reconsider the world around us. Robert Delaunay, Champ de Mars 1911/23
Henry Matisse, The Snail, 1953
‘I know what I like’ Do you prefer ‘realistic’ art? Or do you prefer the concepts of modern art? DISCUSS
The Modern Art Movements Artists began to talk to each other about their ideas as they experimented. Those with similar ambitions form groups (movements). Throughout the 20 th Century several movements formed, broke-up and were altered as artist’s aims changed.
Task: Use these books to discover about each movement and choose one. You all must have a different movement Brian Dettmer
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