ABSTRACT ART

Abstract art is an art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but
instead use shapes, colours, forms and gestural marks to achieve its effect. Strictly speaking, the word
abstract means to separate or withdraw something from something else.

Abstract art in its strictest sense has its origins in the 19th century. The period characterized by so vast a
body of elaborately representational art produced for the sake of illustrating anecdote also produced a
number of painters who examined the mechanism of light and visual perception.

Abstract Art Artists

 Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily (Vasily) Wassilyevich Kandinsky was born in 1866 in Moscow to well educated,
upper-class parents of mixed ethnic origins. He was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky
is generally credited as the pioneer of abstract art. He spent his childhood in Odessa, where he
graduated at Grekov Odessa Art school. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law
and economics. His unique perspective on the form and function of art emphasized the
synthesis of the visual and the auditory.

ARTWORKS OF KANDINSKY

FIRST ABSTRACT WATERCOLOR

COMPOSITION VII

 Frantisek Kupka
František Kupka, also known as Frank Kupka or François Kupka, was born in Eastern
Bohemia in 1871, the oldest of five children of the notary Vaclav Kupka and his wife Josefa.
Kupka was a Czech painter and graphic artist. He was a pioneer and co-founder of the early
phases of the abstract art movement and Orphic Cubism. Kupka's abstract works arose from a
base of realism, but later evolved into pure abstract art.

ARTWORKS OF KUPKA

Disk of Newton, Study for Fugue in Two Colors

Organization of Graphic Motifs II

 Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the
great artists of the 20th century. He is known for being one of the pioneers of 20 th-century
abstract art, as he changed his artistic direction from figurative painting to an increasingly
abstract style, until he reached a point where his artistic vocabulary was reduced to simple
geometric elements.

ARTWORKS OF MONDRIAN

Blossoming Apple Tree

Composition in Color A
  Joan Miró

Joan Miró, (born April 20, 1893, Barcelona, Spain—died December 25, 1983, Palma,
Majorca), Catalan painter who combined abstract art with surrealist fantasy. His mature style
evolved from the tension between his fanciful, poetic impulse and his vision of the harshness of
modern life. He worked extensively in lithography and produced numerous murals, tapestries,
and sculptures for public spaces.

ARTWORKS OF MIRÓ

Dutch Interior (I)

Baroque Period

The Age of Baroque Period

■ This period roughly spans from 1600 – 1750.

■ This is an age of genius in many fields of endeavor.•

■ The Baroque period in Europe includes a number of post-Renaissance styles that do not have
that much in common.

■ Baroque - word is believed to derive from the Portuguese word barroco, meaning “irregularly
shaped pearl.”

■ There was a continuation of Classicism and naturalism of the Renaissance.

■ At the same time, a more colorful, ornate, painterly, and dynamic style was developing.

■ Motion and space were concerns for artists and architects.•

■ Additional concerns were with the concept of time, the dramatic use of light, and theatricality

The Artists

 Gianlorenzo Bernini

■ Born: December 7, 1598 - Naples

■ Died: November 28, 1680 - Rome

■ Made numerous sculptures for St.Peter’s.

■ • He also designed the piazza! His sculpture David embodies three of five characteristics of
Baroque sculpture:

■ – Motion

■ – A different way of looking at space

■ – The concept of time

■ – Drama

Sample Artwork

 Damned Soul,1619
 The Rape of Proserpina,1621-22
 Apollo and Daphne,1622-25
 St. Peter’s Baldachin (1623-34)
 The Ecstacy of Saint Teresa
o (1647-52)
 Artemisia Gentileshi

■ Born: July 8, 1593 - Rome, Italy

■ Died: c. 1656 - Naples, Italy

■ Her father was a successful painter in Rome.•

■ Work was emotional and depicted stories and subjects in a different light.

■ Was raped during her apprenticeship and many historians believe her personal struggles dealing
with the trial of her accuser led to an obsession with her work Judith Decapitating Holofernes.

Sample artworks

 Susanna and the Elders (1610)

 Judith Slaying Holofernes (c.1620)
 Danae (1612)
 Lucretia (1623-25)
 Francesco Borromini
■ born September 25, 1599, Bissone, Duchy of Lombardy Italy
■ died August 2, 1667, Rome
■ Successfully incorporated the Baroque elements of motion, space, and lighting into his
architecture.•
■ His work moved from the static to the organic.•
■ Plasticity - the ability of any material, object, or design to change or transform.
Sample Artwork

 Church of San Carlo alle

 Quattro Fontane (1638-1677)

 Diego Velázquez
■ Born: June 6, 1599 - Seville, Spain
■ Died: August 6, 1660 - Madrid, Spain
■ Court painter for King Phillip IV. Used:
■ Baroque techniques and Venetian colors.
■ Stark contrast in lights and darks
■ Deep illusionist space
 ■ Common folk as models
■ Harsh realism by using real faces and natural attitudes in his main characters.
■ Small rough textured brushstrokes that would be the foundation of the impressionist
movement.

Sample Artwork

 Vieja friendo huevos (Old Woman Frying Eggs) (1618

 The Supper at Emmaus (1618-23

CUBISM

ARTISTS

 Georges Braque

Georges Braque, (born May 13, 1882, Argenteuil, France—died August 31, 1963, Paris),

French painter, one of the important revolutionaries of 20th-century art who, together
with Pablo Picasso, developed Cubism. His paintings consist primarily of still lifes that are
remarkable for their robust construction, low-key colour harmonies, and serene, meditative
quality.

Artworks

 MAN AND GUITAR (1912)

Man with a Guitar is one of the best-known paintings by the French artist, Georges
Braque.
It was created in 1912 and is oil on canvas. It measures 116.2 x 80.9 cm. The painting is currently
on display in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
The painting uses a dark palette of browns and blacks, bringing the viewer’s focus to the
geometric shapes without the distraction of colour.
There are a few places in the painting where recognizable features can be picked out, such as
the nail and rope at the left of the picture and the scroll of the guitar, but mostly the parts of the
man and guitar are broken apart and unrecognizable.
Braque was trying to convey the idea of the two objects, and not just reflect them in a flat, two
dimensional way.
 THE PORTUGUESE (1911)
The painting is one of the earliest cubist paintings. While it is frequently mentioned in
monographs, textbooks and articles on the artist as well as Cubism, this painting has
never been a source of serious controversy. Most of his paintings consist of still lives
which are remarkable for their low-key colour harmonies, robust construction, and
serene, meditative quality. Cubism is the technique that was used in the creation of the
Portuguese painting. Georges Braque introduced this technique of painting in 1911. The
painting features stencilled letters BAL and numerals under them. The painter first
introduced the still life technique in 1910 before introducing the Cubism style
 BIG/LARGE NUDE (1908)
Braque's Large Nude was an oil on canvas painting which he completed in June 1908.
Braque was inspired to create this large female nude after seeing Picasso's painting of "Les
Demoiselles d'Avignon" at Picasso's studio.
Without using clear lines, Braque had formed his female nude from geometric shapes and used
colour to create the illusion of volume, lines, mass and weight.
His nude appears reclined and twisted to the side, lying upon a sheet or towel. He used a limited
palette of colours, mainly browns and greys to create an image that was a complete contrast to
his early pictures of brightly painted landscapes.
This Large Nude painting marked another step toward his journey into Cubism with Picasso.

 Louis Vauxcelles
The influential French art critic, Louis Vauxcelles, described Braque as "daring".
Vauxcelles's description of how Braque reduced everything to "geometric schemas" and to
"cubes" eventually coined the new term "Cubism" and both Braque and Picasso became its
pioneers.
 Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer
considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. Picasso is
credited, along with Georges Braque, with the creation of Cubism. Picasso challenged
conventional, realistic forms of art through the establishment of Cubism. He wanted to develop
a new way of seeing that reflected the modern age, and Cubism is how he achieved this goal.