Art Works

Illustrating the
Development of
Western Art

from the
Renaissance
to
Post-Modernism

Bruce Baker
The Birth of Venus (Sandro Botticelli 1484)
After the Roman Empire fell in the sixth century,
came “The Dark Ages”. There were a variety of
influences in European art, including Anglo-
Saxon, Viking, Norman and Romanesque. In the
fifteenth century, the arts of ancient Greece and
Rome were rediscovered. Many artworks were
inspired by Classical (Greek and Roman) legends,
characters and history. In this painting, Botticelli
imagines the birth of the god of Love, Venus
(Roman equivalent of the Greek Aphrodite). The
male figure symbolises the wind Zephyr. The
simplified landscape is only a backdrop to the main event.
See files about this artwork, Botticelli, The Renaissance, and The Golden Section.

Self-Portrait (Dürer 1498)

This self-portrait was made when Dürer was 26 years old, entering his mature
period as an artist. Dürer had travelled in Germany, then made his first of two
visits to northern Italy to study art and mathematics. There he was impressed
by the high social status granted to great artists. In Germany he had been seen
as a lowly craftsman. “How I shall freeze after this sun!” Dürer wrote to a
friend from Italy. “Here I am a gentleman, at home only a parasite.” Upon his
return to Nuremberg, Dürer asserted his new sense of social position. He
depicts himself with flamboyant dress and a haughty bearing.
See files about Dürer’s self-portraits and Focal Points.

David (Michelangelo 1501)

Michelangelo modelled the sculpture right on the Classical Greek
kouros, a naked male with curly hair (well above the eyes), looking to
one side, with one leg bent. The sculpture represents the Biblical
Jewish figure David, who as a young man took on the huge Philistine
Goliath, killing him with a stone from a sling. The mood is one of
confidence. However most of Michelangelo’s sculptures, such as The
Rebellious Slave (left), follow the later dramatic Hellenistic style. The
body is distorted; awkward angles and the face suggest pain.
See files about the following: David; Greek Art; Classical & Neo-
Classical Art, and Focal Points.

Equestrian statuette of Marcus Aurelius (Antico 1510)

Famous figures (such as the Roman emperor here) were often portrayed on
horses, both in paintings and in sculptures. This placed the subject on a high
level, so that he looked down on viewers. The form of the horse was symbolic,
different legs being raised according to the situation being depicted. It is
believed that many ancient
sculptures were painted, and
gold would of course indicate
wealth and position. Although
this sculpture was cast in
bronze, it features inlays,
which add to its interest.
Sistine Madonna (Raphael 1514)
The three main figures – The Virgin, Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara Madonna
– are framed by heavy curtains opened to reveal the heavenly scene.
Positioned in the ‘golden triangle’, they stand on a bed of clouds, looking
down upon the church congregation which would be assembled below.
Raphael makes careful use of chiaroscuro (strong contrasts between light and
dark). The putti at the bottom of the picture are quite impish, but the Virgin
and Madonna have a serene, other-worldly expression. The other-worldliness
– and the dark colours – drew protests in the nineteenth century from the Pre-
Raphaelites, who aimed for a brighter and more natural style.
See notes about the Renaissance and the Pre-Raphaelites

The Crucifixion of St Peter (Caravaggio 1600)

St Peter asked to be crucified upside-down, so he would not be seen as
imitating Christ. During the late Renaissance and early Baroque period,
Mannerists aimed to gain the maximum dramatic impact from a scene. They
featured diagonal, rather than vertical and horizontal, lines in their
compositions. They made considerable use of chiaroscuro (as in Raphael’s
Sistine Madonna). Characters were often in awkward poses (as in
Michelangelo’s Rebellious Slave), and sometimes limbs were extended.
There was occasionally a whirling effect, creating a sense of intensity and
movement. This can be seen in Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam.
See the notes about Baroque Art and Michelangelo’s God Creating Adam

Christ driving the traders from the temple (El Greco 1600)
El Greco (“The Greek”) was the name given to a Cretan
painter who worked mainly in Toledo. Elongated figures,
dramatic angles and brilliant contrasts were Mannerist
techniques. The frequent use of white is part of El Greco’s
style. He painted mainly for Church buildings. Here Christ
(in the centre) shows his anger against the traders who sell
goods in the temple (to the left), while the Church leaders (to
the right) look on in horror of losing their commission.
See the file about the artwork.

A Village Fair – festival in honour of St Hubert and

Saint Anthony (Pieter Brueghel the Younger 1600s)
The two Pieter Brueghels (father and son) painted
mass scenes of revelry. Here effigies of saints are
carried through the village, but the spectators'
attention has been diverted by travelling actors.
Acts of individual devotion are still evident – for
example a man kneels at confessional Yet most
villagers dance and sing in a carousing mêlée.
Brueghel’s father was interested in the common
people. although his middle-class patrons were
keen to buy scenes reflecting a simple life, quite
foreign to the the cities and towns.
See the file about the painting.
The Laughing Cavalier (Franz Hals 1624)
Dutch painter Franz Hals is best known for this exuberant painting of a
26-year-old fun-loving man-about-town dressed in his finery – a doublet
embroidered with fanciful motifs in white, gold and red thread, with a
gilded rapier pommel visible at the crook of his elbow. The detail is
painted in fine strokes, the colours showing up against the dull grey
background. The facial expression, the low angle, the gesture (arm
akimbo), and the way the subject fills the canvas emphasise the subject’s
self-confidence. Young cavaliers (middle-class men who could afford
horses) were known for a life of self-indulgence. The motifs embroidered
on the sitter’s doublet are symbolic of the pleasures and pains of love.
See the file about the artwork.

Embarkation of St Ursula (Claude Lorrain 1641)

French painter Claude (often known by his place of
origin, Lorrain) was active during the rise of (Neo)-
Classicism – which is seen in the symmetry (Classical
buildings on the left balancing the tree on the right),
the Roman dress, and the largely vertical position of
many of the subjects. (In his later Embarkation of the
Queen of Sheba, Lorrain would simplify the subject-
matter, include a Classical ruin, and give more
emphasis to horizontal and vertical lines.)
See the files about the artwork, Classical and Neo-
Classical art, and Balance.

“Penance” from The Seven Sacraments (Poussin 1644-8)

Humbling oneself by bowing down, and washing, are
symbols of repentance. In the sacrament of penance,
those who repent are forgiven. Poussin arranged
models in a small box to help him with the layout of
his compositions. He made numerous rough
drawings. The scenes are arranged like a theatrical
tableau, creating a curiously static quality and
enhancing their gravity. The pillars and the balance
of the composition are typical of (Neo)Classicism.
See the files about the artwork and Classical and
Neo-Classical art.

The courtyard of a house in Delft (De Hooch 1658)

The sixteenth century saw an upheaval in Europe, as those ‘protesting’
against what they saw as the corruption of the ‘Catholic’ Church governed
from Rome, began to form “Protestant” Churches – particularly in
Germany, Geneva, and Holland. To escape the controversies , many artists
avoided religious topics, depicting landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, and
private homes. Here red and light brown tonings, the composure of the
subjects, and the simplicity of the homely scene, create an atmosphere of
warmth and gentleness.
See the file about this artwork.
David and Goliath (Rembrandt 1655)
Here Rembrandt, who normally preferred secular subjects, has taken
on a religious one – the same story that Michelangelo referred to in his
David. Yet it is quite a different perspective. Rembrandt has included
both characters in the story. Goliath is protected by armour and bristles
with weapons. Seen from a low perspective, he towers over the young
David, who is armed only by his sling, and looks much more ordinary
than the Greek representation of perfection in Michelangelo’s
sculpture. The respective armies can be seen, below ground level,
cheering on the characters who fight on their behalf. The Dutch
interest in landscapes is reflected in the large part played in the print
by the scene of the conflict. In his time, Rembrandt was better known
for his prints than for his paintings, as he was able to create many
copies on his own press, so that prints could circulate throughout
Europe. This one does not have the detail many of Rembrandt’s prints,
although he has managed to convey the drama of the scene without it.
See files about Rembrandt’s etchings and Focal Points.

The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede (Ruisdael 1670)

Dutch landscapes and seascapes like this one influenced
Constable and Turner. Resemblances can be seen in the
large, complex skies which fill many of the pictures of
both later painters, while ordinary folk feature in the
paintings of both, and similar boats feature in Turner’s
seascapes. Like Constable, Ruisdael has taken
considerable pains to represent every detail accurately.
Unlike the (Neo)Classicists, he makes no attempt to
“organise” or “improve on” the scene.
See Focal Points & Dutch Landscapes in the 17th century.

The Milkmaid (Vermeer 1658)

Young Woman Standing at a Virginal (Vermeer 1672)
Many of Vermeer’s paintings are of small rooms, with light entering
through a side window, and often paintings in the background. The
decorated porcelain tiles in lower walls protected them from brooms.
Middle-class women often played the virginals, a small keyboard
instrument shown right. Often the top was decorated by a painting.
Left, a kitchen maid pours milk
into a container. The layers of her
dress suggests it is winter. She
wears a robust leather top (painted
applying thick and quick impasto
dabs of yellow and brown pigments to give it a rough texture) and a
blue apron over a heavy red wool skirt.
Vermeer usually limited himself to a few colours; however here he
used the expensive ultramarine. In his early works, Vermeer used a
thick impasto paint layer. Later he started working with a new
technique called “pointillé”, little dots of paint applied to a canvas to
obtain more accuracy and detail; here they are used to paint the bread.
See files about both paintings.
Hall of Mirrors, Palais de Versailles, Paris (1678-1684)
The Baroque Period (about 1600-
1750) saw a focus on splendour,
drama, and complexity. This can
be seen in one of the most
dazzling rooms in Europe, the Hall

of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in Paris. King Louis XIV, who

had Le Brun and others design and build the chamber – and had himself
portrayed in it (right) – seldom used it: it was to impress visitors.
See the files about this artwork, Baroque art, and Focal Points

Church of the Redentore (Canaletto 1740)

The Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal,
(known as Canaletto) was commissioned to
create this oil painting on canvas of The
Church of the Redentore (“Redeemer”) in
Venice, as a thank-offering for the end of the
plague. To provide interest, he placed the
Church left of centre. The architect of the
church was Andrea Palladio (1508-1580)
whose classical style (with domes, columns
and statues) was much admired (and copied)
in eighteenth-century Britain, where the style
became known as Palladian. Canaletto
became famous not only for depictions of the
churches, canals and gondolas of Venice, but for scenes in London, where for a time he worked.
See the notes about the artwork, Focal Points, and Classical (Palladian) Architecture.

Beer St and Gin Lane (Hogarth 1751)

In the eighteenth century, the Industrial
Revolution and Britain’s expanding
merchant navy (as well as Britain’s
growing control of territories which
were become the British Empire)
produced a new affluence. A growing
middle class could afford luxuries that
had previously been beyond their reach.
Unable to produce wine, and forced to
pay high import duties on spirits, British
companies produced beer and wine.
Satirists like Hogarth made engravings
for magazines which were popular in shops serving gin, or imported tea or coffee. He produced these
cartoons to support the Gin Act, highlighting what he saw as the evils of drinking gin compared with beer.
Commodore Augustus Keppel (Reynolds 1752)
Anne, Viscountess of Townsend (Reynolds 1780)
An artistic group at a London coffee house set up
an art school. Later the Royal Academy was formed
to teach art formally. Its first president was Joshua
Reynolds. Art was not then a priority in English
culture, so to earn a living many artists made
portraits of wealthy or powerful people. Reynolds
shows Commodore Keppel in a commanding pose,
with the sea on which he sailed as background,
while he portrays the Viscountess in a feminine
pose, her clothes demonstrating the elegance the
aristocracy could afford to display. The pedestal
brings a Classical element to the portrait. Later Pre-
Raphaelites found the poses unnatural, and the backgrounds dark and unreal.
See the files about Commodore Augustus Keppel and the Royal Academy.

“The Meeting” from The Progress of Love (Fragonard 1773)

Fragonard and Watteau delighted in painting scenes showing
elegant ladies. Often the subjects are courted by (sometimes
mischievous) young gentlemen. The trees, flowers and statuary
suggest (rather unrealistically) those of palaces in which social
events took place to entertain bored occupants and their
acquaintances. The dark, unnatural backgrounds are similar to
those of Reynolds’ portraits, although the postures and gestures are
those of the stage, rather than the elegance and nobility of
Reynolds’ subjects. In this Rococo style, Classical “rules” of
simplicity and balance are no longer being followed – as if to
suggest that the nobility no longer consider themselves bound by
social conventions. The opulence and self-indulgence portrayed in
these pictures were to lead to the French Revolution of 1789.
See the file about Rococo Architecture.

Oath of the Horatii (Jacques Louis David 1784)

Baroque complexity and Rococo ornamentation
gave way to Classical simplicity. Even Louis XIV
had paintings of a restrained style in his personal
rooms. “Rules” dictated how paintings should be
formed in the (Neo)Classical style. It imitated the
simplicity and balance of Classical sculpture, as
well as the dress, the values, the countryside, and
the buildings (pedestals, domes, and columns) of
ancient Rome. While David painted in various
styles, many of his works are Neo-Classical. This
painting is simple, but David’s standards were
high: “If the work is poor, the public taste will
soon do it justice. And the author, reaping neither
glory nor fortune, will learn by hard experience
how to correct his mistakes.” The male and female figures create “golden triangles”.
See the files about Classical and Neoclassical art, and the Golden Triangle.
Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss (Canova 1793)
Antonio Canova was the leading Neo-Classical sculptor in Europe
in his time. His sculptures helped to renew an interest in the history
and myths of the Classical world – ancient Greece and Rome.
Here the god Cupid tries to awaken his lover Psyche. (Venus,
jealous of Cupid, has used a magic perfume to put Psyche to sleep.)
Canova shows Cupid’s love and tenderness in the way Cupid holds
and gazes on Psyche. The balanced structure (here resembling a
cross) and the drapery are typical of late Greek and Roman
sculpture, while the depth of feeling is typical of Romanticism.
See the files about Classical and Neo-Classical art & Focal Points.

3rd May 1808 (Goya 1814)

The late eighteenth century saw revolutions in
North America and France. The next century
saw a revolution in the arts – the “Romantic
Revolt”. Beethoven did not follow traditional
forms in his sonatas and symphonies; Jane
Austen wrote novels in which couples married
not for wealth and prestige but for love; and
artists such as Goya and Delacroix depicted
revolutionary fighters. Viewers were shocked
by this portrayal of an unarmed man facing a
firing squad. It commemorates the second day
of a massacre of Spanish rebels by Napoleon’s
troops. Note the focal point left of centre.
See the files about Romanticism & Focal Points.

Wivenhoe park (Constable 1816)

In the nineteenth century, artists
became more interested in the
world around them than in the
ancient world. Poets like Keats and
Wordsworth wrote about nature,
Beethoven composed a “Pastoral
Symphony”, and many artists
portrayed scenes from nature. One
of the painters leading this “return
to nature” was English painter
John Constable. However it was
not the idealised Italian landscapes
of the Neoclassicists that he
portrayed: it was the English
countryside around him, complete with farm animals, horses and labourers. Constable believed that
“Nature is congenial with the elements of the planet itself, and he cannot but sympathise with its features,
its various aspects, and its phenomena in all situations.” Unlike many Europeans, who preferred carefully-
organised gardens, the English enjoyed more “natural” surroundings. Estate owners even employed
designers (such as the famous “Capability Brown”) to organise (and sometimes reconstruct) their property
to give views that looked natural. Constable was so keen to portray this “natural look” at Wivenhoe Park
that he spent many hours there creating this view.
See the files about this artwork and Romanticism.
Snow Storm (J. M. W. Turner 1842)
Turner also took a keen interest in nature – although
without Constable’s attention to detail – which he felt
could distract from the hazy, atmospheric scenes he liked,
especially those in which fog combined with wind and
rain. In this painting his brush strokes create a whirling
motion, contrasting degrees of light and shade. The
steamship in the centre of the painting manages (just) to
combat the powerful forces of God in nature, which
Turner believed were un-mastered by man. He is thought
to have had himself lashed to the mast so he could see the
conditions portrayed here. Turner’s studies of light
(which he saw as the emanation of God’s spirit) influenced Impressionism. (Monet studied his paintings.)
See the notes about TURNER 1844 The Great Western Railway.

Isabella (Millais 1849)

Royal Academy students Holman Hunt, Dante Rossetti,
and John Millais disliked the dark colours and set gestures
of academic painting – blaming them on the Academy’s
first president, whom they nicknamed Sir “Sloshua”
Reynolds. They often portrayed historical, mythical or
Biblical scenes, but in bright colours (often pre-painting
the canvas white) and everyday actions. In this painting,
based on an incident in a poem by Keats, one diner wipes
his mouth, and one pokes the dog with his foot.
See files about Millais, the artwork, Pre-Raphaelites,
Keats & the Pre-Raphaelites, Macchiaioli and Purismo, and British Artistic Taste in the 19th Century

Castel Gondolfo (Corot 1860)

Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, was a subject popular with
historic landscape artists. The painting shows Corot’s
ability to reconcile modern naturalism with the academic
ideals found in the classical landscapes of painters like
Lorrain. The vagueness hints of the coming Impressionist
style; yet the dots which show the leaves are typical of
Corot’s delicate brushwork. He creates a shimmering
effect of evening light, typical of his open-air paintings.
However this work would have been completed from
memory: the artist’s last visit to north Italy had been
nearly fifteen years earlier, in 1843.

Morning on the Oise, Auvers (Daubigny 1859)

With the Barbizon school outside Paris,
Daubigny painted nature en plein air in a style
influenced by Constable, but later paintings are
more impressionistic. In 1860 he moved to the
small town of Auvers, just north of Paris. He
acquired a boat as a mobile studio, so he could
specialise in river views of the Oise and the
Seine. He would paint at different times of day, recording the variations in light that he observed.
See files about the Barbizon Painters; Charles DAUBIGNY; Theodore ROUSSEAU; and Impressionism.
The Red House (Philip Webb 1860)
Reacting against mass production, “Arts and Crafts” returned to
traditional methods and use of decoration. Products were made by
individuals or small groups, and designed to look good, not just suit
their function. Ornamental objects, floral fabrics, book-making,
weaving, jewellery, enamelling, metalwork and
ceramics were influenced by the movement. Styles
were typically rectilinear and angular, with
decorative motifs often borrowed from Medieval
European, Islamic and Japanese sources. The Red House, built for movement leader
William Morris, reflects the style in architecture. Later, designs became more complex,
in an Aesthetic Style beyond the reach of the ordinary people products were originally made for.
See files about Arts and Crafts; William MORRIS; and William Morris & the Pre-Raphaelites.

Red apples at the foot of a tree (Courbet 1872)

Goya’s paintings of the Peninsula War were early
examples of scenes that many would find unpleasant.
Keats’s statement that “Beauty is truth; truth beauty” was
being challenged. Half a century later French artist
Courbet, unable to display in the World Fair, set up an
exhibition named Le Réalisme. To many, this painting of
rotting fruit was as repulsive as Goya’s firing squad.
Realism continued to appear in art, music and literature.
See files about Realism in Art; The Glasgow Boys;
HOPPER 1842 The Nighthawks; Camden Town Group.

L’Ingénue (“innocent” – Renoir 1877)

Impressionists were not so concerned about clarity as the overall
impression given by a painting, which they conveyed by building up
patches of colour to produce an overall effect. Here Renoir gives us an
impression of an innocent young woman who has not yet learnt the ways
of the world. She then stops to think about what she sees; Renoir makes
her face and hands stand out clearly, so that the clothes and the flower
in her hair are less clear. The hazy background swirls around her, as if
she is caught up in a changing world she does not understand. This
effect would be impossible to achieve on a camera.
See files about Impressionism, and Impressionism and Photography.

The Thinker (Rodin 1880)

Although some 19th century sculptors, such as Danish Thorvaldsen
(who spent most of his life in Italy) kept largely to the Classical model,
others (like the Italian Canova) began to move away from it. In France,
Rodin looked for a new way of expressing life in sculpture. While many
of his forms do not have quite the dramatic intensity of much Hellenistic
sculpture, they portray humans in the grip of strong thoughts and
emotions. In 1904, he wrote of his Le Penseur (“The Thinker”): “…a
naked man, seated upon a rock, his feet drawn under him, his fist against
his teeth, he dreams. The fertile thought slowly elaborates itself within
his brain. He is no longer a dreamer, he is a creator."
See files about Rodin and about this artwork.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa (Hokusai 1829)
Japanese artists were creating views of courtesans,
buildings, nature, and battles on woodblocks. In the
ukiyu-e technique, they created prints of three or four
colours. These did not however have the photographic
accuracy of Constable’s paintings: they were heavily
stylised; the (simple) design and colour range, not the
accuracy of the view, was most important. In the
1880s, these were creating quite an impact in Europe.
See the files about Japanese coloured woodblock
prints, Perspective, and Focal Points.

Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Seurat 1884-1886)

Like impressionists, Seurat was not interested in
complete accuracy. For example, the shadows in the
painting here do not reflect the position of the sun. "I see
only science," he quipped, referring to the discovery that
by combining points of colour he could create brighter
and deeper colours, and portray the merging of light and
shade better, than otherwise. The painting has an
impressionistic mood, yet it reflects a Japanese limitation
of colours, simplicity of shapes, and clarity of outlines.
See the file about this artwork and The Role of Colour..

Starry Night (Van Gogh 1889)

French painters Signac and Camille Pissarro picked up
Seurat’s technique – now called Pointillisme – yet only
for a while, as the process was time-consuming; Signac
replaced the points by short lines. Van Gogh extended
these lines. Here the lines join to form swirling clouds,
brilliant stars and surging trees, with little visual accuracy
but creating a dramatic effect, dwarfing the town below.
The work’s popularity may be explained by Van Gogh’s
comment: “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.”
See files about the artist, the artwork, and Perspective.

Wellington Harbour (James Nairn 1894)

While Impressionism is often thought of as a “French”
style, it has been imitated around the world – indeed,
there have probably been more British composers of
Impressionist music than French. Impressionist art was
very popular in Scotland. James Nairn, a Scottish
emigré, brought it to New Zealand. Here he captures
effectively the brilliance of the clouds and the sun’s
reflection in the water. A human figure, as well as
buildings and boats, provide interest.
See the file about Impressionism.
Vision of the Sermon (Cézanne 1888)
Post-Impressionists Cézanne and Gauguin preferred bold
colours, clear outlines and flat planes to the relatively
visually accurate (if blurry) Impressionist art. They aimed
to create a composition which they found pleasing, in
which accuracy of colours and shapes was unimportant.
Just as Botticelli had symbolised the wind in The Birth of
Venus, Cézanne symbolises the way in which the
congregation see the preacher’s message as the “Word of
God” by having the preacher taken over by the angel. The
women wear the traditional dress of Breton.
See the files about Post-Impressionism and Symbolism

The Talisman, the River Aven at the Bois d'Amour (Sérusier 1888)
Paul Sérusier founded the Nabis (“prophets”) who saw art as rooted deeply in
the soul, and paintings as harmonious groupings of lines and colours, rather
than “photographic” images. They were influenced by Japonisme, the urge to
reflect imaginative Japanese woodblock prints that were appearing. However
Sérusier was inspired particularly by Post-Impressionist Gauguin to treat a
scene simply as a starting-point, and to paint not what he saw but what he felt
about it. Colours, shapes, and sizes could be changed to make a painting a
work which its creator felt expressed beauty as he saw it. Maurice Denis, the
theorist of the group, proclaimed that “every work of art is a transposition, a
caricature, the passionate equivalent of a received sensation."
See files on Post-Impressionism, Japanese Woodblock Prints, and The Nabis.

A Coign of Vantage (Alma-Tadema 1893)

In England, the Olympian movement expressed Victorians’ dream of Britain
as a new Roman Empire. Matthew Noble's 1876 sculpture of Prime Minister
Robert Peel elevates him on Roman columns, portraying him as a timeless
historical figure of Caesar-like proportions. The Royal Academy's top painters
generally painted classical subjects. Here two wealthy Roman women with
time on their hands are depicted with their servant; one woman leans over the
balcony childishly, watching returning boats, while the other, stretching lazily,
stares vacantly into the sky above. In the background is a Classical sculpture.
See files about Olympian Victorian Art; British Artistic Taste in the
Nineteenth Century; and Frederic LEIGHTON.

The Kiss (Gustav Klimt 1908)

Klimt worked in the Vienna Secession, an Austrian offshoot of the
Art Nouveau style which originated in Britain. Artists drew
inspiration from both organic and geometric forms, evolving
elegant designs that united flowing, natural forms with more
angular contours. The movement wanted to make craft-based
decorative arts as important as painting and sculpture. The bright
palette and patterned surfaces are typical of Art Nouveau, but there
are hints of the elongated bodies, somewhat exotic colours,
gestural brushwork, and jagged forms of the later Expressionists.
The woman is looking away from the man: is the golden age over?
See the files about Art Nouveau, Expressionism & Focal Points.
The Green Stripes (Matisse 1905)
In a critique of a 1905 Salon, Henri Matisse, Derain, de Vlaminck and Manguin
were defamed as "Fauves", wild animals or beasts. They used even brighter and
more garish colours than the Nabis, along with bold, often coloured, outlines.
Matisse felt that “The chief function of colour should be to serve expression.” He
is particularly known for his use of red. The central green line may suggest there
are two elements in the sitter’s personality. The hairstyle and raised eyebrows
suggest the influence of Japonisme.
See notes about this artwork, Fauvism, The Role of Colour, and Balance.

Scream (Munch 1893)

Les demoiselles d’Avignon (Picasso 1907)
Artists like Edvard Munch in Norway,
James Ensor in Belgium, and Gustav Klimt
in Vienna felt an anxiety about urbanisation
and new technologies, worried that they
were losing their spirituality and feelings of
“belonging”. Munch’s Scream depicts this
anxiety in strong diagonals and bright
complimentary colours. Expressionists
working in Germany from 1905 applied
colour with impulsive and spontaneous
brushstrokes. They dropped traditional perspective and academic proportion in favour of distorted forms,
as well as swirling and swaying. Picasso was also influenced by African masks, which feature in his
painting, while the limited colour range and the angular forms point to his future involvement in cubism.
See files about Picasso, Expressionism, Perspective, The Role of Colour, Art Deco, and Primitivism.

The city rises (Boccioni 1910)

Futurists disliked the domination of logic over western culture
begun in the Enlightenment. Marinetti proclaimed the ideal
of futurism to be embracing technology, the machine, speed,
and dynamic energy. Boccioni affirmed that "To paint a
human figure you must not paint it; you must render the whole
of its surrounding atmosphere" – the vibrant city in which he
or she lived. Futurists, such as Boccioni, Balla and Severoni
expressed this vibrancy in bold colours, blurred movement,
and even chaos, with a tendency towards abstraction.
See files about Marinetti, Futurism, Art Deco, and The Role of Colour.

Still life with chair caning (Picasso 1912)

The distorted figures, absence of perspective, reduction of
elements to flat surfaces, and limitation of colours in Picasso’s
painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon predicted later cubism.
Cubists Picasso and Braque portrayed included several views
of object(s), attaching circles, rectangles and cubes, so viewers
may find it hard to recognise the object(s). At first they limited
colours so as not to distract from shapes. The geometric shapes
influenced Constructivism and Art Deco. Here Picasso also
uses collage -which influenced Dadaism and Surrealism
See files about Picasso, Perspective, Art Deco, and Cubism.
Maison Citrohan (Le Corbusier 1920)
There was a resurgence of Purismo in France between 1918 and
1925, led by painter Amédée Ozenfant and Charles Jeanneret
(renamed Le Corbusier), who wanted to escape the influence of
Cubism. Le Corbusier published Après le Cubisme (“After
Cubism”) with Paul Dermeé in 1918. In 1920 the three launched the
journal L’Esprit nouveau, attacking the decoration which was
common in older forms of architecture. Le Corbusier favoured
buildings supported by pillars, with a façade devoid of ornament,
large windows to admit light, an open floor plan, and a roof terrace.
See files on Machiaioli and Purismo, and Cubism.

Ennui [“Boredom”] (Sickert 1914)

In London, Walter Sickert drew together a group of painters (including
Augustus John, Henry Lamb, Lucien Pissarro – son of Camille – and Duncan
Grant) which were eventually known as the Camden Town Group. All were
strong followers of French painting methods, except that their paintings are
usually small, and use muted colours to depict everyday urban scenes in
England. They created streetscapes, bed-sit interiors, music hall scenes,
casual portraits, nudes and still-lifes. Painting styles of members varied
considerably. Most began in an impressionist style (Robert Bevan used
impressionist, pointillist and post-impressionist techniques) but later
adopted the strong flat colours and broad brushwork of Post-Impressionists.
See the files about the Camden Town Group and The Golden Triangle.

Constructed Head no.2 (Gabo 1916)

Books poster (Rodchenko 1924)
Vladimir Tatlin, impressed by Picasso’s wooden
reliefs and collages, constructed still-lifes from
similar “found” objects – although these were
abstract, and made of industrial materials. Naum
Gabo pioneered ways of making sculpture from plastic, glass and metals. Laszlo
Moholy-Nagy developed an interest in technology and the machine. Rodchenko
worked in several media, eventually favouring photography and advertising design.
Simple forms, bold colours (particularly red, the colour of the Soviet régime, which Constructivists
supported), the straight lines and circles of machines, and repeated patterns were common.
See the files about Constructivism, Art Deco, and The Role of Colour.

LHOOQ (Duchamp 1919)

Duchamp proclaimed, “A painting that doesn't shock
isn't worth painting.”. Dada artists, poets and
performers were outraged by the horrors and folly of
the First World War – and by the society which created
it. Their work is, then, often satirical and nonsensical.
Their aim was to destroy traditional values in art and to
create a new art. Duchamp drew a moustache and beard
on the Mona Lisa. A year later Schwitters created a collage of the debris of
civilisation (right) representing what he felt was his “exile”.
See the file about Dadaism.
The Sacrifice (Kollwitz 1922)
Käthe Kollwitz, one of the last artists to draw upon German
Expressionism, was a German graphic artist and sculptor who
spoke out for victims of social injustice, war, and inhumanity. Most
of her works are prints, with which she could spread her message
much more effectively than in a painting or sculpture. She depicted
the plight of the poor and oppressed, usually in stark, simple forms,
and usually in black-and-white. The death of her youngest son in
battle in 1914 was reflected in many prints in which she portrayed
the anguish of grieving parents. She was strongly influenced by
cultures regarded by her own culture as primitive, perhaps seeing
their behaviour as superior to the inhuman behaviour of Europeans.
See biography of the artist and the file about Primitivism.

The Bauhaus Building in Dessau (Gropius 1926)

The Bauhaus (“construction house”) school began in Weimar
in southeast Germany in 1919. Its purpose – like that of Arts
and Crafts creator William Morris – was to create designs that
were both practical and visually pleasing in crafts, fine arts and
architecture. By 1922 Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky were
tutors. In 1926 Gropius designed a centre in Dessau with a
glass curtain wall which overlaps the edges, creating the
impression of lightness, marked off from other buildings by its
colour. The National Socialists forced the movement to close in 1933.

The Threatened Assassin (Magritte 1926)

Lobster Telephone (Salvador Dali 1936)
Surrealism combined Symbolism, Freudian
psychoanalysis and Dadaism. Surrealists put
together objects not normally associated – like a
shoe on a tentacle of a starfish. They encouraged viewers to wonder
whether their artworks are nonsensical, whether the objects they display
are symbolic, and whether there could be some subconscious link between
them. Rules of perspective and light sources are often broken. There is often an element of surprise.
Breton wrote, “In a violent reaction against the impoverishment and sterility of thought processes that
resulted from centuries of rationalism, we turned toward the marvellous and advocated it unconditionally.”
See files about Surrealism, Magritte and Perspective.

Torso II (Barbara Hepworth 1958)

Torso in Metal from the Rock Drill (Jacob Epstein 1913-16)
Head of a Girl (1923) and Bird Basket (1939) – Henry Moore
British sculpture had been reborn in the nineteenth century by the New
Sculpture movement, led by Frederick Leighton. In the twentieth
century, Epstein, Moore and Hepworth would reinvent it. The lines,
angles and simple shapes of their sculptures show links with
Constructivism, although Moore was also interested in Primitivism.
Hepworth and Moore specialised in making empty space part of the
sculpture, and in producing simplifications of the human body.
See the artworks Torso II, Torso in Metal, and Head of a Girl; and
files about The New Sculpture; Primitivism; and Constructivism.
White Center (yellow, pink, lavender on rose) (Mark Rothco 1950)
Rothco’s paintings, like those of some symbolists and surrealists, show an interest
in the way the mind works, as described by Freud. From expressionism and cubism,
he moved into surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. His “Color Field” paintings
set rectangular fields of colour, in shifting tones, on an even background, the
background and horizontal shapes perhaps suggesting equilibrium. The artist
intended the effect to be spiritual; however viewers’ reactions depend largely on the
associations that particular colours have for them. Some reject such paintings as
being without subject or substance, while others argue that the subject of an artwork
is not important. Rothco professed a spiritual kinship with primitive and archaic art.
See the files about the artist and the art styles mentioned.

Dancer (1974), Self Portrait (1980) – Robert Mapplethorpe

The choice of monochrome photography may relate to the lack
of colour in sculptures, or to a perceived lack of colour in the
artist’s life, or it may reflect a gay man’s longing to be more
“masculine”, or it may point to a dark side of Maplethorpe’s
nature, which emerges particularly in the BDSM elements of his
work and the use of black models. Mapplethorpe believed that
colour is not important, but what is being performed is. The dangling cigarette seems typical of the “Devil-
may-care” bodgie. Yet the eyes seem to be confused, searching for something which they can not find –
perhaps something Mapplethorpe saw in idealised Greek sculptures, which may be reflected in Dancer.
See files about the artwork, Impressionism and Photography, and Focal Points.

Crippled by the Need to Control Judy Chicago (1983-5)

Feminist artists, such as Judy Chicago and Faith Wilding, focussed on the female body,
as well as exposing issues like childbirth and male dominance. “I think what's important
is to give space to the range of human experience,” Chicago explained. In an art world
previously dominated by males, that range was increased by female participation.
See the file about Postmodernism

Balloon girl (Banksy 2002)

Graffiti has not normally been seen as “art”; yet since the Dadaist revolt
it has been claimed that a work does not have to be created by an “artist”
to be considered “art”. Street art often shows considerable talent; and it
may in fact be easier for “ordinary” people to relate to than paintings
hung in a gallery. Its practitioners use spray paint, as no preparation is
needed, and the painting needs to be finished before it is discovered.
See the files about Postmodernism in Art and Focal Points.

Infinity Mirrored Room (Yayoi Kusama 2013)

Many found “modern art” hard to relate to. To attract viewers,
“Pop” artists used the bright colours and simple designs of popular
culture, performance artists attracted younger people with
movement, while Optical artists tricked the eye. Feminists aimed
to make art more relevant to women, and Conceptual artists
stretched the boundaries between what is and is not art. While
Kusama’s work has links with Abstract Impressionism, it reflects
all these styles. Balls or dots of colour, and mirrors, are common.
See files about Abstract Expressionism, Post-Modernism, Minimalist Art and Conceptual Art.