4_7 Robson Lyceum- Art in the History of Ideas_ Selected Movements and worldviews.pptx
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Prof Robson's Lyceum on worldviews and historical events at the root of certain movements in Western Art for The Cambridge School of Dallas
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4_7 Robson Lyceum- Art in the History of Ideas_ Selected Movements and worldviews.pptx
- 1. ART AND THE HISTORY OF IDEAS: SELECTED MOVEMENTS AND WORLDVIEWS Professor Robson THE CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL OF DALLAS 2022 Lyceum
- 2. “IN THE GALLERIES OF THE FUTURE, THE SIZES WILL BE REVERSED: INSTEAD OF LARGE PAINTINGS WITH SMALL PLAQUES ALONGSIDE, MUSEUMS WILL FEATURE POSTCARD-SIZED PAINTINGS WITH HUGE PLAQUES—BECAUSE THEY REQUIRE SO MUCH TEXT TO EXPLAIN THE WORLDVIEW BEHIND THEM.” ~ TOM WOLFE BUT WHY??????
- 3. VENUS DI MILO (Alexandros) 125 BC GEOMETRIC GREEKS ROMANESQUE ART OF MATHEMATICAL IMAGES PROMOTING IDEALS IDEOLOGY • STROVE FOR BALANCE-PERFECT PROPORTIONS • EXALTED THE UNIVERSAL/IDEAL • HOMER WRITES THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY • USED ART TO ELEVATE POLITICAL IDEOLOGY • REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE AUGUSTUS CAESAR (Augustus of Primaporta) 20 B.C.
- 4. MIDDLE AGES NATURE AS GOD’S GOOD CREATION LAMENTATION (Giotto) 1305 • STORYTELLING FOCUSED ON CHRIST'S HUMANITY • BEGAN TO STRAY FROM THE DIVINE FOCUSING ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN • DANTE WRITES DIVINE COMEDY • CHAUCER WRITES CANTERBURY TALES THE UNICORN IN CAPTIVITY 1495 ROSE WINDOW NOTRE DAME 1255
- 5. RENAISSANCE HUMAN MASTERY OF NATURE THE BIRTH OF VENUS (Sandro Botticelli ) 1485 MONA LISA (Leonardo da Vinci) 1503 • BLOSSOMING OF ART, MUSIC, AND ARCHITECTURE. • CULTURAL REBIRTH WITH HUMANISTIC PHILOSOPHY FOCUSED ON THE REALISTIC WORLD AND INDIVIDUALISM • ACCURATE LIGHT AND SHADOWING • INVENTION OF PERSPECTIVE • PROTESTANT REFORMATION • GUTENBERG INVENTS MOVABLE TYPE THE CREATION OF ADAM (Michelangelo) 1508-12
- 6. THE BAROQUE MOVEMENT PROTESTANT THE SANCTITY OF ORDINARY LIFE & WORK KITCHEN MAID (Vermeer) 1658 • NO REFERENCE TO RELIGION THE DEPOSITION (Caravaggio)1604 • CATHOLIC CHURCH COMMISSIONED SCENES OF CHALLENGED BIBLICAL TEACHINGS • STRONG LIGHTS AND DARKS WITH RICH COLOR AND FORESHORTENING CREATED DRAMATIC SCENES CATHOLIC REVIVAL OF GLORY • TIME OF SHAKESPEARE AND GALILEO
- 7. GEOMETRIC PERSPECTIVE RADICAL AESTHETICS LAS MENINAS, (Velasquez) 1656 • BROKE THROUGH THE FOURTH WALL: ARTIST LOOKS AT THE VIEWER, DOUBLE MIRROR IMAGERY, SKETCHY, REALISTIC BRUSHWORK • GEOMETRY IN THE COMPOSITION: TOP HALF IS DARK LIGHT IS FROM THE BOTTOM, REFLECTION, AND REAR EXIT
- 8. ROMANTICISM PANTHEISTIC VIEW • REVOLTED AGAINST THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION CHOOSING EXOTIC SCENES FOR AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE • THE UNIVERSE, GOD, NATURE, AS ONE • EMPHASIZED DYNAMIC NARRATIVE • DICKENS WRITES OLIVER TWIST AUTUMN ON THE HUDSON RIVER, (Jasper Cropsey) 1860 WANDERER ABOVE THE SEA OF FOG (Friedrich) 1818
- 9. REALISM & PRE-RAPHAELITES EMPIRICALLY VERIFIABLE OPHELIA (SIR John Everett Millais)1851 • RESPONSE TO OVERDRAMATIZED ROMANTICISM MOVEMENT, SOCIAL ILLS, AND INDUSTRIALIZATION • NEAR PHOTOGRAPHIC ACCURATE REPRESENTATION • INVENTION OF THE CAMERA A BURIAL AT ORNANS (Gustave Courbet) 1850
- 10. IMPRESSIONISM EMPIRICISM WATER LILIES (CLAUDE MONET) 1916 • “RETINAL” SENSATION OF LIGHT AND PASSAGE OF TIME THROUGH COLOR PATCHES OF VISIBLE BRUSH STROKES • FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD AND INVENTION OF THE PHONOGRAPH • THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA DANCE MOULIN DE LA GALETTE ( Renoir) 1876
- 11. IMPRESSIONIST’S FORMALISM ANALYSIS OF OBJECTIVE FORM • CAUGHT BETWEEN OBJECTIVE FACT AND SUBJECTIVE MEANING • SUBJECT MATTER, CONTEXT, AND INTENDED MEANING ARE SECONDARY • FORMAL ELEMENTS USED TO CONSTRUCT: LINE, SHAPE, COLOR, TEXTURE, COMPOSITION • DARWIN WRITES, ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES THE REHEARSAL (Degas) 1874
- 12. POST-IMPRESSIONISM THE INNER EXPERIENCE RATIONALISM • REJECTED NATURALISTIC IMPRESSIONISM • USED SHARPER IMAGES, GEOMETRIC EXPRESSIONS • EMPHASIZED SYMBOLIC CONTENT, FORMAL ORDER, AND STRUCTURE • DISTORTED IMAGES RADICALLY FOR EMOTIONAL EFFECT CYPRESSES (Van Gogh) 1889 A SUNDAY AFTERNOON ON THE ISLAND OF LA GRANDE JATTE (Seurat) 1886 THE CARD PLAYERS (Cézanne)1895
- 13. SYMBOLISM PHILOSOPHICAL IDEALISM THE WOUNDED ANGEL (Hugo Simberg) 1903 • ART AS A SUBSTITUTE RELIGION • EMPHASIZED SPIRITUAL OR MENTAL EXPERIENCE RENOUNCED MATERIAL EXISTENCE. • MODERNIZED DECORATIVE MEDIUMS DEATH AND LIFE (Gustav Klimt) 1908-16
- 14. EXPRESSIONISM BROKEN IMAGES HELL OF BIRDS (Max Beckmann) • BELIEVED NO UNIFYING ORDER GOVERNS THE WORLD ONLY FRAGMENTATION, CHANCE, AND CHAOS • LEANED TOWARD EXOTICS AND MYSTICISM EXPRESSING VIBRANCY OF INNER SELF • THEMES OF ANGER AND ANXIETY THROUGH SHARP-ANGLED JAGGED LINES WITH HARSH COLORS • WWI The Scream (Munch) 1893
- 15. CUBISM & FUTURISM RATIONALISM LES DEMOISELLES D'AVIGNON (Picasso) 1907 • RATIONAL, FORMAL ORDER FOCUSED ON ABSTRACTION, FRAGMENTED PERSPECTIVES, AND CONTINUOUS MOVEMENT • INVESTIGATED FORM OVER SUBJECT • NATURE’S HIDDEN GEOMETRIC BLUEPRINT USING MATHEMATICS REPRESENTED HUMAN CONTROL OVER NATURE NUDE DESCENDING STAIRCASE (Duchamp) 1907
- 16. DADA ANTI-ART FOUNTAIN (Marcel Duchamp) 1917 “I THREW THE URINAL INTO THEIR FACES...NOW THEY COME AND ADMIRE IT FOR ITS BEAUTY.” DUCHAMP SURREALISM IRRATIONALITY AS SALVATION • MIX OF REALITY AND ABSURDITY • ACTIVATED THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND THROUGH ILLOGICAL IMAGERY • HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY PSYCHOANALYSIS, EXPLORATION OF THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND, AND SELF-ANALYSIS THIS IS NOT A PIPE (Magritte)1929 • REMOVED THE ARTIST’S HAND • CHALLENGED THE DEFINITION OF ART, ARTISTS, AND AUDIENCES • STOCK MARKET COLLAPSED
- 17. TWITTERING MACHINE (Paul Klee) 1922 FEMMES ET L'OISEAU DANS LA NIGHT (Joan Miró) 1952 • THE INNER CHILD: PURER, MORE GENUINE THAN THE RULE-BOUND OUTER SELF THE INNER CHILD IMITATING CHILDREN
- 18. ROTHKO CHAPEL ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM NEGATIVE THEOLOGY • REMOVED RECOGNIZABLE IMAGES TO EXPERIENCE THE DIVINE BY ARTICULATING WHAT GOD IS NOT RATHER THAN WHAT GOD IS • DIVINE IS TRANSCENDED INTO A SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE • BEGAN AS WWII ENDED ORANGE AND YELLOW (Rothko) 1956
- 19. ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM AUTOMATISM ACTION PAINTING • USED MOTION TO INVESTIGATE HOW CHANCE TAPS THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND • VIETNAM WAR BLACK REFLECTIONS (Franz Kline) 1959 NUMBER 33 (Jackson Pollock) 1949
- 20. DECONSTRUCTIONISTS NO TRANSCENDENT COSMIC ORDER RETROACTIVE I (Rauschenberg) 1963 • EXPLORED RANDOM IMAGES DISASSOCIATED AND DECONTEXTUALIZED WITHOUT A COHERENT SEQUENCE • OBSTRUCTED THE HUMAN ATTEMPT TO FIND A LOGICAL CONNECTION • ODDS AND ENDS PATCHED TOGETHER Lou Ruvo Center (Frank Gehry)1962
- 21. POST MODERNISM POP ART ANTI- IDEALISM CAMPBELL SOUP (Andy Warhol) 1968 • EXPERIENCE OVER UNIVERSAL TRUTHS • USED FAMILIAR ITEMS FROM POPULAR CULTURE FOR “LOWBROW” PARODY AND CARICATURE • DENOUNCED SOCIETY’S CONSUMERISM, TRIVIALITY, AND SUPERFICIALITY CRYING GIRL (Roy Lichtenstein)1963
- 22. MINIMALISM ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY RED YELLOW BLUE (Kelly) 1963 • PLAYED WITH THE ABCS OF ART • ALLOWED THE VIEWER TO COME TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSION SINGLE CONCENTRIC SQUARES (Frank Stella) 1974
- 23. INSTALLATION ART CONTEMPORARY ART STREET ART TODAY'S ART TAKES MANY FORMS RETURN TO REALISM • COUNTERCULTURE ATELIERS MOVEMENT PROMOTED THE VISIBLE WORLD PREFERRING ORDER, BEAUTY, HARMONY, AND COMPLETENESS. (HARING) 1989 (Kusama) 2020 HEAD WINDS (Reyes) 1993
- 24. CONCLUSION • ART MAKES IDEAS AND PHILOSOPHIES TANGIBLE HELPING US DISCERN OTHER PERSPECTIVES TO UNDERSTAND OUR PLACE IN HISTORY AS WE BUILD OUR OWN FAITH AND WORLDVIEW
Editor's Notes
- 1. WELCOME EVERYONE, THANK YOU FOR COMING TONIGHT! SO, I can’t tell a joke and I don’t public speak. So I think I’ll start with a Seinfeld joke: “According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” I'D LIKE TO THANK DR. WOLFE FOR FORCING (I MEAN INVITING ME!) TO DO THIS. *I CAN NOW TRULY COMMISERATE WITH OUR STUDENTS WHO MUST GO THROUGH THIS TO GRADUATE. IF I HAD DONE THIS, AT THEIR AGE- I WOULD HAVE HAD THE CONFIDENCE TO DO ANYTHING. MY LYCEUM IS titled ART IN THE HISTORY OF IDEAS_ SELECTED MOVEMENTS AND WORLDVIEWS. *I'VE INCLUDED A HANDOUT THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL.
- 2. THE AUTHOR TOM WOLFE WROTE "IN THE GALLERIES OF THE FUTURE, THE SIZES WILL BE REVERSED: INSTEAD OF LARGE PAINTINGS WITH SMALL PLAQUES ALONGSIDE, MUSEUMS WILL FEATURE POSTCARD-SIZED PAINTINGS WITH HUGE PLAQUES— BECAUSE THEY REQUIRE SO MUCH TEXT TO EXPLAIN THE WORLDVIEW BEHIND THEM." Ever feel that way in a museum? ONE QUESTION I AM OFTEN ASKED IS, "WHAT DETERMINES WHICH ARTWORK IS GOOD AND WHICH ARTWORK IS NOT?" OR "WHY IS THAT IN A MUSEUM?” or in the case of the artist pictured, Joan Miro, they might say: “37 MILLION! ANY 4-YEAR-OLD COULD DO THAT!" HOPEFULLY, I CAN EXPLAIN SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS HERE. I DO NOT CLAIM TO BE AN EXPERT ON PHILOSOPHY, BUT I DO KNOW THAT ART MAKES IDEAS AND PHILOSOPHIES TANGIBLE. LOOKING AT YOUR HANDOUT, WE CAN SEE HOW LONG THE CLASSICAL DEFINITION OF BEAUTY, WHICH COULD BE DEFINED AS “CREATING HARMONY THROUGH OBJECTIVE PERCEPTION RATHER THAN SUBJECTIVE FEELINGS, LASTED IN WESTERN ART. WE CAN ALSO SEE HOW many art movements ONLY LASTED A RELATIVELY SHORT TIME, YET have CHANGED THE WAY WE VIEW ART, AND BEAUTY, FOREVER. I BELIEVE ENCOUNTERING ANY GREAT ARTWORK CAN EXPAND OUR MINDS BY ACTIVATING OUR IMAGINATION AND OPENING THE DOOR TO ANOTHER SOUL'S PERSPECTIVE. EXPLORING PHILOSOPHICAL AESTHETICS IS IMPORTANT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE INTENT OF ART AND IS FOUND BY EXPLORING THE EVENTS, CULTURES, & PHILOSOPHIES THAT BUILT the ARTIST'S WORLDVIEW. MY RESEARCH FOR THIS LYCEUM WAS INSPIRED BY THE BOOK: SAVING LEONARDO: A CALL TO RESIST THE SECULAR ASSAULT ON MIND, MORALS, AND MEANING BY NANCY PEARCEY. PEARCY, A FORMER AGNOSTIC, IS NOW A FELLOW OF DISCOVERY INSTITUTE'S CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND CULTURE AND A PROFESSOR AND SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE AT HOUSTON BAPTIST UNIVERSITY. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER BOOK PEARCY QUESTIONS WHETHER SECULARISM IS A POSITIVE FORCE IN THE MODERN WORLD OR DOES IT LEAD TO FRAGMENTATION AND DISINTEGRATION? SHE MAKES A STRONG ARGUMENT THAT SECULARISM IS DESTRUCTIVE AND DEHUMANIZING. However, she writes THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD ENJOY THE AESTHETIC QUALITIES OF ART, FILM, AND LITERATURE WHILE AT THE SAME TIME CRITICALLY ANALYZING THE MOTIVATING IDEAS AND MOTIVES BEHIND THEM. I BELIEVE THERE IS MUCH TO BE GAINED BY EXPLORING ALL ART MOVEMENTS AND THEIR WORLDVIEWS TO STRENGTHEN A YOUNG PERSON'S APPRECIATION OF ART, HISTORY, AND PHILOSOPHY, BUT ALSO TO HELP INCREASE THEIR OWN FAITH BY UNDERSTANDING OTHER VIEWPOINTS. STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT YOUNG PEOPLE ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO RETAIN THEIR FAITH IF THEY CAN OPENLY ASK QUESTIONS AND RECEIVE SOLID ANSWERS ABOUT ALL KINDS OF TOPICS INVOLVING OTHER VIEWPOINTS IN THE ART DEPARTMENT HERE AT CAMBRIDGE, WE STUDY CHRISTIAN AS WELL AS SECULAR ART BECAUSE STUDENTS NEED TO UNDERSTAND that THE VISUAL RESULT OF ART IS ROOTED IN THE ARTIST'S WORLDVIEW. ALSO, BECAUSE MOST UNIVERSITIES ARE RUN BY SECULARIST DEPARTMENTS, WE NEED TO PREPARE OUR STUDENTS FOR THIS REALITY SO THAT THEY ARE EQUIPPED TO USE CRITICAL THINKING and RECOGNIZE OTHER WORLDVIEWS THAT ARE SOMETIMES NOT SO OBVIOUS AT FIRST. EVERYONE HAS A STORY TO TELL, AND IT IS ALWAYS VALUABLE TO LISTEN WITH DISCERNMENT.
- 3. ALONG WITH THE ARTWORK, I HAVE ADDED SOME IMPORTANT CULTURAL EVENTS THAT HAPPENED DURING SELECTED MOVEMENTS SINCE THESE EVENTS UNDOUBTEDLY INFLUENCED THE ARTISTS. SINCE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT WESTERN ART, WE WILL BEGIN WITH THE GREEKS during THE TIME OF HOMER, WHO WROTE THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY. THE GREEKS FOUND THEIR VERSION OF THE “ULTIMATE TRUTH” OF THE UNIVERSE IN MATHEMATICS AND GEOMETRY. THEY FELT THAT BEAUTY REFLECTED THE UNDERLYING ORDER OF THE COSMOS, SO BEAUTY ITSELF MUST BE A MATTER OF MATHEMATICS. SCULPTORS, WORKED OUT PRECISE MATHEMATICAL RULES GOVERNING IDEAL PROPORTIONS for THEIR SCULPTURES LIKE Venus di Milo. NEXT UP are THE ROMANS WHO OFTEN MODELED THEIR ART ON GREEK PREDECESSORS' IMAGES TO PROMOTE THEIR POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES. THIS STATUE OF CHARLEMAGNE, …. (SHARK ATTACK?!) ha ha IS NOT SIMPLY A PORTRAIT OF THE EMPEROR; IT EXPRESSES AUGUSTUS' GREEK HERITAGE, and GOD’S ANOINTING WHICH ENABLED HIM TO BRING PEACE THROUGH MANY ROMAN MILITARY VICTORIES.
- 4. CAMBRIDGE STUDENTS KNOW THAT DURING THE MIDDLE AGES, DANTE WROTE DIVINE COMEDY & CHAUCER WROTE CANTERBURY TALES. THE ARTISTS OF THIS MOVEMENT considered NATURE AS GOD’S GOOD CREATION and used STORYTELLING to FOCUS ON CHRIST'S HUMANITY. The artists CONSIDERED their art as A PATHWAY TO GOD. IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, WE STUDIED NOTRE DAME’S ROSE WINDOWS. BACK THEN, THIS STAINED GLASS WAS AKIN TO WHAT *THE CINEMA IS TO US TODAY. PEOPLE TRAVELED FAR TO SEE THIS “TECHNOLOGY” AND WOULD MARVEL AT THE LIGHT AND COLORS STREAMING IN DURING THEIR CHURCH SERVICES. THE ARTISTS, however, BEGAN TO STRAY FROM THE DIVINE TO FOCUS ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN. GIORGIO VASARI, WHOSE WRITINGS HELPED TO SHAPE WESTERN EUROPEAN ART, DESCRIBED THE MASTER PAINTER GIOTTO (SHOWN ON THE LOWER LEFT) as “MAKING A DECISIVE BREAK WITH THE (FLAT) BYZANTINE STYLE TO BEGIN "THE GREAT ART OF PAINTING AS WE KNOW IT TODAY. GIOTTO (JOTO) INTRODUCED THE TECHNIQUE OF DRAWING ACCURATELY FROM LIFE, WHICH HAD BEEN NEGLECTED FOR MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED YEARS."
- 5. THE RENAISSANCE is when GUTENBERG INVENTED MOVABLE TYPE, and THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION began. THESE ARTISTS and SCIENTISTS STUDIED NATURE to find THE ORDER GOD DESIGNED. TODAY, SOME MIGHT think that religion and science ARE RIVALS, BUT many of the leading scientists throughout history believed in God. Natural laws were called “laws” because they were LITERALLY BELIEVED TO BE JUST THAT: COMMANDED BY GOD. The RENAISSANCE was a time OF THE BLOSSOMING OF ART, MUSIC, and ARCHITECTURE. It was a CULTURAL REBIRTH AND WHEN HUMANISTIC PHILOSOPHY BEGAN TO FUCUS on the HUMAN MASTERY OF NATURE, the REALISTIC WORLD, AND INDIVIDUALISM. Artists LIKE MICHELANGELO AND LEONARDO DA VINCI INVENTED PERSPECTIVE and used it alongside STUNNINGLY ACCURATE LIGHT AND Shading, NEVER SEEN BEFORE, to create their masterpieces.
- 5. THE RENAISSANCE is when GUTENBERG INVENTED MOVABLE TYPE, and THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION began. THESE ARTISTS and SCIENTISTS STUDIED NATURE to find THE ORDER GOD DESIGNED. TODAY, SOME MIGHT think that religion and science ARE RIVALS, BUT many of the leading scientists throughout history believed in God. Natural laws were called “laws” because they were LITERALLY BELIEVED TO BE JUST THAT: COMMANDED BY GOD. The RENAISSANCE was a time OF THE BLOSSOMING OF ART, MUSIC, and ARCHITECTURE. It was a CULTURAL REBIRTH AND WHEN HUMANISTIC PHILOSOPHY BEGAN TO FUCUS on the HUMAN MASTERY OF NATURE, the REALISTIC WORLD, AND INDIVIDUALISM. Artists LIKE MICHELANGELO AND LEONARDO DA VINCI INVENTED PERSPECTIVE and used it alongside STUNNINGLY ACCURATE LIGHT AND Shading, NEVER SEEN BEFORE, to create their masterpieces.
- 7. THIS BAROQUE PAINTING, BY THE SPANISH ARTIST VELASQUEZ IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PAINTINGS IN WESTERN ART BECAUSE IT BROKE THROUGH THE FOURTH WALL. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THERE IS A DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE ARTIST AND VIEWER AS VELASQUEZ WORKS FROM HIS STUDIO IN MADRID. THE MIRROR IN THE BACK CONTAINS IMAGERY OF TWO VIEWERS LOOKING AT THE ARTIST. YOU CAN SEE HIS SKETCHY BRUSHWORK BRINGS EVERY FIGURE AND OBJECT IN THE ROOM TO LIFE! Notice the USE OF GEOMETRY in the space: THE TOP HALF IS DARK, and THE LIGHT IS NOT ONLY FROM THE BOTTOM but is REFLECTED FROM THE MIRROR and SHINES IN FROM THE REAR EXIT, AS WELL AS A SIDE ROOM. ACCORDING TO ART EXPERT LAURA CUMMING, "THIS MASTERPIECE, LAS MENINAS, CREATED UNSURPASSED: MYSTERY, ILLUSION, AND ENCHANTMENT."
- 8. PANTHEISM is a DOCTRINE THAT EQUATES GOD with the FORCES and LAWS of the UNIVERSE. IN THE ROMANTICISM MOVEMENT, ARTISTS REVOLTED AGAINST THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION HAPPENING AROUND THEM. THEY CHOOSE EXOTIC SCENES FOR AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE, EMPHASIZING THE UNIVERSE, GOD, AND NATURE, MAJESTICALLY CAPTURED BY CROPSEY’S PAINTING, (AUTUMN ON THE HUDSON RIVER.) ROMANTICISM STRESSED A DYNAMIC NARRATIVE SUCH AS FREDRICH'S (WANDERER ABOVE THE SEA OF FOG) It is AMBIGUOUS BECAUSE IT CONTAINS SUCH BEAUTY AND POWER. Still, ONE CAN ALSO SENSE THE THREAT OF TRAGEDY OR PERSONAL ALIENATION. CHARLES DICKENS PUBLISHED OLIVER TWIST DURING THIS TIME.
- 9. THEN EMPIRICISM (THE THEORY THAT ALL KNOWLEDGE IS DERIVED FROM SENSE-EXPERIENCE) BEGAN TO SQUEEZE GOD OUT. ARTISTS BEGAN TO FOCUS NOT ON TRANSCENDENT, SPIRITUAL TRUTHS BUT ONLY ON WHAT THE EYES COULD SEE. THE RESULT WAS REALISM, WHICH DEPICTED EVENTS AND SCENES IN A VERY MATTER-OF-FACT WAY. WE SEE IN COURBET’S (BURIAL AT ORNANS) HOW HE CHALLENGED CONVENTION BY DEPICTING UN-IDEALIZED PEASANTS AND WORKERS ON A GRAND SCALE. HE DEPICTS A COMMONPLACE RITUAL, USING REGULAR TOWNSPEOPLE, ON A SCALE THAT WOULD PREVIOUSLY HAVE BEEN RESERVED FOR A RELIGIOUS OR ROYAL SUBJECT. THEN CAME my favorite movement: THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE PRE-RAPHAELITES, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE HANDOUT, THE MOVEMENT WAS SHORT-LIVED. THIS GROUP SOUGHT A REGENERATION OF BRITISH ART WITH A RETURN TO THE REALISM OF THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD AND A REVITALIZATION OF MYTHIC, RELIGIOUS, AND POETIC SUBJECTS. "ART, THEY ARGUED, SHOULD BE NATURALISTIC. .. ARTISTS SHOULD STUDY NOT FROM ANTIQUE MODELS AND CASTS, BUT DIRECTLY FROM NATURE." SIR JOHN MILLAIS (Milay) DEPICTS THE SURROUNDING PLANTS AND ATMOSPHERE in his acclaimed painting of OPHELIA WITH THE SAME ATTENTIVE DETAIL AS HIS EXQUISITE SUBJECT. HE PAINTED SHAKESPEARE'S TRAGIC CHARACTER LYING IN THE STREAM, SINGING JUST BEFORE SHE DROWNS, WITH CLARITY, PRECISION, AND DAZZLING COLORS. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS ONE IN PERSON in england TO TRULY APPRECIATE IT IT IS STUNNING. I AM HOPING for A CSD TRIP TO ENGLAND ONE DAY! BOTH MOVEMENTS RESPONDED TO WHAT THEY VIEWED AS AN OVERDRAMATIZED, SUPERFICIAL, ROMANTICIZED MOVEMENT. THEY SOUGHT TO PRESENT OVERLOOKED SOCIAL ILLS AND INDUSTRIALIZATION WITH NEARLY PHOTOGRAPHIC, ACCURATE REPRESENTATION.
- 10. Empiracism IS THE BELIEF THAT HUMAN KNOWLEDGE IS PRODUCED BY THE SCIENTIFIC INTERPRETATION OF OBSERVATIONAL DATA. IMPRESSIONISM AROSE FROM TRYING TO DEPICT WHAT THE NONSCIENTIFIC EYE ACTUALLY SEES RATHER THAN TELLING A COHERENT OR ACCURATE STORY. THEIR ART CAPTURED A FLEETING GLANCE. THEY SOUGHT A "RETINAL SENSATION” OF LIGHT AND THE PASSAGE OF TIME THROUGH COLOR PATCHES OF VISIBLE BRUSH STROKES. WE SEE THIS IN RENOIR'S PARTY SCENE, AS FLICKERS OF LIGHT ILLUMINATE THE FIGURES. MONET PAINTED MORE THAN 250 WATER LILY PAINTINGS FROM HIS HOME IN FRANCE. THESE PAINTINGS WERE THE MAIN FOCUS OF HIS ARTISTIC PRODUCTION DURING THE LAST THIRTY YEARS OF HIS LIFE. MONET SAID, "WHEN YOU GO OUT TO PAINT, TRY TO FORGET WHAT OBJECTS YOU HAVE BEFORE YOU, [SUCH AS] A TREE, A HOUSE, OR A FIELD. MERELY THINK, HERE IS A LITTLE SQUARE OF BLUE, HERE AN OBLONG OF PINK, HERE A STREAK OF YELLOW." COLOR PATCHES. MONET ADDED THAT HE WISHED HE HAD BEEN BORN BLIND AND RECEIVED SIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME AS AN ADULT. THAT WAY, HE WOULD BE ABLE TO PAINT COLORS "WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT THE OBJECTS WERE THAT HE SAW BEFORE HIM. THE IMPRESSIONISTS COMBINED A LATE ROMANTIC TASTE FOR THE PERSONAL and SUBJECTIVE WITH an Empiricist PHILOSOPHY. THEY COMBINED THE INBORN USE OF SENSES WITH THE INDIVIDUAL IMPRESSION THAT COULD BELONG ONLY TO THE VIEWER’S UNIQUE, PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. THE CIVIL WAR OCCURRED DURING THIS MOVEMENT, As THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD AND THE PHONOGRAPH WERE INVENTED, and TWAIN WROTE HUCKLEBERRY FINN. IN MY RESEARCH, I DISCOVERED THAT THE SCHOLAR LAURENCE MOORE WOULD AGREE WITH NANCY PEARCEY THAT EVEN BACK THEN. THE MEDIA WAS SHAPING CHRISTIANS MORE THAN THE CHURCH IN HIS 1989 AMERICAN JOURNAL, RELIGION, SECULARIZATION, AND THE SHAPING OF THE CULTURE INDUSTRY AMERICA, MOORE WROTE, "IN 1871 MARK TWAIN NOTED THAT 'THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST CAME FILTERED DOWN TO 19TH CENTURY AMERICANS THROUGH STAGE PLAYS, NOVELS, and THE CHRISTMAS STORY RATHER THAN FROM THE …PULPIT." MOORE STATED, “TWAIN WAS NOT THE FIRST OR LAST TO EXPRESS BEMUSEMENT AT WHAT HE REGARDED AS THE COMMERCIALIZED SUPERFICIALITY OF AMERICAN RELIGIOUS SENSIBILITIES. HE WROTE “THE TRANSFORMATIONS MOVED RELIGION OUTSIDE OF CHURCHES INTO THE REALM OF COMMERCIAL CULTURE
- 11. FORMALISM GREW AS THE IMPRESSIONISTS EMPHASIZED FORM over CONTENT or MEANING IN THEIR ART. THEY WERE CAUGHT BETWEEN THE DUALISM OF OBJECTIVE FACT AND SUBJECTIVE FEELING TRADITIONALLY, AN ARTIST WOULD USE LIGHT AND SHADOW TO PULL ONE PART OF THE PAINTING FORWARD AND CREATE A FOCAL POINT— LIKE THE CLIMAX OF A STORY— SO THE REST FALLS INTO THE BACKGROUND AND IS SECONDARY. HOWEVER, IN DEGAS' PAINTING, THE LIGHT SPLOTCHES DO NOT HIGHLIGHT ANY FIGURE, NOR IS THERE A FOCAL POINT, NO REAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND, THERE IS NO defined OVERALL "SHAPE" observed ON THE SUBJECT MATTER. NANCY PEARCEY WROTE, “AS MODERN PEOPLE STOPPED BELIEVING THAT LIFE ITSELF HAD A COHERENT STORYLINE, ARTISTS STOPPED SEEKING TO TELL A COHERENT STORY IN THEIR PAINTINGS.” THEY MERELY TRIED TO CAPTURE A SEGMENT OF THE RANDOM FLUX OF LIFE: THE IMPRESSIONIST’S SLICE OF LIFE EFFECT. TEY MERELY TRIED TO CAPTURE A SEGMENT OF THE RANDOM FLUX OF LIFE. TIS WAS THE SLICE OF LIFE EFFECT. EDGAR DEGAS’ PAINTING ABOVE USES ELEMENTS ON THE E BALLERINAS FOR THE SAKE OF DESIGN. THE ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES ARE LIKE A VISUAL VOCABULARY THAT ALL MY STUDENTS STUDY.
- 12. RATIONALISM CITES REASON AS THE CHIEF TEST OF KNOWLEDGE, AND EMPIRICISM SAYS THAT KNOWLEDGE IS DERIVED FROM SENSE EXPERIENCE. AS DIFFERENT AS RATIONALISM AND EMPIRICISM ARE, THEY BOTH ESSENTIALLY SHARED A REJECTION OF GOD'S REVELATION – THEY BOTH SOUGHT SUBSTITUTES FOR GOD. THE POST-IMPRESSIONISTS WERE UNDOUBTEDLY INFLUENCED BY THE PHILOSOPHY OF RATIONALISM. THEY WERE A REACTIONARY MOVEMENT THAT TURNED AWAY FROM NATURALISTIC IMPRESSIONISM AND, INSTEAD, USED SHARPER IMAGES AND GEOMETRIC EXPRESSIONS AS THEY EMPHASIZED SYMBOLIC CONTENT, FORMAL ORDER, AND STRUCTURE. THESE ARTISTS EMBRACED A SUBJECTIVE PERSPECTIVE, DISTORTING IMAGES RADICALLY FOR EMOTIONAL EFFECT TO EVOKE MOODS OR IDEAS. CÉZANNE, SHOWN ABOVE WITH HIS PAINTING, (THE CARD PLAYERS), CRITICIZED THE IMPRESSIONISTS FOR "PASSIVELY PAINTING ONLY WHAT THE EYE PERCEIVED, THE MERE SURFACE OF AN OBJECT,” HE DEMANDED A RETURN TO THE CLASSICAL COMPOSITION, WHICH WAS THE CONCEPTUAL UNDERPINNING OF ALL TRADITIONAL ART. WE CAN SEE THESE ORGANIZED COMPOSITIONAL ELEMENTS IN VAN GOGH AND SEURAT’S ARTWORK
- 13. PHILOSOPHICAL IDEALISM IS THE THEORY THAT THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF REALITY LIES IN CONSCIOUSNESS OR REASON. IN THE SYMBOLISM MOVEMENT, ART BECAME ALMOST A SUBSTITUTE RELIGION. THE ARTISTS EMPHASIZED THE SPIRITUAL OR MENTAL FACTORS OF EXPERIENCE AND ABANDONED THE NOTION OF MATERIAL EXISTENCE. CLASSICALLY TRAINED, GUSTAV KLIMT MODERNIZED DECORATIVE MEDIUMS IN THIS PAINTING TITLED (DEATH AND LIFE.) HE DEPICTS THE ETERNAL CONFRONTATION BETWEEN LIFE IN ALL ITS MANIFESTATIONS AND DEATH WAITING TO HAPPEN AT A DISTANCE. HUGO SIMBERG’s painting, (THE WOUNDED ANGEL), DEPICTS A YOUNG ANGEL BEING CARRIED BY TWO BOYS AS ONE OF THE BOYS LOOKS DIRECTLY AT THE VIEWER. THE ANGEL HAD PREVIOUSLY ENCOUNTERED REALITY AND WAS WOUNDED, SO NO LONGER A SYMBOL OF THE IDEAL, LIKE MANY MOVEMENTS THAT WERE FORMED IN REJECTION OF PREVIOUS MOVEMENTS, SYMBOLISM WAS A RESPONSE TO REALISM AND IMPRESSIONISM. .
- 14. UNDERSTANDABLY, WAR CREATED SHARP TURNING POINTS FOR THE WESTERN ART WORLD. ART CRITIC DONALD KUSPIT SAID, "IN WW1, REASON HAD BECOME IRRATIONAL AND INHUMAN. [IT BECAME] A SOULLESS TECHNIQUE WITHOUT A CONSCIENCE [AND CREATED] AN AGGRESSIVELY MATERIALISTIC SOCIETY [BY] DEHUMANIZING PEOPLE." ART HISTORIAN ERNST GOMBRICH WROTE, "IN THE FACE OF SUCH INHUMANITY, CREATING BEAUTIFUL ART SEEMED TO BE INDULGING IN A POLLYANNA SENTIMENTALITY” – IN OTHER WORDS, NAIVELY OPTIMISTIC. Pearcy wrote, THE EXPRESSIONISTS FELT SO STRONGLY ABOUT HUMAN SUFFERING, POVERTY, VIOLENCE, AND PASSION, THAT THEY THOUGHT THAT THE INSISTENCE ON HARMONY AND BEAUTY IN ART WAS ONLY BORN OUT OF A REFUSAL TO BE HONEST. IT BECAME ALMOST A POINT OF HONOR TO AVOID ANYTHING THAT SHINED WITH PRETTINESS AND POLISH TO SHOCK THE 'BOURGEOIS' CONSERVATIVE MIDDLE-CLASS OUT OF ITS REAL OR IMAGINED COMPLACENCY." EXPRESSIONISTS FELT THERE WAS NO UNIFYING ORDER GOVERNING THE WORLD – ONLY FRAGMENTATION, CHANCE, AND CHAOS. THEY LEANED TOWARDS MYSTICISM TO EXPRESS VIBRANCY OF INNER SELF WITH THEMES OF ANGER AND ANXIETY THROUGH SHARP-ANGLED JAGGED LINES WITH HARSH COLORS, AS SEEN HERE IN MAX BECKMANN HELL OF BIRDS. Norwegian artist Edvard MUNCH'S (Moonk’s) FAMOUS EXPRESSIONIST PAINTING, (THE SCREAM,) WAS SAID TO SYMBOLIZE THE ANXIETY OF HUMAN CONDITION. WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS INSPIRATION FOR THE PAINTING, MOONK RECALLED, "I WAS WALKING ALONG THE ROAD WITH TWO FRIENDS – THE SUN WAS SETTING – SUDDENLY THE SKY TURNED BLOOD RED – I PAUSED, FEELING EXHAUSTED, AND LEANED ON THE FENCE – THERE WAS BLOOD AND TONGUES OF FIRE ABOVE THE BLACK BAY AND THE CITY – MY FRIENDS WALKED ON, AND I STOOD THERE TREMBLING WITH ANXIETY – AND I SENSED AN INFINITE SCREAM PASSING THROUGH NATURE".
- 15. THEISTS BELIEVED THAT GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE WITH A MATHEMATICAL STRUCTURE. RATIONALIST ARTISTS TOOK THAT IDEA ONE STEP FURTHER AND WANTED TO REDUCE EVERY AREA OF KNOWLEDGE TO MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS AND GEOMETRIC DEPICTIONS. CUBISTS AND FUTURISTS EXPLORED A HYPER RATIONAL FORMAL ORDER WHERE METAPHYSICAL FORMS WERE MORE IMPORTANT THAN INDIVIDUAL SUBJECTS BOTH PAINTINGS SHOWN HERE ARE NOT A PORTRAYAL OF A SUBJECT BUT AN INVESTIGATION OF FORM. THESE ARTISTS INVESTIGATED NATURE’S HIDDEN GEOMETRIC BLUEPRINT USING MATHEMATICS, WHICH REPRESENTED HUMANITY'S CONTROL OVER NATURE. MARCEL DUCHAMP’S GROUNDBREAKING PAINTING TITLED (NUDE DESCENDING THE STAIRCASE) FOCUSED ON ABSTRACTION, FRAGMENTED PERSPECTIVES, AND CONTINUOUS MOVEMENT. PICASSO, WHO WAS CLASSICALLY TRAINED, TURNED TO PRIMITIVISM AND THE ABANDONMENT OF PERSPECTIVE. CHARLES CONNER, AUTHOR OF (THE GREAT WAR AND THE DEATH OF GOD: POSTWAR BREAKDOWN OF WESTERN CULTURE, RETREAT FROM REASON, AND RISE OF SCIENTIFIC MATERIALISM), WROTE, “CUBISTS EXAMINED REAL OBJECTS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, LIGHTING THEM FROM DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, EXPLORING THEIR MASS FROM INSIDE AND OUT, AND DEPICTING SHIFTING PLANES OF COLOR, WHILE ALWAYS REFERRING TO THE NATURAL OBJECT AND NEVER ...PURE ABSTRACTION.” ACCLAIMED CUBISM artist GEORGE BRAQUE wrote IN HIS 1917 BOOK (THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS ON ART), ‘THE SENSES DEFORM, THE MIND FORMS.” HE WAS POINTING OUT THAT ONE OF THE SUBJECTS OF CUBISM IS THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE VIEWER. THE VIEWER COMBINES MULTIPLE VIEWS INTO A SINGLE IMAGE, RECONSTRUCTS OBJECTS FROM DISLOCATED PARTS, AND FINALLY, GAINS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THOSE OBJECTS.
- 16. ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS ONCE PREPARED PIECES THAT WERE BEAUTIFUL AND EDIFYING. HOWEVER, SINCE THE 1900S, IT HAS BEEN CONSIDERED AVANT-GARDE OR FASHIONABLE TO MAKE ART THAT IS PROVOCATIVE OR EVEN SHOCKING. DADAISTS PUSHED BOUNDARIES AS THEIR ART BECAME A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT QUESTIONING WHO DEFINES ART AND WHO ACCEPTS THIS DEFINITION. MARCEL DUCHAMP SAID: "I THREW THE URINAL INTO THEIR FACES AS A CHALLENGE, AND NOW THEY COME AND ADMIRE IT AS AN ART OBJECT FOR ITS AESTHETIC BEAUTY." EVEN HE WAS SURPRISED! SURREALISM WAS A MIX OF REALITY AND ABSURDITY. RENE MAGRITTE PAINTED A PIPE AND PLAYFULLY ADDED THE WORDS "THIS IS NOT A PIPE" TO HIS PAINTING. LIKE THE SYMBOLISM MOVEMENT, SURREALISTS SOUGHT TO ACTIVATE THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND THROUGH ILLOGICAL IMAGERY. THEY WERE HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY SELF-ANALYSIS, PSYCHOANALYSIS, AND THE EXPLORATION OF THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND. SURREALISTS WERE ALSO UNDOUBTEDLY INFLUENCED BY THE WAR, THE COLLAPSE OF THE STOCK MARKET, AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
- 17. SYMBOLIST ARTIST JOAN MIRO, WHOSE ART SOLD FOR 37 MILLION DOLLARS IN 2012 (WHICH WAS SHOWN ON MY FIRST SLIDE), THOUGHT THAT THE INNER CHILD WAS PURER, MORE GENUINE, THAN THE RULE-BOUND OUTER SELF. MIRO'S STYLE EVOLVED FROM THE TENSION BETWEEN HIS FANCIFUL POETIC IMPULSE AND HIS VISION OF THE HARSHNESS OF MODERN LIFE. SO, WHAT MAKES ALL OF THESE FAMOUS PAINTINGS WORTH MILLIONS? IT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT THEY WERE SIMPLY THE FIRST TO BREAK GROUND IN THEIR STYLE, CREATING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES. THAT NAME RECOGNITION IN THE ART MARKET DRIVES UP DEMAND AND PRICING BY PROVIDING A PRE-ESTABLISHED GUARANTEE OF QUALITY AND DEMAND FOR WEALTHY COLLECTORS LOOKING FOR RARE OR UNIQUE WORKS.
- 18. BEFORE THE CAMERA, ARTISTS RECORDED A CULTURE'S IDEALS OF BEAUTY (OR HORROR) IN SCENES THAT ILLUSTRATED GREAT IDEAS IN LITERATURE AND HISTORY. HOWEVER, AFTER CAMERAS BECAME EASILY ACCESSIBLE, MANY ARTISTS REJECTED THEIR ROLE OF MERELY A RECORDER. AFTER WW2 ENDED, THESE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISTS CHOSE TO MAKE ART USING THE ELEMENTS OF ART AND PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN AS THE ONLY SUBJECTS IN THEIR WORK. IN RESPONSE TO WW 2, SOME COLOR FIELD PAINTERS, LIKE JEWISH ARTIST MARK ROTHKO, FOLLOWED NEGATIVE THEOLOGY TO GAIN A GLIMPSE OF GOD BY EXPRESSING WHAT GOD IS NOT RATHER THAN BY DESCRIBING WHAT GOD IS. ROTHKO SAID HE WANTED TO PRESENT "THE UNITY OF THE ULTIMATE BY REDUCING ALL PHENOMENA TO THE SENSUAL TERMS." ROTHKO PAINTED A CHURCH BLACK AND PUT 6 OF HIS MUTED PAINTINGS INSIDE TO SHOW THAT EVERY CONCEPT OF THE DIVINE IS TRANSCENDED INTO A SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE. 'THE PEOPLE WHO WEEP BEFORE MY PICTURES WERE HAVING THE SAME RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE I HAD WHEN I PAINTED THEM,' HE GRUFFLEY EXPLAINED. 'AND IF YOU ARE MOVED, ONLY BY THEIR COLOR RELATIONSHIPS, THEN YOU MISS THE POINT!'
- 19. AROUND THE TIME OF THE VIETNAM WAR, ABSTRACT-EXPRESSIONIST ACTION PAINTERS LIKE JACKSON POLLOCK AND FRANZ KLEIN ABANDONED THE IDEA THAT THE ARTIST SHOULD KNOW BEFOREHAND HOW THE PAINTING SHOULD LOOK. LEXI EIKELBOOM, a RESEARCH FELLOW IN RELIGION and THEOLOGY at the INSTITUTE FOR RELIGION and CRITICAL INQUIRY, WROTE, "A SIGNIFICANT DIMENSION OF ART'S PURPOSE IS TO PROVIDE A UNIQUE SORT OF KNOWLEDGE. ONE MIGHT CALL IT AN EXPERIENTIAL SORT OF KNOWLEDGE– ABOUT A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE HUMAN CONDITION. ONE OF THE WAYS THAT ART ACCOMPLISHES THIS IS BY OPENING A MORE IMMEDIATE ENCOUNTER WITH REALITY THAN IS POSSIBLE IN DAY-TO-DAY LIFE." POLLOCK BIOGRAPHER EVELYN TOYNTON WROTE, "HIS PAINTINGS HAVE BEEN LIKENED TO JAZZ IMPROVISATION, NOT LEAST BECAUSE BOTH FORMS EXHIBIT EXULTATION, URGENCY, AND SPONTANEITY BARELY GOVERNED, BUT GOVERNED NONETHELESS, BY RHYTHM." ARTIST FRANZ KLINE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT HIS ABSTRACTIONS STILL EVOKED FIGURAL REFERENCES. HE SAID, "THERE ARE FORMS THAT ARE FIGURATIVE TO ME, AND IF THEY DEVELOP INTO A RECOGNIZABLE IMAGE ... IT IS ALL RIGHT. I DON'T HAVE THE FEELING THAT SOMETHING HAS TO BE COMPLETELY NON-ASSOCIATIVE." MICHAEL LEJA, IN HIS BOOK (REFRAMING ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM), SAID, “THE ARTISTS, APPALLED BY THE IMPLICATIONS OF TOTALITARIAN POLITICAL REGIMES, EMPHASIZED THAT THEIR WORK WAS NOT CONFINED BY HUMANITY AND COULD PROVIDE DIRECTION FOR HUMANITY. THUS, THE PAINTING’S AUTONOMOUS NATURE GAVE IT ALMOST A SOCIAL BENEFIT.” .
- 20. NEO-DADA ARTISTS, AND LATER, DECONSTRUCTIONIST ARCHITECTS, REACTED TO THE PERSONAL EMOTIONALITY OF ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM BY USING MODERN MATERIALS, POPULAR IMAGERY, AND ABSURDIST CONTRAST TO DENY TRADITIONAL CONCEPTS OF AESTHETICS (OR BEAUTY). THEIR WORLDVIEW FOLLOWED NO TRANSCENDENT COSMIC ORDER. THEY INTENTIONALLY OBSTRUCTED A NATURAL HUMAN ATTEMPT TO FIND SOME LOGICAL CONNECTION. LIKE ODDS AND ENDS PATCHED TOGETHER. TEXAS ARTIST ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG EXPLORED RANDOM IMAGES THAT SLIDE PAST ONE ANOTHER, DISASSOCIATED, OUT OF CONTEXT, NOT LINING-UP INTO A COHERENT SEQUENCE. DECONSTRUCTIVIST ARCHITECT FRANK GEHRY PIONEERED THIS MOVEMENT OF POSTMODERN ARCHITECTURE. HIS BUILDINGS GIVE THE IMPRESSION OF FRAGMENTATION, COMMONLY CHARACTERIZED BY AN ABSENCE OF OBVIOUS HARMONY, CONTINUITY, OR SYMMETRY. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN ONE OF HIS BUILDINGS: THE WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL IN LOS ANGELES
- 21. FAMED ARTIST AND HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLASTIC ART WINNER, ANDY WARHOL, WAS AT THE FOREFRONT OF ANTI-IDEALISM POP ART WITH HIS FAMOUS CAMPBELL SOUP SILKSCREEN. HE, AND OTHER POP ARTISTS, SUCH AS ROY LICHTENSTEIN (WHO ENLARGED AND SILKSCREENED COMIC BOOK FRAMES), VALUED INTERPRETATION AND EXPERIENCE OVER UNIVERSAL TRUTHS USING “LOWBROW” PARODY AND CARICATURE WITH FAMILIAR POPULAR CULTURE IMAGES. THESE ARTISTS DENOUNCED SOCIETY’S MASS MEDIA SINS OF CONSUMERISM, TRIVIALITY, AND SUPERFICIALITY JUST AS AN 18th-century German PHILOSOPHER, HEGAL, CLAIMED WE ARE NOT PRODUCERS OF CULTURE BUT PRODUCTS OF IT. POP ART'S REINTRODUCTION OF IDENTIFIABLE IMAGERY WAS A MAJOR SHIFT IN THE DIRECTION OF MODERNISM. POP ART’S SUBJECT MATTER DISTANCED ITSELF FROM TRADITIONAL OR CLASSICAL "HIGH ART" THEMES. RATHER, POP ARTISTS MADE COMMONPLACE OBJECTS AND EVERYDAY PEOPLE IN EVERYDAY LIFE, CELEBRATED AS THEY RAISED POPULAR CULTURE TO THE LEVEL OF FINE ART.
- 22. WE CONCLUDE THE MODERN ART PORTION of THE ART MOVEMENTS WITH THE MINIMALISTS WHO HAD AN ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY. THEY PLAYED WITH THE BASIC PRINCIPLES (OR ABCS) OF ART TO ALLOW THE VIEWER TO COME TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSION WITHOUT OUTSIDE INFLUENCE TOM WOLFE QUOTES, FRANK STELLA, IN HIS BOOK (BELIEVING IS SEEING). STELLA, (WHOSE WORK IS SHOWN ON THE LEFT) SAID, "MY PAINTING IS BASED ON THE FACT THAT ONLY WHAT CAN BE SEEN IS THERE. IT REALLY IS (JUST) AN OBJECT. WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU SEE." This is SIMILAR TO an IDEOLOGY, that SOME OF MY STUDENTS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL HEARD ABOUT. A BANANA TAPED TO THE WALL (AND SUBSEQUENTLY EATEN BY ANOTHER ARTIST) AT THE PRESTIGIOUS ART BASEL MIAMI SHOW SOLD FOR $120,000 IN 2019. THEY JOKED THAT THEY SHOULD SELL THEIR GRAPHITE STILL-LIFE BANANAS FOR THAT PRICE. THIS VIEW OF ART IS certainly A VERY LONG WAY FROM THE MIDDLE AGES' BELIEF OF “YEARNING FOR BEAUTY” AS A PATHWAY TO GOD. AUTHOR ELEONORE STUMP WROTE IN, (BEAUTY AS A BRIDGE TO GOD,) “[BEAUTY] WILL HAVE BOTH AN OBJECTIVE AND A SUBJECTIVE COMPONENT. IT WILL BE A SUBJECTIVE MATTER, WHAT A PARTICULAR PERSON FINDS BEAUTIFUL. HOWEVER, IT WILL BE AN OBJECTIVE FACT OF WHETHER THAT MATTER (TAKEN AS BEAUTIFUL) DOES LEAD TO GOD AND HOW CLOSE TO GOD IT BRINGS THAT PERSON. IN OTHER WORDS, FOR SOME PEOPLE, EVEN TRULY BAD ART MAY BE A ROAD TO GOD, BUT IT IS NOT LIKELY TO BE AS SUCCESSFUL AT DRAWING A PERSON VERY CLOSE TO GOD AS, SAY, MILTON'S POETRY OR BACH’S CANTATAS COULD BE." NO MATTER HOW WARPED OR PERPLEXING SOME ART MOVEMENTS MAY SEEM, AND YOU CAN SEE FROM THE HANDOUT THAT WE HAVE ONLY EXPLORED A LIMITED AMOUNT; THEY ARE CONFRONTING US WITH SOMETHING WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION. CAN SECULAR ARTISTS CREATE BEAUTY? ABSOLUTELY! AND BEAUTY IS WORTH CONSIDERING. I BELIEVE THAT ALL OF THE MOVEMENTS OF ART CAN TEACH US SOMETHING, FOR EXAMPLE, THE RHYTHM AND COLOR IN THESE MINIMALIST PAINTINGS, BY FRANK STELLA AND ELLSWORTH KELLY, IN MY OPINION, ARE BEAUTIFUL.
- 23. FINALLY, WE END with TODAY'S CONTEMPORARY ART, WHICH TAKES MANY FORMS – TOO NUMEROUS TO CONSIDER TONIGHT. THESE ARE JUST THREE EXAMPLES OF DIRECTIONS ARTISTS ARE TAKING TODAY: KEITH HARING’s INSPIRED STREET ART, (koo-SAA- muh)’s WILDLY SUCCESSFUL INSTALLATION ART AND JULIO REYE’S RETURN TO REALISM JULIO REYES' ART IS PICTURED ON THE LEFT. (I TOOK HIS EGG TEMPERA WORKSHOP OVER THE SPRING BREAK WITH MY DAUGHTER. I HOPE TO PASS ON THIS OLD MASTER'S TEACHING OF EGG TEMPERA TO MY STUDENTS SOON!) REYES SAID, "FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, RELATIVISM HAS CREATED A VOID IN THE ART WORLD." I AGREE WITH HIM BECAUSE, AS CREATIONS OF GOD, IT IS DEEP WITHIN OUR SOULS TO BE DRAWN TOWARDS: HOPE, INTEGRATION, AND WHOLENESS. HUMANS NEED AN ANCHOR IN THIS LIFE- SOMETHING THAT GIVES US HOPE, THAT WE CAN COUNT ON. BUT IF THAT ANCHOR BECOMES LOST, THROUGH DISILLUSIONMENT, WE TEND TO LOOK FOR SOMETHING TO REPLACE IT. BUT EVERYTHING, THAT IS NOT DIVINE HAS ITS TRADE-OFFS, ESPECIALLY IF WE TURN THAT THING INTO A GOD IN OUR LIVES. I used to have the tagline under my signature: YOU DON’T NEED ART TO LIVE, BUT ART MAKES LIFE WORTH LIVING. Then I realized someone might take me literally, “AS MUCH AS I LOVE ART GOD & MY FAMILY and MY RELATIONSHIPS MAKE LIFE WORTH LIVING, SO, I REMOVED IT. BACK TO JULIO REYES, HE IS INVOLVED IN THE ATELIER MOVEMENT, WHICH IS COUNTERCULTURE TO MOST OF TODAY'S CONTEMPORARY ART, IT PROVIDES AVENUES FOR TODAY'S MASTERS TO TEACH THE METHODS OF THE OLD MASTERS. ATELIERS BEGAN IN 1990 TO PROMOTE SUBJECTS IN THE VISIBLE WORLD WITH A PREFERENCE FOR ORDER, BEAUTY, HARMONY, AND COMPLETENESS.
- 24. IN CONCLUSION: AS I STATED EARLIER, ART MAKES IDEAS AND PHILOSOPHIES TANGIBLE. I BELIEVE IT IS HELPFUL TO EXPLORE ART, BOTH CHRISTIAN AND SECULAR, TO SEE HOW OTHER WORLDVIEWS DEVELOPED OVER TIME AND TO EQUIP OUR STUDENTS WITH EMPATHY AND CURIOSITY AS THEY EXPLORE THE ORIGINS OF OTHER WORLDVIEWS THAT ARE SOMETIMES NOT SO OBVIOUS AT FIRST. EVERYONE HAS A STORY TO TELL, AND IT IS ALWAYS VALUABLE TO LISTEN AND EVALUATE WITH DISCERNMENT. TAKING THE TIME TO STUDY ART ALLOWS ONE TO CROSS INTO ANOTHER ERA. AND, IF THE ARTIST IS AUTHENTIC, WE CAN ENCOUNTER ANOTHER SOUL'S PERSPECTIVE, WHICH HELPS US TO DEFINE THE BOUNDARIES OF OUR OWN BELIEFS, RESULTING IN A STRONGER INTERNAL FOUNDATION. THANK YOU