This presentation covers artwork from the Surrealism, De Stijl/Neo-Plasticism, Abstract Expressionism, Op Art, Pop Art, and Photo Realism movements. Works by Salvador Dali, Jackson Pollock, Josef Albers, Claes Oldenburg, Chuck Close, and Richard Nelson are featured.

1. Art Is Us Lecture #9
Isms is in!

2. Philippe Halsman The Dali Atomicus
Surrealism Are dreams the only true reality?

3. Images Of The Mind: Imagine that!
Real?
Try to smoke it!
Ambiguity of form.
Can dreams be translated?
Reality?
Dali Persistence of Memory

4. Can you find feet in these images?
Hint: Be negative.

5. Dali Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach
A face or bowl of…?
A dog or landscape?

6. Dali Nelson
Plagiarism?

7. Miro The Tilled Field
20th Century
cross-
pollenization

8. Mondrian: Composition in Red, Blue and Yellow
De Stijl/Neo-Plasticism: Reasoned arrangements and condensations
of primary (?) colors and shapes.
Mondrian Broadway Boogie

9. Action Painting: A visual choreography of
an artist’s interaction with paint and color.
This is a presentation; not representation
Abstract
Expressionism

10. A visual record of the
inherent qualities of
paint applied in a
choreography of
drips and pours.
The final conclusion
of Art For Art’s Sake
Jackson Pollock

11. A myth maker who proclaimed
that the only valid subject matter
is that which is tragic.
“Without monsters and gods,
art cannot enact a drama.”
Rothco
An Age of Proclamations
“A colorist he is not!” Dick Nelson
Should we trust the art critic?

12. Motherwell Elegy to the Spanish Republic No. 110
Can My
Six-Year-Old
Do Better?
If this is a statement,
what does it state?

13. De Kooning Woman
De Kooning Gotham News
Reshaping post-war frustrations
with a new expressive vision.
Does this rationale “FLY”?

14. Reason
Passion
Josef Albers: Homage To The Square Hans Hoffman: The Gate
Op Art
Abstract
Expressionism

15. Andy Worhol Campbell’s Soup
Pop Art
Familiarity breeds…?

16. Quality control!
Claes Oldenburg Hamburger

17. Oldenburg Eraser
Seeing the familiar in an unfamiliar way
Soft Bathtub
What does
our ART
tell us
about “us”?

18. Patriotism
Or
Patronizing?
Contemporary Icon: Let’s run it up the flagpole and see if it flies! Jasper Johns
The visual elements
are upstaged
by concept.

19. Illustration or fine art?
Thiebaud: Three Machines

20. OP ART
Is this all there is?
Bridget Riley Movement In Squares

21. Albers Homage to the Square
1 + 1 = 3
The interaction of color

22. Nelson: Homage To Albers Learning Never Ends
Albers

23. Vasarely
Optical
Illusion
Is permanence a factor in art?

24. Ralph Goings Ralph’s Diner
Photo-Realism
It’s all an illusion
When paint mimics
photos which mimic
optical reality…
(literally speaking)
Now, this is truly taking dictation!!

25. A synthesis of Pointillism, Photo-Realism, Op and Intuition
Chuck Close
A visual
statement
with two very
different realities.
One is seen
at a DISTANCE;
the other at
CLOSE range
What’s A
Portrait?

26. Close…..Up?
Distant Viewing?
Your spatial preference?

27. Art: An
observation
Art and plants thrive in fertile soil. For some, art is only
there for the picking. They plant and harvest endlessly,
with little thought of replenishing or rotating the crop.
But there are those artists and patrons who replenish, and
in so doing, harvest a crop rich in both tradition and insight.
Their soil encourages new growth and a mutation of endless
varieties of new visual and tactile experiences.
And then there are those who plant a new variety of seed
which germinates to become esoteric concepts. Their soil
bears abundant fruit, rich in verbal, philosophical, social
and political pronouncements for a chosen few. This crop
is not a feast for the eye or touch of a hand, for such
qualities are no longer recognized by these authors or their
supporters.
Visual/tactile art is not literature, music or dance. What
makes it unique is its ability to communicate visual ideas.
When the visual/tactile experience no longer serves as the
primary means of communicating, it may be an art form, but
one whose definition serves another master.
© 2009 Richard Nelson

28. 1. Humanism. L R N B
a. The world as it is.
b. Contrapposto pose.
2. God Dominated Society. L R N B
a. Stylized.
b. Idealized.
3. Capturing the climax of the story. L R N B
a. Plane composition,
b. Painterly.
THE FINAL EXAM

29. 4. The roots of Romanticism.
L R N B
5. Portrays the significance of reality.
L R N B
6. Art For Art’s Sake.
L R N B

31. Art Is Us: Final Assignment
As we conclude nine weeks of exploring the ever
expanding definition of art, we might find it
enlightening to measure our behavioral changes,
if any, resulting from the experience.
Assignment #1: Select a single work of art which,
as a result of this experience, has had the greatest
impact changing your understanding and appreciation
of art. It need not be your favorite, but rather an
important stepping stone in your quest to reach beyond
your previous shoreline.

32. Patti
Cézanne Still Life with Basket of Apples

33. Valerie,
Jill
Manet Olympia

34. Holly
Mycenaen Octopus Vase

35. Steve
Picasso Guernica

36. Sheri
Cycladic head

37. Elizabeth Ann
van Gogh

38. Jill
Goya The Third of May 1808

39. Art Is Us: Final Assignment
Assignment #2: Read the following articles and write out
any comments or questions which the two articles prompt.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_art
(read the introductory section and as much of the rest as
you'd like)
2. Why the Art World is a Disaster by Roger Kimball
http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Why-the-art-
world-is-a-disaster-3178
(read all of this)