We move into various forms of modern art.

1. MODULE 3.2
ART NOW

2. Jan van Eyck, Mary Crowned, completed 1432
Jan Vermeer
Girl with a Pearl Earring, c. 1665-6,
oil on canvas, 17 1/2 x 15 3/8 inches

3. from traditional art that
emphasizes wealth and power
to modern art, what changes?
even before the
dramatic shift in the 20th
century, you can see a
significant change in
subject matter
though artists still paint
portraits of royals and
nobles, and scenes from
the Bible, classical
mythology, and
important historical
moments
they ALSO show
significant interest in
ordinary people leading
ordinary lives.
Spanish painter Diego
Velázquez is a good
example.

4. The little princess, the
Infanta Margaret Theresa,
is at the center.
Immediately surrounding
her are two maids of honor.
To the right are two little
people, who were part of
her entourage. Her dog lies
in front, and her governess
and bodyguard stand in the
shadows behind the group.
Diego VELÁZQUEZ, Las Meninas, 1656, Museo del Prado
oil on canvas, 125.2 in × 108.7 inches

5. The Queen’s Chamberlain
stands on the steps at the
back right of the room; the
royal parents of the
princess are reflected in
the mirror hanging on the
rear wall; and the artist,
painting a huge canvas,
stands at the left.
Diego VELÁZQUEZ, Las Meninas, 1656,
Museo del Prado
oil on canvas, 125.2 in × 108.7 inches

6. Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Juan de Pareja, c. 1650
Juan de Pareja
(1606–1670)
Assisted Velazquez in
his studio.
Was a painter in his
own right.
When Velázquez
painted this beautiful
portrait of him (which
today is in the Met in
NYC), he was a slave
in Velázquez’s house
and workshop.

7. Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Juan de Pareja, c. 1650
Juan de Pareja
(1606–1670)
But Velázquez still
wanted to paint him,
still saw his essential
human dignity, still saw
beyond the society that
divided them into
different worlds.
Velázquez freed Juan
de Pareja in November
1650, although the
document of
manumission required
Pareja to serve
Velázquez for another 4
years. As it turned out,
Pareja remained in the
household until
Velázquez’s death, and
continued to serve his
son afterward.

8. Diego Velázquez, Surrender of Breda, 1634-5,
oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Velazquez painted this picture for the Spanish King, Philip IV (wearing the black armor
with the pink sash) in commemoration of a major military victory over the Dutch after a
year’s siege of the town of Breda.

9. But notice, that even though the King is pictured at the center with the conquered town
laid out behind him, Velazquez includes many striking portraits of common soldiers and
even their horses. Though the picture commemorates an important historical event,
Velazquez includes many characters who would not be considered “great men of
history.”

10. Diego VELÁZQUEZ, Los Borrachos (The Drinkers), 1629
Here Velázquez includes the guys from the local tavern in his mythological picture
of the Roman God of wine, Bacchus. He imagines the classical together with the
contemporary.

11. Goya, Charles IV of Spain and His Family, 1800
also in the Prado! an embarrassment of riches

12. Goya stands in the shadows, looking out at us. He isn’t one of them,
and he paints exactly what he sees in the royal family.

13. Francisco de GOYA
The Countess of
Chinchón
1800
oil on canvas
216 cm x 144 cm
All the silks and jewels
in Spain can’t save the
Countess from loneliness,
despair and isolation.

14. Èdouard MANET
Corner of a Café-Concert
1878-1879
National Gallery, London
oil on canvas
38.4 × 30.5 inches
Three quarters of a century later,
Manet paints a cocktail waitress
lost in thought while serving
customers in a busy café. She
too is alone despite the crowds
in the café.

15. Jean-Baptiste Greuze, The Punished Son, 1777, Louvre, 51x64"
Here Greuze takes a dramatic moment in the life of an ordinary family and makes a
history painting out of it, elevating the domestic scene to the level of history.

16. Jacques Louis DAVID, Death of Socrates, 1787, Met, 51x77"
Despite Greuze’s example, many popular artists still made history paintings
commemorating the lives of heroic figures, such as Socrates, the Greek philosopher
who goes bravely to his death in this picture, surrounded by his followers and friends.

17. Thomas Couture, Romans of the Decadence, 1847
Over time, however, this kind of mythological, classical subject comes to seem less
and less relevant. Even the spicy subject matter of the Roman orgy comes to seem
fairly ridiculous.

19. Claude MONET
Garden at Sainte-
Adresse
1867
Oil on canvas
38 5/8 x 51 1/8 in
The Impressionists signaled a major change, as you can see here. They are like a
breath of fresh air into the art world, which in this picture takes the literal form of the
crisp seaside breeze that the well-dressed tourists are enjoying on summer vacation.
We are in the modern world now, bright, light, and always changing, as quickly as the
weather does.

20. Claude MONET, Impression: Sunrise, 1872
The Impressionists also become interested in capturing atmospheric effects, like dawn
and twilight, and all types of different weather conditions. Now that photography can
capture the literal appearance of things, artists are freer to experiment.

21. Claude MONET
The Saint-Lazare Station
1877
Oil on canvas
H. 75; W. 104 cm

22. Claude MONET
The Saint-Lazare Station
1877
Oil on canvas
H. 75; W. 104 cm
If we want to document the precise appearance of this train station, we can make
a photograph (and there are many photographs of urban Paris at this time. However,
if we want to feel some of the hectic quality of the train station, the crowds, and clouds
of smoke, we might turn to Monet’s picture instead.

23. J.M.W. Turner
Rain, Steam and Speed,
1844 oil on canvas
36 × 48 inches
National Gallery, London

24. J.M.W. TURNER
Rain, Steam and
Speed, 1844 oil on
canvas
36 × 48 inches
National Gallery,
London
Working in England at an even earlier date, Turner also becomes interested in the
look and feel of various forms of weather, to the point that portions of his canvases
verge on abstraction.

25. J.M.W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Parliament, 1835

26. J.M.W. Turner, The Burning of the Houses of Parliament, 1835
Here Turner renders the giant fire that consumed the British Parliament in
dramatic oranges. The buildings themselves are barely visible among the flames.

27. James Abbott MacNeill WHISTLER
(American, living in London)
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The
Falling Rocket
1875
Whistler’s paintings push even
farther into gorgeous abstractions
full of color and texture that entice
the eye while scarcely resolving into
a recognizable picture.

28. Claude MONET, Waterlilies, c. 1920, MoMA, NYC
Monet’s late pictures of waterlilies floating on the pond in his garden push toward
abstract painting as well.

29. "A picture, before being a war horse, a nude
woman, or some anecdote, is essentially a flat
surface covered by colors in a certain order.”
—Maurice Denis

30. Vincent van GOGH
(Dutch, 1853–1890)
La Berceuse (Woman
Rocking a Cradle,
1889 oil on canvas,
36 1/2 x 29 inches

31. Second level Second level

32. Vincent van Gogh
Portrait of Joseph Roulin
1889
Oil on canvas
25 3/8 x 21 ¾”
Depth becomes less
important as surface
and background seem
to melt together.

33. Georges SEURAT, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884

34. Georges SEURAT, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1884
Though Seurat uses conventional perspective to create the illusion of depth, his figures
seem to lack volume and appear to be cardboard cutouts.

35. Paul Cézanne, Gulf of Marseilles seen from L’Estaque, c.1885, oil on canvas, 31.5 × 39.2 in

36. Paul Cézanne, Gulf of Marseilles seen from L’Estaque, c.1885, oil on canvas, 31.5 × 39.2 in
Cézanne sees the French landscape in terms of geometric solids and brings
a new sense of structure and solidity to the bright French landscape.

37. Paul Cézanne, Mont St. Victoire seen from Bellevue, c. 1885, 37.5 × 51.3 inches) Barnes Foundation

38. Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire and Château Noir, 1904-6, oil on canvas, 25.8 × 31.9 inches

39. Picasso, Portrait of Wilhelm Uhde, 1910
Catalan artist Pablo PICASSO
had no difficulty painting
representational pictures,
abstractions, and everything in
between. Here he fragments the
portrait of one of his art dealers
into rectangles and triangles.
Over time he will oscillate back and
forth between styles in a seemingly
effortless manner.

40. Picasso, Still Life with Chair Caning, 1912

41. Pablo PICASSO, Still Life with Chair Caning, 1912
For this collage, Picasso used wallpaper that imitated chair caning, and wrapped the
whole canvas in real rope. The other portions are painted in imitation of various objects
that might be found on a tabletop.

42. Picasso, Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper, 1913,
Picasso, Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper, 1913

43. Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, 1912 Duchamp, Bottle Rack, 1914

44. Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, 1912 Duchamp, Bottle Rack, 1914
Marcel Duchamp realizes that the dynamic forms that interest him can be
found in actual objects just as well as in painting.

45. Duchamp, Tu M’, 1918
This picture plays with illusion and reality, including a found object that sticks directly
out of the painting. The question Duchamp asks here: why paint a representation of
the object if you can just use the real thing?

46. René Magritte, The Treachery of Images, 1928-9
In his own way, Belgian artist Magritte asks a similar question, drawing attention
to the fact that the painting of a pipe can never be a real pipe.

47. Ferdinand Léger
Woman with a Cat, 1921
Hannah Höch, The Beautiful Girl, 1920

48. Artists begin to feel a great freedom to use paint in different ways, or even to forget
about painting and use pictures clipped from magazines to express their ideas.
There are many different ways to put a recognizable figure together, and artists are
drawn to the challenge of finding new methods rather than relying on the old ones.

49. Fernand LÉGER, The Red Table, 1920. AIC
While some artists experiment with different ways
of breaking down a scene and putting it back together,
others question the need for a subject altogether.
Why not just paint colors and shapes, for their own
beauty?

50. “There is no such thing as
‘abstract,’ or ‘concrete’… There is a
good picture and a bad picture.
There is the picture that moves you
and the picture that leaves you
cold… A picture has a value in
itself, like a musical score, like a
poem.”
—Fernand Léger
Here French artist Léger tries to explain that it doesn’t really matter whether a
picture has

51. Wassily KANDINSKY, Composition IV
1911
Oil on canvas, 62 7/8 x 98 5/8 inches

52. Paul KLEE, Castle and Sun, 1928

53. El Lissitzky, Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, 1919, war poster

54. El Lissitzky
The New Man,
from a portfolio of
10 lithographs,
published 1923

55. El Lissitzky, Proun Room, 1923

56. Raoul HAUSSMAN
Mechanical Head (Spirit of Our Time)
1920

57. Raoul HAUSSMAN
Tatlin at Home
1920
photo collage

58. Grosz and Heartfield
Dada Picture
c. 1919
collage

59. cover design, exhibition catalog for First International Dada Fair, 1920

60. First International Dada Fair, Berlin, June 1920, with participating artists

62. John Heartfield
Jacket design for
Deutschland, Deutschland
Über Alles, by Kurt Tucholsky

63. John Heartfield
AIZ (Arbeiters Illustrierte Zeitung)
The Meaning of the Hitler Salute:
Millions Stand Behind Me, Little Man
Asks for Big Donations

64. John Heartfield
Those Who Read Bourgeois
Newspapers Become Deaf and Dumb
1930

65. John Heartfield
O Christmas Tree in German
room, how crooked are your branches
1934

66. John Heartfield
Black or White, in Struggle United
1931

67. Hannah HÖCH
Das schöne Mädchen
1920

68. Hannah Höch
Bourgeois Wedding
Couple (Quarrel)
1919

69. Hannah Höch
Cut with the Kitchen Knife
Dada Through the Last
Weimar Beer-Belly
Cultural Epoch of
Germany
1919-1920

70. Hannah Höch, Collage, c. 1920

71. Kur SCHWITTERS
Merz 32A (Cherry Picture)
1921
collage of colored papers,
fabrics, printed labels and
pictures, pieces of wood,
etc., and gouache on
cardboard background
36-1/8 x 27-3/4”
The Museum of Modern Art,
New York

72. Max Ernst (French, born
Germany. 1891-1976)
Two Children Are Threatened
by a Nightingale (Deux enfants
sont menacés par un rossignol),
1924.
© The Museum of Modern Art,
New York

73. Max Ernst
Les Pleiades
1920

74. Max ERNST
The Virgin Spanking the Christ Child
before Three Witnesses: Andre
Breton, Paul Eluard, and the Painter
1926
oil on canvas

75. Max ERNST
The Elephant Celebes
1921

76. Giorgio de Chirico
The Song of Love
1914
oil on canvas
2' 7" x 1' 11”

77. Salvador DALI, Lobster Telephone, 1936
“I do not understand why, when I ask for a grilled lobster in a restaurant, I
am never served a cooked telephone; I do not understand why
champagne is always chilled and why on the other hand telephones,
which are habitually so frightfully warm and disagreeably sticky to the
touch, are not also put in silver buckets with crushed ice around them.”

78. Meret Oppenheim (Swiss, 1913–1985)
Object
Paris, 1936
Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon
© 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Pro Litteris, Zurich

79. Remedios VARO
Fenomeno, 1962

80. Kay SAGE
Le Passage
1956

81. Arshile GORKY (American, born Armenia. 1904-1948) Garden in Sochi c. 1943.

83. Arshile GORKY
The Artist and His Mother
c. 1926-36

84. I don’t like that word, “finish.” When
something is finished, that means it’s
dead, doesn’t it? I believe in
everlastingness. I never finish a
painting—I just stop working on it for a
while.
Arshile Gorky, 1948