Modernism
• World War 1 1914-1918
Undoes social order; lots of death
Many people devastated by injuries an death
• Lots of Revolution going around
• Urbanism; brings social change
• New'isms; new beliefs (photo collages and montages)
• Objectivity and New Objectivity; unbiased truth
• Sigmund Freud; First person to attempt to study the human mind, also
inspired many artists such as painter and photographers.
• A Radical Reconstruction of the world through Art and thought;
Old things don't work, trying new things to reconstruct the world
thoughtfully; also believed the world was broken
Art should be for society not just the upper class/ rich
The artists is a visionary and a genius; their was a new found respect for artists
Better living through science
• Dada; Rejected old, and aimed to destroy the old world of art and reconstruct it
Unknown, Equipt for the Trenches, c1915; depicted the ultimate fighting soldier in
military gear with gas mask
Winter Palace Faked, 1917
China, Mao Long March, 1934
Mao, along with many others walked all across China for the right to have wealth and power distributed fairly
Le Corbusier; believed old cities and buildings caused corruptness
Thinks that planning right will change society; associated urban decay as crime
Some people began to see the need for change
New projects began to tear down old buildings and replace with new ones dictated by geometry; However, new projects often did not help the situation
Duchamp; is doing cubism; he shows more than one specific time and angles at once
He has little respect for the historical art world
Duchamp feels as though art is what you say it is and often pushed the rules as far as possible
Fountain, 1916 was one example of how he felt about the meaning of art
He felt that everything was falling apart in the world and there was nothing to believe in but yourself
Duchamp, LHOOQ, 1919 makes fun of historical art; he also made a satire about the Mona Lisa by adding extra elements to the painting
He strongly believed that art is a thought/idea not necessarily just painting
Also known as the father of contemporary art
Futurism; believed the past was bad and wanted everything new
Sander; Bohemian, 1922
Sander believed in eugenics
Man Ray often photographed his muse Kiki de Montparnasse (who was also a friend of Hemingway)
He was a surrealists influenced by African art
Miller, who was his (Man Ray) former lover and assistant
She was one of the first to photograph in Germany
Man Ray worked between Paris and New York during his career; came back to the U.S. during WW2
Lazlo Moholy-Nagy; born in Hungary
He taught at the Bauhaus, a modernist art school that moved to Chicago after fleeing the Nazi
The Bauhaus had radical geometric ideas
Moholy-Nagy thought photography showed new things that people couldn't see before
He worked mostly in collage and montage
collage: elements that remain separate
montage: elements are put together photographically so they are all printed on one paper together
Study With Pins and Ribbons, 1937 was more about looking at form and lines, not what was actually in the picture
Heartfield; gave himself an American name because he was ashamed of his German name
He was a very political anti-Nazi communists; was associated with the Berlin Dada movement
Created montages that were printed in the AIZ German communists magazine and made complete satires about Nazi officials
Heartfield eventually had to flee Germany
Montages were popular in Russia; First film school in Russia
They loved the idea of putting two things together to create new ideas
Hoch; she was anti-Nazi and a member of the Berlin Dada
Montage artist who did a lot of political art
She was also a feminists who often questioned how women felt about their bodies and beauty through her art
The Sweet One, 1926 was one of her famous pieces, which questioned how women felt about their bodies
Hoch also did wired performances with mannequins and dolls
Mash-up; putting two things together
Lissitzky, Beat the white with Red Wedge
Dada; art should exist for its own purpose
Soviets; art should have a purpose
Art was a way for the two groups to communicate
Red vs. White was a clear metaphor in Russia
Rodchenko 1925; a famous revolutionist artist
He was first a painter and graphic designer
His art meant to speak loud and make statements
He was also a photographer
Hans Bellmer; creates and photographs creepy dolls referencing the cult of of the perfect body
Photographs look like nightmares
He was a surrealist influenced by Freud
The dolls in photos have dismembered bodies
Bellmer was labeled a degenerate by the Nazi's
Kertesz; from Budapest, was drafted to WW1 and took his camera with him on the front line
He was influenced by Dada and constructivist movements
Surrealists using realists forms
He didn't really like the U.S. but worked for a lot of American magazines
Brassai; from Transylvania, moved to Paris and fell in love with the city
Almost never went out in the daytime; he photographed Paris only at night
He was influenced by line and formalism
5 web links:
http://www.artsmia.org/modernism/
http://www.artmovements.co.uk/dada.htm
http://www.marcelduchamp.net/
http://www.manraytrust.com/
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/1998/rodchenko/
Notes by Kia Kelliebrew