Abstract This paper discusses two of the leading abstract artists in America in the Twentieth Century, Georgia O'Keeffe and Ronnie Landfield. This paper takes into consideration their subjects, styles, and how they differ, with O'Keeffe beginning work as a more realistic painter until various influences pushed her more toward abstract art, though even then she tended to mix her styles and to paint her abstractions in a concrete and rather realistic manner, and with the leading figure in what is known as Lyrical Abstraction.
From the Paper "His compositions, executed in the gentle vibrancy of stain painting, are stylization of landscapes. Yet, in no real sense is there a dependence on observation from nature. His landscapes present no identifying details, they are not individualized by topographical details and cannot be located in the world . They are generically landscapes, landscapes only by principles of composition and according to the interpretive reflex by which we necessarily read any horizontal division as a horizon line (Cohen para. 7)."
Abstract This paper discusses the abstract painting 'Opaque Harmony' by Richard Pousette-Dart. Pousette-Dart's work suffered from obscurity because it could not compete successfully with paintings of other abstractexpressionist artists of his time. But his work has recently received some attention from art critics who feel that his paintings are good examples of abstract art with a touch spirituality and mysticism.
Abstract The paper explains that an abstract artist expresses his/her own viewpoint or perspective through re-shaping the natural world until it reflects a specific ideal or principle. The paper discusses the artwork of Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollack, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Stuart Davis who all stand as American masters of abstract expressionism. The paper then shows how these artists created a new and sometimes shocking artistic style that went completely against traditional forms of expression.
From the Paper "After World War II in 1945, expressionist artists in the United States began to assert their own individual personalities through their artwork, such as personal identities and even their own psychological makeup. Although expressionism can be traced back to artists like Gauguin and Van Gogh in the late 19th century, American expressionists in the 1950's and 1960's "set themselves apart from the earlier artists by deciding to do away with the human figure" (de la Croix & Tansey, 769) as the one true representative of natural beauty. Some of these artists fall into a category known as figural expressionism, while others have been designated as purely abstract artists."
Tags: Hans, Hofmann, Jackson, Pollack, Franz, Kline, Willem, de, Kooning, Mark, Rothko, Stuart, Davis
Abstract This paper presents a comparison of two major movements in fine art, the Realist movement of the 19th century, and the Expressionist movement of the 20th century. The paper explains how these movements signified revolutionary reforms in the political, social, and economical spectra of life in Germany. The paper talks about the origins of the two major artistic movements and looks at some of the artists that best exemplify those styles of painting.
From the Paper "In order to sufficiently explain the origins of the Realist movement, it is imperative to initiate a discussion of the contributions of the French artist Gustave Courbet. Courbet epitomized and demonstrated the rapid evolution from the purely Neoclassical method to the Realist method. He possessed the distinctive style that could only result from his individual sets of values and personal beliefs concerning what exactly characterized art. His quintessential work, The Painter's Studio, inadvertently instigated a new movement in European painting in the middle of the nineteenth century."
This paper compares the works and aims of abstract artists Frank Stella and Robert Pepperell with those of the founder of abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky.
Abstract The paper attempts to illustrate how ideas and conceptions of abstract art have changed and developed since the early years of the twentieth century. The paper compares two modern abstract artists, Frank Stella and Robert Pepperell, with more traditional views of abstract art, such as those of Wassily Kandinsky. The paper shows how contemporary abstract artists still adhere to the formal and stylistic tenets of early abstraction but without the idealism that had initiated the abstract art movement.
Outline:
Introduction
Brief Overview of Abstract Art
Modern Abstract Artists: Frank Stella and Robert Pepperell
Conclusion
From the Paper "Abstract art is commonly defined as, "art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non representational way." (NationMaster Encyclopedia: Abstract art). This definition does not deal with all the issues surrounding the meaning and understanding of abstract art and there is a great deal of dissension and argument among critics and art theorists about the nature and meaning of the term 'abstract'. However, the general view is that abstract art is essentially non-representational and non-objective. It is also seen from an artistic viewpoint as an attempt to provide an understanding of the world and reality that cannot be obtained by the methods and techniques of representation."
Abstract A look at the impact of world wars on abstract expressionism, a genre of art. The author examines what paintings under this genre represent and how they come to play significant roles in the expression of historical events.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
A. Brief definition of abstract expressionism
B. Examples of other relationships between artistic movements and political happenings
1. Romantic movement
2. Vietnam
C. Brief description of the effects of World War
1. effects on the U.S. economy/politics
2. effects on the people
D. Thesis as to the relationship of World War II and the rise of Abstract Expressionism
1. Three major influences
a. immigration of European artists, writers, intellectuals, scientists
b. the Surrealist movement
c. ancient influences (art)
II. Body
A. Before World War II
1. Depression
2. Thirty Years War
3. World War I
B. Historical Roots
1. the 1930s
a. political happenings/economy
b. art & the relationship between the two
2. late 1930s early 1940s
a. political happenings/economy
b. art & the relationship between the two
C. Intellectual Roots
1. Themes of Abstract Expressionism
a. the return to origins
b. the human continuum
c. conflict and the dualistic pattern of human life
d. opportunities/new beginnings
2. Heritage (Ancient influences)
3. Nature
4. the subconscious
D. Artists
1. Gesture
a. style
b. specific artists
2. Color Field
a. style
b. specific artists
3. In-between
a. style
b. specific artists
III. Conclusion
A. The evolution of art starting from the period of the 1930s (WWI, Depression, etc.) to
after World War II
1. Content
2. Purpose
3. Style
B. How World War II molded Abstract Expressionism and how the artists drew from World War II
1. the people's responses to the war
2. united aspects of the art that showed a general feeling towards WWII
C. How, by the rising of Abstract Expressionism, modern art was affected, and how it
changed the way that people expressed their sentiments
From the Paper "At first, there was an initial resistance to Abstract Expressionism, but by the 1950s it was recognized as the dominant force in American painting, encouraged by the government while being considered a symbol of American cultural freedom.For the first time ever, American art received widespread and serious attention in Europe. Abstract Expressionism can hardly be characterized as a single movement due to the diversity of the art it encompasses. Despite this variety, Abstract Expressionist paintings share several broad characteristics ? they are basically abstract, emphasizing free, spontaneous, and personal emotional expression, and they exercise considerable freedom of technique in order to attain this goal. The artists of this period manipulate the physical variables of the paint in order to convey expressive qualities, often on large canvases to give the visual effects an engrossing power. Abstract Expressionist artists can be divided into three categories based on style - gesture painting, such as done by Jackson Pollock, color field painting as done by Mark Rothko, or an in-between style as done by Robert Motherwell."
Abstract This paper explains that Jack Turner's "The Abstract Wild", eight provocatively written essays, reviews the ways in which the wilderness has been interceded, micromanaged and, in effect, nearly taken out of existence. The author points out that Turner feels humans need to spend time with the wilderness because the actual time they have spent with this very wilderness is rare; therefore, they do not know how to preserve the wilderness. This paper relates that Jack Turner, in "The Abstract Wild", defines wild as being natural; anything and everything, which stands in its natural form and away from development, is wild.
From the Paper "This throwing of the spotlight on the wild and his related experience sieved out the special emotions he had once felt being created within him. It is here that Jack Turner has made his point, which deals with the effect of publicity on wilderness. From this story, one conclusion regarding his theory can be drawn. Had he not been involved in revealing his bond and connection either through pictures or through conversations, he would have encountered the equally intense or similar emotions inside him on his second visit."
Abstract This paper examines how Plato's "Theory of Forms" and the "Allegory of the Cave" describe how abstract knowledge is achieved and to some extent clarify its nature. It also looks at how the Philosopher King or Guardian as the ruler of the state is considered to be able to act justly in possessing this knowledge. The limitations of both the concept of the philosopher king and the broader idea of abstract knowledge as a mechanism for justice are evaluated and conclusions are drawn.
From the Paper "In the republic, the divided line shows the relation between opinion and knowledge. Knowledge and opinion are the difference between the two forms of reality that Plato asserts exist. Opinion will be either perception/belief or conjecture/imagining and knowledge will be reason or understanding . Plato asserts that the two 'higher' forms of reason and understanding are supreme over everything in the intelligible world and the visible world. What humans see (in the intelligible and visible world) is their interpretation of a 'higher' form which is the essence of the object or concept under consideration. So what humans see are therefore merely shadows, images and reflections of this."
Abstract This paper explains that Frank Stella, born in 1936, influenced by the flag paintings of Jasper Johns, emerged in the 1960s as a leading example of Post-Painterly Abstraction, a reaction against Abstract Expressionism. The author relates that Andy Warhol's Pop Art applied a commercial art style to painting, as he appropriated subject matter from the pulp media. Warhol creating a style out of his own non-involvement with the material and his attempt to produce works that were machine-like, thus separated from the artist. The paper recounts that Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is known for his series of paintings as a comic strip working with stencils to make rows of over-sized dots, forming his paintings of prints and making them look like a huge mass publication product.
Table of Contents
Frank Stella
Andy Warhol
Roy Lichtenstein
From the Paper "Lichtenstein similarly imitated objects of popular culture, as in his comic-strip paintings taken from comic books and the like, or from his series of advertisements recreated on canvas, such as "Girl with Ball" (1961). Warhol's "Marilyn" images were mechanically reproduced and celebrated the machine element both in the way they were created and in the way they imitated a strip of motion-picture film, which is a mechanical means for reproducing movement. Lichtenstein in "Girl with Ball" and similar images recreated the mechanical look such newspaper print ads have in their original state, as if created by an off-set process that leaves the image flat, with texture showing through from the paper, or the canvas, and with a limited palette in keeping with the tri-color off-set process."
Tags: reproduction, newspaper, post-painterly, comics, marilyn
Abstract The paper explains how abstract expressionism emphasized the basic character of a person or object while having little visual reference to the real world or to nature. The paper discusses some of the artists associated with abstract expressionism that include Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko.
From the Paper "According to Paul Stella of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, abstract expressionism was created in the early 1940's in New York City by a small group of artists who devised "a stylistically diverse body of work that introduced radical new directions in art. Some of the artists associated with abstract expressionism include Jackson Pollack (1912-1956), Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Franz Kline (1910-1962) and Mark Rothko (1903-1970), all of whom advanced "audacious formal inventions in a search for content" via new techniques and subject matter. Overall, the works of art that currently define abstract expressionism stand as reflections of these artist's individual psyches and their attempts to "tap into universal inner sources," meaning that abstract expressionists relied heavily on the collective unconscious in the form of archetypes that express man's most primitive and at times violent emotions ("Abstract Expressionism," Internet)."
This paper analyzes the abstraction of death in "Driving Through Minnesota During the Hanoi Bombings" by Robert Bly and "War Photographer" by Carol Anne Duffy.
Abstract The paper compares and contrasts the abstraction of death in the poems "Driving Through Minnesota During the Hanoi Bombings" by Robert Bly and "War Photographer" by Carol Ann Duffy. The paper portrays how the points of view of the authors of these poems reflect the abstraction of death from first world perspectives.
From the Paper "The poem "War Photographer" by Carol Ann Duffy relates the abstraction of war and its consequences through the "lens" of photography as an artistic medium. Many of the poems themes revolve around the photo development process of the Vietnam War, which take place in a dark room. Although the "photographer' being used in this poem has seen the horrors of war, the abstraction of death is clearly the process of viewing and processing the images that are dislocated from the battlefields."
Tags: Vietnam, War, battlefields, lens, perspective, medium, images
Abstract The paper describes the works and life of Piet Mondrian, the Dutch abstract painter. The paper traces the development of Mandarin's style from the beginning of the 20th century until the 1940s. The paper also shows how Mondrian was one of the pioneers of geometric abstract art.
From the Paper "Abstract art can trace its origin to the later part of the 19th century when artists began to move away from simply imitating the physical world. Cubist and futurist paintings for example "represent highly abstracted interpretations of the material world" (Arnason, 217). The abstract painters began to use only color, shape and form to explore new artistic expressions. Hence modern abstract art can be called non-representational and non-objective. One of the most important movements in the development of modern abstract art was the De Stijl group in the Netherlands, which began in 1917. The group wanted to create "the art 'for clarity, for certainty, and for order" (Arnason, 231)."
Abstract This paper discusses how, in "The Human Abstract", the poet William Blake muses that the virtues of orthodox, believing Christians and pious individuals in general are often founded upon making certain members of society impoverished and unhappy.
From the Paper "Blake's anger intensifies in the poem's second stanza. "And mutual fear brings peace;" he rages, in other words, the fear fostered in the hearts of the lower classes peace to his society, but it is a society that is not just. "Till the selfish loves increase. /Then Cruelty knits a snare, /And spreads his baits with care." The good, middle and upper class persons of society may feel society is peaceful, but it is only because it satisfies their selfish, self-love, and although they are unaware of it, they are ensnared by devilish cruelty. Cruelty, personified in the next stanza, "Sits down with holy fears./And waters the ground with tears" and any false, seemingly pious humility encouraged in the churches is really founded upon the cruelty that keeps the system of injustices in place and merely addresses the aftereffects of injustice with small, half-hearted measures."
Abstract This paper discusses the life of Jackson Pollock, (1912-1956) who is one of the central figures in the development of the strictly American art movement called Abstract Expressionism. Included are biographical information, description of major works, quotes from Pollock and his critics describing his innovative drip painting style, a brief description of the major motion picture made of his life, and an "art inventory," or comprehensive analysis of the 1953 painting called "Easter and the Totem".
From the Paper "American painter, Jackson Pollock, born in Cody, Wyoming in 1912, was a troubled genius who became known as a quintessential abstract expressionist in the art world of the twentieth century. Pollock, a freedom seeking rebel, was instrumental is the development of the distinctly American abstract expressionist movement in the United States. He became notorious for his drip painting methods and his huge canvases layered with paint and embedded objects. Pollock, known for his emotional volatility and heavy drinking, seen as a phony by some, and a hero by others, used his innovative, individualistic and uninhibited style to birth a new artistic genre in post World War II America."
Abstract The author feels that the Crayola? website, which has hundreds of lessons plans for all age groups, can be used almost exclusively as a source of lesson plans, ranging from science to pop art to multicultural and classical art styles. The paper describes the "Abstract Animals" lesson, very fitting for third graders, which teaches kids how to use simple shapes and colors to draw animals and other objects after the style of more modern representational artists. The author uses this lesson plan within a comprehensive interdisciplinary art curriculum that teaches about the relevance of art within its social and historical setting.
From the Paper "The third section is called ?Directions,? and for a change is precisely what it claims to be. The directions for this lesson are, in short, to show the children images of various animals and forms and to use tracing paper to draw simple geometric shapes over the forms. (For example, an elephant's head would be a circle with two large ovals for the ears and a long thin oval for the trunk.) Subsequently these designs are redrawn with marker on construction paper and colored in with chalk."
