Ch.20 - International Trends ca. 1900

Question 1

Staircase in the Tassel residence, 1892-93

Answer 1

Victor Horta

Belgian art nouveau artist. One of the first to develop a new, non-historical and non-eclectic style, even preceding Guimard by a few years.

Art-Nouveau was initially designed by Horta to give homes a look which was an anti-thesis to interiors of the previous era.

Plant motifs, exposed structural metal, mosaic flooring, and unity with the painted walls and ceiling.

Question 2

Casa Battlo, 1905-07

Answer 2

Antonio Gaudi

In Spain, the most exuberant and idiosyncratic forms of art nouveau was produced.

Movement was called “Modernisme”, and was a response to the eclectic architecture that dominated Spanish art/architecture for much of the nineteenth century.

Irregularly curved, overhanging edges. Gaudi intentionally set out to create a happy living environment.

Barcelona was transformed by the Modernisme movement.

Question 3

The Entry of Christ into Brussels, 1888

Answer 3

James Ensor

He was part of the “group of twenty”/ Les XX which was Symbolist artists interested in a formal renewal of art.

Ensor was a founding member, and the most original.

An adaptation of a biblical theme of the entry of christ into Jerusalem.

The figures seem to look like cartoons characters, with eyes behind masks.

His mother owned a mask-shop. This influenced his work and represents the soulists and material driven people of Belgium and Europe that he portrayed in his work.

Offensive. Not publicly displayed until 1929

Reminds people that we’re all trying to “be someone” in the world, by hiding Jesus within the crowd, and blending him into society.

Wasn’t displayed for fear that it may be misunderstood.

Question 4

The Kiss, 1908

Answer 4

Gustav Klimt

Klimt was heavily associated with the Secession exhibits., The Secessions being the Central European equivalent to Les XX in Belgium.

Suggests similarity in religious and erotic ecstasy

Question 5

The Scream, 1893

Answer 5

Edvard Munch

Munch was obssessed with death and it’s opposites: life and love.

A representation of primal fear from the intensity of nature; this piece is based off of a personal experience that Munch had. There’s an autobiographical poem to accompany this piece.

Munch seeked the meaning of life, death, and the nature of the two.