[MATRIC] Early 20th Century International Art Movements - Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Exp., Pop Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is Dadaism?
- A cultural movement that began in neutral Zürich, Switzerland, during WW1 and peaked from 1916 to 1920.
- It was a strong reaction against society
- no coherent style but were well known for being anti- everything, including themselves.
- considered to be an anti-art movement - ironic considering their impact on the modern art world!
- name originated in a random choice of a word in a Hungarian French dictionary
- all about randomness and nihilism
What did Dadaism embrace?
Nonsense, randomness, nihilism, meaninglessness.
Dadaism was a movement that _____ the war.
‘Protested against’
It was protest art
What is surrealism?
- a cultural movement and artistic style founded in 1924 by André Breton,
- uses visual imagery from the subconscious mind to create art without the intention of logical comprehensibility.
- centred in Paris
- attracted many members of Dada
- influenced by psychoanalytical work of Freud and Jung
Surrealism was all about..?
Exploring and analysing the subconscious mind, interpreting dreams, etc.
What was abstract expressionism?
Abstract Expressionism is a term applied to a movement in the American painting that flourished in New York City after World War II, sometimes referred to as the New York School or, more narrowly, as action painting. The varied work produced by the Abstract Expressionists resist the definition as a cohesive style; instead, these artists shared an interest in using abstraction to convey strong emotional or expressive content. These artists moved away from European traditions of painting to create a distinctly American kind of art, which both acknowledged and
challenged the domination of early 20th-century giants such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Vasily Kandinsky.
What was the social and economic context of abstract expressionism?
Abstract Expressionism emerged in a climate of Cold War politics and social and cultural conservatism. World War II had positioned the United States as a global power, and in the years following the conflict, many Americans enjoyed the benefits of unprecedented economic growth. But by the mid-1950s the spirit of optimism had morphed into a potent mix of power and paranoia. Fueled by the fear of Communist infiltration, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin unleashed a series of “witch-hunts” against alleged Communist
sympathizers. Abstract expressionism was
for many the expression of freedom: the freedom to create controversial works of art, the freedom symbolized by action
painting, by the unbridled expressionism of artists.
Discuss the subject matter and styles of abstract expressionism.
Subject matter was seen as
apolitical, this escaped the
censorship of the McCarthy years.
Another aspect of the subject
matter is the expression of pain
emanating from the Second World
War. Where images are
recognisable, they are often
archetypal or universal. The aim
was to create an art of innocence
that was universal, profound and
spiritual.
What was pop art?
Pop artists drew from new and
pervasive sources of advertisements,
billboards, comic books and mass
produced items. Their hard-edged and
brightly coloured works represented a radical shift in American art from the
Abstract Expressionists of the 1950s.
Consumer culture, mass production,
and advertising were all sources of
inspiration, as artists tried to get
people to look at the world around
them, paying attention to everyday
objects that might not normally be
noticed.
Where did pop art originate and when?
Britain, 1950’s.
Fill in the blanks (pop art):
___________ replaced inner
vision, ________ substituted for high
seriousness, and the _______
subsumed ________.
Surface appearance replaced inner
vision, humour substituted for high
seriousness, and the impersonality of
silk screen and the benday dot
subsumed painterly expression.
One of the earliest Pop artists
defined the qualities desirable for
art as being?
transient,
popular,
low cost,
mass-produced,
young,
witty,
sexy,
gimmicky,
glamorous and BIG business.
Why did pop art begin?
Pop Art developed in the years
from about 1955 to 1966 and may be
seen as a reaction against the extreme
subjectivity and high seriousness, the
introspective and rarefied sensibility of
Abstract Expressionism.
America in the 1950’s had the money
and the manufacturing productivity to
create an environment in which
popular consumerism flourished. The
medium that became the dominant
marketing machine of the age was the
television.
What was Polly street?
The Polly Street Recreational
Centre was an Art Centre and training ground for a whole generation of artists, no matter their race. In Johannesburg(1940-1970) was started by a ‘liberal’ white
Johannesburg City Council to provide a recreation facility for black men in the evenings after work.
Who was the director of Polly Street Recreational Art Centre?
Cecil Skotnes
Polly Street attempted a …?
Polly Street attempted a romantic
re-connection to Africa
Who did Cecil Skotnes gain the support of?
Black students, some white artists, the Johannesburg City Council, companies which made donations, the churches, and the commercial galleries.
What is Cecil Skotnes’ relevance as director of PSRAC?
Skotnes enabled some black artists to overcome in part the shortcomings of limited educational resources and also enabled a few white artists to gain a new insight into black experience.
What did the PSRAC teach and offer?
All the standard Western art exercises, such as still-life painting, life drawing, landscape studies, and abstract design, were included.
Offered different media such as charcoal, pencil, watercolours, gouache and/or oils.
The art produced at Polly Street can be
broadly divided into two distinct streams, which are…?
a township style and
a neo-African style (sculpture and
graphics inspired by traditional African
sculpture)
How did the central PSRAC studio come to an end?
The continued growth of the Polly Street Art Centre was curbed by the policy of separate development, thus destroying a significant meeting place for artists.
It became policy to provide facilities in the townships (such as the Mofolo Art Centre in Soweto and the Katlehong Art Centre in Katlehong) but this happened at the expense of a centrally located, easily accessible facility.
What two orientations does South African art of the 60’s and 70’s show?
One was an attempt to reflect social reality and the repression of the 1960s.
Two, an art that celebrated the beautiful and the mystical
What emerged after the end of PSRAC?
Rorke’s Drift
How was Rorkes Drift formed?
The ELC (Evangelical Lutheran Church) Art and Craft Centre in Rorkes’s Drift was started in 1962 by Peder and Ulla Gowenius from Sweden.
This arose out of a committee formed in 1961 in Stockholm, Sweden, for the advancement of African art and craft.
As a result of this initiative Peder and Ulla Gowenius were sent to South Africa to work at the Ceza Mission Hospital, Zululand.
Interaction between the Swedish and South African teachers and the black South African students at the ELC caused a complex set of artistic exchanges and cross-cultural influences.
