STILL LIFE WITH MASKS (final)

Question 1

year

Answer 1

1911

Question 2

when did nolde join the die brucke group

Answer 2

*1906 invited to join Die Brücke group (stayed for only 1 year); through them he was introduced to primitive art

Question 3

subject

Answer 3

*Depicts what appear to be five masks, with various grotesque expressions

-There are 2 carnival masks in the centre

-The mask at the right is African

not all forms in this painting are masks:
-Nolde’s sketches reveal that the profile image at left is a canoe prow from the Solomon Islands (then a German colony)
-The frontal image at lower right is the shrunken head of a Munduruku man from Brazil.

Question 4

brushwork

Answer 4

*Bold brushwork and intense colors to reveal what he called the “elemental force” of the objects he had studied at Berlin’s Museum of Ethnology

Question 5

where in berlin did nolde draw inspiration for the faces

Answer 5

As well as visiting the Berlin Museum of Ethnology Nolde made sketches in the city’s cabarets and theatres

Question 6

nfluence of James ensor on subject matter

Answer 6

(Belgian Post-Impressionist painter 1860 - 1949)
Nolde’s work is a clear response to Ensor’s painting, Portrait of the Artist Surrounded by Masks (1899), which shows the artist surrounded by masks of a similar nature

in Nolde’s work there is no longer a human figure among the masks to ground the piece/ provide someone familiar with whom viewers identify

Question 7

signifcance of masks

Answer 7

-Clearly-conveyed emotion: masks provide an ideal subject for an Expressionist like nolde

Question 8

effect of simplification

Answer 8

-brutally simplified masks and background

*Not about realism: rather about communicating intensely human emotions

Question 9

colour

Answer 9

*Raw colour; saturated discordant palette (Colour used autonomously for expressive effect )

*Here he embraces colour dissonances
*The dark, greenish blue background provides a strong contrast to the rich yellow, red and orange colours of the masks

-influenced by impressionists in Paris

-influenced by van gogh and gaughins strong colours

Question 10

space

Answer 10

*Flattened
*Cropped masks - increases sense of proximity
*Compression of the masks packed in the frontal plane of the painting
*Claustrophobic
*The removal of the distance between subject and viewer heightens sense of impending crisis

Question 11

brushwork

Answer 11

*Very crude

*Indebted to the spontaneous, visible and varied brushwork of van Gogh

*nolde’s brushstrokes in this piece are as expressive as the masks

Question 12

materials and techniques

Answer 12

-Nolde studied the technique of woodcarving and had worked for a time with this material

-The characteristics of woodcut technique are translated into Masks Still Life III:
strong use of line, crude brushwork, bold and stark composition, sense of immediacy

Question 13

influence of medieval/ renaissance art in Germany

Answer 13

-woodblock prints (had a resurgance in Germany, as seen in munch’s work)

Question 14

influence of german gothic art

Answer 14

expressiveness

Question 15

influence of Van Gogh

Answer 15

*1908 van Gogh exhibition was seen by Kirchner in Vienna (big influence)
*Van Gogh represented an artist who created a strong personal identification with the subjects he paints through colour, brushwork and emotional expression

Question 16

influence of primitivism

Answer 16

*This work reflects Nolde’s growing interest in non-western cultures (which had been initiated by his membership of Die Brücke group)

*Notable collections existed in the Berlin Museum of Ethnology (where he would have seen the African, Oceanic and Yoruba masks seen)

*Expressionists saw primitive art as timeless and innocent in comparison with the modern world of technology

*Gaugin’s interest in tribal sculpture interested and influenced them