th
20

Century
The first half of the 20th century
saw
Russian Revolution
World War 1
The Great Depression
World War 11
th
20

Century Art
Rapid changes in styles that
sometimes merged.
 PARIS is the center of the
Western Art World
 By WW11 artists and Art flees
Paris and lands in NYC.
th
20
Century Art
After the influence of Japanese
art, Primitive African Art comes
into vogue.
 Artists are interested
in the geometric
abstraction.

Picasso
1881-1973, Spanish
 Picasso was a prodigy. He was the
son of an art teacher, he showed
incredible talent at an early age.
 His was first influenced by
Manet, Courbet, and Lautrec.

Picasso


Picasso gained
great fame
during and after
his lifetime.
No other artist
comes close to
the fame he
achieved.
Picasso
He constantly evolved
He is had a Blue Period, Rose
Period, Classical Period, and
African Period.
He worked in Surrealism and
Cubism.
Picasso and Braques created the
Cubist movement.
Picasso,
Blue Period
His first style was the Blue Period
(1901-1904)
The term “blue” reflected both subject
matter and color choice.
The paintings he made were generally
somber and melancholy.
Subjects included prostitutes, beggars,
harlequins, blind people, and artists.
Picasso,
Blue Period
The figure seems to
be blind and decrepit,
Emaciated, and
somber.
There is a ghostly
figure under the
subject.
The blue and grey
colors add to the
somber mood
Picasso,
Blue Period
Self Portrait with a Cape,
1901
Picasso,
Blue Period
The Tragedy, 1901
proportions are
elongated.
(think El
Greco)
Monochromatic
Picasso,
Blue Period
The Tragedy, 1901
details are eliminated
adding to the mood of
empty coldness
His poverty? Or his
sympathy for the human
condition?
Picasso
His Rose Period
follows the Blue.
works were
dominated by
pinkish hues.
Subject matter is
upbeat circus
scenes.
Picasso
Much more on Picasso in the
next chapter
Henri Matisse
French painter
 Studied law in Paris for
most of his life
 began painting while
recovering from
appendicitis
 In 1891 he decided to
study in Paris

Self Portrait, 1906
Matisse
first exhibition 1901, first solo
exhibition in 1904
 Lived on the French Riviera from 1917
until his death in 1954
 Often compared to his younger rival,

Picasso

Having cancer later in life, he created
paper collages in stead of painting
Fauvism

Matisse belonged to the
Fauvist Movement,
(French for ‘wild beasts’).
 Matisse was the leading painter.
 Was a short movement- 1905-1907
Fauvism

deep, vivid colors,
simplified lines
and exaggerated
perspective

Vigorous patterns and
unusual color
combinations led
to different
effects/feelings
The Green Line (Madame
Matisse) 1905
Fauvism
Cheerful…
Matisse after Fauvism


He continued with many characteristics
of the movement, but developed with the
times
“Fauvism is not everything,
but it is the beginning of
everything.”
He said:
Matisse

Subject matter was primarily still-lifes and
portraits
Harmony in Red,
1909
Harmony in Red
1909
 Perspective seems irrelevant

Perspective only visible in the chair and
window
Dark outlines
 Items and the woman shown with
volume, despite the flattened appearance
of the surroundings

Harmony in Red
Landscape seen through the window
relates to the wallpaper -black curves, he
called “arabesques”
 The title echoes the painting:

 Flat
planes “harmonize” the wall and table
 There seems to be movement among the
black “arabesques”
The Dance I

1901

Black outlines

define the dancers,
who twist, turn, jump
and stretch
Background composed
of flat colors,
simple blue
and green
The Sorrows of the King, 1952
Icarus, 1950
Blue Nude 1952
Expressionism

In Germany, the artists
interested in the expressive
possibilities of color were called
Expressionists
Expressionism
Similar to the Fauves in
France, but the Fauves work
was lighthearted- The
Expressionists were
brooding and moody

Expressionism

2 groups of Expressionists
1.
The Bridge (much gloomier)
2. The Blue Rider (the brighter
side of Expressionism
The Bridge
Woodcut prints
were popular
because they were
inexpensive and
quick.
Kathe Kollwitz
Kirchner, The Bridge
Founding artist of
The Bridge
The Bridge was a
link between
traditional old and
modern new
Influenced by
African and Oceanian
woodcarving seen in
his distortions
…attempt to show isolation of urban
life
The Street, 1907
Kirchner
Kirchner was an
architect turned painter
Later in life his
artwork became more
abstract
Soon after Nazis
captured 600 of his
pieces Kirchner
committed suicide
Self Portrait as a Soldier – 1915
Franz Marc, Blue Rider
Large Blue Horses, 1911
Kandinsky, The Blue Rider
Born in Moscow in
1866.
He studied law and
economics
He studied art in
Munich.
He taught at the art
school which he cofounded.
Well traveled.
Kandinsky, The Blue Rider
To elevate
mankind and
free people from
materialism, he
created
nonobjective art.
Kandinsky
He taught at the Bauhaus
in Germany
The Nazi government
closed the Bauhaus in 1933.
He moved to France and
acquired French citizenship.
Fifty-seven of his works
were confiscated by the
Nazis in the 1937 purge of
“degenerate art.”
Kandinsky
Kandinsky was
fascinated by music's
ability to give the
listener an emotional
response.
He wanted to do the
same with his painting.
Free association
with color and
music...
Kandinsky
He abandoned realism in 1910.
He experimented
with 2 types of
painting.
Compositions in
which he arranged
geometric shapes.
Composition 8
Kandinsky
And
Improvisations:
paintings which he
applied paint
spontaneously
(organic)
Small Pleasures
Kandinsky
Theme is
Resurrection of
the Dead.
Angels blowing
trumpets.
Towers of a city
are visible.
Out of this void,
the viewer can
sense the rising of
the dead.
Composition 5, 1911
Kandinsky
Several Circles, No.323,
1926. 50”x50”