Lots of -isms today! We opened with three Gauguin pieces… a continuation of last class’ lecture. Personally, I really liked The Vision after the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel). Gauguin’s works consist of color applied flatly and strongly. I found interesting Prof’s anecdote about the contents inside the parentheses of the title is the content of the sermon witnessed in the painting, something that is not objectively there, and only seen by the women subjects in the foreground. The blood red background conveys the inner mind, symbolizing that this is not an actual event in the flesh, but a vision. It is arbitrary, and is chosen to convey the intensity of the experience. Many of Gauguin’s works stem from his personal opinions and emotions towards society and civilization.
I didn’t care much for Moreau so I’d like to skip to Munch instead. >:)
I did NOT know the historical context for The Scream, and I feel incredibly betrayed! Today I learned that the background references volcanic eruptions in Krakatoa, Indonesia, resulting in loud explosions and colorful skies seen from miles away. Prof. Plesch commented about how, although also a depiction of an emotion, this painting serves as a depiction of “the scream of nature”. Mind blown.
We then shifted to some Expressionistic works, specifically some Fauvism, through the works of Matisse and Derain. Matisse’s Le Bonheur de Vivre remains to be one of my favorite works of art, ever since I saw it as a child (much to my mother’s dismay, who does not care for Fauvism in general…)! Although the piece has a traditional subject (* a pastoral scene of subjects frolicking in an idealized landscape), it deviates from the norm through its abandoned sense of space, lack of depth, and heavy, linear outlines. The empty space is brightly colored, and serves the function of energizing the canvas. Unlike Romantic works we’ve covered, this work is not about emotion, but for the sheer enjoyment of color.
We covered two Kirchner pieces, but I preferred Peter Schlemihl: Tribulations of Love. I loved how Kirchner put a modern spin on an older medium, executing int in a purposefully clumsy way, conveying the rawness of emotion through the roughness of his technique.
We then covered two Marc works, but again, I had a favorite: Animal Destinies (The Trees Showed Their Rings, The Animals Their Arteries). Very long title by the way. I loved how linear and abstract this painting was. The rays of light convey the dynamism of a “force in nature”, as Prof. put it. I found it interesting how Marc would later refuse to paint human subjects, portraying animals instead, due to his distrust of modern societies.
We covered four Kandinsky works. What really stood out to me was the luminosity of the colors he used, influenced by glass painting. Here, we really see art becoming abstract, or “non-objective expressionism”– we are unsure as to what is being portrayed, as even Kandinsky’s titles refuse to define their subjects.
We concluded with a sneak peek into Cubism with Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. I really loved how I could see Cezanne’s influence here — through the reduction of color scheme and simplification of volumes into crystalline/fractal-like shapes.