In today’s class we focused on Postwar Art, which opened the door for many works that were primarily abstract in nature. We began with a discussion of Abstract Expressionism and its most famous painter, Jackson Pollock. This movement focused on action painting and the color field, as shown in the works of Rothko and others. We then moved to Hard Edge Abstraction, a movement that creates exactly what its name entails, leading to abstract works with very hard edges and areas with only one color. Finally, we discussed Neo-Dada, another absurd movement based on the previous Dada movement. This movement makes fun of art and comments on important ideas at the same time, while also providing very amusing images that many would not consider when thinking of usual art.

In today’s class, we discussed neo-plasticism which was a movement in the Netherlands. A prominent artist during this movement was Piet Mondrian. We discussed his “Composition with red, Blue, and Yellow,” which was created in 1930. In this painting, Mondrian only drew horizontal and vertical lines. The colors were reduced to the three primary colors, with white and black lines as well. This was a feature of the neo-plasticism movement. The colors were also presented in a mostly flat manner, with no dept. The goal of harmony and composition is portrayed through geometric shapes. There is a spiritual aspect to the artwork. Despite the asymmetry in this piece, the artwork is very balanced.

We also discussed Walter Gropius’s Bauhaus from 1925-26. This means “house of building.” Several wings were connected together, with each wing serving a different function. This workshop embraced modernity and the utopia ideal. There is lots of glass being used which is another feature of this movement. We also discussed postwar art, which portrayed art following World War II. There was a shift of a central art from Paris to the US during this period.

We started this lecture by finishing our discussion of Surrealism with Frida Kahlo’s The Two Fridas (1939). Kahlo did not consider herself to be a surrealist, as her work was not depicting dreams but rather her reality. In this painting, she depicts herself as two different people, exemplifying her complex racial identity, as her mother was an indigenous Mexican and her father was a Hungarian jew. She is dressed in traditional Mexican clothing on the right and in a Victoria dress on the left. Kahlo’s work was likely inspired by retablos and ex-votos, two traditional types of Mexican art.

We then discussed Abstraction and De Stijl, starting with Piet Mondrian’s Composition en Rouge, Bleu et Jaune (1930). This painting is a key example of reduction, featuring only horizontal and vertical lines, three primary colors, and black and white. There is no shading, as color is applied in a completely flat way. De Stijl was founded in Amsterdam by Mondrian and other artists and architects. They believed that geometric abstraction was utopian, resulting in spiritual harmony and perfection. This new image of the world was based upon the underlying mathematical structure of the universe, and art was seen as the medium through which this harmony could be conveyed. We also examined Mondrian’s earlier paintings of trees from 1908-1912, revealing how his style developed through simplification of lines and abstract application of color. We then looked at several buildings, starting with Gerrit Rietveld’s Schröder House (1924) in Utrecht. Like the work of Mondrian, Rietveld’s architectural style uses primary colors and geometric harmony. We then looked at Walter Gropius’ Bauhaus (1925-26) in Dessau. Bauhaus was an art school founded in Weimar in 1919 as a “workshop-like school embracing modernity.” The utilitarian design of the building emphasizes the utopian ideals of the institution itself, coupled with the newfound love of technology in the Machine Age. It features a glass curtain and socle. Next we examined Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye (1928-29). This villa is mostly white and has a notable lack of decoration.

We then looked at three pieces: Paul Strand’s Wire Wheel (1917), Margaret Bourke-White’s Fort Peck Dam, Montana (1936), and Charles Demuth’s My Egypt (1927). All three of these pieces demonstrated an artistic celebration of American technology.

After this, we looked at postwar art, particularly examples of Abstract Expressionism. First was Arshile Gorky’s The Liver is the Cock’s Comb (1944). At this time, the Western art capital was shifting from Paris to New York. Gorky was born in Armenia, but moved to the U.S. as a child. He began work as a surrealist, which is still observable in the figurative aspects of his work, although, unlike surrealist art, this work is almost entirely abstract. It includes biomorphic forms, only a few of which are vaguely identifiable, including an egg and some sort of shrimp. Next we looked at Jackson Pollock’s Male and Female (1942), which portrays male and female archetypes. Pollock was a severe alcoholic who underwent Jungian therapy, which emphasizes archetypes like the ones expressed in this painting. We then looked at a more typical Pollock, Autumn Rhythm: Number 30 (1950). This painting was made using a drip technique, as Pollock placed the canvas on the floor and dripped paint from sticks. This provided him with extreme control, which can be observed in the manner that the loops of paint closely approach but do not cross the edge of the canvas. Then we examined Willem de Kooning’s Woman I (1950-52), part of a series of paintings of women. Most notable about this painting is the abolition of the distinction between figure and ground. The lecture ended with a discussion of several of Robert Rauschenberg’s Neo-Dadaist art, including Odalisk (1955-58), Erased de Kooning (1953), and Retroactive I (1963).

We started this class by discussing Frida Kahlo. While often called a surrealist, Kahlo rejected that title. Stating that she painted her reality, not her dreams. We looked at her painting, The Two Fridas. In this painting, she depicts herself in two different manners, one that conformed to European beauty standards and one that conformed to traditional Mexican beauty standards. However, the hearts of the two Fridas are connected, showing how Frida Kahlo’s two identities fit together. There are also references to the trauma that Kahlo went through.

We moved on to De Stijl, or Neo-Plasticism, which aimed to achieve utopian ideals. Piet Mondrian’s painting, Composition en Rouge, is a stand out example of De Stijl. The painting is reduced to primary colors and horizontal lines. While asymmetrical, the painting is still balanced. Mondrian seeked prefection and harmony through geometric abstraction. The trend of reducing shapes to their most basic form also found its way into architecture. For example, Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoge reduced three dimensional shapes into their basic form. We finished class by talking about Post-War art, mainly abstract expressionism. This took shape in many forms through action painting and gestural abstraction, as well as chromatic abstraction.

Today’s class began by wrapping up our conversation of surrealism and Frida Kahlo. We spoke about how Frida did not consider her work surrealism as she was not painting her dreams, but instead painting her reality. The painting we looked at was titled “The Two Fridas” and depicted, on opposing sides, a Western Frida and the Mexican Frida. The Western Frida was painted with a lighter skin tone and less facial hair, while the Mexican Frida was dressed in a traditional, long skirt and had darker skin and features. We spoke about how her painting depicted her suffering after her tram accident and also alluded to her relationship with Diego Rivera.

Our conversation then shifted to a brief discussion of “De Stijl” or “the style” and neoplasticism. We spoke about the work of Piet Mondrian and the reduction found in his work. In his “Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow” there are only horizontal and vertical lines, as well as only the primary colors, black, and white. The painting is very flat and everything is on one plane. We also looked at a series of Mondrian’s tree painting to see his progression through reduction.

We also spent some time discussing post war art and abstract expressionism/action painting. These works are highly focused on the paint application and further reducing the figure/ground relationship. A little bit later, by 1950, there were two tendencies in abstract expressionism: the action painting, and color field or chromatic abstraction.

Today we touched on a handful of important styles and movements that were born in the wake of the Second World War. The mass exodus of artists and creatives following WW2 from Europe to America made New York the new center of the art world. The first truly American art movement to sweep the world was Abstract Expressionism, a movement split into gestural and color-field abstract subgroups. Gestural Abstract Expressionists, like Pollock and de Kooning, used frenetic and energetic brushstrokes to create abstract compositions that reflected both the actions of the artist and the mental states of their painters. Conversely, color-field painters filled canvases with thin layers of vibrant hues, typically shades of the same color, to explore the emotional environments that colors themselves created. This is not to say that the arts fell off completely in Europe. From de Stijl to Purism, European art took on a muted and intellectual form following the Second World War. Perhaps disillusioned with the march of progress and the rise of brutal totalitarian regimes, Western European artists strove to democratize art by championing functionalism in all aspects of design. For Bauhaus, De Stijl, and Le Corbusier’s Purism, buildings and objects were stripped down to their most simple geometries and colors, albeit with different interpretations of what this reductionism fundamentally entailed. De Stijl artists, for example, drove to uncover the hidden mathematical code of life itself, whereas Bauhaus artists, many of whom held Communist sympathies, sought to create goods and homes for a more equitable and less consumeristic world.

Frida Kahlo was an artist consciously creating her own image, along with the paintings she considered her unseen reality. Although her paintings are influenced by a surrealist iconography, Frida did not consider herself a surrealist by any means. Her paintings depict extremely personal realities, and the technique she uses comes from preexisting Mexican traditions. She experienced an accident that left her painting from bed, and vulnerable to miscarriages throughout her life. In constructing herself and coping with her past, she makes something more personal than Surrealist art.

De Stijl, was about reduction and geometric abstraction. These artists hoped to reach visual and spiritual perfection through geometric abstraction and harmonious composition. Mondrian is an active artist for this movement, and his paintings are shadeless, flat, and aim to eliminate the distinction between foreground and background. These ideals contributed to the Bauhaus school and Walter Gropius’ architecture. The glass curtain on buildings is only possible due to metal structures and thus the increasing power of mass production.

Post war art took the form of Abstract Expressionism in America. The Liver is the Cooks Comb is a vivid, biomorphic painting, it is made from the artists’ large gestures. These gestures are part of the technique of automatic painting, or painting without an end goal–just movement. Mark Rothko brought a different aspect of Abstract Expressionism in to view. Reminiscent of Matisse, Rothko’s paintings are huge blocks of color best viewed in low light–the grandness and quality of the colors makes the paintings feel like looking into the sky.

We began with finishing our look at Frida Kahlo and Surrealism. Even though she didn’t identify with Surrealist style because she was painting her reality instead of her dreams, her artwork was labeled Surrealist by other artists. Her work The Two Fridas represents both her indigenous and European heritages by painting herself as two separate women. The traditional Mexican clothing worn by one Frida contrasts with the stiff Victorian-era clothing of the other Frida. The painting represents her dual identity shown by her two connected hearts, as well has including symbols of her traumatic health with a surgical tool and her personal relationships with a small portrait of her husband Rivera.

We also looked at many styles that were popular in regions and had shorter spans of influence. Piet Mondrian is famous from his work within the Dutch De Stijl style, an abstraction that was also known as Neoplasticism. As with other 20th century art, reduction was the driving force. Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow is horizontal and vertical lines creating boxes, some of which are filled with primary colors. There is no shading or depth present, and no foreground or background. Architect Le Corbusier designed the house Villa Savoye that could fit into Purism with its plain white walls inside and out and simple geometric form. In terms of Post War Art, the art capital moved from a recovering Paris to the US. Abstract Expressionism took many forms: action painting, color fields, and hard edge abstraction. The emphasis continues to be less on subject and instead of evoking feeling and pushing the boundaries of art’s definition. Rothko’s No. 61 (Rust and Blue), paintings by Helen Frankenthaler, Kelly’s Red Blue Green, and Odalisk by Rauschenberg are all prime examples of the varying interpretations and styles of what is art.

Today we began class by comparing Pablo Picassos’ Ma Jolie and Georgeo Braque’s The Portuguese. They are remarkably similar and both cover analytic cubism. This is through the analysis of form. The rule of reduction is also at play and we see lots of brown tones. There is also the depth of light and shadow displayed and the brush strokes are large and repetitive. We then looked at Pablo Picasso’s, Guitar, Sheet Music and Glass. This is an example of synthetic cubism. The act of synthesizing or joining things together. We also see Picasso borrowing from reality as we see newspaper and a music sheet. The newspaper appears to have yellowed overtime as well. The act of patching things together is referred to as papie colle or glued paper. It is better than a collage. We then took a look at Umberto Boccioni’s, States of Mind 1: Farewells. This is an example of plastic dynamism or something that is created. We see a train station in milan. We also are able to make out what appears to be steam and people rushing. An interestng work we looked at was Duchamp’s Foutain. This is not exactly a “fountain”. It’s not beautifiul or grand. It’s meant to shock the viewers. And it makes you feel as if anyone could “do it”. This is a form of contempory art. It displays elements of reduction, he also barely changed it. It reduced the intervention of the artist to the choice. We concluding class by looking at Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory. This is an example of surrealism. It is stated as “hand photographs of the unconcious”. Dali is known for blood excrement and putrefaction as well. All very unpleasent and uncommon topics. The display of the clocks gives off a bit of a dreamy feel as well. It is not reality.

In today’s lecture, the art discussed was from both before and after World War 2. In the first part of class, we were introduced to Piet Mondrian who was influential abstract artist of the period. When looking at his composition with red white and blue the reduction was abundantly clear. The painting is reduced to only vertical and horizontal lines while also sticking to just black, white and primary colors. Additionally this limited color palette is expressed only in solid color, no shading. This leads to there being no foreground or background, just on flat plane. The one flat plane has a very interesting effect as the color red typically would feel closer to the viewer but in this situation i did not have that experience. I also found the evolution of Mondrian’s paintings of trees to be facinating. The evolution that we looked at was just four years from 1908 – 1912, but there was still very dramatic changes. Over the three images the impact of cubism on him is very clear and we also notice the way that the tree seemingly flattens. Similar to his composition with red white and blue, there is no foreground or background in his latest iteration of the tree.

Another highlight of the class was Arshile Gorky’s The Liver is the Cocks Comb. I found this painting to be hard to look away from. I also resonated with one of the other student’s comments that this painting reminded them of loony toons. I think the way that some of the figures are reduced is in a manner that has similarities to a cartoon character. I also found it to be very engaging that this painting is so clearly violent while the actual subject matter is still relatively unclear.