What is Modern Art?
There was time, 18th to 19th century when the art we see are religious scene, portraits of the nobles or monarchs and their family, scenes arising from mythology, scenes inside palaces, churches , or wealthy homes.
Artist start painting ordinary people, outdoors, farms,landscapes, streets, salons. Modern art started.When Duchamp painted the Nude Descending on a Staircase modern art was born.
The artist paint scenes captured in the moment, impressions of the moment. Impressionist movement was born. Different colors are used, shade of colors from pastels to loud colors of red blue green.The viewer can sense emotions of the scenes or state of emotion of the artists. The works of the impressionist from Manet to Cezanne to Van Gogh then to Picasso and Braque with cubism.
The artists start evoking the subconscious, interpretation of dreams and emotional state of the characters painted with Munch and Surrealism like Dali.
Inspirations are found in ordinary life, story of peasants, dancers, still life arranged on a table. The artists shifted attention to use of space, from three dimension to two dimensions to flat space. Compression of objects in one flat space, with objects or people presented in different angles and shape like when the cubism arose. The painting shows scene as if the table or cans are stumped over, as if people are like photos cut in different pieces the put together again.Some returned to using only primary colors like Mondrian.
Then artists start mixing realism and fantasy or surreal objects or scenes. Also a time came when some artist rebelled against dull realism, lack of imagination. Dadaism start and became also known as no-art. Duchamp presented the “ready mades” as part of his protest to the commercialism of art.
Modern art spreads from paintings, to sculpture, music, poetry and fiction. The art becomes inclusive with almost no forbidden subjects.
Personal experiences become subjects of art or writings or performing arts. And modern art continues to evolve from extravagance to minimalism. Different use media and materials, watercolors to oil, from marble to wood to steel to bronze to glass in sculptures. Paintings range from small to very large that occupy a large whole like the mural paintings of David Hockney.
And still other artists shifted to non-realism, painting abstract art from the works of Miro to Kandisky to Pollock .
Contemporary art has evolve also into minimalism which doesn’t mean small or small space but less materials and more an invitation to the viewers to participate like the sculptures of Richard Serra and the paintings of Frank Stella. Of course there is minimalism in poetry, performing arts and music, even in design.
From the confines of restrained academic and religious art, modern art emerges with ever expanding ambition, character, vision, and allure. There are branching of movements from ready made to use of scrap metals, iron or objects from junkyards to driftwoods for sulptures.
I’m just reading an article, The Golden Age of Abstraction Right Now, by Pepe Karmel at the Art News, April 24, 2013. The art ranges from cosmology to human bodies and landscapes.
Modern Art is everywhere. Modern Art excites, makes as wonder, laugh and use a lot of our imagination.
The selected works
I have selected 3 artists, David Hockney, Frank Stella and Richard Serra, and one work from each of them.
- David Hockney
I don’t know the title of thiart work. I printed from the Google images under David Hockney. The scene shows the vividness of the landscape as if looking from on top of the ridge or high point of the road. I remeber seeing a a documentary of David Hockney and he mentioned that this scene is the road he drives on when he goes to the countryside. I feel the closeness of the artist to the road that wiggles in between the divided fields. I can see the alcrity of the painter painting with vivid green, punctuated with a few red and light yellow. Daid Hockney is an artist who loves the countryside where lives in England.
2. Frank Stella
I have heard about Frank Stella’s name before but has not seen any of his works in a museum and if I don’t remember. He is considered a minimalist.
The painting looks so simple, two circles with slight large solid lines splitting circles in to two with subtle emphasis as if there breaks in the circles. Looking at it gives me time to imagine 2 lovers walking, promenading while leaning to each other and supporting
each other. The suggestions of the painting depends upon the viewer since it looks simply as two circles with vivid and light colors.
I got the photo from Google images under Frank Stella.
3. Richard Serra
I think I have seen one work of Richard Serra at the museum in Stanford University.
I don’t know much about Richard Serra other than he lives in California. According to an article: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-serra-richard.htm
he is considered an abstract Expression. The photo is of a large scupture titled Stele II.
The sculpture is large judging from the comparison with a woman who is standing in front and touching the sculpture. The art work invites participation of the viewer like in the photo, touching it, leaning on it and contemplating waht it means.
Part Three Summary
I selected the theme: What is Modern Art because it is a big subject and I will have a lot to learn. The subject can small by selecting just one facet of moderna art like impressionism, cubism or abstraction.
Why is it modern? It’s modern because it breaks from the tradition and it was the dawn of Industrial Revolution and economy allowed ordinary people to experience the products of modern day living.
The selected the art works for their vividness and questions and stories they evoke.
There are so many examples of the artist’s works. These are the ones that appeal to me at that moment of choosing.
I think young people would love modern art. The works drag one to imagine, to question and the minds will not have an easy time to settle for an answer.
