20th Century Modern A

2. Mid 20th Century Art is
characterized by:
A lot of collages, simplistic
designs, repetition, statement
pieces, messiness, boldness, color; both
bright and muted tones, intellectual and
political guises and consumerism

3. New York School
Influenced by Expressionism, Cubism, European
Modernism, Surrealism, Zen Buddhism and
Jungian Psychoanalysis
Abstract Expressionism was the result of this
mélange
The community culture of Greenwich Village
influenced the tone of the art produced
There was an inherent freedom and looseness
present in the art of this generation

4. The Second Generation of the
New York School
The second generation was more academic in their
artistic pursuits
Univerity and Art Academy experiences colored their
productions
This resulted in more concise lines, cohesion and
precision
It was more about execution than meaningful substance

5. Focus on the Color Field
Giant canvases covered with color and simple lines
and shape
Meant to be a consuming experience as if the viewer
were actually IN the piece of art

9. Focus on the Figure
Much of the art depicting people from this era is sobering and
inspiring
The artists attempt to invite us to face our own humanity and morality
There was also a lot of distortion and playfulness with the human figure and
faces

15. Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon was an Irish-born British
painter who was known for his
sadistic, dreary and often shocking
paintings
A lot of Bacon's work was inspired by a
screaming nurse in the silent film
Battleship Potemkin and he became
obsessed with portraying people
screaming

18. Another of Bacon's most notable pieces was a
rendition of Diego Velasquez's Portrait of Pope
Innocent X done in the 17th century

19. Another painting of Bacon's features the Pope with slabs of
beef as regal columns in the background; titled
Figure With Meat

20. Joan Miro was a Spanish surrealist
who moved to France to escape the
Civil War
He most revered Van Gogh and
Cezanne
He shunned conventional painting
methods and a main goal of his was to
upset rich society

27. Another premiere artist of this
time was Jackson Pollock
Here is a picture of him and his
wife Lee Krasner who also enjoyed
some popularity as an artist

34. Pollock began to study painting in 1929 at the Art
Students' League in New York under the
Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton
Regionalism depicted a lot of good ol' American
scenery and bridged the gap between abstract art
and realist art
Pollock's "drip technique painting" was inspired
by exercises he learned in Benton's class while he
was a student

37. Minimal Art - Nonobjective, pure and simple
Main focus is the space, shape and
materials used
Often executed by skilled workers and not
the artist who came up with the idea

43. Op Art (Optical Painting)
Uses line, light and color to distort the image and
tricks the eyes of the viewer
The Op Art scene popularity was shortlived but the
"busy" and crazy patterns also inspired fashion of
the 60s

50. Conceptual Art
Also known as "idea art"
Dada is an example of conceptualism
The artist's thought is more important than the
actual materialization
Sometimes the "art" merely was just a thought
or concept
Masterpiece Concepteual Art by Me: Go to a
buffet and spill all of the containers upside
down. Voila! genius.

53. Pop Art
Although it'd been heavily Americanized, Pop
Art originated in England
The term "pop" was coined by an English
critic named Lawrence Alloway in 1954,
referencing universal images of "popular
culture" on billboards, movie posters,
advertisements and in periodicals
One of the creators, British artist Richard
Hamilton, was influenced by Marcel
Duchamp's rebellious ideals of art

54. Pop Art was often used in advertising and generally
featured mundane, everyday objects or popular
public figures
It spoke for advertisers or society, highly
unpersonalized, lacking the artist's heart or soul

55. Andy Warhol was perhaps the most
renowned pop artist
Many regard him as a brilliant
artistic genius but he eventually
became a bit of a tool solely
creating commercial art

56. Pop Art in Propaganda and Pinup Art
Pop Art was heavily featured in
advertising and also propaganda to
persuade the public to do what those in
charge wanted
Female figures were used in a lot of
advertising but also for purely aesthetic
or unmentionable purposes in Pinup Art