| Modern Art by Buck Spinster, 2003 The misconceptions about modern art has been one of the primary reasons that the general public and lay people have a problem with it. It is by the understanding of what modernism is, and why it developed when it did that people not in the know come to appreciate the depth of its meaning. It is not uncommon for modern art to become ones favorite movement in art history once they grasp the profundity of its content as well as the fact that it hits home with the common man/woman more than any other period in western art. In this essay I will attempt to give a brief summary about the main events that sparked the beginnings of the movement and trace the development of it starting with the 16th century and ending with the mid 20th century. PART 1. 1. Louis XIV. The people of France were oppressed by a tyrannical king for 74 years. They were poor and had few rights. 2. The American Revolution. After Louis XIV died, his son, Louis XV took the throne in France and things just got worse. Revolution was in the air and the people became inspired by the success of The American Revolution, as a rag-tag group of colonies had defeated England, the most powerful nation on Earth. 3. Rococo. The art movement known as Rococo became the art of the rich. It celebrated light-hearted games of love with artist like Francois Boucher and Antione Watteau.The poor despised this elitist art of the wealthy. 4. Neo Classicism. The artist, Jacques Louis David, being inspired by ancient Greek and Roman Ideas about art and politics as well as by the Baroque French artist, Nicolas Poussin, began to make his art about revolution and democracy such as in his art works, "Rape of the Sabines", "Oath of the Horatii", and "The Death of Marat". 5. Political Turmoil in France. The 1st revolution overthrew the monarchy but the subsequent government was as corrupt as the monarchy itself, Napoleon came and went, and finally the second revolution ushered in the new era of democracy in France. The art movement Romanticism inspired the people to unite once again for the cause of freedom as expressed in Delacroix's Romantic painting, "Liberty Leading the People". 6. Francisco Goya. A transitional artist between the art movements Romanticism and Realism, Goya painted scenes of contemporary events much like photo journalism as the camera was not yet invented. 7. 1835, The Invention of the Camera. The camera would have a profound effect on painting compositions and subject matter as seen in Gustav Courbet's, "Burial at Ornans". In this painting there is no focal point. No one person is more important than any other and it almost looks like a conveyor belt of people going by with some figures being cropped in the way a camera would capture a slice of life. It is the democratization of the picture plane. 8. The Female Figure. The renaissance had dictated the criteria for painting the nude female figure. She either had to be a Goddess, a Turkish harem girl or an analogy such as Liberty, Truth, Beauty, Love, etc. In 1863 Edouard Manet paints what some historians consider to be the first modern art painting. "Luncheon on the Grass". He brakes the rules of how to show the nude by utilizing a local and recognizable prostitute instead of the far removed from everyday life, idealized woman. 9. Japanese Art. Japan had closed its doors to the west centuries before but had recently opened them for trade once again. Eastern art made its way into the galleries of Paris and this is when the illusion of depth begins to diminish as western artists were intrigued by the flatness and the decorative quality of Oriental art. 10. Impressionism. Perhaps the most loved art of all times because of the use of bold colors and patterns. Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, and the American woman Mary Cassatt, are some favorites.
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Updated:
April 17, 2004
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