Notes on Expressionism

Fauvism Expressionism notes * Robin Urton*

• Expressionism: figurative art artists purposefully disforms color, form, light, texture for desired intensification of emotional reaction
• Symbolist: colors are expressive in and of itself
• flattened or tilted plane
• patterns
• jarring textures, color
• crowded space

Edvard Munch
(Norwegian, 1863-1944)
Munch (pronounced Muenk) was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely psychological and emotional themes was a major influence on the development of German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His painting The Scream is regarded as an icon of the existential anguish of the post-industrial modern age. It may have been partly inspired by the raw quality of African tribal art (the early 20th century was the first time the public saw such works in art museums). Munch tended to focus on intense emotions, such as those expressed in Puberty, which presents the fearful period of a girl's life as she faces the uncomfortable transition of becoming a woman.


The troubling nature of many of Munch's works can be partly explained by events of his early childhood, as well as the overly religious (and repressive) society in which he lived. Raised in Norway (which is dark and cold throughout much of the year), his mother died of tuberculosis when he was only five. Later, after developing a close attachment to his sister, she suffered the same fate. Art was, for Munch, a way to express his emotions of grief. Throughout his life he was also known to be obsessed with women, though he was never to marry. The Dance of Life focuses on the changing nature of woman as she matures from innocence into full sexuality, and then to old age - where she is again regarded as non-sexual.

Munch's clarity of expression was to have a great influence on many artists who would come to be known as "Expressionists". Though there were many developments in different countries, the most famous and influential would be German Expressionism and Fauvism (primarily a French movement).

German Expressionism
There were two groups of German Expressionist movements. One was called Die Brucke (meaning "the bridge"), led by Kirchner. The other was called Der Blau Rieter ("the Blue Rider"), led by Kandinsky.

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
(1880 - 1938)
The beginning of Expressionism took place in Germany, around the time of the first World War. In 1912, Kirchner became the leader of a group of artists who called themselves "Die Brucke". He and the other artists sought to build a " bridge" between Germany's past and future. They felt that the art of the current establishment was too academic and refined to retain any degree of expression, so they instead found inspiration in medieval German art and primitive African sculpture. Additionally, they would find inspiration in the emotionally expressive works of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch. Since their primary concern was the expression of deeply felt emotions, they would also transform their negative feelings about the war onto canvas.
Kirchner achieved some fame during his lifetime, and was fortunate to maintain a number of collectors for his paintings. With the beginnings of WWII, however, his work was denounced (as well as his compratriots) as "degenerate art", and confiscated from museums. He became increasingly depressed by the war and took his own life.

Emil Nolde
(1867-1956)

Wassily Kandinsky
(Russian, 1866-1944)
Though Kandinsky was born in Russia, he spent most of his creative years in Germany, and would head up the second German Expressionist group, known as "Der Blau Reiter". Kandinsky and his followers were more spiritually inclined than the Die Brucke group (and had close ties with a new sect of religious philosophy, known as theosophy). Kandinsky believed that colors, shapes and forms had an equivalence with sounds and music, and sought to create color harmonies which would be purifying to the soul. It is easy to see the impressionistic influence in his very earliest works. As his work progresses, it becomes increasingly abstract, until there is no longer an image defined by the various shapes and colors. By this time, Kandinsky had decided that the idea of creating paintings which were pictures of the representational world was no longer necessary. He felt that society was paving the way for a new, more spiritual age. Instead of focusing on the material aspects of life, he felt his paintings could help prepare people to see the spiritual, non-material world. Kandinsky is one of the first (if not the first) artist to create completely non-representational paintings.

Franz Marc
Franz Marc is best known for his paintings of animals (particularly horses and deer) in which he attempted to express his mystical veneration of nature. In works such as Blue Horses, he used stylized lines and curves and brilliant unrealistic color to create and heighten the sense of nature idealized. After 1913, in response to cubism and futurism, he turned to abstraction, creating moods of clashing, discordant uncertainty. He was killed in action during World War I.

Austrian Expression
Gustav Klimt was the leader of a group called the Viennese Seccession, which sought to separate itself from the naturalist movement which was popular in early 20th century Austria. His work is difficult to categorize, but is often associated with the Symbolists and Art Nouveau, but it also has some ties to Expressionism. Though he was supported by many members of the Viennese aristocracy (and painted many of thier portraits), his work was also widely criticized for its eroticism.

French Fauvism
Fauvism (pronounced Foev-ism) was the most optomistic movement linked to expressionism. This can be explained by its birthplace, in Paris. When viewing these works, it is easy to imagine the bohemian lifestyle of the artists. Parisians enjoyed getting together in the cafes, listening to music and drinking wine. They also enjoyed outdoor activities in the sun. Their art expresses more of pleasure than it does of the complex (often negative) emotions expressed in the north.

Fauvism was a brief but important art movement that followed the Post-Impressionism movement in France. Matisse is regarded as the leader of the movement, but Andre Derain was also significant (Braque also briefly painted in the style, before his cubist experiments). Each part of their paintings had loud colors, primitive elements, and wild ideas. Although the movement only lasted four years, it would have a profound effect on future artists, especially in terms of their use of color. Though initially inspired by Impressionism and Post Impressionist works, the colors used were even more saturated and high keyed. The effect was very bold, almost loud. Fauvism is recognized for its influence on cubism and modern expressionism in its flattened space, disregard for natural forms and its love of unbridled color.

Henri Matisse
After 1905, Matisse continued to use bright colors and bold compositions, yet these works are no longer considered to be of the Fauvist period. The most evident change in his work is his increased interest in patterns and the continued flattening of pictorial space. Matisse is, along with Picasso, regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. His work is more decorative than Picasso's, but also less troubling. A famous quote by Matisse is that he felt that art should be like a good armchair to come home to after a hard day's work. Though he lived through two world wars, he decided not to focus on what was wrong with the world. Instead, he felt that art should provide a place for the soul to rest.

Matisses's latest artworks, are often regarded as his most innovative. They were created after a he was handicapped from severe arthritis which limited him to a wheelchair. Unable to stand to paint, he began cutting out shapes from colored pieces of paper. These he had glued (with help from assistants) to huge pieces of paper. The effect is extremely bold and light-hearted. The colors and shapes have a liberating sense about them. One feels that, despite his problems, Matisse has succeded in returning to a carefree childhood.

Assignment 10 Final

Color Theory Francisco Letelier Assignment 10 final

Create a psychological self portrait employing color to convey meaning,

Format 9" x 12" up to 11 x 17 2d

full color, acrylic or gouache with other media, including collage.
Illustration board or canvas board

Explore the meaning of self-portrait.


The expressionists used color to convey emotion in both realistic and abstract compositions. Your task with this assignment is to combine your knowledge of color to create an image which represents you. It may be a realistic self-portrait but more importantly you will create a portrait that speaks about your interior landscape.

Your composition should pay attention to figure ground relationships as well as employ some of the various aspects of color we have gone over in class. These include:
basic color theory, transparency, symbolic color, grids, rhythm, unity, pattern, warm and cool colors, cropping and enlarging, the use of color to imply distance, atmospheric perspective, expressionist use of color, pointillism and the use of color employed by the 'modernist artist' you have studied.

Challenge yourself, have fun, be original.

Please cover your work protective paper.

Notes on Pointillism

Pointillism is a style of painting that was popular among the French Neo-Impressionists of the late 19th century. It involves the practice of applying small strokes or dots of contrasting pigment to a surface so that from a distance the dots blend together into solid forms.

In a sense, this is what a computer does every time it draws an image using colored pixels. But because pixels are so small, computer monitors don't give us that gentle Neo-Impressionist feel.
Georges Seurat invented the technique known as Pointilism, which uses tiny dots instead of broad strokes to put the paint on the canvas. The individual dots of red, yellow and blue are sucked in through your eyes and mixed up in your head to create a variety of shimmering shades.

Pointillism was part of the impressionist art movement in the late 19th century. This movement did not aim to paint in a realistic way but rather as we perceive the world. The sub-group of impressionists called Pointillists (most notably Seurat and Pissarro) based their paintings on small colored dots (or even small oriented patches). The observer then constructs the image by merging dots. Perceived reality is, thus, a concept constructed by the observer.

Pointillism is an original form of art created by George Seurat. Pointillism is a bunch of tiny dots formed together to make a picture. Why we use pointillism instead of using a paintbrush and just painting is because pointillism is brighter and the other kinds of paintings can be dull. When two colors are next to each other, your eye mixes them and that is called optical mixing. Using optical mixing instead of physically mixing can make a brighter picture.

Pointillism takes a long time. For example, Seurat’s “A Sunday in the Park” took him two years to complete, covers a wall (81 inches by 120 inches) and has about 3,456,000 dots! If you are ever in Chicago, go to the Art Institute and check out this painting. It’s awesome!

The idea of pointillism is not to physically mix colors.

Assignment # 9 Pointillism

Color Theory Francisco Letelier Assignment 9


Using the 5 color pointillist palette you created in class, create a composition using pointillist technique.

This will involve the practice of applying small strokes or dots of contrasting pigment to the surface so that from a distance the dots blend together into solid forms.
The idea of pointillism is not to physically mix colors.

Size "8x11" executed on 9x12 illustration board.

Medium: Acrylic paint or gouache

Please strive to create a clean presentation.

Use one of your landscape photos, set up a still life or work from a photograph.
Emphasize composition on the page. Choose your subject carefully, making sure it is not too complex for the format we are working in, while checking that it provide enough visual interest to create a strong composition

Make sure you have a small enough brush so that the dots are not too big, make sure you use a large enough brush that dots are not too small. As you work, back away from the surface and observe how your dots are working in specific fields of color.

Notes on Modernism

Color theory notes Letelier


Modern art is a general term used for most of the artistic work from the late 19th century until approximately the 1970s. (Recent art production is more often called Contemporary art or Postmodern art). Modern art refers to the new approach to art which placed emphasis on representing emotions, themes, and various abstractions. Artists experimented with new ways of seeing, with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art, often moving further toward abstraction

Roots in the 19th century
By the late 19th century, several movements which were to be influential in modern art had begun to emerge: Impressionism and post-Impressionism, as well as Symbolism.
Influences upon these movements were varied: from exposure to Eastern decorative arts, particularly Japanese printmaking, to the colouristic innovations of Turner and Delacroix, to a search for more depiction of common life, as found in the work of painters such as Jean-François Millet. At the time, the generally held belief was that art should be accurate in its depiction of objects, but that it should be aimed at expressing the ideal, or the domestic.

.In the visual arts the roots of Modernism are often traced back to painter Édouard Manet, who beginning in the 1860s broke away from inherited notions of perspective, modeling, and subject matter. The avant-garde movements that followed—including Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, Constructivism, De Stijl, and Abstract Expressionism—are generally defined as Modernist. Over the span of these movements, artists increasingly focused on the intrinsic qualities of their media—e.g., line, form, and colour—and moved away from inherited notions of art. By the beginning of the 20th century, architects also had increasingly abandoned past styles and conventions in favour of a form of architecture based on essential functional concerns. In the period after World War I these tendencies became codified as the International style, which utilized simple, geometric shapes and unadorned facades and which abandoned any use of historical reference; the buildings of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier embodied this style. After World War II the style manifested itself in clean-lined, unadorned glass skyscrapers and mass housing projects.

More:

Most of the color theorists since Chevreul have been abstract painters rather than representational ones. I like to thumb through Itten, Albers and Kandinsky color books once in a while but I have to admit that although they provide a backbone of sorts for what is called color theory they are not entirely useful sometimes.
They are a lot of fun, though. Here just for the heck of it, are a couple of Kandinsky color theories. Maybe they'll spur you on to make theories of your own.

According to Kandinsky certain colors (above) have an affinity for certain forms. A dull shape like a circle deserves a dull color like blue. A shape with intermediate interest like a square deserves an intermediate color like red. A dynamic, interesting shape like a triangle deserves an enegetic, luminous, psychotic color like yellow.

A hexagon is midway in interest between a square and a triangle so it gets the midway color it deserves, orange. Toilet cover seats get green.

Lines also have an affinity for certain colors. Bold, dynamic lines like diagonals get a bold color like yellow. Less drastic diagonals get a less drastic color, red. Dead lines that are nearly horizontal get a dead color like black. Slightly active lines like verticals get a dull color like blue.
Kandinsky even has a theory about coloring lines according to their centrality in the composition. Lines in the middle get yellow. Sad, unloved lines that hug the edge of the frame should get dull colors.

The same goes for angles. Drastic accute angles get drastic colors, more sedate obtuse angles get bland colors like blue.
Ditto curves. Of course a line usually has both drastic and sedate curves and angles and the color of the line changes accordingly.

Color Field painting is an abstract style that emerged in the 1950s after Abstract Expressionism and is largely characterized by abstract canvases painted primarily with large areas of solid color. An alternate but less frequently encountered term for this style is chromatic abstraction.

Color Field painting initially referred to a particular type of abstract expressionism, especially the work of Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, Barnett Newman, Robert Motherwell and Adolph Gottlieb. Art critic Clement Greenberg perceived Color Field painting as related to but different from Action painting. During the early to mid-1960s Color Field painting was the term used to describe artists like Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, and Helen Frankenthaler, whose works were related to second generation abstract expressionism, and to younger artists like Larry Zox, and Frank Stella, - all moving in a new direction. In 1964 Clement Greenberg curated an influential exhibition that traveled the country called Post-painterly abstraction. The exhibition expanded the definition of color field painting. In the late 1960s Richard Diebenkorn began his Ocean Park series; created during the final 25 years of his career and that are important examples of color field painting. Color Field painting clearly pointed toward a new direction in American painting, away from abstract expressionism. Color Field painting is related to Post-painterly abstraction, Suprematism, Abstract Expressionism, Hard-edge painting and Lyrical Abstraction.
Color Field painting sought to rid art of superfluous rhetoric. Artists like Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Morris Louis, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Helen Frankenthaler, Larry Zox, and others often used greatly reduced references to nature, and they painted with a highly articulated and psychological use of color. In general these artists eliminated recognizable imagery. Certain artists quoted references to past or present art, but in general color field painting presents abstraction as an end in itself. In pursuing this direction of modern art, artists wanted to present each painting as one unified, cohesive, monolithic image.
In distinction to the emotional energy and gestural surface marks of Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Color Field painting initially appeared to be cool and austere, effacing the individual mark in favor of large, flat areas of color, which these artists considered to be the essential nature of visual abstraction, along with the actual shape of the canvas, which Frank Stella in particular achieved in unusual ways with combinations of curved and straight edges. However Color Field painting has proven to be both sensual and deeply expressive albeit in a different way from gestural Abstract expressionism....


Early 20th Century
Among the movements which flowered in the first decade of the 20th century were Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism and Futurism.
World War I brought an end to this phase, but indicated the beginning of a number of anti-art movements, such as Dada and the work of Marcel Duchamp, and of Surrealism. Also, artist groups like de Stijl and Bauhaus were seminal in the development of new ideas about the interrelation of the arts, architecture, design and art education.
Modern art was introduced to the United States with the Armory Show in 1913, and through European artists who moved to the U.S. during World War I.

After World War II
It was only after World War II, though, that the U.S. became the focal point of new artistic movements. The 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of Abstract Expressionism, Color field painting, Pop art, Op art, Hard-edge painting, Minimal art, Lyrical Abstraction, Postminimalism and various other movements; in the late 1960s and the 1970s, Land art, Performance art, Conceptual art and Photorealism among other movements emerged.
Around that period, a number of artists and architects started rejecting the idea of "the modern" and created typically Postmodern works.
Starting from the post-World War II period, fewer artists used painting as their primary medium; instead, larger installations and performances became widespread. Since the 1970s, new media art has become a category in itself, with a growing number of artists experimenting with technological means such as video art.

Art movements and artist groups
(Roughly chronological with representative artists listed.)
Modern art
End of 19th century
▪ Romanticism the Romantic movement - Francisco de Goya, J. M. W. Turner, Eugène Delacroix
▪ Realism - Gustave Courbet, Camille Corot, Jean-François Millet
▪ Impressionism - Edgar Degas, Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley
▪ Post-impressionism - Georges Seurat, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Rousseau
▪ Symbolism - Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, James Ensor
▪ Les Nabis - Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, Félix Vallotton
▪ pre-Modernist Sculptors - Aristide Maillol, Auguste Rodin
Early 20th century (before WWI)
▪ Art Nouveau & variants - Jugendstil, Modern Style, Modernisme - Aubrey Beardsley, Alphonse Mucha, Gustav Klimt,
▪ Art Nouveau Architecture & Design - Antoni Gaudí, Otto Wagner, Wiener Werkstätte, Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Koloman Moser
▪ Fauvism - André Derain, Henri Matisse, Maurice de Vlaminck
▪ Expressionism - Oskar Kokoschka, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde
▪ Die Brücke - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
▪ Der Blaue Reiter - Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc
▪ Cubism - Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso
▪ Orphism - Robert Delaunay, Jacques Villon
▪ Synchromism - Stanton MacDonald-Wright, Morgan Russell
▪ Pre-Surrealism - Giorgio de Chirico, Marc Chagall
▪ Futurism - Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà
▪ Vorticism - Wyndham Lewis
▪ Russian avant-garde - Kasimir Malevich, Natalia Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov
▪ Sculpture - Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Constantin Brancusi
▪ Photography - Pictorialism, Straight photography
WWI to WWII
▪ Dada - Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Francis Picabia, Kurt Schwitters
▪ Synthetic Cubism - Georges Braque, Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, Pablo Picasso
▪ Pittura Metafisica - Giorgio de Chirico, Carlo Carrà
▪ De Stijl - Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondrian
▪ Expressionism - Egon Schiele, Amedeo Modigliani, and Chaim Soutine
▪ New Objectivity - Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz
▪ Figurative painting - Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard
▪ Constructivism - Naum Gabo, László Moholy-Nagy, El Lissitzky, Kasimir Malevich, Alexander Rodchenko, Vladimir Tatlin
▪ Surrealism - Jean Arp, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte, André Masson, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall
▪ Bauhaus - Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee
▪ Sculpture - Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Gaston Lachaise, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso, Julio Gonzalez
▪ Scottish Colourists - Francis Cadell, Samuel Peploe, Leslie Hunter, John Duncan Fergusson

Assignment # 8 modernism

Color Theory Assignment 8 Francisco Letelier

Create a work that employs the style of a modernist painter/artist.
Be sure you understand the manner in which your chosen artist uses color as a defining element in their work, This is a research assignment, so please place your artist within the context of art movements and art history.

Work must be at least 9" x 12' and can measure up to 12" x 18"

Full color acrylic or gouache on illustration board, Bristol or canvas board.

Consider preparing your surface with gesso before you paint..


*Research your artist and submit a printed color image of their work.

Modern art is a general term used for most of the artistic work from the late 19th century until approximately the 1970s. (Recent art production is more often called Contemporary art or Postmodern art). Modern art refers to the new approach to art which placed emphasis on representing emotions, themes, and various abstractions. Artists experimented with new ways of seeing, with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art, often moving further toward abstraction

Asignment #7 Atmospheric Perspective

Color Theory # 7- Atmospheric perspective

Create a landscape painting, showing atmospheric perspective.
Bristol or illustration board. Please mount Bristol paper and create a hinged cover sheet.
8x10 on 9x12 surface.
media: Acrylic and /or gouache

For this assignment it is best to look at some landscape photos or paintings, although it is fine to make up a fantasy landscape if you are so inclined.
You can work from a photograph that shows atmospheric perspective. You can also put together different photo images in order to improve foreground/s, middle areas and back grounds…
Don't worry so much about exactly reproducing the image, instead use it as a reference for a landscape which shows the interplay of light and color as things recede into the distance.
Atmospheric perspective is sometimes called aerial perspective.

ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE
Atmospheric perspective deals with how the appearance of an object is affected by looking at it through a layer of air. Moisture, dust and pollutants in the atmosphere act to filter the visual information.
This is most apparent on a foggy day when it may be difficult to see across the street. Even in the clear, dry air of a desert the atmosphere changes the appearance of distant objects.

The changes follow the following general rules:

Contrast is greatest for close objects. Distant objects have less contrast in them and less to their surroundings. Each row of hills receding into the distance has less contract with the next (see photo above).

Remember that value contrast is the strongest contrast when creating spatial illusions.

Colors also change with depth. All of the colors are clear on near objects. Bright colors are only seen on close objects. Warm colors also show up more on near objects. As objects get farther away the colors dull and eventually turn blue gray.

Partially because of this warm colors appear to closer than cool colors (more about this under color). Choose colors in an image accordingly.

Focus in an image also gives depth clues. Close objects are generally more sharply focused than distant objects. It is possible to alter this with a camera but the mind sees soft focused edges as being farther away than sharp edges. There may be compositional reasons to soften the focus of close objects in an image to call attention on something farther back in space.

Details are much more apparent on near objects because of all of the above. Linear perspective makes more distant details too small to see but it is low contrast that tends to flatten distant objects.

Pay attention to how these concepts play out when you are looking at landscape. The same tree looks not only smaller in the distance (linear perspective) but also less leafy (contrast, detail and focus) and not as bright a green (color). As the trees get farther away they blend into the landscape and eventually all you see are rows of hills, flat as cutouts, receding to the horizon. This is especially true on a hazy day or when looking into the sun.

ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE CONSIDERATIONS
Contrast: Use a highly contrasting image for the foreground. It should have high contrast within it and contrast with its surroundings in your image. As the scene goes farther back, use less and less contrast. Be aware of a highly contrasting background with a softer middle ground.

Color: Keep the foreground bright and warm in color. The background should be the dullest and coolest in color. Be careful of warm colors in the background since they will want to come forward.

Focus: Make the foreground the sharpest in the image, the middle ground the next sharpest and the background the dullest if possible.

Details: Use an object for the foreground that has a lot of details. The background should be chosen because it has little in the way of details. The middle ground, as usual, is in the middle