Chapter 13Influence of Modern Art

The influence of Modern Art

Time of great societal change that forever altered the human condition.

The first decades of the 20th century

Amidst turbulence of society, graphic design experienced a series of creative revolutions.

Cubism - 1908-1912 - Europe

Cubism became a catalyst for experiments that pushed art and design toward geometric abstraction and new approaches to pictorial space.

Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque

The key concept underlying Cubism is that the essence of an object can only be captured by showing it from multiple points of view simultaneously.

Cubism - 1908 - 1912After Cubism, the world never looked the same again: it was one of the most influential and revolutionary movements in art.

The Cubist movement in painting was developed by Spaniard, Pablo Picasso and Frenchman, Georges Braque around 1907 and became a major influence on Western art. The artists chose to break down the subjects they were painting into a number of facets, showing several different aspects of one object simultaneously. The work up to 1912 is known as Analytical Cubism, concentrating on geometrical forms using subdued colors.

The second phase, known as Synthetic Cubism, used more decorative shapes, stencilling, collage, and brighter colors. It was then that artists such as Picasso and Braque started to use pieces of cut-up newspaper in their paintings.

Picasso and Braque

Worked side by side in the same studio

Influenced by earlier works of Cezanne

Were both prolific artists - trying numerous styles and experiments with structure and color

Much of their work is indistinguishable from the other.

Picasso - early cubist period

Les Demoiselles de Avignon, 1907

Stark representation of women of the prostitution district of Paris

Originally not well accepted, but this is the painting that changed people’s view of Picasso’s work.

Picasso -1907

Title: “Houses with Trees”

Less emphasis on expression of emotion

More emphasis on intellectual experimentation on structure.

Futurism - Early 20th century

Italian poet, Filippo Marinetti

Published “Manifesto of Futurism in Paris newspaper

Established futurism as a revolutionary movement for arts to test their ideas and forms

http://www.the-artists.org/MovementView.cfm?id=8A01EE95-BBCF-11D4-A93500D0B7069B40

Dada movement - Early 20th century

Dadaism followed Cubism

Was not a typical art movement, but a literary movement that sprang up in the face of a “world gone mad” during the first world war.

http://www.peak.org/~dadaist/English/Graphics/artists.html

Surrealism - 1924

Roots in Dada of Paris - 1924

Max Ernst (1891 -1976) greatly influenced visual communications with major impact on photography and illustration.

Perfected collage technique still in use today

From book: Une Semaine De Bonté

Expressionism

Expressionism can be used to describe various art forms.

In its broadest sense, it is used to describe any art that raises subjective feelings above objective observations.

The style aims to reflect the artist's state of mind rather than the reality of the external world.

Photography & Modern Movement

Photography invented as a means to better document reality with greater accuracy than in a painting or illustration.

Bruguiere (1880 - 1945)

Coburn (1882 - 1966)

Concluding thoughts...

Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, Dada, Surrealism provided valuable insight into “schools of thought” which allowed artists the freedom to explore previously unexplored territories in relation to visual communication.

The impact of these early innovators of graphic design are still felt today in the 21st century.