Written by: Jacqueline Yu
Frankenthaler was a key figure of mid-20th century American art. Often seen as the original color field painter, Frankenthaler is renowned for her command of color and powerful abstract landscapes. Frankenthaler was born on December 12, 1928 to a wealthy Manhattan family. Her parents were supportive of her artistic career from a young age and sent her to many progressive, experimental schools. During the summer, her family often took trips, and the scenery she saw on these vacations would later influence Frankenthaler’s deep love of landscape. Her father, a judge on the New York State Supreme Court, died when she was 11, which launched her into a four year depressive period accompanied with intense migraines. When she was 15, she studied under the painter Rufino Tamayo at the Dalton School in New York. By 16, she had decided to become an artists and enroll in Bennington College in Vermont where she studied under Paul Feeley who was well accustomed to the abstract expressionists. Frankenthaler returned to New York in 1947 to study at the Art Students League. In 1950, she met Clement Greenberg at an exhibition, and she pursued a romantic relationship with him. Greenberg, a famous art critic, was instrumental in introducing Frankenthaler to leading abstract expressionist artists like Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, and Jackson Pollock. 1952 was Frankenthaler’s big break when she painted Mountains and Sea after a trip to Nova Scotia. This work featured the first appearance of her “soak-stain” technique which consisted of laying a massive, unprimed canvas on the ground and then applying oil paints thinned with turpentine using window wipers, sponges, and charcoal. Her work centered around capturing a feeling of a location through abstraction rather than a proper representation. Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland were introduced to Frankenthaler through Clement Greenberg and were inspired by Mountains and Sea. This interaction between artists marked the beginnings of color field painting. In 1957, Frankenthaler married Robert Motherwell, a fellow artist that deeply influenced her work from that point forward. They were nicknamed “the golden couple” due to their success at such a young age. The 1960s marked a period of experimentation for Frankenthaler as she replaced her signature diluted oil paint with acrylic paint and began toying around with woodcut printmaking. This switch led to brighter colors in her works. Frankenthaler had numerous successes like her exhibitions at the LA County Museum of Art in 1964, the Venice Biennale in 1966, and the International and Universal Exposition in Montreal. Frankenthaler divorced Motherwell in 1971 and traveled to the American southwest to explore the landscapes there. Her work was greatly inspired by the scenes that she saw and experienced. Frankenthaler continued to make work until the last years of her life. She branched out into clay, steel sculpture, and even set and costume design. In 2011, Frankenthaler died in her home in Connecticut. She left behind a great legacy as the entire color field movement can be attributed to her momentous feats in Mountains and Sea. She inspired countless influential artists and perpetuated, and continues to perpetuate, her beliefs in the power of color and simplicity through her works.
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Written by: Jacqueline Yu Outside of the artistic world, Josef Albers is a relatively unknown name. However, within artistic spheres and especially art education spheres, Albers is a revolutionary. Albers was born on March 19, 1888 in Bottrop, Germany. He studied to become a teacher in Buren from 1905 to 1908 and worked as a primary school teacher from 1908 to 1913. During this time, Albers realized that he wished to teach art, so he left his teaching position to attend the Königliche Kunstschule in Berlin from 1913 to 1915 to receive his certification. He also studied lithography in Essen and attended the Academy in Munich. When he was 32, he entered the Bauhaus, a school in Weimar that explored the relationship between art and technology. This school actively combined elements of architecture, fine art, and craft. At Bauhaus, Albers originally specialized in stained glass and even led the workshop at the school. However, he slowly transitioned into teaching a basic design course called Vorkurs. The school moved to Dessau in 1925 where Albers became a professor and worked with other influential artists like Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky. During his time at Bauhaus, Albers dabbled in both furniture design and typography. In 1933, the Nazis forced Bauhaus to close, and Albers found himself at a loss. With the help of Philip Johnson, a member of the architecture department at the Museum of Modern Art, Albers moved to America and found employment at Black Mountain College, another experimental school whose undergraduate program centered on art and provided a land of creativity for students and faculty alike. Albers taught one of the two courses required for all students, a class on materials and form. He was also the head of painting from 1933 to 1949. Albers brought Bauhaus to Black Mountain, but he was also heavily influenced by the works of John Dewey, an American philosopher who believed in the importance of experimentation and direct experience in education. While teaching at Black Mountain, Albers began the “Variant/Adobe” series which explored the vast abilities of color, shape, and positioning. He also exhibited his work in more than 20 solo shows in America. His work at Black Mountain allowed him to work and teach with artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, and Ray Johnson. In 1949, Albers left Black Mountain College to be the chairman of the design department at Yale from 1950 to 1958. During this time, he started his critically acclaimed series “Homage to the Square” which explored the effects of color using the simple shape of the square. With “Homage to the Square,” Albers became the first living artist to be honored by a solo retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Furthermore, the series made a tour from New York to South America via the Museum of Modern Art. At Yale, Albers taught monumental artists like Richard Anuszkiewicz and Eva Hesse. When he was 70 years old, Albers retired from Yale and subsequently began his mural career. He painted the interior of the New Graduate Center at Harvard, “Two Portals” at the Time and Life Building, and “Manhattan” at the Pan Am building. His retired life also involved many guest lectures at Colleges and Universities around the country. On March 25, 1976, Albers died. Albers is remembered for his highly influential work in the field of art education. He worked to open the eyes of his students by changing how they perceived the world. He wanted students to consider forms apart from traditional associations and focus on the basic aspects of an object like line, material, and color. Albers process was to defamiliarize his pupils from the normalities of life and practice. He used techniques like drawing with one’s non-dominant hand to achieve his intended effect. Today, his ideology is central and an accepted part of academic training for visual artists. Albers is also known for his almost scientific approach to art based on concepts like observation and experimentation as shown by his series “Homage to the Square.” His influence is perhaps best seen by the artists that he taught at Black Mountain College and Yale University and how they tackled art using his practices. Written by: Jacqueline Yu
Lee Krasner was a revolutionary Abstract Expressionist and one of the few well-known female artists of her time, although she was still heavily overshadowed by her husband, Jackson Pollock. Krasner was born on October 27, 1908 as Lena Krassner to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. She grew up in the Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York. Ever since she was 13 years old, she wanted to become a professional artist, which was a strange career path at the time for a woman, more so for an immigrant. She was accepted to the Washington Irving High School which was the only public high school at the time that allowed women to study art. She pursued art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science, a women’s school, on a scholarship and continued her career in the Art Students League. She was also a student at the National Academy of Design from 1926 - 1932 where her teachers often discriminated against her due to her independent streak which they thought was inappropriate for a woman. In order to support herself while studying to be a teacher, the only job available for female artists at the time, Krasner worked in a factory, as a waitress, and as an artist’s model. During the Great Depression, she was employed by the Works Progress Administration to paint murals. Pollock actually served as her assistant on a couple WPA murals. Influenced by the times, Krasner began to rebuke what she had learned at the national academy and favored a more bohemian approach, even adopting Marxism at one point. She studied under Hans Hofmann who exposed her to Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse which prompted her to pursue an “all-over” style using abstract, repetitive designs informed by floral motifs. She joined the American Abstract Artists in 1936 which worked to help the public appreciate abstract art. While in this association, she fell in love with Pollock, moved in with him in 1941, and married him in 1945. After her marriage to Pollock, Krasner’s career took a backseat as she became Pollock’s promoter and manager. Throughout their marriage, Krasner struggled with Pollock’s alcoholism and womanizing. When the couple moved to Long Island, Krasner began her “Little Image” series (1945 - 1950) which was characterized by small canvases with repetitive, linear designs in white pigment. She was inspired by jewish mysticism, Kabbalah, and frequently painted from right to left, the direction of hebrew lettering. She also included kabbalistic symbols. In the Early 1950s, Krasner began to experiment with collage like Matisse. At one point, she even tore up here paintings and reconstructed them into works reminiscent of cubism. These works were well received and Clement Greenberg, a famous art critic at the time, loved them. After Pollock’s death, Krasner began her “Earth Green” series (1956 - 1959) which combined nature forms with rhythmic, splattered technique. Critic’s were not a fan of these works and described them as too similar to Pollock and too decorative, a euphemism for feminine. In the early 1960s, Krasner suffered an aneurysm and her art was sidetracked yet again. She continued her work but with more large areas of color inspired by the reigning art movement at the time: Color Field and Minimalism. Her work was revived in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the women’s movement and she received a retrospective in London in 1965. Her first retrospective in the states was at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts in October 1983, just a year before she died. Most people know Krasner today as Jackson Pollock’s wife. However, she was more than just that. She actively fought against the “women can’t paint” stereotype and was revered as a female artist. She encouraged feminist artists to persevere because she had in the male-dominated Ab-Ex movement. Furthermore, she helped establish the Pollock-Krasner foundation which is dedicated to assisting the development of fine artists and has contributed over 46 million dollars in grants to working artists around the world. Lee Krasner is yet another example of a talented female artist being suppressed by the male-dominated art world, but she also represents a step in the right direction. She did garner fame for her work, despite her gender, which is more than could be said for many female artists in the past. Written by: Alex Broening
Edgar Degas was born into a moderately wealth family in Paris, France on July 19th, 1834. The oldest of five children, at the age of eleven, Degas enrolled in the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. After earning his baccalaureate in literature at the age of 19, Degas began to grow more invested in art, and began painting seriously – both his own work, and copies of works from the Louvre. Degas was forced to attend Law School at the University of Law in Paris by his father Augustin De Gas, but showed little interest in the subject matter, preferring to paint and draw. Degas left Law School when he was accepted into the École des Beaux-Arts, where he would study drawing under the tutelage of Louis Lamothe. At the École, he learned essentials of classical drawing, with a focus on line and draftsmanship skill. Shortly afterward, Degas left for Italy, where he spent the next three years. In Italy, Degas copied countless pieces by “Old Masters” such as Raphael and Michelangelo, gaining skill as a draftsman and in the techniques of a variety of styles. Unlike many of the other revolutionary artists of the time, Degas’ artwork was shown regularly at the Salon in Paris, but garnered little appreciation. While his first work accepted was a historical painting, his style quickly moved to focus on contemporary matters – often choosing horses or a steeplechase as the subject for his work. Like other artists of the time, Degas became involved in the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, disrupting his artwork and process. In the army, however, he learned of his poor eyesight, which would continue to haunt him for the rest of his life. After the war, Degas moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and worked there for a while. In New Orleans, he painted his only work to be accepted into a museum during his life. Degas was forced to return to Paris in 1873, in order to sort out his brother’s financial troubles. He joined with a group of other artists, including Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet, to show their works separately from the Salon, in what came to be known as the Impressionist Exhibitions. However, a reserved and quiet man, Degas loathed the scandal that the exhibitions brought. Degas’ work was also quite different from the others exhibited at the Impressionist Exhibitions. Degas refused to be characterized as an Impressionist, scorning Impressionists for painting outside, and decrying their use of bright colors and “spontaneity.” Indeed, Degas once said: “No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and of the study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing.” Clearly frustrated by the label, Degas and his group dissolved 1886. While Degas was similar to the Impressionists in his use of and play with light and shadow, he preferred to go his own way – unattached to any particular movement, and calling himself a “realist.” Degas’ work continued to evolve, as his vivid palette developed alongside his eye for composition. Degas was also influenced by photography and printmaking. As he aged, Degas’ painting became more loose and abstracted – closely resembling the art of the Impressionist movement. Many of Degas’ paintings of nude women and dancers came from this period and show extreme skill in the capturing of light and shade. Degas’ work was also characterized by an intense amount of planning. Even when his work appeared extemporaneous or impulsive, many hours of thought and contemplation went into it. Degas’ last years were unhappy. Believing that artists could have no close friends, Degas distanced himself from those around him, leaving himself isolated. Many of his friends also died before him. In addition, his involvement with the anti-Semitism on prominent display during the scandals of the Dreyfus affair separated him from all of his Jewish friends – a separation that he later regretted. Never married, he died alone in Paris in 1917, having spent the last years of his life nearly blind and unable to work. Degas’ effect on art and the Impressionist movement is remarkable. Degas’ works captured “real life.” His frank portrayals of dancers backstage, as in Dancers Tying Shoes (1883), gave greater weight to those paintings. He was unafraid to paint the unromanticized portions of life. Undoubtedly, Degas was also a master of light and form, as can be seen in the radiating and modulating light in his 1871 work The Dancing Class. His impact on the development of art was immeasurable, essentially setting the stage for art’s evolution into abstraction. Written by: Raina Tian
Rococo emerged in early 18th century Paris as France’s reaction to Baroque. The construction of the Palace of Versailles led artists to criticize the extravagance and melancholy nature of Baroque and its often religious themes. After the end of the reign of Louis XIV, the center of affluence returned to Paris as nobility returned from Versailles. The emergence of Rococo served to satisfy the needs of the nobility as they sought a new style of decoration for salons in homes. As salons served as the center of entertainment and influence for the nobility, the Rococo style spread throughout France and later to Germany and Italy. In Germany, Rococo once again became a style of religious architecture as the original French Rococo merged with the existing southern German Baroque styles. The fusion of Rococo and Baroque maintained the dramatism present in buildings such as the Amalienburg and the Residenztheater. By the mid-18th century, Rococo spread to Italy but focused in the city of Venice as an architectural style. Artists such as Antoine Watteau represented the transitionary period between Baroque and Rococo art. He is recognized as the father of fete galante, painting outdoor scenes of garden parties and festivals. His graceful, but melancholy style retained some of the characteristics of Baroque, but often he included mythological figures rather than religious figures. Watteau, as one of the early Rococo artists, popularized the movement. Francois Boucher translated the lighthearted style of Rococo into the female figure, as much of his work consisted of studies of the female nude. His interpretation of Rococo embodied itself in his emphasis of intricate details such as the costumes of women and decorative depictions of the sky. Jean-Honore Fragonard created the iconic palette and attitude of the Rococo movement with The Swing which depicted a young woman in a pastel pink dress on a swing, delicately tossing her shoe. The pastel palette and light-hearted gesture were motifs repeated throughout Rococo art. Rococo initially began in interior design, but quickly became a multi-faceted movement as artists adopted and extended its tendencies to painting and sculpture. However, through all of these, a sense of lightness and elegance persists. Most commonly, Rococo was utilized in the salons of wealthy nobles. The curves of the furniture sought to emulate natural form and movement with layers of curves and counter curves. This was often achieved through ocean and leafy motifs such as curling leaves and delicate shells. The asymmetrical result of these natural forms contrasted with the symmetrical nature of Baroque art. Mirrors and mirrored walls created an illusion of openness and space. Porcelain was utilized in both home furnishings and sculpture, as it was physically lighter compared to marble and more versatile for daily use. Furniture with lighter woods was more easily moved in preparation for social events while porcelain in sculpture was seen as more delicate and light in appearance. Both paintings and sculpture shared common subjects from nature and mythology, but the innocence of cherubs meshed with themes of love to introduce a touch of religion. Paintings were characterized by rich brushwork and pastel and gold-based palettes. This translated into portraits and landscapes of forests and seas as they embodied fluidity. Rococo eventually declined in France by the 1750s as many began to criticize it for the excessive ornamentation which originally began as a criticism of the extravagance of Baroque. Although Rococo persisted in southern Germany and Italy for a period afterwards, Rococo in France was wholly replaced in the 1760s by Neoclassicism. Written by: Alex Broening
Like many influential and revolutionary artists, Manet refused to comply with standards set by others even at a young age. In January of 1832, Manet was born into a wealthy family, his father being a well-recognized judge, and his mother being of royal descent. His father’s expectation was for Manet to enter the Navy. Manet eventually capitulated and took the Navy exam but failed. Returning to his artistic aspirations, and now supported by his father, Manet joined Thomas Couture in his studio in Paris. Even at such an early age, Manet was something of a revolutionary, deeming the Ecole des Beaux-Arts to be teaching outdated modes of art. Indeed, Manet was not entirely incorrect, as Couture encouraged his mentees to explore their own style and direction of art regardless of the style of the day. After studying for six years, Manet set up his own studio in Paris, and proceeded to travel around Europe, to the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria. In his travels, he met Edgar Degas, who would remain a friend and inspiration for the rest of Manet’s life. Manet’s art began to evolve, partly as a result of his travels, and soon began to reflect modern life rather than history. Manet and other artists received much criticism, both from the public, and from the harsh critics. Manet was deeply hurt by this criticism of his art, especially of "Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe", which, shockingly for the time, depicted a prostitute in the nude. Also upsetting to Manet was his rejection from the Salon – what was considered the pinnacle of artistic achievement in Europe. Despite his revolutionary nature, Manet still desired recognition for his work, and his rejection was upsetting to him. Manet continued to produce controversial works, including Olympia in 1863, which was not well received by the Parisian public. His scandals continued into his personal life in addition to his art. Manet married Suzanne Leenhoff in 1863, however, the two had been involved for more than 10 years, and had had an illegitimate child 9 years prior to their marriage. While some speculation surrounded the affair, it had little effect on his life. Manet began meeting with other artists of the time, including Cézanne, Degas, Renoir, Sisley, and Pissarro. Together they formed a group of the first modern artists, sharing ideas and inspiration. The group had massive impact on the development of art at that period of time. Avant-garde movements such as Manet’s version of realism, and the development of impressionism by Monet and Renoir centered in, and found their base of support in this group of friends, firmly cementing their place in history. After further rejections from the Salon and other exhibitions, Manet set up a tent to exhibit his work, but received further criticism and negative publicity. Manet’s work and style continued to evolve, reflecting elements of the emerging impressionist movement. In the middle of his work, Manet also joined the National Guard during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Even as his health declined, Manet continued to work, painting the daily lives of Parisians. His paintings of café concerts – a symbol of the culture and society of the Paris of the time – where especially popular, including one of his most famous paintings, "A Bar at the Folies-Bergere", finished in 1881. Manet continued to paint a variety of subjects, including portraits, flowers, landscapes, and still-lifes until his death in 1883. Toward the end of his life, Manet’s work grew to be more widely appreciated, finally earning a second place at the Salon, and the “Légion d'honneur,” a special award granted by the French Government. Manet’s work essentially spawned and fed the creation of a whole new type of art. Bold and inspired, Manet truly deserves to be called the father of Modernism. Written by: Jacqueline Yu
Kawase Hasui was born in Shiba, Tokyo on May 18, 1883 as Kawase Bunjiro. His mother, who had deep connections to the artistic world in Japan, encouraged Kawase to pursue his artistic and literary tendencies. His family owned a small braid business and frequently visited the theaters of Tokyo which greatly influenced his work later. As a child, Kawase was often sick, and he had poor eyesight. His parents sent him to live with his aunt in Shiobara, a town north of Tokyo known for its hot springs, in order to recuperate as the air was fresher. There were lots of scenic views in Shiobara which inspired Kawase’s first and later prints as well as his paintings during the war years. Kawase began his traditional training with painter Aoyagi Bokusen where he learned how to sketch from nature. Later, he studied brush painting with Araki Kanyu and copied woodblock prints of masters. Kawase’s father required him to enter the family business, but, due to Kawase’s lackluster talents in business, the business began to flounder. As a result, in 1908, the business was turned over to his sister’s husband and Kawase was allowed to pursue a career in art. Kawase continued his training with western-style artist Okada Saburosuke, a prominent member of the Hakubakai, the white horse society. Saburosuke inspired Kawase to focus on landscapes. While studying under Kaburagi Kiyokata, who gave Kawase the artist name of “Hasui,” Kawase had his big break when Watanabe Shozaburo, a famous print seller, discovered Kawase through an exhibition of Kaburagi Kiyokata’s and his students’ work. They struck a deal and Kawase became Watanabe’s designated landscape artist. His art is indicative of the Shin Hanga art movement which was characterized by Western influences in traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Kawase’s most exceptional and original work is commonly considered those at the beginning of his career. Kawase incorporated western lighting and shading into Japanese scenes which contributes to the atmospheric, moody, and tranquil aesthetic of his pieces. He would often experiment with the same set of blocks to produce a series of prints with different lighting and colors. He rarely featured more than two people in his work and these lone figures have been interpreted as a representation of deep contemplation of nature’s beauty or a reflection of Kawase’s loneliness because he was childless. His people are always dignified, working or thinking, and almost always viewed from the back. Kawase travelled all along Japan to find inspiration for his prints and his work captures life during the Taisho (1912-1926) and early Showa (1926-1957) periods. Kawase was quite poor despite his prominence as a printmaker under Watanabe. Printmaking is a multistep process, and the artist only receives payment for their sketches as carving, printing, and publishing involve other workers. Kawase is remembered to have been involved with every step of the process. Kawase sold his watercolors which often inspired his prints for additional income. In 1923, disaster struck when the Kanto Earthquake destroyed Kawase’s home and sketchbooks that contained ideas for future prints. Watanabe gave Kawase enough money to travel for 100 days in order to rebuild his arsenal of sketches; however, Kawase was forced to be even more frugal after his travel in order to rebuild his home. Kawase has been described as hard-working, honest, punctual, conscientious, straight-forward, kind, faithful, and humorous. In 1953, Hasui was chosen to be honored by the Japanese government’s Committee for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Treasures. Hasui was commissioned to create a woodblock print, “Snow at Zozoji Temple,” which was then deemed an intangible cultural treasure. On November 27th, 1957, Hasui died. Throughout his career, Kawase had made more than 600 prints. His last print, “Hall of the Golden Hue, Hiraizumi,” was distributed by Watanabe at his funeral. Hasui, like many other asian artists, is not particularly well known outside of artistic circles. His work can be found in any exhibition of Japanese prints in the 20th century, yet, his relative obscurity among the general public highlights the lack of appreciation for art, especially asian art, in the world today. Written by: Alex Broening
Over time, artists’ styles evolve and shift, flowing and changing as the artist changes. Few artists, however, have displayed the sheer volume of different styles embraced and perfected by Paul Cézanne. Born in Aix-en-Provence in Southern France in 1839, Cézanne did not follow a common or easy path to his artistic maturity. The son of a banker, he was encouraged to take up his father’s trade. Cézanne resisted, and in 1859, at the age of 20, attended art classes. An aspiring, but struggling, artist, Cézanne applied twice to the École des Beaux-Arts, but was rejected both times. Instead, he visited Parisian museums and copied works of old masters. Cézanne’s early art was similar in a sense to many of the old masters’ works. His paintings were characterized by high contrast, a thick application of paint with the technique of impasto, and a focus on color – very much the styles favored by the French Academy at the time. However, he failed to get his work accepted at the annual Salon, and his work began to change. In the early 1870s, with his move to southern France, along the Mediterranean, Cézanne began to abandon his dark tone, and started to incorporate brighter, more vibrant colors. In addition, he started painting outside – depicting landscapes and people. This work, while not yet in the Impressionist style, was a step in that direction. In 1873, he returned to Paris, and showed his work alongside that of other rejects of the Salon. However, this avant-garde work was not appreciated by the critics or the public, and so for a decade Cézanne shrunk from public life, and returned to southern France to work on his art. It was in this period, from the second half of the 1870s through the 1880s, that Cézanne produced much of the body of work for which he is known. Cézanne was not content capturing the fleeting moment as many other Impressionists attempted to do. Instead, Cézanne labored through his art to capture something about the subject other than what was evident in reality. Cézanne didn’t care about perspective or naturalism. Instead he focused on the careful construction of objects and their structures, displaying their nature and composition. Cézanne’s goal through his painting was to represent the entirety of a figure or a form – not how they look, but how they exist. He would construct the form methodically, in the way that he thought best represented the object as a whole. Cézanne’s “harmony parallel to nature” was more than aesthetics. When Cézanne painted an apple, or a seascape, or a seated figure, he wanted to express what that subject really was. To do that, he ignored the rules of perspective, and stretched and changed forms to suit his purposes. Cézanne wanted to reveal “something other than reality.” After all, anyone can look at an apple on a table and see that it is an apple. Cézanne wanted to show the viewer what that apple was, and what it really meant. In the last years of his life, Cézanne painted primarily two themes: the Mont Sainte-Victoire near his home, and an increasingly abstracted series called The Bathers, in which he examined the synthesis of the human body and nature. He died in his house in Aix in 1906, after catching pneumonia. Written by: Raina Tian
The 1920s was a time of rapid change in the American landscape as the United States experienced an era of stark isolationism following the devastation of World War I and the Great Depression. There became a desire for a distinct American identity formed through art and tradition which identified and captured aspects of American life. The expansion of technology and industrialization were most prominent in large cities, and it was there that artists began documenting the changing cityscape. Artists, influenced by photographers using sharp focus and harsh lighting, experimented with reducing forms into simple shapes and geometric structures. The Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925 and the Machine-Age Exposition in New York in 1927 consolidated the intent of these artists and identified two contrasting views in the content of the art. Some sought to promote the joining of art and industry in everyday life and celebrate technological advances while others emphasized the dehumanizing effects of technology like how it replaced workers and destroyed familiar landscapes. This group of emerging artists were initially referred to as the “Immaculates” but in 1927, Alfred H. Barr of the Museum of Modern Art recognized them as “Precisionists”. Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand are recognized as the founders of this movement due to their short film, Manhatta which explored the New York cityscape through film and photography. For Charles Sheeler, this film would become a source of inspiration for his later art which glorified the role of machines and architecture. The film marked a change in the underlying motifs in his art and these themes would resonate throughout the movement. Edward Hopper was known for his scenes of urban life which purposefully removed the presence of humans. His scenes were characterized by an air of loneliness and suggested at the “transitory nature of contemporary life”. However, he notably also depicted scenes which centered on the poor and their place in the ever-changing landscape of the city. Georgia O’Keeffe is most known for her abstractions of nature and depictions of skulls and flowers, but an era of her work is also recognized as Precisionist. In the 1920s, O’Keeffe spent time in New York which became the subject of her architecture paintings. These artists were distinctly American although they recognized their influences from contemporary European movements such as Dadaism, Futurism, and Cubism. Subject matter consisted of aspects unique to American life and documented the process of American industrialization. Precisionism is more of a tendency than a movement or school due to its lack of a formal program and its composition of artists united by a common subject. It sought to document the changing urban landscape, but rural skylines were also included. Buildings, such as barns and mills, and farm machinery commented on the extent of the era’s rapid change. Although it’s roots were formed in controversy, Precisionist art was not meant to be a form of social criticism. Instead, both the viewer and the artist experience distance. Often, the artist’s mark, brushstrokes and mark-making, are not visible to the viewer, creating a sense of detachment between artist and viewer and artist and subject. The second wave of Precisionist artists in the 1930s brought a subtle shift in the movement. The industrial landscape still was the center of most art, but styles became more surrealist. The end of the decade brought an unease regarding technology that translated to melancholic tones in art. Precisionism declined in popularity with the close of the 1930s as the Great Depression and atomic bomb led to unease regarding the destructive potential of technology. The positive outlook on technology Precisionists had presented faltered with the despair of war. Written by: Jacqueline Yu Mary Cassatt, perhaps the most influential female impressionist, was born on May 22, 1944 in Allegheny City, now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was born into the lap of luxury being the daughter of a prominent real estate broker who had married the daughter of a prosperous bank. As a child, she lived in Europe, specifically France and Germany, for five years where she became fluent in French and German. Due to her status, her schooling focused on homemaking, embroidery, music, sketching, and painting which were all considered essential skills for an elite woman. Cassatt showed a propensity for painting at a young age. She was tutored privately in art in Philadelphia and began attending the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts when she was only 16. At the academy, she faced rampant discrimination from peers and the male faculty alike, and she also disliked how slow the curriculum was and the lack of courses. In 1866, Cassatt decided to travel to Europe to study with Jean-Léon Gérome and Thomas Couture despite the objections of her family. She painted in relative obscurity until 1868 when one of her portraits was selected by the Paris Salon. However, before her career could truly take off, she had to return home to Philadelphia in 1870 due to the Franco-Prussian War. In Philadelphia, Cassatt had no artistic freedom. Her father was still obstinately against her career and refused to pay for anything related to her art. Cassatt faced extreme difficulties in selling any of her work, and, when she tried to sell in Chicago in 1871, her paintings were destroyed in a fire. Despite all of this misfortune, Cassatt persevered and, in 1871, the Archbishop of Pittsburgh commissioned her to paint copies of two works by Correggio. She returned to Europe to view the originals in Parma, Italy, and the money from the commission allowed her to resume her career in Europe. In 1872, Cassatt had her first major showing in the Paris Salon, and she was able to exhibit her work in the next four annual salon exhibitions. The salon launched her career but she hated its rules. After two years of traveling Europe, Cassatt moved to Paris officially and befriended impressionist legends like Edgar Degas and Gustave Courbet. Spurred on by her peers, she began to experiment with all kinds of bright colors and was no longer concerned with what was acceptable. The salon rebuffed her transformation and refused one of her entries in 1875 and both of her entries in 1877. She finally began exhibiting with the impressionists in 1879 and continued to work with them for the next two years. Her parents and her sister Lydia had joined her in France in 1877, and they became frequent models for her work in the late 1870s and 1880s. Tragically, her mother and sister became sick, and she went on hiatus in order to take care of them. In 1882, her sister died, but her mother regained health and Cassatt resumed painting. She began to drift away from the impressionist movement and stopped exhibiting with them after 1886. Her works had reached such popularity that, in 1894, she purchased a chateau in Le Mesnil-Théribus and travelled frequently between there and Paris. By 1900, Cassatt’s eyesight began to fail yet she continued to paint. In 1904, the French Government recognized her for her cultural contributions and awarded her the title Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. 1910 marked a pivotal point in Cassatt’s life when she took a trip to Egypt and the splendor of the ancient art made her question her own talent. Furthermore, her brother died from an illness contracted on the trip. Cassatt was unable to paint until 1912 and, even then, it was only two years until diabetes destroyed her vision. Mary Cassatt passed away in 1926 at her estate in Le Mesnil-Théribus, France in almost complete blindness. Cassatt’s art was characterized by her focus on women and children, her asymmetrical compositions, and experimentation with materials. Her art is subtly powerful, revealing the world that she, a respectable woman, was restricted to. She was honest in her depictions and refused to censor her work to meet some societal standard about the fragility of women. After 1878 and the Exposition Universelle which featured many Japanese prints, much like other artists, Cassatt created a series of 10 colored prints that emulated the Japanese style. Her focus switched from form to line and pattern, and she began experimenting with aquatint, drypoint, and soft ground. Her material was often dismissed as too feminine, but many realized that she had both technical skill and psychological insight. In contrast to their intended purpose, her work may have been popular because they filled a societal desire for women in domestic roles at a time where women were championing equality. Mary Cassatt is a lesser known artist of the Impressionist movement, at least to the public. Art enthusiasts and professionals alike are very familiar with Cassatt for her groundbreaking work as one of the few female impressionists. She was friends with many American elites and encouraged them to buy impressionist paintings which heavily influenced the progression of American taste in art. She was also largely responsible for selecting the works that make up the H.O. Havemeyer collection in the Met, and she helped many major collectors with the promise that their purchases would eventually be given to American art museums. She has helped preserve countless works of monumental art and is considered one of the most important American expatriate artists. For an artist so skilled and prominent during her life, her lack of recognition among the general populous speaks to the extent of erasure of female artists in art history. Mary Cassatt created work that was powerful, insightful, and well executed. Her works continue to inspire young artists around the world, and I can only hope that she receives the recognition she deserves in the future. |
ContributorsJACQUELINE YU is the co-founder of the MLWGS art history online magazine. She is an incredible artist and devotes much of her time to both participating in, experiencing, and appreciating art. Archives
April 2019
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