Post #10 - Industrial Revolution

Whenever it comes to new discoveries or techniques in the art world, we normally have the risk takers to thank. And that does remain true (even to this day), however technological advances, such as those during the Industrial Revolution, have also contributed. After the industrial revolution, artists started moving further away from Alberti’s treatises and started experimenting with new subjects. They started painting more from their imaginations and dreams. Avant-garde became popular, which essentially meant that anything new and exciting was welcomed by artists. They took this concept and ran with it, paving the way for so many new art styles to be created and gain popularity.
 
Modernism was one of these new styles. It allowed for artists to paint from their subconsciousness and feel free to experiment. Impressionism came after modernism, and gave way for artists like Monet and Renoir. The era was defined by plein air paintings done outside with the use of easels. Afterwards, styles like pointillism became popular. Brush strokes became more broken up and colors were being used to express emotions and symbolism. Artists were trying to move even further away from realism. Artists like Picasso and Gauguin and Picabia took it even further with styles like cubism. But with all these new ideas, there were bound to be critics. People like Walter Benjamin and Clement Greenberg each critiqued new art styles in their own way. One of the last styles that came in this post-industrial revolution time was abstract expressionism. Abstract paintings were about as far wavy from realism as they could possibly get. They were highly geometric and used simple colors to express emotion. 

I find it fascinating seeing how each style or technique of art came from another. Whether it be a development of the previous styles, or a way of going against the style, it is amazing to see them grow from each other. The mindset of the artists and how the new styles came to be is similar to that of how new genres of music and new types of media have come and gone. It is impressive to see what the artists came up with, and to see how they would come up with varying ways to express themselves in their art.
 

x

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Post #19 - GRQs & Discussion: Anne Collins Goodyear Launching "Hybrid Practices" in the 1960s

Electronic media and art produce some of what is arguably the best art we have ever seen. From Nam June Paik’s video art to A.I. art, the digital world has changed the artistic landscape forever. In the times we live in now, with the rise of artificial intelligence, it is important that we acknowledge and understand what it means Many people argue that artificial intelligence will be the downfall of artists, but I do not believe that. Artificial intelligence’s popularity and ability is growing at an alarming rate, it is true. But if we want to get ahead of it, we must learn with it. Take art for example. Artificial intelligence makes the art, yes, but not the idea . An artist's idea is what makes them the artist. Without the idea, there would be nothing for the A.I. to go off of. Artificial intelligence, and digital art as a whole, is not the downfall of art, but rather another step towards advancing it. GRQs 1. 9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering 2. E.A.T. 3. Sputnik 4. The Two ...
Read more

Post #11 - Abstract Painting & Definition & Reflection

Image
We have all seen abstract art, in one way or another. While everyone may have slightly different variations of the actual definition, they all center around the same idea: abstract art is an emotional way to journey into the artist’s soul, and is often up to interpretation. Abstract art is a more controlled, geometric style that uses plain, simple colors to evoke feelings and responses in the viewers. It is about as far from realism as an artist can get.  In class, we were given the opportunity to create our own works of abstract art. Using a large paper, markers, and crayons we came up with our own piece of abstract artwork. We titled it “DISCONNECTION”. It is representative of how we, especially during this time of our lives, feel disconnected from ourselves. It is meant to convey a certain distance or breakaway of the mind from the body. Often we feel as if we are merely going through the motions, and are not fully there in our mind. The sporadic blocks of color, paired with the...
Read more

Post #9 - Reading, GRQs, & Discussion: Renaissance and Modern Art

The Renaissance saw many changes to artistic style throughout its time. While talking about these changes, we were asked to identify some specific differences between early and late renaissance paintings. A most notable change was seen in how the figures were positioned. Their movements were very stiff and posed in the early renaissance. However, during the late renaissance the figures seemed to almost be in motion, with twisted figures and expressional bodies. Another noticeable difference was the accuracy of the paintings, meaning how real they looked. The scenes pictured in the later renaissance were much more realistic looking, while the early renaissance ones were less real looking, with flat backgrounds and slightly warped figures.  Many of the changes in artistic style can be attributed to the popularity of humanism and realism. Humanism shifted artists' focus to the people, taking power away from the church. They were focusing more on humans themselves. Then when realism ca...
Read more