The Twentieth Century.

[Music] man has always expressed himself through ART from the hunter of prehistoric times who painted horses on the walls of his cave to the 20th century artist who colors his horses blue designating strength and vigor art documents history three musicians Egypt about 1500 BC three musicians Picasso 20th century tis man in blue a contemporary woman in blue a Renaissance mother and child and again Picasso from dur to Picasso from the the Renaissance to the artistic revolution of the 20th century painters of this Century abandoned the rules created by the Renaissance they believed that the world had changed drastically and a new language for art was needed it began with the Revolutionary use of color fism the first pioneering movement of our Century liberated color from being a copy of nature contemporaries were startled by this unconventional portrait of hre Martis who created the new style they called matis and his followers foes meaning wild beasts because of their exaggeration use of colors and flat treatment of forms trees are red and purple nature dissolves into yellow tones Landscapes are now creations of the pallette instead of reproductions of nature why in the words of the artist only the colors on my C canvas can render the emotions of that [Music] landscape the German expressionists also attack tradition but behind their search for new techniques was a passionate desire to respond to life and nature like the foes they no longer competed with the camera which had been invented they transformed reality into a feeling a mood the mood perhaps of quiet contemplation colors were used symbolically rather than realistically lines and forms were simplified or even distorted for better expression in these fighting forms a huge sweep of Red Energy attacks its dark colored enemy outward appearance was further rejected by cubism the third pioneering movement of our Century it completed the break with tradition and presented a modern view of the world we can see in these still lives the basic Trend and increasing breakdown of [Music] form the name cubism mocked the sharp edges angles lines and little cubes rendered in monochrome [Music] colors it was indeed revolutionary to break matter into geometrical components but equally important was the modern interpretation of space these paintings of musical themes and instruments a favorite subject of cubism illustrates the new dimensions of [Music] vision our eye does not view the object from one single fixed Viewpoint as in Renaissance perspective rather it moves around it looks inside and sees the object from many angles simultaneously the Cubist Revolution ran parallel to scientific discoveries the microscope telescope and x-rays confirmed the truth of ever expanding dimensions of vision in the words of Brock who with Picasso originated did this most influential movement cubism presents not what you see but what you know is there following phism expressionism and cubism came action and reaction movement and counter movement this is surrealism just one among the many succeeding schools do we have to understand all these isms in order to appreciate Contemporary Art too many isms can be very confusing this landscape for example was painted by France Mark a German expressionist yet critics discover full Cubist and even abstract influences what emerges is a very personal style a romantic vision of deer in the forest while painters of our century were searching they often invited contempt and sarcasm for their radical techniques Picasso the creator of strict Cubist forms employed softer arabisk outlines in this girl before a mirror he moved restlessly through 20th century Styles turning from fiercely aggressive Distortion to Serene insight into the classical past classical ideals however were generally abandoned portraits were no longer flattering or beautiful in the conventional sense why this Rebellion against naturalistic color in these paintings colors are not supposed to R photographic likeness they compose a new vocabulary that of Daring harmonies or violent startling contrasts of opposing colors Distortion is used to convey a meaning by distorting all aspects of visual reality the German George gross in 1918 created a nightmarish vision of a world destroyed by War in abandoning the third dimension artists broke away from Renaissance realism let us compare This Modern flat portrayal of early snow to Peter bral's hunters in the snow painted in 1565 Renaissance perspective gave us the illusion of depth distance and visual reality this 17th century painting of a tree was Illustrated from the exact point where we the viewing audience are standing and looking modern painters changed this long established order for example they compose scenes flatly this tree has no perspective or they tried to portray motion the movements of a woman with a fan are captured simultaneously in a split second but contemporary painters not only rebelled against traditional rules of composition they completely turned away from reality abstract art has no subject at all colors and shapes are applied for their own [Music] Merit facil Kandinsky painted the first abstract composition in 1910 Jackson Pollock is one of The Originators of abstract expressionism an important recent development some viewers take this flight into fantasy as an escape symbolizing modern man's loss of values in contrast others discover new and Universal meanings in the arrangement of shapes lines light and colors the galaxies of the outer Universe the sense of stars meteors and nebuli the newly realized designs of ultimate space why has Modern Art changed so dramatically the Ever Changing face of art mirrors our Dynamic Progressive pace of Life transportation and communication have brought 20th century discoveries into every remote Village the artist has reacted to the outside stimulations and interpreted this mechanized world and Shan mirrors man's isolation in this science orientated Society withfo L pictures the individual trapped in a jungle like [Music] Civilization AO exposes boredom frustration and spiritual loneliness Diego Rivera Witnesses loneliness within a crowd and deero emphasizes unreality emptiness and the longing for the classical past fra places man and nature together in a geometrically organized Unity but picabia marks the increasing mechanization of our age by depicting an ideal young girl as a spark plug and RW has portrayed both the human tragedy as well as his passionate hope for Spiritual renewal through faith and thus have contemporary painters revealed the plight of modern man the German expressionists were particular discontent with our social fabric Max beckman's family illustrates the lack of privacy found in city life and people's loneliness in crowded quarters Edward Munch portrayed The Faceless masses produced by industrialization his workmen are the same Anonymous creatures as the men seeking work by Max Weber they have lost their identity and seem to carry all the ills of our civilization but balanced against disillusionment was optimism and the hope for harmony between man and machine fernan Lee for example created a mechanized Utopia colors are of simple harmonies objects and figures of thick columnar shape his city is clearly a product of an industrialized Society mechanical inventions their precision and logical function inspired this painter his compositions reflect the interplay of forms and discipline of design seen in the machine the Italian futurist were also confident about life and technology in speeding automobiles abstract forms and flashes of light symbolize speed motion and energy the artist transforms Reality by altering the proportions of his Eiffel Tower Robert Delani achieves the effect of a mighty upward explosion of masses of Steel instead of merely reproducing a tall static structure the engineering Genius of our times also inspired American painters Joseph Stella's Brooklyn Bridge is of solid colors and squares a durable powerful construction lonol fininger creates visions of transparent City structures reminiscent of Gothic architecture but placed into a modern space his colors in Cubist influence fashion are organized into shimmering angular PLS John Marin's Swift Strokes the diagonal of an elevated train express the vitality and excitement of lore Manhattan and in his Sunset the Rays crisscross and cover the Earth even this poetic subject is rendered in the new language of geometric composition such discipline of design is carried to a climax by Pete mandron he restricted paintings to straight lines and primary colors in order to rule out emotions but in contrast to such emphasis on reason our Century also overed that emotions cannot be suppressed the surrealist artist has visualized the complex theories of the subconscious fleeting images crowd one upon another like thoughts flashing through the mind and so today's artists have been stimulated by technology psychology and science surprisingly enough some of our best best known painters have turned to playful fantasy and childlike imagination sometimes they give us poetic visions of nature a large glowing Sun or a graceful Little Feather plant both by Paul [Music] CLE sometimes s they create a fairy tale world full of symbols and mysterious beings as Juan moo in his harleyquin [Music] car and Mark shagal in what he calls his innocent newborn language intermixes reality with his own happy world of Dreams a bouquet of flowers over toy likee houses a young couple in the silent blue of the [Music] night contemporary artists have been so productive how can we possibly evaluate all they want to say the final critic time will select the paintings that deserve Fame time will reject the mediocre and rank the great among men man's Masterworks [Music]