Art History as seen thru a Self-Portrait October Commercial Art Project #3 1st & 2nd Year Students Assignment: One observation drawing of your self-portrait; using a mirror not a picture. The first self-portrait (study) will be in your own style, in pencil. The second self-portrait will be executed in the style of one of the following periods in art: Impressionism Cubism Expressionism Surrealism PopArt Pointillism First Self Portrait: Due Friday, October 17th at end of class. Medium: Pencil Second Self-Portrait: Due Tuesday, October 28th at end of class. Medium: Must work in Acrylic Paint. NOTE: Paper/board/canvas can be as large as you like, but not smaller than 8.5 x 14. The second Portrait must be done in Acrylic paint in the style of one of the above stated art eras, same size limitations apply.
Surrealism A Movement derived from a mode of creative writing defined by experimenter Andre Brenton as pure psychic automatism...free from any control by the reason, independent of any esthetic or moral preoccupation. to liberate pictorial ideas from their traditional associations and use spontaneous impulses from the subconscious mind as a source of creativity. Surrealists works either depict the quiet fantasies of dreams and trancelike states or employed a deliberate strategy of psychological shock. surrealistic characteristics are: a kind of super realism within an atmosphere of haunting, sometimes repellent irrationality Unnatural juxtapositions and combinations of images The illusion of infinite space Some of the earlier Dada techniques, such as the use of found objects An underlying concern for the absolute freedom of the mind. Portrait of Louis Bunuel by Salvador Dali Son of Man by R ene Magritte Seated Mannequin by Giorgio de Chirico
Cubism A revolutionary art movement that developed in france between 1907 and 1914. Influenced by the rationality of african Negro sculpture and Cezanne s theories of interpreting nature in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone. Its advocates believed that a work should be something in itself, not a rendition of something else;that it should affect human sensibility through conceptual structures unencumbered by attempts a representation which distract the viewer with comparision and personal associations; and that the composition itself-- the organization of form and color with a given space--was the artist's only percept. Characteristics of cubist paintings were: A rearrangement of the shapes colors and textures of the motif Simultaneous rendition of a variety of perspectives Transparent treatments of opaque objects Violations of light and color in which shadows are sometimes lighter and brighter in color than than the objects which cast them. An emphasis on textures created by flat-patterning, collage, and material like sand on the canvas Self-Portrait by Juan Gris Woman with Umbrella by Robert Delaunay Woman in Yellow by Pablo Picasso
Expressionism An approach to art in which the intensity of the artist inner emotions and ideas overrides the tradition of portraying actual appearances, with the result that line, shape, and color are often distorted. This movement was brought into prominence by such painters as Vincent van Gogh, Paul gauguin and Henri Matisse. The Scream by Edvard Munch Pierrot by Georges Roualt Upward by Wassily Kandinsky
Impressionism A movement that developed in France in the 1860 s and is generally considered to be the first great modern art movement. The French Impressionists were primarily concerned the the surface play of light on nature and the hidden effects of color within shadow areas. the artists discovered the brilliancy of color that occurred when dots or strokes were placed next to each other on the canvas so that the viewers eyes would blend the colors, rather than their being mixed on the palette. Although Impressionist paintings did not conform to traditional reprensenting nature they were genuine attempts to portray nature as it really is -- a feel atmospheric impression. Self-Portrait by Mary Cassatt Woman Crocheting by Pierre August Renoir Water Lilies by Claude Monet
Pop Art Comic Strips, brand name products, movie starts, signs, benday dots, hamburgers, and actual objects all are images of Pop Art. This movement in painting and sculpture gained momentum in the United States in the 1960 s, but was born independently in england in the 1950 s. Pop Art reflects the ironies of contemporary culture in all aspects, in both a critical and a detached mood. Among the characteristics which are an important part of the Pop Art strategy are large scale, anonymity, repetition, the commonplace, the absurd, the mass media and a general ridicule of contemporay American values. The roots of the Pop Art movement have been traced to such diverse factors as Fold Art, Dadaism, Collage, Assemblage Surrealism. Two 1959 People by James Rosenquist Self-Portrait by Andy Warhol Study for Vicki by Roy Lichentsein
Pointillism An extension or branch of Impressionism in which the chief focus was the principle of broken color (optical mixture). Colors were applied in tiny dots or strokes so that, when viewed at a distance, the eye would blend the color, creating visual masses and outlines. Georges Seurat who invented pointillism, and Paul Signac were the leading figures of this movement. Customs of the Sea Paul Signac woman with Mantilla by Pablo Picasso Study for Sunday by Georges Seurat