May 2021 / Art History: On Display

Guide to Art History: San Francisco

Sunday, May 30, 2021

Traveling to California over the summer holiday? Use this as a rough itinerary or simply chose a few to visit.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art:

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art or SFMOMA has one of the best reputations in San Francisco. Their collection of modern art is expansive, some of the most notable including Femme au chapeau by Matisse, Frieda and Diego Rivera by Frida Kahlo, a Wayne Thiebaud painting, and so many more. This is a must visit on your visit.

De Young Museum:

Part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the De Young Memorial Museum houses American art from the 17th century to present day. Not only does this museum have a diverse collection including art from Asia, the Americas, Oceania, and Africa, but it also has a wonderful observation tower from the 9th floor.

Asian Art Museum:

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco has a collection of exclusively Asian art that spans from ancient empires to today's artists. The collection of this museum is divided by floors. For example, the art of South and Southeast Asia are both on the 3rd floor. This museum is very important to visit if you are an ancient art lover!!

San Francisco has so much to offer in the art world, so please visit some (or all) of the above! :)

Comment below! Have you been? Are you going soon? Let me know!

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Known as the first influential art movement worldwide to come out of America, the Abstract Expressionist Movement was born in the 1940's. The movement was lead by artists such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell, Willem de Kooning, and so many more.

The Abstract Expressionist movement did not start out smoothly due to the group of artists' varying opinions of what the movement should become. For example, many of the artists did not like the idea of being associated with a larger group, because of their varying ideas. Despite their worries and resistance of being confined to in -ism, history has proved itself, and the art world now knows this group as the Abstract Expressionists. The beginning of the movement was largely influenced by the stock market crash of 1929. This event itself did not start the movement but rather its effects such as the Great Depression, WWI, and WWII. These major events in America created an impetus for change in the art world with so many emotions to express and document.

Mark Rothko (click on the post already done about him) started out his career away from Abstract Expressionism, taking lots of inspiration from Surrealism (click to learn more), but as he got older and more experienced his style grew more and more contemporary. His family immigrated from Russia in 1913, and he began Yale in 1914. Although he dropped out of college, he began traveling around the USA for inspiration. Rothko's art (as seen above) is instantly recognizable to many viewers, due to his large blocks of color. This artist was of the belief that, “I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions-- tragedy, ecstasy, doom. If you … are moved only by … color relationships, then you miss the point.”

Joan Mitchell (click to view the post already done) was one of the only women accepted into the Abstract Expressionist movement. Mitchell used art as a tool of self-expression, as many other Abstract Expressionist did, but rather in a different way. Mitchell used her art as an outlet during difficult times such as her mother's death. She was particularly interested in conveying nature scenes. She said she does not paint a nature scene exactly, but “what it leaves me with.”

Willem de Kooning was an artist that was highly influenced by many different styles and artists, including Cubism, saying," Of all movements, I like Cubism the most." He also was a big leader in the Abstract Expressionist movement.

The Abstract Expressionists believed in expressing emotion through non-figurative art.

Hess, Barbara, et al. Abstract Expressionism. Revised [edition]. ed., Köln, Taschen, 2016.

Kleiner, Fred S., and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History. Fifteenth edition ed., Boston, Cengage Learning, 2016.

"Mark Rothko." Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2010. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Mark-Rothko/64191. Accessed 23 Jun. 2020.

MoMa Highlights: 350 Works from the Museum of Modern Art, New York. 3rd ed., New York, Museum of Modern Art, 2013.

No. 6 - Violet, Green and Red. Fine Art. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.quest.eb.com/search/107_3355794/1/107_3355794/cite. Accessed 23 Jun 2020.

"Orange and Yellow." Image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 8 Feb. 2020. school.eb.com/levels/high/assembly/view/156960. Accessed 23 Jun. 2020.

Twemlow, Maleficent. "A Painting as an Experience." MOMA, 18 Mar. 2013, www.metmuseum.org/blogs/teen-blog/modern-and-contemporary/posts/rothko. Accessed 23 June 2020.

Do you like this movement? Comment below!!

Monday, May 24, 2021

The Seated Scribe is an Ancient Egyptian sculpture made of limestone. The eyes are inlaid rock crystal and copper. The figure is inscribing onto a roll of papyrus. Scribes played a very significant role the functioning of ancient Egypt and had advantages such as not paying taxes and not having to do mandatory labor. They were also considered part of the royal court due to their contribution to the government taking down records that are used today. This sculpture was a funerary monument to, as the ancient Egyptians believed, help carry him into the afterlife.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EGYPTIAN TEMPLE SCULPTURE

Sunday, May 16, 2021

READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

A mural in Manhattan was painted by Keith Haring. In 2007, the building that it was attached to was under demolition, and the wall was removed from the site by truck. Thankfully, it was transported to a warehouse in New Jersey, and later sold into a private collection.

Monday, May 10, 2021

Take a virtual tour of the town hall!!!

Friday, May 7, 2021

Installation art is famously large and quite confusing to many art viewers. It is defined as immersive, large, and specially designed art for the site. In almost all installation art, there is an interactive piece where the viewer can truly experience the art, whether that is walking on/through it, touching it, etc. Above is an example, the Spiral Jetty. During most seasons, the audience can walk on the stone path, but during some times of the year, it is mostly under the water.

What do you think of Installation art? Comment below!!!

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

In the wake of the death of King Louis the XIV, early 18th century France rejected the Baroque's harsh edge and dramatic subject matter, and a new movement rose from the aristocrats of France. Pastel, nature scenes come to popularity along with the replacement of the monarchy the everyday, upper class. French aristocrats take the stage along with soft nature and virtuous backgrounds.

Jean-Antoine Watteau, known as the father of the Rococo, was heavily influenced by artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Titian, and Paolo Veronese. Watteau painted mostly idyllic nature scenes full of pastels, florals, and whimsical setting. Attending the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, Watteau went on to influence many of the artists acclaimed as Rococo masters today. Above is Watteau's painting, Pleasures of Love. While the style is Rococo, the audience can still see the influence of the Baroque as the lighting is still dramatic and the nature background fades into darkness. As the Rococo progresses, these characteristics will fade into more luminous qualities.

Taking lots of inspiration from earlier Rococo artist Watteau, Francois Boucher was also a Rococo artist. Boucher studied mostly Dutch landscape painting and the Italian Baroque (click to see the art movement post) in Rome, one of the artistic hubs of the world at the time. Boucher's application of these past styles is very visible in his work. For example, in The Secret Message, Boucher exemplifies the classic Rococo, play-like, and natural scene. The audience can see the influence of Dutch landscape painting and the Italian Baroque.

Much like his contemporary, Jean-Honore Fragonard took inspiration from the Dutch and the Italian Baroque. Fragonard liked to experiment with textures in his art through objects such as florals, clothing, nature, clouds, and others. In this painting, The Love Letter, he plays with texture and value through the curtains and folded cloth. While this painting is not what many think of as the typical Rococo painting with luminous, floral background, Fragonard still found a way to fit in nature through the small bunch of flowers.

Works Cited

Art History 101. The Meeting (from the Loves of the Shepherds), 1771-1773. Artsy, www.artsy.net/artwork/jean-honore-fragonard-the-meeting-from-the-loves-of-the-shepherds. Accessed 2 May 2021.

Kimball, Fiske. "The Creation of the Rococo." Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, vol. 4, no. 3/4, 1941, pp. 119-23. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/750409. Accessed 2 May 2021.

Kleiner, Fred S., and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History. Fifteenth edition, Student edition ed., Boston, Cengage Learning, 2016.

Lebowitz, Rachel. "10 Artworks That Defined the Rococo Style." Artsy, 28 May 2018, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-artworks-defined-rococo-style. Accessed 2 May 2021.

Art History: On Display