1. the Starry Night, 1889 by Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)

#6 Slide Set

The Starry Night

1. The Starry Night, 1889 by Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890)

·  Artist who cut off his ear. He did so after having a horrible fight with Gauguin.

·  · Had a close relationship with his brother, Theo van Gogh, with whom he exchanged many letters

·  Theo was an art dealer in Paris, France who gave moral and financial support to Vincent.

·  Vincent was a minister before he became a painter.

·  · He didn’t start painting until he was 27 years old.

·  · His style developed into a unique style of brilliant colors, thick, swirling brushstrokes where line was very important to him.

·  Vincent traveled to Paris to visit his brother where he was influenced by the Impressionists.

·  In his earlier works, Vincent used straight lines, black outlines and relatively empty spaces. (Check out: Fishing Boats on the Beach, 1888.) http://www.humboldt.edu/~rwj1/van/156.html

·  In later works, he filled every inch of his canvas with activity.

·  · His best work came towards the last 15 months of his life while he continued to struggle with his illness.

·  Only sold one painting in his entire life.

·  · He died at the age of 37 after he suffered several days from a self-inflicted gun shot to his chest.

·  His brother, Theo, was at his bedside in the hospital when Vincent died.

·  Vincent painted for only 10 years (27-37 years old) but is known but his work is considered some of the most powerful and best known images in Western art.

·  EXCELLENT CITE! http://www.humboldt.edu/~rwj1/van/index.html

2. Dancers at the Ballet Bar, 1900, by Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

·  · Also known as, Dancers at the Barre.

·  He is known best for his theme of ballerinas (ballet dancers) and race horses, particularly done in the media of pastels and bronze statues.

·  · He was considered the master of sketching the human figure in motion, but he really didn’t care for people in general.

·  · He was influenced by Édouard Manet and exhibited his works with the other Impressionists.

·  Check it out: Little 14 year old Dancer 1881, http://www.humboldt.edu/~rwj1/104h/096.html

·  In 1872, Degas visited relatives in Louisiana, who were in the cotton business. Because of that visit, he painted The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans (finished 1873). It was his only picture to be acquired by a museum in his lifetime. Check it out: http://www.theartgallery.com.au/ArtEducation/greatartists/Degas/CottonExchange/ and also click on “paintings.”

·  To see this painting online go to: http://www.phillipscollection.org/html/collect.html

·  http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/degas/

3. Quadrille…Moulin Rouge, 1892, by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901)

·  “If my legs had been a bit longer, I never would have become a painter.”

·  He suffered from brittle bones disease and broke his legs when he was a teenager, which affected the way he grew. He looked like a freak, so he felt more at home with society’s misfits, that’s why he was comfortable, “blending in” at Moulin Rouge and its crazy nightlife.

·  He was born into one of the oldest and wealthiest families in France. He was not able to attend school due to his handicaps, but studied and passed his exams. After that, he went to Paris in 1881 to study art and was impressed by the Impressionists.

·  During the day, Toulouse-Lautrec painted. In the evenings, he “hung out” with his new friends, two of whom were Degas and van Gogh. Often Toulouse-Lautrec was seen at Moulin Rouge, which means “red windmill.” The Moulin Rouge was a dance hall/bar. It is a place that still exits in an area of Paris known for its “naughty nightlife”.

·  Posters & ads in the papers were the only formal ways of advertising, so the owner of the Moulin Rouge asked Toulouse-Lautrec if he would design posters for advertising the Moulin Rouge and its entertainment. Toulouse-Lautrec did and now we can look back and see that his style of work in these posters is the basis of our modern day movie posters.

·  The French government thought the subject matter of Toulouse-Lautrec was unfit for proper society to see and tried to keep it out of the public eye, especially after Toulouse-Lautrec died.

·  http://www.simplytaty.com/history/moulinrouge.htm & http://www.nga.gov/search/index.shtm

4. Ia Orana Maria, 1891, by Paul Gauguin (French, 1848 - 1903)

·  Ia Orana Maria means, “Hail Mary” or “We Greet Thee, Mary.”

·  Oil on canvas; 44 3/4 x 34 1/2 in.

·  “In this picture, painted during the artist's first trip to Tahiti (1891–93), Gauguin adapts the vernacular art and customs of the South Pacific to express a Christian theme. The title, in native dialect, is the angel Gabriel's greeting to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation. The composition is based on a photograph of a bas-relief in the Javanese temple of Borobodur.” http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_Of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=11&viewMode=0&item=51.112.2

·  He had ties to Peru (mom) and France (dad) and was born in Paris. He traveled A LOT!

·  He eventually married, had a wife and 5 kids. He lost his job in the stock market crash in Paris, but lived on his inheritance from his grandparents in Peru. He worked the odd jobs, even work in Rouen. His wife eventually took the kids back to her home country of Denmark, where Gauguin couldn’t stand to live, so he left. “He left to pursue an independent life, though he remained in regular contact with his wife and children, largely by correspondence, for the rest of his life.” (http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pbio?11750)

·  “His final move to the Pacific Islands, with sporadic returns to Paris, began in 1891 with his transfer to Tahiti, as head of a government-funded artistic mission. He found his dream of an earthly paradise there severely compromised. As in Europe, he saw discord and a native culture overcome by Western values--including the need for capital to live. Nonetheless he produced prolifically, amidst quarrels with authorities, scandals, and relations with local women that yielded yet more children. Various illnesses, including syphilis, left Gauguin increasingly immobilized during his last years. He died in 1903 and remains buried on Atuona (Marquesas Islands).” (http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pbio?11750)

·  http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/psearch?Request=S&Name=gauguin&Title=

·  Or http://www.nga.gov and type in Gauguin in the artists’ last name box and hit “search”.

·  http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_Of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=11&viewMode=0&item=51.112.2

5. The Voice, 1893 by Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863-1944)

·  Another name for this painting is Summer Night’s Dream. It’s 34 5/8 x 42 ½ inches big. Oil on canvas.

·  It’s about his 1st childhood romance where he had to stand on a hill to look into the eyes of a much taller girl.

·  “Without fear and illness, I could never have accomplished all I have.”

·  His dad was a doctor who saw the sick at home. His mom died when he was 5 and a sister died when he was 14 years old. He also suffered from ill health. He had some “disastrous love affairs, one somehow ending with the artist shooting off one of his fingers.” (Scholastic Art, Sept/Oct 1996, p.6)

·  In 1885 he saw the Impressionists’ paintings. A few years later, his dad died and he turned away from the light influence of the Impressionist and wrote, “…I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.” (Scholastic Art, Sept/Oct 1996, p.5) “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye---it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.” (Scholastic Art, Sept/Oct 1996, p.4)

·  “A gifted Norwegian painter and printmaker, Edvard Munch not only was his country's greatest artist, but also played a vital role in the development of German Expressionism. His work often included the symbolic portrayal of such themes as misery, sickness, and death.” (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/)

·  His most famous art work is The Scream: ‘The extreme familiarity of this image today makes it hard to realize how shocking it and other works by Munch were when they were created slightly over a hundred years ago. Munch's art represented his own emotions, mostly the darker ones of fear, dread, loneliness, and sexual longing, with extraordinary expressiveness. The screaming figure personifies…horror. A precursor of this image is a drawing of a man (Munch himself) on a similar bridge, with a blood-red sky above. A text accompanying this drawing states: "I walked with two friends. Then the sun sank. Suddenly the sky turned as red as blood … My friends walked on, and I was left alone, trembling with fear. I felt as if all nature were filled with one mighty unending shriek."’ (http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/10/eue/hod_1984.1203.1.htm)

6. The Tragedy, by Pablo Picasso, Spain (but he painted mostly in France)

There is a lot of information here, but Picasso was thought by many to be THE most influential artist of the 20th century. So here we go!!!

Picasso and the Blue Period:

·  Pablo Picasso is perhaps the most widely recognized and influential artist of the 20th century.

·  In his early twenties, after he moved from Spain to France, the young Pablo Picasso began to tint his paintings a pale, cold blue, painting as if he is viewing the world through blue spectacles.

·  Blue hues were chosen deliberately — deep and cold, signifying misery and despair — to intensify the hopelessness of the figures depicted, such as beggars, prostitutes, the blind, out-of-work actors and circus folk, as well as Picasso himself and his penniless friends. (At the time, Picasso even wore blue clothes.)

·  Picasso’s “Blue Period” (around 1901-1903) is further triggered by the fate of his closest friend, whose infatuation with a girl and her rejection led to his subsequent attempt to kill her and to his own suicide. (Picasso explained later, “It was thinking about my friend that got me started painting in blue.”)

·  The Blue Period dramatizes the artist as an outcast from society. Indeed, in Paris at that time, far from family and home, Picasso is unrecognized, unappreciated and in extreme poverty.

·  His choice of subject matter was largely drawn from the hopelessness of the socio-economic underclass in Barcelona, Spain and Paris, France. (Remember, he was from Spain.)

·  The Tragedy figure grouping is at the edge of the sea but what it really suggests is that they are outcasts of society, with a theme of loss, longing, and loneliness.

·  The mystery, anti-naturalism (these people do NOT look natural), and uncertainness of Picasso’s early works suggest that the Blue Period is Picasso's version of Symbolism, painting things that cannot be put into words.

More Facts About Picasso: Rose Period

· Gradually, Picasso’s colors brighten, in what has somewhat misleadingly been termed the “Rose Period” (1904-1906). ‘Misleading’ or not, that’s what we are going to call it.

· The Rose Period, sometimes referred to as the ‘circus period’, marked a distinct style shift in his art.

· His focus was mainly on a different group of social outcasts – circus performers.

· Similar to themes in his earlier Blue Period artwork, Picasso felt empathy for his new subjects – circus performers. They were paid to entertain, but really had no relevance or significance in society.

· The sad clown would become an important figure in his paintings, and would continue to appear as a theme in future pieces. Clowns appeared happy on the outside, but were unable to show their true feelings.

· This period also marked Picasso’s first of many romantic relationships…and I DO many MANY!

· The color in his paintings also shifted – now featuring warmer, reddish and pink colors. The thick outlines of the Blue Period also disappeared.

· Not only soft pinks, but blues, reds and greens complement these images. The emaciated figures became fuller.

· The new color expresses warmth and life:

o Picasso’s paintings are beginning to sell

o He now has a studio, a lover and a life.

o The two periods — the “Blue” and the “Rose” — form a transition between the art of his youth and the art of his maturity.

Classical Period:

·  Post World War I marked a noted return to a more conservative art form.

·  During the time period, Picasso focused on more classical themes - bathers, centaurs and women in classical drapery.

·  He relied on his knowledge of the human form, based on his early studies of Greek and Roman art.

·  Many of these subjects were shown as massive, heavy and dense.

·  He also used a strong contrast of light and dark.

NOTE: He had more than just these three ‘periods’ of painting but these will enable you to carry on an intelligent conversation.

Cubism Style

·  In 1907, Picasso and Georges Braque introduce Cubism, where form no longer appears to follow the traditional rules of three-dimensional representation.

·  The Blue and Rose periods remain popular because the human figure is not as distorted and unrecognizable as in Picasso’s Cubist work.

· Some paintings were composed of tightly structured geometric shapes, limited to the primary colors of red, blue and yellow (see The Musicians).

· He also started painting women as contorted, whose open mouths and teeth reveal a very emotional attitude.

* Guernica, by Picasso (1937)

· Guernica was created to be the mural centerpiece of the Spanish Pavilion of the 1937 World's Fair in Spain.

· The piece is a striking protest of a fascist coup led by Francisco Franco, the driving force behind a massive Civil War between Franco and Spain's Republican forces.

· On a dark day in April 1937, on behalf of Franco against the Spanish population, Nazi armed forces chose a small Basque town in northern Spain for massive bomb tests for over three hours.

· It is estimated that over 1,600 people were killed in Guernica and the town burned for three days.

· As photographs and news of the bombing of Guernica reach his home in Paris, Picasso found immediate inspiration for his mural.

· Picasso delivered Guernica just three months later on a large canvas. Key elements include a woman holding her dead child, a large eye of God, a bull and a wounded horse. Clearly, it depicts struggle and the horrors of war and fighting.