Laszlo Moholy: The Bauhaus Artist

Eva Hesse was a German-American Jewish sculptor. Her metal sculptured work “Metronomic Irregularity II” (1966) exhibited in the Eccentric Abstraction show curated by Lucy Lippard, exemplifies curial sentiments of what is considered as eccentric abstraction. [9] According to Lippard’s envisage of the eccentric sculpture for her show she was unexpected of the work. As she sees a less organic form she wanted of the work compared to Hesse’s previous sculptured work of the year, “Hang Up” (1966) made from steel tube, acrylic paint on cloth and wood. [3] Whereas “Metronomic Irregularity II” (1966) are seen with little of erotic overtones, but a waving of minimalist geometric shapes with expressionist gesture. ［4］Contrasting from Kandinsky’s watercolour on paper “Watercolour No. 6” (1911) rather than using the regular geometrical shapes to express his synesthesia beliefs, Hesse uses shape and lines allied with organic form in relating to the human body. Hesse uses of geometric repetitions in her work also moves a distance away from the uncompromising

The Bauhaus was an art and design school that operated in Germany from 1919 to 1933 (Smith 2005, p. 31) and was a major component of the Modernism movement. In 1923 the schools’ founder Walter Gropius called for “a new unity” between art and technology. Subsequently, one of the main aims of the Bauhaus was to merge art with mass-­‐production, however this ambitious aim often eluded the Bauhaus (Bergdoll and Dickermann 2010, p. 15) and its products were criticized as being for an elite. This essay will investigate the extent to which the Bauhaus achieved its goal of mass production through an exploration of the different phases and individuals of the iconic school.

The Tate Modern stands proud and impressive on London’s Southbank. The formidable exterior of a former power plant emblazoned with the names of artists: Rauschenberg, Tillmans, Giacometti, Modigiliani (see Figure 1). These artists are some of the greatest artists of the twentieth century; some of the best male artists of the twentieth century. Regardless of it’s façade,

In the words of Henry David Thoreau, “This world is but a canvas to our imagination”. This statement speaks to all of mankind, in that, art can be traced back to thousands of years ago. For centuries people have put their whole lives into creating art, hoping that they would pass on their views while still creating something different, interesting, and unique. Generating from these ideas was as artist named Ivan Albright. Though his pieces appeared to depict a world of decay and corruption, Albright showed his love for art through his morbid emotional intensity. In this paper I will discuss the history of the artist, compare and contrast the subject matter and technique of two of his paintings, as acknowledge his approach to color, texture, balance, and space.

The three works that will be compared are Marcel Duchamp’s Bottlerack, Barnett Newman’s Eve and Ana Mendieta’s Silueta. Placed together the pieces show us three varying genres, each from different periods in the twentieth century. Between the artists we also see obvious connections in how they have challenged the spectator, and the art world alike, in viewing their art. All artists removed ‘something’, be it a body in Silueta or the ‘purpose’ of the Bottlerack and Eve’s figurative form or vanishing point. All were met with a critique of the processes in which their work were produced and likewise they also received admiration for their forward thinking, progressive art.

The painter makes the effort to apply geometric shapes, but does not quite make it a sincere effort. For example, the three haystacks seem like they are oval, but their bases are either swallowed into the ground or covered with hills or vegetation—hence we are unable to see their full shapes. All of the other shapes are also asymmetrical. Due to the form of the painting not having a definite shape, it would not be three-dimensional, but free-flowing. The expression of emotion in German expressionist painting provides a visual experience that is distinct from traditional painting art. In the minds of expressionists, painting is not a reproduction of nature or even a reflection of the beauty of life. The strong emotion of the painter makes it impossible for him to believe in artistic harmony in the natural point of view. In his view, it is not about the composition of the rules, but the expression of the work of the carrier and tools through a purely metaphysical abstract process. This results in a deformation of the shape of this existence, in the sense of distance between deformation and harmony, to express an anxious

A viewer’s initial read of Piet Mondrian’s, 1926 work, Tableau 1: Lozenge with Four Lines and Gray, is visually boring, simplistic, static, as well as lifeless and unemotional. The oil painting on canvas constructs a strict geometric composition with its two-dimensionality, monochromatic palette. But by uncovering the complexities of his work, the viewer discovers the tension and balance that is created by the various principles of design implemented throughout the composition. Mondrian, with the subtlest compositional nuances, creates a successful work of art that achieves a sense of dynamism and equilibrium while reflecting into the mind of the viewer.

In 1919, Gropius took over direction of both ‘Weimar School of Arts and Crafts’ and the ‘Academy of Fine Arts’ in the same city. His vision was expressed when he unified both into a single institute, founding ’Bauhaus of Weimar’ commonly known as Bauhaus, a design school of art & architecture in Weimar. Encouraging the production of functional yet artistic objects for the masses, rather than one-off pieces for the wealthy. Gropius provided not only a school of excellence with the best possible tutors, the faculty included Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Theo van Doesburg, Lyonel Feininger, László Moholy-Nagy, Johannes Itten but also a centre for the avant-garde, a catalyst for experimentation of new design ideas, styles and

Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were both profoundly influenced by the art of Paul Cézanne, somewhat ironically since the latter is reported to have been quite uncertain of his artistic contributions and anxious about his legacies (Merleau-Ponty, 1945). Picasso described Cézanne as “my one and only master” ; while Matisse noted that “it is undoubtedly to Cézanne that I owe the most” .

The “art and life” aspects of the interwar avant-garde are an advanced socially trivial form of art which to a bigger extent is symbolic of the visual setting of the human community. It is the art of expressionism in any artistic work which greatly influence its adaptation by the target audience. It has been evidently claimed that most artistic works of the early twentieth century have had a number of varied themes all encompassing the political environment of the time. The interwar avant-garde is a direct expression of the modernism in a society marked with low levels of civilization. It is indeed the expressive nature of artistic works that we claim high levels of civilization in our human society. This is the reason why art is quite

Modern art began as early as the nineteenth century, setting trends that would follow in the mid to late twentieth century. Expressionism was among some of the primary modern movements. This particular movement explored artists’ desires to portray their experiences and ideals of the world using experimental processes. Prussian sculptor, playwright, and illustrator by the name of Ernst Barlach sat among the famous expressionists in Germany.1 While Barlach received fame and popularity, being somewhat of a genius in his time between World War I and World War II, his popularity would slowly dwindle at the rise of the National Socialist Party headed by Adolf Hitler. 2 His work along many other artists found strong criticisms with the NAZI party and Barlach would only live to see the constant threats and removal of his work without ever witnessing the restoration of these art pieces after the second World War.3 His most provoking piece that initiated condemnation from his peers and artists under Hitler was the Magdeberg Ehrenmal.4 It became the centerpiece of many debates that would haunt not only the Magdeberg Cathedral where it was located, but Barlach as a legitimate artist himself. Those who opposed Barlach were mainly Bernhard Heidegger and somewhat of Alfred Rosenberg, both of which directed their attacks specifically towards Barlach’s credence.5 It is only now with the further analysis of Alfred Werner and predominantly Peter Paret’s writings, who seek further explanation

The Bauhaus school was founded in 1919 in Weimar by German architect Walter Gropius (1883 - 1969). In 1923, Walter Gropius introduced the agreement between “creative artists and the industrial world”. The Bauhaus is most famous for the idea of combining forms and functions. They combined both fine arts and design elements to create a curriculum that trained artists and designers to be capable of producing both functional and aesthetic work. One of the main goals was to bring design and technology together. During the Bauhaus period, Fine art and craft were combined together and aimed toward problem solving for an innovative, modern and industrial society. Nowadays, the Bauhaus legacy continues in modern designs, such as minimalism, or design brands like IKEA. In this essay, I will analyze Bauhaus’s influence on modern design, including architecture and furniture design by exploring different examples from different periods of time.

Claude Monet was a very significant artist in the movement of impression. With his techniques, subject matter, use of colour and composition within his artworks, he contributed hugely to the movement and was a huge inspiration to many. In order to understand why Claude Monet created this artwork and the appearance of it, we need to understand the main influences which came with the movement of Impressionism. Many of these influences were derived from the Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century. Specifically in this artwork and the artist the Franco-Prussian War had a huge influence on the subject matter as well as the motivation of Claude Monet. I will be discussing these influences with regards to the subject matter, style, materials used and motivation for this incredible artwork.

What unique about the Bauhaus is the fact that its ideologies epitomize changing concepts concerning the nature and purpose of design in the early twentieth century. The art inherited, reinterpreted and then rejected the craft ideals of the nineteenth century

The Parc de La Villete (1984-9) by Bernard Tschumi revealed another aspect of the neo-modernist stance. His basic strategy of co-ordinates, sinuous lines and boundaries suggested a latter-day version of Kadinsky’s elements of abstract painting or perhaps the score for an avant-garde film in which the same shot-pieces were repeated in different montages. The site recalled past mechanistic fantasies such as Tchernikov’s sketches of around 1929. The cubic “follies” were like giant toys scattered across the grass.