Modernism Essay

Igor Stravinsky makes for a first-class example of differences and similarities between neoclassicism and modernism. Modernism is defined as “A term used in music to denote a multi-faceted but distinct and continuous tradition within 20th-century composition”1, while neoclassicism may be defined as “A movement of style in the works of certain 20th-century composers, who, particularly during the period between the two world wars, revived the balanced forms and clearly perceptible thematic processes of earlier styles to replace what were, to them, the increasingly exaggerated gestures and formlessness of late Romanticism”2 By not only comparing his works to others but within his own body of work the two movements can be better

Paul Cézanne is often called the first modernist painter, and in his essay, “Cézanne and the Unity of Modern Art” Clement Greenberg, identifies Cézanne as the “most abundant generator of ideas and the most enduring in newness”(Greenberg,83). This, coming from one of the most influential art critics of the twentieth century, is not to be taken lightly. Cézanne was extremely influential to the modernist painters of the early twentieth, including Pablo Picasso and George Braque in their development of Cubism (Orfila,3). At the beginning of his career, Cézanne painted in the impressionist style that was common for the avant guard painters of the time, but he was disinterested in capturing the “transitory

The transition between the 19th and 20th century has brought further development of modernistic ideas, concepts and techniques in art. Inspired by Cezanne’s idea, saying that all nature objects can be illustrated with just three geometrical figures: cube, sphere and cone, Pablo Picasso created his first paintings, which became the icons of modern art and cubism movement in

This essay analyses the aesthetic and ideological underpinnings of the Modernist artwork, Impression, Sunrise of Claude Monet. The artwork and Impressionism is considered to be a visual articulation of the avant-garde and the latter statement is explained. References to the writings of Charles Harrison, Clement Greenberg and Wilhelm Worringer is used to theorise the aesthetics of modernity.

Abstraction is the creation of art without representation of objects, in which the artist has total freedom of the art that they are creating. I will be using three paintings from three different time periods in order to show the development and lasting effects of abstraction in the twentieth century. The first work that I will be looking at is Foghorns by Arthur Dove. I will use this piece to show the beginning of abstraction, and how ideas of abstraction were present before the movement began. The second painting that I will be looking at is Jackson Pollock’s Lucifer. I will be using this painting as an example of the height of abstraction in the 20th century and will be discussing Pollock’s influence on abstraction. The third piece of art I will be looking at is Many Mansion by Kerry James Marshall. I will use this work to show the remnants of Pollock’s influence, and the influence of abstraction in general, on art in the later half of the century. For the development of this paper I looked at two of the course readings. The first reading that I used was The Tradition of the New by Harold Rosenberg. I used this article to show how Foghorns by Arthur Dove relates to abstraction, and to show how ideas in creation of this painting can be linked to ideas of abstract art. The second reading that I used for this paper was The Legacy of Jackson Pollock by Alan Kaprow. I used this article to gain information about

Overall, the ideologies discussed within the articles Written In Blood: 20th Century Art by Stephanie Dudek and Estrangement As A Motif In Modern Painting by John Adkins Richardson address similarities and differences from various standpoints. Modernistic ideologies towards social, cultural and technological changes of the 20th century are demonstrated in both articles. The article by Stephanie Dudek emphasizes on the employment of radical and transgressive values by modern artists within their work to target cultural, and artistic principles that have persisted over many generations leading to a transformation within the subject of art (Dudek 105). Furthermore, modern art set out to obtain new visions of reality as witnessed within the Cubist

Moreover, I explained how each image is an example for the core principles of modernism as mentioned in the overview. In brief, modernist design is innovative. Space, form and structure is based on the functional requirements. Designs became simple and without overwhelming traditional aesthetic concepts. Therefore, technology together with simpler design made the product easy to be mass produced. After the first World War, designers in central Europe intended to change the world for better through art by rejecting ornamentation as it resembled of the past generations whom withstood the unpleasant effects of war and poverty (Smith, 2005). Dormer (1993) writes that:

Visual opulence, creativity, inimitable vision, and a style that is highly influential are the many characteristics of an admired movement in art history, that being of the Post-Impressionism movement (1875-1892). This movement, which was a by-product of the Impressionism movement, is the bridging gap between the two movements known as Realism and Expressionism. Post-Impressionism takes on some of the stylistic characteristics of these movements; however, it does not contain the all too glossy visuals of Realism or the heavily fantastic visuals of Expressionism, rather it is the intermediary of these two poles. My paper will discuss why this link was absolutely essential to the history of art movements, and I will be specifically using the

According to article “Graphic Incognito”, writer Mark Owens says that modernism exported to America through Bauhaus, which was a European movement that came around World War 2. The movement in America took shape in the 1980s with the influence of a new cultural era that was personified in different mediums, especially in music. He argues that certain modernist design tactics were adopted by suburban kids raised during the Reagan era in the early 1980s that were in the post- punk, hardcore, underground music scene. First of all, he begins his essay with a quote from Paul Rand about how “timeless principles” were the only hope to achieve a style of quality in one’s work.

In the books; The Clouds written by Aristophanes, and The Apology, written by Plato, the philosopher Socrates is portrayed in two different ways. Plato, being a loyal follower of Socrates, portrays him as being a very simple man who is always open to learning new wisdom. However, Aristophanes portrays him as an atheist who practices sophistry along with a number of different crimes. People question whether or not Plato exaggerated the character of Socrates in an effort to gain sympathy for him, while others question if Aristophanes wrote the book The Clouds to slander Socrates’ character.

A new form of art was born called modernism which helped to describe the new world

'It quickly emerged that the proper and unique area of competence of each art coincided with all that was unique to the nature of its medium. The task of self-criticism became to eliminate from the effects of each art any and every effect that might conceivably be borrowed from or by the medium of any other art. Thereby each art would be rendered 'pure', and in its 'purify' find the guarantee of its standards of quality as well as of its independence. 'Purity' meant self-definition, and the enterprise of self-criticism in the arts became one of self-definition, with a vengeance.'

Although Nietzsche isn't responsible for creating modernism, his philosophies were representative of the concerns and uncertainly of the modernist artists. Nietzsche and the modernists shared a dark outlook on society, one that he had called in his works "sick" and weak due to the constraints put upon them by the Christian church, and traditional values that had gone unquestioned for too long. To truly realize oneself, you must break free, denounce this imposed morality and search deep inside to develop into your own person.

As well as Matisse’s Bonheur de Vivre, Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was inspired by and deviated from Cezanne’s great achievement. Cezanne’s landscape is a broad open field with the abstract females surround a pond as they bath with abstract surroundings, very much different from Picasso’s

Modernism, in literature, can be seen as a shift in focus to the unassociated introspective reflection of characters in such texts as Go Tell It On The Mountain, by James Baldwin, Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. This is a revision from the previous focal point of exterior events and places in correlation with the character’s reflections. Emphasis is placed on review upon feelings and thoughts, and even conversations with oneself, as opposed to the more directly event-driven reflections in texts of the pre-modernist era.