The New Concepts Of Expressionism

Smart described the painting as a product of influence by realists Brian Dunlop (1938-2009) and William Delafield-Cook (1936-2015). The most renowned artwork of his time in Sydney, it’s style is “realism coloured with surrealism; the pop element in his constant flirtation with abstraction” (Allen, 2013). The painting depicts a bald, rotund man standing under Sydney’s Cahill Expressway, alone amidst a desolate landscape. Above him, a cloudy sky hangs over the streetscape. “The Cahill Expressway” (1962) demonstrates Smart’s transition from impasto to eggshell finish, contrast of tone and notorious use of the Golden Mean. Smart clarified that this work, similar to his others, merely employs figures to indicate scale, “a bald man makes a lovely volume and gives me a highlight”(Hauser, 2013). Such a claim is evident in Smart’s focus on manipulating the contrast of urban features. The use of geometric shapes dominates the landscape and provides a contrast with the significantly smaller, organic areas of the man and sky. The artwork depicts a variety of urban subject matter, including both rounded and quadrilateral shapes. As one of his earlier pieces, the artwork consists of muted tones that allow shape and size to create contrast, rather than striking hues. The underpass of the foreground is emphasized through the used of the Golden Mean, coupled with illumination from the light source. Additionally, the curved shape and solid, smooth application of light yellow hues contrasts with the more intricate details of the darker background buildings. Whilst the ambiguity and tonal emphasis on the foreground figure inspires a multitude of interpretations, the juxtaposition of varying architecture and manipulation of composition indicates Smart’s intention to master the art of architectural

In painting his work, Tillers dramatically enlarged the scale of von Guérard’s colonial image, creating a new work in its place. It is of a monumental scale when compared to the original. The new sizing meant that the image was at once more present to the viewer, giving the impression that one can enter the landscape, but also more abstract, due to the grid left by the canvas-boards. Tillers’ painterly surface jar with the parts of the boards that don’t quite match, forcing the viewer to see this as appropriation, the illusion of space, the changes in perspectives.

Wright’s 1945 poem, The Hawthorn Hedge, is a representation of the predatory power of the Australian landscape over those who refuse to unite with it. It details an unspecific persona’s attempts to establish security by planting a hawthorn hedge, separating her from a harsh, imagined landscape. The specificity of “the hawthorn hedge” reveals that this is introduced British species. As the hawthorn hedge is traditionally used as a natural fence, this clarifies that the persona is attempting to block out the landscape around her. Secondly, the fact that the hawthorn hedge is a British species suggests that the persona is also attempting to establish a reminder of her homeland, Britain. A tenet of Wright’s poetry is the strength of the true Australia and the concept of Australia’s break-away from Britain, exemplified in

2. He does the painting and printmaking art. And hid style is urban indigenous art.

During the early settlement of Australia, art was primarily used for documentary purposes by ammeters and pioneers (Splatt and McLellan 1986, 1). The arrival of trained European artists yielded a wave of Colonial oil paintings (Manton 1979, 58), however, these artists were “…trained to regard the landscapes of Europe as the norm.” and therefore their work could not accurately portray the Australian identity and atmosphere (Splatt and McLellan 1986, 1-2). These Colonial artists “…retained the smooth, anonymous surface established by academic procedures and practice.” (Manton 1979, 58). As such, their European eye and techniques distorted the Australian landscape into picturesque, “park-like green hills and bubbling streams bathed in a gentle light.” (Australian Government, 2009), often grounded “….in the middle distance…” (McCaughey 1979, 7). In a stark contrast, the landscapes produced by Heidelberg School artists were lauded for their portrayal of the Australian landscape “…experience(,) realized fully in paint.” (McCaughey 1979, 7). Frederick McCubbin’s Bush Study (1902) exemplifies the difference between the work of Colonial artists and those of the Heidelberg School with its use of Impressionist techniques becoming “…an essential and explicit part of the painting.” (Manton 1979, 58). Within this work, the bush is treated as a familiar abundance and brought “…forward, virtually right up on to the picture plane.” (ibid). The “…iridescent palette and roughened paint texture…” of the work immerses the viewer allowing them to gather a sense of the heat dulled, melancholic Australian bush landscape (ibid, 54-58). McCubbin’s work, as with other Heidelberg School paintings, depict “…a world which is 'natural', self-contained, self-sufficient and paradigmatically Australian.” (Hills 1991,

The land has a lot to do with Australia, the way that its identity may have developed might be through its isolation and our slow understanding and respect for it. Landscape pieces by other artists at this time depict the land in a much different light than Nolan. Lawson’s ‘The Drover’s Wife’ has a woman dressed in dull clothing, standing alone, highlighting her isolation in the Australian outback. Whereas Preston’s abstract landscape ‘Flying Over The Shoalhaven River’ depicts the land to be an inviting and welcoming place.

Australian landscapes have long been used to place fear and anxiety in the Anglo-Australian’s psyche. This anxiety and the requirement for Indigenous peoples to negotiate white ideals is reflected in current Australian literature and cinematic identities. This essay will discuss the critical arguments of what makes the chosen texts Australian literature. This discussion will be restricted to the critiques of the film Lantana directed by Ray Lawrence and the novel Biten’ Back written by Vivienne Cleven. The will firstly look at the use of landscape as a crime scene and how this links to the anxieties caused by the doctrine of terra nullius and the perceived threats from an introduced species. It will then look at the Australian fear of a different ‘other’ followed then by a discussion around masculinity and the need for Indigenous people to negotiate white ideals. The essay will argue that Australian literature and film reflect a nation that still has anxieties about the true sovereignty of the land and assert that Indigenous people have a requirement to fit in with white ideals.

The warm colour palette, consisting primarily of yellows, oranges and reds, emulate the bright sunshine while the large circular central form with radiating lines references the form of the sun. The National Gallery of Australia describes it as “an optimistic, life-enhancing work that demonstrates John Olsen’s innovative approach to painting and his imaginative response to place that came to the fore in the 1960s.” The work explores the vibrant atmosphere of Sydney and the effects of the Sun on the landscape. Olsen has added in some blue to contrast the yellow and represent the ocean, which is an important feature of the Sydney landscape and

Lauren Berkowitz is a contemporary installation artist. Installation art can be described as a three-dimensional painting, sculpture, poem, and prose work, which is usually transient and site-specific. This very modern art practise makes Berkowitz’s expression of Australian landscape is completely different to the previous two artists, Glover and Drysdale. Her work is made with an almost obsessive attention to detail after painstaking research and, ultimately, total dedication to the moment of making.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a German Expressionist film that was released in 1920. The film was directed by Robert Wiene. Expressionism is defined as a visible world that is reshaped and even, distorted by internal forces such as soul, spirit, subjectivity, and emotion. A major component of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is it contains various examples of mise-en-scène, which is associated with visual aspects such as props in the background or clothing and the makeup the actor is wearing. Moreover, “boxes within boxes” is seen numerous times throughout The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. One example where “boxes within boxes” is seen in the film is in Dr. Caligari’s tiny shack, where he has Cesare

Rosalie Gascoigne started working as an artist in Australian later in her life during the 1970’s to late 1990’s. Her focus was on the environment and sustainability as she often used discarded objects such as streets signs and drink crates and gave them purpose. Her line of work is closely associated with the postmodernism movement which challenged the notion of art existing to be representative and instead insisted there is no ‘real art’ meaning anything can be art.

The movements of German Expressionism and Japanese pre-war cinema produced trends greatly influenced by its historical context. These contexts contributed to shaping their own stylistic styles captured throughout the theme, mise-en-scene, and cultural ideologies. Although these two movements occurred in fairly similar time periods, they both occurred in different parts of the world which had a fundamental role in generating key contrasts between these movements. Both occurring in pre-war periods, a striking similarity existed between the two; they both displayed the economic instabilities. Both subtly exhibited the internal anxieties that the individuals faced in the differing societies. German Expressionism had the stylistic forms that in turn captured distorted images or grotesque style to convey an abstract sense of reality throughout 1920’s. On the other hand, the Japanese pre-war cinema expressed the humanistic family by displaying their everyday struggles of the lower middle class known as the “common people” during the 1930’s. Although these movements were individually unique throughout their distinct stylistic devices and ideologies, they essentially came together during this time period to help transform the art of national cinema.

One of Vincent Van Gogh’s most world renowned paintings is his landscape oil painting Starry Night. The painting displays a small town underneath an unusual yet still extremely beautiful night sky. In this night sky, Van Gogh utilizes an array of colors that blend well together in order to enhance the sky as a whole. The town is clearly a small one due to the amount of buildings that are present in the painting itself. In this small town most of the buildings have lights on which symbolize life in a community. Another visual in Starry Night is the mountain like figures that appear in the background of the illustrious painting. Several things contribute to the beauty of Van Gogh’s painting which are the painting’s function, context, style, and design. Van Gogh’s utilization of these elements help bring further emphasis to his work in Starry Night.

Both Joseph Mallord William Turner’s ‘Norham Castle Sunrise’, as well as Casper David Friedrich’s ‘Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog’ are painted in the Romanticism style of landscape painting. Romanticism was an art movement

The colourful grotesque scenes painted by James Ensor have caused many to place him as a pioneer of expressionism. He is most recognized as the painter of masks and skeletons. However, to place him under one category would be to ignore a large portion of his career, in which he tackled a plethora of techniques, mediums, and subjects. The diversity of Ensor's art sets him apart from many other artists, and his experimentation was ceaseless. Ensor was innovative and original, excelling at a great number of things. Until his death in 1949, Ensor constantly proved his ever-expanding artistic ability, expressing himself through his work in any way that he pleased, and refusing to surrender to the standards of others.