ART
- is something that is created with imagination and skill and that is
beautiful or that expresses important ideas or feelings.
- works created by artist : paintings, sculptures, etc., that are
created to be beautiful or to express important ideas or feelings.
- the methods and skills used for painting, sculpting, drawing, etc.
The Starry Night
Painting by Vincent van Gogh
Art is a diverse range of human activities in creating visual,
auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), expressing the
author’s imaginative, conceptual ideas, or technical skill,
intended to be appreciated for the beauty or emotional
power.
Elements & Principles of Art
There are seven elements in art. They are colour, form, line, shape, space,
texture, and value. The ten common principles of art are balance, emphasis,
harmony, movement, pattern, proportion, repetition, rhythm, unity, and variety.
Many of these concepts are not only related to one another but also overlap to
create an artistic vision.
Elements
Many amateurs actually confuse the terms 'colour,' 'hue,' and 'value’.
Technically colour is a general term which applies to all combinations of colour.
On the other hand, hue refers to only the pure colours of the spectrum. Value is
simply the relative darkness or lightness of a particular colour. Of course, hue
also has value since there are many shades of the rainbow. The three primary
colours are red, yellow, and blue, and the other colours are made by mixing those
three in many different combinations.
Form in art is its three-dimensionality, as displayed in a cube. A two-dimensional
shape, such as a square on a sheet of paper, is not classified as form in art.
Conversely, a line is one-dimensional and is often used to define edges. Lines
also are used to define more complex shapes. The type of a line, whether
horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or curved, greatly determines the feeling an artist
is trying to express in their work.
Like form, space is three-dimensional. The great artists are masters at making a
two-dimensional piece of paper come to life and somehow appear to have depth.
Perspective is the technique they use to achieve this effect. We have all seen
that photo of the railroad tracks going off into the far distance and coming to a
point.
The master artists also have an uncanny knack for incorporating texture into
their pieces of art. This allows the viewer to actually feel the work instead of just
using the eyes to look at it. Who hasn't shaken their head in disbelief at the way
Vincent Van Gogh made a night filled with stars or a field of irises come to life so
that it felt as if one could touch them?
Principles
The three basic types of balance in art are symmetrical, asymmetrical, and
radial. If a work is symmetrical, the left side would look similar to the right side.
If the work is asymmetrical, the sides may not look similar but it is important to
realize that there may still be balance. In radial balance everything in the piece
emanates from a central point , not unlike the spokes of a bicycle wheel or the
maps of a certain cities.
Impressionism vs. Expressionism
Impressionism is a style of painting that began in France around 1870,
that uses spots of colour to show the effects of different kinds of light,
and that attempts to capture the feeling of a scene rather than
specific details.
Expressionism is a theory or practice in art of seeking to depict the
subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in
the artist.
Both Impressionism and Expressionism emerged around the turn of the
20th century as a response to a newly modernized lifestyle. But what
sets these movements apart from one another?
Impressionists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir are known
for their flurried brushstrokes. Expressionists including Wassily
Kandinsky and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, on the other hand, focused
on vivid colour and emotions. Do you prefer the spontaneity of
Impressionism or the intensity of Expressionism?
Left:“Impression Sunrise” (1872) by Claude Monet. (Image: Wikipedia)
Right: “The Scream” (1893), Edvard Munch. (Image: Wikipedia)
History of Impressionism
Impressionism originated in late 19th century Paris, when artists
including Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Alfred Sisley formed
the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers. The
movement served as a reaction to a rapidly changing urban
environment. These artists rejected traditional realism and instead
focused on spontaneous brushstrokes, vibrant colours, and subjects
taken from newly modernized life.
“Bal du moulin de la galette” (1876), Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Impressionism Characteristics
Impressionists experimented with colour using a more optical method,
mixing unblended pigments to create a nebulous blend of pure colour.
These artists also worked with short, hurried brushstrokes, often
because they worked quickly outdoors. Impressionists also explored
the theme of isolation in a newly crowded society through their
subject’s gaze, which rarely met those of others in the same scene.
Similarly, artists would also add physical barriers, such as balconies
and bars, between subjects in their composition.
“Miss Mary Ellison” (1880), by Mary Cassatt
Key Impressionist Artists
Claude Monet is perhaps the most famous Impressionist painter. He is
known for his serene landscape works, including his expansive “Water
Lilies” series. Pierre-Auguste Renoir focused on a leisurely subjects in
paintings like “Le Moulin de la Galette” (1876). Edgar Degas pushed the
limits of oil paint by experimenting with pastel and gouache in his
works depicting ballerinas and female nudes. Fellow Impressionists
include Camille Pissarro, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Alfred Sisley,
and Gustave Caillebotte.
“Grainstack (Sunset)” (1890-91), Claude Monet
History of Expressionism
Expressionism developed in Germany and Austria in the early 20th
century, again as a response to the dehumanizing effects of
industrialization. Artist groups credited with founding the movement
included the likes of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Wassily Kandinsky.
Expressionist artists turned to lurid colour, gestural brushstrokes, and
distorted subjects to channel intense, genuine emotions through their
works.
“Street, Berlin” (1913), by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Expressionism Characteristics
Expressionists used bold, solid hues and gestural brushstrokes to
convey extreme emotions. Wassily Kandinsky even assigned colours to
different feelings (red for joy, yellow for anger, etc.). These artists
used arbitrary colours in their works, meaning subjects were depicted
in colours that had no natural relation to them (a green face, an orange
sky, etc.). Their distorted subjects also illustrated new anxieties and
isolation in urban life.
“Composition VII” (1913), by Wassily Kandinsky
Key Expressionist Artists
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a founding member of The Bridge German
Expressionist group, captured the frenzy of modern city life in
intensely coloured works like “Street, Dresden” (1908). Wassily
Kandinsky took a more abstract approach in paintings like
“Composition 6’ (1913), playing with colour and its symbolic reference
to certain emotions. Other key artists in the movement include Franz
Marc, Erich Heckel, Paul Klee, Emil Nolde, Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Edvard
Munch, and Otto Dix.
“Anxiety” (1894), Edvard Munch
Artists today continue to be inspired by the Impressionist and
Expressionist movements.
Mary Cassatt
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926)
was an American painter and printmaker, She was born in Allegheny City,
Pennsylvania (Now part of Pittsburgh’s North Side), but lived much of her
adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later
exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the
social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate
bonds between mothers and children.
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 – December 05,
1926) was a French painter, a founder of French Impressionist painting and
the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement’s philosophy of
expressing one’s perceptions before nature, especially as applied plein air
landscape painting. The term “Impressionism” is derived from the title of his
painting Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), which was exhibited
in 1874 in the first of the independent exhibitions mounted by Monet and his
associates as an alternative to the Salon de Paris.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (May 06, 1880 – June 15 1938) was
a German expressionist painter and printmaker and one of the founders of
the artist group Die Bruke or the “The Bridge”, a key group leading to the
foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century art. He volunteered for army
service in the First World War, but soon suffered a breakdown and was
discharged. In 1933, his work was branded as “degenerate” by the Nazis and
in 1937, over 600 of his works were sold or destroyed. In 1938, he committed
suicide by gunshot.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, commonly known as Auguste Renoir
(February 25, 1841 – December 03, 1919), was a French artist
who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a
celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that
“Renior is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from
Rubens to Watteau.” He was the father of actor Pierre Renior (1885-1952),
filmmaker Jean Renoir (1894-1952) and ceramic artist Claude Renoir (1901-
1969). He was the grandfather of the filmmaker Claude Renoir (1913-1993),
son of Pierre.
