Monday April 26, 1999

Announcements:

• none

• Technological breakthroughs at the turn of the century
• for the purposes of peace
• for the purposes of war
• art
• transportation
• psychological studies
• Attitudes that accompany mechanization
• hope/excitement
• spirituality is no longer as important
• Diversification in art

• loosely defined
• refers the time period, rather than style
• diverse styles, concerns
• 2 main trends
• Seurat/Cezanne
• art as a means of investigation, fundamental values (colors)
• VanGogh/Gauguin
• expression of value and meaning through art
• artists participated in Impressionist exhibitions and were mentored by the older artists

• art at first seems "simple", but is actually a careful study of objects/techniques
• greater sense of order, less focus on light than late Monet
• tries to clarify geometric identity of objects

• geometric forms over light (as opposed to Impressionists)
• surfaces seem to expand/contract
• surface seems to vibrate
• but is ordered with geometry
• perspective is splayed open
• slight distortion to upset expectations
• important: not objects themselves, but how we see them

• one of many view of this mountain Cezanne painted
• applies same concepts as still life
• attempt accurately capture nature (color/light)
• variety of experiences brought together on one canvas

• painted right before his death
• seems foreground, mid ground, and background vibrate together on one plane
• verges on abstraction--reached outer limit of representation

• treats human figure in the same way as the objects/mountain

    "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte," Seurat, 1884-86

• more grounded/geometric (like Cezanne) than Impressionists
• human figures in geometric forms
• still forms
• Impressionist subject, but added dashes/dots to make it different
• deliberate paint application
• attempt to solidify Impressionist findings
• studied Chevreul (color theorist)
• theory: unmixed colors will blend more vividly than actual blending of the pigment

• painting as a means of communicating feeling through color and brushstroke
• especially Van Gogh

• in his late work we see movement from Impressionist brushstroke to distortion into fluid motions--undulation

• manipulates his visual experience to convey emotional experience

• uses his brushstroke to convey emotion
• retaining sketch quality in final image
• undulation
• color-distorion for purposes of personal expression

• uses non-local color to set mood
• red = violence, etc.
• colors in contrast to one another