meline of art history
The history of art can be traced back to cave paintings of about 15000 BC.
The nature of paintings changed little until around 1450 AD, when the Renaissance brought-about naturalistic styles and formal rules of composition, such as perspective (Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc).
Following the Renaissance, new styles emerged every 50 to 100 years, but nothing significantly changed (e.g. the rules of perspective were still applied).
In 1874, Impressionism was born (Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, etc). The term was originally used to make fun of Claude Monet’s painting “Impression: Sunrise”, but was adopted by artists to describe their style of work. Most people are familiar with Impressionism, so I will not waste words describing the style, and move on.
At the end of the 1800s, Impressionism spawned Post Impressionism (Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, etc). While Impressionism had remained faithful to nature, Post Impressionism favoured brighter and more unnatural colours.
Next we had Abstraction, where artists (Modigliani, Picasso, etc) changed the appearance of their subject so it no longer looked realistic, by shifting the point of view, exaggeration, simplification, etc.
At the risk of over simplifying things myself – Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, and Dada all quickly followed, and were variations on Abstraction. It’s the Dada artists that I want to write about.
In 1916, the Dada movement was formed amidst despair and revulsion arising from the horrors of World War I. Dada art was intentionally anti-aesthetic, and sought to reject all rules and conventions. Many Dada artists considered their work to be anti-art, and to have the purpose of enraging their audiences.
The single most influential Dada artist was arguably Marcel Duchamp.
Conceptual Art springs from the “Fountain”
As a young boy, Duchamp aspired to become an artist, and took classes in academic drawing. He worked in the styles of the time (Post Impressionism, Cubism, etc), but failed to achieve recognition, until 1917, when his notorious ‘Fountain’ changed the face of art.
“Fountain” was a signed urinal. Duchamp claimed it to be a work of art that he had created, because; he chose it, he gave it a name, he placed it in a different context, and created a new thought for that object.
In December 2004, Duchamp’s Fountain was voted the most influential artwork of the 20th century by 500 selected British art world professionals. The Independent noted in a February 2008 article that with this single work, Duchamp invented conceptual art and “severed forever the traditional link between art and merit”.
Each person has to draw his or her own conclusions, but these are mine
Duchamp was taking the “p” (urinal!).
He was an art anarchist, and his aim was to damage the art establishment. Unfortunately the art establishment evolved to embrace his prank, and allowed Duchamp to achieve his goal.
Perhaps this happened because Duchamp presented an opportunity for those similarly without skill to enter a world previously closed to them? Whatever, more than 90 years later, our art galleries, art awards, and media coverage are all full of “fountains”, and the objective of our most notorious present day “artists” still appears to be enraging their audiences. Modern art has become a very weary joke.
Reasoning that anything can be art is no different to saying that everything is everything. History has even been rewritten, and the cave paintings now often given a new conceptual twist: they were not decoration, but an early form of communication.
Detractors of modern art are often shot down. When we voice our views we are usually patronisingly told that we don’t like it because we don’t understand it. I do understand … I honestly do!
The point I am trying to make is that conceptual art is one very tiny and polarised viewpoint. It does not render all other points of view invalid.
Isn’t it time for a change soon?
Portraits by John Burton
By: John Burton
Archive for the ‘Articles’ category
Why I Hate Modern Art
December 30th, 2009Hermann Nitsch’s Biography and Exhibitions at Saatchi-gallery
December 30th, 2009Hermann Nitsch was born in Vienna in 1938. While studying graphic illustration, he became interested in religous art. He made copies from Rembrandt’s 100 Gulden Blatt and Christ Crucified, and from other religious themes by artists such as Tintoretto and El Greco. Other drawings Hermann Nitsch made at this time were strongly influenced by Cézanne, Klimt and Munch, amongst others. From around 1957 onwards, the depiction of Dionysian revelry and ceremonies began to feature in his work.
The first performances of the O. M. Theatre consisted of Hermann Nitsch and friends using animal carcasses, entrails, and blood in a ritualistic way. The cloths, bandages and other fabrics used in these performances introduced Nitsch to the idea of making paintings. 1960 saw the first exhibition of his ‘Aktion’ paintings in Vienna. In the mid-60′s Nitsch’s theatre pieces were also performed in Vienna.
His Fresco, with its connotations of martyrdom and penance, is fixed with the tortured bust of a ‘saint’, a site of devotional worship as horrifically compelling as an ossuary or catacomb. Much is made of Hermann Nitsch as cult provocateur, but he is first and foremost an artist: his performances and rituals are painstakingly planned in the context and language of art. Each ‘Aktion’ is premeditated through preparatory drawings and paintings, reflecting Hermann Nitsch’s influence by, and position within, the predominant movements spanning his career.
Nitsch plays with the symbolism of Christian ritual. Communion with real blood and real flesh means, of course, a desymbolization of the Eucharist. In this sense he acts as a consistent Protestant reaching the last limits of iconoclasm. On the other hand, this desymbolisation can be perceived as a negation of the transcendental, spiritual significance of the Eucharist. “Blood is only blood and this is the only reality of existence”. Such a belief, from the Christian point of view, is undoubtedly a satanic perversion of truth.
Conclusion:
Hermann Nitsch composed himself was becoming increasingly prominent in his performances. In 1972 he participated in Documenta V, Kassel, and staged ‘Aktions’ at the Mercer Center and Everson Museum of Art.
what to Do Next. . .
Find more information about Hermann Nitsch Exhibitions or looking for his paintings please visit us on http://www. saatchi-gallery. co. uk/artists/hermann_nitsch. htm
Art Portfolio
December 29th, 2009The Saatchi Gallery online portfolio is a special resource provided to schools at the primary and high levels that are interested in boosting the confidence and promoting the talents of their artistically inclined students. The art teacher or the school’s artistic representative is given the opportunity to create detailed profiles for their schools and thereby to promote the artistic endeavours of the school as evidence of the school’s diverse educational curriculum. Along with the school’s profile, the portfolio allows institution representatives to call attention to the work of its talented students by uploading samples of these works along with biographical profiles of the students responsible for the pieces. The institutions are also encouraged to upload notices and descriptions of upcoming and past artistic events that demonstrate the school’s commitment to the arts. The Saatchi Portfolio is therefore a strong marketing tool that promotes the educational institution on a grand artistic scale.
However, the Saatchi Gallery goes further to promote and encourage the talent of these young and promising artists. It puts on regular competitions that generate prizes of great value to the future career of these individuals. Winners and runners up are given cash for use in purchasing art supplies, including computers, to enhance their potential as artists. The winning schools are also given monetary compensation to be used to equip their art departments, making them more conducive to the learning and practice of art. The Saatchi portfolio resource is performed as a community service gesture whose purpose is to return benefits to the institutions that gave many successful artists support in the past. The Portfolio also exists to secure the future of art by encouraging the youth in artistic endeavours.
Rewarding Tips for Promoting Your Art
December 29th, 2009Promoting a work of art is not an easy process as one might consider. It is a crucial one. There are various factors that can mean the difference between accepting or rejecting your work from an art event. However, if you consider some of the effective steps in formatting an art portfolio it maximizes the chance of noticing your work. The artists must have fundamental concepts about the events or gallery. They should have proper information about the theme of the fairs. Artists have to submit work that is related to the theme of the event or it is a wasted of your time and also of the curators. Every art festival provides instructions and terms related to submission of work. So, it is always mandatory and helpful to read and follow the specific rules. If you intend not to abide the mentioned conditions then strong chances exist of declining the work. Many renowned galleries have adopted the online art portfolio with the objective of creating interest among the young artist and students. The art portfolio should reflect professionalism. To give a professional look weave subject matter those are vital in a concise and rational manner. Artist should try to avoid circumstances or topic that might create confusions on the judge or audience mind. A detailed cover letter describing yourself as an artist and the subject matter might be indeed helpful. Such heading helps to evaluate the mind and the skill of putting the ideas on a paper. Art portfolios reflect the artist vision. Another worthwhile step of promoting your art portfolio is by creating a web site. The website empowers the work of the artist to reach innumerable number of art lovers. On the website you can create your own blog where you can highlight the work and impart information and express the ideas.
Contemporary Art: the Importance in Today’s World
December 29th, 2009Contemporary art has gained a lot of importance in modern households. It has become one of the most sought after household items and it has been recognized in every aspect of human life. Modern art is nowadays a tool for interpersonal communication and has far reaching effects. The increased number of persons visiting exhibitions and art galleries clearly signifies the rise in contemporary art importance. It is an indicator about the awareness of art amongst the people.
Large appreciation of masses and easy understandability are the main reasons of success of modern art. The accessibility of these arts are easy as it is released in numerous copies and forms like disks, e-books etc. Original paintings, which were hard to get in the old days, are now easy accessible through art galleries, which eventually increased the number of admirers of modern art.
However, contemporary art critics raised an argument that some arts should be reserved for certain group of people. They argued that true appreciation of art can come from people who can understand modern art. In other words, only an artist can understand the value of an art. It is true in some cases, but an artist would like to get appreciation from as many people as possible. Contemporary art will continue to express publicly understood ideas so as to get the maximum appreciation from the public.
There are various ways of acquiring modern art today. Online auctions are one of the ways where by abstract arts, oil-based painting, and impression arts can be purchased. But before you make a purchase, it is important that you do some homework on what art you would like to collect. One way of collecting required information is to make extensive research work in the internet. Other sources include libraries, magazines etc. which can give you your desired information on art.
But you have to be careful when buying a contemporary art work as there are lots of fakes in the market. But you can appoint an appraiser for the art you want to purchase. Online art auctions generally keep a track record of the art seller’s sales history and can help you determine whether the seller is a reputable person.
By: Sam D’Costa
John Stezaker’s Biography and Exhibitions at Saatchi-gallery
December 28th, 2009John Stezaker is fascinated by the power of images and questions the authority of pictures found in books, magazines, postcards and encyclopaedias by directly intervening into their ordinary status. Through the handcrafted act of splicing together, inverting, or simply adjusting an image Stezaker embarks upon ‘a process that cuts it off from its disappearance into the everyday world’.
Stezaker has been centrally influential in a number of developments in art over the last three decades; from Conceptual Art, New Image Art through to the contemporary interest in collage. Showing first as a part of the British Conceptual Art group in ‘The New Art’, 1972 (the first Hayward Annual), Stezaker’s interest in the concept soon gave way to a long-term fascination with the image, finding new aesthetic allegiances with the image through working with found photographs and printed matter.
This fascination is translated into alterations, deletions, visual concordances and juxtapositions of disparate sources, intuitively creating new images, relationships, characters and meanings. Stezaker’s investigations continue to develop in this exhibition of new works that concentrate specifically on the portrait. In the ‘Love’ series, subtle but masterful alterations to found original film star portraits shift and magnify emotion and expression that had before only been implied, sometimes imperceptibly, in the original image. The glamorous and carefully posed faces are subtly transformed into otherworldly, uncanny beings. Playing with ideas of cubism and caricature, Stezaker’s series of black and white portraits fuse male and female faces, reflecting the idea of marriage and hybrid symmetry, but also a discord of union. Perhaps the most subtle of found image alterations are the ‘Reclined’ series;
what to Do Next. . .
Find more information about John Stezaker Exhibitions or looking for his paintings please visit us on http://www. saatchi-gallery. co. uk/artists/john_stezaker. htm
Art Photography
December 28th, 2009The Saatchi Gallery’s artistic versatility dictates its open attitude toward art, and this attitude is present in its welcoming posture toward the work of photographers around the world. The gallery opens its doors to photographers who have been widely unrecognised in their circles and provides a source of promotion and exposure to these young, talented persons. This offer is inclusive of photo artists from countries all around the world. At Saatchi Online, artistic photographers are encouraged to upload their photographs and place them on display for the millions of potential art enthusiasts on the internet. Images must be uploaded as jpg files and the sizes of these files should be below 2MB. This opportunity given free of charge by Saatchi not only allows these photographers to increase their standing as renowned artists, but it also allows them to enter into the professional artistic realm by making (or arranging for) commission-free online sales.
Photographers are also free to create their own profile package online. Therefore, not only do viewers and potential buyers get the chance to review a wide range of their works (as many as eight pieces are accepted), but they are also able to offer the public significant information about themselves and their art. In addition to the services mentioned, Saatchi also allows the photographers to get messages from those interested in their art—such as viewers, fellow photographers, and even potential buyers. Therefore, this improves the artists’ ability to network in this scene where fellow artists, a potential source of inspiration, may be difficult to find. The Saatchi service to photographers may therefore be considered an ultimate method of artist promotion.
