Post-Impressionism and the Early 20th Century

The Rise of Modernism

• Modernism: A philosophical movement in late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Based on belief in societal progress.
  • Influenced by modern industrial societies and urban growth, and horrors of WWI.
  • Utopian vision of human life and society, belief in progress.
  • Influenced art, architecture, literature, religion, philosophy, social organization, daily life, sciences.
• Artistic Movements: Defined by Surrealism, late Cubism, Bauhaus, De Stijl, Dada, German Expressionism, Matisse, Mondrian, Kandinsky.
• Debate: End of modernism and start of postmodernism around 1940.

Post-Impressionism

• Definition: Rejected naturalism of Impressionism for expressive color and form.
• Characteristics:
  • Use of vivid colors, thick paint, distinctive brush strokes.
  • Emphasis on geometric forms, distorted forms for expressive effect, unnatural colors.
• Movement: Not cohesive; incorporated styles like Fauvism, Cubism.
• Coined: Term by Roger Fry in 1910 to describe French art since Manet and Impressionists.

Significant Artists

• Vincent Van Gogh: Known for swirling brush strokes.
• Paul Gauguin: Sought primitive, spiritual truth through color and form.
• Paul Cézanne: Simplified natural forms to geometric essentials, influenced Cubism.

Fauvism and Expressionism

• Fauvism: Led by Matisse, Derain; lasted 1904-1908.
  • Vivid color, abstraction, unusual brush strokes.
  • Influences: Van Gogh, Neo-Impressionist Pointillism.
• Expressionism: German modernist movement focusing on subjective emotional experience.

Primitivism and Cubism

• Picasso's African Period: Inspired by African art, led to Cubism.
• Cubism: Co-founded by Picasso, Braque.
  • Emphasized abstract geometric forms from multiple angles.
  • Influenced literature, music, architecture.

Synthetic Cubism

• Synthetic Cubism: 1912-1914, involved collage techniques.
• Futurism: Italian movement focusing on speed, technology, motion.

Dada and Surrealism

• Dada: Anti-war, anti-bourgeois, political movement.
  • Employed non-traditional media like collage, readymades.
  • Influenced Surrealism.
• Surrealism: Focused on unconscious mind, dream analysis, non-rationality.

Soviet Constructivism

• Constructivism: Russian movement, art for social purposes.
  • Influenced Bauhaus, De Stijl.
  • Focused on practical artistic applications.

German Bauhaus Art

• Bauhaus: German school combining crafts and fine arts.
  • Emphasized functional design.
  • Key figures included Walter Gropius.
  • Influenced modernist architecture, design education.