Category: Modernism

Introduction

By offering an attempt at merging Neoclassicism with Modernism, Gio Ponti’s “Bottle with Stopper” provides a way of reconfiguring the relationships between form and function in art. Namely, with his focus on the utility of objects as the endeavor to integrate new principles of urban design into the development of household objects, the artist managed to create the artwork that represented a compromise between originality, everyday use, and aesthetic expressivity (Dellapiana 24). The resulting creation managed to capture the attention of numerous critics, receiving the response that was homogenously positive.

Analysis

Tracking down the elements of Modernism in the “Bottle with Stopper”, one will have to pay close attention to the color scheme used by the artist first. Namely, the propensity toward the use of a fairly simple design and a modest number of colors. Indeed, the form of the art object in question is almost basic, with very few elements that could challenge the traditional perception of a bottle as a household item. In turn, the proportions of certain elements of the bottle can be considered the area where the art piece in question is expected to address the values of Neoclassicism and challenge the viewer (Forino 3). Specifically, the unexpectedly long neck of the bottle, which serves no functional purpose, can be considered an endeavor at exploring the further development of the relationships between form and function. Taking the traditional form of a bottle and changing it into something that does not quite meet the definition of grotesque, yet borders the viewers’ concept of traditionalism, the specified design allows for further experimentation (Dal Falco 2). Namely, the neck of the bottle in “Bottle with Stopper. 1948” helps to distance the artwork from the traditional image of a bottle far enough to emphasize the transformation yet leaves it close enough to the prototype to maintain the resemblance.

The emphasis on the principles of the urbanistic design have also allowed adding a substantial amount of personality to the art piece in question. Particularly, with the focus on the lack of excessively and the promotion of utility as the foundational quality of art objects, urban design of the time promoted laconism in the choice of form and restraint in the amount and extent of expressivity (Ponzio 335). As a result, the elements that may trick the audience into admiring the artist’s daring choices are restricted to the proportions of the object and its color scheme.

Indeed, paying closer attention to the choices of the color palette used for the “Bottle with Stopper,” one will recognize the minimalism that defined Gio Ponti’s style. Namely, the color scheme of the “Bottle with Stopper” is reduced to two main colors, specifically, the white and the brown represented in the art piece in question represent the boldness and innovativeness of the artist’s aesthetics (Rossi and Buratti 69). The contrast between the colors, with the white embodying almost heavenly purity, and the brown leaving room for contemplations, helps to stir the audience’s interest toward the artwork.

Furthermore, the absence of excessiveness in the design of the bottle, as well as its contained, modest form, are also quite indicative of the influence of Modernism. The specified approach allowed the artist to incorporate the traditional form, at the same time experimenting with it and exploring how it could be altered to imbue it with new meanings (Di Robilant 192). The change in the proportion of the neck length to the size of the bottle itself can be used as the most evident example of the specified design choice. However, the willingness to experiment with the traditional form can also be found when considering the stopper itself.

While often discarded as a complementary element of the art piece, which is rather ironic given the fact that the stopper is in the name of the artwork, the stopper allows adding uniqueness to the choice of form. Specifically, Ponti has chosen to use the white color for the stopper in order to juxtapose it to the dominant brown, as well as to lock the brown in its position, which was in the middle of the art piece. As a result, the artwork gained the sense of completion and the sense of geometric accuracy, which also contributed to its connection to the Modernist tradition (Malone 40). Therefore, the “Bottle with Stopper” gained the distinctive characteristics of the Modernist era.

However, the signs of Neoclassicism, which defined Gio Ponti’s works as well, have also shaped the art piece in question, and especially the relation between the form and function in it. Specifically, the contradiction between the specified notions is also present in the art piece in question, which aligns with Neoclassical principles of artistic expression (Malone 99). Namely, disproportionate nature of the elements of the bottle represents the Neoclassical approach toward experimentation with the form.

At the same time, Ponti evidently tries to connect the elements of Neoclassicism and Modernism in his art piece in the way that allows the contradicting aspects of the two movements to coexist. For instance, the Neoclassicist negligence of the function that an art piece plays is shifted toward the idea of experimenting with the utility of the form (Cresci 95). Namely, the changes in the proportions of the artwork are not seen as contradictory to its use but, instead, are represented as an elegant solution to the task of combining the intended purpose of the object and an inimitable aesthetics that the artist is trying to incorporate into it.

The transition from Utilitarianism to Modernism and back, which the “Bottle with Stopper” represents, would not be possible without the introduction of the elements of urbanism into the art piece. Although the specified solution was not unusual for the time period, the idea of focusing on the urbanistic philosophy and viewing it as a source of inspiration was still in its conception stage (Malone 32). Therefore, the focus on the development of an art piece that had a distinctively urbanistic flair about it was a challenging choice that allowed making the work clearly unique and immediately recognizable.

In addition, the focus on self-consciousness as a part of the conceptual framework of the “Bottle with Stopper” reinforces the Modernist influence, allowing it to merge with the Neoclassicist ideas incorporated into the artwork. The presence of self-consciousness in the “Bottle with Stopper” can be tracked down by considering the elaboration with which the materials for the art piece, the colors, and the shape were chosen (Rossi and Buratti 71). As mentioned above, the selection of the form allowed Modernism and Neoclassicism to collide in the “Bottle with Stopper,” making it a timeless representation of the fusion of the two movements. However, apart from the specified characteristic, other features of the art piece serve to point to the compatibility of Modernism and Neoclassicism.

The use of the material for the “Bottle with Stopper” helped Gio Ponti to amplify the importance of his initial message, which mainly promoted the idea of utility being combined with artistic expressivity. Namely, the use of incalmo glass has helped to connect the old tradition of Neoclassicism to the boldness of the Modernist approach with its focus on experimenting with color. The incalmo technique, which traces its origin back to the ancient era, suggests that different parts of a glass vessel are connected by applying heat to the point of their juncture (Elleh 6). Therefore, Ponti’s endeavor to use the approach that follows a thousand-year-long tradition allows connecting the art object in question to the movement of Neoclassicism. The focus on tradition coexisting with the concept of experiments and innovation, which Neoclassicism suggests, allows including the aspects of Modernism such as the reconsideration of the form and function.

Moreover, the size of the artwork is indicative of how bold Gio Ponti’s experimentation with form and function was. Namely, when looking at the art piece without any scale for perspective, one will hardly realize that the artwork displays any differences from the object that it is supposed to represent. However, on further scrutiny, the fact that its size is roughly 3.2×3.2 inches will be revealed. The comparatively small size of the artwork allows one to mentally distance oneself from the traditionally large-scale objects with which Ponti worked, namely, buildings and sculptures, and focus on the idea that the author attempted at conveying with the help of the artwork. Namely, the “Bottle with Stopper” is expected to evoke the sense of insignificance, thus causing one to ponder over deeply philosophical ideas of the meaning of self and people’s place in the universe (Di Robilant 188). Thus, the scale and size of the “Bottle with Stopper” also contributes to building the experience of interacting with an art piece that incorporates Modernist and Neoclassicist ideas. Specifically, the Modernist need for self-reflection collides with the rigidity of the Neoclassicist idea of following the traditional framework while introducing only slight changes.

Therefore, the dichotomy of the form and function, as well as the reconciliation between the Modernist and the Neoclassicist approach are the main pillars on which the artwork in question stands. What makes the “Bottle with Stopper” such an fantastic art piece worth consideration and in-depth analysis is its implied meaning, Drenched in contradictions between Modernism and Neoclassicism, the artwork still manages to incorporate them in a unique and balanced way, which allows for an unusual arrangement of the formal elements, such a color, shape, and size (Castanò and Mingione 2). Particularly, the color scheme and the materials can be considered a symbolic representation of the complexity of the idea that Gio Ponti incorporated into this art piece. As a result, the artwork becomes particularly meaningful and expressive, which, in turn, helps to accentuate the original approach that Ponti took in order to create it.

Conclusion

Representing an attempt at marrying the ideas of Neoclassicism and Modernism, the “Bottle with Stopper” can be considered one of the trademark creations of Gio Ponti and the cornerstone artwork of the era./ Despite its seeming simplicity, it allowed the artist to breathe a new life into the relationships between the form and function, thus introducing a daring and inspiring art piece. Despite the seemingly traditional use of the color palette, the artwork challenges the audience’s perspective with the unique approach toward creating a form that expresses its utility, at the same time embracing elegance.

Works Cited

Castanò, Francesca, and Giangaspare Mingione. “The Space Narrated. The Stained Glass Windows of Pietro Chiesa in the Early Twentieth Century.” Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Proceedings, vol. 1, no. 9, 2017, pp. 1-9.

Cresci, Edoardo. “Piero Bottoni. Three Houses on the Tyrrhenian Sea.” Regionalism, Nationalism & Modern Architecture, vol. 1, 2018, pp. 91-100.

Dal Falco, Federica. “Italian Rationalist Design: Modernity between Tradition and Innovation.” Arts, vol. 8, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1-40.

Dellapiana, Elena. “Italy Creates. Gio Ponti, America and the Shaping of the Italian Design Image.” Res Mobilis: Revista Internacional de Investigación en Mobiliario y Objetos Decorativos, vol. 7, no. 8, 2018, pp. 19-48.

Di Robilant, Manfredo. “The Aestheticization of Mechanical Systems: Gio Ponti’s Montecatini Headquarters, Milan, 1936–39.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 77, no. 2, 2018, pp. 186-203.

Elleh, Nnamdi. Architecture and Politics in Nigeria: The Study of a Late Twentieth-Century Enlightenment-Inspired Modernism at Abuja, 1900–2016. Taylor & Francis, 2016.

Forino, Imma. “The Italian Office Desk: ‘Mass Production and One-Off Piece’ towards the Modernity.” Convergências: Revista de Investigação e Ensino das Artes, vol. 13, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-11.

Malone, Patrick. Architecture, Mentalities and Meaning. Routledge, 2017.

Ponzio, Angelica. “The [Latin] Modernism of Ponti, Costa and Barragán.” Regionalism, Nationalism & Modern Architecture, vol. 1, 2018, pp. 330-341.

Rossi, M., and G. Buratti. “From Decoration to Industrial Design: Gio Ponti and Color in Architectural Innovation.” Color, Culture, and Science, vol. 1, no. 1, 2018, pp. 67-76.

Introduction

Futurism is an art association that was invented in Italy in the beginning of 20th century. It was principally an Italian event, although there were equivalent movements in Russia, England and elsewhere. The Futurists esteemed, brutality, and the developed city, all that characterized the technological victory of humankind over natural world, and they were zealous nationalists.

Main body

The following issues are proposed in the Sant’Elia’s Manifestos in the view of architecture for the future. The decorative should be dong away with. The dilemma of Futurist architecture dilemma must be resolved through flashes of intelligence and through systematic and practical expertise. Everything must be transformed. The roofs and underground spaces ought to be made use of; the frontage must be reduce in its importance, the issues of taste should be transferred from the field of selective moldings, particular capitals and fragile doorways to the broader alarm of bold groupings and masses, and large scale disposition of planes. (Meyer, 1995)

We are obliged to invent and reconstruct the Futurist town like a massive and turbulent shipyard, swift, movable and dynamic in each detail and the Futurist house should be like an enormous machine. The lifts ought not to be longer but be hidden away like tapeworms in the position of stairwells, also the stairwells themselves, made ineffective, must be eliminated, and the lifts should scale the length of the front like the serpents of steel and glass.

The house that is made of concrete, steel and glass, stripped of paintings and sculpture, which are only rich in the natural beauty of its lines and it’s relief, extremely ugly in its automatic simplicity, far above the ground and wider in according to requirement rather than the condition of municipal laws. (Banham, 1960).

In historical civilization and conventions, Sant’Elia projected a vision of a contemporary city that was in the form of a gigantic machine. Central to the stimulating dynamism made possible by his futurist colleagues. Sant’Elia held to the ideal of action and activity. He also swapped standard elegance with the visualization of an immense and tumultuous shipyard as the form human surrounding.The ideals of futurism continue to be an important mechanism of contemporary Western culture the emphasizing on youth, speed, authority and expertise finding expression in a lot of current profitable cinema and culture.

The following issues are opposed in the Sant’Elia’s Manifestos in the view of architecture for the future. The difficulty created in Futurist architecture is not an issue of looking for latest moldings and frames. Instead, it is an issue of tending the strong development of the Futurist house, of building it with the capital of know-how and science, fulfilling the necessities of our behavior and our will, crushing down what is ugly and adverse, forming new forms, new appearances, a new accord of profiles and quantities.

An outstanding feature of Sant’Elia’s plan is his de-emphasis on the independence of constructions. Meaning, his plan choices imitate on the futurist thinking of beauty in movement, and equally request to endorse the unregulated flow of things, persons, vehicles, etc. He displays this idea by joining the different channels of carrying of glass and metal walkways, freeways and railways at diverse heights close to the base of the structure. (Lawrence, 1995).

The skill of building has been able to progress with time, and to pass from one approach to the other, while upholding unchanged the universal features of architecture, since in the course of the past alterations of fashion are recurrent and determined by the alternations of spiritual certainty and political temperament. But reflective environmental transformations are tremendously scarce, changes that unbalance and replenish, such as invention of natural rules, the perfecting of automatic means, the coherent and systematic use of material.

Aesthetically, it is hard to remain unhappy as Sant’Elia, in his descriptions, sheds away the material ground to expose complex and exact structures underneath. The idea strikes him with logic of the impractical. For instance, several buildings disclose that underground gap is not used exclusively in the interests of carrying; instead, as contemporary engineers and planners are set with more complicated and latest constructing methods, they disclose an instinctual excitement to excavate.

Citta Nuova and Sant’Elia’s Message are in part reactions by an architectural society that, with the introduction of new expertise, found itself no longer restricted by the restrictions of customary performance. Sant’Elia reacted to this free will be eagerly encouraging builders to progress with cold computation and temerious courage to fully interpret these new thoughts into performance. (William, 1996).

Another negative issue in Sant’Elia futurist is that instead of presenting life from the inside he decided to focus on the external of the buildings, the real procedures of how these buildings hold themselves is veiled behind the smooth front wall and obscure windows. Similarly the buildings are extremely plain; appealing to Marinetti’s view that nothing is more gorgeous than the steel structure of a house in construction. Nor are the analysis those of a person standing in the interior of one building and looking outwards onto the city. The eye of Sant’Elia’s sketches is incorporeal, hanging somewhere between the street level and the tops of the buildings.

Bibliography

Banham, R.1960. Theory and plan in the 1st device Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Lawrence, G. 1995. A Period of skill, Fauvism and Expressionism: Cubism and Futurism theoretical skill. Andromeda Oxford Limited: England.

Meyer, E. 1995. The Work of Antonio Sant’Elia: Retreat into the Future. CT: Yale University Press: New Haven.

William, J. 1996. contemporary Architecture since 1900. Structural design and uprising in Russia. Paperback edition: London.

Statement of Intent

This essay will attempt to discuss modernism by showing how it abandons the rules and approaches of the past and adopts new forms of expression. This paper is focused on the review and analysis of three works created by three well-known artists of the modern period. The works will be described and discussed not just as products of their time but as artifacts of the modern art. The analysis will approach the artworks taking into consideration their history and artists, the events happening in art and history at the time the masterpieces were made, and the thought and intention of the artists behind their creations. The works chosen for the discussion of this paper are Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso, Campbell’s Soup Cans by Andy Warhol, and Cut Piece by Yoko Ono.

The selected masterpieces are extremely different and represent three various movements of modern art. While Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon represents that very beginning of the period, Cut Piece and Campbell’s Soup Cans are the works of the later decades of modernism. Analysing these works one can follow the evolution of the movement throughout the century as modernism represents a set of evolving beliefs and ideas among the artists who developed and perfected their authentic approach over time (Modern Art 2014). Besides, the diversity of the selected works is intended to demonstrate the versatility within modernism and how it is different from the previous movements which signifies its newness and modernity. The essay attempts to emphasise the fact that the discussed artworks are the masterpieces of modernism instead of just being the products of their time.

What Modernism Is

Modernism in art is a movement recognised for the new and unusual perspectives on the concept of art and everything it includes. The semantic meaning of this term is very clear. The word “modernism” refers so the movement that occurred in modern times. Historically, the very beginning of the modern period in art and design is assigned to the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. The major development of modernism happened throughout the 20^th century (1900-1980 namely).

In visual art, modernism is characterised by controversial statements and claims made by means of artistic expressions. Modernism represents a radical shift of goals in art creating a break with the past norms and active search for new forms, symbols, and meanings (Kuiper 2014). Modernism in art carries a rather drastic change when the artistic society decides to turn away from the old and classic canons and develop a variety of new approaches. This radical transformation of art in many cases was accompanied by rejection of the new forms, criticism of the whole movement, and negative popularity. Yet, regardless of all the criticism and negativity, modernism eventually became extremely popular and well-spread. It incorporated a large number of new artists exploring the means of self-expression that were not known before (the art of installation or land art, for example).

The Nature of Modernism

The controversial nature of modernism has contributed to the loss of the by art audience. The observers often faced the problem of not understanding the idea of a particular piece or its meaning. Modernism raised questions concerning the goal of art, what can or cannot be considered as art, and who can or cannot be called an artist. Modernism was the first art movement that tested the very meaning of art as a concept, crossed what used to be treated as its limits, and showed the many faces of art and the world of unexplored opportunities for self-expression. The purpose of art also changed, if earlier it used to be appreciated for its aesthetic properties mainly, whereas modernism introduced art that carried messages of various characters, pointing out social flaws and treating the reality, space, and time in a philosophical manner.

In other words, the works of modern art were to serve as a new form of communication which occurred between the artists and their audiences. This way, modernism is not only art, it is also a language, and it is universal since it allows one artist to communicate with the viewers from all around the world. Modernism is the reflection of the immense leap of progress typical for the 20^th century expressed in the adoption of completely new forms of artistic self-expression compared to those employed in the past (Modern Art 2014).

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso

Background Information

Pablo Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Young Women of Avignon) in 1907, at the very dawn of the development of modernism, and exhibited in 1916 for the first time (Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 by Pablo Picasso 2009). This painting was one of the first artworks that faced the initial wave of criticism of the modern approach to art; it was labeled as immoral when it was first seen by the public. Partly, such negative judgment of the work occurred due to its initial name – Le Bordel D’Avignon (The Brothel of Avignon); this is why the painting was remained by the exhibitor.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon represents cubism, a newly emerged style focused on the rejection of the traditional view of forms and the mixture of geometric shapes in a classical composition. Picasso spent nine months working on this painting since it is rather large (Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 by Pablo Picasso 2009). The painting depicts five nude women, but the details of their bodies are distorted and displaced presenting a revolutionary new approach to the vision of shape.

Why This Artwork Was Chosen

Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was selected for this discussion because it is one of the most frequently mentioned works of the modern period. Besides, it is one of the classic cubist artworks and is a perfect example of it style. Looking at this painting, the viewer may immediately notice that the people depicted in it are women, but the most traditional aspect of women in paintings – their bodies are presented in a very unusual manner. The shapes that are supposed to be round have sharp edges and corners. The faces of women are also distorted (excessively large eyes and noses, pointy angular chins). The lady that is sitting down has the most distorted face; it looks like Picasso intended to show several angles of it simultaneously.

The artwork was made during the beginning of Picasso’s career and served as a statement of the new orientation of the artist. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon has been named as a representative of “protocubism” and the starting point for the whole new stream (Abstraction and the Ready-made 2015). Working on it Picasso has created hundreds of sketches and schemes working out the new approach (Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 by Pablo Picasso 2009). At the time when the artwork was created there had been a serious rivalry between Picasso and his peer artists of Europe. Many outstanding masters were searching for fresh views upon painted art along with Picasso, who decided to incorporate a number of influences in his first cubist work (among them – African primitive art and the masterpieces of El Greco, Cezanne, and Gauguin).

The purpose of the work was to introduce the audience to a new vision of human bodies (namely, female), and offer an alternative perspective on the form that broke the rules of the classical and academic painting. Today, this painting represents a symbol of thinking outside the box, of crossing the boundaries and doing something no one has done before. The fresh idea can be rejected at first, but in the long run it may turn out a notable breakthrough.

Campbell’s Soup Cans by Andy Warhol

Background Information

The name of Andy Warhol is nowadays widely associated with the style of pop art. This style has gained an immense popularity over the last several years due to the return of the fashion of 1960s-1970s. The artwork called Campbell’s Soup Cans is one of the most famous creations of Warhol. It is composed of thirty two parts each of which is a separate work. All of the pieces depict close ups of Campbell’s soup cans, the well-known mass produced food item. The artwork was created in 1962 and first exhibited in Los Angeles; during the first exhibition the thirty two separate pieces were arranged in a line and put on the shelves as if they were actual soup cans sold in a supermarket (Campbell’s Soup Cans n. d.). These days, the artwork is located in New York as the Museum of Modern Art. The pieces are no longer set in a row but arranged chronologically based on the release times of the types of canned soup depicted in each painting.

Why This Artwork Was Chosen

The principle for the selection of this work is the same as the one that refers to the previously discussed piece by Picasso. Campbell’s Soup Cans were chosen for this discussion due to their immense popularity and the fact that they are one of the most well-known symbols of their style – pop art. Looking at this artwork one will see thirty two separate paintings, each of which presents a particular kind of Campbell’s soup flavour. The number of paintings in the artwork shows that by the moment when it was created there were thirty two flavours of soup released by Campbell Company. Working on this series of works, Warhol employed silk screening technique to achieve the perfect resemblance between the pieces and clarity of lines which are necessary in pop art depicting mass produced objects (Andy Warhol. Campbell’s Soup Cans 2014).

Besides, the devices and technique used to create the artwork reflect its modernity as this only became possible due to the technological progress of the 20^th century. When the artwork was created (1960s), the American culture started to be orientated at the material goods which quickly replaced immaterial some of the values. As a result, artists such as Warhol began to incorporate the message about the new values of the mass produced items showing consumerism in an artistic form.

Warhol created this piece to reflect what was going on in the society of his time and offering his contemporaries to take an alternative look at art and at the objects of art turning mundane grocery store items into artistic masterpieces (Why is this art? Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans 2014). Nowadays, pop art is one of the most famous styles; it has become an object of consumption itself (often pop art masterpieces are depicted on clothes or accessories). It seems like the society of the world has finally embraced its materialistic nature and accepted Warhol’s message.

Cut Piece by Yoko Ono

Background Information

Cut Piece by Yoko Ono represents performance art which was one of the most recognisable streams of modernism. Ono is among the pioneers of this style. Her artwork called Cut Piece was first performed in 1964, in Japan, and a year later it was repeated in New York (Yoko Ono Cut Piece n. d.). The act included just one performer (Yoko Ono herself) who sat at the stage wearing her best clothing and had a pair of scissors next to her. The audience was invited to come on the stage one by one and cut off a piece of the performer’s clothes to take with them. The act continued until the performer decided to stop it. Initially, the performance of Cut Piece was referred to as Strip Tease show by the critics (Concannon 2014).

The feminist commenters recognised Ono’s act as a deliberate transformation of herself into a sexual object, since the performer was not moving or participating in the artwork in any way (Yoko Ono Cut Piece n. d.; Yoko Ono: “Cut Piece” Analysis 2012). At the same time, in her interview about the act, Ono mentioned that the performer of Cut Piece “does not have to be a woman”, and that the show does not target sexual aspect but the destruction of clothes and transformation of the performer’s appearance (Concannon 2014).

Why This Artwork Was Chosen

Ono’s Cut Piece represents the art of performance, which is an extremely meaningful part of modernism as it characterises the uniqueness of the approach towards art that occurred in the 20^th century. Cut Piece is a perfect example of modernity because it reflects the most significant traits of it – revolutionary approach, new forms of art, a message from the artist, alternative experience, and broken boundaries. Watching the performance of Cut Piece one will notice that the audience participating in the act is reluctant at first, but gains more courage and starts cutting Ono’s clothing more actively after a while. At the end of the performance, Ono has to support her bra since her clothing is falling apart, the fact that the performer keeps her remaining garments together shows that nudity and sexual aspects were not the priorities of the show.

The act was performed during the sexual revolution, and demonstrates that clothes are the line between decency and obscenity. A simple modification of clothing leads to the breach of boundaries and completely new meanings. Ono’s message added into the work is the destruction as art, an object that changes its appearance, the instability, and fragility. Nowadays, this show is viewed from the perspective of the changeability of art and the clash between creation and destruction. Besides, it demonstrates that art does not have to be made, but can be experienced which provides another new vision of art as a concept. The modernity of this piece is not only the fact that it is an absolutely new form of expression, but that it also offers a new perspective on the role of the artist and the audience in an artwork.

Conclusion

Comparison and Contrast of the Chosen Artworks

The three selected masterpieces were created during different decades of the period of modernism and represent three absolutely different styles such as cubism (Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon), pop art (Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans), and performance art (Ono’s Cut Piece). The differences between the three artworks are obvious – form, contents, subjects, messages, tools used for expression, to name a few. In addition, all of the three works are known all over the world and recognised as the legendary representatives of their styles of modern art. At the same time, there are a number of similarities between these works. For instance, Cut Piece and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon both have women as the focus of the piece, but while Ono employs herself and her body as the object of the performance, Picasso paints young women.

The distortion also could be viewed as a common element of the two artworks – Ono’s clothes become intentionally damaged while her performance goes on, and Picasso deliberately distorts the bodies and faces of the ladies in his painting. Ono’s and Warhol’s artworks are united by the decade when they were presented (1960s). This is why, their artistic expressions carry a much more advanced form technologically – Warhol uses silk screening to produce his Campbell’s Soup Cans, and Ono’s performance is filmed and delivered to the world’s audience with the help of a black and white camera.

All of the discussed artworks clearly belong to the movement of modernism because they fulfill its main goal – the search for alternative ways of self-expression through the new perspectives on time, space, and art as a concept. The three masterpieces were initially criticised by the public and it took the society a while to re-evaluate the contribution these works and their authors made to the development of the modern art. Picasso, Warhol, and Ono are the pioneers of their genres who presented the revolutionary pieces and faced the dissatisfaction of the public used to viewing more traditional art.

The modernity of the three artworks discussed in this essay lies in their new approach to art and the breach of the boundaries that used to be perceived as fixed in the previous centuries.

Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon breaks the rules portraying the female bodies in a way they have never been presented before. Picasso removes the traditional approach to women in paintings ignoring such features as seductiveness and feminine shape, but presents them as abstract entities viewed from different angles simultaneously. This way, Picasso refuses to work within the frame created throughout the period of Renaissance and the norms of academic painting. Instead, he adds complexity and depth to the image breaking it down into pieces, making it unusual and unknown demonstrating the modern revolutionary way of thinking.

Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans is modern in a way it treats art as a concept testing its limits, asking a silent question “where does the art start, and where does it end?” Warhol shows modernity not only using new tools and techniques for his pieces, he also adds a new series of objects breaking the old rules of art where the contents of the paintings were limited to the subjects that “deserve it”. Warhol’s artwork is impossible to classify using the traditional terms of classic painting. Campbell’s Soup Cans are not a portrait (there are no people), not a landscape (there is no nature), not a still life (there is food, but it is not arranged on a table in a composition).

Ono’s Cut Piece does not fit into the traditional forms of art (painting, sculpture, theatre, music) at all. It incorporates the elements of several different forms, but the performance that is not theatre did not exist before the 20^th as a separate kind of art. This is the modernity of Cut Piece. Besides, just like in the case of Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans, Ono’s artwork is impossible to define using the points of view of the classic art. Ono is not just the creator of the piece, she is also the object of her own artwork, and she is the one who actively experiences her performance.

To sum up, the discussed artworks are not the products of their time, but the representatives of the modern art based on the revolutionary approach to the meaning, purpose, form, and object of art. Just like in a number of other spheres, the 20^th century in art is known for a huge leap that creates a gap between the modernity and the traditional perspective, and all of the three discussed works clearly illustrate this phenomenon.

References

Abstraction and the Ready-made 2015. Web.

Andy Warhol. Campbell’s Soup Cans 2014. Web.

Campbell’s Soup Cans2014. Web.

Campbell’s Soup Cans n. d. Web.

Concannon, K 2014, Yoko Ono’s CUT PIECE : From Text to Performance and Back Again. Web.

Cut Piece 2014. Web.

Kuiper, K 2014, Modernism. Web.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon 2009. Web.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 by Pablo Picasso. Web.

Modern Art 2014. Web.

Why is this art? Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans 2014. Web.

Yoko Ono Cut Piece n. d. Web.

Yoko Ono: “Cut Piece” Analysis 2012. Web.

Introduction

People have always been appreciating beauty in all its forms. Since ancient times, we were able to admire a magnificent landscape, wonderful sunrise, gorgeous mountains, a beautiful person. The great thirst for beauty resulted in the first attempts to immortalise it using sculptures, paintings, architecture, etc. In other words, people explored art as the main method to embody their vision of beauty and admire it.

However, the given concept is extremely changeable. In the course of their evolution people obtained new values that impacted their vision of the world and resulted in the appearance of new ideals of beauty. That is why nowadays we admire things and features that differ from the concepts of beauty peculiar to past times. It is possible to assume that the vision of beauty alters along with our society to be able to reflect the main preferences and attitudes to different phenomena. Today we could observe a great diversity of styles that comes from the heterogeneous character of the modern world and globalisation that stimulates cross-cultural interaction.

Additionally, significant shifts in peoples mentalities also precondition the constant search for new forms that could be used to express their feelings. The combination of these aspects results in the appearance of new styles. Modernism could be considered one of these as it was created to satisfy peoples need for new forms and emotions. For a long period of time it had been dominating; however, nowadays, we can observe that it is being replaced by deconstructivism that criticises the dictates of modernism and introduces new tendencies.

Background

As stated above, the 20th century could be characterised by the increased number of different styles that appeared under the impact of critical alterations in peoples mentalities. Unique events like civil rights movements, world wars, revolutions, etc. impacted individuals consciousness greatly and preconditioned the appearance of new demands to style and to the concept of beauty. People wanted an approach that would be able to embody their new vision of the world and their feelings.

The constant search for new forms resulted in the revolutionary reconsideration of the approach to design. Being tired of standard shapes and methods, people started to use new and sometimes incongruous motifs to make their creativity more diverse. It resulted in the evolution of numerous styles that differed from traditional ones greatly and introduced a new era characterised by the great freedom of self-expression and allowability of extremely radical approaches. Besides, modernism and deconstructivism could be considered one of these as they combine the usage of unusual shapes and figures to impress a person and make him/her admire unusual forms.

Modernism

Besides, modernism became a unique phenomenon in the art of the 20th century as it combined the philosophic approach to life with new cultural trends and changes. It appeared in the course of the deep transformation of the Western society, its value system, and philosophy. Moreover, the blistering rise of industrial societies also stimulated the rise of this movement. Finally, the WWI was another great event that contributed to the collapse of old ideas and appearance of new ones.

The unique power of this movement could be proved by the fact that the 20th century is mainly associated with modernism and its numerous forms. It is characterised by the innovative approach to traditional things. The adherers of this style tended to create something extremely new and challenging to attract peoples attention and make them think about the unique character of the new epoch and its spirit. Experiments with forms, irony, self-consciousness, and disregard of social traditions are the most important features of modernism that preconditioned its evolution in a certain way². Today, we could still observe numerous examples of this style as a number of artists consider themselves to be modernists and create their artworks in terms of this very style.

Deconstruction

However, at the end of the 20th century, people met new challenges and a new process of the reconsideration of values started. Modernism remained topical; however, it was not able to express all palette of feelings and emotions. Additionally, people got tired with the prevalence of this style and started to look for new approaches that would be able to meet their demands. For this reason, postmodernism as a new direction in art appeared.

It derived from modernism; however, it became another great step in the evolution of peoples approach to art. Postmodernism encompasses an array of ideas and motifs like scepticism, irony and distrust towards the traditional approaches and norms established by previous generations⁴. All these unique features also gave rise to such school as deconstructivism that is often associated with postmodernism. Besides, it is a movement that appeared at the end of the 20th century. It is aimed at the creation of the impression of fragmentation of the constructed building, the absence of harmony, symmetry, confusion of shapes and approaches⁵.

It could also be characterised by the usage of non-rectilinear shapes and distorted perspectives that are introduced to emphasise the feeling of chaos, anarchy, and the absence of some general idea⁶. Relatively soon, it became extremely popular because of its unique character and deliberate disdain of traditional forms and approaches. The evolution of this style coincided with the blistering rise of technologies which make it even more topical as deconstructivism was able to reflect the spirit of an epoch and create artworks characterised by futuristic appearance and unusual shapes appreciated by digitalised society.

Modernism vs. Postmodernism

The extreme popularity of the above-mentioned styles resulted in their widespread in the modern society. The modern art could be characterised by the outstanding usage of both modernism and deconstructivism because of their topicality and ability to express feelings peculiar to people living in the modern fast changing world. Moreover, very often these styles interpenetrate in each other and precondition the appearance of new tendencies and approaches.

However, there is also a certain rivalry between modernists and deconstructivists which comes from the divergence in the perspectives on the further evolution of art and shapes that should be used to impress people and attract their attention⁷. For this reason, the modern design could be characterised by the opposition of these two approaches and debates related to the character of art and artworks created in their terms. Both modernists and deconstructivists have strong arguments that are used in debates and explored to underline the unique importance of these styles. Thus, in last several years, deconstruction in design practice tends to subvert the dictates of modernism to proclaim the dominance of a new style and cultivate its further evolution.

Evolution of Society and Style

As stated above, the given evolution of style is also preconditioned by the increased importance of technologies and their penetration in different spheres of human activity. Observing the rise of science, people need some material proof of their great achievements in this very sphere⁸. For this reason, more and more futuristic forms and shapes are used. Curved lines, shapeless figures, unearthly contours attract people⁹. Designers try to follow the spirit of the epoch and create artworks that will be able to inspire individuals and make them think about the unique character of the epoch in which they live.

Deconstructivisms Prevalence

These facts could also be used to explain the prevalence of deconstructivism over modernism. The absence of harmony and symmetry became one of the most recognised motifs of the modern world, and deconstructivist designers explore this pattern¹⁰.

They also proclaim their rejection of the ordered rationality of modernism because of its inability to satisfy peoples needs anymore and its outdated character. Comparing these two approaches, deconstructivist one could be considered revolutionary as it does not accept historical references to previous styles and refuses to follow traditional patterns accepted in design. Instead, it criticises modernist acceptance of certain rules and historical references often used by artists who create their works in terms of this very style. Moreover, deconstructivism tends to terminate the dictate of previous styles that had been impacting people for a long time¹¹.

That is why it introduces an extremely new approach based on the disregard of any rules or limitations introduced by various authorities. The usage of geometry instead of traditional ornaments is also explored to attract attention to the unusual style and make people think about the real image of the modern world. For this reason, the term deconstructivism perfectly expresses the nature of the new movement which is focused on the deconstruction of previous approaches and usage of new more innovative ones. It subverted the functional aspects of modernist simplicity and substituted them with new more complex and sophisticated features¹².

The opposition between these styles resulted in a certain split in the artistic community. The adherers of modernism continued to create their artworks in accordance with the traditions established by the modernist movement. However, along with their creativity, another wave of artists working in deconstruction style appeared. One of the motifs that impacted their creativity and new artworks was to show the modernisms inability to dictate rules anymore. Analysing the modern approaches to design and the most popular patterns, we could assume that deconstructivism managed to subvert modernism with its outdated features initiated the reconsideration the approach to design in general. This could be seen in works of new artists who become extremely popular due to their disregard of shapes and modernist patterns.

Marcel Breuer

Nevertheless, delving into the main aspects that differentiate modernism and deconstructivism, it is also crucial to compare designers and their artworks to understand the main convergences in their approaches to style and ways of expressing different feelings and emotions. The given comparison could also help to trace the evolution of style and shifts towards postmodernism with its new shapes and elements. For instance, Marcel Breuer and Peter Eisenman are bright representatives of their styles. Being great designers, they managed to create numerous artworks that enriched the modern art and contributed to its further development. For this reason, their masterpieces could be considered vivid enough to demonstrate convergences in style.

Therefore, Marcel Breuer is a German and American art designer who created his masterpieces in terms of modernism. Despite the fact that he became famous due to his unique furniture, he was also fascinated by architecture and managed to develop his own unusual architectural style¹³.

First of all, it combined the usage of unusual shapes for all Breuers buildings which resulted in their innovative appearance. Sometimes bold and imposing, sometimes full of movement, they, however, attracted peoples attention and demonstrated the great power of modernism in all its beauty¹⁴. Moreover, Breuers style also encompasses the usage of heavy, concrete, and sometimes even ugly forms to create the final image¹⁵.

Combining these elements, he managed to create and unusual beauty of his houses and express his idea of modernism and the modern architecture. For instance, the building of the Church of St. Francis of Sales in Muskegon, Michigan is one of the most strange buildings of this sort.

It embodies the artists most favourite designs and could be considered a perfect example of Breuers creativity. Its ” tall fluid, twisting lines marked the history of architecture as this unprecedented style had never been seen before”¹⁷.

The usage of these shapes results in seeming weightlessness of the construction and its elegance. The building looks extremely unusual and even inappropriate at the first gaze; however, this very church attracts attention and inspires people which is extremely important. It demonstrates that the designer managed to cope with his task and create a masterpiece that triggered numerous discussions and contributed to the evolution of modernism greatly.

Peter Eisenman

Peter Eisenmans approach to style is different. Being a deconstructivist, he opposes himself to modernism stating that new approaches are needed. His perspective on design includes attempts to consider the layer of physical and cultural categories each object should possess, but not just some obvious and notable contexts that are trite and overused¹⁸. Moreover, the majority of his artworks could be characterised by the unusual style that is explored to create a specific environment and impress individuals.

Analysing his works, it is difficult to find common features as Eisenman rejects using stereotypical or archetypical patterns preferring to take into account peculiarities of every project and specific features that come along with it¹⁹. The only thing that unites all his artworks is the extreme diversity of shapes and dissymmetry that is often explored by postmodernist designers. His famous City of Culture of Galicia perfectly proves this statement.

It is a unique building that demonstrates the gist of postmodernism. The designer refuses to use traditional shapes and curves; instead, Eisenman creates objects with asymmetric and sometimes even chaotic lines. The six buildings of the project should be taken as three pairs united by some common motifs²¹. The given ensemble impresses a person by the unique diversity and combination of different elements. Besides, “the heights of all of the buildings rise in gentle curves that seem to reconstruct the shape of the hilltop with their collective rooflines, which are all clad in stone and marked with the grids that inform the design of the site”²².The City of Culture of Galicia embodies modern approaches to style and peoples need for new elements of decor and design.

Comparison

Besides, if to compare these two unique artworks, the difference in approaches becomes obvious. Breuers Church is full of straight lines and symmetry. It seems very solid and monumental, but, at the same time, there is also the feeling of weightlessness that appears when looking at the construction. The designer manages to achieve this effect due to the curved shapes of back walls and the combination of solid and light elements. The building is impressive and unusual; however, it could be considered the part of the modernist discourse.

Opposing it to Eisenmans Museum of Galicia, the difference becomes obvious. If the first construction could be considered the embodiment of modernism, the second one is a perfect example of deconstructivism with all its unique features. Dissymmetry, curved lines, different heights, the gorge of objects, and seeming chaos differentiate the building from other artworks and contributes to its increased artistic merit.

Conclusion

Altogether, the modern age could be characterised by the appearance of new elements of design and styles that are expected to satisfy peoples altered demands to beauty and reflect the spirit of the epoch perfectly. Thus, modernism that had been dominating during the bigger part of the 20thcentury became outdated and was subverted by postmodernism, and its derivates like deconstructivism. Comparing the art objects created in terms of these approaches, the difference becomes evident. When Breuers construction combines correct perspectives, direct and curved shapes along with solid elements of design, Eisenmans building is chaotic. Twisted lines are combined with different heights and unusual perspectives. That is why The City of Culture of Galicia looks modern and even futuristic. It represents the future of design as it embodies the most topical demands to style peculiar to individuals living in the coherent society.

Bibliography

“AD Classics: 1988 Deconstructivist Exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).” ArchDIaly. Web.

Butler, Christopher. Modernism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.

Butler, Christopher. Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

“Eisenman’s Evolution: Architecture, Syntax, and New Subjectivity.” ArchDialy. Web.

Eshelman, Raoul. Performatism, or The End of Postmodernism. Aurora: The Davies Group Publishers, 2008.

Gura, Judith. Postmodern Design Complete: Design, Furniture, Graphics, Architecture, Interiors. London: Thames & Hudson, 2017.

Heller, Steven. Design Literacy, Understanding Graphic Design. New York: Allworth Press, 2004.

Kirby, Alan. “The Death of Postmodernism And Beyond.” Philosophy Now 119, (2017). Web.

Outhouse, Michael. “The Influence of the Postmodern Graphic Design Genre on Contemporary Graphic Design as Analyzed in the Context of Generic Participation.” Graduate Theses and Dissertations, (2013): 1-68. Web.

Malpas, Simon. The Postmodern, The New Critical Idiom. New York: Routledge, 2005.

“Marcel Breuer (1902-1981): Design & Architecture.” Yatzer. Web.

Footnotes

1. Christopher Butler, Modernism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 11.
2. Ibid., 23.
3. Christopher Butler, Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 56.
4. Aland Kirby, “The Death of Postmodernism And Beyond,” Philosophy Now 119. (2017).
5. Christopher Butler, Postmodernism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 56.
6. Ibid., 59.
7. Judith Gura, Postmodern Design Complete: Design, Furniture, Graphics, Architecture, Interiors (London: Thames & Hudson, 2017), 91.
8. Michael Outhouse, “The Influence of the Postmodern Graphic Design Genre on Contemporary Graphic Design as Analyzed in the Context of Generic Participation,” Graduate Theses and Dissertations, (2013): 54. Web.
9. Steven, Heller. Design Literacy, Understanding Graphic Design, (New York: Allworth Press, 2004), 87.
10. Ibid., 134.
11. Simon Malpas, The Postmodern, The New Critical Idiom (New York: Routledge, 2005), 87.
12. Raoul Eshelman, Performatism, or The End of Postmodernism, (Aurora: The Davies Group Publishers, 2008), 75.
13. ” Marcel Breuer (1902-1981): Design & Architecture,” Yatzer. Web.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. “Eisenman’s Evolution: Architecture, Syntax, and New Subjectivity,” ArchDialy. Web.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.
21. “AD Classics: 1988 Deconstructivist Exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA),” ArchDIaly. Web.
22. Ibid.

Clement Greenberg (1909-1994) was a renowned American art theorist and critic whose concepts and viewpoints had considerable influence over the development of modern art. Greenberg’s theoretical insights can be traced back while observing today’s visual art masterpieces (Skinner, 2014). In his publication “Modernist Painting,” Clement Greenberg (1988) proves that the deficiency of figurativeness inherent in the contemporary modernist painting is the result of the art self-development instead of impacts made by social and historic factors. Greenberg one of the first fundamental theories of Modernism and determined the relationship between avant-garde art and society.

One of the strongest arguments provided by Greenberg for the self-development of painting is the self-criticism specific to Modernism (Greenberg, 1988, p. 5). Asserting the self-criticism of modernist painting, Greenberg refers to the Old Master and Kant. Furthermore, he identifies Kant as the first real Modernist due to the philosopher’s self-criticism. The self-criticism of modernist painting is apparent in its ability to admit the flatness as its unique medium.

The flatness of painting is another argument in favor of modernist painting. According to Greenberg, every art has its own unique characteristics and medium. Regarding painting, this medium is the flatness. Greenberg rejects painters’ aspirations to visual three-dimensional space; he considers the three-dimensionality to be a unique characteristic of sculpture. Although one of the primary goals of the Old Masters was to overcome limitations of the flat surface and insufficiently expressive pigments, modernist painting acknowledges these factors as positive. Manet was the first who did not try to create the illusion of three-dimensionality in his works and openly declared the flat nature of pictorial art. The Impressionists also refused to add sculptural elements to painting. Therefore, according to Greenberg, the first modernists were Manet and the Impressionists who designated a new period in the history of painting, abandoning attempts to create a three-dimensional illusion.

Nevertheless, there are some contradictions in Greenberg’s theory. Taking into account the flatness of painting and other pictorial arts as their unique feature and medium, works of graphic designers can be considered modernist. However, varying letter spacing, using properties of colors (the contrast between complementary colors, color stretching, simultaneous thermal contrast, and so forth), and applying zooming in their works, graphic designers seek rhythmic architectonics.

Moreover, graphic design is associated with technological innovations and the development of computer-assisted editing. For instance, posters designed by Müller-Brockmann in the 1960s – early 1970s clearly demonstrate the principles of the layout based on modular grids (see Fig. 1). Asymmetric font compositions featured on the geometric color fields generate strict visual messages. It is controversial whether Greenberg would identify self-criticism in such works.

Furthermore, one of the primary goals of visual arts is to satisfy aesthetic needs of viewers. The indigenous primitivism of Māori pictures is identified as Modernism today (Skinner, 2014). Although some critics parallel these works masterpieces created by Pablo Picasso (Skinner, 2014, p. 71), they would rather serve as artifacts of authentic pictorial arts of Māori. However, indeed, the flatness of the medium and scarcity of colors are obvious (see Fig. 2). It appears that Greenberg would evaluate them as examples of modernist painting.

Summing up, painting, as well as other kinds of visual art, is constantly evolving. This ongoing development predetermines the irrelevance of theories and concepts that were topical several decades ago.

References

Graphic Design History. (2012). Excerpts from “The Swiss Posters: Art of 10 Masters” at Hofstra University, 2002, 2011. Web.

Greenberg, C. (1988). Modernist painting. Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology, 1, 5-10.

Skinner, D. (2014). Indigenous primitivists: The challenge of Māori modernism. World Art, 4(1), 67-87.

THESIS: The book Modernism and the Feminine Voice: O’Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle investigate how the two outstanding persons, Stieglitz and O’Keeffe, could live together, sharing their unique vision of the world and influencing each other. It is a contribution to the study on American art which lies in the description of modern society, the place of women in it, and the role of O’Keeffe as the female representative of modernism. The book also provides a new author’s theory of O’Keeffe’s secret self-identity that indicates that although she was admitted into the Stieglitz’s circle, she was resistant to his eroticism.

The book Modernism and the Feminine Voice: O’Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle written by Kathleen Pyne are devoted to the life-story of Georgia O’Keeffe, an American artist, a pioneer of American modernism and a muse of another famous artist, Alfred Stieglitz, the first American art photographer. The major issues discussed in the book are the place of women in modernism, Stieglitz’s impact on O’Keeffe, and the role of O’Keeffe in Stieglitz’s life.

Thus, Kathleen Pyne indicates that “in the nineteenth century the feminine had been placed outside modernity in a separate, premodern domain”.¹ Kathleen Pyne intends to consider O’Keeffe as one of the first women in modernism and, at the same time, a person who was admitted into the Stieglitz’s circle. The author’s investigation of how those two outstanding persons, Stieglitz and O’Keeffe, could live together, sharing their unique vision of this world and influencing each other is a contribution to the study on American art.

The book describes the modern society in general, the place of women in it, and the role of O’Keeffe as a female representative of modernism. It provides a new author’s theory of O’Keeffe’s secret self-identity indicating that although she was influenced by Stieglitz, she managed to save her independence and resist his eroticism.

The major issues discussed in the book

In the introduction, Kathleen Pyne explains her choice of the topic and importance of the analysis of O’Keeffe’s life for the study on the history of art. The book focuses on the attempts to investigate the relationships between Alfred Stieglitz and his women. All women in Stieglitz’s life had a serious impact on his perception of reality and his work. Stieglitz was dating several women, Gertrude Kasebier, Pamela Colman Smith, Anne Brigman, and Katharine Nash Rhoades, before meeting Georgia O’Keeffe; however, their relationships lasted until he was tired of them. He developed a strategy to create a modernist woman which he successfully used for O’Keeffe who became his muse until his death. In this female, Stieglitz found those qualities which he could not see in another. It was his legendary success. Stieglitz helped Georgia O’Keeffe express herself and become a modernist woman.

One of the main issues raised in this book is the role of women in modernism. According to the author, the radicals of Green Village “associated modernism with the problem of women”.² During that period, women got the right to vote, and the old social code started its transformation, providing women with more space for creative work. As culture was based on the acts of individual transformation, modernism offered new perspectives for females.

Trying to find their “true selves”, women were able to express their views through writing and drawing. However, at the same time, generally accepted positions implied that women could be a part of a community dominated by males as well as a part of a culture created by men. Thus, this common view of women’s place is reflected in consideration of O’Keeffe’s career, life, and personality, in general. Thus, Kathleen Pyne indicates that the common view on the place of women in modernism emphasizes women’s oppression by men. Being a part of Stieglitz’s circle meant being outstanding and unique. But, at the same time, all women chosen by Stieglitz were later abandoned.

There were the special requirements for everyone who wanted to join Stieglitz’s company; thus, a person should have been ready “to “bear” one’s essential self to the world, displaying the signs of this life force in the visual energies of the work of art”.³ This story proves that Georgia O’Keeffe was the most successful among the favorites of Stieglitz. After Stieglitz’s death, O’Keeffe proved her independence and individuality, creating and maintaining her own story. “O’Keeffe’s fame as the lone woman of the Stieglitz circle reflects on Stieglitz’s success in canonizing her, but he is also the result of her own phenomenally long productivity and record of experimentation and her ability to take over and orchestrate her myth after Stieglitz’s death”. ⁴

The author explores the phenomenon of Stieglitz’s circle and indicates that Stieglitz wanted to find “women in art” and help them express themselves freely. He tries to find his ideal in several women, analyzing them and learning from them. Katharine Nash Rhoades was interested in modernism and philosophy; however, she “refused to move with Stieglitz’s teleology of the feminine”.⁵ His woman-child model could not be accepted by everyone.

Analyzing the book by Kathleen Pyne, one can notice that the author considers Stieglitz’s attitude towards his women as a teacher-student model. It becomes evident that Stieglitz was eager to create a woman who would reflect his thoughts and views, thus he needed to find the one who would completely satisfy his imagination. At the beginning of their relationships, Georgia O’Keeffe was a toy, a child, who had to learn so much to grow and become a person from Stieglitz’s dreams. However, Georgia O’Keeffe was more than just the working material as she appeared to be able to offer him much more than any of his ex-girlfriends. Stieglitz was finally able to see the reflections of his ideas in O’Keeffe’s image.

However, she had a power not only to represent his modernist ideology but also to develop her philosophy and the way of representation. The author claims that “during their first and most serene years together, Stieglitz and O’Keeffe explored the trope of a return to the original primitive paradise in which they would be exempt from the guilt of knowledge”.⁶ The author suggests a new theory of O’Keeffe’s secret self-identity influenced by Stieglitz, but still independent of him.

The structure of arguments. Style and tone

Every argument the author states is based on the evident information and facts. The writer of the book describes O’Keeffe’s life in detail, starting from the meeting with Stieglitz to her independent career. Analyzing an attitude of Stieglitz towards his women, especially, towards O’Keeffe, Kathleen Pyne presents her thesis, emphasizing that Stieglitz’s methods were eroticized as well as patriarchal and dominant over a woman, to some extent, One of the most important elements that support the author’s thesis is an investigation on the role of the body as an integral part of modernist methods of expression.

To express his modernist view, a human body was considered as an integral part of the personality. As a photographer, Stieglitz paid more attention to this part of the matter. When Kathleen Pyne talks about Stieglitz’s attitude towards sexuality, she indicates that his “description of woman’s essential nature” was more “like child’s than men’s”.⁷

However, the analysis of O’Keeffe’s life allows the author to develop a new theory of O’Keeffe’s secret self-identity, indicating that despite Stieglitz’s pressure, she was an independent woman who had he own vision of life. In this case, the author employs such a method as a conceptual analysis. In the introduction, the author suggests some points and mentions the thesis, which she supports in the main text. The author does not compare or contrast the ideas or assumptions she uses with the real facts but interprets them according to the thesis developed within the topic presented. On the other hand, neglect of such a method can be considered as the book’s shortcoming.

Although Kathleen Pyne analyzes the heroes using the examples and evidence from various sources, she could examine the opinion of different researchers and compare their reflections on this topic. Nevertheless, the general overview presented by the author is complete. The reader can view a whole picture from different sides, using the author’s arguments, to develop one’s own opinion.

The book is divided into chapters according to the different periods of life of its main characters. The author starts her analysis describing the stories of Stieglitz and Kasebier, Colam Smith, Brigman, and Rhoades and revealing their contribution to his life, work, and attitude towards the female role in modernism. One chapter is devoted to the depiction of Stieglitz’s technique of work, such as Japanese-style compositions, and the artists who influenced him, such as Whistler and Maeterlinck. However, the main part of the book is devoted to the analysis of the methods of how Stieglitz built O’Keeffe’s image of woman-child and represented her to the modernist society.

The tone of the book about its subjects and audience seems more formal than informal. The author takes mostly a neutral position of a researcher who wants to find out the main points of the characters’ relationships and the key moments of their lives. However, it is possible to notice that the writer empathizes with O’Keeffe’s individuality most of all. At the end of the book, the author says that “O’Keeffe in the New Mexico desert traced a history of struggle in solitary trees and rocks that suggests a pathos appropriate to stories of many human striving and endurance, a theme particularly reverberant of her own experience”.⁸

Due to the neutral and unbiased way of narration, the author does not use such techniques as sarcasm or irony. There are no emotions, judgments, or condescension. The author’s interpretation is based on bare facts from their biographies. The general tone is created by the use of various literary elements, such as syntax, word choice, and imagery. The language of the book of Kathleen Pyne is official. All the parts of this book are united by one logical structure according to the periods of life of the characters. The author does not often use imagery. However, talking about the representatives of art, Kathleen Pyne uses them to draw examples.

Thus, talking about the Stieglitz’s circle of contacts, the author mentions the “silence and musicality associated with Whistler and Maeterlinck to privilege the imagery of the “unsayable” – imagery that evoked the “blurring process” of the unconscious, of “mystery”.⁹ The author could not ignore the use of literary elements while writing about two persons “who had transcended the rules of bourgeois materialism and bourgeois masculinity and femininity”.¹⁰ As a result, one can find such imagery as “unsounded sea” and “abysmal bottom-growths” in the text.¹¹

Book’s contribution to the study on American art

The most important book’s contribution is in its depiction of Georgia O’Keeffe as an independent, self-sufficient person who opened modernism for women and women for modernism. This book can be considered as an emphasis on feminist ideas and the role of women in the history of art. Investigating the relationships between Stieglitz and O’Keeffe, Kathleen Pyne indicates that her study “gives these women back their voice and takes seriously their resistances”.¹²

Thus, a distinctive perspective the author adds to the study on American art is her view of the women’s voices as a serious opposition to the traditional attitude of the society towards female artists. For Pyne, Georgia O’Keeffe is one of the most bright representatives of female modernists who created a new image of a woman in art and whose works allowed many female successors to achieve success in this traditionally male-dominated sphere. Kathleen Pyne indicates that the contribution of Georgia O’Keeffe to American art has been overlooked for a long time; however, it is impossible to overestimate her role in the life of Stieglitz and her place in the world art.

Besides, the author claims for the necessity to analyze O’Keeffe’s personality not only from the position of Freud-inflicted image of the woman-child but also taking into account her strong character and capability to resist to the influence of Stieglitz, who considered her as someone he could teach, change and transform according to his vision of the perfect modernist woman. The new way of presentation of this woman allows the contemporary readers to see new Georgia O’Keeffe as an ironic woman who significantly extended the gender field in American modernism. The readers can notice that the promotion of O’Keeffe by Stieglitz was his most successful endeavor. He never felt that he could be bored or disappointed with her. Georgia O’Keeffe was a perfect, ideal woman who could “dare to be modern”.¹³

For O’Keeffe who left her parents, Stieglitz was a perfect match as he could provide her with a possibility to travel, develop her creative nature, and express it in her works. Although Stieglitz had his vision of the ways O’Keeffe should have followed, they both created an amazing and productive couple, a union of two outstanding artists, who could share their ideas and perception of the world, creating the new ways of expression. This book’s contribution to the study on American art lies in this new vision of Georgia O’Keeffe as a self-identified woman who was able to resist one of the greatest representatives of modernism in art. Writing Modernism and the Feminine Voice: O’Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle, Kathleen Pyne wanted to feature Georgia O’Keeffe as a successful woman and determine her role in the world art as a female representative of modernism.

Being the witnesses of transformation and growth of O’Keeffe’s character, the readers can notice that she was not just one of many Stieglitz’s women; she was an independent and outstanding figure in the history of American art. This book helps the readers see the whole picture of the modernist society in general and one of its brightest female representatives in particular.

Reference List

Pyne, Kathleen. Modernism and the Feminine Voice: O’Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle. US: University of California Press, 2007.

Footnotes

1. Pyne, Kathleen. Modernism and the Feminine Voice: O’Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle (US: University of California Press, 2007), xxix.
2. Pyne, xxxi.
3. Ibid., xxix.
4. Pyne, xxix.
5. Ibid., xxxv.
6. Ibid., xxxi.
7. Pyne, 123.
8. Pyne, 365.
9. Pyne, 6.
10. Ibid., xxxii.
11. Ibid., 6.
12. Ibid., xxxii
13. Pyne, 123.

The Enlightenment worldview, which centered on the person and gave great weight to reasoned decision-making, defined the Modern Age. During this time, capitalism, imperialism, democratization, and science-based rationalism all witnessed significant growth. To express their unique perspectives, modern artists abandoned traditional approaches to philosophy, color, and design. Scientific advancements that made them doubt the stability of the “actual” world and the accuracy of experience strengthened their views.

The Black Square is a symbol for art generally, not only the first artwork of a grassroots venture. In 1915, Kazimir Malevich created his first Black Square (Black). Given that it distinguishes between realistic paintings and abstract paintings, it is one of the foundational pieces of contemporary art and of Western art and artists. The square was deemed a work of Suprematism by Malevich, a style he announced but which is virtually solely linked to his own output.

Dali’s depiction of the Greek fable of Narcissus is depicted in this artwork. A young man of outstanding beauty named Narcissus destroyed the hearts of numerous lovers because he only cared about himself. In order to show Narcissus’ transition from the kneeling figure in the water into the hand clutching the egg and flower with a hallucinogenic effect, Dali employed a careful method that he referred to as “hand-painted color photography.” Narcissus poses in the backdrop as he did before his shift. Dali’s concern with illusion and delusion gave rise to the play with “double visions.”

Photomontage was created by Hausmann, a founding member of the Berlin Dada movement, as a satirical and subversive protest technique. Although a stamp identifies the “art critic” as George Grosz, another member of the team, the image was presumably taken from a magazine and was cut out in anonymity. The critic appears to be under the grip of capitalist interests, as suggested by the piece of a German bill hanging around his neck. The background text is a portion of poetry that Hausmann created for Berlin’s ramparts.

Confusion, solitude, and disappointment are the main themes of the Modernist era. The attitudes and emotions that afflicted Americans in the early 1900s are reflected in these topics. Postmodern art defines the development of art in the years following World War II, whereas modernism art represents the avant-garde movements that first appeared in the early twentieth century. The topics of alienation, metamorphosis, consumerism and the relative nature of reality are explored in both Modernist and Postmodern fiction. The “Black Square” symbolizes confusion; the picture with Narcissus symbolizes loneliness, and the photomontage shows disappointment.

Modernism employed techniques including reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision, and parody while overtly rejecting the notion of realism. The certainties of Enlightenment thought were likewise left by Modernism, and many expressionists also disapproved of religion. Modernism was a radical viewpoint that aspired to rejuvenate how contemporary civilization regarded life, art, politics, and science. It emerged out of the revolutionary atmosphere at the beginning of the 20th century.

Many currents of Modernism were justified by the Second World War as the cause of the offshoot. However, Modernism appeared primarily as a protest against the old values and ideals, thereby challenging the society of that time. The currents of Modernism can be attributed to modern thinking, but it should be understood that this current, as a result, created modern thinking on the basis of the protest of the past.

Work Cited

Black, Elizabeth. The Nature of Modernism: Ecocritical Approaches to the Poetry of Edward Thomas, TS Eliot, Edith Sitwell and Charlotte Mew. Routledge, 2017.

Technological progress has affected not only industry and people’s lives but also art. After a significant technological revolution in the use of new technologies, people have tried to reflect on the impact of progress on the world, humanity, and the soul. The same applies to artists who, using different contexts and techniques in their paintings, reflected the process of technological progress and the transition to a new era. In addition, new trends in the visual arts have appeared, which also reflects the shift to new drawing techniques, namely the use of new styles and forms. The purpose of the work is to analyze various aspects of modernism and technology, utilizing some works and articles as an example.

The grid is an essential symbol of modernism, which has its own symbolic model. Thus, in the history of Western art, the grid was considered the banner of modernism.¹ However, in some countries, the grid is seen as an ideological and formal device. It is believed that the grid can be a suitable medium in some artistic practices, provided that it is not perceived as an escapist model. Moreover, it should touch on the themes of the modern era, for instance, the pieces of modernism, namely the development of technology. In addition, the grid is considered an announcement of the modernity of art and symbolizes the transition from the past to the present.

In the works of modernism, aspects of a deeper discussion of the nature of fine art can be traced. For example, Curator Michael White, in his conversation about Mondrian’s work, discusses whether color by itself can be used without indicating anything.² In other words, people have already developed specific associations with color, for example, a yellow circle is perceived as the sun. Thus, Mondrian decided to display the significance of color in rectangular forms. Moreover, it is noticeable how dramatically the artist changes color combinations in his works. In turn, it correlates with the general theme of the development of sharper forms in various objects and architecture as part of modernism.

In addition to the above, in the works of Mondrian, there is a connection with technological fundamentalism. Primarily, it is formulated by a particular transition and rejection of the old norms.³ In other words, an unusual style, namely the use of straight lines and shapes to convey a certain meaning. In the same way, there has been a transition in the industry to mass production and the abandonment of the old forms of production, namely slow and manual manufacturing. Moreover, technological fundamentalists believe that the benefits of new technologies are more significant than the harms. For example, the technology of gasoline combustion has made it possible for humanity to cover long distances while being in comfort quickly. At the same time, it created congestion and emissions into the atmosphere, negatively affecting climate and health.

To conclude, one can see the connection between the primary forms of modernism and the ways of its expression in the works of art. Primarily, it is formulated by the transition to new styles, shapes, and methods of using color. For example, with the help of rectangular figures, the significance of color is displayed, and the question of its use without indicating anything is raised. The transition to new technologies embodied the industrial revolution when humankind abandoned slow and manual production in favor of mass manufacturing. In addition, the grid is a symbol of modernism if it reflects the themes of the modern world.

Bibliography

Margarita, Tupitsyn. The Grid as a Checkpoint of Modernity. Tate Papers, n.d.

Michael, White. Introducing Piet Mondrian. Tate Papers, 2014.

Footnotes

1. Margarita Tupitsyn, The Grid as a Checkpoint of Modernity (Tate Papers, n.d.).
2. Michael White, Introducing Piet Mondrian. (Tate Papers, 2014).
3. Michael White, Introducing Piet Mondrian. (Tate Papers, 2014).

Introduction

After the Second World War, the center of art moved from Europe to the United States leading to modern American art movements commonly referred to as abstract expressionism. Due to the movement of many designers to the United States, there was a relative change in the direction of American architecture. This paper examines the reflection of the modernist perspectives in two modern artworks done by Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People (1830) and Roy Lichtenstein’s Drowning Girl (1963). The paper examines the differences and similarities of modern perspectives in the two works.

Brief Analysis

The style used by Eugène Delacroix is associated with romance which was common during this period. It symbolizes the events of the time when the struggle against oppression took the centre stage. Delacroix provided a partly nude, majestic woman with clear expressions of noble dignity and a painting of armed citizens moving forward to witness the barricade. The woman herself wears a cap of liberty and advances to her dead supporters with the royal French troops gathered around her.

Roy Lichtenstein’s Drowning Girl is an example of a comic style in the late 1960s. It is a picture of a girl’s head covered by waves and inclusion of a caption to convey the message of the girl. The size of the picture is large, oversized, and striking. The woman is emotional and has abandoned herself as she drowns. The caption suggests that she opts to die rather than call out for help.

Similarities

The modern perspective entails the use of a modern way of thinking in the design of a piece of art. This includes the use of character and the modern practice in the design in the modern era. Such works must portray some sense of cultural tendencies and an elaborate explanation of the cultural movements depending on the message the designer wants to communicate. This is evident in the two pieces of work. The use of visual elements in both works is clear evidence of a revolution in art that brings about the visual language with a degree of references to the objects in the world. Such objects should communicate a real message. The two pieces of work depict a move from reality since the differences, in reality, are slight and partial. Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People gives an abstract of the reality of liberty in the use of color and form.

In both the pictures, there is the use of the supremacy of nature to express the emotions in the piece of work. Nature has become a very powerful tool in communicating different messages in design. During this period, there was a great use of technology and nature. This assisted the artists to use nature to explain their message in the architecture. In Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, the artist puts his supremacy of nature as a subject of experience. The artist communicates the message of liberty as a subject with different symbols and nature. In the Drowning Girl, nature is portrayed strongly with a variety of technological improvements. During this period, modernism had brought about the use of many elements to illustrate nature. Such elements could only be appropriate when technology was applied.

During this period, modernism led to the sophistication of architecture by the adoption of various elements in a single piece of work. This entailed the dramatic styles that are evident in the two pieces of work and the well-designed work. The use of commercial materials for design led to different elements included in the piece of work. Such styles give a review of the tone of the art and the use of emotions displayed in the piece of work. This sophistication leads to the faster production of work that is more bold and aggressive.

Both works also give a unique quality of socialism and culture. The works communicate a message of social issues of life and daily life events. The new fashion is evident from the two pieces of work since the quality of the work portrays a new comic style. This element was not present in the earlier versions of art.

Differences

The two pieces of work have several differences. The use of visual arts is different in the two works. Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People uses visual arts and paintings in landscapes and portraits. This depicts more realism especially when there were parallel movements in world war two. The use of painting for the background gives a better understanding of the emotions. During this time, there was the use of paint to cover the land and the cultures of the people.

Unlike Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, Roy Lichtenstein’s Drowning Girl is more of an explanation of emotions characterized by pop movement. Such a piece of work concentrates on the removal of different materials from their usual context and the complete isolation of the object or the total combination of the object with the other objects for observation. This work employs the use of mass culture and cultural objects existing in the social setup. This piece of work is also characterized by labeling. Labeling is a common aspect in advertising since the labels are used to depict a message that can be communicated through words. The labeling stands out as a subject matter to communicate what may not be understood through the visual elements (Pohl 46).

Conclusion

The design of any piece of work should be related to the message to be conveyed. The use of different styles in a piece of work can be extended with the deployment of different technologies that have been evident since the 19^th century. This has led to quality works that communicate clear messages.

Work Cited

Pohl, Francis. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002.

Introduction

Charles Jencks, being among the scholars of modernist art, has built up a case for using the idea of late modernism in serious debates of architecture and other arts of the twentieth century. He assigns as “late modernist” the not-ceasing practice in the architecture of an avant-garde utopianism and moralism as well as the purist style at the time when the classic era of “international style architectural modernism” was over (Miller 9).

Late modernism includes all production (in general) of the latest art produced after the Second World War and during the early years of this century. The term “Late modernism”, normally explains the similarities between modernism and postmodernism though differences do exist. The common term introduced from the mid-twentieth century in the field of art is “Contemporary art”. Not all pieces of art termed contemporary art is modernist or post-modernist. This term is wide and includes the artists who go on working in the modern as well as late modernist arena, and also those artists who do not accept modernism and accept postmodernism.

The art movements and artists

Abstract Expressionism

Towards the end of the 1940s, the radical approach of Jackson Pollock to paint caused the prospective for the overall contemporary art to undergo a revolution. To a particular level, he realized that the move towards coming up with artwork was as significant as the work of art itself. Just in the same way as the innovative reinventions of painting as well as sculpture done by Pablo Picasso towards the end of the century through the constructed sculpture as well as cubism, Jackson Pollock defined afresh how art is supposed to be set up at the time when the century was in the middle.

Generally, abstract expressionism build up and made larger the descriptions and potentials that were at the disposal of the artists for the setting up of art’s fresh networks. In one way or the other, the innovations set up by Pollock among other artists like Barnett Newman, Hans Hofmann, and Mark Rothko just but to name a few made a way for the realization of the diversified and wide-scoped art that came after them.

Pop Art

This was employed by Lawrence Alloway to describe the paintings that made renowned the consumerism of the epoch that came after the Second World War. This movement did away with Abstract Expressionism and did not accept it. It rejected the focus of Abstract Expressionism on the psychological interior as well as hermeneutic in support of art that portrayed and normally made renowned advertisement, material consumer way of life, and iconography of wide creation era.

Some of the artists’ works considered to be the seminal examples in this movement include the works of such people as John McHale, Edwardo Paolozzi, David Hockney, and Richard Hamilton. Varied opinions have come up regarding whether this movement is postmodern or late modernist. Thomas MacEvilly and Dave Hickey suggest that this movement is postmodern. Thomas concurs with Dave and suggests that postmodernism in the visual arts came up with the initial display of pop art in the year 1962. The inclination of this movement towards being postmodern is seen in its breaking down of what is referred to as the “Great divide” by Andreas Huyssen between “popular culture” and “high art”.

Fluxus

This movement was organized in the year 1962 by George Maciunas who was an American artist. This movement boosted “A do it yourself” artistic simplicity that was highly prized and discouraged complexity. Just like Dada that had come up earlier on, this movement comprised a powerful anti-commercialism current and an anti-art awareness, disapproving the predictable market-driven field of art and backing a creative practice that is centered on the artist. The artists of this movement chose to operate with any available material and came up with their work and in other cases working together to create the work collectively.

There is criticism that comes from one person by the name of Andreas Huyssen in who opposes claims of Fluxus for postmodernism. According to him, he views this movement as a main “Neo-Dadaist phenomenon” in the tradition of the avant-garde. Fluxus was not a representation of a big step forward in the building up of the strategies of art (Huyssen 196).

Conceptual art

This movement turned out to be a significant development in contemporary art towards the end of the 1960s. The movement offered a critical assessment of the status quo. In the course of the 1960s, the late modernist grew bigger and then shrank and among some people, they regarded conceptual art as having made an absolute break from modernism. This movement is at times branded as postmodern since it specifically engages in the destruction of what builds a work of art. Dunchamp can be viewed as the pioneer of this movement.

Installation art

This is a kind of contemporary art that came to be renown in the course of the 1970s. Most people trace the origins of this movement to the artists who came up earlier on, such as Marcel Duncham and his utilization of the readymade art objects instead of the sculpture that is built upon the basis of the traditional craft. The artist’s aim is dominant in the installation art that came up at a much later time whose origins can be traced in the conceptual art that came up in the course of the 1960s. More so, this is a break from the traditional sculpture which concentrates on the form.

Installation art is a significant series of movements in art that have, continuously, acquired a description as postmodern, engaged installation art, and bringing about of artifacts whose nature is conceptual. This can be illustrated through Jenny Holzer’s signs which employ the art’s machinery to pass over specific messages. An example of such a messages is “Protect me from what I want”.

This movement has been quite significant in giving a determination of the spaces that are chosen for the contemporary art’s museums to enable the holding of the big works formed by huge collages of the objects that are either found or manufactured.

Intermedia and Multi-media

This is another movement in art that has been linked to postmodern terminology. This is a trend that involves the use of several media collectively. “Intermedia” refers to the concept that was used in the course of the mid-1960s by Dick Higgins – who was the Fluxus art – to describe the activities inexpressible, cryptic, and interdisciplinary that come about between genres that turned out to be common in the course of the 1960s.

Among the most renowned “multi-media art” forms is the utilization of the CRT monitors as well as the video tapes. This is generally referred to as Video art. Whereas the theory of coming up with a combination of several arts to come up with a single art is something that is very old and has been renewed over and over in the cause of different periods, the postmodern demonstration is normally in arrangement with performance art, where the spectacular suggestion is eliminated and what remains behind is the definite statements the artist under consideration or the conceptual statements of their deed.

Conclusion

In the field of art, the specific modernism behaviors which are quoted are in overall terms, medium specificity, the significance of general art truth, art for its own sake, formal purity, and the significance of avant-garde and inventiveness. But this point is among the sources of controversy in the field of art, where several arguments arise from various institutions on the basis that having a vision and foreseeing in the future and forward-moving are critical to the art’s mission in the current times and postmodern thus is a representation of a contradiction of the worth of art of the current times.

Works Cited

Andreas, Huyssen. Twilight Memories: Marking Time in a Culture of Amnesia, Routledge, 1995. p196. ISBN: 0415909341.

Miller, Tyrus. Late modernism: politics, fiction, and the arts between the world wars. University of California Press, 1999. ISBN: 0520216482, 9780520216488