Chapter 20—The Twentieth Century: The Early Years

Introduction: Chapter 20 reveals the 20th century as one of accelerated change and diversity. This chapter deals with nine catalyzing movements in art from Les Fauves to Surrealism, and includes Dada and Cubism, not to mention the manifesto-laden Expressionist movements, and Abstraction in Europe and the United States.

The 20th century was one of tremendous change—from a period of riding horses or walking to an age of flight and space travel; from hand-written letters and typewriters to the cyber world of computer word-processing, digital image presentation, and the Internet. Wars, from World War I and World War II through the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, left an indelible imprint on the character of that century. Artists responded sensitively to all these transformations in a multitude of ways.

There is one intriguing Compare and Contrast in this chapter addressing the omnipresence of the Mona Lisa as an iconic image from the High Renaissance up to present day. Some of the artists have made fun of it, while some have admiringly borrowed its motif and familiarity to make a point or address a particular issue such as lesbianism. The Mona Lisa’s ties to Dada, an iconoclastic 20th-century movement, is especially of interest since Marcel Duchamp merely “rectified” a “readymade” image.

Quotes from artists Henri Matisse, Jacques Lipchitz, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Umberto Boccioni, Georgia O’Keeffe, Piet Mondrian, Jean Arp, and Jean Miró are thought provoking in terms of thinking about art in general, each individual artist’s art, or art especially of the 20th century.

Chapter 20 – Why Read It? Chapter 20 brings the text’s history of Western art to its manifestations in the early 20th century. This must seem like ancient history to anyone born in the last 20 years! From an art history standpoint, however, it is still part of the recent past. The emergence of movements from the New York School—Abstract Expressionism, American Abstraction and Surrealism—along with European movements—Cubism, Fauvism, Dada, Surrealism, and Fantasy—were responses to the dramatic changes of the new century: war, increased industrialization, and modern technology. Besides developing out of previous movements—for example, Cubism was informed by the ideas and painting concepts promoted by Postimpressionist Paul Cézanne—these early 20th-century movements had an overpowering influence on art into the late 20th century and the early 21st century. For instance, many Dada antecedents of absurdity, such as the use of ready-made objects, informed the Pop artists of the 1950s.

Chapter 20 helps you explore a period in art history that is rich, complex, and often not easily understood. Each movement, such as Futurism, emerged out of social/economical and political dynamics of its own time. Additionally, the early 20th century was a time when all things seemed to accelerate—electricity, flight, the automobile, and immigration patterns reflect the social acceleration and sense of modernity that prevailed in Europe and America. Even the art movements themselves seem to have come along more rapidly and to overlap more than before. People living in the 20th century saw their lives radically transformed by change: from the horse-drawn carriage to manned space travel; from the elegant age of the hand-written letter, boat travel, and gas street lamps to e-mail, airport hassles, and 24-hour fluorescent lighting. Artists responded strongly to this accelerated mode of change, became part of it, and contributed to it. When you think of the early 20th century, what images come to mind? How have they held up in the 21st-century world?

Understanding Concepts: How do ideas become art movements? Do you know what a manifesto is? Groups such as the Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter) and The Bridge (Die Brücke), and even the Dadaists and Surrealists, took great pains to define their beliefs and philosophical stance in collaborative writings called manifestos.

1. Explore the writings of these groups and write down three or four main points they emphasized:

•     Die Brücke:

•     Der Blaue Reiter:

•     Neue Sachlichkeit:

•     Dada:

•     Surrealists:

2. Look ahead to Chapter 21 and see if you can identify influences from the Cubists, Dadaists, Surrealists, and others in more recent art movements. A good example is the Dadaists’ use of everyday items as art infusing itself into the Pop art movement. List some of the early influences for the following movements:

•     Abstract Expressionism:

•     Color-field painting:

•     Pop art:

•     Minimalism:

•     Contemporary figurative art:

•     Neo-expressionism:

•     Photorealism:

•     Installations:

3. Recall the style spectrum you used from Chapter 4? The 20th-century allows for a wider window into the creation of some of the extremes artists achieved in abstraction and non-objective ends of that spectrum. List a few works and their specific movements fitting them into the style spectrum within abstraction and non-objective art:

Making Connections: Who were the following people: Jacques Lipchitz, Umberto Boccioni, Georgia O’Keeffe, Salvador Dalí, or Joan Miró? What do they have to say about 20th-century art? Look up two of these people and find out more about them. They all have works of art featured in this chapter. Can you find them?

A.

B.

C.

1. Now that you have read Chapters 13 through 20 is it possible to make a definitive statement about the role of art in human history? Write three brief statements you believe to be true about the development of art. How do these statements compare with some of the thoughts and ideas you had about art at the beginning of your current studies?

Statement A:

Statement B:

Statement C:

2. Look back even further into Chapters 1 through 12. How do the terms, processes, and compositional ways of looking at art assist you in viewing 20th-century art? Can you describe and explain the elements and principles of design in a Matisse (image 20-2), a Kandinsky (image 20-4), a Braque (image 20-7), a Mondrian (image 20-17), or a Miró (image 20-28)? Try a couple:

•         Matisse:

•         Kandinsky:

•         Braque:

•         Mondrian:

•         Miró:

Taking Notes: More than 20 key terms include 13 movements or aspects of movements of art in the 20th century. Take special note of the distinctions between Analytic Cubism and Synthetic Cubism, or Illusionistic Surrealism and Automatist Surrealism. The groups of Expressionists have German names significant to their philosophies and ideas about society. Look up what each group named themselves and why. Why were the Fauves called “wild beasts?”

It's easy to become "derailed" from your usual study habits towards the end of a semester. Remember to continue with the good note-taking habits you've developed for yourself over the semester. Continuing to make note-taking templates for the final chapters of the text and using quick sketching techniques whenever needed will help you be consistent in preparation for the final examination.

Preparing for Tests: The more you know about individual artists and the movements they were connected with, the better off you'll be in being able to identify specific works of art. The art movements and works of art described in Chapter 20 are diverse, yet may have commonalities in their time periods or their philosophical underpinnings, distinguishing them from other artists' works in very subtle ways. Care should be observed in studying and making these distinctions. Use your notes and spend time studying each movement, the historical influences of the time period, and the individual artists. Use the outline provided within the chapter headers as a basic guide for which artists belong to which art movements.

Review sample questions at the Understanding Art website (www.cengage.com/art/fichner-rathus9e), in the Student Test Packet, or on the ArtExperience Online for Understanding Art.

•     Sample essay question: How did World War I affect artists in Europe? Select one artist to discuss, using two visual examples by this artist to support your discussion. [Extended Essay Assignment: 2 pages minimum, double-spaced, 12-point font. Cite two research sources on a bibliographic page, not part of the length of the essay.]

Enhancing Your Observational Powers: Fantasy artists and Surrealists felt that ideas from the subconscious world of the human mind were equally valid to, if not more valid than, the "rational" world of the conscious mind as subjects for the creation of art. They felt that the theories of psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung supported their ideas, and that images from dreams or alternate states of the mind were a rich and vast realm from which to generate art, that much of the “rational” world was illusory.

1. Record, in as much detail as you can remember, a recent dream, listing objects, animals, or people you recall. Imagine transforming your dream into a Fantasy or Surrealist work of art. Would anyone viewing this work derive a sense of the original dream? List the objects, animals, and figures of people you will include in your work:

•     Objects:

•     Animals:

•     People:

•     Other (landscape features, light sources, activities):

2. Based on your knowledge of the use of collage in Synthetic Cubism, find a few pieces of paper you can arrange into your own collage. Apply the principles of design from Chapters 1 through 4 to create a work that contains aspects of Cubism.

•     Describe the elements and pieces of paper you selected to include in your collage:

•     Create a compositional sketch of what you plan to create:

[start Box]

[end Box]

•     How did you arrive at the arrangements of objects, shapes, colors, and textures found in the collage items you selected? In a few sentences, describe the composition and its meaning:

For More Understanding: Chapter 20 has provided you with a variety of artists’ names and works to give you a sampling for the early 20th century. Any of these artists—such as André Derain, Henri Matisse, Max Beckmann, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe, or Marcel Duchamp—have had much written about them. Some of them—such as Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and others—authored writings about art. Study and research some of these readily available examples in order to enhance your understanding of the drawing, printmaking, and sculptural talents of these artists. Be sure to visit the website (www.cengage.com/art/fichner-rathus9e).

ArtExperience Online for Understanding Art: Use the flashcard section to view images of early 20th-century art.

Notes and Links to Remember: