Readings:

• Chapter 19: Abstract Expressionism and the New American Art
• Chapter 20: Postwar European Art
• Chapter 21: Pop Art and Europe’s New Realism
• Chapter 22: Sixties Abstraction

This lecture we reviewed some of the major trends in European art after the second world war by looking at the art of Jean Dubuffet,

Jean Dubuffet "Dhotel nuance d’abricot" 1947

Jean Fautrier, Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana,

Lucio Fontana "Concetto Spatiale" 1959

and Francis Bacon.

Francis Bacon "Painting" 1947

From there we moved back to the United States to look at trends in abstraction in the 1960s by viewing the works of Helen Frankenthaler,

Helen Frankenthaler "Mountains and Sea" 1952

and Morris Louis.

Morris Louis "Nun" 1959

We closed the lecture by looking at op art and some work by Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley.

Bridget Riley "Cataract" 1967

Viewings:

• Slides from Lecture 26

Readings:

• Chapter 20: Postwar European Art
• Chapter 22: Sixties Abstraction

We began the last quarter of the semester by discussing the shift of the art world to New York City after World War II.

We looked at the work of two artists who served as direct links to the new style of abstract expressionism: Hans Hofmann

Hans Hofmann, "Rising Moon" 1964

and Arshile Gorky.

Arshile Gorky, "Garden in Sochi" 1943

We then focused on the two primary sides of what is called abstract expressionism: action painting in the works of Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning, "Excavation" 1950

and Jackson Pollock.

Jackson Pollock, "Lavender Mist" 1950

And color field painting in the works of Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko, "Orange and Yellow" 1956

We then went to the art gallery to begin our last in-class assignment.

Viewings:

• Slides from Lecture 25

Readings:

• Chapter 19: Abstract Expressionism and the New American Sculpture

This lecture we viewed and discussed futurism and some of the more radical extensions of cubism in the work Malevich and Mondrian.

In futurism, a movement centered in Italy, we discussed how this movement was a literary one: the first of the 20th century to issue a manifesto. This would become commonplace in many of the new artistic movement of the 20th century.

Umberto Boccioni, "The City Rises" 1910

The movement was concerned (among many things) with capturing the power, speed, and dynamism of modern urban culture. Much of its imagery was influenced by cubism but also how the camera (photography) captured motion: in ways impossible to for the human eye to see.

Kazimir Malevich "Black Square" 1913

We then viewed and discussed the work of Kazimir Malevich, a Russian artist who took the cubist style, with its emphasis on geometric form, to its most extreme in a style he referred to as suprematism.

His concern was reducing the artistic image down to its most fundamental and simple shapes that could suggest a higher spiritual ideal.

We then closed the lecture with the work of the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian.

Piet Mondrian, "Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray" 1921

Mondrian, much like Malevich, reduced his art down to its most basic: right angles, the primary colors, as well as white and black. Mondrian’s approach was much more restrictive than Malevich as he was concerned with creating a perfect equilibrium in his art.

Next class we summarize and review to prepare for the next quiz on Wednesday, October 29.

Viewings:

• Slides from Lecture 15

Readings:

• Chapter 11: Futurism, Abstraction in Russia, and de Stijl