Chapter 5 experiments in color and form

Chapter 5
THE NEW CENTTURY:
EXPERIMENTS IN
COLOR AND FORM

Forty years prior to World War I, which started in1914, much of Europe
enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity fuelled by rapid developments in
science and technology, and by a relative political stability.
La Belle Époque, "the beautiful era“, was a golden age with prosperity that
also contributed to a remarkable renaissance in the visual arts.
By the 1890s, Postimpressionist masters such as Cézanne, Matisse, and
Gauguin, who were at the at the forefront of modernism in painting,
inspired similar experimentation in all of the arts.
Paul Gauguin travelled to Tahiti searching for an artistic redemption, a
comeback to the primitive and the exotic that could help him to find a way
in which his Art could be purified. When Gauguin embarked from
Marseilles, he predicted that color would play a more important role in
modern painting.

Gauguin would be the right man to
lead such a movement, since he
had already proved his capacity to
respond to tropical light and color.
Gauguin's escape to Tahiti was an
escape to artistic freedom.
He simplified his forms by
eliminating shadow, like the makers
of Japanese prints that he so much
admired, and divided up his canvas
into a series of bold areas and
treated those areas as an excuse
for the most daring juxtapositions
of color.
Paul Gauguin. The day of the
Gods, 1894. Oil on canvas. The
Art Institute of Chicago.

Paul Gauguin. D'où venonsnous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-
nous? (Where Do We come from? What Are We? Where Are We
Going?) 1897. Oil on canvas. The Museum of Fine Arts, boston.
This is the work that explains the entire philosophical and pictorial doctrine
of the artist. At the left corner there is a figure of an ancient mummy in fetal
position; while at the right corner, there is a baby, symbol of the life and the
innocence; the baby is surrounded by three Tahitian young women.
At the center of the picture, there is a figure of a man who takes a fruit which
symbolizes the temptation of the man. Gauguin seems to point the primitive,
the innocent, as the only one way for the artist.

The first of the major avant-garde movements in European 20th
century art, Fauvism was characterized by paintings that used
intensely vivid, non-naturalistic and exuberant colors. The style was
essentially expressionist, and generally featured landscapes in which
forms were distorted.
The Fauves first exhibited together in 1905 in Paris. The movement
was subjected to more mockery and abuse as it developed, but began
to gain respect when major art collectors, took an interest, and
acquired their art.
The leading artists of the movement were Matisse, Rouault, Derain,
Vlaminck, Braque and Dufy. Although short-lived (1905-8), Fauvism
was extremely influential in the evolution of 20th century art.
Fauvism

“Purity of Means” in Practice:
Henry Matisse’s Early Career
HENRY MATISSE's artistic career was long and varied, covering
many different styles of painting from Impressionism to near
Abstraction.
Early on in his career Matisse was viewed as a Fauvist, and his
celebration of bright colors reached its peak in 1917.
Paul Signac's paintings of Saint-Tropez bay were an important
influence on Matisse's work.

Earliest Works
This painting is considered
Matisse’s first truly modern work
despite a seemingly traditional
composition.
The dramatically tilted table in
this painting anticipates the
directions his work would take.
Still life and the nude were
Matisse’s favorite subjects
throughout his career.
Henri Matisse. The Dinner Table.
1896 – 1897. oil on canvas.
100 x 131 cm. Private Collection

Matisse used pure colors and the
white of exposed canvas to create
luminosity in his Fauve paintings.
Rather than using shading,
Matisse used contrasting areas of
pure colors. He employed these
ideas throughout his career.
The title of this painting is taken
from the refrain of Charles
Baudelaire's poem, Invitation to a
Voyage (1857).
The technique and subject matter
of this painting was inspired by
the Pointillism of Paul Signac and
Georges Seurat.
Henri Matisse. Luxe, Calme et
Volupté. 1904-1905. Oil on
canvas. 37” x 46”. Musée d'Orsay
Matisse’s Fuave Period

In this painting, Matisse
combined conventional
portraiture with brilliant color
applied across her face, dress,
and background.
The strength of the composition
comes from its geometric
structure and the color
combination.
The lack of light and shadow,
which would have added depth
to the image, have been
translated into planes of color
which resulted in flattening of
the picture plane..
Henri Matisse. Portrait of Madame
Matisse/The Green Line, 1905. Oil and
tempera on canvas. Statens Museum
for Kunst, Copenhagen

During the summers of his Fauve
period, Matisse often painted
landscapes in the south of France.
He later used the ideas developed
there to create larger compositions
upon his return to Paris.
In Joy of Life, the second of his
important imaginary compositions,
he used a landscape he had painted
in Collioure. He also used ideas
drawn from Watteau, Poussin, and
Japanese woodcuts.
The painting received mixed reviews
at the Salon des Indépendants.
Henri Matisse. The Joy of Life.
1905 – 1906. Oil on canvas.
Barnes Foundation, Lower Merion,
Pensylvania.

The Influence of African
Art
Matisse painted the nude
against a contrasting dark
background.
Hard and angular lines, are a
tribute to Cézanne and to the
sculpture Matisse saw in
Algeria.
This was the last Matisse
painting bought by Leo and
Gertrude Stein, major
collectors of early 20th century
art.
Henri Matisse, The Blue Nude: Memory
of Biskra, 1907. Oil on canvas.
Baltimore Museum of Art

Henri Matisse is primarily identified
with Fauvism. With this painting, the
artist signaled a move away from his
Fuave period.
In this new approach, Matisse had
less interest in anatomical
correctness and sought to convey
the essential qualities of his figures.
Henri Matisse, Le Luxe II,
1907–08. Casein on canvas.
Statens Museum for Kunst,
Copenhagen.

“The Wild Beasts” Tamed:
Derain, Vlaminck, and Dufy
André Derain contributed to the
development of two of the most
significant artistic movements
of the early-20th century.
Together with Henri Matisse,
and Maurice de Vlaminck,
Derain was responsible for
contributing to what would
become Fauvism.
His work created later, during
his association with Pablo
Picasso and Georges Braque,
shows his contribution to
Cubism..
André Derain, London Bridge
1906. Oil on canvas, 26 x 39"
The Museum of Modern Art, NY.

André Derain’s masterpiece The Turning Road, L’Estaque, represents the
French village, where Paul Cézanne had painted earlier. The painting's
title comes from the road that curves through the scene. Derain travelled
to southern France in 1905, where he joinined Henri Matisse.
The Turning Road, L’Estaque is ta statement that the strength of a
picture has more to do with form than with serving as a window on the
world.
André Derain, The
Turning Road, L'Estaque.
1906. Oil on canvas. The
Museum of Fine Arts,
Huston.

Maurice de Vlaminck painted the
portrait of Derain in a close-up,
and with vivid colors.
The space is flattened, by
Vlaminck’s outlining in black the
contours of the head, hair,
shoulders, and collar.
Vlaminck painted the face red,
with facial features highlighted
with strokes of yellow and green
on the nose. Both eyes have blue
lids. The moustache is also
painted in blue.
Maurice de Vlaminck. André
Derain. Oil on cardboard.
1906. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, NY.

Robert Dufy discovered
Fauvism in 1905 and never
abandoned it. Dufy
combined the Fauvism’s
avant-garde formal
principles with a decorative
aesthetic in his work as a
textile designer.
Raoul Dufy. Street Decked
with Flags 1906. Oil on
canvas. Musee National
d’Art Moderne, Paris.

Religious art for Modern Age:
Georges Rouault
Georges Rouault drew inspiration
from French medieval masters, and
united religious and secular
traditions.
His work, influenced by Vincent van
Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Paul
Cézanne, was included in the 1905
Paris Salon d’Automne, alongside
the Fauves.
Rouault’s artistic and religious
evolution were intertwined.
The Old King was painted over a
period of twenty years.
Georges Rouault. The Old King.
Oil on Canvas, 1936. Carnegie
Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

The Belle Époque on Film:
Lumiére Brothers and Larrtigue
The end of the 19th Century in
European history is known as the
Belle Epoque. During this period,
Auguste and Louis Lumière started
their careers, working together in
their father’s photographic factory.
The two brothers designed the
machines necessary to automate the
factory production and invented a
new photo plate, ‘etiquettes bleue’.
In 1895, the Lumière brothers
invented the first movie camera and
projector and became the world’s
first filmmakers. During the same
year they produced 10 short films
which they showed around Europe.
Auguste and Louis Lumière:

Henri Matisse. Harmony in Red (The
Dessert), 1908. Oil on canvas.
The Hermitage Museum. St.
Petersburg.
Modernism on a Grand
Scale: Matisse’s Art after
Fauvism
This painting by French artist He
nri Matisse, lacks a central focal
point.
The painting was commissioned
as "Harmony in Blue," but
Matisse was dissatisfied with the
result, and he painted it over
with his favored red.
The same pattern on the
wallpaper and tablecloth flatten
the space considerably.

In 1909 Matisse received a commission from
wealthy Russian industrialist, Sergei Shchukin
who asked him for three large scale canvases
to decorate the spiral staircase of his mansion,
the Trubetskoy Palace, in Moscow.
In Dance II, the figures are drawn loosely, with
almost no interior definition. Their formless
and unrestricted movements don’t show how
hard Matisse worked to make this painting
seem effortless.
If these figures would have been painted with
the frozen density of Jacques Louis David’s
style, the sense of pure joy, the sense of play
would have been completely lost..
Henri Matisse. Dance (II),
1909-10. Oil on canvas.
Petersburg.

The colors of these five figures,
related to the Dance (II), attest
once again to Matisse's
insistent simplification.
The themes of Music and Dance
are connected at a slightly
earlier stage in Matisse's career.
The pipe player, second from
left in the 1910 Music, evokes a
recumbent figure from Joy of
Life.
Henri Matisse. Music, 1909-10.
Oil on canvas.
Petersburg.

The Red Studio depicts some of
Matisse's paintings, sculptures, and
ceramics, displayed in his studio.
The artworks appear in color and in
detail, while the room's architecture
and furnishings are indicated only
by line drawings mostly in yellow.
This painting was an attempt to find
a color that would resist the illusion
of deep space.
Despite Matisse’s effort to ignore
the perspective of the room, the
viewer still sees the room as an
inhabitable space. Illusion still
triumphs.
Henri Matisse. The Red Studio,
1911. Oil on canvas.
The Museum of Modern Art, New
York

Forms of the Essential:
Constantin Brancusi
Brancusi entered the Craiova School of
Arts and Crafts at the age of 18. After
graduation he enrolled in the Bucharest
School of Fine Arts, where he received
academic training in sculpture.
In 1903, Brâncuși traveled to Munich,
and from there to Paris. He worked for
two years in the workshop of Antonin
Mercié of the École des Beaux-Arts, and
was invited to enter the workshop of
Auguste Rodin where he stayed only for
two months.
Constantin Brancusi
(Romanian). 1876 – 1957

After leaving Rodin's workshop,
Brâncuși began developing the style
for which he is known.
Around this time Brâncuși began
crafting the bases for his sculptures
with much care and originality
because he considered them
important to the works themselves.
One of his major groups of
sculptures involved the Bird in
Space — simple abstract shapes
representing a bird in flight. TConstantin Brancusi ‘s
studio. 1920. photograph
by Edward Steichen

Bird in Space shows the bird theme in
Constantin Brancusi’s work which can
be traced to the Maiastra sculptures
(1910–18) through the Golden Bird
(1919) group and, finally, to the Bird in
Space series.
Sixteen examples of the Bird in Space
sequence, dating from 1923 to 1940,
have been identified.
The streamlined form of the Bird in
Space (1932–1940), represents the
essence of the flight itself rather than
describing the appearance of a
particular bird.
Constantin Brancusi. Bird in
Space. 1932–40. Polished
brass. The Solomon R.
Guggenheim Foundation

Brancusi's work was inspired by
myths, folklore, and "primitive"
cultures.
These traditional sources of
inspiration are in stark contrast to
the highly polished appearance of
his works resulting in a distinctive
blend of modernity and
timelessness.
Brancusi use of marble, stone,
bronze, wood, and metal was
dictated by the specific forms of
his sculptures..
Constantin Brancusi. The
Kiss. 1916. Limestone.
Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This is the first of Brâncuși's several
variations of Endless Column.
The artwork refelcts Brancusi’s focus
and affinity for the sacred and cosmic
Endless Column also focuses on the
theme of Brâncuși's work, the idea of
infinity.
The Endless Columns in this image
was the version that served as the
centerpiece of the ensemble of
sculptural memorial to fallen soldiers in
World War I erected in Tirgu-Jiu,
Romania in 1935.
Constantin Brancusi. The
Endless Column. 1937–38.
Cast iron. 98ft high. Tirgu-Jiu,
Romania.

Chapter 5 experiments in color and form

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