Modern Artworks (Art UIL)

Modern

(1850-1950)

Info: Modern Art

• Rapid political, industrial, and global changes influenced modern art.

• Photography freed painters from having to show reality accurately.

• Many new art movements emerged (Impressionism, Cubism, Abstract Expressionism).

• There’s no single modern art style, but overall art moved from realism toward abstraction.

• Modern artists focused on expressing personal experience rather than depicting appearances.

Multiple Select

What new art movements emerged during the modern period?

• Realism

• Cubism

• Impressionism

• Abstract expressionism

Goya-

Still Life with Golden Bream

• Painted during the French occupation of Spain.

• Type: still life; depicts dead fish piled on a shore at night.

• Features: fish with large yellow eyes staring outward; stark, realistic depiction without symbolism.

• Connected to his anti-war series The Disasters of War, highlighting violence and suffering.

Artwork

• Known as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the Modern painters.

• Lived during the Napoleonic Wars, which heavily impacted Spain.

• Served as a painter for the Spanish royal family.

• Suffered a severe illness that caused hearing loss.

• Witnessed many atrocities of war, influencing his darker, more somber art.

Artist

Info: Still Life with Golden Bream

Caillebotte-

On the Pont de l’Europe

• Shows industrial Paris in cool blue tones; men on iron bridge over a railway station.

• Snapshot-like composition; figures cut off or with backs to viewer.

• Highlights power of industrialization and human isolation.

• Reflects Impressionist style: fleeting moments, changing light, real-life scenes.

Artwork

• Impressionist painter in late 1800s France.

• Wealthy, friends with Monet and Renoir; painted freely and supported other artists.

• Donated collection to French government, creating first major Impressionist museum.

• Known for innovative perspectives and capturing modern life.

Artist

Info: On the Pont de l’Europe

Cezanne-

Banks of the Seine at Médan

• Landscape painting, but built from countless short lines of color.

• Creates the sense of the landscape emerging from paint itself.

• Appears messy or unfinished at first, but reveals structure up close.

• Technique extends Impressionist methods, focusing on building forms rather than just capturing light.

Artwork

• Post-Impressionist painter; worked alongside but not part of the Impressionists.

• Focused on revealing the underlying structure of the world, not just appearances.

• Used simple geometric forms and short, repetitive brushstrokes.

• Shy, often retreated into nature for inspiration.

• Initially criticized, later recognized as “father of modern art.”

• Influenced Fauvism and Cubism.

Artist

Info: Banks of the Seine at Médan

Cassatt-

Girl Arranging Her Hair

• Depicts a quiet, everyday moment of a real girl.

• Shows imperfections and humanity, not idealized beauty.

• Uses harmonious colors (blues and pinks) to create balance.

• Paints with empathy, capturing the intimacy and beauty of daily life.

Artwork

• Born in Pennsylvania; exposed to European art through family trips.

• Moved to Paris; mentored by Edgar Degas and joined the Impressionists.

• Advocated for women’s rights and equality in art.

• Known for portraying women’s lives with dignity, depth, and psychological complexity.

• Distinguished herself from male Impressionists who often objectified women.

Artist

Info: Girl Arranging Her Hair

Van Gogh-

La Mousmé

• Portrait influenced by Japanese woodcuts.

• Uses thick brushstrokes, vibrant colors, and patterns for movement and harmony.

• Polka dots and stripes guide the viewer’s eye to the girl’s face.

• Employs complementary colors (oranges/blues and greens/reds) for balance.

• Captures energy, color, and composition in a harmonious, lively way.

Artwork

• Post-Impressionist painter; lived 1853–1890.

• Moved from Paris to Arles in 1888, aiming to create an artist colony.

• Produced over 200 paintings in Arles, a peak period of his career.

• Admired Japanese art for balance and harmony.

• Sensitive and deliberate artist; painting was joyful, not just a product of mental illness.

• One of the most important painters in history.

Artist

Info: La Mousmé

Boudin-
Washerwomen on the Beach of Etretat

• Landscape with sea, sky, rocks, and sailboats clearly visible.

• Blurry dabs of color on the beach represent women washing clothes.

• Close up: layered dabs of paint create energetic movement.

• Lack of detail helps convey the lively, shifting scene as viewed from far away.

Artwork

• Early French landscape painter; among the first to paint outdoors.

• Painting outdoors required quick work because light and movement changed constantly.

• Used small side-by-side brushstrokes to suggest color and light (like pixels).

• Developed love for the ocean while working on a steamboat as a child.

• Influenced by Dutch seascape painters after traveling to Flanders.

• Mentored Claude Monet; major influence on early Impressionism.

Artist

Info: Washerwomen on the Beach of Etretat

Sorolla-

The Blind Man of Toledo

• Painted after Sorolla’s successful Paris exhibition during travels in Spain.

• Shows a blind man walking in sunlight and shadow, with a stone bridge behind him.

• Energetic brushstrokes create a shimmering, heat-filled atmosphere.

• Combines spontaneity (light, movement) with deliberate arrangement of the scene.

Artwork

• Became internationally successful.

• Painted portraits of famous figures but preferred working outdoors in bright Spanish sun.

• Known for dazzling light, vivid color, and warm summer atmospheres.

• Worked quickly outdoors with portable easels to capture changing light.

• Style mixes Impressionist light effects with careful, thoughtful composition.

Artist

Info: The Blind Man of Toledo

Braque-

Fishing Boats (Le Perrey)

• Familiar objects (boats, houses, sky) are simplified into basic geometric forms.

• Scene appears flattened, fragmented, and shown from multiple angles.

• Creates a disorienting perspective as if the landscape is pulled apart and reassembled.

• Demonstrates the early development of Cubism’s revolutionary style.

Artwork

Artist

Info: Fishing Boats (Le Perrey)

• Key founder of Cubism (developed with Pablo Picasso).

• Influenced by Cézanne’s simplification of forms and move toward abstraction.

• Broke objects into geometric shapes and showed multiple viewpoints at once.

• Used limited colors (browns, greens, grays) to emphasize structure over color.

• Helped shift art from creating 3D illusion to embracing the flat surface of the canvas.

• Major bridge between Impressionism and later abstract art.

Modigliani-

Girl with Blue Eyes

• The girl’s eyes are empty, mask-like; face elongated and simplified.

• Not meant to be realistic—expresses mystery rather than likeness.

• Combines elegance of Renaissance portraiture with abstraction inspired by African masks.

• Creates a haunting, emotional presence through simplicity and distortion.

Artwork

• Italian-born painter who later moved to Paris.

• Inspired by Renaissance portraits, modern artists like Cézanne, and African masks.

• Created a unique style: elongated forms, simplified features, and mask-like faces.

• Not focused on realism—aimed to capture the inner essence of a person.

• His work was shocking in his time; his only exhibition was shut down by police.

• Now recognized as redefining what a portrait can be.

Artist

Info: Girl with Blue Eyes

Motley Jr.-

Portrait of My Grandmother

• Simple composition: grandmother shown against a blank wall with no distractions.

• Her expression is stoic; hands are weathered from a lifetime of labor.

• Depicts both a beloved family member and a significant historical figure.

• Emily Sims Motley was born enslaved in Louisiana and later moved to Chicago.

• Painted at age 80; shows Motley’s deep love and respect for her.

• Honors African American history through an intimate, honest portrait.

Artwork

• One of the first African American artists to gain major recognition.

• Known for vibrant scenes of African American life in Chicago (1930s–40s).

• Challenged racist stereotypes by depicting dignity, richness, and joy in Black life.

• Considered part of the Harlem Renaissance, even though he lived in Chicago.

Artist

Info: Portrait of My Grandmother

Dufy-

Golfe Juan

• Landscape with bright, flat colors, emphasizing energy over realism.

• Features a central tree bursting with orange and green, full of movement.

• Uses color to convey joy and freedom instead of 3D shading.

• Represents Fauvist focus on emotion and feeling rather than precise depiction.

Artwork

• 20th-century French painter; experimented with Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism.

• Member of the Fauvist movement, painting feelings rather than realistic appearances.

• Inspired by Cézanne’s shapes and Van Gogh’s bright colors.

• Known for joyful, energetic scenes of coastal cities and the ocean.

• Nicknamed a “wild beast” (les fauves) for bold, untamed style.

Artist

Info: Golfe Juan

Magritte-

La condition humaine

• Shows a painting on an easel that matches the landscape outside—but it’s all one painting.

• Tricks the viewer, making us question what is real and what is representation.

• Explores the human desire to understand the world (“the human condition”).

• Highlights that everyone sees the world differently, like looking through a personal “window.”

• Encourages viewers to think about perception rather than just appearances.

Artwork

• Belgian Surrealist painter, active from the 1920s onward.

• Known for making familiar objects appear strange and mysterious.

• Used realistic techniques to create dreamlike, impossible scenes.

• Favorite motifs: windows and paintings to explore perception and reality.

• Surrealism grew after WWI, questioning reality and embracing the nonsensical.

Artist

Info: La condition humaine

Wood-

Parson Weems' Fable

• Depicts the famous (but invented) cherry tree story about young George Washington.

• Parson Weems is shown pulling back a curtain, emphasizing the story as a myth.

• Young Washington has a familiar, dollar-bill face—humorous and symbolic.

• Background shows slaves on the plantation under storm clouds, hinting at deeper American history.

• Contrasts simple moral tale with complex truths, questioning how history and stories are told.

Artwork

• American Regionalist painter during the Great Depression.

• Focused on rural scenes and historical subjects.

• Mixed folk art style with modern techniques.

• Used realistic painting to make viewers think critically about history.

Artist

Info: Parson Weems' Fable

Pollock-

Cathedral

• Abstract painting; subject is the paint itself, not real-world objects.

• Uses drips, splashes, and sweeping movements to create rhythm and emotion.

• Shows how painting can convey meaning through process, color, and movement rather than depiction.

Artwork

• American painter; leader of Abstract Expressionism.

• Created art that doesn’t represent real objects or scenes (abstract).

• Painted by dripping, splashing, and throwing paint on canvases laid on the floor.

• Used body movement, color, rhythm, and emotion to guide the work.

• Abstract Expressionism emerged in New York during WWII, influenced by European artists.

• First major American art movement to impact the world; emphasized painting as an act itself.

Artist

Info: Cathedral