STEP 3: WHEN WAS THE ART CREATED?
The question of “When was the art created?” and the consideration of art movements help provide an understanding of the CONTEXT in which the art was created.
ART MOVEMENT: A style of art made popular by a group of artists over a set period of time unites by their common philosophy or purpose.
Wikipedia notes how:
“An art movement is a tendency or style in artwith a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defined within a number of years. Art movements were especially important in modern art, when each consecutive movement was considered a new avant-garde movement. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an attempt to reproduce an illusion of visible reality (figurative art). By the end of the 19th century many artists felt a need to create a new style which would encompass the fundamental changes taking place in technology, science and philosophy (abstract art).”
The Eden Gallery, in a September 24, 2021 article called “Art Movement Definition” explains how:
An art movement is a tendency or a style of art with a particularly specified objective and philosophy that is adopted and followed by a group of artists during a specific period that may span from a few months to years or maybe even decades.
Art Styles vs Art Movements
The “Art is Fun” website, in an article called “Explore Art Styles” provides a useful overview of how the idea of art styles differs from art movements:
“Artworks that have certain features in common are considered to have the same style. Sometimes this means that they are part of the same movement, but not always. The concept of "movements" in art is usually linked to a specific time (and sometimes place) in history. For instance, there are painters today who still paint in an Impressionistic manner, embracing the concepts that first defined Impressionism in the 19th century. However, because they are contemporary artists who are inspired by the Impressionists, they are not really part of the original "Impressionist movement" as it exists in historical terms. Although art styles can be resurrected from the past, the movement itself is still anchored in its original position on the art history timeline.”
The Art Story website also notes how: “The most important movements, styles, tendencies, groups, and schools of Classical, Modern, and Contemporary Art.”
Sinsarenko noted that the course would give a brief overview into movements starting from the 1950s onward…
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM (The New York School)
Approximate time period: 1940s-50s
Artists: Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), Franz Kline (1910–1962), Lee Krasner (1908–1984), Robert Motherwell (1915–1991), William Baziotes (1912–1963), Mark Rothko (1903–1970), Barnett Newman (1905–1970), Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974), Richard Pousette-Dart (1916–1992), and Clyfford Still (1904–1980)
Abstract expressionism was a new form of abstract art which emphasized energetic brush strokes and a sense of being painted spontaneously.
Sinsarenko described how it was through this work that the artists were able to EXPRESS their emotions. They also drew attention to historical and current events. Sinsarenko described how abstract expressionists employed two types of painting techniques with their work:
ACTION PAINTING: used expressive brush strokes to make their art. Led by DeKooning and Pollock, created artwork spontaneously and impulsively using large brushes to make bold strokes, or they drizzled and splattered paint from a can or a stick onto the surface of the painting. This allowed them to transfer their inner feelings directly onto the canvas.
COLOUR FIELD PAINTING: user large blocks of one colour. Led by artists like Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Clyford Still were interested in myth and religion, creating large paintings that featured large blocks / vast expanses of flat colour. The works were meant to evoke reflection and contemplation in viewers.
The Tate also emphasizes these ideas about Abstract Expressionism, stating how:
“Abstract expressionism is the term applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning in the 1940s and 1950s. It is often characterized by gestural brush-strokes or mark-making, and the impression of spontaneity.”
The Met explains:
“Breaking away from accepted conventions in both technique and subject matter, the artists made monumentally scaled works that stood as reflections of their individual psyches—and in doing so, attempted to tap into universal inner sources. These artists valued spontaneity and improvisation, and they accorded the highest importance to process. Their work resists stylistic categorization, but it can be clustered around two basic inclinations: an emphasis on dynamic, energetic gesture, in contrast to a reflective, cerebral focus on more open fields of color. In either case, the imagery was primarily abstract. Even when depicting images based on visual realities, the Abstract Expressionists favored a highly abstracted mode.”
Video > Nerdwriter1. “How Art Arrived At Jackson Pollock.” YouTube, 26 Jun 2019.
Video > Curious Muse. “Abstract Expressionism in 8 Minutes: From ‘Jack the Dripper’ to Color Fields 🔵🟡.” YouTube, 23 Mar 2022.
Video > Kahn Academy. “Why is that Important? Looking at Jackson Pollock.” YouTube, 30 Sep 2012.
POP ART
Approximate time period: 1950s-60s
Artists: Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005), Richard Hamilton (1922-2011), Larry Rivers (1923-2002), Ray Johnson (1927-1995), Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), Jasper Johns (1930- ), David Hockney (1937- ), Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), Yayoi Kusama (1929- ), Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Sinsarenko noted that pop art developed in the 1950s-60s primarily in Britain and the United States, incorporating elements of popular and commercial culture as a basis for its work / styles.
Sinsarenko explained how Andy Warhol was a key figure in Pop Art, excelling at self promotion and making himself a work of art. He had an affinity for exploring commercial imagery, and his style emphasized the objects themselves rather than their formal presentation. He explored a variety of subjects including mass production and consumption, portraits of famous / iconic American figures (such as JFK, Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marlon Brando to name just a few).
Wikipedia confirms this definition, explaining how:
“Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the United Kingdom and the United Statesduring the mid- to late-1950s. The movement presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popularand mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane mass-produced objects. One of its aims is to use images of popularculture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any culture, most often through the use of irony. It is also associated with the artists' use of mechanical means of reproduction or rendering techniques. In pop art, material is sometimes visually removed from its known context, isolated, or combined with unrelated material.”
Rise Art, in their article called “What is Pop Art?” notes how:
“Pop Art emerged as an art movement during the 1950s in America and Britain and peaked in the 1960s. The movement was inspired by popular and commercial culture in the western world and began as a rebellion against traditional forms of art.
Pop artists felt that the art exhibited in museums or taught at schools did not represent the real world, and so looked to contemporary mass culture for inspiration instead. At the height of its heyday, Pop Art was often heralded as ‘anti-art’ for refusing to abide by contemporary art standards at the time.”
The Rise Art article also noted how pop artist Richard Hamilton broke down the characteristics of pop art in a letter to friends, stating how pop art could be:
“…broke(n) down the meaning of Pop Art into simple terms: Popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short-term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low-cost, Mass-produced, Young (aimed at youth), Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big business.”
Finally, another key set of ideas laid out by the Rise Art article on Pop Art explored how:
“…branded or commercial symbolism is an especially important theme in Pop Art. Incorporating logos or impersonal imagery reinforced the idea that art could be inspired by anything and everything, not just history, mythology or morality.
Pop Art is often characterised by bold colours, particularly the primary colours: red, blue and yellow. The colours were usually bright and similar to your typical comic strip palette. These colours weren't used to represent the artist's inner world or self as they so often did in previous, classical art forms, but reflected the vibrant, popular culture around them.
Hard-edged compositions are a popular motif used to defuse the ‘painterly looseness’ of styles like Abstraction, Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism. Many Pop Art pieces are consequently made up of distinctive or fragmented shapes. Some artists would also satirise objects by enlarging them to almost comical proportions.”
Video > Curious Muse. “Pop Art in 7 Minutes: True Art or Mass Culture?” YouTube, 9 Mar 2022.
Video > Khan Academy. “Why is this Art? Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans | Art History | Khan Academy.” YouTube, 30 Aug 2012.
MINIMALISM
Approximate Time Period: 1960s
Artists: Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967), Nassos Daphnis (1914-2010), Tony Smith (1912-1980), Donald Judd (1928-1994), John McCracken (1934-2011), Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Dan Flavin (1933-1996), Robert Morris (1931-2018), Larry Bell (1939- ), Anne Truitt, Yves Klein (1928-1962), and Frank Stella (1936- ).
Sinsarenko explained how minimalism was a form of abstract art that came to prominence in the United States in the 1960s. It focused on using simple geometric shapes such as squares and rectangles, combined with minimal elements with neutral colours to create artworks with strong visual impact.
Sinsarenko also noted how the goal of minimalism is not to recreate reality but rather to evoke a response from a viewer based solely on what they are seeing. It differs from Abstract Expressionism in that it is designed to be a purely impersonal form of art without any references to narrative or nature. Sinsarenko noted how it’s purpose is to convey the idea that a work of art can be nothing more than shape and texture in relation to space, an object without any content beyond its medium.
The Tate website also notes how:
“The development of minimalism is linked to that of conceptual art (which also flourished in the 1960s and 1970s). Both movements challenged the existing structures for making, disseminating and viewing art and argued that the importance given to the art object is misplaced and leads to a rigid and elitist art world which only the privileged few can afford to enjoy”
The Artling Team. “Minimalism 101: The Only Art Guide You Will Need.” The Artling, 13 Dec 2018.
See, Grace Ignacia. “Famous Minimalist Art That Defined the Genre.” The Artling, 6 Jun 2019.
Video > The Art Assignment. “The Case for Minimalism.” YouTube, 24 Mar 2016.
Video > Contemporary Art Issue. “Minimal Art: The 25 Most Important Minimal Artists.” YouTube, 5 Nov 2021.
HYPERREALISM (SUPERREALISM)
Approximate time period: Late 1960s-1970s
Artists: Ralph Goings (1928-2016), Chuck Close (1940-2021), Don Eddy (1944- ), Robert Bechtle (1932-2020), Richard McLean (1934-2014), Domenico Gnoli (1933-1970), Gerhard Richter (1932- ), Konrad Klaphec (1935-2023), and Roland Delcol (1942- ).
Sinsarenko described how photography became popular in the late 1960s-70s, and was used by many painters and sculptors to shorten the sitting time or their subjects. This, combined with and the belief that it can record objective reality, led to the development of hyperrealism or super realism.
Video > OKCMOA. “Photorealism Revisited.” YouTube, 19 Feb 2013.
GRAFFITI, URBAN, & STREET ART
Approximate Time Period: Late 1960s - today
Artists: Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, ZEPHYR, Jean DuBuffet, Banksy, Jean Michael Basquiat, Blek Le Rat, Keith Harring, Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink.
Sinsarenko noted how graffiti grew in prominence in the 1970s in New York City when people began using spray paint and other materials to create imagery on buildings and subway trains. Images ranged from quick still life monogram TAGS to a more complex, bright graphic style known as WILD STYLE.
Sinsarenko introduced several influential graffiti and urban street artists, including Jean DuBuffet, Banksy, Jean Michael Basquiat, and Keith Harring.
The Art Story. “Street and Graffiti Art.”
Gray, Steve. “Graffiti History - 10 Important Moments.” Widewalls, 27 Mar 2015.
Wikipedia. “Graffiti.”
Video > PBS NewsHour. “‘The History of American Graffiti’: From Subway to Gallery.” YouTube, 31 Mar 2011.
TEDx Talks. “Graffiti and street art, a lifelong photo quest | Martha Cooper | TEDxVienna.” YouTube, 14 Dec 2016.
NEO-EXPRESSIONISM
Approximate Time Period: 1970s-90s.
Artists: Georg Baselitz (1938 - ), Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), Philip Guston (1913-1980), Julian Schnabel (1951 - ), Anselm Kiefer (1945 - ).
Sinsarenko explained how Neo-Expressionism is an international revival of Expressionism. It opposed the intellectual and ideological aspects of minimalism and conceptualism with its vibrant and emotion-filled paintings which featured painting techniques with post-modern elements. Works featured intense expression, texture, and colour, taking references from history, myths, and folklore which explored large scale narratives. These paintings were marketed aggressively during this period, tying them to the period’s decadence and excess.
Artists who explored this style included Jean-Michel Basquiat who brought together graffiti, hip-hop, and Afro-Caribbean themes in his artwork. Georg Baselitz was known for his upside paintings featuring bold brushwork, and provocative imagery making him a pioneer of German Neo-Expessionism. Anselm Kiefer created artwork that explored Germany’s Nazi past using thickly applied paint and found materials to create deeply moving works of art. Finally, Sinsarenko also discussed Julian Schnabel’s work whose work created a buzz in the art world with works that combines art historical knowledge with an emotion filled personal style.
The Art Story. “Neo-Expressionism.”
Artspace Editors. “What Was Neo-Expressionism? How Artists Turned Aggressive Emotion into Arresting Paintings.” 22 Sep 2016.
Brenson, Michael. “ART VIEW; IS NEO-EXPRESSIONISM AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS PASSED?” The New York Times, 5 Jan 1986.
Tate. “Neo-Expressionism.”
Video > Art History 101. “Neo-Expressionism Introduction.” YouTube, 4 Dec 2018.
Video > Art History 101. “Neo-Expressionism Origins.” YouTube, 4 Dec 2018.
Video > Art History 101. “Neo-Expressionism Ideas.” YouTube, 4 Dec 2018.
YOUNG BRITISH ARTISTS
Approximate Time Period: 1988-
Artists: Damien Hurst, Tracey Emin, Cornelia Parker, Sarah Lucas, Jenny Seville, Chris Ofili.
Sinsarenko described the Young British Artists (YBAs) as a group of young artists who started exhibiting together in 1988. They were well known for their acceptance of a wide variety of materials and processes, daring tactics, and business minded attitudes. Sinsarenko also noted that while their work could be often shocking, there was no specific set style or method that the group embraced.
For example, Damien Hurst preserved animal bodies in one series. Cornelia Parker flattened objects with a steam roller. Tracey Emin showed off her bed as an art installation. Sarah Lucas made sculptures from cigarettes and women’s tights. Jenny Seville revolutionized the painting techniques of representing the female body. And Chris Ofili was famous for his paintings featuring the use rof elephant dung as a part of the artwork.
Tate. “Young British Artists.”
Video > Turner Contemporary. “Tracey Emin - ‘My Bed’ and JMW Turner at Turner Contemporary.” YouTube, 17 Oct 2017.
Video > The New York Sun. “Damien Hirst’s Shark at the Met.” YouTube, 17 Sep 2007.