| The
keyword for 20th century art is abstraction,
even though abstraction has been present
in western art ever since pigment was first
placed on cave walls and three dimensional
figures were created. Indeed, European artists
from Egyptian tomb painters to medieval
manuscript illuminators to J.M.W. Turner,
incorporated abstract imagery in their art.
In America too, abstraction has been around
"from the beginning". One has
only to look at the work of the early limners
and gravestone makers as well as that of
the Amish quiltmaker and itinerant carver.
One
of the key questions for 20th century art
is: Who created the first completely abstract
painting? Vrubel? Kupka? Picabia? Wassily
Kandinsky's non-objective paintings are
frequently cited as the "first"
but these were actually done a few months
after Arthur Dove's series of paintings
had been done in America independently of
European influence. Indeed, the work of
all these artists became a self-conscious
means of visible expression. One thing we
can agree on, though, is that out of all
these efforts, abstraction became the defining
artistic language of the 20th century.
The
works in this gallery highlight some of
the achievements of 20th century artists
and, at the same time, they touch on the
vital flow of artistic influence from Europe
to America. It begins with the cubism which
is found in Alfred H. Maurer's Portrait
of a Man and goes on to the modified Fauvism
in Milton C. Avery's Susan with Orchid and
William Baziotes' untitled Surrealist inspired
painting. Cubism, as developed by Pablo
Picasso and Georges Braque represented nothing
less than the total reconstitution of images
in space, but it was still grounded in the
objective. So, too, was the work of the
Fauvist artists like Henri Matisse and Andre
Derain who chose non-naturalistic color
for expressive purposes. The "object"
was still at the heart of Surrealism as
advocated by Andre Breton, which rejected
the reality of the senses and the order
of reason.
Despite
these developments, the American concern
for objects found a new relevance and vitality
within the context of 20th century painting.
For example, the basic concepts and techniques
that lay at the root of still life - spatial
arrangement, illusionism and surface treatment-
made it well suited for the reconstruction
of its forms, relationships and textures.
See Ken Keeley's Tiffany Jewels and the
still life passages in Milton C. Avery's
Susan with Orchid and Ann Chernow's The
Hangout.
This
part of the Museum's collection thus illustrates
the rejection of tradition and the acquisition
of new standards and values concerning reality
which was fueled by examples from what were
thought to be less developed civilizations
and the felt need to revert to childhood.
Ironically, skeptics often dismiss modern
art as something a "two-year old might
do" while modernist artists, in the
belief that children can perceive the essence
of an object, appropriated their characteristics.
So
it was that by 1940 Abstract Expressionism
emerged in New York. Penetrating the hidden
world beyond conscious organization and
the limitations of the image, artists became
concerned with the act of painting as the
way to universal understanding. Streaks,
splotches and slashes of paint became visions
of primordial emotions. No longer concerned
with illusion and with renewed demands for
large canvases to transmit heroic content,
Abstract Expression at last kicked over
all the traces.
Work
in this format is represented by Friedel
Dzubas, Albert Kotin and Richards Ruben.
With form eliminated, the presence of raw
materials in their original state could
also become works of art on the declaration
of their maker's claim as "artist".
This became true for sculpture as well as
painting.
Please
note, paintings, objects and artists represented
on the website may not be on view at all
times.
Ronald C. Roth
Director & CEO |
|
