Abstract.docx

The term 'abstract art' - also called "non-objective art", "non-figurative", "nonrepresentational", "geometric abstraction", or "concrete art" - is a rather vague umbrella term for any painting or sculpture which does not portray recognizable objects or scenes. However, as we shall see, there is no clear consensus on the definition, types or aesthetic significance of abstract art. What is the Idea Behind Abstract Art? The basic premise of abstraction - incidentally, a key issue of aesthetics - is that the formal qualities of a painting (or sculpture) are just as important (if not more so) than its representational qualities. Let's start with a very simple illustration. A picture may contain a very bad drawing of a man, but if its colours are very beautiful, it may nevertheless strike us as being a beautiful picture. This shows how a formal quality (colour) can override a representational one (drawing). On the other hand, a photorealist painting of a terraced house may demonstrate exquisite representationalism, but the subject matter, colour scheme and general composition may be totally boring. The philosophical justification for appreciating the value of a work of art's formal qualities stems from Plato's statement that: "straight lines and circles are... not only beautiful... but eternally and absolutely beautiful."

cubismnoun

[U]

US UK /ˈkjuː.bɪ.zəm/ SPECIALIZED a style of modern art in which an object or person is shown as a set ofgeometric shapes and as if seen from many different angles at the same time

Symbolism in the Painting The three figures in this painting resemble characters from the Commedia dell'Arte tradition. This Italian theater form began in the 16th century and was still being used in the early 20th century. Its hallmark was to feature wellknown stock characters, who were usually masked. The blue and white clarinet player on the left is Pierrot, a naive clown who is always falling in love and getting his heart broken. His love interests often prefer the handsome trickster Harlequin, seen here in the center wearing the red and yellow colors of the Spanish flag and playing a guitar. As a suave, intelligent servant, Harlequin's character stands in stark contrast to the melancholic clown.

On the right is a singing monk. Although there is not a specific monk character in Commedia dell'Arte, they were often included in these theater performances. Sometimes the stock characters would wear the brown robes of a monk as a disguise. Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso. MoMA, New York City.

If you look carefully, you can see one more figure in the painting: a dog sprawled underneath Pierrot's chair. Although its face is hidden, you can see parts of its body peeking out from behind the musicians' legs and its shadow on the wall behind the musicians.

Introduction to Girl Before a Mirror Like the Wicked Queen in Snow White well knew, vanity is found in the reflection of a mirror. Pablo Picasso thought so - or did he? In his 1932 painting Girl Before a Mirror, he painted the image of his young French mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. What was the meaning in the mirror image of this young woman? Girl Before a Mirror was painted during Picasso's Cubist period. Cubism was a style of painting popular in Paris at the turn of the century. Picasso was one of the founding fathers of the style. All parts of the painting are painted boldly with geometric patterns. The idea of Cubism is to take an object, break it down into simple shapes, and then recreate those shapes on a canvas, presenting multiple perspectives at the same time.

Analysis of Girl Before a Mirror Picasso's Girl Before a Mirror, again, is a portrait of his young mistress. Like anyone in their teenage years and early twenties, she was known to primp in front of the mirror; but when one looks long enough into a mirror, one tends to start noticing the pimple breakout or the beginning of crow's feet by the eyes. Most people have had a session in front of a mirror where they were unhappy with how they looked. Although Marie-Thérèse was a fetching young woman, in the mirror she saw flaws in her physical beauty. Although the focus is on the girl looking into the mirror and her reflection, the background is just as important in bringing out the pattern. The diamonds of the background holding the circles bring out the circles that are the girl's breasts and belly. There are a number of interpretations that one can have for the picture:

 



The girl is looking into the mirror because she is pregnant and from the image in the mirror, she sees lopsided breasts and a fat belly. The girl looking into the mirror has an angelic face full of light, but her reflection in the mirror is dark, giving this young woman a sense of being flawed. The girl looking into the mirror has beauty as she has make-up on for the day. The reflection is how old she projects herself to be at night when she takes the make-up off.

ARMORED TRAIN

Painted in 1915, the year Italy entered World War I, this work reflects a Futurist declaration of the same year: "War is a motor for art." Although poor health prevented Severini from enlisting in the military, he was obsessed by this first fully mechanized war. Living in Paris, he witnessed the city's bombardment, and from his studio he had an aerial view of the Denfert-Rochereau station and trains transporting soldiers, supplies, and weapons. Here, five faceless figures crouch in a militarized locomotive car, aiming their rifles in unison. Smoke from gun and cannon fire eclipse the natural landscape. Severini celebrated war, which the Futurists believed could generate a new Italian identity—one of military and cultural power.

THE CITY Label: This painting captures the staccato rhythms of a modern urban environment, and the broad panorama of its buildings, scaffolding, and bridges. These architectural elements are punctuated by such signs of city life as shop window mannequins, rounded plumes of smoke, and a telephone pole, all rendered in bold, vibrant colors. Léger even included his own initials, "F L," among the array of stenciled letters, evoking the colorful billboard posters of the time.