Expressionism,Cubism and Subjective Reality

1. Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

     I selected Expressionism because it focuses on the works of one of my favorite artists, Munch. The video discusses some of his more famous works like The Scream and The Madonna. I also picked this video because I am interested in Expressionism and what it represents to the modern art movement.

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

     In Expressionism, I learnt that Edvard Munch often painted the same painting over and over again, each time giving the new painting a different theme and a different title. I also learnt that in Expressionism color is the most important feature that an artist uses to express himself. This, I think, allows the artist to be less concerned with detail and more with interpretation.

     Expressionism is very abstract in that it is less concerned with the physical form of its subjects and more with a desire to move away from what Osloo Franz Marc called “our wretched habit” of trying to place subjects in landscapes which mirrors our own vision instead of imagining perception from the viewpoint of the subjects. This dreamland-like quality is not only present in its clustered and disorganized vagueness but is also present in its ability to focus the eye simultaneously on multiple points.

     This quality is summarized best in Munch’s own words: “I don’t paint what I see, I paint what I saw” and it is this seeming reliance on memory that lends Expressionism its subjectivity, roughness and a very particular feel of what I like to think of as neo-bohemianism. It is for this reason that I don't consider Expressionism to be “high art” because it lacks that quality of richness that is generally associated with royalty. In fact, with its broad untidy strokes and very expressive subject matter, this is the kind of art I would expect to see on the side of a bridge, or on a wall at the local playground, painted by urchins in the middle of the night. This is not high art, it is high graffiti: deep, solemn, exhausting and uncomfortable to look at, easy to dismiss, and only memorable because its complexity is enhanced by its incoherence.

     In The Impact of Cubism, disassembling and reassembling of figures into flat planes is examined. This style of art, which is credited to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque and traces its roots to the early part of the last century, is said to have been the most influential art form since the Renaissance. Cubism is much more concerned with representing form and space and less with color and the other elements that are a big part of previous art forms.

     Unlike Expressionism, I learnt that Cubist paintings are a little harder to decipher in that they don’t seem to have a single storyline to tell. This allows the artwork to be viewed from different perspectives and from different angles.

     The video made me think that Cubism offers the most “mathematical” approach to art. Unlike other art I have seen up until now, I believe this particular art form is the easiest to numerically measure and therefore it is the most mechanical. It is blocky, full of patterns and although I found it to be less harmonious precisely because of that, it is fairly easy to see the starting and ending points in the elements. In this sense, and since it is about reassembling parts, Cubism is nothing more than a jigsaw puzzle, to be arranged and rearranged as each mind see fit.

2. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

     The videos are much more detailed in their analysis of Expressionism and Cubism as they both focus on the masters who brought this art form into popular culture. The book mentions, something that the videos don’t spend much time on, the influence of ancient cultures like those found in Iberia, Rome and Africa and their influence on artists like Picasso and the art movements they started.

     Both the text and the book place great importance on the impact this new art forms had on art as we know and appreciate it today. The text does offer a criticism of cubism in that it alludes to the fact that other artists thought Picasso and Braque were too traditional in their treatment of new subjects. These critics, like Giorgio de Chirico, felt cubism was not “truly immortal.”

3. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

     I thought the narration in The Impact of Cubism and Expressionism was excellent, neutral and very well delivered. By approaching the subjects in an objective manner and by spending time giving the backgrounds of each featured painting, it made it easier to see into the artist's mind and better under his motivations.

      By first reading the text and then watching the films, I came away with a deeper understanding of the progression of this artforms which developed at a time when so much around the world was changing because of the events of pre-world war one Europe.