art history

Dada  (1914-1920s) Zurich, Cologne, Berlin, Paris, New York  Disillusioned by the useless slaughter of WWI Rejected conventional methods of representation Oil and canvas abandoned Challenged the relationship between words and images; put writing in their works  Characterised by ready-mades Surrealism (1914-1920s) Inspired by psychological studies of Freud and Jung Sought to represent dreams, subconscious thought, and unspoken communication Meant to puzzle, challenge, and fascinates Sources in mysticism, psychology, and the symbolic  Not meant to be clearly understood, not didactic  Constructivism (1907-1930s)  Experimented with new architectural materials Influenced by Cubists  No precise facades 

The Jungle. Wifredo Lam. 1943 C.E. Gouache on paper mounted on canvas. 1934 C.E. Wifredo Lam remains the most renowned painter from Cuba and The Jungle remains his best known work and an important painting in the history of Latin American art and the history twentieth-century modernism more broadly. Lam’s consciousness of Cuba’s socio-economic realities; his artistic formation in Europe under the influence of Surrealism; and his re-acquaintance with Afro-Caribbean culture. This remarkable collision resulted in the artist’s most notable work, The Jungle. The Jungle, currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has an undeniable presence within the gallery: the cluster of enigmatic faces, limbs, and sugarcane crowd a canvas that is nearly an 8 foot square. Plays with perception. The artist haphazardly constructs the figures from a collection of distinct forms—crescent-shaped faces; prominent, rounded backsides; willowy arms and legs; and flat, cloddish hands...

The Two Fridas . Frida Kahlo. 1939 C.E. Oil on canvas. Facial hair indelibly marks the self portraits of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.  In an era when women still wore elaborate hairstyles, hosiery, and attire, Kahlo was a rebellious loner, often dressed in indigenous clothing. Kahlo flouted both conventions of beauty and social expectations in her self-portraits.  These powerful and unflinching self images explore complex and difficult topics including her culturally mixed heritage, the harsh reality of her medical conditions, and the repression of women. The double self portrait The Two Fridas, 1939 features two seated figures holding hands and sharing a bench in front of a stormy sky.  She painted this canvas she was divorced from Diego Rivera, the acclaimed Mexican muralist. Before she married Rivera in 1929, she wore the modern European dress of the era, evident in her first self portrait where she dons a red velvet dress with gold embroidery.  With Ri...

Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure) . Meret Oppenheim. 1936 C.E. Furcovered cup, saucer, and Spoon. Gazelle fur.  Oppenheim’s Object was created at a moment when sculpted objects and assemblages had become prominent features of Surrealist art practice.  Fetishistic qualities of the fur-lined set—as the fur imbues these functional, hand-held objects with sexual connotations.  Object insists we imagine what sipping warm tea from this cup feels like, how the bristles would feel upon our lips.  With Oppenheim’s elegant creation, how we understand those visceral memories, how we create metaphors and symbols out of this act of tactile extension. Provides feminine and masculine symbols