Magxart

  Painting is an ancient medium and even with the introduction of photography, film and digital technology, it still has remained a persistent mode of expression . So many paintings have been limned over dozens of millennia that only a relatively small percentage of them could be construed as "timeless classics" that have become familiar to the public—and not coincidentally produced by some of the most famous artists of all time. Each of my blogs on the paintings of great artists examines the following themes: A critical analysis of the artists key works The life of each artist through their most famous paintings Their social and historical background The sources of their inspiration The development of their technique Thy they deserve their recognition as one of the greatest artists of their time. https://amzn.to/41YAhv3

  JAMES ROSENQUIST (1933-2017) Time Stops the Face Continues, 2008 (oil on canvas with spinning mirror) Our Art History Timelines outline the stylistic development of Western and Modern Art from 330-1975. In order to fully appreciate the work of any artist or art movement it is necessary to understand its position in the Art History Timeline. As most new artwork is a reaction against or development of a previous style in the timeline, it is enlightening to know the artistic and historical context in which it was created. Western Art Timelines Our Western Art Timelines give you information about the artists, movements and styles in Western art from around 330 to 1880. They offer a brief explanation of the most important styles from Byzantine Art to Realism . They also list the major artists and illustrate a key painting from each movement. Western Art Timeline 1 (330-1600): Byzantine Art (330-1450), Gothic Art (1150-1400), International Gothic (1375-1425), the Early Renaissance (1...

  Pop Art was the art of popular culture. It was the visual art movement that characterized a sense of optimism during the post war consumer boom of the 1950's and 1960's. It coincided with the globalization of pop music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and the Beatles. Pop Art was brash, young and fun and hostile to the artistic establishment. It included different styles of painting and sculpture from various countries, but what they all had in common was an interest in mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture. Pop Art was a brash, young and fun art movement of the 1960's.Pop Art coincided with the globalization of Pop Music and youth culture. Pop Art included different styles of painting and sculpture but all had a common interest in mass-media, mass-production and mass-culture. Although Pop Art started in Britain, it is essentially an American movement. Pop art was strongly influence by the ideas of the Dada movement. Pop Art in America was a reaction agains...

  Surrealism was the 20th century art movement that explored the hidden depths of the 'unconscious mind'. The Surrealists rejected the rational world as 'it only allows for the consideration of those facts relevant to our experience'. They sought a new kind of reality, a heightened reality that they called 'surreality', which was found in the world of images drawn from their dreams and imagination. Surrealism was founded in Paris where many of the Dadaists had settled after the Great War. It was originally a literary movement but its unusual imagery was more suited to the visual arts and to those artists who were searching for a more consistent approach to art as an antidote to the chaos of Dada. Surrealism was first defined by André Breton in the Surrealist Manifesto of 1924. Surrealism was greatly influenced by the writings of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. Surrealism was the 20th century art movement that sought to liberate creativity from the ...

  Dadaism or Dada was a form of artistic anarchy born out of disgust for the social, political and cultural values of the time. It embraced elements of art, music, poetry, theatre, dance and politics. Dada was not so much a style of art like Cubism or Fauvism; it was more a protest movement with an anti-establishment manifesto. Dada was a form of artistic anarchy that challenged the social, political and cultural values of the time. Dada embraced elements of art, music, poetry, theatre, dance and politics. Dada aimed to create a climate in which art was unrestricted by established values. Dada was anti-establishment and anti-art. The name 'Dada' means 'hobbyhorse' or the exclamation "Yes-Yes". The Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich was the birthplace of Dada. After the war the Dadaists relocated to Berlin, Cologne, Hanover and New York. The Dadaists published 'manifestos' and magazines to help communicate their ideas. The Dadaists used techniques such as autom...

  VINCENT VAN GOGH (1853-1890) 'View of Arles-Orchard in Bloom with Poplars', 1890 (oil on canvas) Post Impressionism was not a formal movement or style. The Post Impressionists were a few independent artists at the end of the 19th century who rebelled against the limitations of Impressionism. They developed a range of personal styles that focused on the emotional, structural, symbolic and spiritual elements that they felt were missing from Impressionism. Their combined contributions form the artistic roots of modern art for the next eighty years. Impressionism was the first movement in the canon of modern art. Like most revolutionary styles it was gradually absorbed into the mainstream and its limitations became frustrating to the succeeding generation. Artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin and Georges Seurat, although steeped in the traditions of Impressionism, pushed the boundaries of the style in different creative directions and in doing so laid the ...

CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926) 'Waterlilies and Japanese Bridge', 1899 (oil on canvas) Impressionism was an art movement in France at the end of the 19th century. The Impressionists were a group of artists renowned for their innovative painting techniques and approach to using color in art. Their paintings became the most popular art form of the 20th century with the public and collectors alike. The Impressionist Artists ALFRED SISLEY (1839-99) 'Flood at Port Marley', 1876 (oil on canvas) Many artists contributed to the first exhibition of French Impressionist painting in 1874 but Claude Monet (1840-1926), Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Camille Pissarro (1831-1903), Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Alfred Sisley (1839-99) and Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) were the main figures who formed the backbone of the movement. Impressionist Painting Technique CLAUDE MONET (1840-1926) 'Wheatstacks - End of Summer', 1890-91 (oil on canvas) The Impressionists...

  THE HIGH RENAISSANCE LEONARDO DA VINCI 1452-1519) 'Mona Lisa', c.1503-06 (oil on panel) The High Renaissance relocated to Rome which became the cultural capital of the movement under the generous patronage of successive popes. Giorgio Vasari writes about this period (which he calls the 'third manner') as the highest peak of artistic achievement in which Renaissance art reached an unsurpassed level of grandeur. Some individual artists and their patrons also gained recognition for their local regions in Central Italy through the creation of significant artworks. RAPHAEL SANZIO (1483-1520) 'The Transfiguration', 1516-20 (egg tempera on a poplar panel) The path to realism in art reached its peak in the sixteenth century with Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael who achieved the classical ideals that artists had pursued since the Proto-Renaissance. The general character of this art was classical and intellectual in its concept, focusing on ideas relating to the str...

 The Early Renaissance The Early Renaissance is mainly associated with the city of Florence as the birthplace of the movement and as its main centre of artistic innovation. Early Renaissance art introduces a greater degree of naturalism by placing an emphasis on the observational drawing of the human figure. It also establishes a more precise spatial organization of the figures, buildings and landscapes through the invention of perspective drawing. Humanistic subject matter, based on the study of Classical mythology , along with portraiture and landscape evolved as acceptable subjects for art during The Early Renaissance. This marks a shift from the exclusive position held by religious art. Some artists, for example Masaccio, Fra Angelico and Piero della Francesca, followed in the footsteps of Giotto by increasing the degree of naturalism in painting within the traditional themes of Christian art. Others, such as Paolo Uccello and Sandro Botticelli , advanced the same aesthetic i...

 The Proto Renaissance The Proto Renaissance is the name given to that uncertain period of transition in Italian art as the creative influence of the Byzantine tradition began to decline. Artists saw the need for a more relevant art form that reflected the aspirations of an ambitious Italy, desperate to emerge from the stagnation of its medieval past. During the Proto Renaissance, there was a gradual development of naturalism in Italian art which was inspired by the values of Classical humanism and the anatomical beauty of Classical sculpture. You can see the start of this process when you compare two paintings by Duccio di Buonninsegna and Giotto di Bondone . In Duccio's 'Maestà', the huge altarpiece that he painted for Siena Cathedral , the artist still has one foot stuck in the flat frontal conventions of Byzantine composition. The other tries to free itself through the greater naturalism of the figures, as they turn to focus on the Christ child or, in a few distr...

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART The Italian Renaissance was a 'rebirth' of Classical values in art, literature and philosophy. It was a period of artistic development in Western Art that stretched from the revival of naturalism in the art of Giotto at the end of the 13th century to the expressive forms of Mannerism in the art of Michelangelo at the start of the 16th century. Its influence spread across Europe and gave rise to the cultural and scientific ideas that shaped artistic thought for the next five hundred years. The term 'Renaissance', which means 'rebirth' in French, was coined in 1855 by Jules Michelet in his nineteen-volume masterpiece 'Histoire de France' . The Key Elements of Italian Renaissance Art  Naturalism : A search for the perfection of form that was inspired by the naturalism of Classical sculpture. Humanism : The influence of the philosophy of Classical humanism which is revealed in the gradual shift from religious to secular subjec...