Video Blog: Modern Art

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

          I chose the video about Matisse and Picasso because they are two artists that really inspire me. I have always favored the work of Matisse. I wanted to learn more about the life of Picasso because I have always heard he had a very unique personality.  I wanted to know more about the genre of Expressionism, which is why I chose to watch this video. I was not sure exactly which artists were attached to this label. I knew that Munch was one of them, and I was hoping that some Austrian artists like Egon Schiele might be also considered “Expressionists”.

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

         In the video “Matisse and Picasso”, the key concept that is first examined is the early career of Matisse. Matisse stunned the general public with his “fauvist” portrait, but it was appreciated and bought by Gertrude Stein. American writer, Stein, was the one who initially introduced the two painters in Paris. The two had very different personalities and styles. Matisse paints simplified figures of women, still lives and fabrics in joyful colors. In contrast, the Spanish Picasso deconstructs simple, worthless objects into angular and abstract forms, usually using darker colors. Eventually, the two artists’ friendship blooms. They admire each other’s work and use each other for feedback and inspiration.  Picasso is inspired by the odalisque figures of Matisse’s subject matter; he exaggerates and abstracts the roundness of the female figure.  Matisse barrows lines, colors and subjects from Picasso. They continue to keep in contact through their old age, though they often have disagreements. Matisse’s ultimate masterpiece was the Vence Chapel that he designed.  Jealous of him, Picasso also takes on the project of designing a chapel. Picasso is so crushed by the death of his friend Matisse that he refuses to accept it or attend the funeral.

The key concept of “Expressionism” is the analysis of several painters that are considered Expressionists. Expressionism can be described as the absolute expression of emotions. The Expressionists were generally German. We see this expression of emotions in the works by Edvard Munch. Munch was very pessimistic and haunted with anxiety, which comes through in his paintings. His anxiety over women is portrayed in the painting “Ashes”. He uses color very expressively and symbolically rather than realistically. The next artist that I learned about was Franz Marc. His paintings are much livelier and embrace the beauty of nature. He paints figures of animals such as “The Tiger”, “Deer in the Forest” and “The Blue Horse”. He uses bright colors and we see the influence of Cubism in his reconstructed style. He was a member of the artist group “The Blue Rider”, which included Kandinsky.

The video also touches on the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, who belonged to the Dresden artist association called “The Bridge”. He paints studio life in Dresden and the beautiful models in bright colors. When the group falls apart, his style changes and becomes more anxious and linear. “Five Women in the Street” shows this anxiety he has about society aims to “shows the truth of the scene”.  Max Beckman’s “The Actors” is analyzed as are the paintings of Bozelitz. Both are deeply affected and influence by WWII. Anslem Kiefer is the last of the Expressionist that is examined, though his work is more contemporary his subject matter is also influenced by WWII as well as the work of Di Vinci.

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

          These films relate to the reading in the text from Chapter 21. Pages 480 -483 explain about Matisse, Expressionism and Picasso. The reading specifically mentions “Der Blaue Reiter” group that Franz Marc was a member of. It also has a full page bio about Henri Matisse.

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

              These films really added a lot of understanding to who the major players of German Expressionism were. It gave me an in depth understanding of the meaning behind each painting. I thought that this video was a bit outdated and dry, but it was very informative. I liked the film on Matisse and Picasso because it added a lot of details to my understanding of each artist. It described their personalities so well that this film almost made me feel that I knew Matisse and Picasso personally. I also thought this was a good film because it used real interviews of people who actually knew these artists.