Art Smart

Most art historians tend to say the shift to modernism started in the mid to late nineteenth century. This was an era of rethinking the old rules, breaking free from the established traditions and experimenting with new ways of working. There is not one specific artwork that ushered in the modern era. It was not birthed on one specific day. It was an evolution, but if I were to look for a dividing line I would say that the modern era started around the time that Daguerre gave us his photographic method. Photography becoming more accessible changed the way artists worked. Painters were liberated in a way because they no longer needed to focus on capturing an accurate likeness. Those who wanted realistic pictures could simply take a photograph. Of course, the new technology could also threaten their livelihood as patrons could now choose between a painting and a photograph for their portraits. Regardless of whether artists considered the new technology as an opportunity or a threat, the end result was artists experimenting and becoming more abstract. They focused on things the camera could not capture. At first, the Impressionists looked at color, then Post-Impressionists moved on to the expressive qualities. As I said the work became increasingly abstract until artists like Jackson Pollock were simply dripping paint onto the canvas. So what is the connection between Impressionists focusing on what they saw and Jackson Pollock’s action painting? Why do all of these movements fall under the modern umbrella? I would say the through line with modernism is a philosophy rooted in the idea that artists could capture some objective truth that would make the work timeless and universal. The impressionists were focused on optics and how the human eye perceives color. The abstract expressionists ran with the modernist quest to distill art down to a fundamental essence and took it to its logical conclusion. They broke art down to the basic elements like line, color, and texture to create a sense of movement and an expressive composition that was free of specific subject matters which would have tied it to a time and culture.

Go to the Art Smart website (https://www.artsmartpodcast.com/art-erasmovements/modern-art) to see images of the artworks I mentioned as well as podcasts about those artists.

If you are looking for a little extra credit and want to learn more about the artists listed in this episode, check out the following episodes of Who ARTed:

Claude Monet | Water Lilies

Rodin | Burghers of Calais

Vincent van Gogh | The Starry Night

Pablo Picasso | Guernica

Jackson Pollock

Janet Sobel

Wassily Kandinsky | Yellow Red Blue

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In 1907, Pablo Picasso and George Braque developed art from a new perspective. They began creating works that seemed fragmented and at times almost unrecognizable. The idea was to show the subject from multiple perspectives all in one composition.

Art Smart is an Airwave Media Podcast.

Connect with me:

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tiktok

Support the show:

Merch from TeePublic | Make a Donation

As always you can find images of the work being discussed at www.ArtSmartPodcast.com and of course, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app. You might hear it read out on the show.

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This episode is about the Element of Art, Space. In addition to the depth created in the foreground, middle ground and background, artist think about the positive and negative space in a composition. In this episode I referenced a classic illusion playing with positive and negative space. You can find the image reference here.

If you enjoy the podcast, please follow and rate it on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to learn more about art and art history, check out my other podcast, Who ARTed, where each week I cover a different artist and their work along with fun fact mini-episodes every Friday to give you an interesting story that isn't covered in the standard art history survey course.

You can also find more information and resources at www.whoartedpodcast.com

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On Who ARTed, every week, I discuss a different work of art with a guest. I have been asked how I make sense of so many different artworks. Honestly, analyzing art did not come easily to me, and for a long time I felt uncomfortable discussing a piece because I wasn't very confident in my interpretations. I found that it helps a lot to approach things systematically. I go through three basic steps to understand any artwork.

If you enjoy this show, and want to learn more about art history, check out my other podcast, Who ARTed. Please help others discover the show by leaving a rating or review on your favorite podcast app.

Art Smart is an Airwave Media Podcast.

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This episode is about the Element of Art: Form. When shapes become three dimensional we call them forms. For example, a square is a shape but a cube is a form. Learn more about different types of forms and how you can use them in your artwork in this episode.

If you enjoy the podcast, please follow and rate it on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to learn more about art and art history, check out my other podcast, Who ARTed, where each week I cover a different artist and their work along with fun fact mini-episodes every Friday to give you an interesting story that isn't covered in the standard art history survey course.

You can also find more information and resources at www.whoartedpodcast.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices