Art and World War II: Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art

Transcript

1. Art  and  the  World  Wars:  
   Abstract  Expressionism  and  Pop  Art  
   Reading:  
   Ar,orms,  388-­‐411  
    
   Range:  
   c.  1945-­‐1975  
    
   Terms/Concepts:  
   CollecBve  Unconscious,  Social  
   Realism,  Nagasaki  and  
   Hiroshima,  Atomic  Style,  
   consumerism,  suburbs,  “The  
   American  Dream,”  mass  
   media,  kitsch,  Camp.  
   Key  Monuments:  
     Jackson  Pollock,  Autumn  
   Rhythm,  1950.  
     Willem  de  Kooning,  Woman  
   I,  1950-­‐1952.  
     Richard  Hamilton,  Just  
   What  is  it  that  Makes  
   Today’s  Homes  So  Different,  
   So  Appealing?  1956.  
     Andy  Warhol,  Marilyn  
   Diptych,  1962.  
    
   

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2. Reminders…  
   Responses  Due:  Thursday  May  9th  
    
   Final  Exam:  Thursday  May  16th  12:30-­‐2:30  PM  
    
   Final  Study  Guide  is  now  available  on  Blackboard!
    
   

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3. 6  million  Holocaust  vicBms  
   30  million  civilians  killed  
   40  million  civilians  displaced  
   

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4. Mushroom  Cloud,  Nagasaki,  August  9,  1945.  
   

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5. Norwich,  England  a]er  Lu]waffe  Air  raid,  1940s.  
   “What  is  Europe  now?  A  rubble  heap,  a  
   charnel  house,  a  breeding  ground  of  
   pesBlence  and  hate.”    -­‐-­‐Winston  Churchill  
   

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6. “The  main  premises  of  Western  painBng  have  at  last  migrated  to  the  
   United  States,  along  with  the  center  of  gravity  of  industrial  power.”    
   -­‐-­‐Clement  Greenberg  
   “[New  York]  stole  the  idea  of  Modern  Art.”    -­‐-­‐Serge  Guilbault  
   Paris  
   New  York  
   

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7. Jackson  Pollock,  The  She-­‐Wolf,  1943  
   

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8. Archetypes  
   Complexes  
   Ego  
   Jungian   Analysis  
   Myths  
   Society  
   

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9. Jackson  Pollock,  Autumn  Rhythm,  1950.  
   

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10. Jackson  Pollock,  Autumn  Rhythm,  1950.  
    

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11. Jackson  Pollock,  Lavender  Mist:  Number  1,  1950.  
    

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12. “Greenbergian”  Formalism  
    “It  follows  that  a  modernist  work  
    of  art  must  try,  in  principle  to  
    avoid  communicaBon  with  any  
    order  of  experience  not  inherent  
    in  the  most  literally  and  
    essenBally  construed  nature  of  its  
    medium.    Among  other  things,  
    this  means  renouncing  illusion  
    and  explicit  subject  mager.    The  
    arts  are  to  achieve  concreteness,  
    ‘purity,’  by  dealing  solely  with  
    their  respecBve  selves—that  is,  
    by  becoming  ‘abstract’  or  non-­‐
    figuraBve”  
    Clement  Greenberg  
    

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13. “AcBon  PainBng”  
    “At  a  certain  moment  the  canvas  
    began  to  appear  to  one  American  
    painter  a]er  another  as  an  arena  
    in  which  to  act—rather  than  a  
    space  in  which  to  produce,  
    redesign,  analyze,  or  ‘express’  an  
    object,  actual  or  imagined.    What  
    was  to  go  on  the  canvas  was  not  
    a  picture  but  an  event.    The  
    painter  no  longer  approached  his  
    easel  with  an  image  in  his  mind;  
    he  went  up  to  it  with  material  in  
    his  hand  to  do  something  to  that  
    other  piece  of  material  in  front  of  
    him.    The  image  would  be  the  
    result  of  this  encounter.”    
    Harold  Rosenberg  
    

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14. Hans  Namuth,  Jackson  Pollock  PainBng,  c.  1950.  
    “When  I  am  in  my  painBng,  I'm  not  aware  of  
    what  I'm  doing.  It  is  only  a]er  a  sort  of  'get  
    acquainted'  period  that  I  see  what  I  have  been  
    about.  I  have  no  fear  of  making  changes,  
    destroying  the  image,  etc.,  because  the  
    painBng  has  a  life  of  its  own.  I  try  to  let  it  come  
    through.  It  is  only  when  I  lose  contact  with  the  
    painBng  that  the  result  is  a  mess.  Otherwise  
    there  is  pure  harmony,  an  easy  give  and  take,  
    and  the  painBng  comes  out  well.”      
    -­‐-­‐Jackson  Pollock,  On  his  work,  1950    
    

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15. Navajo  Sand  PainBng  Ritual  for  Healing,  20th  century.  
    

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16. Hans  Namuth,  Jackson  Pollock  PainBng,  c.  1950.  
    “A  dripping  wet  canvas  covered  the  enBre  floor.  .  .  .  There  was  
    complete  silence.  .  .  .  Pollock  looked  at  the  painBng.  Then,  
    unexpectedly,  he  picked  up  can  and  paint  brush  and  started  to  
    move  around  the  canvas.  It  was  as  if  he  suddenly  realized  the  
    painBng  was  not  finished.  His  movements,  slow  at  first,  gradually  
    became  faster  and  more  dance  like  as  he  flung  black,  white,  and  
    rust  colored  paint  onto  the  canvas.  He  completely  forgot  that  
    Lee  and  I  were  there;  he  did  not  seem  to  hear  the  click  of  the  
    camera  shuger.  .  .  My  photography  session  lasted  as  long  as  he  
    kept  painBng,  perhaps  half  an  hour.  In  all  that  Bme,  Pollock  did  
    not  stop.  How  could  one  keep  up  this  level  of  acBvity?  Finally,  he  
    said  ‘This  is  it.’”  -­‐-­‐Hans  Namuth,  On  Jackson  Pollock,  1952    
    

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17. Willem  de  Kooning,  
    Woman  I,  
    1950-­‐1952.  
    

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18. Willem  de  Kooning,  Woman  I,  1950-­‐1952.  
    

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19. Willem  de  Kooning,  Woman  I,  1950-­‐1952.  
    

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20. Willem  de  Kooning,  Woman  I,  1950-­‐1952.  
    

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21. Willem  de  Kooning,  Woman  
    and  Bicycle,  1950-­‐1952.  
    Willem  de  Kooning,  Woman  
    III,  1953.  
    

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22. Willem  De  Kooning,  Study  for  
    Woman  I  with  a  cutout  of  a  
    mouth  from  a  Camel  “T-­‐zone”  
    ad,  1950.  
    

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23. Willem  de  Kooning,  
    Woman  I,  
    1950-­‐1952.  
    

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24. Mushroom  Cloud,  Nagasaki,  August  9,  1945.  
    

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25. Louis  Severance’s  Bomb  Shelter,  Akron,  Ohio,  c.  1955.  
    

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26. “Atomic”  Design  in  the  1950s.  
    

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27. The  Cold  War  
    

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28. “The  main  premises  of  Western  painBng  have  at  last  migrated  to  the  
    United  States,  along  with  the  center  of  gravity  of  industrial  power.”    
    -­‐-­‐Clement  Greenberg  
    “[New  York]  stole  the  idea  of  Modern  Art.”    -­‐-­‐Serge  Guilbault  
    Paris  
    New  York  
    

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29. Nixon  and  Krushchev’s  “Kitchen  Debate,”  1959.  
    Nixon:  “There  are  some  instances  where  you  may  be  
    ahead  of  us,  for  example  in  the  thrust  of  your  
    rockets  for  the  invesBgaBon  of  outer  space.  And  
    there  may  be  instances,  for  example  color  
    television,  where  we  are  ahead  of  you...”  
    Nixon:  “American  houses  last  for  more  than  20  years,  but,  
    even  so,  a]er  twenty  years,  many  Americans  want  a  new  
    house  or  a  new  kitchen.  Their  kitchen  is  obsolete  by  that  
    Bme....The  American  system  is  designed  to  take  advantage  of  
    new  invenBons  and  new  techniques.”    
    

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30. Levigown,  Pennsylvania—The  first  “suburb”  
    57%  of  the  world’s  steel  
    80%  of  the  world’s  automobiles  
    1950’s  Gross  NaBonal  Product:  284  billion  
    

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31. American  Dream  Home,  Indiana  Coal  and  Lumber  Company,  
    1950.  
    

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32. Bill  Owens,  from  the  photo  essay  Suburbia,  1972.  
    

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33. “Can’t  Stop  Cooking!”  BeOer  Homes  and  Gardens,  c.  1959  
    

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34. Television  in  the  American  Home,  c.  1955  
    By  1960,  87%  of  American  homes  had  at  least  one  
    television.  
    In  1962,  Time  esBmated  that  Americans  were  
    exposed  to  1,600  ads  each  day  
    

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35. The  Independent  Group,  London,  c.  1956.  
    

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36. Richard  Hamilton,  
    Just  What  is  it  that  
    Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  
    So  Appealing?  1956.  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Charles  Atlas:  
    “Adam”  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Stripper:  “Eve”  
    Archetypes  
    

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37. Richard  Hamilton,  Just  What  is  it  that  Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  So  Appealing?  1956.  
    Prepackaged,  consumable  “meat”  
    

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38. Richard  Hamilton,  Just  What  is  it  that  Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  So  Appealing?  1956.  
    

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39. Richard  Hamilton,  Just  What  is  it  that  Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  So  Appealing?  1956.  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    John  Ruskin  
    “Art  is  not  a  study  of  posiBve  
    reality,  it  is  the  seeking  for  ideal  
    truth.”  –John  Ruskin  
    

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40. Richard  Hamilton,  Just  What  is  it  that  Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  So  Appealing?  1956.  
    From  Weegee’s    Naked  City  series  
    

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41. Richard  Hamilton,  Just  What  is  it  that  Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  So  Appealing?  1956.  
    Al  Jolson’s  The  Jazz  Singer:  the  first  “Talkie”  
    

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42. Richard  Hamilton,  Just  What  is  it  that  Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  So  Appealing?  1956.  
    Forbidden  Planet  was  released  the  same  
    year  
    

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43. Richard  Hamilton,  
    Just  What  is  it  that  
    Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  
    So  Appealing?  1956.  
     
     
     
     
    Reel-­‐to-­‐Reel  
     
     
     
    Television  
    Mass  Media  
     
     
     
    Newspaper  
    

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44. Richard  Hamilton,  Just  What  is  it  that  Makes  Today’s  
    Homes  So  Different,  So  Appealing?  1956.  
     Popular    
     Transient    
     Expendable    
     Low-­‐cost    
     Mass-­‐produced    
     Young    
     Wigy    
     Gimmicky    
     Glamorous    
     Big  Business  
    

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45. Andy  Warhol,  210  Coca  Cola  Bogles,  1962.  
    “What’s  great  about  this  country  is  that  America  started  
    the  tradiBon  where  the  richest  consumers  buy  essenBally  
    the  same  thing  as  the  poorest.    You  can  be  watching  TV  and  
    see  Coca-­‐Cola,  and  you  can  know  that  the  President  drinks  
    Coke,  Liz  Taylor  drinks  Coke,  and  just  think,  you  can  drink  
    Coke,  too.    A  Coke  is  a  Coke  and  no  amount  of  money  can  
    get  you  a  beger  Coke.”    
    

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46. Andy  Warhol’s  “Silver  Factory,”  Soho.  
    

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47. Andy  Warhol’s  “Silver  Factory,”  Soho.  
    

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48. Andy  Warhol’s  “Silver  Factory,”  Soho.  
    

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49. Andy  Warhol’s  “Silver  Factory,”  Soho.  
    

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50. Andy  Warhol,  Marilyn  Diptych,  1962.  
    “When  you  see  a  gruesome  picture  over  and  
    over  again,  it  doesn’t  really  have  any  effect.”    
    “I  think  it  would  be  so  great  if  more  people  took  up  silk  
    screens  so  that  no  one  would  know  whether  my  picture  was  
    mine  or  somebody  else’s.”    
    

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51. Andy  Warhol,  Marilyn  Diptych,  1962.  
    

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52. Andy  Warhol,  Marilyn  Diptych,  1962.  
    

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53. Andy  Warhol,  Marilyn  Diptych,  1962.  
    “I  never  understood  why  when  you  died,  you  didn't  just  
    vanish,  everything  could  just  keep  going  on  the  way  it  was  
    only  you  just  wouldn't  be  there.  I  always  thought  I'd  like  my  
    own  tombstone  to  be  blank.  No  epitaph,  and  no  name.  Well,  
    actually,  I'd  like  it  to  say  'figment.'”    
    

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54. Cult  of  Fame  
    “I  love  Los  Angeles.  I  love  
    Hollywood.  They're  beauBful.  
    Everybody's  plasBc,  but  I  love  
    plasBc.  I  want  to  be  plasBc.”    
       -­‐-­‐-­‐  
    “My  idea  of  a  good  picture  is  one  
    that's  in  focus  and  of  a  famous  
    person.”  
       -­‐-­‐-­‐  
    “In  the  Future,  everyone  will  be  
    famous  for  15  minutes.”  
       -­‐-­‐-­‐  
    “It  would  be  very  glamorous  to  
    be  reincarnated  as  a  great  big  
    ring  on  Liz  Taylor's  finger.”    
    

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55. Cult  of  Fame  
    

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