Art1100 LVA 21-3 Modernism to WWII Online

Art 1100
Joan Jonas
“They Come to Us without a Word”
U.S. Pavilion,Venice Biennale, 2015

Modernism
Between WWI and WWII

Dead French soldiers in the Argonne.
WWI remains one of the bloodiest and most destructive
wars ever. Its global impact on humanity was devastating.
The allied powers -- Germany, France, and Britain - did not
make any great gains and suffered and inﬂicted
extraordinary casualties.
The Battle ofVerdun, for
example, lasted nine
months and resulted in
300,000 dead and
750,000 injured.
The war resulted in nearly
9 million deaths
WWI

American railroad artillery
detachment posed on a
14in. rail gun near
Bassons, Gironde, France
after the war.
WWI
Part of the severity of World War I came from the inﬂuence of
industry and science. New weapons; tanks, machine guns,
poison gas, and larger artillery, with old style tactics lead to
slaughter.
The promise of modernism just delivered more efﬁcient ways to kill
people quickly.

Modernism
Escape the inﬂuence of history.
Belief in cultural progress (linear history).
Belief in science as a virtue (objectivity).
Belief in universal truths that can be discovered.
Fascination with the “Primitive” or elemental.
In painting this was interpreted as “paint” being
independent from image thus “escaping” its role
as an imitation of life.
Motto:“Make it new!”

Bauhaus: Movement based on the belief
that good art and design promote good
society.
Utopia
A perfect and just society
Built by man
Between the Wars
Dada: Movement based on distrust of
rationality and “progress”.
Dystopia
Exploitive and unjust societies
Also built by human hands.

The dark side of science and technology was revealed
when every major power in Europe was drawn into
World War I beginning in 1914.The ideal of progress
was shown to be utterly hollow, and 9 million people
lost their lives in one of the bloodiest wars in history.
DADA:
A group of artists waiting out the war in Zurich, in
neutral Switzerland, banded together in a protest art
movement called Dada.
Dada is a nonsense word, which these artists felt
embraced the irrationality and chance of humanity itself.
Dada: anti-modernism

"In principle I am against manifestos,
as I am also against principles."
- Tristan Tzara, 1919

Dada
Chance
compositio
ns
Belief in the
irrationality
of chance.
A deﬁnitely
anti-
modernist
point of
view.
Hannah Höch, Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada through Germany’s Last Weimar Beer Belly Cultural
Epoch, 1919.

Collage:
Art technique,
incorporating the use of
pre-existing materials
or objects attached as
part of a two-
dimensional surface.
Closely associated with
20th-century art, as a
metaphor for the pace
and discontinuity of the
modern world.
Hannah Höch:Astronomy and
Movement Dada, 250×190 mm,
drawing and collage, 1922

To make a Dadaist poem:
• Take a newspaper.
• Take a pair of scissors.
• Choose an article as long as you are planning to
make your poem.
• Cut out the article.
• Then cut out each of the words that make up
this article and put them in a bag.
• Shake it gently.
• Then take out the scraps one after the other in
the order in which they left the bag.
• Copy conscientiously.
• The poem will be like you.
• And here you are a writer, inﬁnitely original and
endowed with a sensibility that is charming
though beyond the understanding of the vulgar.
-Tristan Tzara

The Author of the Book "Fourteen Letters of
Christ" in His Home, Johannes Baader (1920).
Indestructible Object (or Object to Be Destroyed)
Man Ray 1964 (replica of 1923 original).

• Experimented with Cubism early in his career.
• Associated with Dada and Surrealist artists.
• Created the idea of the artistic “ready-made”.
• One of the most inﬂuential artists of the modern era.
Marcel Duchamp
(b 1887; d 1968)
French painter, sculptor
and writer, active also in
the USA.

Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q., 1919.
Rectiﬁed ready-made, pencil on a
reproduction of the Mona Lisa,
“L.H.O.O.Q.,” when
read aloud sound
phonetically similar
to the French slang
phrase elle a chaud
au cul, politely
translated as “she’s
hot for it,”

Duchamp writing in”The Blind Man” NYC 1917

Marcel Duchamp,
Fountain, 1963 replica
of 1917 original.
“Readymade”: an
everyday object
used as art.
Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp, Bicycle
Wheel, 1951.Third version,
after lost original of 1913.
Assemblage,

"One can shout out through refuse."
- Kurt Schwitters, 1919

Duchamp’s Readymade
To accept the readymade as art would mean that the
work of the artist can be only selection. This implies that
art is not the result of a crafting process, but rather a
naming process.
Realize that photographer’s don’t really “craft” the
images that they “ﬁnd”, rather they select them from the
world with their viewﬁnders, and the camera (a machine)
crafts the image. Duchamp “readymade” is just a
sculptural version of this same process.
Leads to new types of questions...
“What is art?”
“How do we know it’s art?”
“Who determines if it’s art?”

Bottlerack, 1961 (replica of 1914 original)
Marcel Duchamp

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Founder of “psychoanalysis”. Provided a critique of human
consciousness, that modern life was hard because of sexual
repression in early life.
Major concepts:
•The “unconscious” or the drives.
•Therapy based on self-realization of trauma and free
association to reveal the unconscious. “Catharsis”
•“Oedipus complex”
•The divided human mind.
•Ego - Conscious self - reality principle
•Id - Unconscious self - pleasure principle.
•Superego- Unconscious internal societal norms- ego ideal.
Major Works: The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900

The randomness and irrationality that the Dada movement
perceived in modern life was given an explanation by
Sigmund Freud and the popularization of psychoanalysis.
Instead of being truly random, the world instead showed the
movement of the “drives” in the subconscious mind. Only by
becoming more aware of the actions of your own mind, and
the minds of others could you really understand the world.
Hence a majority of Dada’s followers become Surrealists.
Surrealism

Surrealism
Salvador Dali (1904- 1989)
Spanish artist from Madrid who traveled to
Paris in 1928, where he met the Surrealists.
Dalí’s contribution to Surrealist theory was
the “paranoid-critical method,” a.k.a. the
mind’s ability to misread ordinary
appearances.
Other Artists
Andre Breton
Juan Miro
Yves Tanguy
Max Ernst
Key themes: sexuality, violence, and decay.
Includes more recognizable ﬁgures and
forms but they also reveal the visual
wonders of a subconscious mind run wild.

The Accommodations of Desire, 1929
Salvador Dalí (Spanish, 1904–1989)
Surrealism

Andre Breton’s Deﬁnition of Surrealism
“Psychic automatism in its pure state... Dictated by
thought, in absence of any control exercised by reason,
exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern.”
Two methods...
1). automatic writing a.k.a.“stream of consciousness”
2). using the irrational narratives of dreams.
3). walking with no destination.
Goals....
Greater truthfulness in depicting the actions of the
unconscious than conscious mind.

Portrait of Gala
Salvador Dalí
(Spanish, 1904-1989)
1935.
Surrealism

Surrealism
Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory, 1931.

It epitomizes Dalí's theory of "softness" and "hardness", which
was central to his thinking at the time. It is possible to
recognize a human ﬁgure in the middle of the composition, in
the strange "monster" that Dalí used in several period pieces
to represent himself – the abstract form becoming something
of a self-portrait, reappearing frequently in his work.
The orange clock at the bottom left of the painting is covered
in ants. Dalí often used ants in his paintings as a symbol for
death, as well as a symbol of female genitalia.
The clocks may symbolize the passing of time as one
experiences it in sleep or the persistence of time in the eyes of
the dreamer .
Surrealism

Illumined Pleasures, Salvador Dalí, 1929
Surrealism

Enigma of Desire: My ...Dali, Salvador, 1929
Surrealism

Great Masturbator, Dali, Salvador, 1929
Surrealism

Joan Miro, Person Throwing a Stone at a Bird, 1926.

Joan Miró, Carnival of the Harlequin, 1924-1925

Cadavre Exquis (French) with André Breton
(French, 1896-1966), Max Morise (French,
1900-1973), Jeannette Tanguy, Pierre Naville
(French, 1900-1993), Benjamin Péret (French,
1899-1959),Yves Tanguy (American, born
France. 1900-1955) and Jacques Prévert
(French, 1900-1977) 1928.
The Portrait
René Magritte, 1935
Surrealism

René Magritte
Belgian, 1898–1967
TimeTransﬁxed, 1938
Surrealism
Surrealism
Our unconscious orders our
thoughts and “real life”.
By losing oneself, through
dreaming, automatism or
getting lost on a walk the
unconscious object of desire is
revealed.

The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí, 1952-54.
Surrealism

Man Ray, Champs
delicieux, second
rayogram, 1922.
Rayogram
Made by placing objects
directly on the negative and
exposing it to light.
Surrealism and Photography

Composition, 1929
Maurice Tabard
(French, 1897–
1984)
Surrealism and Photography

Bunuel and Dali,An Andalusian Dog, 1928.
Film
Artists and Film

Salvador Dalí. Venus
de Milo with Drawers.
1936. Original
plaster of 1936 with
metal knobs on the
drawers and white
fur tuft covers.
Surrealism

Lobster Phone by Salvador Dalí, 1938.
Surrealism

MaeWest's Lips. Produced by Green & Abbott; artist Salvador Dali;
Edward James, 1938, Felt and wood
Surrealism

Meret Oppenheim, Fur-covered Cup, Saucer, and Spoon (Le Déjeuner en Fourrure), 1936.
Surrealism

Meret Oppenheim ‘my nurse' 1936

Building New Societies
Across Europe a more optimistic approach to the
postwar landscape emerged. It tried to use
industrialization to positively inﬂuence human behavior
by making better and more beautiful objects and
buildings.
•Bauhaus: German design school
•Constructivists: Russian academic art
•De Stilj: Dutch art and design
Created Modern versions of ﬁne art, typography [fonts],
graphic and industrial design and architecture.

Building New Societies: Constructivism
Suprematist Composition:White
on White, 1918
Kazimir Malevich (Russian, 1878–
1935)
Oval Hanging Construction Number 12, ca.
1920
Aleksandr Rodchenko (Russian, 1891–1956)

Modernist artists thought that through a process of
getting rid of the superﬁcial elements, an artist could get
down to the “bare bones” reality of the universe.
Abstraction:
The opposite of representation.
Removing recognizable images.
Simplifying shapes
For Mondrian and the Bauhaus, the essential (primal)
element was Geometry, particularly the square, circle
and triangle.
Building New Societies

Samovar, Kazimir Malevich (Russian, born
Ukraine. 1878-1935) 1913.
Suprematist Composition:Airplane Flying. Kazimir
Malevich (Russian, born Ukraine. 1878-1935),
1915

Rechevik. Stikhi
Aleksandr Rodchenko
(Russian, 1891-1956)
Pamiatnik III Internatsionala,
Vladimir Tatlin (Russian,
1885-1953)

Demitasse Cup and Saucer, 1923
Nikolai Suetin (Russian, 1897-1954)

Building New Societies: De Stijl
Composition with Red, Blue, Black,Yellow, and Gray
Piet Mondrian1921
Tableau I: Lozenge with Four Lines and Gray
Piet Mondrian 1926.

Building New Societies: De Stijl
Gerrit Rietveld INTERIOR ,
SCHRÖDER HOUSE ,WITH “ RED - BLUE ” CHAIR, 1925.

Bauhaus: (“House of Building”) An inﬂuential school of
avant-garde art and design active from 1919- 1933 in
Germany, and then later in Chicago.
•Founded by Walter Gropius (1883-1969).
•Brought together German artists, architects, designers,
and craft workers.
•Their goal was to create an integrated system of design
and production.
• Gropius developed a craft-based curriculum that
would turn out artisans and designers capable of
creating useful and beautiful objects appropriate to this
new system of living.
Bauhaus: renewing Modernism

Bauhaus Faculty
Paul Klee, Josef and Anni Albers,Wassily Kandinsky, László
Moholy-Nagy, Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Static-Dynamic
Gradation, 1923
Paul Klee (German,
1879–1940)
Homage to the Square:
With Rays, 1959
Josef Albers
The Garden of Love
(Improvisation Number 27), 1912
Wassily Kandinsky

Paul Klee, Landscape withYellow Birds, 1923
Building New Societies: Bauhaus

The Bauhaus combined elements of both ﬁne arts and design
education.The curriculum commenced with a preliminary
course that immersed the students, who came from a diverse
range of social and educational backgrounds, in the study of
materials, color theory, and formal relationships in
preparation for more specialized studies.
This partnership between ﬁne art and industry became a
model for interior design, architecture and design in general.
Many of the recognizable pieces of furniture and our built
environment have their origin in the Bauhaus.

Nesting Tables Model ...
Marcel Breuer
Design date: 1925-26

"MR" armchair, 1927
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (American, born
Germany, 1886–1969), Designer
Tubular steel, painted caning
Tea infuser and strainer, ca. 1924
Marianne Brandt (German, 1893–1983)
Silver and ebony

"Wassily" chair, 1925
Marcel Breuer
Sought a unity of the art, craft,
typography, architecture etc.
through design.
Believed that designed objects
could inﬂuence behavior.
Helps bring about important
“modern” innovations in
typography, design and
architecture.

Barcelona chair
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
1929/ca. 1950s

Staatliches Bauhaus,Weimar,
1919–1923, 1923
Walter Gropius (German,
1883–1969) et al.
Book-printed halftone,
photographs, and
lithograph
Neuer
Kunstsalon am
Neckartor
(New Art Salon
at Neckartor)
Oskar
Schlemmer
(German,
1888-1943)

Bauhaus Lettering Set (Kombinations-Schrift)
Josef Albers (American, born Germany. 1888-1976)
1926-31
Kandem Bedside Table Lamp
Marianne Brandt (German,
1893-1983) and Hin Bredendieck
(German, 1904 - 1995)
1928

Herbert Bayer, (graphic
designer)
Catalog of goods from
the Bauhaus Workshops,
1925
By working with
local industry the
Bauhaus could
make the designs
broadly available.

Wallhanging
Albers,Anni
1924

Walter Gropius,Workshop wing, Bauhaus building, Dessau, Germany, 1925-1926

Kandinsky/Klee House, 1926
Gropius,Walter

Cast-Iron Construction
Alexandre
Gustav Eiffel,
Eiffel Tower,
Paris, 1889.

The introduction of a new building material, iron, in the 19th
century created a breakthrough in structural systems. Iron
had not been used in architecture prior to this.
Gutav Eiffel, a French engineer, created the centerpiece for
the Paris World’s Fair of 1889.The Eiffel Tower rises on four
arched columns, which curve inward until they meet in a
single tower, thrusting up boldly above the Parisian
cityscape. It was a skeleton that proudly showed itself
without beneﬁt of any cosmetic embellishment, or skin.
Metal in and of itself can make beautiful architecture, as well
as a solid framework for a very large structure.
Cast-Iron Construction

The modern sky-scraper required two late-19th
century inventions, the elevator and steel-frame
construction, another true skeleton-and-skin
arrangement.
1). Builders erect a steel “cage” that is capable of
sustaining the entire weight of the building.
2).They apply an exterior “skin” of some other
material.
Steel-Frame Construction

Steel-Frame Construction
Louis Sullivan,
Wainwright Building, St. Louis, 1890-91.
The ﬁrst modern building
employed a steel framework
sheathed in masonry.
Sullivan broke new ground by
making his sheathing light.
Regular bays of windows
Strong, vertical lines

Gordon Bunshaft, Lever House, NewYork,
1952
In 1932 The Museum of
Modern Art in NewYork held
an inﬂuential exhibition of
modernist architecture called
the “International Style”
•Walter Gropius [Bauhaus]
•MiesVan der Rohe [Bauhaus]
•Le Corbusier
The Lever House is an
example of this style with
understated form.
Modernism

Walter Gropius,Workshop wing, Bauhaus building, Dessau, Germany, 1925-1926
International Style Architecture

International Style
Simpliﬁed forms
Emphasized volume over mass
Emphasized the ﬂow of the space rather than symmetry
Rejected ornamentation
Frequently used facades
Stressed that the function of the building or community
plan should determine the shape or form of the building.
“Form follows function.”
Modernism

Walter Gropius “Friend’s Convalescent Center”, 1957 (demolished)

Villa Savoye, in Poissy-sur-Seine, France, Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret ) 1929-31

Open interior plan
Raised the building on pillars
Facade separate
from interior
Horizontal windows
Rooftop garden or
interior atrium
Le Corbusier’s “Five PointsToward a New Architecture”
houses = "machines for living in."

Villa Savoye, in Poissy-sur-Seine, France, Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret ) 1929-31

Berg Instructional Center BIC
The Rodney K. Berg Instructional Center (BIC) was completed
in 1974.A four-level structure designed in the modern style of
architecture constructed of cor-ten steel.
International Style
Horizontal windows.
Unadorned steel facade
Interior courtyards.
Open ﬂoor plans.
Form follows function.

The Rodney K. Berg Instructional Center (BIC)

June 12, 1973: A building under construction at the College of DuPage boasts
two ﬂoors above ground and steel that never needs reﬁnishing. — Hardy Wieting
/ Chicago Tribune, July 25, 2014

Re-skinning of the BIC. Creates a Postmodern emphasis on color,
decoration and place onto a thoroughly Modernist building built
only for functionality.

MiesVan der Rohe, 860-880 N. Lakeshore Drive, 1951

MiesVan der Rohe, 860-880 N. Lakeshore Drive, 1951
Deceptively simple in appearance,
these twin apartment towers set
the standard by which all
subsequent glass-and-steel
highrises are judged. Few, if any,
have come even close to these
buildings' perfection in form,
proportions, and detailing.They
are featured in every book on
modern architecture, and they
are among the best known of the
city's post-World War II
architecture.

MiesVan der Rohe, Crown Hall, (3360 S. State St), 1956

Mies van der Rohe designed
Crown Hall to house Illinois
Institute of Technology's
departments of architecture,
planning, and design, the
building's dramatic form resulted
from the need to create an open
interior space that could be
ﬂexibly adapted for changing
needs and uses. Instead of
interior columns, the roof is
hung from exposed steel trusses
bridging the depth of the
building. It was named for S. R.
Crown, a co-founder of the
Material Service Corporation.

S. R. Crown Hall, Mies van der Rohe, 1956

Le Corbusier’s PlanVoisin, Paris 1925
International Style architects not only designed buildings but
practiced urban planning.They created layouts for large
housing developments around the world. Many of these same
types of buildings and plans became the models for US housing
developments.

Building New Societies: Modernist Architecture
Robert Taylor Homes, completed 1962
Upon completion in 1962,
Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes
became the largest public housing
project in the United States.

Robert Taylor Homes,(1962-2000)
The International Style
buildings were created in
a utopian belief that ideal
architecture could help
create ideal societies.
While in some cases this
was true, in Chicago the
usage of high density
housing was undermined
by the history of housing
discrimination and
segregation.

Cabrini Green, completed 1962

The battle between skepticism of the idea of social progress
(in Dada) and the belief in it’s possibility (in the Bauhaus) is
still a feature of the Modern movement.
In the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Modernism itself comes under
attack as being out of touch, unforgiving and brutal.This is
the advent of Postmodernism.

Art1100 LVA 21-3 Modernism to WWII Online

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