Over 100 years ago the people of the era welcomed the new century with excitement, anticipation and hopes for the better future. They could not predict that the technology they were praising would lead to a global disaster. That free thinking they were encouraging would cause more divisions in the society and injustice. That new leaders raising from the crowd would soon become modern kings and tzars they tried to get rid of. People strongly believed in a necessity for a new approach to life in each and every aspect of it. Also in art they started to look for modern ways of expression. Cubism was one of the first forms that rejected the academic thinking and initiated a beginning of experimental styles that have been constantly evolving to our times. In graphic design artists tried to meet the expectations of the people craving for progress and modernity.
Ludwig Hohlwein was a German designer, born in XIX century (1874) but introducing a fresh new thinking and a need for a change, typical for XX century. Before he started his career in graphic arts, he had been an architect and in his later work he drew inspiration from modern architecture of a city. Nowadays he is said to be 'the most prolific and brilliant German posterist of the 20th century'. Working mainly during and before WWII, he became a leading commercial artist in Germany, producing a massive amount of works, only by 1925 over 3000 different advertisements. His style was recognized by a strong focus on color, shadow and defined forms. Also one could that Hohlwein was referring to emerging at the time cubism. Analytical represented by Braque and Picasso's synthetic cubism showed new perspectives of depicting form and color by sophisticated reduction. Hohlwein's posters for Red Cross, Olympic Games in 1936 or typical Nazi propaganda posters had a strong reference to cubism.
An influential movement that became an inspiration to the world was Russian avant-garde. The movement that flourished during and after Russian Revolution in 1917 turned upside down the modern art in Russia that for centuries was trapped under a tight fist of a tzar. There were few phases of Russian avant-garde: cubo-futurism, suprematism and constructivism and alter futurism. Each style has its great representatives whose works started a real revolution in the arts and also the country.
Kazimir Malevich, Russian artist, born in Ukraine and of polish parents was a leading feature in the movement, and the originator of suprematism. He was strongly interested in the geometric forms and forever wrote down a chapter of the art history with his paintings on Black / White / Red Squares. The emotions the art should evolve did not come from the image itself, but the color and form, reduced to their basics. This conceptual thinking was the essence of the avant-garde.
Another artist important for constructivism was Vladimir Tatlin and The Monument of the Third International became the landmark in his artistic career. The idea was to make the Eiffel Tower (the pride of the Western world) look caricatural in comparison to the greatest Russian monument. Although it was never constructed it was a symbol of revolution of the seize of power by Bolsheviks.
Alexander Rodchenko was the third of the great trio of avant-garde artists. He was appointed Director of the Museum Bureau by the government in 1920. He was not only a painter but in his later years got engaged into photography and graphic design. His great contribution in the avant-garde movement was the studies on color that eventually he reduced to a monochromic pallet. He stated that by doing so he 'reduced painting to its logical conclusion and exhibited three canvases: red, blue, and yellow. This is the end of painting'.
Other artists working under the wide umbrella of Russian modern arts were Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, Stenberg brothers.
The movie that we watched in the class did not only conclude the works and lives of the trio, Malevich, Tatlin and Rodchenko, but it also brought a light to the situation in the world in the beginning of XX century. It is hard to imagine how different art and graphic design were for American audience and Russian people. The movie talked about the oppression and censorship the artists faced and to what tragic consequences it led. I was really moved by it and I feel it is critical to understand how important art is and how people sacrificed themselves for its sake. Perhaps it is an abstract thought for many Western societies. Nevertheless Russian avant-garde is an example of the reality where in XX century artists were persecuted and constantly watched. I am really interested in an idea how art can influence society not through its beauty and alienation from the bad world, but rather how it can function along the politics, social issues, religious and ethic persecution. For me it creates a context for a meaningful art where an artist expresses his deepest emotions looking for a medium that would truly project his feelings. After the revolution when Russia rejected the past with the tzars and centuries of oppression and backwardness, people really needed to find a new path for arts. To express post revolution moods was to express a different reality than the once under a tzar.
Malevich | Tatlin |Rodchenko
Ludwig Hohlwein was a German designer, born in XIX century (1874) but introducing a fresh new thinking and a need for a change, typical for XX century. Before he started his career in graphic arts, he had been an architect and in his later work he drew inspiration from modern architecture of a city. Nowadays he is said to be 'the most prolific and brilliant German posterist of the 20th century'. Working mainly during and before WWII, he became a leading commercial artist in Germany, producing a massive amount of works, only by 1925 over 3000 different advertisements. His style was recognized by a strong focus on color, shadow and defined forms. Also one could that Hohlwein was referring to emerging at the time cubism. Analytical represented by Braque and Picasso's synthetic cubism showed new perspectives of depicting form and color by sophisticated reduction. Hohlwein's posters for Red Cross, Olympic Games in 1936 or typical Nazi propaganda posters had a strong reference to cubism.
An influential movement that became an inspiration to the world was Russian avant-garde. The movement that flourished during and after Russian Revolution in 1917 turned upside down the modern art in Russia that for centuries was trapped under a tight fist of a tzar. There were few phases of Russian avant-garde: cubo-futurism, suprematism and constructivism and alter futurism. Each style has its great representatives whose works started a real revolution in the arts and also the country.
Kazimir Malevich, Russian artist, born in Ukraine and of polish parents was a leading feature in the movement, and the originator of suprematism. He was strongly interested in the geometric forms and forever wrote down a chapter of the art history with his paintings on Black / White / Red Squares. The emotions the art should evolve did not come from the image itself, but the color and form, reduced to their basics. This conceptual thinking was the essence of the avant-garde.
Another artist important for constructivism was Vladimir Tatlin and The Monument of the Third International became the landmark in his artistic career. The idea was to make the Eiffel Tower (the pride of the Western world) look caricatural in comparison to the greatest Russian monument. Although it was never constructed it was a symbol of revolution of the seize of power by Bolsheviks.
Alexander Rodchenko was the third of the great trio of avant-garde artists. He was appointed Director of the Museum Bureau by the government in 1920. He was not only a painter but in his later years got engaged into photography and graphic design. His great contribution in the avant-garde movement was the studies on color that eventually he reduced to a monochromic pallet. He stated that by doing so he 'reduced painting to its logical conclusion and exhibited three canvases: red, blue, and yellow. This is the end of painting'.
Other artists working under the wide umbrella of Russian modern arts were Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, Stenberg brothers.
The movie that we watched in the class did not only conclude the works and lives of the trio, Malevich, Tatlin and Rodchenko, but it also brought a light to the situation in the world in the beginning of XX century. It is hard to imagine how different art and graphic design were for American audience and Russian people. The movie talked about the oppression and censorship the artists faced and to what tragic consequences it led. I was really moved by it and I feel it is critical to understand how important art is and how people sacrificed themselves for its sake. Perhaps it is an abstract thought for many Western societies. Nevertheless Russian avant-garde is an example of the reality where in XX century artists were persecuted and constantly watched. I am really interested in an idea how art can influence society not through its beauty and alienation from the bad world, but rather how it can function along the politics, social issues, religious and ethic persecution. For me it creates a context for a meaningful art where an artist expresses his deepest emotions looking for a medium that would truly project his feelings. After the revolution when Russia rejected the past with the tzars and centuries of oppression and backwardness, people really needed to find a new path for arts. To express post revolution moods was to express a different reality than the once under a tzar.
Malevich | Tatlin |Rodchenko
No comments:
Post a Comment