Naïve art:
● With the arrival of the 20th century, the world of Art began to revalue some genres, this
was the case of Naive Art.
● Amateur artists that created naif paintings were not appreciated until Picasso's attention
was caught by Henri Rousseau, and an art critic called Whilhelm Uhde decided to collect
french naif paintings.
● The main characteristic of this genre was the fact that its main representative artists
lacked formal education and training on the creation of art.
● Therefore, the masterpieces lacked structure, conventional techniques, and perspective.
● The classical theme of this genre was “melancholy of the past”
● The paintings had plenty of details, lively colours, and a childish frankness that wasn’t
easy to find in more educated artists.
● The interesting thing is that some educated artists began to switch their style to naif once
it began to gain popularity among the Fine Arts community.
● Grandma Moses: she began to paint when she turned 70 years old, and became famous
due to her nostalgic and lyrical landscapes. When she was 101 years old, she passed
away having reached success as one of the “American Primitives”.
School of Paris
● Between 1904 and 1929, Paris was a cultural magnet of innovation.
● Lots of artists from different nationalities and tendencies, through the passing of time,
formed the School of Paris.
● Painters, sculturers, publicists and merchants travelled to Paris, some of them already
spoke French, some of them had to learn it very quickly.
● That cultural mixture was named “School” in 1925 by the journalist André Warnod.
● It was a group of artists that desired a bohemian life, to share experiences and visit
Parishian art studios and academies.
● The city had around 100 private galleries with a wide art market.
● Many merchants were willing to pay annual duties to certain artists for their creations.
● So painters, futurists, cubists, and abstract artists went to Paris to gain fame and fortune.
● An important artist of this movement was Amadeo Modigliani: he was refined and spoke
French, and was very educated on the history of art. Female figure was the protagonist
of his works. He admired great artists like Tiziano and Goya. His nude paintings
reminded people of them. He went to Paris and worked as a painter, and became a
vanguard of sculpture. He used to sculpt on limestone, and his works were based on
classical Greek, African and Asian sculptures. When WW1 broke out, materials began to
be scarce. These circumstances brought his sculptures to an end. He went back to
painting and implemented lessons of sculpture like simplicity of shapes and blurred
features. His characterizations were magnificent.
Constructivism:
● This artistic movement was born from the Russian Revolution, in 1917
● Its stylistic language was a response to the new ideals of this Revolution.
● Artists wished to contribute to the construction of the new Communist society.
● One of its predominant artists was Vladimir Tatlin.
● He visited Picasso in 1914, and was inspired to transform the flat Cubism painting style
into real materials in real space.
● This implied embossed reliefs that included metal, wood and string that could be
perceived in the surface.
● It also had hanging structures.
● Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitzky were highly influenced by Kazimir Maliévich’s
Suprematism and believed that those shapes would be useful to build a new society.
● Because of the new Working State, industries required wood, glass and plastics. Artists
used those materials and forged links between workers and artists
● The Communist Party backed up Constructivism in 1919.
● Because of this, a division was created among constructivists:
○ Artists should maintain their personal implications in their creative process
○ Artists should be intellectual workers
● Some artists left the country to go to the West and dedicate themselves to “pure art”.
● Those who stayed put their talent to the new government’s disposition.
● Main representative artists:
○ Vladimir Tatlin: he was also a sailor and street musician. The concept of his
constructivist art was that the inherent qualities of the materials, like their
flexibility, texture, colour and hardness, could determine their potential uses. He
was involved with the Russian Revolution and designed an efficient heater, winter
clothes and a human propelled flying machine. In the after war period, 1919-21,
he designed the “Monument to the Third International”, a tower model that was
never built, but it travelled the country as a symbol of Soviet aspirations. Its
purpose was to become the central office in international Communism.
○ Peusner - Gabo brothers: in 1920, they published the Realistic Manifesto, in
which they wished to respond to the critics that supported the belief that Gabo's
art was abstract. In it, they show their constructivist yet non-Marxist ideals. It also
ridiculed Italian Futurism and those artists that idolised everything modern.
○ Joaquín Torres García: he was born in Uruguay and moved to Barcelona.
Featured Antony Gaudí in the design of “Holy Family”. During the late 20’s, he
developed some more geometrical paintings he named “Universal
constructivism”. He also founded the “Circle and Square” group and in 1934, he
returned to Uruguay, becoming the leader of Latin American Modern Art. he
founded his own art school, “Taller Torres-García”. “Structure means recognising
that the unit is the foundation of it all”.
Dadaism
● This movement began in Zurich, 1916.
● It changed the rules of art radically.
● Its main characteristic was the subversion of bourgeois conventions.
● The name “Dada” means wooden horse in French, and the term was chosen randomly
from a German-French dictionary.
● Artists rejected old artistic structures and scandalised people.
○ Senseless poetry and songs
○ Provocative images and objects
● Everything established by WW1 was rejected, and Dadaism was widely spread because
of this.
● Many of these artists were soldiers in WW1, some of them criticised bellic conflict. They
chose artistic anarchy, from which this movement was born.
● In 1921, it was dissolved due to fights and disagreements.
● Many of these artists became surrealists.
● Main representative artists:
○ Marcel Duchamp: he came from a family of artists. During and after WW1, he
was an active participant of the Dada movement, creating humorous projects,
optical experiments, metaphysical speculation and wordplay. He used ephemeral
elements like dust and shadows. He even created his ludic alterego, Rrose
Selavy. He was the artist behind Etant Donnes (the Waterfall, 1966), a painting
that is visible through a lens in a wooden door.
○ John Heartfield: became famous for his anti-nazi images. He became one of the
photomontage forerunners. He was certain that the juxtaposition of images and
text conveyed less provoking ideas. He made fun of the pompous things, and
thought that through this, he could diminish propaganda. He joined the
Communist Party in 1918 and co funded an editorial. This way, his creations
circulated in the printing press in satirical publishings of the Communist Party
criticising Hitler’s plans, exploitation and war and denouncing German Great
Industry’s economic support. He exiled himself in Praga in 1938 to escape from
German censorship, and in 1961 he won the German Democratic Republic’s
Nobel Peace Prize.
Surrealism
● It began as a literary movement, and it revolutionised art, photography and films.
● It is inspired in Freud’s theories, and it revealed the subconscious through inírical images
that defied concepts.
● It was born in Paris with André Breto, who published the Surrealist Manifestos and the
“La Revolution Surrealiste” magazine.
● When WW II broke, most surrealists ran away to New York and Automatism inspired
American paintings.
● The combination of Freud’s theories about dreams and psychology and Karl Marx's
political ideas led to this movement that intended to free the imagination by accessing
the psique through automatic writing. This led to surprising images.
● Surrealism was characterised by the fact that there was no stylistic unit.
● 2 tendencies were identified in paintings:
○ Onirical
○ Free association - stared at an image until they began to hallucinate.
● Surrealists combined photographies with painting, joining the real with the surreal though
image manipulation, among other techniques
● Images were usually violent, blasfemical or sexual.
● Chronologically speaking, Surrealism began with Giorgio Chirico and died with René
Magritte.
● It was overthrown by Abstract Expressionism.
● Main representative artists:
○ André Breton: he was inspired by visual arts, admired Picasso and Cubism
because of its ability to fragment bodies to reach fantastic images. Collages were
also a way of inspiration, made with leftovers from Dadaists and Chirico’s work.
He was fascinated by the theory of repression in the subconscious and gave it a
political importance apart from the belief.
○ Salvador Dalí: he had an eccentric personality and ?? style, mostly oniric
landscapes. He was born in Gerona and went to Paris in 1929. There, he would
become the most famous surrealist artist thanks to Andre Andre and
psychoanalysis. His method was known as paranoiac critical, and it was based
on delirious associations and interpretations. He watched an object until he saw
others. His paintings revealed paranoia, disgust and sexual frustration. He
supported Franco in the Spain Civil war, was was therefore expelled from the
surrealist group. His painting “Construcción Blanda con Judías Cocidas” was
finished 6 months before the Spanish civil war, it was his ? dream. A giant body
fighting against himself, on the floor, french beans.
Socialist Realism
● The USSR rejected abstract vanguards, considering them bourgeois, unuseful and
incomprehensive.
● A Central Committee resolution imposed Socialist Realism in 1932
● Vanguard artists had to leave the country, and those who couldn’t were exiles to Siberia.
● Themes: industry work, agriculture, proletariat revolution, construction and young people
in culture and sports.
● Displayed clearly defined political content and “heroic style”
● Used realistic styles to create extremely optimistic depictions of life in the Soviet Union
● They were all very similar, displaying peasants and soldiers framed by agricultural details
like grains, leaves, and farming tools
● This represented the bounty and the strength and security provided by the Communist
government
● Few artists are actually known because soviets celebrated collective accomplishments
over individual creativity
Abstract Expressionism
● Celebrated freedom of expression and individuality
● Abstract art demonstrated that capitalism fostered a freedom of expression and
progressiveness nonexistent in the Soviet Union
● They motivated artists to create different pieces without limiting their style
● The movement served to emphasise the rigidity and heavily stylized nature of the USSR
● Figurative representation was eliminated
● Surrealism arrived from europe in the 40’s to the USA and led to the unification of
Expressionism and Abstractionism
● New York began to be known as the International Art Centre, substituting Paris
● The CIA helped to finance Abstract Expressionism
● They paid for expositions in Europe and Latin America to reinforce the thought that
artistic freedom was promoted in literature, art and music in the West world.
Pop Art
● In was born in the middle of the 20th century
● Combined popular with cult, natural with artificial, figurative with abstract.
● Reflected upon consumer society
● Art out of museums, USA had the economical means to encourage art through mass
communication media
● Everything is a product, even human behaviour
● Industrial and graphic design inspire visual arts and advertisements influence people
● Richard Hamilton (London) was considered the father of Pop Art, and created the
collage “Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?” in 1956 -
manifesto
World War II
● Hitler: unite all German Speaking people under one Raich: empire
○ Austria
○ Czechoslovakia
○ Poland
● 1934: Austrian Nazis killed the Chancellor and invited Hitler to be their leader - Mussolini
intervined
● 1933 - 1935: German Rearmament
● 1935: Ethiopia Italian invasion - Mussolini sanctioned
● 1936: Germany invaded Rhineland, Germany and Italy helped Franco in the Spanish
Civil War, Rome-Berlin Axis, Anti-Comintern Pact (Japan, Germany and Italy)
● 1938: Hitler annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia, Chamberlain gave him Sudetenland
● 1939: appeasement failed, Britain and France allied with Poland - next target, NaziSoviet
Pact (non aggression and division of Poland), Poland is invaded and divided, The Allied
declare war
● 6 months: phoney war - no one was ready for war (France - Maginot Line)
● Tactic: Blitzkrieg
● 1940: Germany invaded Normandy and Denmark, Britain mined the Norway route -
failed, Blitzkrieg attack on Low Countries and France, Belgium surrendered, British
troops were sent back to Dunkirk port - Evacuation: Operation Dynamo
● Hitler’s plan: Sea-Lion operation, he had to control the air, Battle of Britain: Luftwaffe v.
Royal Air Force (spitfire fighter and radar), Germany accidentally dropped bombs in
London, Churchill responded attacking Berlin, Hitler changed target to British cities, RAF
defeated Germany
● Mussolini invaded African British colonies and Greece and Hitler had to save him
● 1941: mainland was secure for Germany, Operation Barbarossa: invasion of the USSR,
3 direction Blitzkrieg, Soviets: scorched-earth policy and partisans, Russian winter.
● Pearl Harbour: Japan had decided to solve the depression by invading China, only the
USA could stop them, launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, USA isolation
ended.
● 1942: Soviets called the allies to open a second front. Britain had USA as ally, Operation
Torch: invasion of Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Sicily and Italy), Mussolini was taken out and
Italy made peace with the allies, HItler took him to Northern Italy
● Battle of Stalingrad: Soviet counteroffensive, Germany should’ve retreated, but Hitler
didn’t allow it
● The US Pacific Fleet won the Battle of Midway against Japan, USA and Britain gained
Japanese territories
● 1943: Germany surrendered to the Soviets
● 1944: Teheran Conference: Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill decided to invade Europe,
Stalin promised to help the USA against Japan, in exchange of Polish land, Poland
would receive German land, D-day, Allies began a massive invasion of Europe with
Normandy landing, Germany was debilitated by air-raids on cities
● Britain opened the Burma Road to China, they didn’t want to fight, Japanese air-raid
bases attacked, Truman was worried, Japan kept fighting
● 1945: Soviets had occupied much land, Hitler was dead.
● Yalta: R, S and C decided to divide Berlin and Germany into 4 zones, USA, Britain,
USSR and France, Eastern and western boundaries, free elections
● Postdam: Stalin, Attlee and Truman, USA v. USSR conflict on Communism,
compensation and Germany, atomic bomb warning, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
surrendered
● Eastern Europe became Communist (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania)
● Iron Curtain - US intervention in Greek war - Truman Doctrine
Cold War
● USA - USSR - dominated the world - SuperPowers
● American opposition to communism and dictators
● Soviets expanded towards the west and controlled the east
● Truman Doctrine: containment: USA would help any country threatened by the USSR
● Assumed: nobody wanted communism, domino theory, economic aid: cure
● Marshall Aid: billions to Europe, anti-communism and new markets for US products,
prosperity in western Europe
● Germany: Stalin wouldn let anyone in, people were starving, Britain and France didn’t
help, the allies suggested a new currency, Stalin closed all access to Berlin, Americans
sent supplies to West Berlin through air. Soviets opened the route to the city.
● 1949: West Europe formed the NATO, USA was in charge of defence
● Soviet atomic bomb, China became communist, Korea conflict
○ south surrendered to USA and north to the USSR, separated, dictators
○ 1950: north Korea invaded South and took most of the country
○ Truman sent troops to Japan and asked the UN to condemn the invasion
○ McArthur defeated korean troops and was attacked by China, wanted to bomb
○ Truman fired him and cease-fire in Korea
● 1953-1957: tensions were calm - Stalin died, American Secretary of State DUlles wanted
to liberate areas
● Arms race with nuclear weapons and space exploration, Sputnik (USSR)
● USSR ruler: Nikita Khruschev - wanted peace
● 1959: demanded Allied soldiers to leave Berlin
● 1961: the Berlin Wall was built to stop easterns from going to west
● 1962: US supported dictatorships as long as they were anti-communist, including
Batistuta in Cuba. Fidel Castro overthrew him and turned to the USSR for help, they set
missile bases in Cuba, US spies took photographs. Kennedy put a naval blockade on
Cuba to prevent Soviets from bringing military supplies. Deal: soviets would dismantle
and USA wouldn’t invade Cuba. secret deal: USA remove its missiles from Turkey. Hot
Line and Test Ban Treaty.
● Kennedy was assassinated and Johnson came into power. Vietnam divided: north
communist and south small corrupt group. USA helped the south and dropped bombs
1965, while north was using guerrilla. By 1968, Americans couldn’t keep up. 1973
negotiated peace. In 1975 the south fell to communism.
● 70's Detente, both countries had spent too much and needed the resources for other
things. SALT I limited nuclear weapons in 1972. II was planned for 1977, but was
completed in 1979 and when Soviets invaded Afghanistan Us refused to sign.
● 80’s 2nd CW: Reagan hated the USSR, intervened in civil wars in El Salvador,
Guatemala and Nicaragua. Arms race, Star Wars. Soviet Union was disintegrating.
Gorvachev wanted to change things. In 2 meetings, the Cold War ended.
● Sinistra Doctrine: let countries decide their form of government. The Berlin Wall was torn
down and nuclear weapons remained unused.
