Cubism and Abstract Art
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| + | "At the risk of grave oversimplification the impulse towards [[abstract art]] during the past fifty years may be divided historically into two main currents, both of which emerged from [[Impressionism]]. The first and more important current finds its sources in the art and theories of [[Cezanne]] and [[Seurat]], passes through the widening stream of [[Cubism]] and finds its delta in the various geometrical and [[Constructivist]] movements which developed in Russia and Holland during the War and have since spread throughout the World. This current may be described as intellectual, structural, architectonic, geometrical, rectilinear and classical in its austerity and dependence upon logic and calculation. The second—and, until recently, secondary— current has its principal source in the art and theories of [[Gauguin]] and his circle, flows through the ''[[Fauvisme]]'' of [[Matisse]] to the Abstract Expressionism of the pre-War paintings of [[Kandinsky]]. After running under ground for a few years it reappears vigorously among the masters of abstract art associated with Surrealism. This tradition, by contrast with the first, is intuitional and emotional rather than intellectual; organic or [[biomorphism|biomorphic]] rather than geometrical in its forms; curvilinear rather than rectilinear, decorative rather than structural, and romantic rather than classical in its exaltation of the mystical, the spontaneous and the irrational. [[Apollo]], [[Pythagoras]] and [[Descartes]] watch over the Cezanne-Cubist geometrical tradition; [[Dionysus]] (an Asiatic god), [[Plotinus]] and [[Rousseau]] over the Gauguin-Expressionist-non-geometrical line." --''[[Cubism and Abstract Art]]'' (1936) by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., page 19 | ||
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| - | :''[[curvilinear]], [[Biomannerism]]'' | + | ''[[Cubism and Abstract Art]]'' was a 1936 exhibition curated by [[Alfred H. Barr Jr.]]. The catalogue to this exhibition promulgated the term [[biomorphism]]. |
| - | '''Biomorphism''' is an art movement that began in the 20th century. It patterns artistic design elements on [[patterns in nature|naturally occurring patterns]] or shapes reminiscent of nature. Taken to its extreme it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto functional devices, often with mixed results. | + | |
| - | ==History== | ||
| - | The term was coined in 1935 by the British writer [[Geoffrey Grigson]] and subsequently used by [[Alfred H. Barr]] in the context of his 1936 exhibition ''[[Cubism and Abstract Art]]''. Biomorphist art focuses on the power of natural life and uses organic shapes, with shapeless and vaguely spherical hints of the forms of biology. Biomorphism has connections with [[Surrealism]] and [[Art Nouveau]]. Matisse's seminal painting [[Le bonheur de vivre]] (The joy of Life), from 1905 can be cited as an important precedent. | ||
| - | The [[Tate Gallery]]'s online glossary article on biomorphic form specifies that while these forms are abstract, they "refer to, or evoke, living forms...". The article goes on to list [[Joan Miró]], [[Jean Arp]], [[Henry Moore]], and [[Barbara Hepworth]] as examples of artists whose work epitomizes the use of biomorphic form. The paintings of [[Yves Tanguy]] and [[Roberto Matta]] are also often cited as exemplifying the use of biomorphic form. | ||
| - | During and after World War II, Yves Tanguy's landscapes became more deserted and ridden of war, which has been seen as a psychological portrait of wartime Europe. | + | ==See also== |
| + | *[[Abstract art]] | ||
| + | *[[Cubism]] | ||
| - | Surrealism elevated this magic and the transformational process of metamorphosis and hybridization. The use of metamorphosis through Picasso influenced Surrealism in the 1920s, and it appeared both as subject matter and as procedure in the figurative paintings of Leonora Carrington and in the more abstract, automatic works of André Masson. | ||
| - | [[Desmond Morris]] is a biomorphic painter of note and [[Marc Newson]] a designer of note. | ||
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| - | ==In industrial design== | ||
| - | Biomorphism is also seen in modern [[industrial design]], such as the work of [[Alvar Aalto]], and [[Isamu Noguchi]], whose [[Noguchi table]] is considered an icon of industrial design. Presently, the effect of the influence of nature is less obvious: instead of designed objects looking exactly like the natural form, they use only slight characteristics to remind us of nature. | ||
| - | == Botanomorphism == | ||
| - | [[Robert Sommer]] in ''[[The Personality of Vegetables: Botanical Metaphors for Human Characteristics]]'' (1988) explored the use and meaning of plant terms in our language as he focuses on botanomorphism, or the tendency to describe human characteristics through fruit and vegetable metaphors. --Diane Relf, HUMAN ISSUES IN HORTICULTURE, HortTechnology April/June 1992] | ||
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| - | == Organic design == | ||
| - | :''[[organic design]]'' | ||
| - | :"Organic design vocabularies--from the ecstasies of baroque ornament to mid-twentieth-century biomorphism--have always gestured toward the [[erotic]], suggesting the curves and movements of the [[human body]]. In contemporary design, eroticism is present yet kept at a distance, handled with rubber gloves. The fulfillment of desire and the satisfaction of touch are blunted by protective layers of material. Clothed in latex, vinyl, rubber, or resin, sensual forms are rendered clinical. When love and fear are necessary bedfellows, the plush, dimly lit boudoir gives way to the bright, wipeable surfaces of the laboratory and lavatory." [http://www.elupton.com/index.php?id=49 Ellen Lupton] | ||
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| - | == See also == | ||
| - | *[[Auricular style]] | ||
| - | *[[Biological art metal]] | ||
| - | *[[Zoomorphism]] | ||
| - | *[[Surrealism]] | ||
| - | ===Buildings=== | ||
| - | *[[Hotel Gellért]] | ||
| - | *[[Casa Milà]] | ||
| - | ===People=== | ||
| - | *[[Friedensreich Hundertwasser]] | ||
| - | *[[Isamu Noguchi]] | ||
| - | *[[Marc Newson]] | ||
| - | *[[Carlo Mollino]] | ||
| - | *[[Luigi Colani]] | ||
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Current revision
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"At the risk of grave oversimplification the impulse towards abstract art during the past fifty years may be divided historically into two main currents, both of which emerged from Impressionism. The first and more important current finds its sources in the art and theories of Cezanne and Seurat, passes through the widening stream of Cubism and finds its delta in the various geometrical and Constructivist movements which developed in Russia and Holland during the War and have since spread throughout the World. This current may be described as intellectual, structural, architectonic, geometrical, rectilinear and classical in its austerity and dependence upon logic and calculation. The second—and, until recently, secondary— current has its principal source in the art and theories of Gauguin and his circle, flows through the Fauvisme of Matisse to the Abstract Expressionism of the pre-War paintings of Kandinsky. After running under ground for a few years it reappears vigorously among the masters of abstract art associated with Surrealism. This tradition, by contrast with the first, is intuitional and emotional rather than intellectual; organic or biomorphic rather than geometrical in its forms; curvilinear rather than rectilinear, decorative rather than structural, and romantic rather than classical in its exaltation of the mystical, the spontaneous and the irrational. Apollo, Pythagoras and Descartes watch over the Cezanne-Cubist geometrical tradition; Dionysus (an Asiatic god), Plotinus and Rousseau over the Gauguin-Expressionist-non-geometrical line." --Cubism and Abstract Art (1936) by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., page 19 |
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Cubism and Abstract Art was a 1936 exhibition curated by Alfred H. Barr Jr.. The catalogue to this exhibition promulgated the term biomorphism.
See also
