Terms
What is collage?
the practice of composing an artwork by gluing a wide range of materials – including pieces of paper, fabric, newspaper clippings, and sometimes readymade objects to a surface. Often done by hobbyists in the 1800s but incorporated into avant-garde artmaking practices first with the Cubists.
Why did Romare Bearden and Faith Ringgold reference Picasso in their works?
to critique Picasso's inspiration/appropriation of African masks and reclaim African art for Black American artists as a point of pride and celebration of Black artistic creativity.
What major historical event was Dada a reaction to?
World War I
List three traits of Ukiyo-e prints
bright colors, decorative detailing, exaggerated foreshortening, asymmetry of design, areas of flat unshaded color, imaginative cropping
What was the goal of the Wall of Respect in Chicago?
Create community solidarity and celebrate Black excellence. Write and create narrative of Black American history.
What is Japonisme?
the fashion for Japanese art in the West and the Japanese influence on Western art and design following the opening of formerly isolated Japan to world trade
Which famous artist served as an inspiration for Jasper Johns in his work Flag?
Marcel Duchamp
What major domestic/foreign policy of the Tokagawa Period (Edo) Japan in part led to the unique traits of Ukiyo-e prints?
Japan's relative isolation in trade/travel. Only open trade with China/Korea, the Dutch
Why does Andy Warhol choose his subject matter of soup in his 1962 painting of Campbell's soup cans?
social equalizer, elevating mundane items central to contemporary American life. Everything made in a factory, this is the defining feature of American life, so art should be like and about factory.
Why did Surrealists practice Exquisite Corps?
Activate play and move beyond the ideas generated in conscious thought. Access the subconscious
What do Coolaid colors refer to in art of the 1970s?
The color tone preferred by AfriCOBRA artist Wadsworth Jarrel. Jarrel purposely employed bright bold colors popular in the 1970s and popularized by the popular drink Kool-aid.
What cultural influences are the artists drawing from who created The Qianlong Emperor as Manjushri, The Bodhisattva of Wisdom from the Qing Dynasty? List the two biggest influences that make this work unique for Chinese Imperial portraiture
Tibetian/Mongolian Thangkas, European chiaroscuro
What famous historical event inspired the formation of Spiral?
The March on Washington
List two ways that Monet's Impression sunrise breaks against academic standards prevalent in the 1870s
loose brushstrokes, unfinished look, subject matter, pure color straight from tube
Why can we consider Jasper Johns's Flag a mirror?
Presents flag neutrally to viewer. How they respond says more about them than the artist's own beliefs. Johns hopes to show the viewer the precarious nature of signs/symbols and the failure of art/anything to be universal
What is the Literati Bias in Qing Dynasty Art?
The (untrue) belief that the literati artist was a more true artist than the artist working for the court, more intellectual engagement with history and his subject
List two traits Modernist artists admired in Japanese prints? NOT JUST THAT THEY LIKED JAPANESE THINGS
Why did Abstract Expressionists in New York feel naturalistic painting was no longer a valid artistic form in the 1950s?
The general state of the world- cold war, Korean war, WWII, the holocaust, Nuremberg trials, etc.
What are the two leading interpretations of Jean (Hans) Arp's Collage Arranged According to the Laws of Chance?
1. He meant for gravity to be the artist, but didnt like the look
2. He wanted the viewer to develop critical thinking skills- he tells them one thing but the visuals of the artwork suggest the statements by the artist are a lie, encouraging the viewer to think more critically about wartime propaganda and nationalism.
What is the goal of analytic Cubism? What is at stake for the artists?
Truth- linear perspective a lie. They want to express the total visual understanding of an object through simultaneity. They fracture the objects into smaller objects to overcome the unified singularity of an object and transform it into an object of vision.
What does the term action painting refer to?
In action painting, the physical, energetic act of creating is considered as important as the finished work. Rosenberg argued that the paintings were a trace of a performance with the canvas as an arena to act, rather than a visual surface to look at.
How does Meret Oppenheim's Object employ the Freudian theory of the Uncanny?
Bringing two familiar objects together and making them strange/potentially scary
What famous European castle inspire the Qianlong Emperor in the formation of his European gardens for the Summer palance?
Versailles
What was the political goal of Shiraga's Challenging Mud?
help create psychic individualism in the Japanese viewer following the mandate of Japanese Marxists who believed a lack of individualism and understanding of one's own political agency had led to totalitarianism during WWII.
How did Marcel Duchamp's Fountain change debates about art in European modernism?