Art History: BVA 312 - 27/05/2019 (Essay Research-Book: Primitivism and Youtube videos)

Book: “Primitivism” (Rubin, 1994)

This book is very helpful. Will go and borrow it. 

 Pg1 : Twentieh-century art has received serious attention on Primitivism – the interest of modern artist in tribal art and culture, as revealed in their thoughts and work. 

-      The study of Western culture and primitive art was separately taught not until World War 2, the attention towards Primitive art (Trible Art) started to rise attention still commonly rare subject. *there was a saying that unfolding modern and primitive culture is wrong. 

Pg 2:

Para 1

Only in the twentieth century people started to define “Primitivism” As Tribal arts of Africa or Oceania. Before than the definition of Primitive has changed, 19^thcentury defines the movement was from 14th/15^thcentury Italians and Flemings. Some also included Romanesque, Byzantine and also non-western arts ranging from Peruvian to Javanese. 

Para 3

“Primitive” was identified as rude and raw. Artist was defined as Savage. 

-      Decades before African or Iceanic sculpture would become and issue for artist, the exotic arts defined as “Primitive” by Gauguin’s generation were being admired for many qualities that twentieth century artist would prize in tribal arts which was missing from the final faces of Western realism and was considered as over attenuated and bloodless in the late nineteenth-century.

-      Gauguin was the first person who seek interest towards sculpture from the Easter island. 

Primitive art largely synonymous with tribal objects.

Example of artist that incorporated this terminology: Mattise, Derain, Vlaminck, and Picasso. 

Pg 3

*became a Modernist-Enterprise (15)

Pg5

Para 1

The name “Primitivism” is the term that western people reacted towards tribal art. Primitivism is thus an aspect of the history of modern art, not of tribal art. Just like how the French (European) fascination on Japanese culture and art that uses the name “Japanoisme”. 

Para 2

*Robert Goldwater concluded when “Primitivism” and “art” were combined, they are referred to “a term of praise”. Just like how Picasso admired the primitive art.

Pg 6 

The recognition for modern artist on Primitive art was stated by Levi-Strauss who reminded that “A primitive people is not a backward or retard people, indeed, it may possess, in one realm or another, a genius for invention or action that leaves the achievements of other people’s far behind.”

Para 1

Before that people in the 19^thcentury saw different art as inferior. Even Ruskin opined that there was “no art in the whole Africa, Asia and America.” Extravagances of barbarian. 

Paga 2

Beginning from the 18^thcentury, Gauguin thought which was quite opposite with the term for Primitive. Other than that, there were sign of interest on Primitive such as from the writing of Cannibals by Montaigne. 

Para 3 

Life in Polynesia or other distant lands will just categorized as “the myth of primitive”. 

Pg 7 

Para 1

That the modern arists’s admiration for these tribal objects was widespread in the years 1907-1914 is sufficiently documented. Artist such as Picasso, Matisse, Braque, and Brancusi were aware of conceptual complexity and aesthetic subtlety of the best tribal art, which is only simple in the sense of its reductiveness – and not, as popular believed, in the sense of simplemindedness.   

Many today consider tribal sculpture to represent a major aspect of world art, even Fine Arts museum devoted an entire space to triumph of vanguard art itself. 

But we owe primarily to the convictions of the pioneer modern artist their promotion from the rank of curiosities and artefacts to that of major art, indeed, to the status of art at all.[This sentence would be my view on Primitive and Modern art in the introduction paragraph]

Para 2

Gauguin:

Starting point for the study of primitism in modern art. He had limited interest in the art of the Pacific peoples among whom he lived. (30)

Gauguin’s visual account of his “Island Paradise” a somewhat desperate example of life imitating literature, in effect, mimetic re-enactment of the “Myth of the primitive”. 

Edward Munch. Henry Matisse, 

Detailed research is able to reference on book name: Theories of modern art, by Herchel B. Chipp.(701.1 CHI)

Book: Concept of modern art, by Nikos Stangos (709.04 CON) Define each term in article from different writters. 

  

Youtube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWjhgnZ4nl4

The Fauves (Art Movement) – their use of colour in modern art.

Colours are important for Matisse, Colour are like music cord. 

Many of his painting. Big and shockingly bright.

The public hated you, but the future is yours. 

Colours to show emotion, rather than a simple imitation of the real world. 

Today not only artist appreciate Matisse’s idea, fabric store also adapted his idea. 

He balanced out colours in a canvas 

Modern art uses colour to convey emotion. Travel and feelings is his core inspiration. 

The first world war, Painting Piano lesson 1916. Grey colour boring old grey. Real anxiety towards the first world war. Grief, a paradise was lost, many kids were killed in the war, depicted through painting. 

He when to Cimiez on the French Riviera, a suburb called Nice, a place for him to recover. felt in love with the light. 12 months spent indoor, painting concubine, like typical French artist. 

America made him obsess with the movement (Aldelist)

Painting: The red studio. Objects are all floating on air. Clock with no hand, suspending time. Big impact on American artist, Abstract impressionist, Mark Roscoe.  

Dancing nudes, the style became his icon. Lydia, became the focus of his work. The Pink Nude embodied his work with harmony. 

Picasso and Matisse were friends, he went to visit Matisse at his final years. 

Late 70’s he painter his most vivid work. Paper cut outs and apply colour directly. Most famous cut outs, Icarus, according to Greek gods. Child could have done, actually it’s not. You have to be very confident like abstract art. Each cut was confidently cut out. 

Every room was very dark, only a room that has light. Matisse reduce things to the simplest obstacle. 

His book, Jazz. Matisse putting text with illustration. Very, very bright colour. Nowadays logo design incorporates that idea. Death of a clown, joy to be alive again. New vision, his previous work was constrained. Not after his illness he felt he was being free. 

Miffy was an inspiration from Matisse. Influenced the creator of Miffy, Dick burna from Holland. :0 reduce things to the simplest form. Famous work, The Snail. Its playful, celebratory, touching and beautiful, created by someone who was very ill and week, lookinh for simplicity, essences. 

*2012 olympic design. 

Fashion designer Paul smith, The snail was an inspiration on his fashion design , colour and pattern!!! 

French fashion designer, YSL (Yves saint Laurent) was inspired by Matisse too. 

Matisse design a chapel. Light became a major object. Sense of calmness and peace in his art and his work became the remedy to ease the negativity. 

BBC on modern masters

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rrbdj. By Alastair Sooke 

Colours and forms from his cut outs are the most revealing works of all his creation. 

Picasso loves his art. Matisse was working so ahead of his art. 

The book JAZZ just recovered from his operation and the beginning of World War 2. Second life chance signify this book. When we were making art, he usually feels like he’s like the acrobats and actors from circus. 

However, he chose to drop painting and focus on cut out. 

Studying nature is a form of prayer, 

The blue nudes, sense of move of a female body.

Works Cited

Rubin, W. (1994). "Primitivism" in 20th century art .New York: The musuem of modern art .