The most daring development in early 20th-century modern art was the step into abstraction-the decision to make paintings that were not pictures of the visible world but just . . . paintings. Abstraction elicited both excitement and anxiety. Painters looked to new sources for the kind of structure that direct observation had once provided: music; the logic of geometry; the forces of emotion and spirituality; the material facts of paint and canvas; and scientific developments that revealed new ways to “see” the world, from X-rays to Einstein’s theory of special relativity. Artists from several countries hoped that abstraction might become a lingua franca, transcending cultural differences. While that did not quite happen, the energies unleashed by abstraction were far-reaching, as works by Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Constantin Brancusi confirm. Abstraction was truly the art of the future. As part of the series Celebrating the East Building: 20th-Century Art, senior lecturer David Gariff explores the birth of abstraction in early 20th-century art.
Still haven’t subscribed to our RU-vid channels?
National Gallery of Art ►► / nationalgalleryofartus
National Gallery of Art Talks ►► / nationalgalleryofarttalks
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.
More National Gallery of Art Content:
Facebook: / nationalgalleryofart
Twitter: / ngadc
Instagram: / ngadc
Pinterest: / _created
E-News: nga.us4.list-manage.com/subsc...
#ModernSculptureintheNationalGallery
#Minimalism
#PopArt
#TheWashingtonDCColorSchool
#PostWorldWarIIEuropeanArt
#AbstractExpressionism
#AbstractionandPurity
#DadaandSurrealism
#GermanandAustrianExpressionism
#EarlyPicassoandCubism
#HenriMatisseandFauvism
#AmericanArt
#HenriStieglitzandTheirCircles
#AmedeoModigliani
#ExtendingTradition
#FrenchPainting
#DavidGariff
#Art
#NationalGalleryofArt
23 авг 2021
