Impact of Modernism on Visual Arts
Introduction
Modernism refers to a philosophical drift that, along with cultural tendencies and alterations, sprang up from far-reaching and extensive shifts in Western society over the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Artwork has transformed over the centuries and one artist, known as Picasso is best recognized as one of the authors of Cubism, though he utilized many styles during his career. The paper explores the modernism in the visual arts and discusses The Old Guitarist and the Les demoiselles d' Avignon art within the historical and cultural context in which they got created.
The Les Demoiselles d'Avignon art was the first designs drawn by Picasso during the 1906-1907 winter period. Picasso, therefore, built his ideas intensively, in a way of conscious planning that resemble the projects of Géricault, before eventually painting his 8ft square canvas in the early summer. As a result of the painting, the reality nature got altered as deeply as it would be to his contemporary natural philosophy, Albert Einstein.
The artwork is an oil depiction on a canvas that depicts five pink nude women who get entangled in silver and blue curtains. On the left are three women and the leftmost woman is ostensibly pulling back the curtain to expose the others. Likewise, the second and the third woman are shown frontally gazing out of the survey. The portrayal of the three women gets influenced by an ancient Iberian sculpture displayed in the Louvre.
The Les Demoiselles art indeed marks the parentage of modern art. As a fact, traditional art could be well distinguished from modern art from the fact that it attempts to simulate the appearance of persons, objects, and prospects in the real world. However, the modern art, willfully distorts physical appearances which the traditional art does not. Consequently, the traditional artwork is said to be presentational, naturalistic, as well as realistic.
As a fact, therefore, the Les Demoiselles art opens the floodgates, beginning from cubism and then in speedy succession to futurism, man-made cubism, verbalism, abstraction, supremacism, and more besides. Indeed, Les Demoiselles is a bona fide revolution in paint the art tantamount to the French Rotation, indeed of the ramping of the Bastille. Indeed the artwork has impacted on the ontogenesis of modern graphics in purely conventional terms. The artwork influenced the output of a swamp of cubist paintings of humankind with guitars, not a swamp of drawings of prostitutes. Likewise, it has in order to view the artwork as an aggregate, a particular unification and content.
The Old Guitarist
Despite using several styles during his career, Picasso is recognized as one of the founders of Cubism alongside Georges Braque. During the paintings of the Blue Period, like The Old Guitarist, he is known to have employed a monochromatic palette, flattened figures, and tragic, sorrowful motifs. History states that Picasso adapted the dramatic, sad themes and expressive style after one of his closest friend committed suicide in Paris. It was, therefore, at this time that Picasso became sympathetic to the predicament of the downtrodden. As a result, therefore, he engaged in painting several canvases that displayed the wretchedness of the poor, the sick, and those regarded as outcasts of the society.
Picasso employs symbolism proficiencies and has some essential characteristics of ‘Turn of the Century’ Artwork in his drawing the Old Guitarist. He puts to use brilliant unrealistic color to verbalize opinions and emotions. Also, the art symbolically displays a bent, sightless man who holds a large round guitar close to himself, presenting a poor man. The use of the instrument, symbolically occupies the space around the man who looks blind and miserable. (Cangailosi, 2008)
Conclusion
The paper takes a look at the two pieces of art by Picasso so as to display modernism in the visual arts.
References
Cangailosi, J. (2008) “The Masterpiece from Picasso's Blue Period”, Associated Content
Molyneux, John, 2006, “Picasso, Modernism And The Non-European”, Socialist Worker, 22
April 2006.
Wullschlager, Jackie, 2007, “The Day Modern Art Was Invented: Picasso’s Demoiselles”, the
Financial Times, 4 January 2007.
