Sculpture and symphony, painting and story, film and palace, performance and dance - all these are works of various types of art.
Arts are classified according to different criteria. Fine arts show external reality in artistic images, non-fine arts express the inner world. Non-fine arts: music, dance and literature, as well as architecture. There are also mixed (synthetic) types of arts: cinema, theater, ballet, circus, etc.
Within each art form there are divisions called genres in accordance with the themes and objects of the image. This is what we will talk to you about today.
Types of art
Fine arts
Painting
Perhaps this is one of the most widespread forms of art. The very first works of painting date back to ancient times; they were discovered on the walls of caves of ancient people.
Monumental painting, which developed in the form of mosaics And frescoes(painting on wet plaster).
Saint Nicholas. Fresco of Dionysius. Ferapontov Monastery
Easel painting– these are paintings of different genres, painted on canvas (cardboard, paper) most often with oil paints.
Genres of painting
IN modern painting There are the following genres: portrait, historical, mythological, battle, everyday life, landscape, still life, animalistic genre.
Portrait genre reflects the external and internal appearance of a person or group of people. This genre is widespread not only in painting, but also in sculpture, graphics, etc. Main task portrait genre - conveying external resemblance and revealing inner world, the essence of human character.
I. Kramskoy “Portrait of Sofia Ivanovna Kramskoy”
Historical genre(depiction of historical events and characters). Of course, genres in painting are often intertwined, because... when depicting, for example, some historical event the artist has to turn to the portrait genre, etc.
Mythological genre– illustration of myths and legends different nations.
S. Botticelli “Birth of Venus”
Battle genre- an image of battles, military exploits, military operations, glorifying battles, the triumph of victory. The battle genre can also include elements of other genres - domestic, portrait, landscape, animal, still life.
V. Vasnetsov “After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians”
Everyday genre– depiction of scenes from a person’s everyday, personal life.
A. Venetsianov “On the arable land”
Scenery– image of nature, environment, species rural areas, cities, historical monuments, etc.
And Savrasov “The rooks have arrived”
Marina- seascape.
Still life(translated from French - “dead nature”) - an image of household items, labor, creativity, flowers, fruits, dead game, caught fish, placed in a real everyday environment.
Animalistic genre– image of animals.
Graphics
Name of this species fine arts comes from the Greek word grapho - I write, I draw.
Graphics include primarily drawings and engravings, in which the design is created mainly using a line on a sheet of paper or a cutter on a solid material, from which the image is imprinted onto a sheet of paper.
Types of graphics
Engraving- a design is applied to the flat surface of the material, which is then covered with paint and stamped on paper. The number of impressions varies depending on the engraving technique and material. The main materials for engraving are metal (copper, zinc, steel), wood (boxwood, palm, pear, cherry, etc.), linoleum, cardboard, plastic, plexiglass. The engraving board is processed by mechanical means, steel tools or acid etching.
Printmaking– a print from an engraving board (engraving, lithography, silk-screen printing, monotype), which is an easel work artistic graphics. The print is printed from a board that the artist himself engraved; often he also makes the impressions. Such works are usually signed, author's copies and are considered originals. Prints are available in black and white and color.
Book graphics- design of the book, its decorative design, illustrations.
Industrial graphics – creation of product labels, brand names, publishing marks, packaging, advertising publications, forms and envelopes. It comes into contact with advertising and is included in the design system.
Bookplate- a sign indicating the owner of the book. The bookplate is attached to the inside of a book binding or cover. Book characters are engraved on wood, copper, linoleum, zincographic or lithographic methods.
Bookplate of Greta Garbo
Poster- an image designed for general attention, created for propaganda or educational purposes.
Linocut- engraving on linoleum.
Lithography– type of engraving: drawing a picture on a stone and making an impression from it.
Woodcut– wood engraving.
Katsushika Hokusai "The Great Wave off Kanagawa", woodcut
Etching– type of engraving on metal, engraving method and impression obtained by this method.
Computer graphics– images are compiled on a computer and shown dynamically or statically. When creating this type of graphics, it is possible to see how the image is formed at all stages and make unlimited adjustments.
Sculpture
This type of art also originated in ancient times. Many images of animals sculpted from clay or carved from stone have been found, quite accurately depicting them appearance. Many female figurines have been preserved that embody the powerful feminine principle. Perhaps these are primitive images of goddesses. Ancient sculptors exaggerated their fertile powers, depicting them with powerful hips, and archaeologists call them “Venuses.”
Venus of Willendorf, about 23 thousand years BC. e., Central Europe
Sculpture is divided into round, freely placed in space, and relief, in which three-dimensional images are located on a plane.
As in painting, in sculpture there are easel and monumental forms. Monumental sculpture designed for streets and squares, such a monument is created for a long time, so it is usually made of bronze, marble, granite. Easel sculpture
– these are portraits or small genre groups made of wood, plaster and other materials.
Monument to the postman. Nizhny Novgorod
Arts and crafts
The creators of works of decorative and applied art set themselves two goals: to create a thing that is necessary for everyday life, but this thing at the same time must have certain artistic qualities. Everyday objects should not only serve a person practically, but also decorate life, delight the eye with the perfection of shapes and colors.
Of course, now many works of decorative and applied art have mainly aesthetic value, but this was not always the case.
Main types of decorative and applied arts
Batik– hand painting on fabric
Work using the hot batik technique (using wax)
Beading
Embroidery
Knitting
Lace making
Carpet weaving
Tapestry
Quilling- the art of making flat or three-dimensional compositions from long and narrow strips of paper twisted into spirals.
Quilling technique
Ceramics
Mosaic
Jewelry art
Lacquer miniature
Palekh lacquer miniature
Artistic painting on wood
Artistic painting on metal
Zhostovo tray
Artistic carving
Artistic processing of leather
Artistic painting on ceramics
Artistic metal processing
Pyrography(burning on wood, leather, fabric, etc.)
Working with glass
Upper half of a window at Canterbury Cathedral, UK
Origami
Photographic art
The art of artistic photography. The genres are basically the same as in painting.
Graffiti
Images on walls or other surfaces. Graffiti refers to any type of street painting on walls, on which you can find everything from simple written words to elaborate drawings.
Graffiti
Comic
Drawn stories, stories in pictures. Comics combine the features of such art forms as literature and fine art.
Artist Winsor McCay "Little Sammy Sneezes"
Non-fine arts
Architecture
Architecture– the art of designing and constructing buildings. Architectural structures can exist in the form of individual buildings or as ensembles. But sometimes ensembles are formed historically: from buildings built in different times, a single whole is formed. An example is Moscow's Red Square.
Architecture allows us to judge technical achievements and artistic styles different eras. Have survived to this day Egyptian pyramids, built about 5 thousand years ago, temples Ancient Greece and Rome. Any city in any country is famous for its architectural structures.
Palace Square in St. Petersburg
Literature
In the broadest sense of the word: the totality of any written texts.
Types of literature: fiction, documentary prose, memoirs, scientific and popular science, reference, educational, technical.
Genres of literature
A literary work can be classified as a particular genre according to various criteria: by form (short story, ode, opus, essay, story, play, short story, novel, sketch, epic, epos, essay), by content (comedy, farce, vaudeville , sideshow, sketch, parody, sitcom, comedy of characters, tragedy, drama), by gender.
Epic kind: fable, epic, ballad, myth, short story, story, short story, novel, epic novel, fairy tale, epic.
Lyrical gender: ode, message, stanzas, elegy, epigram.
Lyric-epic genus: ballad, poem.
Dramatic gender: drama, comedy, tragedy.
Music
Music is art, a means of embodiment artistic images for which there are sound and silence, organized in a special way in time. But in general, it is impossible to give one exhaustively precise definition of the concept “music”. This is a special type of creative activity, including a craft and profession.
The type and stylistic variety of music is great.
Classic (or serious)– professional musical compositions, born in the culture of Europe mainly from the New Age (the turn of the 16th-17th centuries) and in the Middle Ages;
Popular– mostly song and dance musical genres.
Extra-European (non-European)– music of those peoples (East) whose culture differs from the culture of Western European civilization.
Ethnic (folk)– folklore musical works of different peoples, emphasizing the originality of an ethnic group, nation, tribe.
Variety (easy)– music of an entertaining nature, intended for relaxation.
Jazz– performing traditions of American blacks reinterpreted by Europeans, based on a synthesis of African and European musical elements.
Rock– music of small vocal and instrumental groups of young people, characterized by the mandatory presence of drums and electric musical instruments, primarily guitars.
Avant-garde (experimental)- direction in professional composing in the 20th century.
Alternative– new musical compositions or performances (sound presentations, “performances”), fundamentally different from all types of music known today.
Types of music can also be determined by the function it performs: military, church, religious, theater, dance, film music, etc.
Or by the nature of the performance: vocal, instrumental, chamber, vocal-instrumental, choral, solo, electronic, piano, etc.
Each type of music has its own genres. Let's take an example genres of instrumental music.
Instrumental music- This is music performed on instruments, without the participation of the human voice. Instrumental music can be symphonic or chamber music.
Chamber music– compositions intended for performance in small spaces, for home, “room” music playing. Chamber music has great potential for conveying lyrical emotions and subtle mental states of a person. The genres of chamber music include: sonatas, quartets, plays, quintets, etc.
Sonata– one of the main instrumental genres chamber music. Usually consists of 3 (4) parts.
Etude – musical piece, designed to improve technical skills in playing the instrument.
Nocturne(French “night”) is a genre of a small one-part melodious lyrical piece for piano.
Prelude(Latin “introduction”) – small instrumental piece. Improvisational introduction to the main piece. But it can also be an independent work.
Quartet – piece of music for 4 performers.
Within each type of music can arise and develop own styles and trends distinguished by stable and characteristic structural and aesthetic features: classicism, romanticism, impressionism, expressionism, neoclassicism, serialism, avant-garde, etc.
Choreography
Choreography is the art of dance.
Spectacular (mixed or synthetic) arts
Theater
A spectacular form of art, which is a synthesis of various arts: literature, music, choreography, vocals, visual arts and others.
Puppet theater
Types of theaters: drama, opera, ballet, puppet theater, pantomime theater, etc. The art of theater has been known for a long time: theater was born from the most ancient ritual festivals, which in allegorical form reproduced natural phenomena or labor processes.
Opera
An art form in which poetry and dramatic art, vocal and instrumental music, facial expressions, dancing, painting, scenery and costumes.
Teatro alla Scala (Milan)
Stage
This type of art of small forms is predominantly popular and entertaining. Variety includes the following directions: singing, dancing, circus on stage, illusionism, conversational genre, clowning.
Circus
A type of entertainment art, according to the laws of which an entertaining performance is built. The content of modern circus performances is the demonstration of magic tricks, pantomime, clowning, reprise, demonstration of exceptional abilities, often associated with risk (physical strength, acrobatics, balancing act), trained animals.
Film art
A type of entertainment art, which is also a synthesis of the arts: literature, theater, dance, fine arts (scenery), etc.
Ballet
View performing arts; a performance whose content is embodied in musical and choreographic images. Based on the classic ballet performance lies a certain plot, a dramatic plan. In the 20th century a plotless ballet appeared, the dramaturgy of which was based on the development inherent in the music.
Art appeared almost immediately after the advent of mankind, and over the centuries many greatest works in painting, sculpture and other fields of art. Which of them are considered the best is a very controversial question, because even experts disagree on this matter. Today we will try to compile a list of the ten most famous works of art of all time.
10 PHOTOS
1. " Starry night", Van Gogh.
The picture painted Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh in 1889. The inspiration for this piece of art was the night sky he observed from the window of his room at St. Paul's Orphanage.
2. Drawings in the Chauvet Cave. Prehistoric rock paintings animals created approximately 30 thousand years ago. Chauvet Cave is located in the south of France.
3. Moai statues. Stone monolithic statues located on Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean. The statues are believed to have been created by the island's Aboriginal people between 1250 and 1500 AD.
4. “The Thinker”, Rodin. The most famous work French sculptor Auguste Rodin, created in 1880.
5. " last supper", da Vinci. This painting, painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1494 and 1498, depicts the scene of Jesus' last meal with his disciples as described in the biblical gospel of John.
6. “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo. One of the most famous frescoes by Michelangelo, located in Sistine Chapel Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The fresco illustrates the account of the creation of Adam from the biblical book of Genesis.
7. “Venus de Milo”, author unknown. One of the most famous ancient Greek sculptures, created sometime between 130 and 100 BC. The marble sculpture was discovered in 1820 on the island of Milos.
8. “The Birth of Venus” by Botticelli. In the picture written Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, depicts the scene of the appearance of the goddess Venus from the sea. The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. 
10. “Mona Lisa”, da Vinci.
A masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, created approximately between 1503 and 1506. The painting is in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Each person understands the meaning of art differently: some elevate and extol it, while others vomit it into the abyss of emotions. Without works of art a person can get by everyday life, but emotional hunger needs knowledge of real art, which gives a feeling of happiness, joy and peace of mind. It can transport a person to the world of dreams and fantasies, which everyone expresses in various forms of art. We will look at them below.
Plastic or spatial arts
fine arts
This type of creativity aims to reproduce the surrounding world and sense it visually. For the sake of this type of art, many artists abandoned a calm, well-fed life and burned at the altar of art. The works of masters became the causes of political clashes and wars. Collectors were ready to incur a curse on themselves. This is what people are willing to do for the sake of art.
- Painting. The art of depicting reality with colors. It consists of objects depicted in a multi-colored palette on the surface. An artist can express his inner world and emotions on canvas, easel and cardboard. This genre is divided into several types: easel, monumental, miniature.
- . The art of depicting objects with strokes and lines. On the one hand, both adults and children can do this, having only a sheet of paper, paints, and pencils. But not everything is so simple, and those who believe that graphics are publicly available are mistaken. This is a complex type that needs to be trained if you want to become masters of this craft. The artist applies strokes, lines and spots on a plane (wood, metal, buildings, cardboard, and so on), using one or two color schemes (in some cases, a larger number can be used). This genre is divided into several types: easel, computer, magazine and newspaper, book, applied and industrial.
- Sculpture. The artist expresses his works from solid and plastic materials that have a three-dimensional form. The works captured in the materials are capable of conveying vitality objects of creation. This type is divided into several types: sculpture of small forms, monumental, easel, small plastic and monumental - decorative.
Constructive art
The master expresses his creativity in playback artistic buildings, organizing the spatial-objective environment around us , without depicting anything. Divided into two genres:
- . Based on the life, views and ideology of society and easily adapts to changing styles in different historical periods life. This genre is divided into several types: urban planning, landscape and architecture of volumetric structures.
- Design. It is an aesthetic symbol of the modern world. By creating masterpieces, the designer consolidates the style of the era with his creativity. It is divided into several genres: exhibition, subject, landscape, interior design, clothing and books.
Arts and crafts
Creative works of this art have practical use in everyday life . The basis of this art are various branches of creative activity aimed at creating artistic products with utilitarian and artistic functions. Divided into several types:
- ceramics;
- forging;
- glass;
- tapestry;
- clay toy;
- sewing;
- applique;
- quilts;
- artistic treatment skin;
- weaving;
- stained glass and much more.
Temporary arts
The composer expresses his spiritual beauty and picture of the world with the help of sound tones and rhythms, meaningful and organized in an orderly manner. This is the spiritual language of the material world, reproduced using musical instruments (their basis is a resonator), unconsciously grasped by the ear. Types of music can be divided according to different criteria, for example, according to the nature of performance, it is divided into types such as vocal, instrumental, chamber, solo, electronic, vocal-instrumental, choral and piano. By habitat - military, church, religious, dance and theater. But basically it is divided into two types:
- vocal;
- instrumental.
Most often, this type of art means only fiction, but not everything is so simple. In addition, this includes scientific, philosophical and other works that reflect the views of people. Here works are created using words and writing. They reflect the totality of branches of knowledge of a particular science or specialty. Literature is divided into such types as educational, technical, scientific, artistic, reference, memoir and documentary prose. Created in several genres:
- folklore;
- prose;
- poetry.
Space-time arts
This is a combination of several types of art, such as literature, choreography, music, poetry and so on. The theater has its own views and views on displaying reality and does this with the help of dramatic action. This is a collective art, expressing its ideas with the help of actors, directors, screenwriters, stage managers, composers, costume designers and make-up artists. Consists of several types such as drama theater, puppet, opera, ballet and pantomime.
View artistic creativity, based on various technical means recording and playback of images in motion accompanied by sound. There are several types of this art - these are feature films, documentaries and short films.
Expression of emotions and inner experiences with the help of body movements, built into a specific work, accompanied by music. People have the opportunity to express their feelings, themes, ideas through pantomime, scenery and costume. Has its own directions and styles: ballroom dance, historical, ritual, folk, acrobatic, pop and club.
Experts give different definitions to the term “art”, since it is impossible to contain all the enormous meaning that this word carries in one concept, one phrase. It performs a lot of useful functions for humanity. Art shapes spiritual values and fosters an understanding of beauty.
What is art
Let us repeat, there are several definitions of the concept “art”. First of all, this is a high level of a person’s skill in any field of activity. To explain in more detail, it can be called the ability to creatively reproduce reality with the help of aesthetic artistic images, objects, and actions. The main types of art are the spiritual culture of society.
The subject of art is the totality of relations between the world and man. The form of existence is a work of art, the means of manifestation of which can be word, sound, color, volume. The main goal of art is the self-expression of the creator through his work, which is created to evoke emotions, experiences, and aesthetic pleasure in the beholder.
Various types of art, the classification table of which shows their division into types, use imagination and illusoryness instead of strict unambiguous concepts. In human life, it acts as a means of communication, enrichment of knowledge, education of values, as well as a source of aesthetic joys.
Basic functions of art
Types of art (their table is presented below) exist in the world to perform certain social functions:
- Aesthetic. Reproduction of reality according to the laws of beauty. Influence on the formation of aesthetic taste, the ability to experience and feel emotions. The ability to distinguish between the sublime and the standard, the beautiful and the ugly.
- Social. Ideological influence on society, transformation of social reality.
- Compensatory. Solving psychological problems, restoring peace of mind and balance. Detachment from gray reality and everyday life by compensating for the lack of harmony and beauty.
- Hedonistic. The ability to bring positive emotions through the contemplation of beauty.
- Cognitive. Study and knowledge of reality with the help of which are sources of information about public processes.
- Prognostic. The ability to predict and anticipate the future.
- Educational. Influence on personality formation and moral formation person.
Classification of art forms
Art does not have a single form of embodiment. In this regard, it is classified according to different criteria into genres, genera, types, subspecies. There is no one generally accepted system, so art is divided into groups according to certain factors.
Dynamics is one of the criteria by which types of art are classified. The table in this article shows how the types of creativity are divided according to this scheme. So, according to its dynamics, art is divided into:
Temporary (dynamic);
Spatial (plastic);
Spatiotemporal (synthetic).
According to the emotions expressed and the feelings evoked, it is divided into genres: comedy, tragedy, drama, etc.
Types of art are also determined by the materials used:
Traditional - paints, clay, metal, plaster, wood, granite, canvas;
Modern - electrical engineering, computers;
The main classification system identifies 5 main types of art, each of which additionally has several subtypes:
Applied (labor);
Fine;
Spectacular (game);
Sound;
Verbal.
For a clear example, we have provided you with a summary table that contains all the main types of art.
Temporary | Sound | |
Verbal | Literature |
|
Spatiotemporal | Spectacular | |
Choreography |
||
TV |
||
Applied | Arts and crafts |
|
Architecture |
||
Spatial | Fine | Photo |
Painting |
||
Sculpture |
Literature
Material carrier literary type art is a word with the help of which artistic images and written texts are created. It can reflect an epic narration about certain events, a lyrical revelation of the author’s inner world and experience, a dramatic reproduction of the actions that took place.
Literature is divided into:
Historical;
Scientific;
Educational;
Artistic.
Information.
Genres of works are determined by type, form, content.
Music
There is also an art capable of conveying emotions in an audible form - music. It is the embodiment of artistic images, ideas, emotional experiences with the help of silence and sound organized in a special way. This is an art recorded by reproduction and musical notation. Music, depending on its functions, is divided into religious, military, dance, and theater. According to its performance, it can be: instrumental, electronic, vocal, choral, chamber. The main musical genres and directions are:
Variety;
Alternative;
Extra-European;
Ethnic;
Popular;
Classical;
Avant-garde.
Applied (labor) arts
Applied arts (the table also calls them spatial) include architecture and
Architecture helps shape spatial environment. With its help, the design and construction of various structures is carried out. It helps to make the buildings that people need meet their spiritual needs.
Architecture is closely related to the development of technology and technology, therefore, with its help one can judge scientific achievements and artistic features different eras. Among the most famous historical styles buildings can be distinguished baroque, modern, classicism, renaissance, gothic. Depending on the purpose of the buildings, architecture is divided into public, industrial, residential, gardening, etc.
Decorative and applied arts are creative activity, aimed at creating objects that simultaneously satisfy the artistic, aesthetic and everyday needs of people. Decorative and applied art to some extent has a national and ethnic character. Among its main types are: knitting, embroidery, lace-making, pyrography, origami, quilling, ceramics, carpet weaving, artistic painting and processing of various materials, etc. Products are made using various materials and technology.
Fine arts
Photography, sculpture, painting, graphics as a form of art that uses images, clearly show reality in tangible artistic forms.
Painting is a color representation of reality on a plane. This is one of the oldest forms of art. Depending on the theme of the painting, there are such historical, battle, mythological, animalistic, still life, landscape, portrait, everyday.
Graphics as an art form is the creation of a drawing with a line on a sheet or using a cutter on a solid material, followed by an imprint on paper. This type creativity, depending on the method of applying the drawing, is divided into subtypes: engraving, bookplate, poster, woodcut, lithography, linocut, etching, printmaking. There are also book industrial and computer graphics.
Photography is the art of documentary recording visual image which is performed using technical means. It has almost the same genres as painting.
Sculpture is the creation of a three-dimensional volume. With the help of this art, relief and round images are created. Based on size, it is divided into easel, monumental, and decorative.
Spectacular (game) arts
Spectacular forms of art are aimed not only at but also at entertaining people. It is precisely man who is the main object with the help of which performance art is conveyed to the viewer. It has several directions.
Choreography is the art of dance. It is the construction of images using plastic movements. Dances are divided into ballroom, ritual, folk, and modern. Choreographic art The ballet is built on musical and dance images, which are based on a certain plot.
Cinema is a synthesis of certain types of arts - theater, dance, literature. It has many genres (comedy, drama, thriller, action, melodrama) and subtypes (documentary, fiction, series).
Circus is a demonstration of entertaining performances. Includes clowning, acrobatics, reprise, mime, magic tricks, etc.
Theater, like cinema, consists of combining several types of creativity - music, literature, vocals, visual arts, choreography. It can be dramatic, operatic, puppet, ballet.
Variety is an art of small forms that has a popular and entertainment orientation. Includes choreography, vocals, spoken word and others.
Humanity has been creating and studying art for centuries. It is the greatest spiritual and cultural heritage society plays a huge role in its development and improvement.
Can this or that work be considered a work of art? Many people ask this question, not only after seeing, but also looking at the works of famous artists of the last century. Even famous artists sometimes confuse works of art with interior items. We have selected five interesting books that clearly explain what contemporary art, and wrote out from them the most interesting quotes about famous works of the 20th century.
Pablo Picasso
"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", 1907
Material:oil on canvas
Direction:cubism
The painting “Les Demoiselles d'Avignon” is Picasso's first cubist work - he did not depict Barcelona prostitutes realistically, but “disassembled” their bodies and faces into many geometric shapes.
“The poet Guillaume Apollinaire said: “Picasso examines an object in the same way as a surgeon dissects a corpse.” This is the essence of cubism: the artist selects the subject of the image, analyzes and deconstructs it. Why did Picasso choose not to create the elegant and atmospheric figurative works that were so popular with collectors and critics? He was aware of the professional danger that Matisse posed to him. Because after the painting “The Happiness of Existence,” presented in 1906, Matisse began to be considered the most interesting young artist of that time. The Cezanne exhibition of 1907 inspired Picasso, and he decided to further develop what he had started famous artist. The painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" was based on the ideas of Cézanne and became the beginning of a new artistic movement."
-What are you looking at? The surprising, shocking and sometimes strange history of modern art over 150 years
Kazimir Malevich
"Black Square"
1915
Materials:oil on canvas
Direction:Suprematism
One of the most discussed works of the 20th century is “Black Square” by Malevich, which was written in 1915. Despite the fact that the artist provided a theoretical basis for his painting in the manifesto “From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism,” many viewers still question its value, noting that you do not need to be an artist to draw a square.
"Turning all pictorial elements into geometric shapes and by using open colors, Malevich hoped to reach the pinnacle of expressiveness and free painting from any political and social meanings. The Suprematists did not depict the surrounding reality, and tried to avoid any symbols and narratives, and used elements of simple form - this is how they created a new creative reality.”
- 50 art ideas you need to know about
Marcel Duchamp
"Fountain", 1917
Material:urinal
Direction:conceptualism,
Dadaism, surrealism
Another most important work of the 20th century is “The Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp, who was the first to come up with the idea of turning household item into a work of art - this is how the concept of readymade appeared.
"He was sure that he had invented new look sculpture: now the artist could choose any object that was mass-produced and had a certain aesthetic value, and, freeing it from its functional purpose (in other words, making it useless), giving it a name and placing it in a new context, turning it into a work of art.”
- WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? THE AMAZING, SHOCKING AND SOMETIMES STRANGE HISTORY OF MODERN ART OVER 150 YEARS
Barnett Newman
"Onement I", 1948
Materials:oil on canvas
Direction:abstract expressionism
The first abstract work with a vertical stripe was made by the Russian artist Olga Rozanova - in 1918, her “Green Stripe” was created. However, it was unknown to most Western specialists, which is why such works made the American abstract artist Barnett Newman famous. He, like Rozanova, went further than Malevich and created a work that has no boundaries - the painting seems to be a fragment great work, which has no background and no depicted object.
“Newman shared the interest of other abstract expressionists in ancient myths and primitive art. The dividing line in the painting, which was later called “lightning,” became “ business card" artist. Despite the modest size of the painting “Onement I” (69x41 cm), Newman considered it his creative achievement, because he invented a new method that surprised the viewer and touched him emotionally, because the artist managed to overcome the limitations within the painting."
Richard Hamilton
“So what makes our houses today so different, so attractive?”, 1956
Materials:magazine clippings
Direction:pop art
It is considered the first painting to be classified as pop art. She was shown in the famous exhibition This Is Tomorrow at London's Whitechapel Gallery in 1956. In addition to Hamilton, young artists took part in it, whose works are classified as op art (optical art) and pop art.
Dan Flavin
“Monument for V. Tatlin”, 1964
Materials:fluorescent lamps
on metal bases
Direction:minimalism
Dan Flavin dedicated his work to the unrealized “Monument of the Third International.” As Susie Hodge writes, this is an ironic work, which, on the one hand, is made of ordinary elements (unlike Tatlin’s unique designs for “Monument”), and on the other hand, is temporary (the lamps burn out), which is contrary to the nature of monumental architecture.
“Children might stick fluorescent lights to the wall, but they wouldn't ask viewers to rethink [thus] several things at once: the functionality of objects, philosophical ideas, which first appeared in Russia in 1915, and the gallery space itself.”
- Why couldn’t your five-year-old child do that?
Jeff Koons
"Rabbit", 1987
Materials:stainless steel
Direction: neo-pop
One of the most expensive contemporary artists, known for his taste for kitsch, largely continues the line of Warhol. His works are created by the hands of 135 employees, and the artist’s “Factory” is an entire corporation, Jeff Koons LLC.
“Koons’s “Rabbit” is so cold that it seems not to have been created by man. This is not just an ideal industrial product, but above all an image of desire embodied. The artist prefers to call his subject a chameleon: the reflective material makes “Rabbit” a sort of postmodern Brancusi, he constantly changes his skin and regenerates. He lets the space with the audience inside him.” - Defining contemporary art. 25 years in 200 basic works
Mike Kelly
"More hours of love,
how can you compensate
and retribution for sins", 1987
Materials:stuffed factory toys on canvas, dried corn, wax candles on wood and metal base
Direction:conceptualism
Contemporary artist Mike Kelly used various equipment in order to convey his ideas: he worked on videos, came up with performances and installations. Kelly often used the image of childhood in his works. The artist began making works from worn-out toys and knitted scarves in the late 1980s.
"Kelly's first work, in which he used stuffed animals, has great value for a number of reasons, but the main one is how many associations and emotions arise in the viewer. Dolls that were bitten and torn by children replace the image of a child. What children do to their inanimate friends is violence without malice.”
- Defining contemporary art.
25 years in 200 basic works
Tracey Emin
"My Bed", 1998
Materials:mattress, bed linen, various objects
Direction:Young British artists(Young British Artists)
With her works, Tracey Emin literally wrenches the viewer's soul out. Her most famous work, “My Bed,” is a document of the artist’s long depression. Bottles of vodka, cigarette packs, photographs and a soft toy: everything remained untouched, exactly as it was in Emin’s saddest days.
“Many children leave their beds unmade and throw things around the room, but if you look closely at this installation by Tracey Emin, it becomes clear that the bed belongs to an adult. When this work was first shown, notes, cutouts, videos and photographs were hung on the walls around the work - all of which showed that the artist was experiencing personal trauma, as well as fears and helplessness."
