Neo-Expressionism: An Affirmation of the Redemptive Power of Art

Georg Baselitz - Man of Faith - 1983 - Oil on canvas - 97 1/2 x 78 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYMany artists have practiced and revived aspects of the original Expressionist movement, as it existed at its peak at the beginning of the twentieth century. 

The most famous return to Expressionism was inaugurated by Georg Baselitz (born 1938) who led a revival that dominated German art in the 1970s. By the 1980s, this resurgence had become part of an international return to the sensuousness of painting - and away from the stylistically cool, distant sparseness of Minimalism and Conceptualism. Baselitz was enormously influential in showing a generation of German artists how they might come to terms with issues of art and national identity in the wake of the Second World War.. Briefly trained in the officially sanctioned social realism of Communist East Berlin, he soon moved to West Berlin, and encountered abstract art. Ultimately, however, he was to reject both options. While others turned to Conceptual Art, Pop Art, and Arte Povera, Baselitz revived the German Expressionism that had been denounced by the Nazis, and returned the human figure to a central position in painting. The figures in his art often appear upside-down.

Baselitz has always been influential and controversial. "I begin with an idea, but as I work, the picture takes over. Then there is the struggle between the idea I preconceived... and the picture that fights for its own life.”

I’ll be teaching a single-session class on Neo-Expressionism THIS Thursday (11/9), at the Larchmont Temple. Click HERE to register.

Photorealism: A Challenge to Idealism and Abstraction

Duane Hanson - Woman Eating - 1971 - Polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories - 50 x 30 x 55 in. - Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (click photo for larger image)The name Photorealism (also known as Hyperrealism or Superrealism) was coined in reference to those artists whose work depended heavily on photographs, which they often projected onto canvas allowing images to be replicated with precision and accuracy. The exactness was often aided further by the use of an airbrush, which was originally designed to retouch photographs. The movement came about within the same period and context as Conceptual art, Pop Art, and Minimalism and expressed a strong interest in realism in art, over that of idealism and abstraction.

The work of Duane Hanson (1925-1996) explores social issues and the complexities of American identity. Hanson is considered one of the central members of the international Photorealist movement of the late twentieth century, a loose congregation of artists who favored naturalistic depiction over the abstract motifs of their contemporaries.

I’ll be teaching a single-session class on Photorealism THIS Thursday (11/2) at the Larchmont Temple. Register HERE if you’d like to attend.

Postmodernism - LMCCE - Fall 2017 Programs

Frank Stella - Pachanak - 1979 - Mixed media on corrugated aluminum - 233.7 x 307.3 x 91.4 cm (92 x 121 x 36 in.) - Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (click photo for larger image)Postmodernism - LMCCE - Fall 2017 Programs

This Fall I’ll be teaching a number of exciting, single-session programs for the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Center of Continuing Education (LMCCE) on Thursday mornings (9:30-11:30). All classes are held at the Larchmont Temple 

The focus will be on major Postmodern movements. Here are the dates and titles:

September 28th: Abstract Expressionism

October 12th: Color Field Painters and Post-Painterly Abstraction

October 19th: Neo-Dada

October 26th: Minimalism

November 2nd: Photorealism

November 9th: Neo-Expressionism

On November 16th, I’ll also be leading a tour of Postmodernism at the MET.

Registration for all of these programs begins on August 25th. To learn more and to sign on for one or all of these events, please go to the LMCCE website. 

Find out where the seeds of these movements were sown, and learn about each movement’s major artists.

“Art Speaks” - Ossining Arts Council - Fall 2017

Featured Artists and Programs for OAC ‘Art Speaks’ - Fall 2017Yes…it’s Summer…and there’s still plenty of dog days to come. But…were are in August and the Fall will be here before we know it.

Starting up in September, I’ll once again be leading the Ossining Art Council’s (OAC) “Art Speaks” program, open to the general public. In this series of single-session programs—attendees learn about local community artists and their work—in the context of broader art movements and developments in art history. 

As always, we’ll be looking at a number of different types of art, as a way of familiarizing you with the many approaches to (and styles of) artistic production that exist. Artists don’t operate in a vacuum. We’re all part of the history of art.

Every featured artist will be bringing in pieces of original art and/or delivering a visual presentation and talk. The artists noted here each have a fascinating story to tell—so don’t miss these exciting afternoons.

OAC Steamer Firehouse Gallery - 117 Main Street - Ossining, NY - Sundays, 2-3:30 PM

Suggested Donation: $5 per session

OAC has a number of exciting events happening this Fall. Please visit the website and check Facebook for more details. 

It’s going to be an Awesome Autumn!

New Directions for What About Art?

Italian Miniaturist - Two Martyr Saints in an Initial S - 1340s - Manuscript, 152 x 127 mm - Victoria and Albert Museum, London (click photo for larger image)Henri Matisse - Notre Dame, une fin d’après-midi - 1902 - Oil on paper mounted on canvas - 28 1/2 x 21 1/2 in. - Albright-Knox Art Gallery - Buffalo, NY (click photo for larger image)Art history has works of art designated into traditions, eras, periods, movements, styles and such. Each designation has a definition. Renaissance art (which grew out of the revival of Greco-Roman antiquity), for example, represented a dramatic change from the medieval tradition. Modern Art (note those caps) specifically refers to art created from 1900-1945 that vehemently challenged academic standards. Modern Art is neatly divided up into five major movements—with numerous sub-movements. We have such categories because there has to be some way to organize all of what we call art—and some way to note the differences between developments in art. All disciplines have similar systems: history, literature, science, and such. But while categorization IS essential, it also can be misleading. With respect to art, many of the seeds of change are sown when and where least expected. Future posts will be dealing very much with this issue. Artists don’t operate in a vacuum. We are part of the broader world (like it or not) which also includes the history that’s preceded us. So…moving forward…What About Art? will be looking at art as a continuum—as it relates to the past, present…and future.

The two images featured here are just a teaser for you. We’ve already talked about Henri Matisse’s relationship with medieval art on this site and the works featured here is yet another example of art as part of an ongoing continuum.