Research Proposal on "Abstract Impressionism"
Research Proposal 5 pages (1394 words) Sources: 5 Style: MLA
[EXCERPT] . . . .
Abstract ImpressionismArshile Gorky's "Agony" is one of the excellent examples of how contemporary art turns into an abstract representation of an artist's most inner beliefs, a reflection of his post-modernist anger and anxiety facing the realities of the 20th century. Looking at his life as an Armenian refugee whose mother had died in his arms during the Turkish genocide, Arshile Gorky probably best reflects a sum of all these feelings, eventually translated into an early refuge from this life (the artist committed suicide in 1948).
As a great representation of modern art, it is difficult to give out a realistic interpretation of this work, but the goal is rather to reveal inner feelings awakened by it. The first thing that is likely to make the viewer wonder is the incredible way the colors are combined into a rainbow of beliefs. There are several categories of colors successfully blended into this work. First of all, we have the bright colors, such as numerous nuances of red, with occasional intermissions of purple and pink.
However, the second set of colors are much more gloomy and include both the black present in most of the shapes, as well as the background maroon, coming in different nuances depending on the exact quarter it is located in. Finally, somewhere in the middle between these two extremes, perhaps as a fortunate representation of a balanced way of living which the artist never achieved, we have the bright colors, including here shades of a white.
It is interesting to note that the white colors are not really white at any point in the picture, but more nuances of grey, which turn bright in different points. This
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The shapes are more than interesting as well. Most of them are well defined and their diversity, a show of the artist's incredible imagination, is overwhelming. At times, one can almost see these shapes forming to make out a figure that we relate to. For example, the shapes on the left could join to form a vague human figure, with a right foot more obvious in the foreground. However, this is not the goal of the painting: it simply translates into shapes and colors the artist's imagination.
A similar modernist anguish can be seen in Philip Guston's "Untitled (Waiting)." Again, we are dealing with the same strange colors, with the exception that the nuances here are much more distinct in their grey and shady approach. There is no bright nuance, despite the existence of some bright colors. Indeed, we do have red and pink in the painting, however, the nuances are much more towards shaded and grey than towards the brighter red that Gorky has used in his painting.
It is difficult to interpret the symbols of modern art in all paintings and this is the case here as well. It is not our goal to find out real meanings, but to identify what these symbols awaken when looking at the painting. In this case, for example (and again, the title may be useful as a start in modern art interpretation), the symbol may be a rock, which would be a sign of the atemporal approach that the artist takes.
Indeed, if we think of a rock as the symbol of time in its immeasurable perspective, of an element that has been here almost since the dawn of times and is likely to be here when no life on Earth exists any more, the shape comes out clearer as simply a rock waiting in its own dimension for nothing to really happen. It is interesting to note, however, how the shape is not a straight one, not the shape we might expect a real rock to have. In its own firmness and immovability, it has actually altered a bit, which may be a sign that even rocks can be modified and changed and that nothing is, in fact, eternal and immovable.
There are no nuances in Barnett… READ MORE
Quoted Instructions for "Abstract Impressionism" Assignment:
“ART HUMANITIES
As much as meaning in representational art revolves around questions of our physical and ideal involvement in the work of art, it is always related to the subject matter of the work. In the absence of a visually represented subject matter, different questions will arise about the nature of meaning.
For this assignment, you are to compare five works. You will pick one work to focus on, but it will be the nexus through which your understanding of the various ways that abstract art reveals x (something about something) Remember that the job is to talk about these works, and not to speculate generally on the nature of twentieth century art or culture, etc. Do not try to see something in the work directly- abstract art, as much as it can refer to different things in different ways, does not do so directly through visual imitation. Your job is to suggest what it is that your painting is doing, how it is revealing something, and why abstraction was a better means of revealing it than direct imitation.
Since "abstraction" is a loose category, not all of these works are paintings, and none of them can be fit neatly into genres in the ways representational paintings can. Do your best to differentiate the forms abstract art can take- think about how the artist gets into the work (or doesn't), how the work forms our physical experience of it and the space around it, etc. A clue- think about how the handling of the material is reminiscent of that of a representational artist you've seen, and then think about what that handling is doing in the absence of a motif.
The Five Pieces of Art are:
1) Arshile Gorky- Agony 1947
2) Philip Guston- Untitled (waiting) 1972
3) Robert Motherwell- Open Number 17 (in Ultramarine with Charcoal Line) 1968
4) Barnett Newman- Vir Heroicus Sublimus 1950-1951
5) Robert Morris- Untitled 1968- Felt, asphalt, mirrors, wood, copper tubing, steel cable
and lead.
How to Reference "Abstract Impressionism" Research Proposal in a Bibliography
“Abstract Impressionism.” A1-TermPaper.com, 2008, https://www.a1-termpaper.com/topics/essay/abstract-impressionism-arshile-gorky/21287. Accessed 5 Oct 2024.
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