Chapter 1 The nature of art and creativity What is art? What is it good for? What are some characteristics of creativity?
Chapter 1The nature of art and creativity
What is art?
What is it good for?
What are some characteristics of creativity?
Janet Echelman, Her Secret is Patience, 2009, Polyester fiber twine, rope, height 100’, Civic Space Park, Phoenix, AZ
Mixed Media- art made from a variety of materialsconstruction amateur daytime
Pablo Picasso, “La Reve” (The Dream), oil on canvas, 1932, 51”x38”Portrait of Marie Therese Walter until recently owned by Steve Wynn
Pablo Picasso, “La Reve” (The Dream), oil on canvas, 1932, 51”x38“
Originally purchased for $7000 (100K) by Ganz, the first piece they collected. Sold at auction 1997 for $48, and in 2001 for $60 to Wynn. 2006 the “Wynn incident” drops to $85 after 90K repair. Claimed on
insurance and reportedly sold again to Cohen in March 2013 for $155!
“Three Studies of Lucian Freud”, Francis Bacon, triptych, oil on canvas, 78”x58” each. Sold seperately in the 70’s and then reassembled by a collector in Rome in
the late 80’s. Sold at auction in late 2013 for $142 mil
One of 4 versions of “The Scream” by Edward Munch, this one in pastel- not even a painting(!) sold for $120 mil in 2012. The other three versions are in museums.
Jackson Pollock, No.5, oil and enamel on canvas, 1948, 48”x96”Sold by David Geffen to David Martinez in a private sale in 2008.
Last known sale of a large work was 1973 (!)
Wassily Kandinsky, Composition iv, 1911, Oil on canvasArt is:
A visual expression of an idea or experience formed with skill through the use of a medium- material and technique
Robin Rhode. He Got Game. 2000.Twelve color photographs. Example of Creativity
The ability to bring forth something new that has valueRelevance or new way of thinking
Not a novelty. Potential to influence future thought or action
Romare Bearden. Prevalence of Ritual: Tidings. 1967.Photomontage. 36" × 48".
Suggestive of the AnnunciationIBM CEO interviews (1500 in 60 countries)-
Creativity
Video: Romare Bearden Discusses His Work
Romare Bearden.Influence of childhood in North Carolina, Grew up in Harlem- Harlem
RenaissanceJazz and musician friends a big influence. Studied in Paris
Author and song writer
Romare Bearden. Rocket to the Moon. 1971.Collage on board. 13" × 9-1/4".
Fascinated with ideas of Home, homecoming and place
Nuestro pueblo, Sabatino “Simon” Rodia, mixed media, Watts (LA) California 1921-1954, height 100ft. Rodia was an untrained artist, an Italian immigrant who was a
tile setter.
Sabatino "Simon" Rodia. Nuestro Pueblo. Watts, CA. 1921–1954.Height 100'. He built this piece out of cast off materials over many years.
James Hampton, “Throne of the third heaven of the nation’s millennium general assembly”,1950-1964, mixed media 180 pieces 10’6”x27’x14’6”. Hampton was a
Baptist minister and night janitor in Washington DC who built this work in his garage.
Retablo. 1915.Paint on tin. 9" × 11".
Man falsely accused credits “the fervent prayers of my dear parents and my aggrieved wife” for saving him
Alana, age 3. Grandma.Until about age six, children depict the world in symbolic rather then
representational ways using more mental constructs that visual realism
Representational artwork-Depicts the appearance of things. Represents (presents again) objects in the everyday world- Objects represented are called
subjects.
William Harnett. A Smoke Backstage. 1877.Oil on canvas, 7" x 8 1/2".
An example of Trope l’oeil- “to fool the eye” Like a painting in HD
Rene Magritte, The treason of images, oil on canvas, 1929.Ceci n’est pas une pipe - “this is not a pipe”
What is it?
Jan Van Eyck, Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife ('The Arnolfini Portrait'), 1434, 80x60cm. While the figures are somewhat stiff, the room and everything in it is
extremely accurate in its representation.
Abstract- to extract the essence, “to
take from”
Natural objects are simplified, distorted,
exaggerated.
Artist changes natural appearance
to reveal or emphasize certain
qualities.
Chief's stool. Late 19th–early 20th century.Wood plant fibre. Height 16-1/2".Western Grasslands, Cameroon
Abstraction is common in many cultures- choice to emphasize certain elements
Marlene Dumas, Wailing Wall, 2009, Oil on Linen, 70”x118”Dumas uses strong brushwork and solid shapes to convey emotion
Non-representational -Visual forms with no specific reference to anything outside themselves. Pure visual forms.
Maori peoples, New Zealand. Tukutuku panels. 1930s.Dyed, plaited flax strips over wood laths. Dimensions variable.
Te Whare Runanga, Maori Meeting House, New Zealand
Jackson Pollock, Blue poles: Number 11, 1952 enamel and aluminum paint with glass on canvas, 82 7/8" x 15' 11 5/8”.
Pollock sought to activate the surface through line and color while not depicting any specific thing.
Bridget Riley, Current, 1964, emulsion on canvas 55x55.Riley is interested in how the eye sees images.
Richard Serra, Snake, forged steel, 1994-97, Bilbao, Spain.Serra uses large steel forms to carve space
Why is this photograph of a pepper so important?
“28 years of effort… have gone into the making of this pepper, which I consider a peak of achievement”
Edward Weston,Pepper#30, 1930
•Photograph exposed over 2 hours
•What is the difference between “looking” and “seeing”?•more than a pepper: abstract, in that it is now completely outside subject matter…takes one beyond the world we know in the conscious mind”
Much of our thinking is visual using visual memory and imagination.
“To see is itself a creative operation, requiring an effort. Everything we see in our daily life is more or less distorted by acquired habits…the effort needed to see things without distortion requires something very like courage”- Henri Matisse 1953
How much more true is this today in light of TV, cell phones, the internet, video games?
Contantin Brancusi, The Kiss, 1916 Limestone, 23x13x 10.How does Brancusi’s sculpture differ from Rodin’s?
It’s abstract, how do you know that?
Cornelia Parker, Kiss, one mile of string and Rodin’s Kiss, 2003Form is what we see, content is the meaning we get from what we see.
How do they change in this Kiss compared to the previous two?
Albrecht Durer Knight, Death and Devil,1513, Engraving, 24 x 19 cm.Durer is using Iconography to tell a larger story.
Iconography is the symbolic meaning of signs, symbols and images.
Circle of Diego Quispe Tito. The Virgin of Carmel Saving Souls in Purgatory. Late 17th Century., oil on canvas, 41" × 29".
Christian symbols, actors, scapular garments for protection