Exploring and taking influences from the Modern Era of Art

While exploring the different era's of art it was the modern era that caught my intrigue the most. As a lot of painters around the twentieth century began to create artwork that went against the traditional rules of painting that had been seen before such as the use of correct size, scale and colour.

One of the Ideals that this era of artists seemed to portray to me was that art is Art, wether it is made to be understood or not understood, liked or disliked. As i researched a number of artists involved in the modern art era their revolutionary out look on the art of their time it became a greatly influential factor at how i looked at the film piece that i would create and what i would want it to be about.

I've decided to evaluate a number of paintings from the different era's and have a look how these artists use form, shapes patterns and composition within there works.

Fauvism
One of the first artists i choose to study in more detail was 'Woman Playing a Guitar' by the Artist Georges Braque.

One of the first things that caught me about this painting is the Lines and vivid shapes that Georges Braque uses. Even though the painting is surreal and not traditional in its form and structure he somehow manages to get across the idea of a woman playing guitar by the use of the broken figures and shapes used.

Analysing this painting made me reflect on the way that i would want to compose certain shots in my project and i began to "think outside of the box" as far as my composition was concerned. I would like to imitate the more abstract style of using composition and apply it to my work.

The next Artpiece i chose to draw inspiration from was a painting entitled 'Guernica' by Pablo Picasso

As i did some background research of this photo i was really surprised at the amount of symbolism and representation that Picasso had used. The painting was created as a reminder of the horrors of war seen in the times of the Spanish Civil war. At first i had no idea of the meaning of it but as i studied it further i began to see the abundance of symbolism within it. As i researched deeper into the symbols within this piece it became very apparent to me that this painting is very much open to interpretation by anyone. I feel that by creating something that can be seen and interpreted by differently by each person truly captures the essence of true art. Rather than giving the viewer something straight forward and simple being unique and letting the viewer read between the lines pushes them to use their own imagination and brings the art to life. I Read an except about Picasso's own interpretation of this piece and this is what he said about it.

"...this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse... If you give a meaning to certain things in my paintings it may be very true, but it is not my idea to give this meaning. What ideas and conclusions you have got I obtained too, but instinctively, unconsciously. I make the painting for the painting. I paint the objects for what they are."

What i like most about this painting is the usage of the shapes and lines within this piece. I think Picasso's choice of leaving the painting black and white really adds to the effectiveness of the image as it allows the viewer to study the image in depth without the distraction of colors. I also think that if the painting was in color it would totally destroy the feelings of the surreal lines,shapes and symbols.

The use of tone and contrast in this painting inspired me to make a piece that will be mainly in black and white. I think changing my piece into black and white will give the viewers a feel of watching some thing non-natural thus giving them the opportunity to interpret my work in whatever way they feel fit.

Existentialism




During the 1900's a school of philosophers and artists began a move movement called the Existentialism movement. This movement explored the themes of Angst, Freedom, Facticity, Authentic non authenticy, Despair, The Other, Reason and the Absurd.

I would like to use a few of these topics such as Freedom and The other within my own piece so this painting was a real eye opener to me as learnt about the background of the Existential movement and The feelings behind the painting.

The painting i chose to analyse from this era was a painting titled "HeadVI" By Francis Bacon.

One of the first things that struck me when i first saw this picture is of how it really hit something inside of me emotionally. Although this painting doesn't really use any traditional uses of form or composition i feel the symbolism of the overall image is extremely powerful.

 To me this painting portrays a mans eternal struggle to think outside of the box whilst the very reason he is trying to think outside the box is because the box is, and will always be there. This gave me a stylistic revelation on my outlook into my own artwork and creations. I began to think about using my skills to create something that may not necessarily be original but definitely unique when it came to creating my own piece of cinematography. 

I think What Francis Bacon Was trying to show with this painting was the struggles of an artist in the 1940's-1950's to break away from the normality of classical composition and doing s created a very powerful and inspirational piece of work that stands for so many ideals that not everyone with understand and or wish to think or speak about. This is definitely one outlook on art and creation that i share with this artist and movement.