Surrealism - Art History

Surrealists feasted on the unconscious. They believed that Freud's theories on dreams, ego, superego and the id opened doors to the authentic self and a truer reality (the "surreal"). Like the Dadaists, they relished the possibilities of chance and spontaneity.



Their leader, the "Pope of Surrealism," was French writer André Breton (1896-1966), who joined fellow writers Philippe Soupault, Louis Aragon, Paul Éluard, and Robert Denos (among many others) in their appreciation of nineteenth-century "bad boys" Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) and Isidore Ducasse (whose pseudonym was Comte de Lautrémont, 1846-1870). One quote from Lautrémont's prose-poem Les Chants de Maldoror expresses the Surrealist spirit concisely: "the chance meeting on a dissecting-table of a sewing-machine and an umbrella!"

Man Ray's The Enigma of Isidore Ducasse (1920) refers to this quotation.

This approach to art was radical! Art schools and studios from time immemorial stressed the methodical application of one's skill. To let go of deliberate action - however, quickly or slowly executed it might be - seemed antithetical to the whole concept of art itself.

For the Surrealists, the idea of skill from training was understood. Their philosophy was to let go of the constraints of learned skills and tradition methods of making art. They sought out children's art, naïf art (for example, Henri Rousseau), "primitive" art and "outsider" art (such as the art made by patients in mental institutions) to stoke the fires of their almost incoherent inventions. Read more...


Monica Lemi
www.artmoni.ru

Artists by Movement: Pointillism

France, 1880's

Pointillism is a form of painting in which tiny dots of primary-colors are used to generate secondary colors. It is an offshoot of Impressionism, and is usually categorized as a form of Post-Impressionism. It is very similar to Divisionism, except that where Divisionism is concerned with color theory, Pointillism is more focused on the specific style of brushwork used to apply the paint.



The term "Pointillism" was first used with respect to the work of Georges Seurat, and he is the artist most closely associated with the movement. The relatively few artists who worked in this style also included Paul Signac and Henri-Edmond Cross.

Pointillism is considered to have been an influence on Fauvism.


Monica Lemi

www.artmoni.ru

Oil Paint

Prior to the 15th century oil paints were thick and hard to control, so they were initially used only for utilitarian purposes. In the 15th century turpentine was discovered to be an effective thinning agent. The Van Eyck brothers were credited with perfecting the technique of oil painting, which they initially attempted to keep secret.



Powdered colors are mixed with a fine oil, usually linseed oil. A solvent, traditionally turpentine, is also used to thin the colors as desired, so that the paint can be applied thickly and opaquely, or thinly and transparently. The oil paint is applied to a prepared ground, usually a stretched canvas with a coating of neutral pigment. The earliest technique of oil painting involved building up layers of colors, moving from darker to lighter values. Fine brushes were used, and a glossy, smooth finish was achieved. When applied in this way, the colors are somewhat translucent, so that the darker layers of color below added depth and luminosity to the surface, and permitted a remarkable degree of realism. Jan van Eyck (15th c.), Hans Holbein the younger (16th c., above), Bouguereau (19th c.) , and Salvador Dali (20th c.) are among the artists who worked in this manner. Other artists came to discover that because of its slow drying, oil paints could actually be re-worked on the surface to blend colors, and when applied thickly, with a larger brush or palette knife, could also add real surface texture to the image. This technique of applying oils lent itself to more expressive, dramatic effects in which fine detail was less important than total effect. Artists who worked in this way include Rembrandt, (17th C); Monet (19th C), Cezanne (19th c., above), William de Kooning , (20th C).


Monica Lemeshonok

www.artmoni.ru

COOL Vector Illustrations

COOL Vector Illustrations!

Pictures of beautiful girls, love, art, and more

ONLY HERE:www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?gallery_id=1148924




Monica Lemeshonok
www.artmoni.ru

Yesterday was opened web-page about my art and artworks on facebook:www.facebook.com/pages/Artmoniru/582794055067122



Place I like. I very hope so on YOU.



Monica Lemeshonok

www.artmoni.ru