1910-1950

1910-1950
Hello and greetings once again to the arts and aesthetics blog. We move from the broad strokes of expressionism to surrealism and even Dadaism.


Exhibit A: Matisse’s the knife thrower.



Part of a gallery of cutouts done by Matisse, These cutouts have a Hawaiian influence to them with the rounded coral patterns and hourglass figure on the volunteer. I also like the pallet used, light greys and whites with the highlight being the mauve knife thrower. It has a jazz influenced feel to it which I find quite soothing.


Exhibit B: Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus. An example of Dali’s mind bending period, the use of parallel structure in the painting is inspired. On the left is a golden depiction of Narcissus kneeling in the pool, on the right is a much more decayed figure, which looks suspiciously like a finger grasping an egg. Contrasting with the left figure’s golden veneer is a grey one. Residing in the background is a crowd of nude figures, another recurring theme of Dali. As with the rest of Dali’s paintings, a surreal atmosphere pervades the proceedings.


Exhibit C: Kandinsky’s White II . A splash of colors is all over this with a variety of shapes as well. I can see triangles, circles, and straight lines, parallel lines, all of which make the display look insane. Its manic in tone but simultaneously subdued. Kudos to Kandinsky for adding detail like the bean shaped ellipsis on the lower triangle and grid patterns on the right of the painting.
This is the end of section 3 of this blog, stay tuned for more next week.
Over and out.