Formalism and Modernism
I. Discuss the idea of 'formalism' in relation to Whistler's, Nocturne and Cezanne's, Madame The term 'formalism' applies to any type of artwork in which the artist places emphasis solelyon form rather than allegorical or contextual qualities. In this mode of artistic creation themain goal of the work is the effective organization of the elements of art through theprinciples of design. It can also be considered nearly synonymous with Modernism which was 'artfor art's sake', with no reference to the world outside of the piece. It was to be to the eyeswhat music is to the ears. Impressionism and fauvism are just two of the styles created fromthis way of thinking and in the formalist tradition. One highly notable artist who experimented with formalism was Paul Cezanne. He was a formalistin that he was more concerned with form rather than content, so subject matter was alwayssecondary to the act of painting itself. In Cezanne's work, his the methods and skills were moreimportant than the image. "That meant the subject of the painting couldn't be so dynamic as toovershadow [Cezanne's] act of creation. The more he concentrated on this, the lessviewer-friendly his works became. But that suited
The woman's face is detectable but is not defined; this allows the audience to imaginewhatever specific features they desire and makes it easier to relate to the artists' feelings onthe image portrayed. Whistler rebutted by saying that his goal was not toportray the image of the harbor as it is seen but rather as he experienced it. "# In his painting, Nocturne, he depicts a scene of a harbor at night. The awkwardness used in Primitivism rejected the "polished technical facility"# of pre-Modernistartwork in exchange for a more simplistic form common to artists of primitive societies. Also in contrast to Impressionism,Symbolists in general began the use of color for 'expression' versus merely 'description' or'decoration'. Modernism, in its departure fromnaturalism, let art become more of a mirror to society and the self, rather than simply to theoutside world. Modernism gave credit to not only his deviation from painting traditionalsubject matter but also the feelings the symbols he used evoked. Modernism can be used to define the artistic movement that began around the turn of the 20thcentury and was a deliberate departure from naturalism and the preceding academic art. In his, Portrait of a Woman Picasso uses analytic cubism as his vehicle for modernism. This can also be considered a form of 'higher realism' becausethree-dimensional object really do have different sides to them. It allowed for the fully aesthetic value of apainting to prevail over the boundaries of contextual imagery. Thisabandonment of convention led the use of innovative forms of expression carried out to createabstractions and fantasies rather than simply mirroring the physical world. This innovation was clearly a boon to the entire art world.
Common topics in this essay:
McNeill Whistler,
Impressionism Symbolists,
Woman Modernism,
Woman Picasso,
Cezanne Cezanne,
Madame Cezanne,
Paul Cezanne,
Primitivism Symbolism,
Picasso Gauguin's,
Analytic Cubist,
subject matter,
art's sake',
analytic cubism,
'art art's sake',
portrait woman,
'art art's,
academic art,
nearly synonymous modernism,
nearly synonymous,
departure naturalism,
contrast impressionism,
world gauguin,
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Acceptance Essays
