Aleksandar Jones

Abstract

Clyfford Still was an American painter associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. He is best known for his paintings that resemble flame-like brush strokes or shapes. Inspired by the windswept landscape of the Canadian prairie, he developed a technique of applying thick layers of paint onto the canvas using a palette knife, creating jagged flares of dark tones against lighter areas of yellows, oranges, and reds.

Clyfford Still began to quickly see national recognition. His paintings were embraced by other artists and critics, who considered Still to be one of the most original artist of the time. Jackson pollock even said that “Still’s work makes the rest of us look academic”.

To me, many of the shapes and patterns seen in Clyfford Still’s work resembles the patterns found in nature, such as the pattern on a cows fur or the pattern and shapes of the markings on a koi fish. Although there might not be any meaning behind his paintings, I find them visually pleasing to look at, and I find it interesting that everyone will have a slightly different feeling from the paintings when viewing them.

References

ClyffordStillMuseum.org

https://collection.clyffordstillmuseum.org/object/ph-1139

https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/1946-h-indian-red-and-black-23063

http://www.artnet.com/artists/clyfford-still/

Cubism/Orphism

Robert Delaunay was a French painter who first introduced vibrant colour into Cubism and thereby originated the trend in Cubist painting known as Orphism. He was one of the earliest completely nonrepresentational painters, and his work affected the development of abstract art based on the compositional tensions created by opposite planes of colour.

Delaunay was at first a theatre designer and painted only part-time. But he soon came under the influence of the Neo-Impressionists’ use of colour. By 1910 he had made his own contribution to Cubism in two series of paintings, cathedrals and the “Eiffel Tower,” which combined bits of Cubist form with dynamic movement and vibrant colour.

I admire Robert’s work. His work looks very modern and is quite minima which is pleasant to look at. He uses color well to make his paintings more playful and lively.

References

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Delaunay

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-delaunay-992

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/delaunay-robert/

Fauvism

Derain studied painting in Paris at the Académie Carriere from 1898 to 1899. He developed his early style in association with Maurice de Vlaminck, who he met in 1900, and with Henri Matisse, who had been Derain’s fellow student at the Académie Carriere. Together with these two painters, Derain was one of the major painters of Fauvism from 1905 to 1908. Like the other artists who worked in this style, he painted landscapes and figure studies in brilliant, sometimes pure colors and used broken brushstrokes and impulsive lines to define his spontaneous compositions.

I personally do not like his artwork. I find his paintings are too saturated. Derain also uses too many colors, which makes a lot of his paintings look like messy, distorted rainbows.

Derain broke with Fauvism in 1908, when he was temporarily influenced by the works of the Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne. Derain worked for a few years in a stylized form of Cubism, but by the 1920s his paintings of nudes, still lifes, and portraits had become increasingly Neoclassical. His art underwent virtually no change after the 1920s, though his more conservative style brought him financial success.

References

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andre-Derai

https://www.albrightknox.org/artworks/k197126-les-arbres-trees

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/andre-derain-998

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/andre-derain

Vancouver Race Riots

In 1907, an anti-immigration rally exploded into violence and vandalism in both Chinatown and Japantown in Vancouver. What began as riots in Bellingham as a movement to drive Punjabi Sikhs out of the lumber industry had eventually spread to white supremacist marches to Vancouver city with demands for a “White Canada.” In the riot, the property of Chinese and Japanese store owners was destroyed.

The riots were not only a landmark in the rise of racism in Canada, they signified the commencement of systematic federal intervention to prohibit Asian immigration to Canada through the imposition of quotas on Japanese emigration, continuous voyage regulations those from India, and the enforcement of laws against the Chinese.

The 1907 Riots were advertised in news reports, and by the time the parade arrived at the city hall, a huge crowd had gathered. Crowd estimates vary between four thousand and eight thousand people. As rioters attacked Chinatown, the angry mob eventually turned toward Japantown or Nihon Bachi, around the Powell Street grounds in what is now Oppenheimer Park.

Although news of the riot flashed reached different corners of the world, appearing on front pages in Ottawa, New York, and London, only three people were charged and only one person convicted of any offense. Not only had newspapers openly mocked the efforts of the court and police, few injuries were reported. All levels of government in Canada made vague apologies.

Reference

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/goodnews/moment-of-clarity-in-my-canada-415358084.html

https://www.straight.com/blogra/869781/centre-unwelcome-dinner-commemorate-vancouvers-first-anti-chinese-riot-1887

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Oriental_riots_(Vancouver)

https://www.vancourier.com/news/archives-anti-asian-mob-goes-on-rampage-1.1344739

https://www.library.ubc.ca/chineseinbc/riots.html

Edwardian fashion

Edwardian fashion refers to the clothing that was in style between the late 1890s and 1914 or the beginning of the Great War (World War I). Also called La Belle Epoque, and the Gilded Age, this was a time when women’s fashions took on a new opulence and extravagance, inspired by the hedonistic lifestyle of Britain’s King Edward VII.

The popularity of the hourglass-shaped dress faded by the end of the Victorian age and the “S” curve became increasingly popular during the Edwardian Era. This new fashion style embraced a “healthier” corset that was far less constricting than the previous styles during the Victorian age and provided better support for the spine. Also at the beginning of the Edwardian Era (1901) ladies hats grew in size, but this trend only lasted until around 1911.

As the women’s suffrage movement continued through the Edwardian Era women began to mimic their style and attitude after the famous “Gibson Girl”. The “Gibson Girl” was a pen-and-ink drawing done by Charles Dana Gibson. She portrayed the modern women of the time, beautiful and independent. His drawings quickly became very popular and were displayed in all of the top magazines.

In 1910 fashion began to change once again. More women were working, playing sports and being more active in general and they needed clothing to reflect their new lifestyle. The “S” curve transformed into a pre-flapper style with more straight lines and less structure. This era of fashion is also said to be called “la Belle Epoque” (“The Beautiful Epoch”).

References

http://www.premierexhibitions.com/exhibitions/3/3/titanic-artifact-exhibition/blog/fashion-during-edwardian-era

https://bellatory.com/fashion-industry/FashionHistoryEdwardianFashionTrends1890s1914

http://www.victoriana.com/EdwardianHats/

http://victorian-era.org/edwardian-era-womens-clothing.html

impressionism & post-impressionism

Henri Rousseau was a post-impressionist painter from Laval, France. His best-known paintings depict jungle scenes, even though he never left France or saw a jungle. His inspiration came from illustrated books and the botanical gardens in Paris, as well as tableaux of “taxidermied” wild animals. He had also met soldiers, during his term of service, who had survived the French expedition to Mexico and listened to their stories of the subtropical country they had encountered.

“The Sleeping Gypsy” is one of my all-time favorite paintings, which I was lucky enough to see at the MoMA in New York. This painting makes me feel so relaxed as if I am in a very pleasant dream. The colors are beautiful and soft and are quite light even though it is a nighttime scene. The colors also create such a perfect sense of temperature, the atmosphere of the painting doesn’t feel too cold, yet doenst feel too warm either.

References

https://www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/henri-rousseau?product=canvas&sort=popular

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henri-Rousseau

http://www.henrirousseau.net/

http://www.henrirousseau.org/