I reviewed 4 videos. The videos on Dada, Cubism, La Grande Jette, Dance at Moulin. The first two were OK, but I really loved the "Sunday at the Grande Jette" and "Dance at the Moulin de la Galette". I'd like to go out and buy those last two prints! They were great. The videos did what the book could not describe. This time, I just picked 4 videos at random.
1) George Seurat's masterpiece was "A Sunday on the Grand Jette". This is an absolutely beautiful picture, it can be stared at for a long time. It is very inviting, it makes you want to jump inside the picture. One mystery is the monkey in the picture, nobody knows what it is doing there, but people like it. An x-ray shows that the monkey was added later for some reason. There were also some suggestions of prostitution in the picture. The technique Seurat used was Pointillism, a lot of work to create. It was difficult to blend colors with Pointillism. The painting was displayed in 1886 with the impressionists, but was mostly ignored. Seurat's career was only 10 years, then he died. The Grand jette is now in Chicago, and it is part of Pop Culture.
2) Renoir's masterpiece was "Dance at the Moulin de la Galette". It stands for pleasure in Paris, and transports you back in time to Paris. It was sold for a very high price. It is a scene from a dance hall in Paris, a lot of young people having fun. Renoir painted it twice in 1876, doubling the size, but which size came first, nobody knows. The small version is in hiding somewhere, and it sold for 78 million bucks. Renoir brought bright colors, changing light, and fun with dance. the painting eventually entered pop culture, being in Rod Stewarts album cover in 1976. Renoir would be happy since he wanted art to be seen as 'pretty'.
3) Dada Surrealism: This Dada movement was started by Kurt Schwitters in 1918 with a collage, using a lot of everyday objects in it. His magazine was Merz, to include his work. Dada is a state of mind, a storm in the world of art. "Cut with a Kitchen Knife" by Hoch was done out of anger to society. George Grosz made an angry 'sad' man, and protests Germany with 'Pillars of Society'. Joan Miro did Dutch interior 1 and 2 with a lot of color in it. Salvador dali started surrealism, sometimes scary imagination is seen, and his 'sleep' sculpture is weird and surreal. Man Ray did some beautiful surreal paintings.
4) Impact of Cubism: European artists had a non-classical way to represent form and space with Cubism, infleunced by African Art, and Cezanne. Juan Gris, Picasso, DuChamp, Delauney, Malevich, Boccioni were all Cubism artists. Gris did 'The breakfast table', and the 'Violin'. Duchamp did 'Sad man on a Train', but I cannot see the man, too messy. I liked the pole vaulter photos of motion. Delauncy shows a strange Eiffel tower, hard to see it. Kasmir Malevich did an 'Englishman in Moscow' and the 'White Cross'. Boccioni did 'Farewells' in 1911, showing emotions of leaving. Cubism was the style of the avant-guard.
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