U N I T 5 THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ART In the 20th century there was an explosion of new ideas and discoveries. As a result, the challenges to accepted artistic conventions became even more inevitable, frequent and revolutionary. From the Avant-garde to Abstraction and Surrealism, crossing PostWar Art, this Unit will guide you through 20th century art, until the doorway of the 21st century. A. AVANT-GARDE The Avant-garde are a movement of people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art. The term first appeared with reference to art in France in the first half of the nineteenth century, and is usually credited to the influential thinker Henri de Saint-Simon, one of the forerunners of socialism. He believed in the social power of the arts and saw artists, together with scientists and industrialists, as the leaders of a new society. The most important artistic movements categorized as avant-garde are Fauvism, Cubism and Expressionism. MATISSE (1869-1954) AND THE FAUVISTS Henri Matisse is often referred to as the master of colour . In 1905 he exhibited at the Salon d Automne with André Derain, Maurice de Vlaminck and others. Their works broke with the tradition of trying to represent the natural world: they used distorted colours and shapes to depict emotions. Visitors were shocked and the art critic Louis Vauxcelles commented that the artists painted like wild beasts ( fauves ), giving the new style its name: Fauvism. Matisse became the recognized leader of this group. Indeed, although intellectually sophisticated, he always emphasized the importance of instinct and intuition in the production of a work of art. Matisse argued that an artist did not have complete control over colour and form; instead, colours, shapes and lines would tell the artist how they might be used and combined. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM Expressionism was a modernist movement originating in Germany and Austria at the beginning of the 20th century, especially inspired by Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, James Ensor and Fauvism. Expressionist artists try to express the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality. In order to express emotion, the subjects are often distorted or exaggerated. At the same time, colours are often vivid and shocking. This style was especially represented by the collective of artists Die Br cke formed in Dresden in 1905. The name Br cke ( bridge ) reflects the artists youthful eagerness to cross over into a new future. The most well-known members of this group are Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Emil Nolde. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Five women on the street, 1913, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany. 86