Art History

Art History

Researching into Dadaism, Surrealism and The Pre-Raphaelites

24/09/15

Dadaism

The exquisite corpse:

The exquisite corpse was a parlour game in which part of an image or a sentence would be drawn onto a piece of paper, the paper would be then given to someone else, and they would add to it. It was also known as the 'Exquisite Cadaver'. 

The name was derived from a phrase when surrealists first played the game:

'Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau', translated to 'The exquisite corpse shall drink the new wine'.

Dada collage:

Dadaists further developed the technique of collage. Like Cubists, they pasted paper and fabrics and other 2D materials to their works, but they abandoned the pretense of still life or identifiable subject matter in favour of abstract collage.

Kurt Schwitters- 1887 - 1948:

Kurt Schwitters was born in Hannover and was a German sculptor, typographer (The art of arranging type to make it legible and readable) and writer. He was influenced by Cubism and Expressionism. He created his own form of Dada called 'Merz' in Hannover. 

Merz:

using labels, bus ticket, and bits of broken wood to create a collage.

A self portrait of Schwitters

Raoul Hausmann- 1886 - 1971:

Born in Vienna, Hausmann was a professional conservator and painter, poet, photographer and polemicist and was also influenced by Cubism. Haussmann is most recognised for his piece, 'The art Critic'. He was the founder of the Berlin Dada group.

'The Art Critic' is an example of his technique, in which he'd create photomontages as a tool of satire (the use of humour, exaggeration, irony or ridicule to expose and criticise peoples stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues) and political protest. When creating the art pieces, Hausmann used a lot of pamphlets. He often reappropriated (the cultural process by which group reclaims, reappropriates, terms or artefacts that were previously used in a way disparaging (expressing the opinion that something is of little worth) of that group) the pamphlets.

'The art critic'

World War 1 Pamphlets:

The pamphlets that were produced and published around the time of WW1 were a lot different to those printed today. Pamphlets around 1913-1920's treated a spectrum of different topics, from war, peace, social, political and ethical issues, economic and military concerns, legislation, relief organizations, army training, returning veterans and neutrality. They included formats such as maps, journals, posters and scrap books. They were written by various different organisations, such as the American Library Association, the Catholic Church, the Red Cross, the National War Garden Commission, the New York Public Library and the League of Nations.

Surrealism:

Surrealism was cultural movement that began in the 1920's, straight after the Dada movement. The aim of this movement was to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality. The artists within this movement would experiment with ways of unleashing the subconscious imagination.
Andre Breton- 1896 - 1966:

The manifesto for surrealism was written by Andre Breton in 1924, and wrote a second one in 1929. He was originally a Dada artist, but eventually went on to start and lead the Surrealist movement. He focused on college and printmaking, but also was an author. Breton innovated was in which text and image could be united through chance association to create new, poetic word-image combinations. He declared Surrealism as 'pure psychic automatism.

Kurt Schwitters in Surrealism:

Schwitters supposedly worked in many different genres, including Dadaism, Surrealism and Constructivism, (An artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919) however, he was considered too ironic to be romantic, too abstract to be considered a surrealist and too anarchic to be a constructivist. 

Andre Breton and Salvador Dali (1904 - 1989):

Salvador Dali is probably the most well known artist in relation to the Surrealism movement, however, he was not, in fact, a part of the movement for long. Andre Bretons ideals of the movement were different to Dali's. Breton was rather controlling in terms of his movement and how he wanted it to be represented. Dali had started moving towards political representations within his work and was sympathising with the Germans, and what work he did that related directly to the manifesto was very self absorbed. Dali was more of a showman. Eventually, Breton expelled Dali from the movement. 

Avida Dollas was an anagram and nickname used by Breton about Salvador Dali. 

Rene Margritte- 1898 - 1967:

Rene Margritte was a Belgium artist who is renowned for his idiosyncratic approach to Surrealism. He spent many years as a commercial artist which most likely shaped his artwork. Some French Surrealists led ostentatious lifestyles, while Margritte preferred middle class life, shown through the bowler hat clad men that often populated his artwork.

The Pre-Raphaelites:

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood:

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, later known as the Pre-Raphaelites was an English group of poets, painters and critics founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. They were later joined by William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Fredrick George Stephens and Thomas Woolner.
The founders sought to revitalize art by emphasizing the detailed observation of the natural world in a spirit of quasi-religious devotion to truth, which was inspired by the spiritual qualities of Medieval art. 

It's members believed that the classical poses and elegant compositions shown in Michelangelo's and Raphael's work (Michelangelo and Raphael- 1520's). Raphael's work in particular had been corrupting influence on the academic teachings of art, hence the name 'The Pre-Raphaelites'. 

The works created by the brotherhood were very romantic and ethereal, and were very acceptable.
William Holman Hunt- 1827 - 1910:
Holman Hunt was an English painter and was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He eventually entered the Royal Academy Arts School after initially being rejected. He rebelled against the influence of it's founder, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 after meeting the other co-founders.

The Hireling Shepard
1851

John Everett Millais- 1829 - 1896:
Everett Millais was an English painter and illustrator who was a child prodigy and was the youngest to enter the Royal Academy Arts School at the age of 11, and was also one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which was founded at his parents house in London. Everett Millais became the most famous exponent of the style with his painting 'Christ In The House Of His Parents' which generated a lot of controversy. By the late 1850's, he had moved away from the Pre-Raphaelite style.

'Christ In The House Of His Parents'
1849-1850

Dante Gabriel Rossetti- 1828 - 1882:
Rossetti was an English painter, poet,illustrator and translator. He was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and was later a great influence for later artists that were influenced by the movement.
His artwork was characterised by the sensualism and its Medieval revivalism. He frequently wrote sonnets to acompany his artwork, and was influenced by the poet John Keats

'The Twig'
1865

William Michael Rossetti: 1829 - 1919:
William Michael Rossetti was an English writer and critic. He was the brother of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and joined the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, whilst becoming the unofficial organizer and bibliographer. He edited the Brotherhoods literary magazine, 'The Germ', which published 4 issues in 1850, and wrote the poetry reviews for it. He recorded the aims of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood at their founding meeting in September 1848:
-To have genuine idea's to express
-To study nature attentively, so as to know how to express them
-To sympathize with what is direct and serious and heartfelt in previous art, to the exclusion of what is conventional and self parading and learned by rote;
-And most indispensable of all, to produce thoroughly good pictures and statues

'The Germ'

James Colinson- 1825 - 1881:
James Collinson was a Victorian painter and joined the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 to 1850. He was the son of a bookseller and attended the Royal Academy Art School with William Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He was a devout Christian and was attracted to the devotional and high church aspects of the Pre-Rphaelitism. During his period as a Pre-Raphaelite, he contributed a long devotional poem o 'The Germ'.
When Millais's 'Christ In The House Of His Parents' was accused of blasphemy, Collinson left the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, believing that it was bringing the Christian religion into disrespute.

'The Charity Boy's Debut'

Fredrick George Stephens- 1827 - 1907:
Fredrick George Stephens was an art critic and was one of the two non artistic members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was physically disabled and so was educated privately. Later he attended University College School in London in 1844, and after that, the Royal Academy Art School. He joined the Brotherhood in 1848, and often modeled for them in pictures, such as with Millais's 'Ferdinand Lured By Areil'.
Stephens was so dissapointed by his own artistic talent that he quit painting and became on art critic and destroyed most of his paintings.

'Mother and Child'

'Ferdinand Lured By Ariel'
1849

Thomas Woolner- 1825 - 1892:
Thomas Woolner was an English sculptor and poet and was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was the only original member that was a sculptor.
Woolner trained with the sculptor William Behnes and exhibited work at the Royal Academy Arts School from 1843, and was evntually invited to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Paintings from the Pre-Raphaelite Movement:

Ophelia
John Everett Millais
1851 - 1852

Our English Coasts (Strayed Sheep)
William Holman Hunt
1852