Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Day 7

1. Days Notes


02/21/2012

Wrapping up the 1800’s.
John Ruskin, he was born 1918. He becomes the philosophical leader for the arts and craft movement. He asked how can you consciously structure a society? This is the beginning of socialism. In older generations, no one would ever admit they were a socialist.
He had the base idea that things are valuable because they are beautiful. There are several people that are influenced by this.
Video

William Morris
Son of a wealthy merchant. Morris published works by age 24. He was a socialist. Morris becomes involved in book arts. This becomes  popular trend. Morris designs three of his own type faces. Troy, Chaucer, and golden. Designed 644 illustration blocks and other such items. Remember his vine work, tapestry, and wallpaper works. Morris was reacting against the industrial revolution.

Art Nouveau is the reaction of the younger generation towards the older generations. Aubrey Beardsley, Infant terrible. He would have sex with everyone and everything. He was greatly influenced by William Morris. On the sides of the pages on his books were nude nymphs, which was very scandalous at the time, but the style was very similar to William Morris’s work making Morris upset.
Beardsley’s work had a dark sexual-ness feel to his work derived from the Japanese styles.
Alphonse Mucha, when he started off as a young painter he gets a job at a print shop. He was told to do a job just by dumb luck on Christmas eve. He was unable to finish the poster but the person absolutely loved the piece and hired him for a few years. From the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, Mucha defines the Art Nouveau movement. Known for his stylized hair movement, tile work, playing with depth, flat abstract patterns that create contrast. People would buy books on pattern work.

In America, Art Nouveau is slow to catch on. Another guy in America, Will Bradley is a western cowboy kind of a guy. Innovative work, abstract simple forms while using the negative space. Used photomechanical process to double the image, still based on the Japanese influence. He soon becomes so full of himself that makes “ Bradley his books”.

Henri Van De Velde becomes a important Belgian expressionist in Art Nouveau.
No matter the country Art Nouveau is still called Art Nouveau.

Jugendstil, the youth style. All about the young, vitality and the sexuality. Peter Behrens was inspired by Art Nouveau, first piece was “kiss”. Depicting two women kissing, very scandalous and worrisome in the public. Art school is time to experiment.

Glasgow Scotland, Glasgow school of art. The headmaster notices the students are working on similar ideas and tells the students to meet up and work together. Francis and Margaret Macdonald , sisters, Charles Renee Macintosh and Herbert Mcnair. The work that they are doing are geometric, it has curvilinear elements, but has a rectilinear structure. Notice the floral motifs, symbolisms (carryover from Victorian). Herbert marries Francis and Charles marries Margaret.

Austria: sessionstil,Gustave Kilmt, Kolomon Moser.

2. Personal Thoughts

William Morris creates many pieces of work but anything i have seen in personal life. His work is very detailed and way too green. The Glasgow school of art is similar to our own school. Teachers watching as we progress and putting us together to help each other with works. And maybe by some crazy happenstance that some of the couplings marry each other. Designing a restaurant doesn't seem like the best design job for some people because it doesn't pertain to the everyday person. But the fact is that modern day people pay a lot of attention the the interiors of restaurants especially the younger generations.

3. Questions

Was Ruskin just as full of  himself as Bradley? What makes the spines of books so interesting to people to want to collect them?

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