A Brief History of Western Art

Saptarshi Ghosh
10 February 2024
Italian Renaissance (1250-1550 CE)
• In late medieval ages, painting usually took place in monasteries. There were no painters of
significance. Painting was flat and lifeless.

• 13th century: Renaissance – Classical revival

• Revolution in representation – early masters: Giotto, Duccio, Masaccio

Giotto (1267-1337):

• Mostly frescoes (wall paintings where paint is applied when plaster is still fresh)
• Arena Chapel in Padua (Scrovegni)
• St Francis of Assisi cycle
Example of Byzantine art:
Madonna and Child (13th
century)
The Mourning of Christ (1304-
06), Giotto, tempera
 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)
Duccio (1278-1318):

• Belonged to Sienna, Florence’s rival city and

another major artistic centre. His style was
closer to the earlier Byzantine tradition, but
more realistic.
• The Maesta (1308-11)

Rucellai Madonna (1304-06), Duccio, tempera

 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)

Massaccio (1401-1428):

• Another Florentine painter like Giotto, Masaccio

developed Giotto’s techniques and began
applying the newly devised rules of perspective.
• Frescoes at the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, the
most famous one being Expulsion from Paradise
(1427)
 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)

Perspective and Foreshortening

• While Masaccio had started using linear perspective, other artists like
Paolo Uccelo (1397-1485) developed it further in their works.
• Battle of San Romano (1440s)
• It has three panels and shows the conflict between Florentines and Sienese forces.
 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)
Perspective and Foreshortening
• In northern Italy, the leading painter after the
middle of the Quattrocento was Andrea
Mantegna (1430–1506).

• Illusionism – ceiling of Camera degli Sposi in

Mantua, Italy

• Foreshortening – The Lamentation of Christ

(1470)
 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)
• His mythological paintings exemplify
the Renaissance interest in pagan
subject matter.

• Commissioned by patrons like Lorenzo

de Medici, who took up interest in
paganism.

• The Birth of Venus (1482)

 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)
Donatello (1386-1466)
• The most important sculptor of 15th century Florence.

• Bronze work – David (1430-40)

• David’s face expresses complacency after having defeated the

formidable Goliath. His hat is covered with laurels, symbol of
his victory.

• How is Donatello’s David different from Michelangelo’s?

 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)
High Renaissance
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519):

• Archetypal Renaissance man

• Sfumato: A technique devised by da Vinci – softening

transition between colours – “blending of colours like
smoke”

• Virgin on the Rocks (1483-86), Last Supper (1495-98),

Mona Lisa (1503-06)
 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)
High Renaissance
Michelangelo (1475-1564):

• Considered himself to be a sculptor rather than a painter

• Sculpture: Pieta (1498-1500), David (1501-04) – both are in

marble

• Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes in Vatican (1508-12) – nine

main narratives occupy the barrel vault of the ceiling – he
painted the scenes in reverse chronological order

• The Last Judgement (1536-41) on altar wall of Sistine chapel

 Italian Renaissance (cont’d)
High Renaissance
Raphael (1483-1520):

• Embodied the Classical spirit of High Renaissance.

• Raphael’s style is calm, harmonious and restrained.

• The School of Athens (1509-11) – a fresco that represents

the culmination of classical harmony.

• Made many paintings of Madonna in his early career, where

the Virgin Mary is shown as a tender, gentle figure, with an
idealised landscape stretching out beyond.
Italian Renaissance (cont’d)

• Also look at painters from Venetian School:

• Bellini

• Giorgione

• Titian
Northern Renaissance (1400-1600 CE)
• While Renaissance was bringing sweeping changes in artistic expression in Italy, there were significant
artistic breakthroughs achieved in northern European countries like Germany and Netherlands.

• Whereas in Italy panel paintings were mainly executed in tempera until the sixteenth century,
Netherlandish painters preferred oil paint and refined the technique for altarpieces.

• Although artists in the north of Europe shared the Italian preference for the representation of three
dimensional space and lifelike figures, they were less directly affected by the Classical revival than the
Italians.

• Artists in the North continued to work in a Gothic tradition, which they nevertheless integrated into the
Renaissance style.
Northern Renaissance (cont’d)
Jan van Eyck (1390-1441)
• Early Flemish master painter, one of the first practitioners of oil
painting.

• Experimented with various pigments; use of oil lent his

paintings a vivid, luminescent quality.

• The Arnolfini Portrait (1434), Ghent Altarpiece (1432)

Northern Renaissance (cont’d)
Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)
• Created some of the most haunting and inventive imageries in the Western
canon.

• Unlike any other Dutch painter; style resembling medieval illustrated

manuscripts, focused on micro narratives.

• His works are profound comments on the human condition and an expression
of medieval worldview.

• The Garden of Earthly Delights (1510-15) – massive triptych, painted on

wooden panels

Bosch’s vision of hell, 3rd panel

Northern Renaissance (cont’d)
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-
69)
• Foremost 16th century painter of Northern
Renaissance; was a follower of Bosch.

• Known for his landscapes, in particular, those

depicting seasons in a year.

• Lively depictions of scenes from countryside

featuring peasants and common folk.

The Hunters in the Snow (1565), oil on wood

Northern Renaissance (cont’d)
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
• German; one of the leading artists of northern Renaissance.

• Known for his superb draughtsmanship; mastered accurate

rendering of reality.

• Practiced woodcut engraving and etchings (printmaking

techniques); also made several self-portraits.

• Also look at other Northern Renaissance artists, like van der

Weyden and Hans Holbein the Younger.
 Mannerism
• In contrast to the Renaissance interest in studying, imitating, and idealizing nature, Mannerist artists
typically took as their models other works of art.

• The main subject of Mannerism is the human body, which is often elongated, exaggerated, elegant,
and arranged in complex, twisted poses.

• Classical Renaissance symmetry is not used in Mannerism, which creates a sense of instability in
figures and objects. Spaces tend to be compressed and crowded with figures in unlikely or provocative
positions, and colors are sometimes jarring. Finally, Classical proportions are rejected, and odd
juxtapositions of size, space, and color often occur.

• Artists like Tintoretto, El Greco, Parmigianino.

Mannerism (cont’d)

The Last Supper (1592), Tintoretto

Tintoretto is known for his

crowded paintings, moody lighting.
His compositions are full of drama
and movement in the Mannerist
style.

Also look at Paolo Veronese (1528-88)

 Baroque (1600-1700)
• The Baroque style is relatively unrestrained, overtly emotional, and more energetic than earlier styles.

• Baroque artists rejected aspects of Mannerist virtuosity and stylization, while absorbing the Mannerists’
taste for chiaroscuro and theatrical effects.

• There is also a new taste for dramatic action and violent narrative scenes, and emotion is given a wide
range of expression—a departure from the Renaissance adherence to Classical restraint.

• Baroque color and light are dramatically contrasted, and surfaces are richly textured.

• Italian Baroque: Caravaggio (1571-1610), Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1651)

• Northern Europe Baroque: Peter Rubens (1577-1640), Rembrandt (1606-69)

 Baroque (cont’d)

The Calling of St
Matthew (1599-
1600), Caravaggio, oil
Judith Killing Holofernes
(1620), Gentileschi, oil
Baroque (cont’d)

The Night Watch (1642),

Rembrandt

One of the greatest Dutch masters,

Rembrandt is known for his use of
chiaroscuro, another feature of
Baroque art.
 Baroque (cont’d)

Self-Portrait (1660),
Rembrandt, oil
Baroque (cont’d)

The Milkmaid (1660), Johannes

Vermeer

Another painter of Dutch golden

age, Vermeer is known for his
interior domestic scenes, masterly
use of light and colour – his
portrayal of domestic objects.
Girl With a Pearl Earring
(1665), Vermeer
Baroque (cont’d)

Las Meninas (1656), Diego

Velázquez
One of the leading artists of Counter-
Reformation Spain, Velázquez was the court
painter to King Philip IV. His paintings of the
Spanish royalty provide remarkable insight
into courtly life. Early in his career, he was
known for a type of painting called bodegón –
still lives of scenes from taverns and kitchens.
An Old Woman Cooking Eggs (1618),
Velázquez
Baroque (cont’d)

David (1623), Bernini, marble

By far the most important sculptor of the

Baroque style, Bernini shows David in the
midst of his fight with Goliath. The vertical
plane of the Renaissance Davids has
become, in the Baroque style, a dynamic
diagonal extending from the head to the
left foot.
Ecstasy of St Teresa (1622), Bernini,
marble

As in the David, Bernini represents a

moment of heightened emotion—in this
case, the transport of ecstasy.
Rococo (18th century)
• The typical Rococo painting depicts the aristocracy gathered in parks and gardens, while Cupids frolic
among would-be lovers. Classical gods and goddesses engage in amorous pursuits. The world of
Rococo is a world of fantasy and grace, which also includes a taste for the exotic.

• The works embodied the decorative and frivolous charms of the French court in 18th century.

• Luxuriousness of costume, fashionable settings

• Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), Francis Boucher (1703-70), Jean-Honore Fragonard (1732-1806)

The Scale of Love (1746), Watteau

Watteau is known for a type of painting

known as the Fête Galante which
explored the psychology of love,
usually in a landscape setting - a group
belonging to a fashionable section
picnicking, laughing and openly
indulging in courtship.
Marquise de Pompadour
(1756), Boucher
The Swing (1767-68),
Fragonard
Neo-classicism (18th century)
• Neo-classicism emerged in late 18th century in response to the Baroque and Rococo styles. There was
an attempt to revive the purity and classicism of ancient Greece and Rome.

• Public interest in antiquity raked up by discovery of ruins in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

• Johann Joachim Winckelmann published Reflections on the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks
(1755), which contributed to the growing interest in antiquity. Winckelmann emphasized the simplicity
of Greek art.

• Neo-classicism congealed in the academic style of painting, promoted by the art academies in France
and England. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768 in London, while L'École des Beaux-Arts
was founded in 1648 in France.
Captain George K. H. Coussmaker
(1782), Sir Joshua Reynolds Conversation in a Park (1746), Thomas
Gainsborough
The Death of Socrates (1787),
Jacques-Louis David

Jacques-Louis David (1784-1825)

exemplified French neoclassicism. You can
notice the sharp delineation of forms, use
of cool, lucid colours instead of the pastel
hues of Rococo.
Napoleon Crossing the Alps
(1801), Jacques-Louis David
Madame Moitessier (1844-56), Jean-
Auguste-Dominique Ingres

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-

1867) continued the tradition of French
neoclassicism. He made works on a grand,
monumental scale. He was also known for
his series of portraits of bathers called
odalisques – naked women surrounded by
rich fabrics, heavy drapes.
Grande Odalisque (1814), Jean-Auguste-
Dominique Ingres
Romanticism (18-19th century)
• The Romantic movement, like Neoclassicism, swept through Western Europe and the United States in
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

• The Romantics favoured the irrational as opposed to reason and rationality. There was an emphasis on
the individual and subjectivity.

• They tried to capture raw emotions ranging from longing and awe to fear and horror.

• The Romantics advocated for a return to nature. They believed that humanity was born to live
harmoniously with nature, free from vice, but had been corrupted by civilization and progress. Such
ideas led to the political belief that people, rather than kings, should rule.
Romanticism (cont’d)
Francisco Goya (1746-1828)

• Initially influenced by neoclassicism, Goya

gravitated towards expressing emotions and
subjective experiences.

• He was the court painter to the Spanish king

Charles IV. His portraits of the Spanish court
are candid and mock the vanity and avarice of
courtly life. However, he was careful to not
offend anyone.

The Inquisition Tribunal (1812-19),

Francisco Goya
Romanticism (cont’d)

Goya was also known for his disturbing,

uneasy, horror-inducing scenes. For
example, The Third of May 1808 (1814)
shows Spanish hostages being shot by
French troops after France invaded Spain.
The Madhouse (1812-19), Goya
Saturn Devouring His Son (1820-23),
Goya
Liberty Leading the People(1830),
Delacroix

Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) was one

of the greatest Romantic artists.
Although his paintings bear a strong
underpinning of classicism, there is a
powerful sense of drama reinforced by
lively gestures and energetic
movements. He also uses strong,
vibrant colours.
 Romanticism (cont’d)

J M W Turner (1775-1851) was one of the

two outstanding English Romantic artists.
His paintings are semi-abstract and
predominated by luminosity and sense of
atmosphere.

Also look at John Constable (1776-1837)

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons
(1834/5), Turner
Romanticism (cont’d)

Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) was the

leading painter of German Romantism. He
is celebrated for his powerful landscapes,
which combine realistic rendering with
subjective responses. His monumental
canvases often have human figures that
dwindle in front of the vastness of nature.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818), Caspar David

Friedrich
Realism (19th century)
• Industrial Revolution – emergence of working class, class disparity – dismal conditions of living,
poverty – rise in social consciousness led to demand for individual rights – currents of reform

• Marx’s political theory – advocating rights of oppressed working class/proletariat

• Realism in literature – Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Balzac

• Scientific revolution – Darwin

• Realist tendencies in art manifested through a new social awareness – observation of society and
nature – political and social satire
The Gleaners (1857), Jean-François Millet
A Burial at Ornans (1849-50), Gustave Courbet
What does the scale of the painting, with respect
to the subject matter, indicate?
Realism (cont’d)

Edouard Manet (1832-83) broke new ground by

defying traditional techniques of representation
and by choosing subjects from the events and
circumstances of his own time. The Luncheon
on the Grass, exhibited in 1863 at the Salon des
Refusés, aroused the hostility of critics and the
enthusiasm of the young painters who later
formed the nucleus of the Impressionist group.

Also look at Honoré Daumier (1808-79)

The Luncheon on the Grass (1862-63), Manet
Impressionism (19th century)
• The Impressionist style evolved in Paris in the 1860s and continued into the early twentieth century.

• Unlike Realism, Impressionism rarely responded to political events.

• Impressionist painters preferred genre subjects, especially leisure activities, entertainment, landscape,
and cityscape.

• Impressionism was also more influenced by Japanese prints and new developments in photography
than by politics.

• Impressionism officially begins in 1874 when Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissaro,
Alfred Sissley, Paul Cezanne, Berthe Morisot and Edgar Degas organised their first exhibition in an
empty photographer's studio.
 Impression: Sunrise (1872), Monet

Not rendering subjects in fine detail -

interested in capturing fleeting moments
and the sensory effect they had -
'impression' made by a scene in a fleeting
moment - unfinished quality
 Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878), Mary Cassatt

Woman at her Toilette (1875-88), Morisot

Also look at Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Who coined the term ‘Impressionism’?

Louis Leroy, a journalist, coined the term in his scathing review of the
1874 exhibition of the Impressionists.
Japanese Ukiyo-e Prints
Post-Impressionism
• Designates the work of certain late nineteenth-century painters, whose diverse styles were
significantly influenced by Impressionism.

• Like the Impressionists, the Post-Impressionists were drawn to bright color and visible, distinctive
brushstrokes. But Post-Impressionist forms do not dissolve, and their edges, whether outlined or
defined by sharp color separations, are relatively clear.

• Within Post-Impressionism two important trends evolved. These are exemplified on one hand by
Cézanne and Seurat, who reassert formal and structural values, and on the other by Gauguin and van
Gogh, who explore emotional content.
A Basket of Apples (1893), Cezanne Mount Saint-Victorie (1905), Cezanne
Also look at Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
 Annah the Javanese (1890) by Gauguin – primitivism

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-85) by

Seurat – pointillism
The Thinker (modelled 180,
cast 1910), bronze, Auguste
Rodin
Fauvism

• Name derived from “fauves” – French for ‘wild

beasts’ – 1905 exhibition – coined by Louis
Vauxcelles
• Bright, vivid colours - forms built purely from color,
and vigorous patterns and unusual colour
combinations created startling effects – line vs colour
• Henri Matisse, Andre Derain

Woman with a Hat (1905), Matisse

Charing Cross Bridge, London (1906), Derain
The Red Studio (1911), Matisse
Explore the following groups/movements

• Symbolism – Gustave Moreau

• Expressionism in Germany

• Les Nabis

• The Bridge (Die Brücke)

• The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter)

 Constantin Brâncuși – Modernism in Sculpture

Constantin Brâncuși (1876-1957)

• Perhaps the most important sculptor of the 20th century,
his visionary sculptures often exemplify ideal and
archetypal representations of their subject matter.
• Bearing laconic titles such as Fish, Princess X, and Bird in
Space, his sculptures are deceptively simple, with their
reduced forms aiming to reveal hidden truths.

Fish (1926), Brâncuși

Bird (1928), Brâncuși
The Kiss (1916), Brâncuși
 Cubism
• Most influential style of the early twentieth century.

• Cubism was essentially a revolution in the artist’s approach to space, both on the flat surface of the
picture and in sculpture.

• The non-naturalistic colorism of the Fauves can be seen as synthesizing nineteenth-century

Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Symbolism.

• The main European impetus for Cubism came from Cézanne’s new spatial organization, in which he
built up images from constructions of colour.

• Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), Picasso
 • Both the subject matter and the expressive possibilities of colour
subordinated to a geometric exploration of three-dimensional
space.
• Most of the picture is a jumble of fragmented cubes and other
solid geometric shapes.

Violin and pitcher (1910), Braque

Suprematism: Abstract art developed by Kazimir Malevich from 1913
characterised by basic geometric forms, such as circles, squares, lines and
rectangles, painted in a limited range of colours.

Futurism: Originating in Italy, the Futurists were inspired by the dynamic

energy of industry and the machine age. They argued for a complete
break with the past. In February 1909, the Futurist Manifesto written by
Filippo Marinetti was published.
 Artists have always been partial to the use of the human face in
their representations, for they have seen in it (the versatile,
mobile, expressive mimic) the best vehicle with which to convey
their feelings. The Suprematists have nevertheless abandoned
the representation of the human face (and of natural objects in
general) and have found new symbols with which to render
direct feelings (rather than externalized reflections of feelings),
for the Suprematist does not observe and does not touch—he
feels.

The Non-Objective World, Malevich

Suprematist painting (with black trapezium and

red square) (1915), Malevich
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
(1913), Umberto Boccioni

The New City (1914)

Dynamism of a Cyclist (1913), Umberto
Boccioni
 Design Movements
De Stijl: A modern art movement developed in the Netherlands in the early
twentieth century - encompassing painting, architecture and design - founded
by Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesberg in 1917 based upon strict ideals of
vertical and horizontal geometry.

Bauhaus: The Bauhaus in Germany combined an arts and crafts college with a
school of fine arts. Walter Gropius, an architect and founder of the movement,
believed in the integration of art and industry. With that in mind, he set out to
create a new institution that would offer courses in design, architecture, and
industry. Influential figures: Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.
Composition No. IV with red, blue Red and Blue Chair (1923), Gerrit
and yellow (1929), Piet Mondrian Rietveld
 Composition 8 (1923), Kandinsky

Several Circles (1926), Kandinsky

 Design Movements (cont’d)
Art Noveau: An ornamental style of art that flourished between 1890 and 1910
– characterized by long, sinuous lines – was employed most often in
architecture, interior design, jewellery and glass design, posters, and
illustration. [Also take a look at Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession group.]

Art Deco: Manifested across architecture, painting, sculpture and even graphic
and decorative arts - modern art style that attempts to infuse functional
objects with artistic touches - Art Deco works are symmetrical, geometric,
streamlined, often simple, and pleasing to the eye - refrained from artistic
embellishments, preferring clean and simple geometric forms.
The Virgin (1913), Gustav Klimt
 Design Movements (cont’d)
Constructivism: Art movement founded in 1915 by Vladimir Tatlin and
Alexander Rodchenko. Abstract and austere, constructivist art aimed
to reflect modern industrial society and urban space. The movement
rejected decorative stylization in favour of the industrial assemblage
of materials.

Hit the Whites with the Red

Wedgel (1920), El Lissitizky

Oppressed Peoples of the Whole

World (1924), Gustav Klutsis
 Avant Garde Art
Dada: Developed in reaction to World War I, the Dada movement consisted of artists who
rejected the logic, reason, and aestheticism of modern capitalist society, instead expressing
nonsense, irrationality, and anti-bourgeois protest in their works. Influential figures like
Raoul Hausmann, Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Man Ray etc.

Surrealism: A movement in visual art and literature, flourishing in Europe between the
World Wars. Surrealism grew principally out of the earlier Dada movement; but Surrealism’s
emphasis was not on negation but on positive expression. Artists aimed to allow the
unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike
scenes and ideas. Influential figures like Salvador Dali, René Magritte, Joan Miró.
 Henry Moore – Surrealist Sculpture
• The British sculptor Henry Moore (1898–1986) was drawn to
massive biomorphic forms.
• The traditional motif of the reclining figure was one of his
favourite subjects.
• From the 1930s Moore began making sculptures with hollowed-
out spaces and openings, thereby playing with the transition
between inside and outside, interior and exterior.
• Many of his reclining figures are intended as outdoor landscape
sculptures and are related to the traditional theme of the reclining
Venus.
Reclining Figure (1938), Moore
A chart prepared by Alfred H.
Barr, Jr., the first director of
the Museum of Modern Art,
on the occasion of the 1936
MoMA exhibition Cubism and
Abstract Art.
 American Painting in 20th century – Some iconic ones

Christina’s World (1948), Andrew

Wyeth

American Gothic (1930), Grant

Wood

Nighthawks (1942), Edward

Hopper
 Abstract Expressionism (1940s onwards)
• Abstract Expressionism begins to take root in New York and San Francisco after the Second World War.

• These painters wanted to explore and experiment formally with painting, believing that colour and
form in themselves were subject matter enough.

• The spontaneity in process of creation was emphasized.

• They worked on huge canvases and the action or gesture of laying paint was a crucial element.

• Random nature of creation.

Abstract Expressionism (cont’d)

Jackson Pollock (1912-56): One of the

foremost painters of the New York school
of Abstract Expressionism, he used a drip
technique to produce his most celebrated
pictures, in which he engaged his whole
body in the act of painting – action
painting.

Also look at Willem de Kooning (1904-97)

Undulating Paths (1947), Pollock

Abstract Expressionism (cont’d)

Mark Rothko (1903-70): One of the most important

Colour Field painters, Rothko developed his
characteristic style of large rectangles of single
colours, wiht blurred edges, floating on grounds
and often arranged in parallel. His limited palette
focused on colours of similar range, such as brown
and red, or grey and blue. Overall there is a sense
of calm and meditation in these evocative works;
later works however have a darker mood,
reflecting his depression and eventual suicide.

Also look at Barnett Newman (1905-70)

Number 15 (1957), Rothko
Number 14 (1960), Rothko
 Pop Art (1960s onwards)
• The most prominent style to emerge in America in the 1960s.

• The imagery of Pop Art was derived from sources in popular culture including pop music, movies,
comics, kitsch and advertising. Familiar everyday objects - such as images derived from cartoons, flags
and soup cans - were used as subject matter and sometimes literally integrated into the work.

• Breaking down distinction between high art and popular culture.

• Also critiqued the culture of mass consumption with the rise in consumerism - the banality,
repetitiveness of visuals.
 Pop Art (cont’d)

• Andy Warhol (1928-87) is the chief example of the Pop Art lifestyle, as well as the
creator of highly individual works of art.
• One of his most characteristic works, Campbell’s Soup I (Tomato) of 1968,
illustrates his taste for commercial images.
• Warhol’s iconography is wide-ranging. In addition to labels advertising products, he
created works that monumentalize commercial American icons.
• These include Coca-Cola bottles, Brillo and Heinz boxes, comic books, matchbook
covers, green stamps, dollar bills, and so forth. He also produced portraits of iconic
American heroes and heroines—John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe,
Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, and Troy Donahue.

Campbell’s Soup I (Tomato) (1968), Warhol

Also look at Jasper Johns (1930-), Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008)

Three Flags (1958), Jasper Johns

Buffalo II (1964), Rauschenberg

Drowning Girl (1963), Roy
Lichtenstein
 Before we wrap up …
Names of art galleries/museums (know a bit about their history, location, any
important work in their possession):
• Museum of Modern Art

• National Gallery of Art

• Louvre

• Musée d'Orsay

• Musée de l'Orangerie

• Tate
 Before we wrap up …
Names of important biennales/art exhibitions (know a bit about their history, location,
frequency of occurrence, past curators/themes):
• Documenta

• Venice Biennale

• Sao Paolo Biennale

• Berlin Biennale

• Kochi Muziris Biennale

 Before we wrap up …
Important books on art:

• The Story of Art by E H Gombrich

• Ways of Seeing by John Berger

• The Meaning of Art by Herbert Read

• Art as Experience by John Dewey

• On Photography by Susan Sontag

Be familiar with works of authors, like Christopher Pinney (books on visual production, photography
in colonial and contemporary India), Geeta Kapur (When Was Modernism), Gayatri Sinha
 Before we wrap up …
Technical terms related to art practice (please research on the following terms, it will give you an idea
of various artistic processes and the materials they use):

• Painting Terms: tempera, fresco (buono, secco), mural, impasto, alla prima, intonaco & giornata
(related to frescoes)

• Sculpture Terms: free-standing, relief (bas relief, high relief), carved sculpture, modeling sculpture,
assembled sculpture, cast sculpture, maquette, mould, lost wax casting, patina, armature

• Printmaking Terms: relief printing (woodcut, linocut), intaglio (engraving, etching), lithography,
aquatint
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