Fauvism, Cubism, and Abstraction

Early twentieth-century movements challenged representation in different ways. Abstraction changes the relationship with visible things; it does not automatically remove meaning.

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Fauvism and Cubism

Objective: Explain fauvism and cubism, distinguish their meanings, and apply them to a described case.

Fauvism: Fauvism is associated with intense color and varied departures from naturalistic color relations. Cubism: Cubism developed fragmented and restructured representation through varied approaches to objects and space. Modernisms developed through many locations and exchanges, sometimes within unequal colonial structures. Abstraction has several meanings and need not imply a single purpose. Appropriation and influence require attention to sources, attribution, power, and transformation. Dada and Surrealism used different strategies to question familiar expectations. Interpret experimental work by identifying its material or procedural choices and explaining how those choices support a defensible reading. Application: A face is painted with deliberately nonliteral colors. This most directly illustrates fauvism. An image combines facets rather than one stable viewpoint. This most directly illustrates cubism.

Worked examples

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: A face is painted with deliberately nonliteral colors. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Step 1 — Read the observation: A face is painted with deliberately nonliteral colors. Step 2 — Recall the relevant idea: Fauvism is associated with intense color and varied departures from naturalistic color relations. Step 3 — Connect the observation to the idea: The scenario is an illustration of fauvism. Step 4 — Check the limit: This short scenario illustrates the concept; it does not establish every detail or exclude every other influence in a real situation.

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: An image combines facets rather than one stable viewpoint. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Step 1 — Read the observation: An image combines facets rather than one stable viewpoint. Step 2 — Recall the relevant idea: Cubism developed fragmented and restructured representation through varied approaches to objects and space. Step 3 — Connect the observation to the idea: The scenario is an illustration of cubism. Step 4 — Check the limit: This short scenario illustrates the concept; it does not establish every detail or exclude every other influence in a real situation.

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Fauvism and Cubism

Objective: Explain fauvism and cubism, distinguish their meanings, and apply them to a described case.

Worked examples

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: A face is painted with deliberately nonliteral colors. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: An image combines facets rather than one stable viewpoint. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Multiple viewpoint and Abstraction

Objective: Explain multiple viewpoint and abstraction, distinguish their meanings, and apply them to a described case.

Multiple viewpoint: Multiple-viewpoint representation presents aspects not restricted to one optical position. Abstraction: Abstraction selects, transforms, or departs from representational features to varying degrees. Modernisms developed through many locations and exchanges, sometimes within unequal colonial structures. Abstraction has several meanings and need not imply a single purpose. Appropriation and influence require attention to sources, attribution, power, and transformation. Dada and Surrealism used different strategies to question familiar expectations. Interpret experimental work by identifying its material or procedural choices and explaining how those choices support a defensible reading. Application: A form combines several orientations. This most directly illustrates multiple viewpoint. A work emphasizes relationships among shapes and colors. This most directly illustrates abstraction.

Worked examples

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: A form combines several orientations. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Step 1 — Read the observation: A form combines several orientations. Step 2 — Recall the relevant idea: Multiple-viewpoint representation presents aspects not restricted to one optical position. Step 3 — Connect the observation to the idea: The scenario is an illustration of multiple viewpoint. Step 4 — Check the limit: This short scenario illustrates the concept; it does not establish every detail or exclude every other influence in a real situation.

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: A work emphasizes relationships among shapes and colors. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Step 1 — Read the observation: A work emphasizes relationships among shapes and colors. Step 2 — Recall the relevant idea: Abstraction selects, transforms, or departs from representational features to varying degrees. Step 3 — Connect the observation to the idea: The scenario is an illustration of abstraction. Step 4 — Check the limit: This short scenario illustrates the concept; it does not establish every detail or exclude every other influence in a real situation.

Nonobjective art and Collage

Objective: Explain nonobjective art and collage, distinguish their meanings, and apply them to a described case.

Nonobjective art: Nonobjective art does not depict identifiable external objects as its primary organizing basis. Collage: Collage combines attached or assembled materials within a work. Modernisms developed through many locations and exchanges, sometimes within unequal colonial structures. Abstraction has several meanings and need not imply a single purpose. Appropriation and influence require attention to sources, attribution, power, and transformation. Dada and Surrealism used different strategies to question familiar expectations. Interpret experimental work by identifying its material or procedural choices and explaining how those choices support a defensible reading. Application: A composition uses forms without a recognizable represented scene. This most directly illustrates nonobjective art. Printed fragments become part of an image's surface. This most directly illustrates collage.

Worked examples

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: A composition uses forms without a recognizable represented scene. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Step 1 — Read the observation: A composition uses forms without a recognizable represented scene. Step 2 — Recall the relevant idea: Nonobjective art does not depict identifiable external objects as its primary organizing basis. Step 3 — Connect the observation to the idea: The scenario is an illustration of nonobjective art. Step 4 — Check the limit: This short scenario illustrates the concept; it does not establish every detail or exclude every other influence in a real situation.

Try itOriginal teaching scenario: Printed fragments become part of an image's surface. Which idea from this section does it most directly illustrate?Show answer

Step 1 — Read the observation: Printed fragments become part of an image's surface. Step 2 — Recall the relevant idea: Collage combines attached or assembled materials within a work. Step 3 — Connect the observation to the idea: The scenario is an illustration of collage. Step 4 — Check the limit: This short scenario illustrates the concept; it does not establish every detail or exclude every other influence in a real situation.

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