Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Arts and Humanities

The Legend of the Artist: Shaping Artistic Identity

In the eighteenth century, the cultural movement of the Enlightenment fully recognized the intellectual character of artistic activity. Artists began to be separated from mere craft due to the inherent intellectual and conceptual nature of their work, moving beyond manual labor. The emerging bourgeois-liberal ideology reinforced the identity of the artist as an exceptional individual, often seen as a defender of freedom and independence of character.

The concept of artistic genius, as applied to artists, was significantly developed by Romanticism. This powerful cultural movement, which peaked in the mid-nineteenth century, was instrumental in creating the enduring legend of the artist. This... Continue reading "Shaping the Artist's Identity: From Enlightenment to Modern Art" »

Neo-Pop Art and its Influence

54 artists transitioned from Neo-Pop Art and Dadaism, influenced by figures like Duchamp and Robert Rauschenberg. Jasper Johns treated painting as an object, incorporating everyday elements and neutralizing paint over his increasingly pictorial speech. This converted the final result into a simple presentation of things, emphasizing the materialization of an idea over the action of painting.

Characteristics of Neo-Pop Art

• Rejection of abstract expressionism
• Use of realistic, figurative language
• Reflection of contemporary ideas and appearances
• Thematic focus on the urban environment, social and cultural aspects of comics, magazines, newspapers, and photos
• Absence of critical approaches
• Nontraditional pictorial treatment
• Fusion

The Avant-Garde Movements in Art and Literature

The word avant-garde refers to a set of artistic and literary movements that took place in Europe and America during the first third of the twentieth century. The common denominator of the avant-garde is a break not only with the prior art and literature but with all of the Western aesthetic tradition. The avant-garde emerged in a climate of dissatisfaction with the present at all levels (political, social, economic, artistic...), which became acute after the atrocities of the First World War.

Although the various avant-garde movements have specific traits, they share some characteristics:

• Antirealism. As a result of their disagreement with reality, the authors break with the idea of art and literature

Lope de Vega's Poetic and Theatrical Legacy

Lope de Vega wrote countless poems. He wrote popular-type compositions (ballads, carols) and engaged in nature worship (sonnets, especially). Vega's poetry is, in general, vital, spontaneous, and simple. The theater was the most innovative and successful genre in the seventeenth century. The tastes and demands of the public prompted Lope to renovate the Spanish theater of the time. In his "New Art of Making Comedies," he established the patterns of New Comedy:

• A mixture of the tragic and the comic in the same work: This mixture provided greater variety and animation to the work.
• Rupture of the rule of three unities: Humanists had decided that a play should be confined to a single action (unity of action)

Post-War Art Shift: Paris to New York

After World War II, and with artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning at the forefront, the center of global art culture shifted from Paris to New York. The United States and its museums were slated to become world leaders in innovative emerging trends. From 1935 to 1942, Jackson Pollock worked for the Federal Art Project. In 1943, he held his first exhibition at the Peggy Guggenheim gallery, which provided the means for him to dedicate himself exclusively to painting. From 1942 until 1947, he stopped including colors in his canvases, limiting himself to working with black and white. Years later, he reintroduced color.

The Rise of Abstract Expressionism

Abstract Expressionism emerged in the U.S.,... Continue reading "Post-War Art Transformation: Abstract Expressionism & Surrealism" »

Narrative Texts

Narrative texts use a transmitter to tell real or fictional events. They are usually accompanied by dialogue and description. The structure typically includes:

• Initial situation
• Conflict
• Resolution or denouement

In a narrative text, we must analyze:

• Prevalence of the referential function
• Use of past tense or present, according to the narrator's point of view
• Use of verbs introduced in the dialogues
• Use of simple, compound, and juxtaposed sentences
• Use of adverbs or adverbial phrases

Classification of Adverbs

• Of place: here, there, far, inside, outside, close, behind, ahead, around
• Of time: today, yesterday, tomorrow, now, last night, yet, soon, after, then, still
• Of manner: well, badly, good, better, fairly, fast, slowly, and those ending

The Vicarage
Artist: Mariano Fortuny
Style: Realism
Date: 1867-1870
Medium: Oil on canvas

Historical Context:
The early 19th century in Spain was marked by significant events. The people of Madrid rose up against the French invasion on May 2, 1808, initiating the War of Independence. Concurrently, Spain experienced the Industrial Revolution later and less intensely than other European nations. Transportation developed slowly, and agriculture remained the primary economic activity. Industrialization was concentrated in Catalonia and the Basque Country. This era also saw urban reforms, including the demolition of old structures and the creation of new avenues. Public transport emerged, and the first automobiles appeared.

Artistic Realism:
Realism in... Continue reading "Mariano Fortuny's "The Vicarage": Realism and Social Commentary" »

Descartes: Innate Ideas and Certainty

Understanding Innate Ideas and Nativism

Innate ideas are concepts understood a priori, without requiring empirical demonstration. The mind possesses these ideas inherently. According to Descartes, all innate ideas are clear and distinct. The famous Cogito ergo Sum (I think, therefore I am) is considered an innate idea.

The existence of innate ideas is a fundamental assertion of Rationalism. One of its core tenets is that certain ideas and principles are innate to the understanding, possessed independently of any sensory experience. This concept is known as Nativism: the belief that there are innate ideas, inherent to the understanding, which are not derived from generalizations of sensory experience.

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The Fauves and Henri Matisse

The Fauves were a group of painters who gained recognition at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in 1905. Characterized by friendly relations among members, their work is defined by the use of pure color patches derived from a distinct Fauvist aesthetic. The movement itself was relatively short-lived, developing in three main phases:

1. The Proto-Fauve period (1904).
2. The first phase (1905), when Matisse and Derain painted landscapes and portraits in the south of France.
3. The second phase (1906–1907), characterized by paintings executed with intense, dazzling color planes.

The central figure of Fauvism is Henri Matisse, whose personal work continued to evolve after the movement's dissolution. Some of his most important works... Continue reading "Early 20th Century Art Movements: Fauvism, Cubism, and Abstraction" »

Romanesque and Freestanding Sculpture

Romanesque sculpture was intrinsically linked to architecture. Its primary purpose was not only decorative but also to indoctrinate a largely illiterate population. While religious themes predominated, sculptures also depicted fantastic animals, scenes of everyday life, and decorative floral, vegetal, and geometric motifs. This secular character was often found in the decoration of cloister capitals and interior spaces.

Architectural Integration and Key Examples

In Spain, the Cloister of Santo Domingo de Silos is particularly noteworthy. On cathedral portals, the tympanum typically features the Theophany or Christ in Majesty, accompanied by the Tetramorph. Surrounding this central space, the archivolts display... Continue reading "Romanesque and Freestanding Sculpture: Forms & Features" »