Cubism was one of the most influential visual art styles of
the early twentieth. It began between 1907 and 1911. Its primary influence that
led to Cubism was the representation of three-dimensional form. In Cubist
artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form
instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint. Cubist artists depict the
subjects from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater
context. This is the Cubist art work collected in the Museum of Modern Art, “Girl
with a Mandolin” created by Pablo Picasso in late spring 1910. This is an oil
painting on canvas. The dimensions are 39 and half inches high by 29 inches
wide or 100.3 centimeters high by 73.6 centimeters wide. In this image, the
subject is a nude girl holding a mandolin and it only shows her the upper part
of body, from her thighs to her head. Her head turns to her left so we can see
a profile view of her face. And she is looking slightly downward at her
mandolin, which she appears to be playing, holding the mandolin across the
front of her body. The colors in this painting are shades of light brown, tan,
yellow, and olive green. These colors seem close to each in color and they are
all muted or dull. Picasso analyzed this nude figure, breaking it down into
many squares, cubes, rectangles, and other geometric shapes. In addition, there
is nothing at the edge of painting. It seems the cubes in the background gradually
fade and disappear at the edge. The girl is outlined by cubical versions of her
dress as shown on her right shoulder on the left hand of the painting. The
passing outline of the areola under her dress is painted with more cubes to
draw in the audience’s attention to what the painting is about. Her breast
shows a curvature drawn away from the cubes. This clarifies the feminine aspect
and who or what the painting is about. Her hair is drawn up in curls or a bun
and the bending of her hair diverts effectively from every other cube in that
it is drawn up and buoyant like a girl’s or a young woman’s hair. Her eye is
another shape and, once again, is representing the pleasing feminine and
fertile aspects of the subject. In this way even the mandolin blends into the
aspect of the feminine, with its pear shape, before the instrument unites into
remaining perfect mathematical cubes that compose its neck to be held upright
by the subject.
Dada began in protest against the
horrors of World War I, was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the
early 20th century.The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature, poetry, art manifestoes, art theory, theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a rejection of the prevailing standards in art through anti-art cultural works. In addition to being anti-war, Dada was also anti-bourgeois and had political affinities with the radical left. Furthermore, Dada is the groundwork to abstract art and sound poetry, a starting point for performance art, a prelude to postmodernism, an influence on pop art,
a celebration of antiart to be later embraced for anarcho-political
uses in the 1960s and the movement that lay the foundation for Surrealism This is an art work of Dada style named “Indestructible
Object (or Object to Be Destroyed)” by Man Ray in 1964. This one shown in
the image is the replica of 1923 original and its dimensions are 8 and 7/8
inches length, 4 and 3/8 inches wide, and 4 and 5/8 inches height. This work
consists of a brown triangular metronome with a photograph of an eye attached
to its swinging arm. This artwork has two important elements. One is this metronome
which is produced by the Quailite company commonly found in many homes and its box
is made of wood but its internal elements are made of mental. Another element
is a small cut out of a black and white photograph of a woman’s eye which
refers to Man Ray’s lover, Lee Miller. Lastly, Object To Be Destroyed expresses
that metronome is no longer a simple time-keeping device. It summons feelings
of irritation over being watched, and powerlessness in the face of endless
time. There is no means to stop the cycle, except to destroy the object itself.
