Monday, 9 April 2012

Modernism

The Modernist movement began in the 1860's and carried on until around the 1970's ( http://arthistoryresources.net/modernism/roots.html). It was based upon the revolutionary idea of focusing on what is now rather than what has been. However now 'Modernism' is not so modern and is a past movement. It was a movement that influenced art, graphic design, architecture, literature, photography, sculpture, furniture and more.

Composition VIII by Wassily Kandinsky is an example of modernist art. It was painted in 1923. He joined the Bauhaus in 1922 and was there until 1933 (http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view/kandinsky-at-the-bauhaus-1922-1933). The Bauhaus itself founded in 1919, Walter Gropius at Weimar, Germany (http://www.writedesignonline.com/history-culture/bauhaus.htm). "The first aim of the school was to "rescue all of the arts from the isolation in which each then found itself."" (http://www.writedesignonline.com/history-culture/bauhaus.htm)


The work produced at the Bauhaus followed the idea of 'form follows function' stripping away any give away of human craftsmanship, "removing the past was a secondary consequence" helping it become one of the most recognizable factors of Modernism.

One of the most famous productions that came out of the Bauhaus was...

Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer
Named after Breuers friend Wassily Kandinsky (http://danedecor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/chair-inspired-by-bicycle.html). It is believed that the 'radical' use of steel in the production of the chair was influenced by Breuers own bicycle. Not only was the use of  steel 'radical' it was easy to manipulate and source making it easy for mass production. (http://www.furniturestyles.net/european/german/bauhaus.html


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