Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch was Norwegian born painter and print maker. He is attributed as being a predecessor to the expressionist art movement, using his painting as a medium of communication. Although made both prints and paintings, his most known piece was a painting, "The Scream". At first, Munch studied science (engineering and physics), but he eventually dropped out of school to pursue a career as a painter. Munch developed a unique style, in which he used color to convey emotion. Munch also used symbolism in his paintings, "The Frieze of life was" was series of paintings that Munch developed. The themed series consisted of painting which explored death, life, melancholy, love, and fear, "The Scream" was a piece from this series. Upon exhibiting his works, Munch received attention and financial support; however, Munch later fell into psychological problems and a drinking binge. In the end, was sent to a sanatorium for approximately one year. Entering WWII, Munch's work was classified as degenerate art, and was confiscated by the Nazi Regime. Munch lived with nearly his entire collection of artwork hidden in his home and secluded from the Nazi's. Following are a few of Munch's pieces:

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dali was a prominent artist from Spain during the 20th century. He is best known for his surrealist paintings, which depict bizarre and visually striking scenes. Along with his surrealist drawings and paintings, Dali also developed a repertoire in film, sculpture and photography. At a young age Dali was characterized as having an expansive imagination, which often led him to partake in grandiose and eccentric behaviors. Critics would later joke that his behavior attracted more attention than his art work at times. Regardless, Dali constructed works both in his youth and later in his life that reflected mastery. In his final year of art school Dali was expelled because he claimed that none of the faculty members were competent enough to asses him. Largely influenced by Picasso and Cubism, Dali continued to draw using a mix of classical and modernist techniques. Shortly after his departure from art school, Dali grew his notorious and flamboyant mustache. Dali received much attention for his works, which led to an invitation to speak at the London International Surrealist Exhibition. His speech was entitled "Authentic Paranoid Ghosts" and was accompanied with Dali dressed in a deep sea diving suit, lead by a pair of Russian wolf hounds. He claimed that the suit represented the overall idea of his speech, in which he was attempting dive deep into the subconscious of the mind. Unlike Vincent van Gogh, who lived in poverty in order to create his works of art, Dali had an affinity for money. He was coined with nickname "Avida Dollars" (eager for dollars).  Following are a few of his paintings and drawings:

Regardless of Dali's eccentric tendencies and grandiose behavior, he contributed an ingenious and creative repertoire to the world of art.

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was a Spanish drawer, painter, and sculptor during the 20th century. He was co-accredited for founding the Cubist movement, which spanned between the years of 1907-1910. Although much of his recognition is attributed to the co-founding of this movement, his early life can be broken into three other sources of inspiration and ingenuity. In 1900, Picasso moved to Paris were he befriended an anarchist and created a political magazine to touch upon poverty issues. Picasso drew cartoons for the short lived magazine. During this time period Picasso lived in a state of poverty, so many of his early and most realistic paintings were burned for warmth. Picasso eventually progressed into the "Blue Period", which consisted of painting that used blue and green to capture a somber emotion. After this period Picasso transformed into "Rose Period" were he used orange and pink colors to capture a more uplifting feel. Critiques argue that Picasso was then largely inspired by African Art, which accelerated him into the Cubist movement. Cubism describes the technique of breaking down an image into shapes. After breaking the image down, each shape is analyzed from different angles and then reassembled. Following are a few of Picasso's works:

Young Picasso

Blue Period

Rose Period

African-American Period

 

Cubism Period

Later Life

Throughout his life, Picasso transformed as an artist. He used his creativity and ingenuity to create an art movement, Cubism, which has helped to inspire modern artists. As Picasso said, "Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth".

Claude Monet

Claude Monet is regarded as one of the worlds most prolific painters, due to his ingenuity, he is considered the father of impressionism. Impressionism is a style of painting, which was a direct result of Monet's painting "Impressionism, Sunrise". In this painting, the style of impressionism was born reflecting an open composition (open air), which captured light, nature, and atmosphere in new way. Although Monet sought to create original painting, he did study older artists who painted landscapes with what he considered to be beautiful colors. Later in his life, Monet made a goal to paint masterpieces, one of which became his Lilly Exhibit. Following are works of Monet:

The ingenuity and creativity of Monet helped create a new style of painting Impressionism. 

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh has produced some of the most recognized and  emotionally moving paintings in history. Unappreciated during his lifetime, Vincent transformed his painting style from dark earth tones to vibrant color schemes seen today in his most admired pieces. During his lifetime, Vincent lived in a state of poverty, spending his limited amount of money on painting supplies, bread, tobacco and  coffee. Today however, Vincent's works are among the most expensive in the world. Upon working for an art dealer, Vincent rejected the notion of art as a commodity. Terminated from his position as an art dealer, he pursued other career options, but eventually became an artist. Along with his volatile working career, Vincent also suffered turmoil in relationships. Although Vincent painted numerous pictures, his most admired works were painted in the last two years of his life. Plagued with bouts of mental illness, Vincent continued to paint, developed his on style, and posthumously praised as a genius. Following are a few of Vincents paintings and drawings:

Vincent van Gogh left an everlasting impression on the concept, understanding, and practice of art. As he was quoted for saying in a letter to his brother, "Real painters do not paint things as they are...They paint them as they themselves feel them to be".

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt was a dutch painter, drawer and etcher during the 17th century. Today, Rembrandt is regarded as one of the greatest painters and etchers throughout history. Rembrandt attained success and honed his skills with portrait painting, but later progressed into landscaped drawings, narrative paintings, and lastly Biblical paintings. His Biblical paintings captured raw emotion and intuitive detail, which he interpreted through reading the Bible. Along with his paintings, Rembrandt also focused on etching. In his etches Rembrandt captured and expressed complex scenes with intricate webs of lines and space with his use of black and white tones. Following are a few of Rembrandt's works:

Although Rembrandt was a great artist, he was not immune to hardships and turmoil. Throughout his later life, he experienced financial problems, he was forced to sell his printing press. He also suffered from numerous personal set backs.  Most importantly however, Rembrandt continued to draw, paint and etch, ultimately creating works of art that are regarded as master pieces today.

Kara Walker

Kara Walker is an artist know for critiquing race, gender, and sexuality through her unique black and white paper silhouettes cut-outs. Her Victorian silhouette style is accented by her presentation of the cut-outs. Kara directly pastes each figure onto the walls of the gallery, along with colored light. By adding the colored light with a projector, the viewer's shadow is projected onto the wall, allowing them to become one of the silhouettes. This approach allows her to integrate the viewer into her exhibit. Following is a series of her works:

 

     

Kara's presentation of art is intriguing. By allowing the viewer's shadow to be projected onto the wall, she can convey her message. Along with silhouette cut-outs, she also draws, as shown above. Kara's work takes an older form of art,Victorian paper cut-outs, and transforms it into a modern critique of society.