MANY MASKS OF MODERN ART Assignment H.T.4.12 Directions: We are going to read four chapters of this book every month. The book is a collections of brief articles written by Theodore F. Wolff, art critic for the Christian Science Monitor. Probably the most convenient way to get your hands on a copy is through Amazon.com. After reading a chapter, email me a response, and I'll post it to this web page. I want to know what you thought was interesting, what you agreed or disagreed with and why. In addition, if the chapter is about a specific artist, you will need to do an online search and familiarize yourself with the work of that specific artist. Email me your favorite work AND your least favorite work of that artist, and tell me why you chose the works you chose. RESPONSES TO CHAPTERS 12-15: Jennifer Paget - 7.9.09 CHAPTER 12 - Paul Klee: Letting Spirit and Intuition Take Over I feel weird when I look at Klee’s works, I’m still deciding if I like them. To me they make a sound, but I can’t really say what it is. I like the line in this chapter (p.38), “He was one of those rare artists who could experience life in terms of color, shape, line, or texture... Ideas were translated into linear and coloristic structures as quickly as they appeared.” Here's a quote from Klee: "Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it make visible." CHAPTER 13 - Warhol: A Mirror of his Times I had no idea who this guy was until I looked up his work, and I realized that his work and style is seen almost everywhere! I can almost hear the sixties and seventies music playing when I look at his paintings I liked what was said in this chapter about being “creative”. Art needs creative passion and direction to survive, and that the definition of “create” is “bring into being,” “cause to exist,” “originate;” it’s not – mirroring, reflecting, or passively accepting. CHAPTER 14 - Reconciling Art with the Primal Forces of Life This artist seems interesting, I am starting to catch what is being portrayed in his paintings – especially “infinity field.” It’s almost like he saw something in his head that is not from this world, and he’s trying to paint it. I don’t know how understandable they really are. Art to me is the most powerful when it’s painted in the simplest form, yet is self explanatory. These are not that self explanatory to me. CHAPTER 15 - Chagall: Art as a High Wire Act I like how he incorporated Jewish life style and meaning into his works. They say a lot about his beliefs and interests. For example, he has great amount of couples getting married, and fiddlers He also has interesting style and symbolism in his works; I also think that it’s interesting that he is “humanizing” cubism and Fauvism, Something that you don’t really see in his time. (Though I’m not a big fan of cubism.)