famous artists who changed the course of art

by Nelson Effertz 8 min read

10 Artists Who Changed The Course Of 20th Century Art

  • Louise Bourgeois. Involved in a series of artistic circles throughout her life, Louise Bourgeois’ work only came to...
  • Marcel Duchamp. Marcel Duchamp’s oeuvre spanned many of the early 20th century’s key movements, including Dada and...
  • Frida Kahlo. Born in 1907 in Mexico City, Frida Kahlo’s legendary life was marked...

10 Artists Who Changed The Course Of 20th Century Art
  • Louise Bourgeois. ...
  • Marcel Duchamp. ...
  • Frida Kahlo. ...
  • Anish Kapoor. ...
  • Jeff Koons. ...
  • Pablo Picasso. ...
  • Jackson Pollock. ...
  • Andy Warhol.

Full Answer

Who is the most famous artist of the 20th century?

Aug 16, 2014 · Yto Barrada's Sunday, 23 June 2013 (2013) We are now a full century since the guns of August set in motion the carnage of the first World War, cleaving apart nations, introducing shocking new technologies, and spreading the aesthetic of Modernism as a reflection of the shattered continent. The figures leading this artistic charge included such visionaries as …

Can art change the course of history?

Dec 05, 2016 · Here are some of the most influential artist throughout history who have made an impact on those around them. Leonardo Da Vinci: Known for more than just art, Leonardo Da Vinci was an inventor known for exploring fields such as science, medicine, and air travel.

How did art change in the 20th century?

Apr 07, 2014 · Featuring the work of seminal American and British artists like Tony Smith, Gerald Laing, Carl Andre, Donald Judd, Robert Morris, and Sol LeWitt, the exhibition included a bounty of large-scale geometric sculptural abstraction. The artist Mark di Suvero called the exhibition, which was both a critical and a media success, "the key show of the 1960s." It popularized the idea of …

What is the most controversial artwork of the 20th century?

Andy Warhol, a leading figure in the pop art movement, became one of the most influential and controversial artists of his time. His work explored the line between artistic expression, celebrity culture, mass production, and mass media culture.

Who is the most influential artist of all time art?

Most influential visual artists of all timeJan van Eyck (1390 -1441) ... Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) ... Michelangelo (1475-1564) ... Raphael (1483 - 1520) ... Titian (1488 - 1576) ... El Greco (1540 - 1614) ... Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) ... Peter Paul Rubens (1571-1640)More items...

What artists were inspired by other artists?

6 Contemporary Artists You Didn't Know Were Inspired By HistorySEBASTIAN CHAUMETON, THE CRETAN BULL, 2020/2021.BRADLEY THEODORE , MARIE ANTOINETTE, 2020.JUSTIN BOWER, SUBJECT STUDY 1, 2020.MIAZ BROTHERS, THE ASTROLOGER, 2021.JEFF KOONS, GAZING BALL (VAN GOGH WHEATFIELD WITH CYPRESSES), 2017.More items...•May 4, 2021

Who is the most influential artist to contemporary artists?

The 30 Most Popular Modern and Contemporary ArtistsCindy Sherman (b. 1954) ... Liu Xiaodong (b. 1963) ... Cecily Brown (b. 1969) ... Miquel Barcelo (b. 1957) ... Takashi Murakami (b. 1962) ... Günther Förg (1952-2013) ... Luo Zhongli (b. ... Njideka Akunyili Crosby (b. 1983)More items...

Who is the most influential painter in the history of modern art?

Several of his paintings are among the most expensive ever sold but his most famous works are generally held by museums. Pablo Picasso is undoubtedly the most famous modern artist and many regard him as the greatest painter of all time.Nov 24, 2017

What is Vincent van Gogh artistic style called?

The style he developed in Paris and carried through to the end of his life became known as Post-Impressionism, a term encompassing works made by artists unified by their interest in expressing their emotional and psychological responses to the world through bold colors and expressive, often symbolic images.

What is today's art called?

Contemporary artContemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world.

Who is the most famous artist in the modern works of visual arts?

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 – 1519) No list of influential artists would be complete without mention of Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci was a man of “many hats”, but is perhaps best known for creating the most famous painting of all, The “Mona Lisa”.

Who is the most talented artist in the world?

Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect. He was also a poet and an engineer. He made valuable contributions to each of the fields he worked in and remains being the best-documented artist of the 16th century and held to be one of the greatest artists of all time.Jun 8, 2014

Who is the visual artist?

Visual artists create and execute works of art by sculpting, painting, drawing, creating cartoons, engraving or using other techniques.

Is Van Gogh modern art?

Modern art begins with the heritage of painters like Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec all of whom were essential for the development of modern art.

Who is the best painter in the world 2021?

1. Vincent Van Gogh. This Dutch painter was one of the most well known figures of Expressionism and post Impressionism. Today, Van Gogh Paintings are some of the most famous and expensive artworks across the globe.Jan 31, 2021

Is Picasso a modern artist?

Pablo Picasso is probably the most important figure of the 20th century, in terms of art, and art movements that occurred over this period. Before the age of 50, the Spanish born artist had become the most well-known name in modern art, with the most distinct style and eye for artistic creation.

Hans Richter

Born in 1888 in Berlin, Hans Richter was a German painter, graphic artist, avant-gardist, film-experimenter and producer. He strongly believed that any artist should be politically involved, fighting the best way they could on the side of revolution and against the war.

Francis Picabia

Francis Picabia was born in 1879, and was known as a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. During his artistic life in the early 20th century, his experimental nature tied him to several art movements like Impressionism, Pointillism, Cubism, even Surrealism for a brief period, and of course, Dadaism.

Max Ernst

Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. Born in 1891, he was drafted for the war, and in 1918 Ernst got demobilized and returned to Cologne. It is here that he founded the Cologne Dada group along with several colleagues, marking him as one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

Sophie Taeuber-Arp was a Swiss artist, painter, sculptor, textile designer, and dancer, and her legacy, although only recognized after the World War II, lives on to this day.

Hannah Hoch

Hannah Höch didn’t only leave her mark as a Dadaist artist, she promoted the idea of women contributing more actively to creative society. As one of rare females in Berlin Dada group, she referenced their hypocrisy as well as that of German society as a whole in her photomontage Da-Dandy.

Kurt Schwitters

German-born, Kurt Schwitters is another highly versatile artist who worked in several media, including poetry, sound, painting, sculpture, graphic design and typography. His work is associated with Constructivism, Surrealism and Dada, a group he was allegedly rejected by due to his links to Expressionism.

Jean Arp

Jean Arp, the husband of Sophie Taeuber-Arp, would refer to himself as “Hans” when speaking in German, and “Jean” when speaking in French. Born in 1886, he was a master of sculpture, painting, poetry, and abstract art. His work is firmly rooted in nature, his curvy lines suggesting plants and natural motifs while remaining completely abstract.

Who influenced Mao's mystique?

Mao’s mystique was closely monitored and strongly influenced by Jiang Qing, the former actress who became Mao’s third and final wife. Artists were told to honor the ‘Three Prominences’: 1) prominence to positive characters, 2) prominence to heroes and 3) prominence to the most important leaders.

Who created the Hope poster?

The Barack Obama “Hope” poster by the artist Shepard Fairey is an iconic image that has come to represent the 2008 presidential campaign and the election of the first African-American president.

What is the V for Vendetta?

The comic V for Vendetta follows the title character and protagonist, V, an anarchist revolutionary dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask, as he begins an elaborate and theatrical revolutionist campaign to kill his former captors, bring down the fascist state and convince the people to abandon democracy in favor of anarchy.

What does the man on the poster point at the viewer?

The man pictured on the poster points an accusing finger at the viewer to say his situation is their fault . A powerful warning displayed not only in military facilities, but in civilian bars, restaurants and other public places.

What was the real story of Guy Fawkes?

But the real story involves the infamous Guy Fawkes and his participation in The Gunpowder Treason Plot of 1605, a failed assassination attempt against King James I of England by a group of provincial English Catholics that hoped to shift England from Protestant to Catholic.

Why do Christians hang fish on their cars?

While many Christians hang a cross necklace or rosary inside their vehicles, the fish sticker on the car is a more conscious symbol of a witnessing Christian and having been Born Again. The fish is given symbolic meaning several times in the Gospels. Several of Jesus’ twelve Apostles were fishermen.

What does the circle represent in anarchy?

The “A” is for “anarchy” or “without rulers” and the circle is an “O” that represents “order”. Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates self-governed societies based on voluntary institutions that oppose authority imposed by hierarchical organizations.

Jean-Antoine Houdon - The Famous Portraits

The neoclassical sculptor, Jean-Antoine Houdon, was famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors, and political figures of the Enlightenment. His most successful works are studies of Voltaire, George Washington, and Napoleon.

Clodion - The Love of Small Scale and Terracotta

Clodion, original name Claude Michel, is seen to represent the quintessence of the Rococo style sculpture. Similarly, to his contemporary Houdon, Clodion studied the classical monuments and figures. Much celebrated for his small-scale statues and reliefs inspired by the antique, Clodin preference resulted in his denial to the Royal Academy.

Auguste Rodin - The New Face of Sculpture

At the time of great change in the rhythm and way of life, Auguste Rodin offered a new face to sculpture. Taking away the hard outline of traditional production, Rodin approached sculpture in a realistic style.

Edgar Degas - The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer

Edgar Degas was never truly interested in displaying his sculpture publicly.

Marcel Duchamp - The Found Object

The art’s story could not be told if the French artist Marcel Duchamp is not mentioned. As a revolutionary figure, Duchamp is considered as one of the most influential artists. His focus on the idea or a concept above the choice of the material resulted in the original idea of the sculpture as an assemblage object.

Jean Arp - The Organic Sculpture

As one of the most experimental authors of the 20th-centry, Jean Arp is best known for his biomorphic sculpture. Associated with avant-garde movement, especially Dada, and Surrealism, Arp experimented with plaster, stone, and bronze. Due to his wavy line, Arp often referred to his three-dimensional work as an organic sculpture[3].

Jean Dubuffet - The Line and Low Art

Challenging aesthetic borders through experiments with materials and style, Jean Dubuffet was one of the most influential French artists. Both painter and sculptor, Dubuffet’s practice focused on the research into the more authentic and humanistic approach to art making.

What is Gianni Motti's art?

In his art, Gianni Motti critiques what be believes to be the absurdities and flaws of the contemporary news media —often in arresting ways. For one piece, he declared responsibility for the NASA Challenger explosion in 1986; for another, in 1997, he somehow managed to speak on behalf of an absent Indonesian delegate at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. When asked to create a retrospective of his work at Zürich's Migros Museum in 2004, he chose not to display any physical traces of his oeuvre and instead created an empty 200-foot-long corridor where guides orally explained Motti’s unconventional past interventions on society. Last year he had a solo exhibition at the Galerie Perrotin in Paris.

What is Mircea Cantor's work?

Awarded the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2011—an award given to a “French-based artist considered to be at the vanguard of contemporary art practice”—Mircea Cantor often earns comparisons to that master of the readymade for his thought-provoking and absurdist work, such as the Landscape Is Changing, an orchestration of protestors holding up mirrors instead of political placards. Having grown up in Eastern Europe during the Communist Era, the Paris-based artist draws upon the turbulent political environment of his childhood in his diverse multimedia works, positioning himself as an observer of overlapping cultures and societies. As described in The Twenty First Century Art Book, Cantor's “work routinely proposes a world where harmony and understanding arise from the tensions of opposing ideologies.”

What is Amalia Pica's work?

The multitalented Argentine artist Amalia Pica uses simple materials such as lightbulbs, projectors, drinking glasses, and cardboard to create aesthetically captivating work that is deeply concerned with the issues of communication and the importance of being heard. To say her work is layered is an understatement: her installation Venn Diagrams (Under the Spotlight), a well-known piece featured in the New Museum 's "Ungovernables" triennial, consisted of a pink and turquoise circle projected on a blank wall to create a Venn diagram—a reference to the way such charts were banned from school curriculums under the former Argentine dictatorship because of their subversive promotion of collaboration. This summer, Pica is exhibiting her first solo show at France's La Criée Centre d’art Contemporian.

What is Zoe Leonard's work?

Through epic projects like Analogue (1998-2009)—a series of photographs documenting trends, style, and cultures across different continents—and her transformation of a window into a giant camera obscura for the recent Whitney Biennial (for which she won the Bucksbaum Award ), Zoe Leonard continually challenges the way we perceive the world through forms of documentation. Currently the subject of a yearlong installation at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa that runs through late December, her photographs, sculptures, and installations are her honest and plainspoken responses to the world around her.

What is Karla Black's art?

Often working at immense, room-filling scale, the British artist Karla Black undercuts the imposing size of her installations by making them as light and sweet as can be—all cotton-candy pastels, diaphanous drapery, and powders, strewn with cosmetics and other diminutive objects seemingly sourced from her medicine cabinet. Having had a breakout solo debut at David Zwirner in the spring, Black has spent the summer on a tear, exhibiting her work across shows in Milan, Edinburgh, and St. Petersburg, where she is a highlight of the current Manifesta 10.

Who is Tamy Ben Tor?

The Jerusalem-born Tamy Ben-Tor is a shapeshifter of the highest order, adopting elaborate and finely observed cultural personae in her often-satirical films and performances to explore racial stereotypes—while simultaneously poking fun at the self-importance of fine art. Her hilariously frustrating caricatures include a "Middle East expert" who claims evidence of the Holocaust was created on Photoshop and a snobby American conceptual artist. Dubbed the “George Orwell of today’s video art" by the New York Times, Ben-Tor is collected by the Whitney, the Pérez Art Museum (formerly the Miami Art Museum), and other major institutions.

Who is Luisa Lambri?

Describing her photographs of interior spaces as self-portraits, the Italian artist Luisa Lambri gives a unique sense of place—even personality—to the sites she photographs, predominantly Modernist architectural landmarks by the likes of Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Richard Neutra. Her minimalist work, which earned her a Golden Lion at the 1999 Venice Biennale, is included in such prestigious collections as the Guggenheim (which she has photographed) and Rome's Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, and her photographs will be a central part of a group exhibition at Thomas Dane Gallery in London this fall.

Who was the curator of the Museum of Modern Art in 1970?

July 2 – September 20, 1970. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Curator: Kynaston McShine. "Information" was a critical survey, and perhaps the first in America, of conceptual art. McShine, then associate curator in MoMA's painting and sculpture department, framed "Information" as an "international report" on the globalizing and democratizing power ...

Who are the curators of Cities on the Move?

Curators: Hou Hanru and Hans Ulrich Obrist. "Cities on the Move" was a novel and boldly cacophonous portrait of the contemporary Asian metropolis, focused on contemporary art and architecture from East and South Asia.

What is relational aesthetics?

The term "relational aesthetics" was actually used for the first time in the exhibition's catalogue, describing work that is based on a social interaction or experiences between participants; the concept has since become part and parcel of contemporary art discourse.

What was Jean-Hubert Martin's exhibition?

Jean-Hubert Martin's exhibition purported to counteract the colonial ethnocentricity of contemporary art by including an equal number of artworks from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Australia as from the U.S. and Europe in a corrective survey of global artworks. Although the show was intended as a corrective response to previous exhibitions ...

Who painted the Virgin Mary?

It was here that Chris Ofili 's The Holy Virgin Mary set off a virtual war between the Catholic Church and the art world, imbricating New York's judicial system in the process. (Ofili's painting of the Holy Virgin Mary includes balls of elephant dung and cutouts from pornographic magazines .)

Who published the book Relational Aesthetics?

It wasn't until after this exhibition opened that its curator, Nicolas Bourriaud, published the book Relational Aesthetics, which went on to become one of the most influential texts of late-20th century art, but "Traffic" sowed the seeds for Bourriaud's treatise.

Is the art world more globalized than it was in 1989?

The fact that these artists are now as well known as many of their Western counterparts speaks to the fact that the art world is certainly more globalized now than it was in 1989. But there's no question that there is still much work to do.

Who is the most controversial artist?

Damien Hirst is one of the most controversial figures in the art scene today. With his dead animals preserved in formaldehyde artworks selling for as much as £50.000, he is one of the highest-paid artists of his time, and also one of the most heavily criticized.

Who is the artist who smashed a Han dynasty urn?

Ai Weiwei is one of the great provocateurs of our time, whose work heavily criticizes the Chinese government and fights for freedom of expression. Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn depicts the artist as he smashes a 200-year-old ceremonial urn, of significant symbolic and cultural worth.

What is Jackson Pollock's most famous painting?

Perhaps his most famous work is Blue Poles, also known as Number 11, 1952. Pollock’s radical painting style initially shocked people, but was soon appropriated by mass culture, something that became symptomatic for that period in art. Pollock, however, remained critical about the direction and reception of his work.

Why was Picasso removed from the MoMA?

Picasso refused to have it on display in Spain until justice had been restored there, and when it was on display at the MoMa in 1967, artists petitioned for it to be removed as a protest against the Vietnam War. In 2003, a tapestry version of Guernica was covered up at the United Nations.

What are the Guerilla Girls?

The Guerilla Girls are a group of feminist activist artists, who use facts, humor, and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias and corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture in their artworks. In 1989, they designed this billboard for the Public Art Fund (PAF) in New York, aimed to criticize the museum institutions for under-representing female artists and objectifying women. The PAF rejected this piece, deeming it “too provocative.” Instead, the Guerilla Girls rented advertising space on NYC buses and ran the ad themselves.

What was Andy Warhol's most famous painting?

His world-famous 1962 silkscreen painting Campbell’s Soup Cans caused a stir when exhibited in LA – some were intrigued, while many dismissed it and were disdainful. Warhol once said, while reflecting on his career: “I should have just done the Campbell’s Soups and kept on doing them… because everybody only does one painting anyway.”

Why is the Fountain considered an art?

Arguably the most controversial artwork of the 20 th century, Fountain is the quintessential ‘readymade’, an everyday object that is turned into an artwork because the artist decides it is art . In 1917, Duchamp submitted a urinal to the newly established Society of Independent Artists. The Society refused Fountain, arguing that it could not be considered an artwork. Duchamp’s Fountain incited countless important questions such as “what makes something a work of art?”, and “what is the role of art institutions in evaluating and qualifying art?” These are questions that helped form the direction of art from the 20 th century up until this day.

Who is the most famous sculptor of the 20th century?

Gagosian Gallery. One of the most famous sculptors of his generation, Richard Serra. is also one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Combining the action of. Abstract Expressionism.

What is the tilted arc controversy?

Photo via Wikimedia Commons. Approaching Serra’s art according to its relationship to space leads to the most infamous work of his career, and indeed one of the most important debates about public sculpture in 20th-century art history.

What would happen if tilted arc was moved?

If moved from the place it was made for, then Tilted Arc would be nothing more than a hunk of steel , Serra said. As a work conceived as “site-specific,” it would cease to be a work of art at all. (Titles of Serra’s work have often paid homage to pioneering site-specific. earthwork. artists like.

What did Richard Serra do in his splash?

In his “Splash” series, initiated at Castelli Gallery’s warehouse in 1968, Serra threw molten lead at the intersection between wall and floor, where it hardened and was then removed as long, textured sculptures. Richard Serra. Backdoor Pipeline, 2010. Gagosian Gallery.

What was the tilted arc?

General Services Administration for its Art-in-Architecture program, Tilted Arc drew criticism from neighboring government employees as soon as it was installed. By slicing the space of the plaza in half, Tilted Arc served as an obstacle for anyone who wished to traverse it in a straight line.

Where was the tilted arc cut?

Tilted Arc was cut back into three pieces and sent to a storage yard in Brooklyn. Richard Serra. Schunnemunk Fork, 1990-1991. Storm King Art Center. An important episode in the history of public arts patronage, the controversy also helped Serra define his profession.

When did Serra write the transitive verbs?

In 1966-67, Serra penned a list of transitive verbs—a to-do list of sorts—published in The New Avant-Garde: Issues for the Art of the Seventies (1972) by Grégoire Müller. Many of these words describe the dynamics of some of Serra’s most important sculptures.

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