In the previous forum, we addressed the difficult question of "truth" and how we as human beings attempt to determine what truth is. In the next forum, we'll consider how artists deal with this problem -- how they go about trying to depict truth in their art, and perhaps even how they wrestle with the problem of what "truth" in art means.

Over the course of this term, you've encountered many different styles of artistic and literary expression. These styles vary from culture to culture and from one era to the next in the same culture. In spite of these variations, however, it's possible for us to identify certain consistent trends in human creative expression. Two of the strongest trends involve the manner of representation, the way in which the subject of the creative work is presented -- or, to say it another way, how "truth" is presented in the creative work. The two primary approaches to representation can be called the impulse to realism and the impulse to abstraction. Both impulses reach as far back as the beginnings of human culture, and all of the examples in your textbook display one of these impulses or (more likely) some tense mixture of the two. In addition, either of these stylistic approaches are often supplemented with the use of symbolism.

realism -- an approach to representing a subject (either visually or verbally) that, in the mind of the artist, depicts the natural appearance, condition, or characteristic of that subject.

abstraction -- an approach to representing a subject (either visually or verbally) that eliminates some measure of details so that, in the mind of the artist, only the essential characteristics of that subject are retained.

symbolism -- the use of a verbal or visual image to represent, or stand for, something else.
 

Prehistory (Book 1: pp. 1-6)

In the prehistoric period, we see the impulse to realism in the paleolithic cave paintings (pages 2 and 3), which depict a variety of animals in ways that seem highly realistic considering the physical materials available. At the same time, we can also see the use of abstraction in examples like the stone figurines (page 4 and 6) or decorated pottery (page 6).

The Classical period (Greece and Rome) is perhaps the earliest attempt in the Western art tradition to present a systematic way of thinking about creative representation. (See for instance Reading 1.18, p. 109, by Vitruvius). While fidelity to the order of nature was important to the Greeks, and they developed highly refined techniques for representing the details of a visual or literary subject, their tendency to idealism led them to introduce a certain degree of abstraction as well. The Romans on the other hand, perhaps because of their more pragmatic tendencies, produced creative work that more often reveals the realistic impulse than it does the abstract.

The influence of Christianity on the Western art tradition included a much more intensive use of symbolism. While a realistic style can be used as a vehicle for symbolism, realism can often be too subtle for religious purposes. For this reason, the desire to instruct with symbolism is more often accompanied by an abstract style. This tendency to abstraction becomes more and more pronounced throughout the early centuries of Christianity, until it peaks in the late medieval period.

The resurgence of humanism during the late medieval period and the Renaissance brought a renewed interest in realism in the literary and visual arts. (As your book suggests, this renewed interest can also be traced to the increasing influence of the middle class in European society.) As part of this interest in and devotion to the details of the natural world, the Renaissance visual artists developed the most sophisticated techniques of three-dimensional perspective that had ever existed.

The immediate aftermath of the Reformation was a period of highly charged emotions on both sides of the European religious divide -- Catholic and Protestant. This is reflected in much of the visual art of the time. Both mannerist and baroque artists use techniques that heighten the emotional impact of their work and, often, load it with symbolic meaning. This frequently means employing elements of abstraction, although some artists continue to use some of the realistic techniques developed during the Renaissance (Caravaggio, for instance).

After this interlude, however, the scientific revolution of the 17th century produces an atmosphere in which the creative arts once again seek a more realistic style. This culminates in the 18th century with neo-classicism, a renewed interest in the aesthetic style and principles of the classical era.

In literary expression, meanwhile, two contrasting trends can be seen. While the late 17th century and early 18th century witnessed the rise of the essay, the novel, and journalism (realistic trends), the 18th century also gave rise to a sharply developed use of satire, which uses abstraction and caricature to achieve its effect.

In the 19th century, the competing trends that manifested themselves in 18th-century literature could be found in both literature and in the visual arts. Both Romanticism and Realism were important movements in the 19th century, and both can be seen as reactions to the drawbacks of the Industrial Revolution.

[Note:  The use of the capital "R" in Realism is meant to distinguish Realism as a movement in Western art history from realism (small "r") as a stylistic technique. Realism as an artistic movement involved much more than simply the use of realistic techniques. In a similar way, Romantic with a capital "R" refers to an artistic and cultural movement; it means something quite different from romantic (small "r"), and in fact a Romantic work will often contain little or nothing of what is commonly meant by the word "romantic" today. You should try to keep the different meanings of these words distinct as you think about the questions you'll encounter below.]

The Romantics themselves, in fact, were full of conflicting impulses. Their desire to escape the ugliness of industrialization produced an all-consuming interest in the natural world, but that interest took the form of an almost religious fervor. In consequence, their creative work used techniques -- including symbolism -- that allowed them to convey the emotional quality of their approach to nature. (See for instance the poems by Wordsworth or Shelly -- Readings 5.1 and 5.2 -- or the paintings by Turner or Friedrich, pp. 14-15.) This highly emotional charge in their work leads to a kind of idealism, which is also a kind of abstraction. Idealism is also central to the Romantic interest in archetypes and stereotypes (which are definitely abstractions), such as the hero or the tragic lovers.

Meanwhile, some of the Realists were interested in portraying the not-so-pretty consequences of industrialization and imperialism, urging their viewers or their readers to see and acknowedge things from which they had been averting their eyes. This kind of Realism is often called social realism (for instance, the fiction of Charles Dickens, Reading 5.20). Another kind of Realism focused its attention on matter-of-fact depictions of the lives of ordinary people (for instance, the paintings by Courbet, pp. 95-97).

However, just as some of the Romantic artists might use empirical detail to convey a Romantic idea (such as Constable, pp. 12-13), the Realists might use techniques of abstraction to jolt viewers out of their contented ignorance and provoke them to "see" (perhaps for the first time) a flaw in the fabric of their surrounding society (like Manet, for instance, pp. 100 and 102).

As the 19th century began to shade into the 20th, a different sort of mood took hold in the creative consciousness of the West. Many artists became convinced that the "truth" of experience could not really be represented at all: it could only be suggested or hinted at. (See, for instance, the symbolist poets and the impressionist painters.)

This conviction of the unrepresentability of the outside world, or of its "truth," leads Western art down a path of increasing abstraction. The formal language of art -- shapes, lines, colors and the order of their arrangement -- becomes the central concern. We can see this beginning with the experimentation of the postimpressionists. It continues and intensifies with fauvism, futurism, and cubism. At its most extreme, this attitude leads to art that represents only itself, as in suprematism, the De Stijl group, and the non-objective expressionism of Kandinsky and the abstract expressionists.

Modernism is the name given to this general trend in Western art. However, most Modernist art is not as extreme in its inward focus as, for example, the late work of Mondrian. Most artists, being human, can't resist the human impulse to represent the world, or some truth about it, as they perceive it. But a significant portion of the art produced in the first half of the 20th century uses abstraction as a central element (this would include, for instance, German expressionism and surrealism in painting, and the imagist poets and stream-of-consciousness writers in literature). In addition, symbolism becomes extremely important to the expressionists, the metaphysical painters, and the surrealists (both in the visual arts and in literature) and to Modernist literature in general.

After reading the above material, and reviewing the related pages in your textbook, examine the artistic examples provided at the links below. The examples include two paintings and two poems, and they represent two different periods in Western art. One painting (Massacre at Chios, by Eugene Delacroix) and one poem (Annabel Lee, by Edgar Allen Poe) represent the Romantic period. The other painting (Guernica, by Pablo Picasso) and the other poem (anyone lived in a pretty how town, by E. E. Cummings) represent the Modernist period. The two paintings deal with similar subject matters, and the same is true of the two poems.

Compare the style of Delacroix's painting to the Picasso, and the style of Poe's poem to that of Cummings. If it will help, read what the textbook has to say about each of these artists. What characteristics can you identify in each example that make it Romantic or Modernist? How does each example balance the impulses to realism and to abstraction? (Another way of asking this question would be, how does each example mix the use of realistic technique and the use of abstract technique?) For each pair of examples, which one seems to you more effective at expressing its subject matter? Which example seems more appealing to you? (For some people, the answers to the two previous questions might be different, which is why I ask both.) What reasons can you give for your answers? Given these examples, what general comparisons can you make between the Romantic way of representing the world -- or the human experience of it -- and the Modernist methods of representation? What are the strengths of each? The weaknesses of each?

Feel free to support your thoughts with references to the textbook readings if you think it will be helpful.

Examples:  (Use the Back button on your browser to return to this page after examining each work.)

Annabel Lee -- by Edgar Allen Poe

anyone lived in a pretty how town -- by E. E. Cummings 
(Note: Punctuation and word arrangement in this poem are as intended by Cummings.)
 

Massacre at Chios -- by Eugene Delacroix

Guernica -- by Pablo Picasso

 
1) Prepare a response that presents a thoughtful consideration of at least some of the issues raised by the above questions and readings. Write at least one good-sized paragraph (about 150 to 200 words). Your response should be informed by the discussion above and by the material from the textbook readings.

2) Sometime before November 1, go to the WebCT discussion area and select the Topic called Representation. Locate my initial post (called "Romantics and Modernists") and post your response as a Reply before the end of the day on the first due date for the forum (November 1).

3) Return to the Representation forum again after November 1. Read the posts that your classmates submitted in response to this assignment. You should then post at least two follow-up replies to your classmates, either to their original posts or to one of their follow-ups. Your follow-ups should show evidence of not only reading the post that you're responding to, but also giving careful thought to what it says. A valid follow-up to your classmates might provide additional evidence that supports points made in their original post, or it might provide a differing viewpoint or use information in the original post to draw an additional insight. Your first round of follow-ups should be posted before the end of the day on the second due date for the forum (November 8).  (NOTE: If you're reading multiple messages at the same time, make sure you use the Reply button goes with the message you want to reply to...usually, the one that appears immediately above that message, not below.)

4) Then, return again to the forum after November 8 to read my own follow-up post (called "Representation Follow-up"), in which I'll try to draw some conclusions from the first and second rounds of the forum and pose a new set of questions based on what you all had to say up to that point. Then post one reply to my follow-up. (The reply to my follow-up should attempt to address at least one of the new questions that I pose.) Also, post one follow-up to a classmate's reply to this third round. Continue to monitor and participate in the discussion until the concluding date for the forum. All follow-up responses must be posted by the concluding due date (November 15). You should have a total of at least four follow-up responses in addition to your initial posting.

Humanities 1301 -- Calendar

Humanities 1301 -- Introduction

Collin County Community College