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AP Art History

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Unit 4

4.5 Unit 4 Required Works

4 min read•june 18, 2024

Riya Patel

AP Art History 🖼

34 resources

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Introduction

In later European and American art, some notable movements include:

Romanticism (1750-1850) which emphasized emotion, imagination and the beauty of nature
Realism (1848-1900) which focused on depicting everyday life and the working class in a truthful and objective manner
Impressionism (1860-1890) which sought to capture the fleeting effects of light and color in nature
Post-Impressionism (1880-1910) which built on the ideas of Impressionism, but with more emphasis on structure and form
Fauvism (1905-1910) which marked a departure from traditional ways of representing color
Cubism (1907-1914) which broke down objects into geometric shapes and reassembled them in abstract compositions
Surrealism (1924-1940) which explored the subconscious mind and the power of dreams
Abstract Expressionism (1940-1960) which rejected traditional representation in favor of non-objective forms and the exploration of the artist's inner self
Pop Art (1955-1970) which incorporated elements of popular culture such as advertising and comic books into art.

In the Americas, the art of the United States during this period was heavily influenced by European movements, but also developed its own style and themes. For example, the Hudson River School of painters, active in the mid-19th century, depicted the American landscape in a romantic and idealized manner, while the Ashcan School, active around the turn of the 20th century, focused on urban life and the working class. Additionally, the 20th century saw the rise of the the abstract expressionism, which was led by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning.

Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Miguel Cabrera

Courtesy of Khan Academy

Form:

Enlightenment Piece
Oil on Canvas

Content:

Portrait of a nun
Books (symbolizing education)
Nun = sor
St. Jerome's translation of Bible
Painting of Virgin Mary
Toys with Rosary in Left Hand
Red Curtains (higher status)
Eye contact with viewer

Function:

Conveys the Intellectual and Religious Status
Feminist

Context:

Artist: Miguel Cabrera
1750 CE
Location: Mexico City

The Swing, Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Courtesy of SmartHistory

Form:

Style: Rococo
Themes: Love, pastels, aristocracy, delicate application, arabesques
Oil on Canvas

Content:

Love gardens with sculptures
Attendant swinging = elite

French garden
Cupid whispering
Expensive shoes on feet

Function:

Display aristocracy
Decorate buildings
Shows decadence and pleasures enjoyed by elite

Context:

1767 CE
Artist: Jean-Honore Fragonard
Enlightenment

unction:

Display aristocracy

Context:

Enlightenment Piece
Oil on Canvas

Portrait of a nun
Books (symbolizing education)
Nun = sor
St. Jerome's translation of Bible
Painting of Virgin Mary
Toys with Rosary in Left Hand
Red Curtains (higher status)
Eye contact with viewer

Conveys the Intellectual and Religious Status
Feminist

Artist: Miguel Cabrera
1750 CE
Location: Mexico City

The Starry Night, Vincent van Gogh

Courtesy of The Artist

Form:

Oil on Canvas
Post-Impressionism
Color Expression = inner reality

Content:

Night
Spiritual - pulsing, swirling, spin
Church
Cyprus tree = cemetery

Function:

Night has more color than day
Everything is "alive"
Hope
Request for love

Context:

1889
Artist: Vincent Van Gogh
St. Remy
Painted in Hospital

Still Life in Studio, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre

Courtesy of Khan Academy

Form:

Classical Art
Precise Detail
Photography

Function:

Elevate photography to art

Content:

Long exposure
Movement not recorded
Reversed image
No flash
Plaster casts - angels

Context:

1837 CE
Artist: Louis Jacques Maude Daguerre

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Pablo Picasso

Courtesy of Pablo Picasso

Form:

Proto-Cubism Style

Content:

Incorporation of works from various time periods
Kouros, African masks, Manet's works
5 women directly staring at viewer

Function:

New world of movement in art

Context:

1907 CE
Artist: Pablo Picasso
Street in Barcelona

The Two Fridas (Las dos Fridas), Frida Kahlo

Courtesy of Smart History

Form:

Surrealist
Ex-Voto Tradition
Left = Victorian European
Right = Mexican

Function:

Self portrait
Search for self
Show two heritages - European father/Mexican mother
Blood on lap - abortions and miscarriages

Content:

European Frida on left and Indian/Medican Frida on right
Right: holds small portrait of ex-husband Diego as child
Left: holds hemostat - stop bleeding of heart
Stormy sky- everything going wrong
Heart twined together by veins that are cut by scissors at one end and lead to portrait of husband

Context:

In the midst of divorce with Diego Rivera
1939
Frida Kahlo

The Kiss, Gustav Klimt

Courtesy of Gustav Klimt

Form:

Modern Abstract
Little Detail
Symmetrical
Stone

Function:

Version of The Kiss by Klimt

Content:

Two bodies becoming one
Interlocked
One thing line separating the two

Context:

Artist: Constantin Brancusi

Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park, Diego Rivera

Courtesy of Sotheby's

Form:

Fresco, 50' long, 13' high
Inspired by surrealism
Dream/Nightmare

Function:

Political propaganda and nationalism
Historical narrative
Decoration for a hotel across screet from park
Show how government was in Mexico

Content:

Big urban park in Mexico City
Skeleton in middle - Diego as young boy
Older portrait of Frida
3 periods of Mexican History - Conquest, Porfirio of Diaz dictatorship, revolution of 1910
Historical government figures/revolution

Context: