When did the evolution of western art reach saturation level?

From the Renaissance to the19th century, the evolution of western art has reached a saturated level.

Judging from the development of world art, the general trend of style evolution is always to bring forth the old and bring forth the new, and constantly transform to the opposite. The art of all nationalities and times has developed from the initial creation to perfection and kept pace with the times, but the biggest change in style exists between concrete art and abstract art. The great change of western art in the 20th century is this fundamental change, which has formed the fundamental opposition between abstract art (which can be divided into many schools) and traditional concrete art. In the development of world art, this change from concrete to abstract or from abstract to concrete has also appeared many times, but not once. On the one hand, it may be related to the full development of western modern art in the figurative scope.

From the Renaissance to the19th century, the evolution of western art has reached saturation within the scope of figuration, the conversion of opposing styles has been repeated many times, the space for innovation is getting smaller and smaller, and the performance skills and historical knowledge are unprecedentedly rich, so the pressure and motivation to break the traditional box of figurative art is greater than ever. On the other hand, the great turbulence and impact that western society faced and experienced repeatedly in the 20th century is obviously the background of great changes in art. ..

The capitalist crisis broke out constantly, which eventually led to two world wars, and mankind suffered unprecedented years of bloodshed; The struggle of the working class, the establishment and disintegration of the socialist Soviet Union and the cold war between the two camps have kept the collective psychology of western society in all kinds of rage, pessimism, prejudice and illusory emotions, which are most suitable and can only be reflected and vented in the subjective expression of abstract art.

At the same time, the rapid development of modern science and technology also challenges art. The popularity of photography, the popularization of film and television, the invention of new electronic technology, especially the rapid development of computers, have played a role in recording life and reflecting reality with images to a certain extent and in many ways, forcing artists to step into the subjective and abstract field where technology is still difficult to intervene and compete with scientific and technological images. We can already see this transformation from concrete art to abstract art in impressionism and post-impressionism art at the end of 19. Their slogan is: "In the past, people talked about truth, goodness and beauty, but today we only seek truth." They first pursued the truth of impression, and later developed to explore the abstract truth, so Cezanne and Van Gogh were regarded as the fathers of modern painting.

Cezanne decomposed the body into pieces and was a pioneer of various abstract cubism in the 20th century. Van Gogh, on the other hand, tried to regard painting as a self-subjective expression, which is the origin of all expressionism in the future, such as his Starry Night on the Rhone. Therefore, although the genre of abstract art in the 20th century was as shocking as a flood, it is inevitable from the perspective of style evolution. They are not only easy to understand, but also reflect modern life in an abstract way, reflecting the sincerity of art and the simplicity of style. In a sense, high-tech and fast-paced modern life also needs some abstract art different from traditional art.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the first famous modern school gained a vivid image and an ironic name? Fauvism. It was in 1905 that a new school work became popular in an exhibition attended by many young artists, but there was also a more traditional work imitating the Renaissance style. A malicious critic especially praised this conservative work, thinking that its author is the real artist, and even said that he is the only real artist among a group of wild animals.

Attacking the new artists with a group of wild animals showed the hatred of the conservative camp and official public opinion against the new art at that time, but the name has become popular and the new artists are proud of being wild animals. In a sense, the spirit of Fauvism is also focused on this wild word. They are all keen to continue the exploration initiated by pioneers such as Cezanne and Van Gogh, and pursue bolder and wilder subjective artistic expression. Among the fauvism, their leader Henry? Henri matisse (1869? 1954) was the oldest, only 35 years old at that time. Matisse's art education is still mainly the tradition of classical academic school. He changed his direction under the influence of post-impressionism, but he always thought that what he dreamed of was the balance, purity and clarity of art, so his personal style was actually very quiet. It is a historical misunderstanding to regard him as the leader of the Fauvism.

However, he pursues quietness and purity, but admits that he emphasized a wild word in the exploration of artistic techniques at that time, that is, to achieve Yu Wenjing and a clear mirror through extreme simplicity, which is wild and abstract. For example, one of his paintings in those years, Le bonheur de vivre, still has a classical theme and meaning, but the characters and scenery are simplified to only a few lines and several big colors, which is a big step forward in abstraction than Cezanne and Van Gogh's works.

Interestingly, Matisse's life-long creation has always maintained this characteristic of pursuing quietness and clarity with extreme simplicity. His masterpiece "Dessert: Harmony of Red" is based on the red color of tablecloths and walls, which accounts for a large proportion in the picture. With the blue flower pattern, the whole painting looks like wallpaper and curtain cloth in some oriental style (abstract style for westerners). Although there are two chairs, water bottles, fruits, flower arrangements and a maid with a fruit bowl in the middle, and a corner of the garden can be seen from the window, these concrete images are extremely simplified and have nothing to do with the tables, chairs and characters in traditional western oil paintings.

Here, we can see Matisse's intention and efforts to learn oriental art, and also see the pleasing beauty of his paintings, such as his Blue Window. He has repeatedly stressed that his art is to make people feel happy and comfortable. Matisse's works in his later years have reached the acme of pure tone and concise lines, such as his La short Roumaine, which shows that abstract art not only reflects the inevitability of modern life, but also has its own high aesthetic feeling. George, another famous representative of Fauvism? Luo (,187 1? 1958) is from the other extreme opposite to Matisse's quietness? Wild and rough aspects show wild characteristics.

Luo's "The Head of Jesus" is full of chopped strokes and strong colors. Although you can see the eyes and noses of the characters, everything is shrouded in the chaos of the wind sweeping the leaves. And this fanaticism is very touching, just like the abstract patterns in the catacombs of early Christianity are more powerful than the conventional classical statues on the ground. Luo's masterpiece "The Old King" has the mysterious light and shadow and color effect of the stained glass of the medieval Gothic church.

Interestingly, this kind of stained glass is also a representative of abstract art in the Middle Ages. Luo likes this kind of art, although it is related to his apprenticeship in the workshop of making stained glass in the church when he was young, but more importantly, although this abstract style belongs to the past, it is in the same strain as the new era fashion experienced by artists, just as Matisse respects oriental art and values its abstract spirit. In this painting of the old king, Luo painted him with black hair and big eyes, paying attention to depicting not his later years, but some modern feelings of depression, anger and helplessness.

Therefore, he does not seek shape, but only outlines with thick lines and heavy pen and ink, and expresses his posture with flat and heavy colors. He even deliberately drew the old king's head with his little hand, but drew his arm behind his shoulder, a strict side. Under the huge and rough skull, all he saw was a clumsy chest, a thick black outline rampaging, lacking a sense of rhythm, which seemed to imply the contradiction between the artist's sincere religious thought of saving the world and the ugly reality, thus causing the hesitation of painting with pen and ink. Art of schools like Matisse and Luo, though wild, retains a certain depiction of people and environment, which is not so extreme and abstract, so their paintings are suitable for a wider audience. Artists belonging to this school are also the most, some draw their abstract landscapes with strong colors, and some shape their abstract figures with thick lines, each with its own characteristics and spectacular appearance.