erhsnyc.org€¦  · web viewafter world war ii, modern art was sometimes called contemporary art....

AP European History Eleanor Roosevelt High SchoolMr. Spear

Name: _________________________________________ Date: __________________

Activity Guide 1Unit 6: The Age of Imperialism(1871 – 1919)

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1. What adjectives would you use to describe this painting?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

AIM: What is Modern Art?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reading 1All “schools” of art are categorized because they represent a departure from the types of art forms that were popular in previous era. They are often very difficult to define, and Modern Art is probably the most difficult of all the schools with which to attach a strict description. That said, Modern Art was a form that prevailed in Europe during the century between 1860 and 1970. It was most commonly found in painting, but also existed in sculpture and even writing. Modern artists avoided depicting people or objects with accuracy and realism because they believed there was no objective reality. Since artistic representations were inherently subjective, they believed, the artist should express his feelings and worldview in his art more, than he should try to depict objective “reality”. Impressionism and Abstract Art are two branches of the general class of Modern Art. After World War II, Modern Art was sometimes called Contemporary Art. The most famous painters of European Modern Art include Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, George Seurat, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

1. Choose one or two of the artists cited above and list one of their paintings (if you know any).

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2. In what way might you argue that Modern Art was similar to Romantic Art?______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Below each of the following images, list words you would use to describe them. Make a note of who painted them. Besides their time period, why do you think they are considered Modern Art?

Image 1: MunchThe Scream

Image 2: RenoirDance at Moulin de la Galette

Image 3: Gauguin

Riders on the Beach

Image 4: Cezanne

Mount Saint Victoire

Image 5: Seurat

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Image 6: Picasso

Guernica

Image 7: van Gogh

Coal Barges

Image 8: Monet

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