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CAVALRYMAN AND SADDLED HORSE Qin dynasty, ca. 210 BCE. Earthenware, height of cavalryman 5′9″ (1.76 m). Warrior Pit 2, tomb complex of Qin Shihuangdi, Lintong, Shaanxi province; Shaanxi Provincial Museum

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People make art because they want to seek spiritual protection even after they die. The piece Cavalryman and saddled horse is located in the a Chinese emperor's tomb. Near the emperor's tomb complex, there are pits that contain over thousands of terracotta warriors like the one in the art piece. The emperor hired artists to create soldiers for his tomb. The terracotta warriors, including the art piece I chose, that were created are meant to be individualized pieces of art. ach terracotta created was replicated to each individual person used for the emperor because he wanted to be protected by the me in his army even in the afterlife. The artwork is a result of an emperor who wanted to be protected in the afterlife. The reason that the artistic style of the piece is so naturalistic is because the emperor wanted the soldiers to resemble the real-life soldiers he had.

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Haniwa Figure of Falconer, Kofun period, 6th century. Terra-cotta, height (75.8cm). Yamato Bunkakan, Nara. 

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The terra-cotta of Haniwa Figure of Falconer main function was to drain water from the rain so that when the emperor was buried the stone objects would be buried with them and continue on into the afterlife. Also the Haniwa figures were faced outward towards the realm of the living to protect the tomb of which it was placed at.

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Abstract art refers to the art that the artistic image deviates greatly from or completely abandons the appearance of natural objects. Abstract art completely excludes the identifiability of realistic images, but purely appeals to artistic language and means themselves.

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What is Abstract Art? — Abstract Art Explained (Part 1)

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Both Christo and Jean Claude spent decades proposing and constructing conceptual work that was also a physical statement. An enormous project that was accomplished through their collaborative work is Running Fence 1972-76. The work made a white line through the landscape; it was made of poles and steel cable, white cloth hung from the cable. The piece stretched for 24.5 miles through Marin County, California. The scale of the work was as monumental as any human project could be. The installation was temporary.

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The work of Maya Lin in her design of the Viet Nam Veteran's Memorial 1981 for the national site in Washington DC, was ground breaking. She chose polished black granite rather than the more usual white marble or bronze. The wall reflects the faces of

the people who visit the wall as they look at the names, binding them to their lost friends or family or giving them a moment to think about how their actions or beliefs might contribute to war and its ultimate price of human lives.

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Earth art, also known as "landscape art" and "earthwork", is a visual art form with artistic integrity created by artists taking nature as the creative medium and organically combining art with nature

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Summary of Earth Art

Earth art, also referred to as Land art or Earthworks, is largely an American movement that uses the natural landscape to create site-specific structures, art forms, and sculptures. The movement was an outgrowth of Conceptualism and Minimalism: the beginnings of the environmental movement and the rampant commoditization of American art in the late 1960s influenced ideas and works that were, to varying degrees, divorced from the art market. In addition to the monumentality and simplicity of Minimalist objects, the artists were drawn to the humble everyday materials of Arte Povera and the participatory "social sculptures" of Joseph Beuys that stressed performance and creativity in any environment.

Key Ideas & Accomplishments

The favored materials for Earthworks were those that could be extracted directly from nature, such as stones, water, gravel, and soil. Influenced by prehistoric artworks such as Stonehenge, Earth artists left their structures exposed to the elements. The resulting ephemerality and eventual disintegration of the works put them outside of the mainstream where works of art were typically coddled and protected in controlled environments.

Earth artists often utilized materials that were available at the site on which their works were constructed and placed, honoring the specificity of the site. Locales were commonly chosen for particular reasons. Robert Smithson, for example, picked damaged sites for his works in order to suggest renewal and rebirth. This idea of site-specificity was something introduced to the art world by Earth art, again placing the artists at the vanguard because their pieces often required wide, open spaces, meaning that many of their works were not available to the average viewer and thus questioned the very purpose of art as something to be viewed.

The rejection of traditional gallery and museum spaces defined Earth art practice. By creating their works outside of these institutions, Earth artists rebuffed the commodity status these venues conferred on art, again challenging traditional definitions of art as something to be bought and sold for profit.

Overview of Earth Art

"In my Land art dealing with astronomical phenomena, I am putting 'centers of the universe' wherever I go," Nancy Holt said. Her Sun Tunnels in the desert of Utah were meant, she said, "to make people conscious of the cyclical time of the universe."

Artworks and Artists of Earth Art

A Line Made By Walking

Artist: Richard Long

Made while Richard Long was a student in London, A Line Made By Walking documents a work he created as he walked back and forth across the same path in Wiltshire. Here, Long emphasizes the experiential factor of nature through the act of walking and the temporal factor involved in artistic practice, while also having an impact on the land. The subject matter is the interaction of the journey, marking the ground, and making a simple adjustment to the landscape. With its simple, geometric shape and minimal intervention on the site, the work is also reminiscent of - and perhaps influential to - later Minimalist works such as Richard Serra's To Encircle Base Plate Hexagram, Right Plates Inverted (1970). Like most Earthworks, the piece is site specific and ephemeral. The photographs document the work's temporary existence, but do not solely constitute the work itself. While the photographs simply mark the performance of the work, the documentation process was sometimes important to artists working in Earth art, as it was often the only way to evidence the creation of the work. The work was groundbreaking in its utter simplicity and ephemerality as it would have been invisible within hours or days as nature would have taken its course, thus also making the piece useless as a commodity object.

Documentation of performance

Double Negative

Artist: Michael Heizer

In 1969, with financial assistance from Virginia Dwan, Michael Heizer began this massive work that cut 240,000 tons of rhyolite and sandstone from cliffs to create two trenches on the eastern edges of the Mormon Mesa, northwest of Overton, Nevada. As few could visit the site after the work's completion, Heizer documented the production of the work in photographs and exhibited them at the Dwan Gallery in New York. With Double Negative, Heizer enacts a heroic gesture by removing earth from its site, forcing a contemplation of the manmade processes that constitute the artwork and the natural, physical elements that exist outside of it. He places Double Negative directly in the context of art history and architecture, touching upon megalithic ancient monuments as well as modern feats of engineering in the industrial age. Although the work required a great deal of labor, it consists of negative space; it is basically a 1,500-foot-long canyon into which a viewer would enter to be surrounded on three sides by 50-foot walls of earth. Its site-specificity and remoteness are typical of Earth art, as few viewers would be able to visit it. Its presence in the open air of the desert also means that it is subject to the environment and will eventually disintegrate. Connecting the work to Minimalism is its simplicity of design, the importance of the kinesthetic response of the viewer to its meaning, and its monumental size that was meant to overwhelm the spectator, which, much like Ronald Bladen's X (1967-68), makes them feel their smallness within the immensity of nature (and the work of art).

Two trenches dug out in the Mormon Mesa

Spiral Jetty

Artist: Robert Smithson

Realized in April 1970, Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty is one of the most recognizable works from the Earth art movement. Smithson constructed a 1,500-foot-long and fifteen-foot-wide spiral made of stones, algae, and other organic materials (6,000 tons in all) in the northeastern part of Utah's Great Salt Lake. The Ace Gallery of Vancouver and Dwan financed an earth-moving company to create the spiral out of basalt rock and earth from the surrounding area. In 1972, when the water level rose, the work became submerged. Thirty years later, as the lake's water levels changed, Spiral Jetty became visible again, revealing the basalt rock crusted over with white salt. The work was inspired by the Pre-Columbian structure Serpent Mound, which Smithson had seen on a site visit in Ohio. Spiral Jetty and Smithson's body of work as a whole were typical of Earth art in their protest against the commodification of the art market since it was impossible to buy or sell the work. The physical mutability and even invisibility of the work resulting from natural processes, such as water currents and erosion, were essential to its meaning. As a work of art that was not only remote, but also at times impossible to view because of the forces of nature, Spiral Jetty is one of the best examples of Earth art and also underscores the movement's roots in Conceptualism.

Basalt rock, limestone, earth, and algae configured in a spiral off the shore of the Great Salt Lake

Sun Tunnels

Artist: Nancy Holt

Positioning four gigantic concrete hollow cylinders, each measuring nine feet in diameter, Nancy Holt arranged her tunnels at precise geographical points to correspond with the sunrise and sunset during the summer and winter solstices, much like Stonehenge. Fascinated by astronomy, Holt punctured the cylinders with holes of differing sizes to create shadows of select constellations. Like some other Earth artists, Holt had a significant interest in science and ecology, actively informed by her undergraduate work at Tufts University. Sun Tunnels closely examines the physical qualities of perception, marking accurate positions of the sun on the horizon and allowing light to filter through the starry holes according to the position of available light. Holt created preparatory light works on paper, which captured the play of sunlight in two- and three-dimensional models. Her research-based practice and interest in remote locales connected Holt not only to other artists working in this mode, but also to the Conceptual interest in the intersection of art and ideas. The work is not meant to disintegrate as the majority of Earthworks, but it draws attention to the details of nature in a site-specific and remote locale.

Four 18 foot concrete cylinders

The Lightning Field

Artist: Walter de Maria

This work consists of 400 poles that are each set 220 feet apart in a grid format. The height of the piece varies from 15 to 26 feet depending on the level of the land. While the highly polished poles are meant to visually mark the undulations of the landscape, their primary function is to attract lightning, especially during lightning storm season in late summer when lightning strikes the rods and illuminates the installation. De Maria's use of a precise grid format is drawn from Minimalism, but the viewer's experience will depend on a number of environmental factors outside of the artist's control. For example, the work's visual impact is based on fluctuations in weather and the change of seasons; the piece would lose much of its attraction at times of the year when lightning is infrequent. As with most Earthworks, the site is remote and viewing is made more difficult by the requirement for viewers to stay overnight at cabins on site; no children are allowed. Much like Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels, De Maria's work pairs fleeting moments of nature with the heroic materials of manmade industry.

400 stainless steel poles arranged in a grid measuring 1 x 1 km

Wheatfield

Artist: Agnes Denes

Denes and her assistants cleared the Battery Park landfill and planted nearly two acres of golden wheat. The planting cycle was completed between May and August of that year, and the process involved establishing an irrigation system, weeding, fertilizing, and protecting the wheat from mildew. After much tending, one thousand pounds of wheat was eventually harvested and traveled around the world in the exhibition "The International Art Show for the End of World Hunger," which highlighted larger issues of human struggle inherent in agriculture and land use as well as the uncomplicated pleasures of nature.

Two acres of wheat planted in the Battery Park landfill

Pebbles, broken and scraped white with another stone

Artist: Andy Goldsworthy

Like his fellow countryman, Richard Long, Andy Goldsworthy seeks to establish a temporal relationship in his work. Goldsworthy manipulates nature, reworking organic materials such as stone, branches, flora, water, and snow to create fleeting impressions in a natural setting. The seemingly "final" work is recorded through documentation, but the process and the eventual disintegration of the work inform its status as well. The title of this work, Pebbles, broken and scraped white with another stone, dutifully explains the process by which the work was created, the materials that were used, and the physical properties of the work. Although Goldsworthy has documented an artwork, the work will eventually erode and lose its status as art through the passage of time. As with the work of all Earth artists, Goldsworthy's work questions the relationship that humans have with history, time, landscape, and natural processes.

Beginnings of Earth Art

Extending Minimalist and Conceptual Ideas

The late 1960s and 1970s was one of the most experimental periods in the history of Western art with many concurrent movements and artists working simultaneously in more than one style, making it sometimes difficult to definitively attach stylistic labels to works from the period. The ethos of Earth art, for example, shared certain characteristics with Minimalism, including its concerns with how objects occupied their space; the interaction of humans with works of art; and, especially, simplicity of form. However, although the adoption of the pared down Minimalist aesthetic was often central to Earth art, the artists were typically hands-on with the documentation and process of production, at times even including a performative element; these characteristics aligned Earth artists more with Post-Minimalist tendencies such as process art, installation art, and performance Art. Earthworks, largely existing outdoors and made of natural elements, were also subject to the natural degradation and erosion that would occur with time, which was antithetical to Minimalism's more industrial and urban aesthetic, making it one of the most unique elements of the Earth art movement.

Like Conceptual art, Earth art was not just about the beauty and aesthetic pleasure offered by the artwork. Almost all Earthworks stressed the rejection of commodity status and mainstream exhibition venues, focusing instead on ephemerality. So while the majority of Earth art was visually stunning, at its core, the pieces were imbued with these concepts.

The 1960s and Virginia Dwan

Earth artists were typically products of the Vietnam era, many of whom had been drafted to fight in the war and were college educated through the G.I. Bill. Most, like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer, began their careers as painters. Smithson's first paintings evolved from figurative abstractions to geometrical canvases, and then eventually to sculpture. In 1966, Smithson began showing with the influential gallerist Virginia Dwan, who would shape the Earth art movement significantly.

At the same time, Smithson began working as a consultant for a New York City engineering firm, a position that inspired him to plan what he called "Aerial Art" for the Dallas Fort Worth airport. Aerial Art comprised monumental works to be constructed between airport runways that were meant to be viewed from above during takeoff and landing. As an art form, Aerial Art never came to fruition, but Smithson and his colleagues, such as Carl Andre, Nancy Holt, Robert Morris, and Michael Heizer, were inspired by the idea to explore various unexploited territories in nearby New Jersey and in various western states that provided large, open spaces.

Dwan, who was the heiress to the Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company (3M) and had studied art, often accompanied artists to far-flung sites and provided generous patronage and support to produce Earth art projects that would have foundered with no funding. In 1968, Dwan exhibited a show entitled Earth Works at her gallery space in New York City, publicly identifying a group of pioneering artists. Some of the artists in the show were having a difficult time finding available land for their site-specific projects, so Earth Works exhibited the documentation of these projects by artists such as Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, Claes Oldenburg, Dennis Oppenheim, and Stephen Kaltenbach. The show cataloged the conception of their work through maps, photographs, transparencies, and drawings. There is some irony in the fact that while these artists tried to eschew traditional institutions, they were often required to accept funding from them in order to further their projects. In addition, the remoteness of certain sites, many of which could only be viewed from private aircraft, meant that the movement was sometimes accused of elitism.

Institutional Exhibitions and Global Ambitions

In February of 1969, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University became the first American museum to show an exhibit of Earth art, entitled simply, Earth Art. The works were displayed both at the museum and throughout the grounds of Cornell's campus in Ithaca, thus providing an institutional setting for works that would continue to question the commodity status of art, particularly those works placed on the campus which served to blur boundaries between the object and its context. Curated by Willoughby Sharp, an independent scholar and cofounder of the avant-garde art magazine Avalanche, Earth Art exhibited new works created onsite by American artists such as Robert Smithson, Robert Morris, Michael Heizer, Walter de Maria, and Dennis Oppenheim. International artists such as British artist Richard Long and German artist Hans Haacke were also included. The 1970s would usher in a new decade of extremely ambitious projects in far-flung American locales, further expanding the American contribution to Earth art.

Earth Art: Concepts, Styles, and Trends

Site-specificity and Environmentalism

Smithson delineated the concepts of "Site" and "Nonsite" to designate theoretical differences in the physical context of work produced. "Nonsite" was termed as an "indoor earthwork" and indicated a piece that could be exhibited in a gallery setting, displacing natural materials from their original sites with accompanying drawings or photographs. "Site" referred to those works created outside the gallery infrastructure in site-specific locales with materials taken from that location. Smithson's iteration of these new frameworks along with the activist mentality of the late 1960s underscored the interest of some Earth artists in socially engaged art that explored humans' relationship with the land (soon evolving into the related, but independent Environmental Art movement). For many artists, this was a conscious movement away from Greenbergian modernism that instead stressed art's lack of connection to the mundane world.

Decay

Earth artists were influenced by prehistoric and ancient monuments such as Stonehenge and Native American burial mounds that were monumental in size and scale. Heizer experienced these prehistoric sites firsthand as a child, visiting various excavations with his father, who was an archaeologist. The prehistoric monuments, by means of their continued existence incorporated the passage of time through natural decay and erosion. The entropy of the materials, which were both manmade and organic, was integral to Earthworks. The pieces created outdoors by the likes of Smithson and Heizer were naturally subjected to the depredations of the elements so that decay and disintegration were part of their meaning; preservation was understood as a conceit.

Invasive and Non-invasive

Earthworks are sometimes divided into those works that make great changes to the landscape and those that do not. Works in the former category generally require earth-moving equipment to make massive alterations to a site, such as Robert Heizer's Double Negative (1969-70). Those works that are non-invasive and are seen as more respectful to the land include Richard Long's A Line Made by Walking (1967), along with pieces by Andy Goldsworthy and Alan Sonfist.

Later Developments - After Earth Art

During the mid-1970s, the recession impacted the funding of Earth art dramatically. Many artists were dependent on patrons to purchase expensive tracts of land to complete large-scale work. In addition to the economic slump, Robert Smithson's sudden death in 1973 while surveying possible sites in Texas changed the momentum of the movement. Those who established their names through Earth art, such as De Maria, Heizer, Morris, and Andre, took their careers in other directions, reorienting their production to accommodate institutional and gallery spaces. De Maria's New York Earth Room (1977) was executed in 1977 and several international iterations were created. Heizer would also create gallery-appropriate works, reconfiguring notions of site-specificity to adapt to art world institutions. Along with other postwar Conceptual artists, Earth artists ushered in a new period of art that favored installations over discrete objects, challenging the expectations of artistic production.

The tenets of Conceptualism became dominant in the art world during this period, as many movements began to share ideas and encourage artists working in multiple institutional frameworks. Post-Minimalist movements such as Process art were strongly connected to Earth art, and many artists working between the movements would shift towards the gallery model as the economy weakened and cheap alternative spaces became available in urban locales. Conceptual art also ushered in an era of performance that translated well in gallery settings and, like Earth art, challenged traditional notions of art as a commodity because of its transitory nature. Organic materials were sometimes utilized within the gallery space, and an emphasis on the ephemeral was understood through site-specific and temporary installations.

Useful Resources on Earth Art

The books and articles below constitute a bibliography of the sources used in the writing of this page. These also suggest some accessible resources for further research, especially ones that can be found and purchased via the internet.

Similar Art

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Earth art, or Land artists, expanded their art ideas beyond the rampant commodification of gallery spaces.

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The Serpent Mound in Ohio is an earthwork made in the 11 Century. The aerial photograph shows the contemporary path that surrounds the mounded earth. Artifacts have been found in and by such mounds. It is speculated that these mounds were built by the earliest people in the continental United States.

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Another sample of human manipulation of the landscape is the earth drawings on the Nazca Plain in Peru. One of several discovered earth drawing is called Hummingbird from 200 BCE. Some of these drawings are larger than 750 feet. The Hummingbird drawing was created by the removal of the red stone and dirt that covers the area. The earth below the red layer is a lighter color.

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Landscape painting is a painting with the theme of natural landscape, village and city. Landscape, fields, trees, flowers and buildings are the main contents.

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Landscapes are a genre of art that captures scenic views. Explore how we define landscapes, their history, and importance in the art world.

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Frederic Edwin Church
1857
oil on canvas
101.6 cm × 229.9 cm (40.0 in × 90.5 in)
Corcoran Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Frederick Edwin Church’s Niagara depicts that the water roils and bubbles just before it drops, thunderously over the edge of the land. There are far distant clouds and a rainbow or “sun dog” to the left of the painting. The clouds to the right are silhouetted and dark, they look heavy like solid matter rather than gaseous.

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Dong Qichang 
China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Hanging scroll, ink on paper
Painting: 225 x 67.6 cm (88 9/16 x 26 5/8 in.)

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Dong Qichang’s Qingbian Mountain 1617 shows the tree at the bottom of the painting can seem to support the entire land mass. Though the mountaintop in the distance has the same weight of line and value as the information lower down the painting, the mist or fog cuts through the painting of the lines so that we are given the illusion of distance.

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Portrait is an artistic genre that depicts specific characters or people, and conveys individual resemblance by depicting certain images.

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Portraiture painting has been a popular form of artistic expression for centuries, and its development has paralleled each era's shifting views, beliefs, and cultural conventions. Portrait painting has long been a vehicle for artists to capture the likeness, personality, and position of their subjects, from early Greek and Roman sculptures through the Renaissance masterpieces of the 14th and 15th centuries.

Ancient civilizations created portraits of their kings, gods, and ancestors through sculptures and paintings. In the past, rulers and nobles would hire artists to create portraits and statues that depicted them in a favorable way. They wanted to showcase their power and other positive traits, which often meant the artist would remove any flaws or imperfections. This state-sponsored portraiture was essentially propaganda as it was used to influence public perception of the ruler.

In Ancient Greece, portraits in the shape of busts, statues, and reliefs were used to honor the gods and memorialize notable individuals. Portraiture was frequently employed in ancient Rome to honor military leaders, politicians, and other notable persons.

Emperors used portraiture to show their loyalty to the imperial dynasty and to link themselves to their predecessors. They also commissioned portraits to commemorate significant moments in their reign, such as their coronation or the birth of an heir. By capturing their image in art, rulers could emphasize their power and authority. It was also a way to show their wealth and influence, as only the wealthy could afford elaborate portraits.

During the Renaissance period, artists prioritized the study of anatomy, the human form, and facial emotions, resulting in the creation of lifelike and accurate portrayals of the human form. Numerous portraits created by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael remain on exhibit in museums and art galleries across the globe.

Definition of Portrait Art

Portrait art refers to a visual representation of an individual or group, typically focusing on the face and capturing the subject's likeness, personality, and essence. This art form can be created using various mediums such as painting, drawing, photography, or sculpture. Throughout history, portrait art has evolved in style, technique, and purpose, serving as a means of documentation, commemoration, or expression of an individual's social status, personal identity, or emotional state.

The use of chiaroscuro, the method of mixing light and shade to create dimension and depth in a painting, was one of the defining characteristics of the Baroque period. This allowed artists to portray their topics in a more natural and lifelike manner. The introduction of oil painting during the Renaissance allowed artists to produce portraits with greater detail and a wider spectrum of colors.

The portraiture of the Baroque period of the 17th century continued the naturalism and realism of the Renaissance, but with a greater emphasis on drama and grandeur. This era's artists, such as Caravaggio, Rubens, and Velazquez, produced portraits that were larger in scale, more detailed, and more emotional. In their paintings, they frequently employed dramatic lighting and arresting figures to give a sense of movement and vitality.
Related Link: Top Resources for San Diego Artists
The 18th century gave birth to a new portraiture style known as Rococo, which was marked by its use of light and whimsical motifs. Portraits by artists such as Boucher and Watteau were frequently whimsical and romantic, depicting their subjects in cheerful and carefree positions. This style was a stark contrast to the grandeur and drama of the Baroque period and a reflection of the era's shifting societal views and values.

Artists began using new techniques and materials to make more lifelike and accurate portraits of their subjects with the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Artists such as James McNeill Whistler, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir began to produce portraits in a more impressionistic manner as a result of the development of photography, which enabled them to make more lifelike portraits than ever before.

Thanks to photography, artists were no longer bound to capture absolute realism in their portraits and landscapes, as the camera could now achieve this. As a result, modern art veered away from realism and paved the way for movements like expressionism.

Contemporary and abstract portrait styles emerged in the 20th century, with artists like Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and Vincent van Gogh creating more expressionistic and unconventional portraits reflecting inner emotions. Abstract expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, further deviated from traditional portraiture, experimenting with non-representational elements. Consequently, modern portraiture evolved to capture not only the physical likeness but also the emotional and psychological aspects of the subject.

The advent of abstract expressionism in the 1940s had a significant impact on this new portraiture style. Pollock and Willem de Kooning were renowned for their gestural brushwork and expressive use of color, which they employed to create portraits that were loose and free-flowing as opposed to rigidly controlled.
Related Link: Custom portraiture for people and pets
They employed paint in an organic, almost automatic manner, allowing the materials to determine the form of the image rather than adhering to a predetermined notion of how the portrait should appear. Some of their famous artworks are the Greyed Rainbow by Pollock and the Excavation by Willem de Kooning.

Notable Portraiture Artists

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso, one of the 20th century's most important artists, was a master of numerous forms, including portraiture. Picasso's early portraits were realistic, but as he advanced in his career, they grew increasingly abstract and stylized. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), one of his most renowned works, is considered the first cubist painting and depicts five women in an abstract style. Picasso's portraits continue to inspire and challenge contemporary painters.

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo is well-known for her self-portraits, which depict her physical anguish, mental challenges, and cultural identity. The photographs of Kahlo are renowned for their intense look and use of brilliant, daring hues. She frequently incorporated Mexican themes and motifs into her works, imbuing them with personal significance. Kahlo's portraits are a monument to her perseverance, fortitude, and artistic vision, making her one of the 20th century's most renowned portrait artists.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn is universally recognized as one of the greatest portrait artists in history. Portraits by Rembrandt are notable for their psychological depth and lifelike approach. He skillfully captured the spirit of his subjects, capturing their unique personalities, emotions, and personal experiences. His portraits are both timeless and modern, and artists, art historians, and art enthusiasts continue to study and adore them. Whether they are self-portraits, portraits of friends, family, or historical people, Rembrandt's portraits are evidence of his brilliance and enduring influence on the art world.

Understanding Portraiture Art
Related Link: How to Choose the Perfect Pedestal for Your Sculpture
Portraiture continues to expand and evolve in the present day, with artists experimenting with new techniques and styles to create distinctive and captivating portraits. Portraiture is a dynamic and ever-evolving art form that continues to captivate and inspire artists and audiences, from photo realistic to abstract works.

Sparks Gallery is committed to exhibiting the finest diversity of art. Whether you prefer classic, realistic portraits or more abstract pieces, you will find something to appreciate in our gallery. Why not visit us today and witness the rich history and variety of art for yourself?

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Portrait Art: History of Portraiture Painting and Styles | Sparks Gallery

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Gain a comprehensive understanding of portrait art, including its history, styles, and techniques. Discover the contributions of the great portrait painters to the world of art.

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Leonardo da Vinci
c. 1503–1506, perhaps continuing until c. 1517
Oil on poplar panel
Lisa del Giocondo
77 cm × 53 cm (30 in × 21 in)

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Mona Lisa’s famous portrait with its enigmatic smile is one of the Renaissance inventor and painter, Leonardo da Vinci's most famous works. The portrait has a mysterious sense about it partly because the face and hands have been painted with more detail and form than the landscape or even the clothed body of the woman. Leonardo was able to create deep space by varying the way different areas were painted. The face is extremely dimensional with the use of chiaroscuro.

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Woman I, (1950–2), oil, enamel and charcoal on canvas, 192.7 x 147.3 cm (75 x 58 in), The Museum of Modern Art, New York Artwork by Willem de Kooning

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Willem de Kooning’s paintings in his Woman Series are powerful, strong, and disturbing images of women. The heads or faces have been painted, scraped and repainted to create ferocious expression. Bared teeth and the wild eyes can make the viewer uncomfortable.