Video Review: Week Twelve

The first video I chose for this week’s video review is “Matisse and Picasso”. Of the four videos I watched, this was the one I liked the most. It documents the unique relationship the two artists had, that had never been seen in art history. It describes how they both broke with tradition with their unique styles. Both were discovered by Gertrude Stein. The film discusses the difference between the two; Matisse is deliberate and rational, while Picasso is impulsive. During his life, Matisse travels extensively, while Picasso rarely leaves his studio. And although both liked painting women, Matisse liked models and Picasso rarely had people model for him. Despite their differences the developed a friendship that lasted until Matisse’s death. I thought this was an interesting film and found the relationship between the two men to be fascinating.

The second film I watched was “Dada and Surrealism”. Dada had its roots in Germany following World War I and was a protest against the conditions that led to the war. The film goes on to describe the works of Kurt Schwitters and Hanna Hoch, German artists who worked with collage.  I found the works of both to be disturbing and not very appealing, but considering that their work was inspired by war and political upheaval I suppose that is appropriate.  The film then goes on to explore the works of surrealist artists like Joan Miro, Salvador Dali and Man Ray. Miro painted a series of paintings that parodied 17^th century Dutch paintings called “Dutch Interior I, II and III”. The paintings are abstract representations of the earlier works. The film then explores Salvatore Dalis “The Burning Giraffe”. This is a pretty disturbing painting of a skeletal woman with drawers coming out of her and strange crutches holding up growths coming out of her back. A small burning giraffe is shown in the lower left hand corner, hence the title. I’m not too fond of this film or this weeks movies in general. The topic matter for most of these paintings is centered on war and death and I found them rather depressing.

The third film I chose was “the Mystical North: Spanish Art from the 19^th Century to the Present”. And speaking of depressing, the film starts with the works of Francisco de Goya. After losing his hearing from an illness he focuses his art on mans inhumanity to man. The “Black Paintings” that are shown are inspired by the Spanish civil war and are very disturbing. I found it interesting that he put his painting “Saturn Devouring one of his Children” in his dining room. The film then gets a little lighter with the architecture of Antonio Gaudi. He was the first famous Spanish artist since Goya, nearly fifty years before. Unlike Goya, Gaudi is a devout Catholic and incorporates this in his art. He attempts to build a catholic cathedral, but a lack of funding leaves the project unfinished. The film then discusses the work of Picasso, but that is a topic I have already explored but I did learn that he had done a great deal of religious themed works that he donated to a local museum. The film finishes off with the work of Salvador Dali, again a topic I had already seen in the previous film and finishes off with a look at the Guggenheim museum and how it is possibly a tribute to Picasso. Again, not a very interesting film in my opinion. The art is very disturbing and although I can see the possible appeal to the underlying motivation and messages they are trying to convey, it’s too dark for me.

The last film I watched “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” was much better. It’s a light look at the great painting by French painter Georges Seuret. The film tries to explain the possible meaning of several aspects of the film. The monkey in particular seems to be the biggest mystery. The painting is kept in a Chicago museum and viewers are asked what they like the most and the monkey is the leading answer. The search for meaning within the painting was fun and light hearted a welcome change from the depressing earlier films. I also was amazed that the painting was made with a style Seurat pioneered called Pointillism and that it took him two years to paint it with this painstaking method. If nothing else, I’ve learned this week that I’m not a big fan of Dada or Surrealism or Cubism.