During my mini-break in London, I ventured over to the Tate Modern for a little peek at all the wonderful art. I wandered through 4 of the 7 levels viewing artwork that I've seen and studied in various books.
First, I walked through Poetry and Dream: Surrealism and Beyond on the 3rd floor. Some of the artists I viewed included:
-Alberto Giacometi. Walking Woman, (1932-3/1936, cast 1966)
-Christopher Wood. Zebra and Parachute, (1930)
-Joan Miro. A Star Caresses the Breast of a Negress (Painting Poem, 1938)
-Pablo Picasso. Dora Maar Seated, (1938)
-Jackson Pollock. Naked Man with Knife, (1938-40)
-Pablo Picasso. The Three Dancers, (1925)
"The startling violent image of 3 interlocking figures dderived from a lost work of Jose Clemente Orozco showing the sruggle between Cain and Abel." (archetypal myths explored in Jungian psychoanalysis)
-Joan Miro. Woman and Bird in the Moonlight, (1949)
-Jackson Pollack. Birth, (1941)
"He was fascinated by 'primitive' art for its expression of fundamental human fears and ideas"
-Alexander Calder. Mobile, (1932) -Metal, wood, wire and sring
"Calder's subtle balance of form and color resulted in works that sugessted an animated version of paintings by friends such as joan Miro and Marcel Duchamp"
-Edward Burra. The Snack Bar (1930)
"Violence and sexual tension seem to beat play...Burra was an acute observer of the everyday, often exaggerating it into caricature in orderto comment of society"
-Max Ernst. Celebes (1921) headless female nude torso and upright left arm (hand and forearm are red)-associated with both Dada and Surrealism, developing a range of techniques inteded to reinvent culture "...derived from a Sudanese corn-bin transformed i to a sinister mechanical
monster." Ernst often re-used found images, adding or removing elements to create new realities.
-Max Ernst. Dadaville (1924). Painted plaster and cork laid on canvas. The vertical strips of cork represent the Daa city and the painted plaster is the background and sky (left, top and right sides).
-Francis Bacon. Three Figures and Portrit (1975). NOTE: I love Francis Bacon, it's so bizzare!
-Mrowslaw Balka. 480 x 10 x 10. Soap and stainless steel (more like soap on a rope!)
-Franz Kline. Meryon (1960-1). -large-scale absract paintings in black and white
-Jackson Pollock. Smmertime: Number 94 (1948) - 9'(H) x 3'(W) dripped paint, black swirls with red, blue, yellow, green, gray, and purple.
-Mark Rothko. Untitled (1950-52) -primarily yellows, with red, and blue on a vertical canvas
-Monet. Water-Lillies, Nympeas (date: after 1916). I remember this from school books.
-Matisse. The Snail (1953) 5' x 5'. I remember this from collage, and I created a Francis Bacon collage resembling this piece.
-Joan Miro. Message from a Friend (1964)
-Georges Roualt. The Three Judges 91936). I always refered to this painting as the 3 Kings!
-Wassily Kandinsky. Lake Starnberg (1908). "was one of the pioneers of abstract painting which he believed was capable of expressing a higher spritual and emotional reality."
-Alberto Giacometti. Standing Woman (1948-49)
On Floor 5:
-Piet Mondrian. Composition C (No. 111) with Red, Yellow and Blue (1935). "[he} believed that all complex forms could be reduced to a 'plurality of straight lines in rectangular oppoition' and considered that his paintings embodied eternal truths of nature."
-Lazlo Maholy-Nagy. K VII (1922). oil on canvas. "the 'K' in the title stands for construction, and the paintings ordered, geometrical forms are paradigmatic of [his] technocratic Utopianism."
It includes grays, black, yellow with a vertical red line in center of painting.
-Piet Mondrian. Composition B (No. 1) with Red (1935)
-Sol LeWitt. Six Geometric Figures (Wall Drawings) 1980-81. This piece encompassed the entire room; quite interesting.
-Ellsworth Kelly. Red White (1966) -a red distorted B on a while backg. -Frank Stella. Six Mile Bottom (1960), metallic paint on canvas. A geometric painting.
-Donald Judd. Untitled (1980). Steel aluminum and perspex (blue plaster). "Judd's 'stacks' reflect his interest in integrating art with architecture, creating dynamic inerplay between the viewer, the object and the room in which it is displayed." Loks very similar to a piece in hte Detroit Institute of Arts.
-Umberto Boccioni. Unique Forms of Continuing Space (1913, cast 1972). Bronze.
-Roy Lichtenstein. Whaam! (1963)
-Georges Broque. Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a Mantlepience (1911)
-Pablo Picasso. Bowl of Fruit, Violin and Bottle (1914). Cubist painting, table top scene.
-Raymond Duchamp-Villon. Large House (1914, cast 1961).
-Diego Rivera. Still Life (1916). "[He] lived in Paris and painted in Cubist style between 1913 and 1917. His work resembled Jean Gris' style of constructing objects from complex planes."
I really enjoyed myself, because Art is my bag. I love it, especially the abstract and modern styles. One room of interest was the Russian Propaganda Poster Rooms. When I was in there looking around, I thought of a former co-worker who taught WWII and the Russian Revolution at a high school. I bet he would love this stuff!
When I left the Tate Modern, I walked by the South Bank watching all the people go by, as well as the scenery on the northern side of the Thames. It was in the evening and it was nice to see the lights shining on buildings and bridges, and the stars illuminating in the sky. And then it was back to my little cell at King's College dormitory.
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