Throughout the late 1960s and 1970s the pronouncement that painting was dead was often heard. In 1966 Andy Warhol had an exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery that featured hot pink and yellow wallpaper with large images of a cow’s head. It was as though Warhol were saying that the painting was expensive wallpaper. “Andy killed painting,” was the popular conventional wisdom of the day.
But painting did not die, only the limited assumptions of what a painting was, or could be.
Painting, freed of the restraints of a modernist creed, is reborn into an art form that is not only more accessible to the masses but also more multifaceted than it has ever been before. Once more the emergence of new art forms has forced painting to greater heights just as the arrival of photography did more than a century ago.
Table of Contents
Vasari’s and Greenberg’s influence on the “life” and “death” of painting
Painting and the emergence of other forms of artistic expression
The Rejuvenation of Painting
Objectives and Topics
This work examines the historical discourse surrounding the perceived "death" of painting in the late 20th century, analyzing how the medium navigated the challenges posed by new artistic movements and theoretical shifts to achieve a contemporary rejuvenation.
- The historical impact of Vasari and Greenberg on defining the value of painting.
- The rise of alternative media like Conceptual Art, Performance Art, and Video.
- The transition into a "post-medium condition" and its effect on traditional painting.
- The role of new technology and subject matter in the reinvention of the painting process.
- The democratization of art and the shift toward audience-accessible expressions.
Excerpt from the Book
Vasari’s and Greenberg’s influence on the “life” and “death” of painting
Before the Renaissance, painters were regarded as members of the artisan class, and occupied a low rung on the social ladder. Giorgio Vasari’s was one of the first great stories of art that made painting central to Art and the history of Art became, in many ways, the history of painting. Vasari glorified the achievements of the Renaissance painters in accurately representing the physical world. This became the ideal painters aspired to until the invention of photography made this ambition obsolete.
It is believed that in 1839, when the artist Paul Delaroche, saw a Daguerreotype (an early form of a photograph), he said, “From Today Painting is Dead’. But while painting as defined by Vasari was dead, photography laid the ground for modernism by freeing painters from the need to simply copy what was before them. Painting flourished for more than a century after the invention of photography going from strength to strength.
Clement Greenberg constructed a narrative of modernism to replace the narrative of traditional painting defined by Vasari. Flatness, the consciousness of paint and brushstroke, the rectangular shape-all the “nonmimetic” features of paintings-displaced perspective, foreshortening, chiaroscuro as the progress points of a developmental sequence. The shift from “pre-modernist” to modernist art, as per Greenberg, was the shift from mimetic to non-mimetic features of painting.
Summary of Chapters
Vasari’s and Greenberg’s influence on the “life” and “death” of painting: This chapter traces the historical development of painting from the Renaissance ideal to the modernist era, highlighting how photography and the critical theories of Clement Greenberg redefined the medium.
Painting and the emergence of other forms of artistic expression: The text explores how the rise of Pop Art, Conceptual Art, and mass-media technologies challenged the relevance of traditional painting and forced it to adapt to a "post-medium condition."
The Rejuvenation of Painting: This section details how contemporary painters have successfully reinvented the medium through technological integration, new subject matter, and an embrace of diverse, non-traditional approaches.
Keywords
Painting, Modernism, Vasari, Greenberg, Conceptual Art, Post-medium condition, Art History, Photography, Rejuvenation, Neo-Expressionism, Aesthetics, Multimedia, Fine Art, Art Theory, Contemporary Art.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central theme of this work?
The work explores the evolution, perceived decline, and subsequent reinvention of painting as an artistic medium in the face of modern and contemporary challenges.
What are the primary fields of study?
The study primarily focuses on art history, contemporary art theory, the impact of technology on visual media, and the shifting definitions of the artist's role.
What is the research's main objective?
The objective is to demonstrate that painting did not die in the 20th century but rather evolved by shedding restrictive, narrowly defined parameters.
Which scientific or analytical methods are applied?
The author employs a historical-analytical approach, contrasting the narratives of influential critics like Vasari and Greenberg with the realities of artistic practices in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
What topics are discussed in the main body?
The text covers the shift from mimetic to non-mimetic painting, the rise of alternative art forms in the 1960s, and the various ways contemporary artists use technology and narrative to keep painting relevant.
How would you summarize the work with keywords?
The work is defined by the intersection of art history, the "death" and "rebirth" of the painting medium, and the transition toward the contemporary post-medium condition.
How did the invention of photography initially impact painting?
Photography effectively ended the Vasarian ideal of "accurately representing the physical world," which in turn liberated painters from the need to merely copy reality, allowing them to pursue modernist experimentation.
What characterizes the "post-medium condition" mentioned in the text?
It refers to a state where the specific medium (like paint) is no longer the defining aspect of an artwork; instead, the focus shifts to the content, ideas, and the overall dynamics of the work.
How have contemporary artists like Damien Hirst altered the production process?
They have moved away from the traditional model of execution, often positioning the conceptualization as the primary creative act and utilizing assistants or digital tools to realize their final works.
- Citation du texte
- Nandita Mukand (Auteur), 2012, The Evolution Of Contemporary Painting in the Face of Claims of "The Death of Painting", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/295692
