Art Styles / Art Movements / Design Philosophies
Many Art Styles / Art Movements / Design Philosophies have emerged during the last century. Political, cultural and economic upheaval marked the beginning of 20th century. The many Art Styles / Art Movements / Design Philosophies emerged during this period challenged the long-held creative traditions with revolutionary ideas. The individual contributions of artists and designers further fostered the growth of these ideas.
I am interested in understanding these various Art Styles / Art Movements / Design Philosophies as each of them have their own unique characteristics and have greatly contributed to the growth of graphic design and most had significant influence internationally.
Arts and Crafts Movement
Arts and Crafts Movement was an international design movement that originated in England. It flourished between 1880 and 1910, continuing its influence up`to 1930s. This movement was founded by
William Morris(1834-1896)in the 1860s. The writings of
John Ruskin had greatly influenced the formation of this movement. It had started as a search for authentic design and decoration as well as a reaction against the styles that had developed out of machine-production.One of its interests was book production. In 1891, at Morris's Kelmscott Press, the first book was printed. Between then and 1896, more than fifty titles were produced in a variety of formats. These books often had woodcut decorations and borders and were set in typefaces which were made to Morris's own specifications from photographs of fifteenth-century printed letters.
Art Nouveau was a popular artistic movement between 1890 and 1905. The French term means ''new art''. Art Nouveau was practiced in the fields of art, architecture and applied arts. It emerged as a reaction against the late 19th century academic art. It was a response to the radical changes caused by the rapid urban growth and technological advances that followed the Industrial Revolution. Grasset and Mucha were the two pioneers of Art Nouveau. It formed as a reaction to academic art of the 19th century. Use of floral and other plant-inspired motifs, as well as highly stylized, flowing curvilinear forms are its characteristics.
More on Art Nouveau
Bauhaus
The Bauhaus school in Germany is one of the first schools of design. It was founded by
Walter Gropius in 1919. Initially Bauhaus did not emphasize
graphic design in its curriculum. This popular art school boasts a very noticeable portfolio of advertising posters. Under the direction of
Herbert Bayer, a distinct method of lettering and composition emerged. Typography was characterized by large, single case 'sans serif' letters. These were often combined with contemporary photographic images shot at unusual angles. In the later years a whole new system of lettering was developed, in which basic geometric shapes became the building blocks of a new alphabet.
Cubism can be considered as the most radical, influential and innovative art movement of the 20th century. Cubism is complete denial of classical conception of beauty. Cubism was the joint invention of two men, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Cubism abandoned proportions, organic integrity and continuity of life samples and material objects. The Cubist art movement began in Paris around 1907. The Cubists broke from centuries of tradition in their painting by rejecting the single viewpoint. Instead they used an analytical system in which three-dimensional subjects were fragmented and redefined from several different points of view simultaneously.
Futurism
Futurism was inspired by the development of Cubism and went beyond its techniques. Futurism came into being with the appearance of a manifesto published by the poet Filippo Marinetti on the front page of the February 20, 1909, issue of Le Figaro. Futurism was presented as a modernist movement celebrating the technological, future era. Filippo Marinetti, wrote in the first Futurist Manifesto declaring the end of art of the past and the beginning of the art of the future (le Futurisme). He exported his new aesthetic that extolled speed, violence, industrialization, and dynamism from Italy to the rest of Europe through lectures and publication of his Futurist Manifesto.
Constructivism
In revolutionary-minded Russia by 1921 Constructivism, an art form that conformed to the needs of the state, became the accepted means of graphic expression.Leading the Constructivists were husband and wife team Varvara Stepanova (1894-1958) and Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956). They rejected fine arts to create images that served the new worker state. The word 'artist' was replaced with the more productive term 'constructor'.Constructivist advertisements promoted industry or political propaganda. The work was dominated by the color red, the color of the Communist Revolution. The Constructivists were early pioneers of the techniques of photomontage.
