Philip Guston

I did not realize that we had another week of class, so I thought it would be best to do one more blog entry on an expressionist that I've found intriguing since my assigned trip to the Denver Art Museum.



Philip Guston is notable for his cartoonish sketches of various objects. Born Phillip Goldstein in 1913, he grew up to break away from the Abstract Expressionist movement to help start the Neo-Expressionism. He went to the Los Angeles Manual Arts High School at the same time Jackson Pollock was enrolled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Guston

http://walkingollie.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/philip_guston_1971_lg.jpg

http://arttattler.com/images/Europe/Austria/Vienna/Albertina/Philip%20Guston/04.gif

http://www.arcadja.com/artmagazine/en/wp-content/gallery/081031-high-conte/02-phillip-guston.jpg

What interests me about Guston is that his work is simple, somewhat confusing and rather comical. Many of his figures seem to be simply imagined, and imagination is an important aspect of any work of art. In terms of imagery, he's no Da Vinci. But he doesn't have to be, because that's not really what art's about. Art is about creation, inspiration, and Guston's ideas serve well to the movement of Expressionism.

Final Post

For this last post I will compare and contrast all of the artists that I have studied in this blog.

Egon Schiele was controversial for his erotic depictions, similar to how Leni Riefenstahl was controversial for the propaganda in some of her films. Many of the artists had some connection to the Nazi regime, even Gottfried Helnwein, who did "Epiphany I (Adoration of the Magi)". Some artists, like Riefenstahl, respected the Nazis, while others, like George Grosz, hated them more than anything. Then there were those, like Helnwein, who had the philosophy that while many viewed them as evil, others saw them as heroes. It all depends on perspective.

But what draws all these artists together is how they all fell into the category of expressionism. Otto Dix and George Grosz both drew bizarre caricatures and had similar views on the German war. Gottfried Helnwein also expressed with disturbing images and Daniel Richter showed a similar attitude with his own eerie style. There was Leni Riefenstahl who gave her views and experiences through film and photography. Then there was Egon Schiele who expressed his troubled life and childlike curiosity. Joseph Beuys made many eccentric pieces, primarily sculptures, and Neo Rauch expressed his feelings of the crossing between timelines and dimensions with surreal narratives.

They each had their own specific styles, which set them all as different. Each artist is defined by their work...

http://www.mess.net/galleria/dix/1922beauty.jpg

http://www.puzdro.pl/obrazki/54.jpg

http://ishallchangered.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/egon-schiele-nu-assis-1910.jpg

http://contemporaryartsem.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/daniel-richter-jawohl.jpg

http://scrapbook.citizen-citizen.com/photos/uncategorized/josephbeuys_2.jpg

http://www.helnwein.com/stc/ghpicts/gh1729.jpg

http://www.abcgallery.com/G/grosz/grosz10.JPG

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2tiCSnSNbyurfRO8fN2Jaki6BtRlYR5OALMExNfAHzrAIKh1LYK9rUNbjfpLvzb9qca9BkKB68oTxmXnYuGDBqJw8C7SoBGeT5GY0J6aIHPQCi9HTC_fgmXGoIYuxyltD9x95NEGCsw/s400/leni-riefenstahl3.jpg

All in all, they are all brilliant artists each in their own unique ways. Their work sets each other apart as well as unites them as one. Expressionism is an art form that goes deep into the soul, that delves into the human condition, into our very characters. And in the end, it sets a fine definition for the world of art.