OUGD603 - Research Brief - Extended Practice - Brief Three - Anniversaries - Artists Anniversaries 2018

The brief specifies that we must choose a subject which could be deemed an anniversary from the past, present or future. The brief does not specify any strict guidelines, leaving it very open to interpretation. I have begun by looking at subjects, events, and people that have an anniversary in 2018.

Firstly looking at art based anniversaries to have a clear focus on a creative anniversary, not focussing on just significant design based anniversaries but anniversaries of all creative disciplines. Here are some significant events, people etc. which celebrate anniversaries this year;



- Gustav Klimt - 100 years since Death - 6th of February 1918 (aged 55)
Klint was an Austrian symbolist painter and prominent member of the Vienna Secession movement. The Vienna Secession movement was a formed in Vienna 1897, it was made up of artists sculptors and painters. Klimt's artwork took on various forms such as painting, sketching, murals and more, Klimt was heavily influenced by traditional Japanese art and the techniques of Japanese painting.

Klimt focussed on the female form as the primary subject for his work, producing a vast number of figurative drawings and paintings. Klimt found commercial success during the 'Golden phase', continuing to paint the female form, yet using gold leaf to create textured art nouveau pieces. (Gold leaf is gold beaten down to a very thin sheet, often used in middle age religious art and early Japanese art) In 2013, the Gustav Klimt Foundation was set up by Ursula Ucicky, widow of Klimt's illegitimate son Gustav Ucicky, with a mission to "preserve and disseminate Gustav Klimt's legacy."

Judith and the Head of Holofernes, 1901. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna (Left)

Hope II, 1907–08, Museum of Modern Art, New York City (Right)

Joan Miro - 125 years since birth - 20th April 1893 

Miro was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramist born in Barcelona in 1893, Miro gained international success and recognition for his surrealist style. Miros early paintings use traditional painting techniques with some surreal subtext, but his more widely known work takes on a much more primitive, often childlike style, this change in style Miro credits to a contempt for conventional painting methods as a way of supporting bourgeois society. Miro's style throughout his career was ever changing, this made Miro one of the most diverse artists of the 20th century. His work can be attributed to influence modern designers, including Paul Rand and Lucienne Day. 

The Farm, 1921-1922 (Left)

Summer 'L'été', 1938 (Right)

Koloman Moser - 100 years since death - 18th October 1918 (aged 50)

Moser was an Austrian born artist, of the art nouveau period, a member of the Austrian Secession movement and a co-founder of the Weiner Wekstatte, a production community of visual artists in Vienna, including architects, artists, and designers, the community is regarded as a pioneering movement of modern design. His designs in architecture, furniture, jewelry, graphics, and tapestries helped characterize the work of this era. Moser drew upon classical Greek and Roman art and architecture in reaction to the Baroque decadence of his turn-of-the-century Viennese surroundings. Moser produced 'Die Quelle' ('The Source') in 1901/02, which was a portfolio of elegant graphic design for tapestries, fabric and more. Moser is seen as a huge influence on design, influencing American art deco, Bauhaus and more. 

Fabric design with floral awakening for Backhausen - 1900 (left)

Girl in rose - 1898 (Right)

Egon Schiele - 100 years since death - 31st October 1918 - aged 28 

Schiele was an Austrian painter, seen as one of the most influential figurative painters of the 20th century. Schiele was the protege of fellow Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (mentioned above). Schiele's style shows his interpretation of form, usually through very raw, often sexual self-portraits and portraits in the style of twisted body shapes and expressive line, that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism. Schieles rough use of paint to form textures and depth helped to shape and influence future expressionist artists. 

Self-portrait with black clay pot, 1911 (left)

Pair Embracing - 1917 (right)

Olga Rozanova - 100 years since death - 8th November 1918 (aged 32)

Rozanova was a Russian avant-garde artist, whos styles can be linked to suprematism, Cubo-futurism and Neo-primitivism. Rozanovas art took on many different forms, being heavily influenced by the Italian Futurists, her work has been praised by Filippo Tomasso Marienneti, one of the lead figures of the Futurist movement. Her suprematist styles show Rozanovas understanding of shape and colour with compositions being formed through the organization of weight of shape and colour palette, often using a minimal one. Rozanova is one of the leading artists of the Avant-garde movement in Russia, yet has very few written pieces on her, and is not widely known, though to her contemporaries Rozanova is one of the most influential artists of the Russian Avant-garde.

Suprematism - 1916 (Left)

Portrait of Lady in Pink - 1911/12 (right)

Using this initial information, I shall further look at these and other art and choose a specific topic and route for the project to go down.