Formalist Art |
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Formalism dominated modern art from the early 1800’s to about 1960. In paintings, such as those pictured on this website, formalist critics would pay close attention to the quality of color, brushwork, form, line, and composition. Little attention is focused on the narrative content or relationship with the visible world. There are differing opinions on formalist art. Clive Bell (1881-1961), an English art critic and one of the most prominent leaders of formalism in art, stated that “to appreciate a work of art we need to bring with us nothing from life, no knowledge of its ideas and affairs, no familiarity with its emotions". Instead, he said in order to enjoy a work of art, one need only to notice the colors and forms, shapes, lines, and contours. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), a well known thinker of modern Europe and late enlightenment, stated that color should hold no importance in the evaluation and appreciation of art. Instead, the lines, forms, and curves should be the main focus. Despite these differences, the main focus of art is the forms themselves, not the content, artist, or history. Maurice Denis, a Post-Impressionist painter and writer on art, summed up the heart of formalist art in 1980 in his published manifesto entitled Definition of Neo-Traditionism whose opening sentence is one of the most widely quoted texts in the history of modern art. He wrote “Remember, that a picture, before it is a picture of a battle horse, a nude woman, or some story, is essentially a flat surface covered in colors arranged in a certain order”. |
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