Jean (Hans) Arp, Squares Arranged According to the Laws of Chance, 1917, cut-and-pasted paper, ink, gouache,
and bronze paint on colored paper, 13 1/8 x 10 1/4 inches (33.2 x 25.9 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY. Arp was a
founding member of the Dada movement in Zürich in 1916. Learn more about the Dadaist Movement.
and bronze paint on colored paper, 13 1/8 x 10 1/4 inches (33.2 x 25.9 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY. Arp was a
founding member of the Dada movement in Zürich in 1916. Learn more about the Dadaist Movement.
| "How did I think up my drawings and my ideas for painting? Well I'd come home to my Paris studio in Rue Blomet at night, I'd go to bed, and sometimes I hadn't any supper. I saw things, and I jotted them down in a notebook. I saw shapes on the ceiling... I throw down the gauntlet to chance. For example, I prepare the ground for a picture by cleaning my brush over the canvas. Spilling a little turpentine can also be helpful." Joan Miró (1893-1983), Spanish painter. |
| "Europe after the rain II" by Max Ernst (c. 1940) Along with other artists and friends (Marcel Duchamp and Marc Chagall) who had fled to New York City from the war in Europe, Max Ernst helped inspire the development of Abstract Expressionism, and probably much of contemporary art as we know it today. |
| André Masson. Automatic Drawing. (1924) Museum of Modern Art, New York. Masson's early works display an interest in cubism. He later became associated with surrealism, and he was one of the most enthusiastic employers of automatic drawing, making a number of automatic works in pen and ink. Masson would often force himself to work under strict conditions, for example, after long periods of time without food or sleep, or under the influence of drugs. He believed forcing himself into a reduced state of consciousness would help his art be free from rational control, and hence get closer to the workings of his subconscious mind. |
Pollock denied "the accident"; he usually had an idea of how he wanted a particular piece
to appear. It was about the movement of his body, over which he had control, mixed with
the viscous flow of paint, the force of gravity, and the way paint was absorbed into the
canvas. The mix of the uncontrollable and the controllable. Flinging, dripping, pouring,
spattering, he would energetically move around the canvas, almost as if in a dance, and
would not stop until he saw what he wanted to see. Studies by Taylor, Micolich and Jonas
have explored the nature of Pollock's technique and have determined that some of these
works display the properties of mathematical fractals; and that the works become more
fractal-like chronologically through Pollock's career. They even go on to speculate that on
some level, Pollock may have been aware of the nature of chaotic motion, and was
attempting to form what he perceived as a perfect representation of mathematical chaos -
more than ten years before Chaos Theory itself was discovered.
to appear. It was about the movement of his body, over which he had control, mixed with
the viscous flow of paint, the force of gravity, and the way paint was absorbed into the
canvas. The mix of the uncontrollable and the controllable. Flinging, dripping, pouring,
spattering, he would energetically move around the canvas, almost as if in a dance, and
would not stop until he saw what he wanted to see. Studies by Taylor, Micolich and Jonas
have explored the nature of Pollock's technique and have determined that some of these
works display the properties of mathematical fractals; and that the works become more
fractal-like chronologically through Pollock's career. They even go on to speculate that on
some level, Pollock may have been aware of the nature of chaotic motion, and was
attempting to form what he perceived as a perfect representation of mathematical chaos -
more than ten years before Chaos Theory itself was discovered.
Sur - re - al - ism (n.) -(often l.c.) a style of art and literature developed principally in
the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery
arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected
juxtapositions, etc.
Read the manifesto by Robert Duchamp and other essays about the Surrealist
Movement at surrealist.com by clicking the painting by Salvadore Dali at left.
the 20th century, stressing the subconscious or nonrational significance of imagery
arrived at by automatism or the exploitation of chance effects, unexpected
juxtapositions, etc.
Read the manifesto by Robert Duchamp and other essays about the Surrealist
Movement at surrealist.com by clicking the painting by Salvadore Dali at left.
Found image, found material, or found object - An image, material, or object, not originally
intended as a work of art, that is obtained, selected, and exhibited by an artist, often
without being altered in any way. The cubists, dadaists, and surrealists originated the use
of found images / materials / objects. Although it can be either a natural or manufactured
image / material / object, the term readymade refers only to those which were
manufactured. Also known in the French, objet trouvé.
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper,
1913, collage and pen and ink on blue paper
| These image are in the public domain because under United States copyright law, originality of expression is necessary for copyright protection, and a mere photograph of an out-of-copyright two-dimensional work may not be protected under American copyright law. The official position of AleatoricArt.com is that all reproductions of public domain works should be considered to be in the public domain regardless of their country of origin. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| believed that revolutionary art called for revolutionary techniques and materials and considered the paintbrush "an implement of hair and wood techniques the artist explored as part of the Siqueiros Experimental Workshop he founded in New York in 1936. He airbrushed paint across the top third of the panel and used stencils to depict the vast army of (lower right) and Chichimec Indians leaping to their deaths to avoid subjugation (left). The swirling vortexes are pools of fast-drying commercial lacquer typically used on cars. A member of the workshop later recalled that they applied this paint "in thin glazes or built it up into thick gobs. We poured it, dripped it, splattered it, and hurled it at the picture surface." Siqueiros's radical experiments proved influential for Abstract Expressionist artist Jackson Pollock, in particular, who was a member of the Workshop. MoMA.com |
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Random Quotes...
The artist Protegenes, becoming frustrated with his efforts to paint a dog foaming at the mouth, "finally fell into a rage with his art . . . and
Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79), Roman scholar and naturalist.
"The artist Wong Mo excelled in splattering ink to paint landscapes. . . . There was a good deal of wildness in him, and he loved wine. Whenever he wished to
paint a hanging scroll, he would first drink, then after he was drunk he would splatter ink. Laughing or singing, he would kick at it with his feet or rub it with his
hands. . . . According to the forms and appearances, he would make mountains and rocks, clouds and water."
Anonymous Chinese writer in a ninth century treatise on painting.
"If you wish to acquire good style for mountains, and to have them look natural, get some large stones, rugged, and not cleaned up; and copy them from
nature, applying the lights and the darks as your system requires."
Cennino Cennini, an early 15th century follower of Giotto, in his treatise on painting.
"Look at walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones. If you are about to invent some scenes, you will be able to see in it a
resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, with valleys and various groups of hills."
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519), Italian Renaissance artist. Treatise on Painting.
"Accidents, try to change them -- it's impossible. The accidental reveals man."
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish artist. Quoted in: Vogue (New York, Nov. 1, 1956).
There is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end"
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), American painter.
"All painting is an accident. But it's also not an accident, because one must select what part of the accident one chooses to preserve."
Francis Bacon (1909-1992), English painter.
"I have meant what I have done. Or: I have often meant what I have done. Or: I have sometimes meant what I have done. Or: I have tried to mean what I was
doing."
Jasper Johns (1930-), American painter.
"Among other things, I shall not scruple to discover a new method of assisting the invention; which though trifling in appearance, may yet be of considerable
service in opening the mind and putting it upon the scent of new thoughts, and it is this: if you look at some old wall covered with dirt, or the odd appearance of
some streaked stones, you may discover several things like landscapes, battles, clouds, uncommon attitude, draperies, etc. Out of this confused mass of
objects the mind will be furnished with abundance of designs and subjects, perfectly new."
A quote from Leonardo da Vinci
Random Quotes...
The artist Protegenes, becoming frustrated with his efforts to paint a dog foaming at the mouth, "finally fell into a rage with his art . . . and
Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79), Roman scholar and naturalist.
"The artist Wong Mo excelled in splattering ink to paint landscapes. . . . There was a good deal of wildness in him, and he loved wine. Whenever he wished to
paint a hanging scroll, he would first drink, then after he was drunk he would splatter ink. Laughing or singing, he would kick at it with his feet or rub it with his
hands. . . . According to the forms and appearances, he would make mountains and rocks, clouds and water."
Anonymous Chinese writer in a ninth century treatise on painting.
"If you wish to acquire good style for mountains, and to have them look natural, get some large stones, rugged, and not cleaned up; and copy them from
nature, applying the lights and the darks as your system requires."
Cennino Cennini, an early 15th century follower of Giotto, in his treatise on painting.
"Look at walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones. If you are about to invent some scenes, you will be able to see in it a
resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, with valleys and various groups of hills."
Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519), Italian Renaissance artist. Treatise on Painting.
"Accidents, try to change them -- it's impossible. The accidental reveals man."
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish artist. Quoted in: Vogue (New York, Nov. 1, 1956).
There is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end"
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), American painter.
"All painting is an accident. But it's also not an accident, because one must select what part of the accident one chooses to preserve."
Francis Bacon (1909-1992), English painter.
"I have meant what I have done. Or: I have often meant what I have done. Or: I have sometimes meant what I have done. Or: I have tried to mean what I was
doing."
Jasper Johns (1930-), American painter.
"Among other things, I shall not scruple to discover a new method of assisting the invention; which though trifling in appearance, may yet be of considerable
service in opening the mind and putting it upon the scent of new thoughts, and it is this: if you look at some old wall covered with dirt, or the odd appearance of
some streaked stones, you may discover several things like landscapes, battles, clouds, uncommon attitude, draperies, etc. Out of this confused mass of
objects the mind will be furnished with abundance of designs and subjects, perfectly new."
A quote from Leonardo da Vinci