3.6. Modern art

The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do? 

Pablo Picasso

Task 1. Look at a sculpture by Pablo Picasso named Déjeuner sur l'herbe. It is an example of modern art. Does it remind you of anything?

Pablo Picasso. Déjeuner sur l'herbe. Outside of the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

Compare Déjeuner sur l'herbe by Pablo Picasso and Déjeuner sur l'herbe by Édouard Manet to try to explain what modern art implies.

Task 2. Read a small piece of information about modern art to see whether your explanation in Task 1 was correct.

Modern art refers to artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. Thus, the term embraces over 70 art movements ranging from the Romantic movement and the Impressionism to Surrealism and Pop art.

The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of experimentation. Modern artists experimented with new ways of seeing and with fresh ideas about the nature of materials and functions of art. A tendency toward abstraction is characteristic of much modern art (especially of modern art of the 20^th century).

Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Task 3. Look at some more examples of modern art. What do you think of them?

Salvador Dali. Birth of a New World.

Markku Lahdesmaki. Rock paper scissors.

Task 4. Use the words in the box and your own ideas to give your opinion of the pictures above.

beautiful meaningless

intelligent ridiculous

crazy skillful

creative ugly

funny unusual

horrible weird

imaginative fascinating

interesting boring

Task 5. Make sentences about each picture. Join your ideas with some of the connectors in the box.

also	although	moreover	as a result	because	but	so that
however	in addition to this	and	so	therefore	too

e.g. Picture A is imaginative and fascinating, but it's very weird too.

Although picture B is crazy and ridiculous it's also interesting. However, I think it's meaningless.

Task 6. Join the following statements with connectors. More than one answer is possible.

1. A lot of modern art is difficult to understand ... It really makes you think ... The more you study it, the more you appreciate it.

2. This looks like the work of a child ... It is extremely simple ... The idea behind it shows a lot of intelligence.

3. It's boring to look at... It isn't art... It's meaningless.

4. This is very famous ... It is worth millions of dollars ... It must be good.

5. It is fascinating ... It must have taken a long time to make it... It's ugly.

6. The artist is very gifted ... She has been awarded many prizes ... She has become very famous.

Task 7. Choose one of the pictures from Task 3 or find another picture of modern art. Write your opinion in a short paragraph. Link your ideas with some of the connectors in Task 5.

  READING&SPEAKING

3.7. POP ART

An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them. 

Andy Warhol

Task 1. Read the text. Then turn to the tasks that follow.

POP ART

Why Pop Art? The term appeared in Britain in the 1950s and came from the word popular. Pop Artists wanted to produce more popular, less academic art, and also make comments on their society. In fact, Pop Art represented very familiar, common objects like beer bottles, soup tins and comic strips. Typical pictures of the period showed one object repeated many times. This imitated the way that people repeatedly see the same products in publicity on TV or in magazines. This art form was especially popular with young people but in general it had a strong impact on commercial, graphic and fashion design.

So who were the artists of the Pop Art movement and how did they start? They came principally from Great Britain and the USA. In the early 1950s, Robert Rauschenberg began to make collages using domestic objects and Jasper Johns painted a series of pictures of American flags. Then, in 1960, British artist David Hockney produced a painting called Typhoo Tea, which showed a packet of well-known tea. This was one of the first pictures with the name of a commercial product. The same year, in the USA, Jasper Johns produced bronze sculptures of Ballantine beer cans.

Soon, everyday objects became the symbols of Pop Art style. In 1961, Claes Oldenburg produced sculptures of hamburgers and other kinds of fast food, and Roy Lichtenstein painted imaginary details from scenes in comic strips.

Pop Artists were different from previous artists because they didn't make one original picture with a title, but produced large series of paintings, all representing the same object. For example, Andy Warhol produced his famous pictures of Coca-Cola bottles and Campbell's soup tins in large quantities. Warhol didn't only represent well-known consumer products. He was also famous for his series of paintings of legendary contemporary personalities, like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, which he painted using vivid, unnatural colours.

Task 2. Say if the sentences are True (T) or False (F). Correct the false ones.

1. Pop Art showed the things that people in the 50s and 60s bought, read and saw on TV.

2. David Hockney painted a can of beer in 1960.

3. Roy Lichtenstein was a famous comic strip artist.

4. Andy Warhol made a lot of copies of his pictures.

5. Warhol liked to paint realistic pictures of people.

Task 3. Answer the questions.

1. What does the word Pop mean in the term Pop Art?

2. What did Pop Artists paint, in general?

3. Who liked Pop Art?

4. When did Pop Art start and where?

5. Who painted Typhoo Tea and when?

6. Why was it an important picture?

7. How many Pop Artists can you find in the text?

8. Who did Andy Warhol paint?

Task 4. Paraphrase the underlined vocabulary units in the text in the written form. Make up 5 fresh-context sentences with the word combinations you like most.

Task 5. Write a summary of the text “Pop art”.

Task 6. Choose an everyday object or type of food or TV programme and write a short description of it. Say why you think it represents your culture. Remember to use topical vocabulary units.

  WATCHING&SPEAKING