Abstract expressionism. A rebellion in the late 1940s and 1950s against the conventional realist paintings that previously dominated American art; it shifted the art world’s center of gravity from Europe to New York. The artists, most famously Jackson Pollock, freely gave vent to under-the-surface meanings and emotions, typically glorifying the act of painting and giving all parts of their large canvases equal attention. Besides Pollock, the Cantor show includes Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, ’36, and sculptor David Smith.
Conceptual art. Making a major impact in the 1960s, conceptual artists hold that the ‘true’ work of art is not the physical object produced, but the concept or idea behind it. The goal is to provoke the intellect; the movement is a precursor to installation, performance and digital art. Conceptual artists included in Picasso to Thiebaud: Jenny Holzer, David Ireland and Sol LeWitt.
Cubism. Around 1910, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque challenged the idea that art must imitate nature. Instead, they pioneered depicting a subject by rearranging its component parts to show multiple angles simultaneously, and in two dimensions. Albert Gleizes, Juan Gris, Albert Eugene Gallatin and Jacques Lipchitz are represented in the Cantor show.
Funk. One of the meanings of funk is “offensive smell;” funk art originally referred to 1960s San Francisco works portraying distasteful or scatological subjects, often pornographically. The first funk artworks were paintings, but typical media are sculptures or assemblages. Artists included in Picasso to Thiebaud: Robert Arneson, Bruce Conner and George Herms.
Minimalism. A trend in abstract art that had its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s. Plain, industrial materials are used (typically for sculpture) in simple or geometrical arrangements, rejecting the more emotive abstract expressionism. Minimal artists represented in Picasso to Thiebaud include Sol LeWitt and Robert Mangold.
Pop art. A style of painting and sculpture, flourishing from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, based on consumer and popular culture icons such as comic books, advertisements, TV images and everyday household goods. The movement rejected the highbrow and notions of good and bad taste, reaching the public as few modern art movements can. Included in Picasso to Thiebaud: Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Rivers, Andy Warhol.
Purism. A post-World War I rejection of Cubism promoted in France, notably by the architect Le Corbusier. Adherents favored precise, impersonal still lifes, particularly of machine-made items, devoid of expression or emotion. Fernand Léger, best-known among painters in the short-lived movement, is represented in the Cantor show.
Realism. In contemporary usage, realism refers to the straightforward representation of a subject without idealizing it. Magic Realism and Superrealism are styles in which extreme attention to detail creates a quite unrealistic impression. Artists included in Picasso to Thiebaud: William Bailey, David Bates and Alex Katz.
