Additional Language Exercises

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 459.

9. Below are some interpretations of different cultural movements. The texts have been gapped for the purpose of exercise. Take the challenge and replace the relevant words in their original places.

I

lifelike height revolt[3]emphasis inspiration dictum[4]analytical solids[5]planes[6]arranged passing

Cubism, a movement in modern art, especially painting, that was primarily concerned with abstract forms rather than lifelike representation. It began in Paris about 1908, reached its height by 1914, and developed further in the 1920s. Cubism was a revolt against the sentimental and realistic traditional painting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and against the emphasis on light and color effects and the lack of form characteristic of impressionism. It drew inspiration from tribal art, especially that of Africa and Oceania.

The doctrines of the cubist school follow the dictum of the French postimpressionist Paul Cezanne, “Everything in nature takes its form from the sphere, the cone, and the cylinder.” The most common type of cubism is an abstract and analytical approach to a subject, in which the artist determines and paints the basic geometric solids of which the subject is composed, in particular the cube or cone, or the basic planes that reveal the underlying geometric forms.

In another type of cubist painting (synthetic cubism), views of an object from different angles, not simultaneously visible in life, are arranged into a unified composition. In neither type of cubism is there any attempt to reproduce in detail the appearance of natural objects. Cubism is important in the history of Western art as a revolutionary, passing style that marked the beginning of abstract and nonobjective art.

II

assertion[7], adhere, nonfigurative, spontaneity, embraced, diverse, tendencies, unified[8], quintessential, saturated, prime

Abstract Expressionism, movement in mid-20th-century painting that was primarily concerned with the spontaneous assertion of the individual through the act of painting. The movement contains a variety of styles and is characterized more by the concepts behind the art than by a specific look. Generally, abstract expressionist art is without recognizable images and does not adhere to the limits of conventional form.

The roots of abstract expressionism are in the totally nonfigurative[9] work of the Russian-born painter Wassily Kandinsky and that of the surrealists, who deliberately used the subconscious and spontaneity[10] in creative activity.

The abstract expressionist movement centered in New York City. Although the styles embraced within abstract expressionism were as diverse as the styles of the painters themselves, two major tendencies were noted in the movement. Action painters were concerned with paint texture and consistency and the gestures of the artist, while color field painters gave their works impact by using unified color and shape. Jackson Pollock was the quintessential action painter. Mark Rothko created pulsating rectangles of saturated color in his works; many of these works are prime examples of color-field painting.