Three works of art in which I believe theory plays a decisive role.
[Oil on canvas]. At https://gulbenkian.pt/museu/en/works_cam/venus-with-spikes-153519/
Three works of art in which theory seems absent.
External theoretical influences have played a decisive role in the first three paintings. Hardie has certainly created a piece of art that has been influenced by feminist theory. She is creating a more realistic, true image of how it feels to be a woman rather than how women are usually viewed/percieved. Miro was heavily influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and his ideas about the conscious/unconscious mind. Miro allowed his unconscious mind to express itself through this painting. Deineka created Socialist Realist paintings that were based upon the social ideals of the Socialist Soviet Union. Often seen as propoganda art, they depicted optimistic views of socialist working life.
The paintings where theory seems absent do not seem to have any direct influence from external theories and appear highly experimental. According to Greenberg, these modernist paintings do not create pictures from theories but rather ‘convert all theoretical possibilities into empirical ones’. (Greenberg, 1995, 92).
Bibliography
https://www.jackson-pollock.org/
https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/joan-miro-the-birth-of-the-world/
Saunders, Gill (1989), ‘The nude, a new perspective.’ The Herbert Press Ltd.
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