The Louvre Abu Dhabi – Part 4 Modern Era

The Industrial Revolution, technological advancements, socio-political changes, colonial expansion and later decolonisation paved the way for a wider range of artistic and cultural exchanges. The period saw the invention of photography, cinema, and abstract art.

During the 20th century, artists reflected the changes and uncertainties resulting from two world wars. These factors, alongside the consequences of industrialisation, led to the emergence of new global movements such as Abstraction and Surrealism.

Modern Era from 1850 – Present

The technical advancements of the Industrial Revolution opened new horizons, facilitating the circulation of goods and people, as well as information, images, and artistic movements. This gave 19th century artists many new sources of inspiration.

Van Gogh “Caravans, Gypsy Camp near Arles, 1888”

France, 1888 | Vincent van Gogh (Groot Zundert, 1853-Auvers-sur-Oise, 1890) | Oil on canvas | Musée d’Orsay

“Caravans, Gypsy Camp near Arles” is a painting by Vincent van Gogh, created in 1888 during his time in Arles, France.The painting depicts a scene of wooden caravans, likely belonging to a Romani (Gypsy) camp, situated in the countryside near Arles. It is an oil on canvas work, measuring 45 x 51 cm. ¹

Monet “Charing Cross Bridge, 1899”

United Kingdom, London, 1899 | Claude Monet (Paris, 1840-Giverny, 1926) | Oil on canvas | Private Collection

Claude Monet’s “Charing Cross Bridge, 1899” is part of a series of paintings depicting the Charing Cross Bridge in London, created between 1899 and 1905. Monet painted these from the Savoy Hotel, capturing the bridge and the Houses of Parliament through the city’s famous fog and light effects. The series, numbering around 37 paintings, explores different atmospheric conditions and light qualities, showcasing Monet’s impressionistic style and his interest in capturing the ephemeral nature of light and colour. ²

Braque “Landscape of l’Estaque, 1906-1907”

France, l’Estaque, 1906 – 1907 | Georges Braque (Argenteuil, 1882 – Paris, 1963) | Oil on canvas | Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne/centre de creation industrielle

Braque painted Landscape at L’Estaque on his first trip to this town on the French Mediterranean coast. He and other young artists were drawn to Provence, in southeastern France, because of its clear light and because of their reverence for the art of Paul Cézanne, who worked in and around the area until his death in 1906. Braque drew upon Cézanne’s use of faceted brushwork, distorted perspectives, and color to structure his compositions for this view down a steep, tree-lined road. Using a palette of highly saturated reds, oranges, and yellows, Braque evoked a sense of turbulent heat, despite the shade provided by the trees. Cézanne’s influence continued to exert itself over Braque in other, critical ways: in early 1908, he would join Pablo Picasso in the development of a revolutionary new style based on the formal construction that constitutes the core of Cézanne’s vision. That style would come to be known as Cubism.³

Multiple Modernities

Having made its appearance at the end of the 18th century in England, the Industrial Revolution shaped a new world driven by faith in progress and the benefits of modernity. The development of the railways and steamboat accelerated the movement of people and goods and stimulated interaction between civilisations that, in turn, inspired European artists and spawned movements like Japonisme, Orientalism and the Nabis.

Beginning in 1851, World’s Fairs – held in such cities as Paris, London, New York, Barcelona, Vienna, Milan and Melbourne – celebrated technological innovations and the applied arts, as well as productions from other parts of the globe, while also displaying the power – including colonial – of the nations that organised them. A product of technological progress, photography developed into a medium of major importance. By capturing real images and eliminating distance, it gave viewers the feeling that they were taking possession of the world, reshaped representation and transformed perception.

The Rapture of the Real

In the 20th century, diverging artistic concerns were underpinned by a shared fascination for the art of non-Western cultures. As receptacles of ancestral spirits and founding myths, these powerful objects fascinated artists seeking to unlock the creative potential of the unconscious. While refusing to offer a faithful representation of reality, they nevertheless retained the contours of the figure, provoking questions of distortion which found an echo in Western painting.

A Global Stage

During the 1900s, notions of modernity and progress, spread by the industrial revolution across the planet, were brought into question. Two world wars caused a redistribution of global dynamics as instances of decolonisation challenged a number of certainties.

Technological advancement nevertheless continued at a breath-taking pace, driving globalisation and transforming the world into an inter-connected network centred around major cities like Paris, London, Berlin, Moscow, and New York.

The extensive presence of photography and the evolution of the cinematic image gave birth to a new industry of mass-entertainment. A renewed purpose within artistic circles allowed for the redefinition and transformation of practices, fuelling the confrontational character of modern art.

A succession of art movements, often rooted in different responses to war, repeatedly questioned the limits of the created object, while redefining the meaning of art.

Kandinsky “Yellow-Red-Blue, 1925”

Weimar, mars – mai, 1925 | Vassily Kandinsky (1866, Empire Russe – 1944, France) | Oil on canvas | 128 x 201,5 cm | Centre Pompidou, MNAM

Kandinsky started teaching at the Bauhaus in 1922. It was there he theorized his conception of art in the book Point and Line to Plane, of which Gelb, Rot, Blau might be said to be a visual illustration. Kandinsky’s early, lyrical and spontaneous abstraction gave way in the 1920s to one more geometric and rational. This painting is based on the equilibrium of opposing but contradictory elements. At first glance, there seem to be two contrasting parts, with geometric lines and luminous colours to the left, more complex forms and darker shades to the right. Yet the main emphasis is on the three primary colours, the composition being organised by their succession from left to right.⁴

Picasso “Portrait of a Lady, 1928”

Pablo Picasso, 1928 | Gouache, ink, and collage on paper | Louvre Abu Dhabi

Calder “Untitled, 1934”

New York, United States of America, 1934 | Alexander Calder (1898-1976) | Metal rods, painted wood | 62.9 x 88.9 cm | Louvre Abu Dhabi

Klee “Oriental Bliss, 1938”

Berne, Switzerland, 1938 | Paul Klee (1879-1940) | Oil paint and tempera on paper glued to burlap | H x W: 50 x 66 cm (painting) 83.5 x 99.9 x 8.9 cm (with microclimate frame) | Louvre Abu Dhabi

“Oriental Bliss, 1938” is a painting by Paul Klee, reflecting his fascination with Oriental aesthetics and his exploration of abstract forms. The artwork, created using oil on paper, features a harmonious blend of vibrant colors and intricate patterns, drawing inspiration from Arabic and Chinese sacred texts and Islamic art. It showcases Klee’s ability to fuse Eastern influences with Western artistic techniques, resulting in a unique and captivating visual experience. The painting, found in the collection of the Musée du Louvre, Paris, is a testament to Klee’s mastery of abstraction and his ability to evoke emotion and curiosity through enigmatic symbolism. ⁶

Epilogue – Memories of Signs

Presenting a new thematic every two years, Epilogue brings the visitor’s journey to an end while marking a new beginning – an opportunity to question, reflect, and broaden one’s perspective.

In the history of humanity, the image came first, followed by pictograms and hieroglyphs, which in turn gave birth to writing. A timeless dialogue unfolds between artists who position their works between images (picto) and script (graphy), in search of a hybridization of the two. The result is a unified language of expression, at once spontaneous and controlled, expressive and codified, erratic and deliberate.

The revered practice of calligraphy, a meditative form of expression which has endured across cultures and time, reverberates today by means of rhythmic repetition endowed with a contemplative quality.

American artist Cy Twombly (1928-2011) seems to revel in the variety of looping ribbons that he could create — with each composition layering smudged and smeared handmarks underneath a fully explored lexicon of heavy impasto coils, sharp scratches and breathily sketched spirals. Simultaneously violent and delicate, the lithographs seem to vibrate with their distinct tonal emotions.⁷

Albers, “Homage to the Square”, 1963

USA, 1963 | Josef Albers (1888-1976) | Oil on fibreboard | 45.7 x 45.7 x 3 cm (unframed) | Louvre Abu Dhabi

“Homage to the Square” is a series of paintings and prints by Josef Albers, created between 1949 and 1976. The series is known for its simple yet profound exploration of color interaction through nested, concentric squares. Albers used the series to demonstrate how colours change when placed next to one another, a concept central to his exploration of colour theory.⁸

Soulages, “Outrenoir 1979”

Painting 202x452cm, 29 June 1979 | Diptych | Oil on canvas | Paris, Centre Pompidou – National Museum of Modern Art⁹

Pierre Soulages (1919-2022), a French painter, is known for his unique style of using black paint to create powerful and emotional works of art. Black is ‘no longer black’ since it transmutes the light it receives. It transcends black, creating infinite variations of itself. The paint Soulages applies to his canvas has the texture of soft butter. Brushed, scraped, hatched and divided into slick or ridged territories, his thickly textured paintings play with the contrast between matte surface and reflective patches.¹⁰

Under The Dome

From prehistoric rock art to digital media, these objects offer tangible evidence of a collective human story, where fundamental concerns like writing, painting, ritual, and gesture highlight the permanence of the creative act and the shared struggle to leave a trace.

Footnotes:

1. “The Caravans”; also called “Gypsy Camp” is one of the oldest visual references to wooden caravans. This painting is a memory of the trip that Van Gogh undertook at the end of May 1888 to Arles.
   There was a long tradition of Gypsies living in the surroundings of Arles and in the wild regions of the Camargue, and Van Gogh was attracted by what he perceived as a romantic and exotic lifestyle.
   The composition leaves an empty space in the foreground, filled with flat touches that form a monochromatic mosaic; in the upper half of the canvas the painter has arranged three caravans, around which several figures move. Three horses in freedom complete the group.
   Stylistically, this work corresponds to a moment of transition in which the teaching of Impressionism still lingers, but the new direction of Van Gogh’s painting is already evident.
   Certainly, the social marginalization of the Gypsies attracted Van Gogh, whose empathy for the marginalized was increased in this case by his itinerant lifestyle. There is an analogy drawn between the Gypsy community and Van Gogh’s isolated existence in Arles. A nomadic community in contrast to the static community, such as the city, and Van Gogh’s own exclusion from society. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1385023565440002/posts/1570864373522586/ ↩︎
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charing_Cross_Bridge_(Monet_series)#:~:text=Charing%20Cross%20Bridge%20is%20a,Thyssen%2DBornemisza%20Museum%20in%20Madrid. ↩︎
3. Born into a family of decorative and house painters, Georges Braque once remarked that his decision to become a painter was no more premeditated than his choosing to breathe. After apprenticing in his father’s shop and studying at an art school in his hometown of Le Havre, he went to Paris. In 1905, at the annual Salon d’Automne, he was confronted by the arresting paintings of Henri Matisse and others who had begun to employ vibrant, unmixed colors and energetic, rhythmic brushwork. The unbridled intensity of these works prompted a disapproving critic to call the artists “fauves” (wild beasts). Braque quickly joined the group. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/119521/landscape-at-l-estaque ↩︎
4. https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/ressources/oeuvre/cEpEKE ↩︎
5. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/mobile ↩︎
6. https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/article/nomadic-aesthetics-art-influenced-by-transient-cultures/ ↩︎
7. https://www.phillips.com/article/32820539/twombly-editions ↩︎
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_to_the_Square#:~:text=Homage%20to%20the%20Square%20is,his%20time%20at%20the%20Bauhaus.
   Josef Albers (1888–1976) once said that he had no need of real motion to make a painting move. These three works are emblematic of his work from 1949 to his death. Produced with a palette knife directly on a prepared white panel, they pay homage to colour, the systematic use of the square being simply an expedient to eliminate the formal problem of content so that he could devote himself entirely to the optical effects of colour relations. This technique creates a subtle and sophisticated texture. These three works, which are independent but are founded on the same principles of composition and contrast, present planes that advance and recede, opening and closing the surface with absolute mastery. ↩︎
9. https://mediation.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources/ENS-soulages-ENG/ENS-soulages-EN.html ↩︎
10. It is in the 1940s that Pierre Soulages realised his first abstract paintings with walnut stain, the Brou de Noix series. Rather than a rupture, he argues black represents art history’s continuity, taking us back to adorned cave walls and the beginning of time. With him more than any of his predecessors, our understanding of this colour was transformed and elevated. As a child, he would dip his brush into black ink and, when asked what he was doing, his answer would be ‘snow’. Decades and countless canvases later, his position remains unchanged: ‘I’m really working with the light more than with the paint’.
    
    Soulages has painted primarily in black for more than 70 years, and has not used any other colour since 1979. When painting his first Outrenoir that year, he claimed it was ‘from another country than black, a very rich country’. Black is ‘no longer black’ since it transmutes the light it receives. It transcends black, creating infinite variations of itself. The paint Soulages applies to his canvas has the texture of soft butter. Brushed, scraped, hatched and divided into slick or ridged territories, his thickly textured paintings play with the contrast between matte surface and reflective patches. https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/paint-it-black ↩︎