Burton Dickerson, A Blog

John Canaday, now long gone, the old art historian and NY Times art critic, used to present a nifty package of the historical process showing the transition of art from the close of the 19th century into 20th century modernism.
He began with the demise of Impressionism, which had turned painting into colored air, destroying form and structure.
Four main artists: Georges Seutat, Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin, began the process of putting art ” back together again “. The era was called (post) Neo- Impressionism. Cezanne and Seurat were the classicists or formalists. Van Gogh and Gauguin were the Romanticists.
Painters who followed either pair took the path of the classicists leading to ” Geometric Abstraction”. Or they were pursuaded by Van Gogh and Gauguin into the direction of Abstract Expressionism. Van Gogh in particular appealed to the emotional spirit of German Expressionism, which found it’s way into the United States eventually, notably by Hans Hoffman.
If we look more closely at the Cubism of Picasso and Braque, who often painted together and similarly, we see Picasso’s cubism as more outward and explosive and Braques’ as more contained.
Let me recommend ‘Mainstreams of Modern Art by John Canaday– “an oldie but goodie. D
Ps- Canaday lacked the contemporary spirit to carry the story beyond Picasso.

One of my favorite words in the discussion of painting is “content. I think I have a grip on this word but i may have it mixed up with “self”. Content is that ingredient in a painting above and beyond the subject… more than just a landscape, more than just a decorative abstract. It lures the viewer into looking for more. The sin is in the painting that lacks content… lacks a reason for being.