Questioning Traditions
Many artists experiment with materials and techniques to create new forms of art.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo created imaginative “portraits” with the eye of a scientist in the 16th century. Johannes Vermeer studied light effects in timeless scenes set in 17th-century Holland, and Joseph Mallord William Turner pushed the painting of light and atmosphere to the edge of abstraction. A constant innovator, Pablo Picasso explored the expressive powers of color early in his career. The 20th century was filled with artists questioning and expanding the definition of art, from the surrealist vision of Joan Miró to the cubist still lifes of Diego Rivera, collage techniques of Romare Bearden, drip-and-splatter process of Jackson Pollock, and comic-book images of Roy Lichtenstein.
As you look at the different works in this chapter, think about the many ways an artist might be an innovator.
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Studying Nature
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John Constable (6.6MB)
Martin Johnson Heade and John James Audubon (7.2MB)
Claude Monet (14.9MB)
Georgia O'Keeffe (10.9MB)
Andy Goldsworthy (6MB)
Exploring Places
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Rembrandt van Rijn (10MB)
Canaletto and Giovanni Paolo Panini (11MB)
Jasper Francis Cropsey (12MB)
Thomas Moran and George Catlin (11MB)
Henri Matisse and André Derain (11MB)
George Bellows (14MB)
Examining Portraits
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Leonardo da Vinci (11MB)
Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun and Jacques-Louis David (8MB)
Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin (14MB)
Chuck Close (7MB)
Telling Stories
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Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, and Giotto (11MB)
Rogier van der Weyden and Raphael (13MB)
Peter Paul Rubens (9MB)
John Singleton Copley and Claude-Joseph Vernet (8MB)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (9MB)
Jacob Lawrence (8MB)
Observing Everyday Life
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Jan Steen and Hendrick Avercamp (14MB)
Osias Beert the Elder, Willem Claesz Heda, and Jan Davidsz de Heem (15MB)
Édouard Manet (10MB)
Mary Cassatt (11MB)
Winslow Homer (12MB)
Wayne Thiebaud (7MB)
Questioning Traditions
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Giuseppe Arcimboldo (12MB)
Johannes Vermeer (8MB)
Joseph Mallord William Turner (7MB)
Pablo Picasso (11MB)
Joan Miró (14MB)
Diego Rivera (11MB)
Romare Bearden (9MB)
Jackson Pollock (19MB)
Roy Lichtenstein (8MB)