An introduction to modern art

This talk will be given by Guy Palmer, tutor of our History of Modern Art course.

The date most commonly identified as marking the birth of ‘modern art’ is 1863, the year that Manet exhibited his painting Le déjeuner sur l’herbe in the Salon des Refusés in Paris. Manet was one of a group of friends who came to be known as the Impressionists, with Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and Degas being the most famous of the other members of the group.

In the 50 or so years following the impressionists, there were all sorts of movements/groups who took modern art in a variety of interesting directions, including a number of ‘post-impressionists’ (Cezanne, van Gogh et al), Fauvism (Matisse, Derain et al), Expressionism (Kirchner, Kandinsky et al) and Cubism (Picasso, Braque et al). Between the two world wars came Dadaism and Surrealism. Then, after the second world war, the USA became the focal point of new artistic movements (Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, etc).

In this talk, Guy will briefly run through all this history, discussing how the styles of the various movements differed, and illustrating with lots of paintings..

Register your interest by email to the Office (office@nillumbiku3a.org.au). You will then be sent the relevant Zoom link to your email address (the one registered with U3A) 24-36 hours before the event.