MoMA Museum Trip Essay

Cubism is an early-20th-century art movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso. It was used to revolt against society and the first world war. There are two features found in every Cubist artwork. The first is ambiguity between the background and foreground. An object or subject's location in the painting is questionable. The second is that Cubism takes multiple view points of the object or subject and shows those perspectives simultaneously. This is what gives Cubism it's signature look and feel.

PAINTING AND SCULPTURE I, GALLERY 2, FLOOR 5

Here we see Juan's Gris' Jar, Bottle and Glass created in 1911. As with all Cubism artworks we can see the multiple view points of each object simultaneously. We also see a lack of subject matter with the background, which leads us to observe the perspective of space through shading, but which shade is in front or behind which? This is the ambiguity.

Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities during World War I. It is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. The aim was to contradict reality. Artists painted illogical scenes, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself.

PAINTING AND SCULPTURE I, GALLERY 12, FLOOR 5

Here we see René Magritte's The Empire of Light, II. The style of the painting looks very accurate to reality. The street scene is believable however to contrast the sky is bright. The artwork portrays day and night simultaneously, which is where the Surrealism takes place.