Not Mad, But Mad in Craft

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DaliLobsterQuadrille

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — "20th Century Modernes," an exhibit of lithographs and etchings in Mullins Library from the private collection of Tim and Connie Kral, celebrates the pioneering spirit of modern masters.

The exhibited works offer visitors to Mullins the rare opportunity to view influential works of originality and distinction. Said Kral, an associate professor of biological sciences at the university, "It is a great pleasure to share what I love with others in the community.”

Avant-garde art movements of the early- to mid-20th century broke conventions and redefined what could be termed art.

The rebellious courses charted by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Salvador Dali shocked and bewildered early viewers.

 The impressionists of the late 19th century were the forerunners to the 20th century avant-garde movements. The impressionists experimented with various techniques expressing individual sensation and the momentary effect of light or movement.  The impressionists are represented in the exhibit with etchings and drypoint renderings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

And then there came Picasso, who along with Georges Braque was responsible for cubism, one of the most radical restructurings of the way that a work of art constructs its meaning. Picasso’s "Girl in Chair" demonstrates the prismatic dissolution of the three-dimensional form characteristic of his work.

Both Dali and Joan Miro were associated with surrealism. The works of Dali show the hallucinatory realism and deep space of the dream world, and the works of Miro illustrate experimentation into the limits of abstraction associated with that movement. In Henri Matisse, the brilliance of color and invented shapes demonstrate the freedom from the constraints of realism seen in the works of the fauvists, titled "rough beasts" by contemporary critics. 

Victor Vasarely’s works of carefully rendered geometric designs create the optical illusions characteristic of the op-art movement. Alexander Calder, a kinetic art pioneer, is also represented. The only American exhibited in this show, Calder is best known for his contribution to modern sculpture in the form of abstract mobiles and colossal stabiles.

All of these artists have in common a desire to create new modes and methods for artistic expression, with results that were initially denounced as aberrant productions of diseased minds. Dali’s response was surrealistic perfection: "The only difference between me and a mad man is that I am not mad."

"20th Century Modernes" will be on display in Mullins Library lobby level through the end of April. For more information call 575-6702 or visit http://libinfo.uark.edu/info/artexhibit.asp .

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CUTLINE: “The Lobster Quadrille” by Salvador Dali, “Blue Nude” by Henri Matisse, “Girl in Chair” by Pablo Picasso and “Baigneuse Debout, a Mi-Jambes” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Used by permission.