Art

The illusion of creating space on a two-dimensional surface changed drastically in the 20th century.  By looking at three works by painters David, Cezanne and Mondrian, I will discuss this evolution of space.

Oath of Horatii (1784) by French artist Jacques-Louis David is considered on the most important paintings in neo-classical art. A break from the Rococo style art that had preceded this time period, Davids painting shows hard lines and de-emphasized backgrounds.  His use of one-point perspective and triple arches in the background create a shallow space that emphasizes the action happening in the foreground.  The repetition of the three soldiers, as well as the three arches and swords, bring us into the action as if we are viewing a snapshot of the actual event. David also uses color to describe space, by using dull colors in the background and strong repetition of reds for the father and son in the foreground.

Paul Cezannes painting Still life with Basket of Apples (1892), is also considered a transitional use of space for its time period.  Bridging the gap between Impressionism and Cubism, Cezannes painting depicts a skewed space with distorted perspectives.  We see that the plane of the tabletop doesnt match from left to right and the ellipse of the basket seems to tilted toward the viewer, as if viewed and painted from multiple positions.  Cezanne, like David, uses the repetition of color and shape to bring composition together in this flattened picture plane.  Dull colors in the background enhance the subject matter in the foreground.

In Piet Mondrians painting Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow (1921), the picture plane has now been completely flattened.  No longer are lines, as in one-point or two-point perspective, creating an illusion of depth, but are emphasizing the flatness of the canvas.  Thick, black lines separate squares or rectangles of primary colors.  Color is now used purely for composition and balance or imbalance within the painting. These grid-based paintings are an example of pure abstraction.  Unlike Cezanne or David, the space and use of pictorial elements (line, shape, color, etc.) is extremely minimal.

Through examining the works of these three painters we see that as Modern art
 progressed so did the evolution of space within a two-dimensional surface.  This
evolution seemed to progressively flatten the picture plane further and further until it
reached a point of pure abstraction by the early 20th century.