Abstract
Emerging in an era of rapid technological advancements that resulted in the rise of mass production, Modernist art movements often engage with themes of reproducibility, corporate ownership, and branding. But when depicting company labels or logos, the details are often obscured, cut off, set at an odd angle, or otherwise made unintelligible, which is precisely the opposite of the designers’ intentions. When it comes to marketing endeavors, clarity is key. So what would be the purpose of introducing a logo, only to render it functionally useless? The answer differs by artist and movement, but Impressionists and post-Impressionists like Edouard Manet and Vincent Van Gogh tend to use blurred or cropped brands and labels to create an ambiance of timelessness, reducing the targeted specificity of marketing symbols to an artistic gesture that both complements other aspects of the painting, and maintains a cohesive style. On the other hand, Cubists like Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso frequently make product names at least partially legible, such that they add to the frenetic feeling of the piece and allow for more targeted commentary on both the evolving socio-economic landscape and the prerogative of art to confront modern opportunities and challenges alike. As Impressionism is widely considered the first Modern movement and Cubism debuted later, the differing ways in which they approach branding reflect how the steady crescendo of factory-produced quotidian commodities changed society at a fundamental level, bringing broader economic concerns to bear on domestic and aesthetic spheres.
Presenters
Sylvia OnoratoStudent, PhD, Princeton University, United States Christina Onorato
Student, BFA Visual Communication Design, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Modernism, Impressionism, Cubism, Industry
