The Revert to Hard Lines in Art

The idea and practice of mosaics has been in effect since ancient greek and roman times. Mosaics were used on ancient walls as art and decor in times prior to plaster, hollowed out walls decorated with paintings and photographs. Over the years however it appeared that mosaics faded into the abyss and were no longer used as decor. In the early 1900's however the idea of art being a compilation of pieces rather than a fluid whole re-emerged. One pioneer of this was Gustav Klimt. His paintings, such as The Kiss, were composed of both oil paints and Gold Leaf. By using multiple materials, Klimt conveys a look similar to early mosaics while still keeping the modern fluidity (which was popular through the Art Nouveau movement around the same time) present. Around the same time as Klimt's works was also Antonio Gaudí's Serpentine Bench which was in fact a bench using actual mosaics. The progression thus, from ancient mosaics to more recent ones is an interesting story. A great way of showing this would be to have some sort of slidshow or fading progression between different time periods and how the fluidity of the work changes based on when it was made. I know from previous art knowledge that in the following hundred years after Gaudi and Klimt's works that modern art got continually less fluid. It is undeniable that these works paved the way for later artists like Picasso. So in our review of art history, making this connection bridges the gap between ancient and current art.

Ancient Mosaic

Picasso's The Guitariste

Klimt's The Kiss