In the beginning of the 20th century, art theme in the broad sense can be characterized as revealing a society’s attitude and values and may even define them. A theme is a recurring subject or concern and in the art world, it can be categorized as life, death, love, transcendence, and beauty. During the 20th century, these themes were represented not only in art, but also in artistic, literary, musical, and philosophical endeavors of the 20th century. Many Western artists of the 20th century used these universal themes in their artwork to show their audiences the reasons behind their work. In the 20th century, people did not exactly agree with the changes and many people criticized these art movements. Some of …show more content…
Most of his work helped to excel the creation of modern and contemporary art with unique style. He has painted over 20,000 paintings. In Faun and Starry Night from 1955 was one of Picasso’s paintings, which he returned to the mythological themes explored in the 20th century. Picasso incorporated his life experience into his painting. In the Faun and Starry Night (1955) he was painting about his new love, a young woman named Jacqueline Roque. Jacqueline Roque, later became his second wife in 1961. “Picasso symbolizes himself as a faun, calmly and coolly gazing with mature confidence and wisdom at a nymph who blows her instrument to the stars. The picture embraces his spellbound love for Jacqueline” (Voorhies). This signifies that he expressed love a one of the universal themes of the world’s arts. Even with Picasso’s criticisms from his audience, his work is shown that the Modern Art Museum in New York today, and later years it became the prized part of the art …show more content…
He was also a co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Derain is known for his innovative landscape paintings, which he expressed with bold and unrealistic colors. “In one of his paintings called Bridge over the Riou, Derain wanted to create images that would “belong to all time” as well as to his own period. Though the emotionally high-keyed color—typically unmixed paint directly from the tube—may have been influenced by the intensity of the light and color in the south of France, Derain stated, “It’s very difficult to possess a landscape, but it’s easier to create a harmonious shape . . . creating through those affections one has felt in the physical world” (MoMA). This painting shows the transcendence and beauty from the universal theme. Derain expresses through his works by painting landscapes and