NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 1 of 15
Assessment Schedule – 2011
Art History: Examine the context of an art movement (90495)
Evidence Statement
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The context of a specific art
movement is described and
evidence of the context in
selected art works is described.
Relationships between the
context of the movement and the
selected art works are explained.
The significance of context for the
art movement is evaluated.
Addresses the specific requirements
of the question
Uses appropriate art historical
terminology to describe two
appropriate aspects of the context
specified in the selected question
Selects appropriate art works and
describes evidence of the specified
context in the selected art works
Refers to appropriate aspects of the
selected artworks when
demonstrating evidence of the
selected context.
As for Achievement, plus:
Goes beyond simple descriptions of
the specified context to explain
relevant relationships between the
selected art works and that context
Demonstrates knowledge and
understanding of the specified
context by making relevant
connections between that context
and the selected art works.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
Addresses the requirements of the
question with relevant responses
supported by a range of contextual
evidence.
Demonstrates an informed and
comprehensive understanding of the
selected context
Uses appropriate evidence drawn
from other artists, art works and texts
to support points made in an
evaluative discussion
Evaluates the significance of the
specified context in relation to other
relevant aspects of the specified artist,
art works, art movement
Demonstrates a comprehensive
knowledge of the specified area of
study by using relevant information to
support a pertinent evaluative
discussion
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 2 of 15
Question One: Fourteenth-Century Italian Painting
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
circumstances surrounding the
decoration of an appropriate family
chapel, eg:
The Arena Chapel was a family
chapel that stood beside the
Scrovegni Family palazzo. It was
begun by Enrico Scrovegni in 1302
and it is thought that it was intended
to atone for the way in which the
family fortune had been made –
Enrico’s father, Reginaldo, had been
a usurer. The chapel was dedicated to
the Virgin of Charity and Enrico asked
Giotto to decorate it with scenes from
the life of the Virgin Mary and Jesus
to highlight the Christian belief in the
redemption of humanity.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in two
named scenes, eg:
In the Last Judgement scene, at the
western end of the chapel, Enrico
Scrovegni is depicted presenting a
model of the chapel to the Virgin
Mary. This is evidence of his role as
the commissioner of the work.
Usury is the subject of one scene in
the chapel – the Payment of Judas. In
this scene the black devil behind
Judas shows how evil usury is.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the
circumstances surrounding
decoration of the chapel and the
selected scenes, eg:
Enrico Scrovegni inherited his wealth
from his father. This wealth enabled
him to build his palazzo and the Arena
Chapel. By Enrico’s lifetime, the
family’s business interests were
legitimate and Enrico wanted to
establish himself as a respectable
member of society. The Last
Judgement depicts the human fate
after death, when Jesus will decide
whether the dead person should go to
heaven or hell. The image of Enrico
holding a model of the chapel shows
that he is hoping that by building the
chapel he will have gained favour
from the Virgin Mary.
Similar meaning is conveyed in The
Payment of Judas where usury is
linked to the Devil.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which the decoration of
private chapels had a significant
impact on the development of
fourteenth-century Italian art, eg:
The decoration of private chapels had
a major impact on the development of
fourteenth-century Italian art. During
this century the Dominican and
Franciscan monastic orders had
become major church builders.
Although their own funds and
Commune donations paid for the
construction of the churches, the
costs of fresco decoration were major.
This led to the practice of selling
chapel space to private families who
were encouraged to decorate them
and use them for family purposes. As
Paoletti and Radke state, “The size of
such a chapel and its proximity to the
altar indicated the prominence of the
family who owned it and established
in a clearly propagandist manner its
position of honour within the religious,
social, and economic fabric of the
city”.
This practice led to rivalry between
families who competed for the famous
artists of the period, such as Giotto,
and encouraged them to produce
works that were stylish and
fashionable. Giotto’s interests in
spatial naturalism and narrative
painting are apparent in the Arena,
Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels. The
complex space seen in The Apparition
of St Francis in the Bardi Chapel
demonstrates the developments in
Giotto’s work that took place after the
Arena Chapel. The importance of
private chapels continued after the
time of Giotto and we can see
evidence of this in the innovative
lighting in Gaddi’s Annunciation to the
Shepherds, one of the works he did in
the Baroncelli Chapel in the 1330s.
This dramatic and eye-catching scene
clearly demonstrates what Paoletti
and Radke describe as “a fairly
consistent stylistic development over
the course of some twenty years”,
which was encouraged by the
popularity for private chapels in this
period.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 3 of 15
Question Two: Fifteenth-century Italian Painting
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
military events or circumstances
related to two appropriate
paintings.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in two
appropriate paintings related to
military events or circumstances,
eg:
Uccello’s The Battle of San
Romano, 1454, depicts an actual
battle fought between Florence and
Siena in 1432. This is captured
dramatically by Uccello, as seen in
the upright lances, rearing horses
and the running figures in the
background.
Piero’s The Battle of Constantine
and Maxentius, 1452–57 depicts a
religious battle that is both a part of
the Golden Legend used by Piero in
the Arezzo Chapel and an actual
event. In The Golden Legend, or
Legend of the True Cross, the
Emperor Constantine battles against
his rival, the Emperor Maxentius.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the military
events or circumstances and the
selected paintings, eg:
The Battle of San Romano is clearly
set in the local region where the
battle took place, with the San
Romano hills rising up in the
background. Both the subject and
style would have suited Uccello’s
sense of drama and his interest in
Albertian perspective, with anomalies
in perspective adding to the sense of
disorder and combat in the painting.
Piero has emphasised the
contemporary relevance of the
religious narrative of The Battle of
Constantine and Maxentius by
placing it in a familiar local
landscape. The battle lines are
divided by the Arno river, symbolic of
the Tiber, with no physical combat
taking place. Constantine holds the
cross in a victorious pose on the left
of the composition while the
opposing soldiers run away on the
right.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which depictions of
military events or circumstances
reflected contemporary social
and/or religious concerns, eg:
Commissioned by Cosimo de Medici,
The Battle of San Romano
commemorates the victorious
Florentines. This contemporary event
clearly enhances the idea of civic
pride and victory, seen in the central
figure of Niccolo de Tolentino on the
rearing white horse, who leads the
charge, and the knight who lies
wounded along an orthogonal line in
the foreground.
The Battle of Constantine and
Maxentius is one of two battle
scenes in The Legend of the True
Cross, cycle of frescoes in San
Francesco in Arezzo. The depiction
of a religious battle was appropriate
to the religious narrative of The
Legend of the True Cross and the
religious purpose in promoting the
power of Christian faith. In The
Dream of Constantine, another
scene in the cycle, an angel appears
to Constantine in a dream and
declares “In this sign you shall
conquer.” Piero clearly shows this
power by placing Constantine in the
middle of the battle holding a small
cross, the source of victory.
During the fifteenth century, artists
moved away from a narrow focus on
religious themes, to include secular
subjects in their art. The growing
popularity of secular subjects
reflected the importance of the
military in many of Italy’s city states.
This is also reflected in the many
portraits of city leaders in armour,
such as Federigo da Montefeltro in
the Brera Altarpiece, where the suit
of armour clearly indicates
Federigo’s role as the protective
defender of his people.
Military engineering and the making
of armour were important Italian
industries which provided
employment for many artists like
Leonardo da Vinci who designed
fortifications for Milan and Donatello
and Uccello who produced works for
the Florentine armourer’s guild which
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 4 of 15
displayed their products in dramatic
action sculptures and paintings of St
George and the Dragon.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 5 of 15
Question Three: Italian Renaissance Sculpture
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
aspects of the contexts of two
appropriate sculptures by
Michelangelo
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of those contexts in two
appropriate sculptures by
Michelangelo, eg:
David, 1501–04, is an early
sculpture by Michelangelo based on
the Biblical story of David defeating
the Philistine giant. Intended for
public display in the centre of
Florence, the sculpture was intended
to be a symbol of the strength of
Florence.
The Deposition (Pieta), 1546–55, is
a late sculpture by Michelangelo
depicting the moment when Jesus is
lowered from the cross after his
crucifixion. It was carved in
Michelangelo’s old age and intended
for his own tomb. The process could
not have been easy and at one point
he attacked the piece, claiming the
piece was too hard and the stone
wouldn’t obey him (Hartt).
As for Achievement, plus:
A plausible explanation has been
given for the relationships
between each sculpture and its
contexts, eg:
This commission and placement of
David coincided with Florence’s
quest to become a strong republic.
The large scale figure, at about 4
metres high, is muscular and noble –
an image of civic pride and
protection of the state.
The Deposition is a more personal
depiction of this Biblical event. In it
Michelangelo’s own sense of spiritual
struggle is expressed and can be
seen in the way Michelangelo has
included his own self-portrait in the
figure of Joseph of Arimathea.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which these contexts
had a significant impact on the
treatment of the figures in each in
each sculpture, eg:
David was originally commissioned
by the Opera de Duomo and placed
in the Palazzo della Signoria in
Florence in full public view. As well
as being a part of a Biblical narrative,
there are associations with classical
heroes of super-strength such as
Hercules. This image is created
through the influence of antiquity,
seen in the contrapposto pose,
idealised form of the figure,
monumental scale, and noble
qualities embodied.
The figure of Christ in The
Deposition is still muscular but the
form is elongated in the mannerist
style and the pose is one of pity. The
mannerist style is also seen in the
anomalies of scale between the
figures, with Mary Magdalene much
smaller than the other figures. Vasari
recognised and recorded that the
figure supporting Christ was a selfportrait of Michelangelo, suggesting
Michelangelo’s Counter-Reformation
identification with the death of Christ.
(Roberta Olson). This idea is
reinforced in his poetry in such lines
as: “Neither painting nor sculpture
will be able to quiet the soul, turned
to that divine love that opened its
arms on the cross to enfold us.”
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 6 of 15
Question Four: High Renaissance and the Development of Mannerism
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
circumstances in Rome that
encouraged the development of
the High Renaissance style, eg:
At the end of the fifteenth century,
the papacy came into the hands of a
series of Popes who wanted to
rebuild the city in a manner that
suited the centre of the Catholic
Church.
Great architectural commissions like
St Peter’s provided a background for
great commissions in painting and
sculpture.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in two
appropriate named High
Renaissance art works, eg:
Michelangelo was commissioned to
design and execute a massive tomb
for Pope Julius II, which was
designed as a free standing,
classicising monument. Although it
was never completed, the use of art
to glorify the power and prestige of
the papacy is apparent in the noble,
classicising treatment of surviving
parts like the nude male statue now
in the Louvre.
The papal building programmes
created great empty spaces, which
provided scope for painters like
Raphael to decorate. His great
frescoes in the Stanza della
Segnatura demonstrate the close
relationship between architectural
patronage and painting in High
Renaissance Rome.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the
circumstances that encouraged
the development of the High
Renaissance style and two
appropriate art works, eg:
During the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries the papacy had been
unstable and the city of Rome had
declined into a dirty, unimpressive
city. By 1500 the papacy had
stabilised, the Popes had returned to
Rome permanently and Popes like
Julius II and Leo X were determined
to rebuild Rome and St Peter’s in
order to beautify the city, glorify the
Catholic Church and establish the
Papacy as the dominant power.
Julius wanted Michelangelo to
design a tomb, which would both
glorify him and ensure that his
reputation lasted for ever. Its large,
imposing size would have a major
impact and would revive the
traditions of ancient Rome.
The decoration of the Stanza della
Segnatura and other papal
apartments were intended to provide
a noble environment for Popes as
they went about their business of
running the Church and state. The
themes of these frescoes were
designed to enhance the Christian
and Neoplatonist ideas of the
Catholic Church as well as providing
a grand decorative scheme.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which circumstances in
Rome had a significant impact on
the development of the High
Renaissance style of art, eg:
It is generally accepted that the
emergence of a dominant Rome and
papacy led to the emergence of a
particular artistic style, which is
called the High Renaissance. The
word Renaissance means re-birth
and the term became popular in the
nineteenth century to describe the
revival of classical grandeur which
can be observed in art of the High
Renaissance period. Characteristics
of this style include harmony, heroic
composition and humanist content,
all of which were encouraged by
Popes Julius and Leo. It is said to be
epitomised by the technical mastery
of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and
Michelangelo.
Rome was also the site of significant
archaeological research and
exploration, and the discovery of
antiques like the Laocoon in 1506
had a major impact on the
development of the High
Renaissance style and subsequent
Mannerism.
Although both Raphael and
Michelangelo worked in Rome and
their works in this city are upheld as
outstanding examples of High
Renaissance art, they also worked in
Florence where they produced works
like Michelangelo’s David which are
also categorised as High
Renaissance by authorities like
George Holmes in his book,
Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci did
not produce any Roman works yet
he is included in the High
Renaissance section of many
textbooks, which would suggest that
the circumstances in Rome were not
the only significant factor in the
emergence of a High Renaissance
style.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 7 of 15
Question Five: Venetian Painting
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
unique nature of Venice that
encouraged the development of a
Venetian style of art, eg:
Venice was an extremely wealthy
city-state and by the end of the
fifteenth century it was the richest
city in the world. (George Holmes,
Renaissance, p 118).
It was a maritime city, built on a large
number of islands, which were linked
by sea inlets and canals. This
location had enabled Venice to
accumulate wealth based on sea
trade between Europe and the neareast.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in two
appropriate named Venetian art
works, eg:
The busy, maritime city has been
described in many paintings
including Gentile Bellini’s Miracle of
the Holy Cross on San Lorenzo
Bridge, c. 1494–1505, which shows
a busy canal flanked by tall buildings
and paths crowded with well-dressed
people.
The wealth and exotic influences,
which came to Venice through their
maritime empire were expressed in
extensive architectural development
in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. These influences can also
be seen in paintings like Giovanni
Bellini’s San Giobbe Altarpiece. The
architectural and decorative features
in this work, like the gold mosaic
semi-dome, reflect the influence of
Byzantine architecture.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the unique
nature of Venice that encouraged
the development of a Venetian
style of art and two appropriate art
works, eg
Gentile Bellini’s painting is an
example of the seascape type of
painting, which emerged in Venice in
the fifteenth century. The wide
rectangular format of the painting is
designed to provide a panoramic
view of the nature of Venice with its
expensive buildings, bustling canals
and streets full of wealthy people
who enjoyed parading their wealth.
Bellini’s San Giobbe Altarpiece is a
monumental painting, typical of the
large-scale art works commissioned
by private individuals, church and
state institutions in Venice at this
period. The golden light, which
suffuses this painting was a Venetian
innovation, which was derived from
the golden light of a Venetian sunset,
reflected in the surrounding waters.
This light combines with the gold
detailing in this work to produce a
rich, sensuous painting which
expresses the wealth of Venice.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which the unique nature
of Venice had a significant impact
on the development of the
Venetian style of art, eg:
By the sixteenth century, the unique
nature of Venetian art and
architecture was easily distinguished
from other Italian states. Venice’s
close relationships with Northern
artists like Albrecht Dürer had
encouraged artists like Giovanni
Bellini to adopt oil paint. This
medium allowed Bellini and
subsequent artists like Giorgione,
Titian and Veronese to produce lightfilled canvases in which the sheen of
gold, glass and jewels mingled with
the textural effects of oil-painted furs,
satins and silks in panoramic
depictions of the Venetian nobility in
works like Veronese’s Alexander and
the Family of Darius.
Another unique aspect of Venetian
art can be seen in its revival of
classical mythological subjects,
which were produced for their
sensual and aesthetically pleasing
qualities rather than their
Neoplatonist associations. The
poesie produced by Giorgione, Titian
et al demonstrate the love of luxury,
which characterised the wealthy
ruling class of Venice. These
subjects also reflect Venice’s
contacts with eastern cultures such
as Greece and Turkey, which were
not so governed by Catholic morality.
Mythological paintings like Titian’s
Sacred and Profane Love also reflect
both “the new classical learning of
the period and the new Venetian
fascination with landscape” (Paoletti
and Radke, Art in Renaissance Italy,
p 468). This interest in landscape
has been linked to Venice’s
development of a land empire in this
period and is another example of the
significant impact of Venice’s unique
environment on the development of
the unique Venetian style of art.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 8 of 15
Question Six: Northern Renaissance Art
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
economic circumstances in
Northern Europe that encouraged
the development of Northern
Renaissance art, eg:
By the end of the 13th century,
Brugges had become an important
trading centre, hosting large fairs
where merchants from all over
Europe came to trade for fine
Flemish textiles which were
produced locally.
This trade lead to the development
of financial services such as banking
and by the 14th century, Brugges
was also an international financial
and trading centre.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of these circumstances
in two appropriate named
Northern Renaissance art works,
eg:
This wealth can be seen in Northern
Renaissance paintings in this
period. For example, two paintings
on the exterior of the Beaune
Altarpiece show the donor, Nicolas
Rollin, and his wife in front of
expensive hangings of gold. Great
attention has been paid to the
details of their expensive clothing.
This attention to fine detail in
expensive fabrics and objects is a
characteristic of Northern painting,
as in the image of St Mary
Magdalene in the Braque Triptych.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the
economic circumstances that
encouraged the development of
the Northern Renaissance art and
two appropriate art works, eg:
Northern Renaissance paintings are
full of gorgeously dressed figures,
fine architecture and expensive
objects, all of which reflect the
wealthy economic context of this
region.
In Van der Weyden’s depiction of St
Barbara, we see a very comfortable
living room, with a blazing fire, finely
crafted furniture and fine glass and
pewter utensils. Interiors like this
provide clear evidence of a
prosperous society and comfortable
way of life.
Other paintings, such as Van Eyck’s
Madonna and Chancellor Rolin,
include views of a thriving town with
merchant ships on the river, multistorey buildings and cheerful
citizens going about their daily
activities.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which the were a
significant factor in the
development of the rich detail
characteristic of Northern
Renaissance art, eg:
These affluent circumstances
definitely account for the development
of rich detail in Northern Renaissance
art.
To a great extent, art patronage in
Northern Europe was dominated by
powerful rulers like the Counts of
Flanders and Dukes of Burgundy, who
enjoyed spending money on personal
luxuries such as illuminated books,
jewels and ornaments. The production
of these luxuries led to the growth of
specialist trades like goldsmiths and
silversmiths who specialised in
producing intricately decorated
personal objects. The influence of
these International Gothic items can
be seen in the detailed reproduction of
jewellery and precious objects in
Flemish and German painting.
Art patronage also became important
among the merchant classes of
Northern Europe and these patrons
have been held responsible for the
intense interest in textiles, which
characterises Northern art in this
period. The careful reproduction of
fabrics such as St Barbara’s beautiful
sleeve enabled viewers to identify the
fabric and its source and it has been
suggested that this detailed realism
served a form of product placement.
This function would certainly
encourage the development of the
detailed realism which characterised
Northern Renaissance art.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 9 of 15
Question Seven: Cubism and Abstraction
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
interest in modern technological
change of Robert and/or Sonia
Delaunay, eg:
Both Robert and Sonia Delaunay
were interested in and excited by the
modern technological developments
of their age. They were both
interested in electricity and the new
electric light, which was illuminating
homes and streets with bright and
even coloured light.
The invention of flight was another
modern technological change that
fascinated the Delaunays, especially
Robert, and reference to it appears
in many of his works.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of this context in two
appropriate art works, eg:
Sun, Tower, Aeroplane:
Simultaneous, Robert Delaunay,
1913.
In this work, cube like forms at the
top of the composition resemble an
aircraft, while disks and radiating
forms resemble propellers in motion.
Sonia Delaunay, Portuguese
Market, 1913
This work was painted in Portugal,
where the couple stayed in a seaside
town. Its subject is a vibrant market
captured in abstract, swirling colour
with one recognisable figure in the
foreground.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the interest
in technological change of Robert
and/or Sonia Delaunay and two
appropriate art works, eg:
In Sun, Tower, Aeroplane:
Simultaneous Robert Delaunay puts
a variety of modern objects together
simultaneously – the Eiffel Tower,
the giant Ferris Wheel in the Champs
des Mars, as well as abstracted
circular forms that are textured and
seem to shift and move. Delaunay
was interested in both the objects of
technological change and the
resulting forms, movement and
colour.
The forms in Sonia Delaunay’s work
are inspired by the movement and
vibrancy of technological change,
especially electrical movement and
light. These are reflected in the
swirling patterns and bright colours
of her paintings, collages, and
textiles. She also used these
infuences and expressed her
interests in the modernist designs
she produced for avant garde theatre
and ballet companies.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which this interest in
modern technological change
contributed to the development of
Orphism, eg:
Orphism was one of the small,
specialised movements that
emerged from the cubist exploration
of form which took place in French
art in the first two decades of the
twentieth century.
Robert Delaunay was interested in
new forms and ideas associated with
technological change because it
coincided with his artistic exploration
of movement, the expressive
properties of colour and modernity in
order to create a “new reality”. Phillip
Cooper suggests that for Delaunay,
flight, like radio waves, could break
down geographical barriers and so it
was an important means of
symbolising simultaneity – a visual
and conceptual way of viewing
multiple things. Apollinaire coined the
term Orphism to describe this
musical relationship in the work of
Delaunay. In Sun, Tower, Aeroplane:
Simultaneous the interaction light
and dark colour creates harmony.
This work explores the aims of
Orphism with the optical effects of
colour and the increasingly abstract
exploration of form. Sonia Delaunay
expressed similar interests in her
exploration of modern colours and
forms in new designs in the
decorative arts where her use of
contrasting “electric” colours and
geometric patterns seem to
anticipate the Op art modernism of
the 1960s, when she was still
working in Paris.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 10 of 15
Question Eight: Fauvism and Expressionism
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
early twentieth century
circumstances that encouraged
the development of
Expressionism in Europe, eg:
The late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries were times of
major technological and cultural
change, which affected art.
Technological changes like
photography and paint in tubes
helped encourage expressionist
painting.
Another major aspect of early
twentieth-century Europe was
mechanical war, which challenged
traditional European attitudes and
encouraged artists to express their
personal feelings in art.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in one
appropriate Fauve painting and
one appropriate German
Expressionist work, eg:
Henri Matisse’s Luxe, calme et
Volupte, 1904–5, is about pleasure
and relaxing by the seaside which is
what the Fauves liked to paint with
their bright colours and spare time.
Ernst Kirchner’s Self-portrait as a
Soldier, 1915, shows an artist
expressing his personal feelings
about what was happening in the
early twentieth century in a painting.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the early
twentieth century circumstances
that encouraged the development
of Expressionism in Europe and
two appropriate art works, eg:
The two selected art works
demonstrate different responses to
the early twentieth-century
circumstances in Europe. Matisse’s
painting focuses on the increased
leisure that technology brought to the
middle classes and the colour and
hedonistic subject seems to be
celebrating new modern aspects of
life, like freedom. Kirchner’s painting
also uses thickly applied paint
straight out of the tube but Kirchner
has focused on negative aspects of
early twentieth-century Europe
because it shows the enormous
damage and suffering that
mechanised warfare brought.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which these
circumstances account for the
differences between Fauvism and
German Expressionism, eg:
According to Robert Hughes, “The
cradle of modernism (France) did not
feel the uncertainties about the
machine that we do” (Shock of the
New, p 11). When we look at early
twentieth century Fauvism we get a
peek into a world of fun and pleasure
in which traditional European morals
and conventions are breaking down
under the challenge of foreign and
exotic ideas picked up from foreign
cultures.
Although some German
Expressionists, such as Macke,
shared the Fauve interest in colour
and pleasure, the overwhelming
mood of German Expressionism is
one of uncertainty, fear and doubt.
This mood is closely related to the
context of newly unified and
Prussian dominated Germany where
the government moved to suppress
regional culture beneath a German
uniformity. It also reflects the
psychological and philosophical
context of early twentieth century
Germany where the ideas of
Nietzsche and Freud were becoming
increasingly influential.
Although existentialism became an
important context for art in midtwentieth century France, the ideas
of Nietzsche and Freud had little
impact in early twentieth-century
Paris, where fauvism originated or in
the south of France where Matisse
settled. In their isolated, pleasant
worlds of Collioure and the Riviera,
the Fauve artists were free to focus
on the pleasant aspects of the new
world, unlike their German
contemporaries who were
surrounded by oppressive politics
and depressive thought. The impact
of these contrasting contexts is most
apparent in the differences between
French and German Expressionism.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 11 of 15
Question Nine: Dada and Surrealism
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
artistic context that encouraged
the development of Dada art in the
early twentieth century, eg:
Although different dates are given for
the emergence of the Dada
movement, generally 1916 is
accepted as the beginning of Dada,
associated with the Café Voltaire in
Zurich. The Café Voltaire was a
group of artists and performers who
wanted to create a centre for artistic
entertainment involving many
different artistic disciplines such as
music, painting, poetry and
journalism.
Marinetti and Futurism were popular
when the Dada movement began
and this movement’s celebration of
modernity and enthusiasm for the
destruction of past institutions was
an important context for the
development of Dada.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in two
appropriate named art works, eg:
Jean Arp’s Birds in an Aquarium
demonstrates the spontaneity and
lack of logic that was typical of early
Dada art, and which challenged
traditional western art.
Kurt Schwitters’ early collages, like
Merz 410 (1922), can be linked to
the disconnected, random poetry of
the Futurists as well as to the readymades by Picasso in his so-called
Synthetic Cubist phase.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between this artistic
context and two appropriate art
works, eg:
Birds in an Aquarium is like a child’s
toys, made up of wooden blocks in
bright nursery colours. Pieced
together in a meaningless, random
composition, the work embodies the
worlds of child and chance, which
were already being explored by
performers in the Cabaret Voltaire.
Merz 410 is one of Schwitters’ art
works composed out of found
materials, including rubbish, in a
random, spontaneous composition
which echoes the apparently
random, meaningless word-pictures
made by Futurists like Marinetti
himself and Balla. These works also
draw upon the layered papier collees
produced by Picasso, Braque and
Gris, just before the beginning of
World War I, when Parisian art
seemed to be exploring the nature
and traditions of art rather than any
visual subject.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which this artistic
context was a significant factor in
the development of Dada art, eg:
It is easy to attribute the emergence
of Dada to the dislocation and
violence of World War 1, and to see
the apparent nihilism of the
movement as an expression of
European disillusion after this event.
Nevertheless, close examination
makes it apparent that there is
considerable evidence to support the
idea that the Dada movement was a
logical progression from various
artistic contexts, which had existed in
Europe before the war.
For example, early modernists in
Paris had already challenged the
western art traditions, beginning with
Picasso’s Les Demoiselles
d’Avignon, and proceeding through
works like Still-Life with Chair Caning
and ending with his newspaper
collage entitled Guitars of 1914.
During and immediately after the
war, Russian constructivists like El
Lizzitsky were also exploring the
possibilities of materials and forms
without associations with previous
cultures.
The fact that so many Dada artists
made obvious references to
traditional art in works like
Duchamps’ LHOOQ, supports the
conclusion that artistic contexts were
a most significant factor in the
development of Dada art because,
as Robert Hughes said, “the world
was already full of ‘interesting’
objects that the artists need not add
to them” (Hughes, Shock of the New,
p 66).
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 12 of 15
Question Ten: Architecture: Modernism to Postmodernism
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
circumstances that encouraged
Post modernist architecture, eg:
The popularity of the International
Style had led to widespread
uniformity in architecture, which
some architects and town planners
began to find boring.
The bright colours, bold forms and
references to the commercial world
in Pop Art began to appear in interior
decorating fabrics etc. These
developments were picked up by
young architects.
AND
The candidate has described the
impact of those circumstances on
two appropriate buildings, eg:
Frank Gehry’s California
Aerospace Museum (1984) is a
large postmodern building made up
of various volumes, joined together
in contrasting angles. Further interest
is given to the building by the jet
plane, which is fixed to a column at
the front of the building.
Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish
Museum in Berlin (1999) has a
postmodern façade made up of shiny
zinc walls that are pierced by jagged
splits in random places, which is very
different from the smooth white
surfaces of earlier modernist
buildings.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the
circumstances that encouraged
Post modernist architecture and
two appropriate buildings, eg:
The California Aerospace Museum
has the discordant angular forms and
applied decorative detail that
characterises many of Gehry’s
postmodern buildings. The jet plane
is plonked on the front of the building
and looks a bit like a Pop art
sculpture. It gives the building a
strong visual presence and makes it
stand out from more traditional
buildings.
Libeskind’s building has also been
designed to be different and to
attract attention and stand out from
its surroundings. Everything about
the building reacts against
architectural traditions – the building
is built around a central void and the
entrance is difficult to find because it
has not been highlighted by a portico
or entrance hall as in traditional
architecture. These details are some
of the postmodernist features used
by this architect to distinguish his
building from other buildings in the
Berlin CBD.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which these
circumstances were a key factor
in the development of Post
modernist architecture, eg:
Robert Venturi is often given credit
for the development of
postmodernism and his slogan “less
is a bore” is frequently used to
support the idea that post modernist
architecture developed purely
because white clad functionalist
boxes and blocks all over the world
had created a boring urban
landscape.
Jonathan Clancey says that post
modernism “in some form or other
was probably inevitable [because]
the modern experiment had become
tired and corrupted” (Jonathan
Clancey, Twentieth Century
Architecture, p 280); however he
goes on to acknowledge the
importance of other circumstances
such as Pop culture, advertising,
television and new movements in art
such as collage.
Pop art experiments, especially the
use of architectural spaces such as
Andy Warhol’s studio can be linked
to Gehry’s experiments with factorylike materials and forms in his own
house.
The two selected buildings are both
museums and represent an
architectural market which has
expanded recently as cities look for
ways to tap into the lucrative tourist
market. Many contemporary
museums and galleries have been
built in eye-catching postmodern
designs, ranging from Gehry’s
amazing Guggenheim in Spain to the
Christchurch Art Gallery. The
architecture of these buildings is
designed to provide the visitor with a
unique architectural experience,
which underpins the exhibits in the
museum. The postmodern design of
so many of these buildings supports
the conclusion that the desire to
entertain and attract business were
major factors in the development of
postmodernism.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 13 of 15
Question Eleven: Modern American Art
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described the
social beliefs in America in the
late twentieth century, eg:
Many conflicting social beliefs were
challenged in twentieth-century art.
In the 1970s a large number of
female artists began to describe
themselves as feminists and used
their art to draw attention to widely
held stereotypes about female
behaviour and social roles.
Other artists addressed American
foreign policy and militarism,
particularly the Cold War and
America’s involvement in foreign
wars, like Vietnam. A new, young
generation of intellectuals began to
question America’s traditional
capitalist beliefs and the traditional
American belief in the stockpiling of
arms as a form of defence.
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in two
appropriate art works, eg:
Cindy Sherman’s Untitled No 70
(1980) shows a young woman
drinking from a glass in a dimly lit
scene with city reflections in the
background. This feminist art work
draws attention to the role of women
in American society and, also seems
to be addressing another issue, the
role of alcohol in contemporary life.
Edward Kienholz’s Roxy (1961), is
an installation based on an American
living room in which familiar domestic
objects are watched over by a
saluting general in a painting on the
wall, in a clear statement about
Kienholz’s view of American society
as one which was dominated by
militarism.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between these social
beliefs and two appropriate art
works, eg:
Cindy Sherman’s self-portrait is
typical of her work, which uses
photographic self-portraits to draw
attention to stereotypes and other
social issues involving contemporary
women’s lives. Many of her images,
like this one focus on women alone
in the city whose independence and
assertiveness threatened the
traditional order of American society.
Kienholz explored many social
themes in his sculpture and
installations. Using non-traditional
materials and modes, like the
installation of Roxy he widened the
boundaries of art and used his art to
draw attention to the complacency of
life in an American suburb and
broader realities such as the
influence of the military in American
society.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which the challenging of
social beliefs was an important
aspect of American art in the late
twentieth century, eg:
As Robert Hughes says, “in the late
sixties and early seventies, when so
much of the middle-class youth of
Europe and America was surging
with protest, first against war in
Vietnam and then against racism,
sexism and ecological ruin, it was
hard for artists to keep politics out of
their work” (Robert Hughes, The
Shock of the New, p 376).
Many artists, such as the feminists
and political activists like Kienholz
were quite open in their exploration
of social issues. Others, like Robert
Rauschenburg were more subtle,
however his ready- made works and
combines like Monogram were
obviously produced within a context
of materialism and its consequent
rubbish, and can be seen as
precursors of the volumes of art
which has arisen from the context of
ecological issues in the late twentieth
century.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 14 of 15
Question Twelve: Modern New Zealand Art
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
The candidate has described two
aspects of the international
artistic influences in New Zealand
art
AND
The candidate has described
evidence of that context in two
appropriate art works, eg:
Colin McCahon, The Northland
Panels, 1958
The Northland Panels, were painted
from memory after McCahon
returned from a trip to America in
1958. There he saw a wide range of
international art from the New York
School to eastern artists. The scale
could be attributed to the large scale
work of the Abstract Expressionists
such as Pollock.
Gretchen Albrecht,
Blue/Yellow:Leda, 1982
Blue/Yellow:Leda, is part of a series
of works painted in the 1980s, known
as ‘Hemispheres’. They were
inspired by a trip Albrecht made to
Europe in the late 70s where she
saw Renaissance art and
architecture. Blue/Yellow:Leda uses
the geometric forms, such as arches
she saw in Renaissance churches
and the symmetrical compositions
she found in Renaissance frescoes.
As for Achievement, plus:
The candidate has explained the
relationships between the
international artistic influences in
New Zealand and two appropriate
art works, eg:
The scale and ‘all-over’ quality of
works such as Pollock’s had an
impact on McCahon and he wrote “I
realised again the importance of
pictures for people to walk past.” In
this way the painting becomes a
shared experience of the New
Zealand landscape.
The shape of the canvas in
Blue/Yellow:Leda, is a semi-circle,
divided symmetrically down the
centre of the canvas by the
contrasting colours of blue and
yellow. Although abstract, a subject
is suggested in the title. The title
refers to the classical myth of Leda
being seduced by a swan, actually
Zeus in disguise. The composition
and forms are reminiscent of the
underlying geometry found in
Renaissance painting.
As for Achievement with Merit,
plus:
The candidate has evaluated the
extent to which these artistic
influences contributed to the
development of individual
expression in New Zealand art, eg:
International influences in Colin
McCahon’s Northland Panels,
particularly those of the American
Abstract Expressionists, can be seen
in such stylistic features as the
gestural brushwork, the geometric
abstraction, the large scale, and the
all-over free hanging compositions.
Some features of Northland Panels,
however, are typically found in
McCahon’s early work such as Six
Days in Nelson and Canterbury
(1950) and Takaka Night and Day
(1948). For example the use of text,
different scenes used to depict the
effect of weather or time of day, and
a spiritual response to the
landscape. The New Zealand
landscape, in this case Northland,
remains central.
Albrecht describes her strongly
coloured abstract compositions as
hemispheres, and more recently,
ovals, and are an individual response
to the inspiration she found in
European art. The early
Hemispheres measured the width of
the artists arms and could be likened
to the measurement found in
Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man. She pays
direct homage to another
Renaissance artist, Piero Della
Francesca in the triangular geometric
composition entitled After Piero,
(1980). Albrecht was interested in
Piero’s use of mathematics and
geometry to create sacred space,
especially around the Virgin Mary.
NCEA Level 3 Art History (90495) 2011 — page 15 of 15
Judgement Statement
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
A
M
E