Flatness in art

- western artists (19th century) have rejected hyperrealism and the Renaissance ideal of linear
perspective to emphasize the illusionistic nature of painting (the flatness of the picture plane),
or engage with more conceptual, pre-Modern, or non-western modes of expressing human
form.
- Clement Greenberg famously identified flatness as the defining characteristic of modern art,
the progress towards non-objective abstraction
- Pop Art heightened the emphasis on flatness in the 1960s, a tendency that continues today
in much contemporary art

Tom Slaughter, The Old Neighborhood: American Pie, 2001

Screenprint

58.4 × 45.7 cm

Edition of 65

Sara Zielinski, I
Remember You
Because I Was In
Love With You,
2015

Monotype

60.3 × 32.4 cm
- I love collages and prints, and
- I chose this artwork because of a very clear
they are also a part of flat art. A
representation of flat art, and how it has an impact
lot of smaller part combined can
even though it’s simple, because of its quote
make a whole artwork with a
specific meaning.

David Grossman, At Dusk in the Winter Forest, 2010-2015

Oil

34 × 20 in
86.4 × 50.8 cm

- the colour palette is very interesting and captivating (pale shades, low contrast). The
stacking instead of deepening perspective can clearly be seen with trees and deer.

Sources: https://www.artsy.net/artwork/david-grossmann-at-dusk-in-the-winter-forest
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/sara-zielinski-i-remember-you-because-i-was-in-love-with-you
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/tom-slaughter-the-old-neighborhood-american-pie