No, I don't go looking for them.
The images just jump in front of me and
force me to take their pictures. I was walking along
West 15th Street in Speedway not long ago, happily looking at
all of the older homes that have been renewed and restored,
standing curbside, begging for my attention.
Braque, Pablo Picasso, and Marcel Duchamp were
were searching for new ways to portray three-dimensional
forms on a two-dimensional surface, sort of looking for
a way to show the viewer different viewpoints of the same
object in one picture. One of the other things the artists researched
was to find a way to show movement and speed in their paintings.
The paintings familiar to almost every college student
that show this are Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2
and Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon.
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| Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 Oil on Canvas. Museum of Modern Art, NYC |
Really, what particular movement in 20th Century art could be
more appropriate to find in Speedway? Most of the artists' work
during this period was done, beginning in Paris, from 1908
during this period was done, beginning in Paris, from 1908
to about 1919 -- years during which the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway was constructed, opened,
Motor Speedway was constructed, opened,
and the first Indianapolis 500-Mile Races were held.
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| Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2, 1912. Oil on Canvas. Philadelphia Museum of Art |
