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Op art, short for optical art, is a style of
visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...
that uses distorted or manipulated geometrical patterns, often to create
optical illusion In visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide varie ...
s. It began in the early 20th century, and was especially popular from the 1960s on, the term "Op art" dating to 1964. Op artworks are normally abstract, with some better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibrating patterns, or swelling or warping. In contrast, the much older ''
trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...
'' style always represents figurative subjects, which are shown with deceptive three-dimensionality.


History

Illusionism, focused on the perception of extended space within a flat picture, is found from the earliest points of art history. However, the antecedents of op art, in terms of graphic effects and concern for exotic optical illusions, can be traced back to
Neo-Impressionism Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the begin ...
,
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
,
Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...
,
Constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in the Soviet Union in t ...
, and
Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...
. The Divisionists, a group of Neo-Impressionist painters, attempted to increase the apparent
luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic energy per unit time, and is synonymous with the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electroma ...
of their paintings through recourse to optics and optical illusions.Lee, Alan. "Seurat and Science." ''Art History'' 10 (June 1987): 203-24.
László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by Constructivism (art), con ...
produced photographic op art and taught the subject in the
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...
; one of his lessons consisted of making his students produce holes in cards and then photographing them. ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine coined the term ''op art'' in 1964, in response to
Julian Stanczak Julian Stanczak ( ; November 5, 1928 – March 25, 2017) was a Polish Americans, Polish-born American Painting, painter and printmaker who is considered a central figure of the Op art movement in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s. Described as ...
's show ''Optical Paintings at the
Martha Jackson Gallery Martha Jackson (; January 17, 1907 – July 4, 1969) was an American art dealer, gallery owner, and collector. Her New York City based Martha Jackson Gallery, founded in 1953, was groundbreaking in its representation of women and internatio ...
'', to mean a form of
abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...
(specifically non-objective art) that uses optical illusions. Works now described as "op art" had been produced for several years before ''Time's'' 1964 article. For instance,
Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, i ...
's painting ''Zebras'' (1938) is made up entirely of
curvilinear In geometry, curvilinear coordinates are a coordinate system for Euclidean space in which the coordinate lines may be curved. These coordinates may be derived from a set of Cartesian coordinates by using a transformation that is locally inv ...
black and white stripes not contained by contour lines. Consequently, the stripes appear to both meld into and burst forth from the surrounding background. Also, the early black and white "dazzle" panels that John McHale installed at the '' This Is Tomorrow'' exhibit in 1956 and his ''Pandora'' series at the
Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...
in 1962 demonstrate proto-op art tendencies.
Martin Gardner Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and popular science writer with interests also encompassing magic, scientific skepticism, micromagic, philosophy, religion, and literatureespecially the writin ...
featured op art and its relation to mathematics in his July 1965
Mathematical Games column Over a period of 24 years (January 1957 – December 1980), Martin Gardner wrote 288 consecutive monthly "Mathematical Games" columns for ''Scientific American'' magazine. During the next years, until June 1986, Gardner wrote 9 more columns, br ...
in ''Scientific American''. In Italy, Franco Grignani, who originally trained as an architect, became a leading force of graphic design where op art or
kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...
was central. His Woolmark logo (launched in Britain in 1964) is probably the most famous of all his designs. Op art perhaps more closely derives from the constructivist practices of the
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...
. This German school, founded by
Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...
, stressed the relationship of form and function within a framework of analysis and rationality. Students learned to focus on the overall design or entire composition to present unified works. Op art also stems from ''
trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...
'' and
anamorphosis Anamorphosis is a distorted projection that requires the viewer to occupy a specific vantage point, use special devices, or both to view a recognizable image. It is used in painting, photography, sculpture and installation, toys, and film speci ...
. Links with
psychological research Psychological research refers to research that psychologists conduct for systematic study and for analysis of the experiences and behaviors of individuals or groups. Their research can have educational, occupational and clinical application ...
have also been made, particularly with
Gestalt theory Gestalt may refer to: Psychology * Gestalt psychology, a school of psychology * Gestalt therapy, a form of psychotherapy Arts and media * ''Gestalt'' (album), a 2012 album by the Spill Canvas * ''Gestalt'' (manga), a manga series by Yun Kōga * ...
and
psychophysiology Psychophysiology (from Greek , ''psȳkhē'', "breath, life, soul"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , '' -logia'') is the branch of psychology that is concerned with the physiological bases of psychological processes. While psychophysiolog ...
. When the Bauhaus was forced to close in 1933, many of its instructors fled to the United States. There, the movement took root in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and eventually at the
Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The coll ...
in
Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...
, where Anni and
Josef Albers Josef Albers ( , , ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born American artist and Visual arts education, educator who is considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States. Born in 1888 in Bottrop, Westp ...
eventually taught.
Op artists thus managed to exploit various phenomena," writes Frank Popper, "the after-image and consecutive movement; line interference; the effect of dazzle; ambiguous figures and reversible perspective; successive colour contrasts and chromatic vibration; and in three-dimensional works different viewpoints and the superimposition of elements in space.
In 1955, for the exhibition ''Mouvements'' at the Denise René gallery in Paris, Victor Vasarely and Pontus Hulten promoted in their "Yellow manifesto" some new kinetic expressions based on optical and luminous phenomenon as well as painting illusionism. The expression ''
kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...
'' in this modern form first appeared at the Museum für Gestaltung of
Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
in 1960, and found its major developments in the 1960s. In most European countries, it generally includes the form of optical art that mainly makes use of
optical illusion In visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide varie ...
s, like op art, as well as art based on movement represented by Yacov Agam,
Carlos Cruz-Diez Carlos Cruz-Diez (17 August 1923 – 27 July 2019) was a Venezuelan artist said by some scholars to have been "one of the greatest artistic innovators of the 20th century." Career In 2020, the Pérez Art Museum Miami acquired ''Chromosatura ...
, Jesús Rafael Soto, Gregorio Vardanega or
Nicolas Schöffer Nicolas Schöffer (; 6 September 1912 — 8 January 1992) was a Hungarian-born French cybernetic artist. Schöffer was born in Kalocsa, Hungary and lived in France from 1936 until his death in Montmartre, Paris in 1992. He built his artwor ...
. From 1961 to 1968, the '' Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel'' (GRAV) founded by
François Morellet François Morellet (30 April 1926 – 10 May 2016) was a French contemporary abstract painter, sculptor, and light artist. His early work prefigured minimal art and conceptual art and he played a prominent role in the development of geometrica ...
, Julio Le Parc, Francisco Sobrino, Horacio Garcia Rossi, Yvaral, Joël Stein and
Vera Molnár Vera Molnár (; 5 January 1924 – 7 December 2023) was a Hungarian media artist who lived and worked in Paris, France. Molnár is widely considered to have been a pioneer of the generative art aspect of computer art. She was one of the first ...
was a collective group of opto-kinetic artists that—according to its 1963 manifesto—appealed to the direct participation of the public with an influence on its behavior, notably through the use of interactive
labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...
s. Some members of the group Nouvelle tendance (1961–1965) in Europe also were engaged in op art as Almir Mavignier and Gerhard von Graevenitz, mainly with their serigraphics. They studied optical illusions. The term ''op'' irritated many of the artists labeled under it, specifically including Albers and Stanczak. They had discussed upon the birth of the term a better label, namely ''perceptual art''. From 1964, Arnold Schmidt ( Arnold Alfred Schmidt) had several solo exhibitions of his large, black and white shaped optical paintings exhibited at the
Terrain Gallery The Terrain Gallery, or the Terrain, is an art gallery and educational center at 141 Greene Street in SoHo, Manhattan, SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1955 with a philosophic basis: the ideas of Aesthetic Realism and the Siegel ...
in New York.


''The Responsive Eye''

In 1965, between February 23 and April 25, an exhibition called ''The Responsive Eye'', created by
William C. Seitz William Seitz (June 14, 1914 – October 26, 1974) was an American art curator associated most closely with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City and known for the landmark exhibitions he curated and wrote catalogue essays for there on ...
, was held at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
in New York City and toured to St. Louis, Seattle, Pasadena, and Baltimore. The works shown were wide-ranging, encompassing the minimalism of
Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...
and
Ellsworth Kelly Ellsworth Kelly (May 31, 1923 – December 27, 2015) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker associated with hard-edge painting, Color field painting and minimalism. His works demonstrate unassuming techniques emphasizing line, col ...
, the smooth plasticity of
Alexander Liberman Alexander Semeonovitch Liberman (September 4, 1912 – November 19, 1999) was a Ukrainian-American magazine editor, publisher, painter, photographer, and sculptor. He held senior artistic positions during his 32 years at Condé Nast Publicatio ...
, the collaborative efforts of the
Anonima group The American artist collaborative, Anonima group, was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1960 by Ernst Benkert, Francis Hewitt and Edwin Mieczkowski, Ed Mieczkowski. Propelled by their rejection of the cult of the ego and automatic style of the abstrac ...
, alongside the well-known
Wojciech Fangor Wojciech Bonawentura Fangor (pronounced: ) (15 November 1922 – 25 October 2015), also known as Voy Fangor, was a Polish Painting, painter, graphic artist, and Sculpture, sculptor. Described as "one of the most distinctive painters to emerge f ...
,
Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, i ...
,
Julian Stanczak Julian Stanczak ( ; November 5, 1928 – March 25, 2017) was a Polish Americans, Polish-born American Painting, painter and printmaker who is considered a central figure of the Op art movement in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s. Described as ...
,
Richard Anuszkiewicz Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz (; May 23, 1930 – May 19, 2020) was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. The son of Polish immigrants, he developed a geometric style. Life and work Anuszkiewicz was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of ...
, Wen-Ying Tsai,
Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...
and
Getulio Alviani Getulio Alviani (5 September 1939 in Udine – 24 February 2018 in Milan) was an Italian painting, painter based in Milan. He is considered to be an important International Op Art, Optical - Kinetic art, kinetic artist. Life and work Alviani w ...
. The exhibition focused on the perceptual aspects of art, which result both from the illusion of movement and the interaction of color relationships. The exhibition was a success with the public (visitor attendance was over 180,000), but less so with the critics. Critics dismissed op art as portraying nothing more than ''
trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...
'', or tricks that fool the eye. Regardless, the public's acceptance increased, and op art images were used in a number of commercial contexts. One of
Brian de Palma Brian Russell De Palma (; born September 11, 1940) is an Americans, American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, Crime film, crime, and psychological thriller genres. ...
's early works was a documentary film on the exhibition.


Method of operation


Black-and-white and the figure-ground relationship

Op art is a perceptual experience related to how vision functions. It is a dynamic visual art that stems from a discordant figure-ground relationship that puts the two planes—foreground and background—in a tense and contradictory juxtaposition. Artists create op art in two primary ways. The first, best known method, is to create effects through pattern and line. Often these paintings are
black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
, or shades of gray (''
grisaille Grisaille ( or ; , from ''gris'' 'grey') means in general any European painting that is painted in grey. History Giotto used grisaille in the lower registers of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua () and Robert Campin, Jan van Ey ...
'')—as in Bridget Riley's early paintings such as ''Current'' (1964), on the cover of ''The Responsive Eye'' catalog. Here, black and white wavy lines are close to one another on the canvas surface, creating a volatile figure-ground relationship.
Getulio Alviani Getulio Alviani (5 September 1939 in Udine – 24 February 2018 in Milan) was an Italian painting, painter based in Milan. He is considered to be an important International Op Art, Optical - Kinetic art, kinetic artist. Life and work Alviani w ...
used aluminum surfaces, which he treated to create light patterns that change as the watcher moves (vibrating texture surfaces). Another reaction that occurs is that the lines create after-images of certain colors due to how the retina receives and processes light. As
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
demonstrates in his treatise ''
Theory of Colours ''Theory of Colours'' () is a book by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe about the poet's views on the nature of colours and how they are perceived by humans. It was published in German in 1810 and in English in 1840. The book contains detailed descri ...
'', at the edge where light and dark meet, color arises because lightness and darkness are the two central properties in the creation of color.


Color

Beginning in 1965
Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...
began to produce color-based op art; however, other artists, such as
Julian Stanczak Julian Stanczak ( ; November 5, 1928 – March 25, 2017) was a Polish Americans, Polish-born American Painting, painter and printmaker who is considered a central figure of the Op art movement in the U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s. Described as ...
and
Richard Anuszkiewicz Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz (; May 23, 1930 – May 19, 2020) was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. The son of Polish immigrants, he developed a geometric style. Life and work Anuszkiewicz was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of ...
, were always interested in making color the primary focus of their work.See ''Color Function Painting: The Art of Josef Albers, Julian Stanczak, and Richard Anuszkiewicz'', Wake Forest University, reprinted 2002.
Josef Albers Josef Albers ( , , ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born American artist and Visual arts education, educator who is considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States. Born in 1888 in Bottrop, Westp ...
taught these two primary practitioners of the "Color Function" school at
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
in the 1950s. Often, colorist work is dominated by the same concerns of figure-ground movement, but they have the added element of contrasting colors that produce different effects on the eye. For instance, in Anuszkiewicz's "temple" paintings, the juxtaposition of two highly contrasting colors provokes a sense of depth in illusionistic three-dimensional space so that it appears as if the architectural shape is invading the viewer's space. File:Intrinsic-Harmony.jpg, ''Intrinsic Harmony'' by Richard Anuszkiewicz, 1965 File:Victor Vasarely Kezdi-Ga 1970 Screenprint in colors 20×20in Edition of 250.jpg,
Victor Vasarely Victor Vasarely (; born Győző Vásárhelyi, ; 9 April 1906 – 15 March 1997) was a Hungarian-French artist, who is widely accepted as a "grandfather" and leader of the Op art movement. His work titled ''Zebra'', created in 1937, i ...
, Kezdi-Ga, 1970, Serigraph, Edition of 250, 20 × 20 in File:ככר_דיזנגוף_-_מזרקת_יעקב_אגם.jpg, The Fire and Water Fountain by
Yaacov Agam Yaacov Agam (; born 11 May 1928) is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist widely known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art. Early life, family and education Yaacov Gibstein (later Agam) was born in Mandate Palestine. His fat ...
, Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, Israel 1986. Example of both op art and
kinetic art Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...
.


Similarities with other art styles

Although op art is a unique style, it has similarities with styles such as
abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...
( color field painting). Although color field painting does not give us illusions, similarities can still be found. We can see that both of these styles are minimalist, only a few colors prevail, and no object or plot is shown. These styles can cause us emotion, since there is no clear plot, the human mind itself imagines and interprets it in its own way. Cold colors are usually associated with sadness, while warm colors are associated with joy. Also, op art and color field painting are characterized by the fact that the image is aesthetic and orderly.


Exhibitions

* ''L'Œil moteur: Art optique et cinétique 1960–1975'', Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Strasbourg, France, May 13–September 25, 2005. * ''Op Art'', Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany, February 17–May 20, 2007. * ''The Optical Edge'', The Pratt Institute of Art, New York, March 8–April 14, 2007. * ''Optic Nerve: Perceptual Art of the 1960s'', Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, February 16–June 17, 2007. * ''CLE OP: Cleveland Op Art Pioneers'', Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, April 9, 2011 – February 26, 2012 *
Bridget Riley Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France. Early life and education Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...
has had several international exhibitions (e.g. Dia Center, New York, 2000; Tate Britain, London, 2003; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2004).


See also


References


Bibliography

* Frank Popper, ''Origins and Development of Kinetic Art'', New York Graphic Society/Studio Vista, 1968 * Frank Popper, ''From Technological to Virtual Art'', Leonardo Books, MIT Press, 2007 *


External links


Opartica - online op art making tool
{{DEFAULTSORT:Op Art 1964 neologisms 20th-century art movements Time (magazine)