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Art Dealer

Real-Life Activities

Real-Life Communication

Art dealers may choose to specialize in paintings in any number of genres. First, they have to know their subject. Second, they need to be able to tell their clients about it.

"You have to know all about the artist and their work," says Wendy Wong, an art dealer. "Then when someone comes to buy the painting, you have to explain it to them without using too much jargon. Some clients like that, but others just want to understand what the painting is about."

Art dealers also use communication skills to buy, sell and network with clients and artists.

You are an art dealer concerned with the first 10 years of the 20th century. You have a wealthy client who comes in and asks you questions about a few of the different movements from the era.

Use the information below to answer the questions that follow:

Fauvism:
This art movement is all about color. It uses a freedom of expression, the use of pure colors and exaggerated drawing and perspective. This movement lasted for only three years, from 1904 to 1907. Some artists involved in the Parisian movement were Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Maurice de Vlaminck.

Cubism:
Cubism was a major turning point to modern art. This art movement, founded by Pablo Picasso, destroyed the distinction between the beautiful and the ugly. The movement started with the famous cubist painting called the Demoiselles d'Avignon, which shows a group of women with distorted perspective and sharp angles. This painting was completed in 1906.

Futurism:
This movement began around 1908. The aim was to denounce all art movements in the past, and celebrate the speed and dynamism of the increasingly mechanized society. A growth in technology meant that art also had to change, becoming dynamic rather than static. The movement was created by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.

These are your client's questions:

  1. Name two people who were influential in the fauvist movement. In what city did the movement take place?
  2. Who founded the cubist movement, and with what painting?
  3. What did the futurists believe?