Figurative painting and painting centred around the human figure in the second half of the 20th century

The main aim of the final thesis is to describe the development path of 20th century painting centred around the human figure and its extension into postmodernism. By taking into account the circumstances and social and cultural developments, the thesis focuses on modernism from its beginnings in the late 19th century all to the second half of the 20th century, touching on select works of art and literary and philosophical works that influenced the artists of the era. Despite the fact that the thesis focuses on figurative art and art centred around the human figure, a short overview of modern art also features abstract works of art and their creators, who undoubtedly contributed to the development of painting centred around the human figure. By taking a new approach to painting the already familiar subjects and by employing innovations in terms of materials and techniques, the artists sought their unique artistic expressions; consequently, the term »painting« expanded in scope. To better illustrate the technical innovations and new approaches to motives, the thesis provides an overview of who I consider to be representative 20th century artists focusing on human figure, divided into three regional sections. The thesis therefore presents the work of British artists Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach, German expressionists Anselm Kiefer and Georg Baselitz, as well as Slovenian painters Gabrijel Stupica, Marij Pregelj, Zoran Mušič and Janez Bernik, exploring the diversity of their artistic expressions. The section is followed by an overview of my own pieces deemed relevant and in connection with the subject at hand, together with a summary of the background of the chosen paintings, the ideas that motivated their creation and the reasons behind the chosen materials and techniques. A pedagogical chapter on the corresponding lesson I prepared and carried out concludes the thesis, accompanied by the pupils' artwork created under my guidance