Changes in Art History with Emphasis on the Mid-Twentieth Century

Artists in the early 1900s commonly utilized techniques of distortion and exaggeration, characteristics of expressionism, to establish the element of emotion. According to Wolf (2017), expressionist artists often incorporate “swirling, swaying, and exaggeratedly executed brushstrokes to convey the turgid emotional state of the artist reacting to the anxieties of the modern world” (p. 1). Amplification of the human figure often evokes strong emotions for audiences of many different cultures. Additionally, the style reflects the consequences of urbanization, such as the alienation of individuals in society (Wolf, 2017). Expressionism allows artists to surpass realism and reflect the tribulations of living in a modern society.

Though, throughout this time period, “the great majority of Americans disliked or even despised modern art,” it was an essential art movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and the “CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the world for more than 20 years,” creating a meaningful impact on the outcome of the Cold War (Saunders). “Abstract Expressionism stood for, above all else,

The largest downfall in the lives a century ago was the spanish flu that started during the november of 1918. It infected one in every five people of u.s during the calamity and took the lives of 675,000 people, close to 10 times as many lives as from ww1, leaving a deep wound on to the history of U.S. the next difficulties faced by the people of U.S was their work difficulties. 85% of adult men were working for labors in many factories for an average of 55 hours a week. And they were not working in good A.C conditions. Instead their fatality rate at work was 30 times higher than present day. And you would think that they would get a bad for it right? Indeed they did get a bad pay for it. They had to spend half of their pay for feeding themselves.yeah. It was not good. Now unlike men who had to work hard, women were treated differently coz women.. Working… let's move on…. Ok im not being a feminist. Contrary to popular belief, i treat women and men equally.. Coz i beat people no matter their what their gender is. Next up is Art…. the tool to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time. Now there is only one thing i want to talk about in art and that is the rise in expressionism, or like I call it, the start of a disaster.*rage*. If there is one thing the future generation will make fun of, it is the fact that people buy these. Let's get to the conclusion before i kill all the expressionists in the world*tear the paper.*. In

German Expressionism is a kind of art that is supposed to make you feel something. When you look at a painting such as “The Scream” by Edvard Munch (1863-1944), you ask yourself what kind of emotions does this painting give you. A group of early 20th century German artists used the term “expressionism” to desribe the way they produced art. The title later turned into “German Expressionism”. This art movement was prominent during 1905-1925. In German it is known as “Die Brucke” and “Der Blaue Reiter”. Unlike Impressionism, its goals were not to reproduce the impression by the surrounding world, but to express the artists feelings on the surrounding world. Expressionism comes from the route word “expression” which

Pop Art emerged in Britain in the late 50’s and the United States in the early 60’s.(Mamiya 1992) Pop Art is generally known today as a representation of celebrating popular culture and consumerism, however it’s background and origins are far more broad and extensive. There are many factors and influences that lead to the creation of the Pop Art movement such as adjusting to life after World War II, new technological advances that lead to mass cooperate growth, the evolution of Abstract Expressionism and also social issues in the media such as feminism. (Smith 2001; Mamiya 1992) Many of these factors overlap and act as a catalyst in the creation of Neodadaism and eventually Pop Art. (Livingstone 1992) Pop Art does not have a soul distinct style nor just one major influence and this can be proven by looking at key artists of the movement such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist as well as female Pop artists such as Martha Rosler. (Brauer, Edwards, Finch & Hopps 2001) Exploring these artists and the major influences of their work will break down Pop Art and establish the movement’s purpose as well as its evolution.

To understand most period and movements in modern art, one must first understand the context in which they occurred. When one looks at the various artistic styles, one will realize how artists react to historical and cultural changes and how artists perceive their relation to society.

World War I was a war that shocked the world and brought about new emotions that created a large wave of “-isms” as well as the “lost generation” of writers. Modern art was catalyzed by World War I and without a thorough study of the various forms of art that resulted from it, modern art and the tremendous effect that World War I had on the people of the world cannot be fully understood. This historical investigation will cover a few aspects of the art that resulted from World War I so that a general idea of the emotions shared by the people of the world can be known. A few paintings that represent specific movements will be studied to understand the artistic movement. A number of museum exhibitions will be studied along with government websites, databases, and museum websites, especially from the Museum of Modern Art.

Art has evolved and regenerated itself many times during our human existence. These differences are defined through changes in styles under various theories. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a style known as Expressionism became popular. During this movement the artists were trying to use their artwork as a tool of expression toward life. It was mainly dominant in the nonrepresentational arts, such as abstract visual arts and music. It also was probably one of the most difficult movements to understand because the whole point of the piece lay within the artist. Not only was it a movement, it defined the act of art as a whole. From the beginning of time, each work of art, excluding replicas, show a way of expressing

Much of the passion for a modernist change in art can be seen to arise from a need to compensate for new conditions in modern experience.

In order to discuss pop art I have chosen to examine the work and to some extent lives of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who were two of the main forces behind the American movement. I intend to reflect the attitudes of the public and artists in America at this time, while examining the growing popularity of pop art from its rocky, abstract expressionist start in the 1950s through the height of consumer culture in the 60s and 70s to the present day.

Mark Rothko- Abstract Expressionist paintings can be divided into two groups. That of the action painters and that of the colour-field painters. As melancholic and misanthropic as Pollok, killing himself in 1970. Understood that to paint a flat form painting destroyed illusion and revealed truth. He was very aware of the spiritual dimensions attainable in abstract art, some of his works being described as deeply religious. (Hugh Honour & Fleming, 1991)

Max Pechstein is one of the most well-known German expressionist along with August Macke, and George Grosz. The idea of expressionism was that art came from within the artist rather than what the artist was seeing in the external world. Artist of the expressionist period used swirling, swaying, and other exaggerated brushstrokes in their work. The techniques were meant to portray the emotional state of the artist based off their anxieties of what was happening in the real world. This idea was also accomplished through distortion.

Abstract Expressionism is making its comeback within the art world. Coined as an artist movement in the 1940’s and 1950’s, at the New York School, American Abstract Expressionist began to express many ideas relevant to humanity and the world around human civilization. However, the subject matters, contributing to artists, were not meant to represent the ever-changing world around them. Rather, how the world around them affected the artist themselves. The works swayed by such worldly influences, become an important article within the artists’ pieces. Subjectively, looking inward to express the artist psyche, artists within the Abstract Expressionism movement became a part of their paintings. Making the paintings more of a representation

Modernism has found new expressions in art which in turn have changed how people critic and understand art, in this essay I am going to focus more on abstract expressionism. Debates in this movement have gone as far as influencing many artists and the two well-known critics who have made this movement more remarkable and have changed the art world completely are Clement Greenberg and Ronald Rosenberg. On the writings of these two gentlemen about art I will try to draw out the differences in the idea of what abstract expressionism is and what it is supposed to be, compare and outline the similarities and the differences between the two critics.

Before minimalism in the 1950s, the dominant art movement in the United States was Abstract Expressionism. The artists at that time’s goal were to express their personal emotions through their artwork (“Introduction to Minimal Art”). One popular branch of Abstract Expressionism was called Action Painting. This style of painting was spontaneous; paint would be