Max Ernst was an artist who experimented outside of the comfort zone when expressing his artistic abilities in his working years, from 1891 to 1976. His work reflects his involvement in, first dada, then surrealism, and his preferred medium, oil on canvas. Ernst once said "Painting is not for me either decorative amusement, or the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation.”i Ernest lived during a time of political, economic and social upheaved in Europe. He became a soldier in WWI, and this experience had a deep impact on his future work. He was mostly concerned with the modern world being irrational. These issues he experienced in-person, made him believe the world was not the way it should …show more content…
Sometimes the impact is obvious, through the use of images from the war, like the chemical bomb in the piece titled Here Everything Is Still Floating (1920). Some of these works might need a little more thorough examination to identify the meaning behind them, because the references are abstract, such as in the series of works from 65 Maximiliana (a culmination of Ernst’s engagement with illustrated books). We know this reference because the use of imagery he uses directly compares to scenes from the war. It still does, however captures the emotion and tone Ernst is still trying to convey by this use of imagery, color tones and analysis. The first work that drew my attention was a piece titled Here Everything Is Still Floating made in 1920 with the use of cut-and-paste printed paper and pencil on printed paper on card stock. This small, 6x8 inch work has a very intense impression when viewed. It was made a few years after the first World War, and is a commentary on that experience. Germany, during the time in which Ernst was found himself serving, was a time where even citizens found themselves in a state of being confused, scared; the events were so sudden, they were not prepared for.v The ground in this piece is an image of an aerial chemical bomb attack that was originally from a book on German military aviation. He also cut out a
In Abstract Expressionism - a certain construction of the world we call “individuality” is revealed in its true, that is to say, contingent, vulgarity. And so is painting; or rather, so are paintings like Hofmann’s “The Garden” and Adolph Gottlieb’s “Black, Blue Red” - done as they were under the sign or spell of such a construction, by “individuals” believing utterly (innocently, idiotically) in its power.
World War 1 was a gruesome point in history that led to immense carnage and anguish of millions. However, on a happier note, this dark time was followed by movements such as Cubism, Precisionism, and Expressionism. Among these movements existed Surrealism, a movement that would not have come to be without the influence of “the war to end all wars”.
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
Art in World War I was observed in many forms, from photography to art movements on the home fronts of many countries. What many people did not realize is that art was also used in the war for battle. Propaganda and camouflage were crucial to the success on the battlefield and they were used and produced in ways not normally seen in history before. Propaganda had existed before WWI but was used heavily in this war and was often negatively themed, to promote involvement in a war against the evil enemy. Complex camouflage of machinery, ships, and uniforms also arose during the Great War, and this
Through the cultural frame, artworks are concerned with understanding how an artwork is influenced by the values of the society it is produced in, and, in turn, how the artwork influences the values of the society. This includes examining the historical and cultural context in which the work was made, and religious and/or philosophical beliefs, which may have influenced the work. Plate 1, ‘Corpse in Barbed Wire’ 1924 is a German Expressionist etching by Otto Dix, reflecting war and. His works document the reality of the through the subject matter and positioning. He uses abstraction of form to represent the effects and perceptions of war. The work is also an example of German expressionism, a popular art movement at the time it was created.
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.
In 1928 a boy of the name Elie Wiesel was born. Elie is one of the million people who were tortured and dehumanized during World War Ⅱ. When he was just 12 years old he witnessed his entire family being murdered at the hands of cruel Nazis. A few years after the war, Elie Wiesel wrote a book, called Night, that detailed the experiences he and other Jews had to go through during their time in concentration camps.. Through the use of imagery, personification, and repetition Elie makes readers empathize with his situation though many of the readers have not been in an analogous situation to that of Elie’s. One of the ways Elie Wiesel makes readers understand his situation is through the use of imagery.
When studying artists, styles of art and their respective time period, it is always important to find a few key artists that were responsible for the rise of new art trends. Traditionally, art has often a reflection of the most important elements within its respective time period, such as wars, religions, royalty, culture and expression. This is why the study of art history is needs to look deeper than simply understanding how certain artworks were created. Among the various artists studied in the course, Andy Warhol is definitely one of the most influential. Far ahead of his time in thinking and talented in several media forms, Warhol was a product of his time and defined his era with the use of his artwork, giving rise to other artists within the same time period. This paper will argue that Warhol was not only an influence to modern art, he defined the concept of "pop art", which combined consumerism and pop culture, creating works that questioned the norm of society at the time, while providing a strong influence to future artists. Warhol was hugely successful in his artistic efforts and several of his staple works will be discussed in regards to its significance and representation of its respective period of time, as well as Warhol’s influence on the history of art.
The produced not only informed, but it also helped hinder the war. Many photographs arrested the eye because within the photo lay an untold story. Therefore, these images captivated
Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix, a known portraitist and realist artist in Germany in the 1920s and 30s, is known for his controversial artworks that focus on taboo subjects surrounding World War I and II. This period evoked a rise in portraiture and a decline in abstraction because “human beings, shattered by wartime experiences and filled with existential fear, suddenly seemed to be worthy subjects” (Rewald 3). When he returned from fighting in the war filled with anger, horror and disgust, Dix was inspired to follow this evolving theme in art in order to express his feelings, which is something he believed could not be done in painting landscape
His painting “Trench Warfare” depicts a typical battle. “Trench Warfare” is comprised of four smaller images pieced together. In the left panel there is a group of men marching. A fog or smoke seems to be gathering around these men, making their surroundings unclear. WWI was full of uncertainty.
Although there are significant distinctions between Dadaism and Surrealist movement in their focus of interest in exploring the language and the art, they also happen to have similar concept for groundbreaking the norms and sometimes makes it hard for people to differentiate them. Then, here is an artist who manage to cover and is considered to be one of the pioneers for both Dadaism and Surrealism: Max Ernst. Due to the traumatic army experience during the World War 1, Ernst became highly critical of the western culture. His experience of the brutality of the world critically influenced his later works to become quite absurd, yet interesting like those of other Dadaists. In terms of relationship between the word and the image, Ernst created the so-called fatagaga, or Fabrication de Tableaux Gasometriques Garantis, which meant the combination of the artists to create an artwork including imagery and text. These Dadaist collaborative works deemphasized the importance of individual authorship and allowed the artists’ interactions to further development of Dadaism.
German expressionism was born around the first decades of the twentieth century. Following the World War I, it focused on giving “objective expression to subjective human feelings and emotions” (Barsam & Monahan 194). To do so they manipulated design elements. Their aim was to immerse the audience in the story by creating a mise-en-scène that would intensify it.
The exhibit contained upwards of 20 photographs and at least 60 paintings. One of the most agreeable things about the works of art that I witnessed is that collectively, they assisted in recounting the sentiment that gripped the country during the war that threatened to sunder it. One could almost feel the initial enthusiasm as the war broke out, that was swiftly prolonged by numerous clashes over a period of years. There were works that alluded to an impending war, ones that depicted that war, and numerous ones that hinted at a hoped for ending in which the mightiness of the country would someday be restored.
Tremendous technological advance and tremendous slaughter leave an artistic waste land of atrocity, emasculation and pointing posters used to manipulate the public into recruiting men to join the military around the globe. Skilled illustrators in America, less inventive but artistic allegory’s in Canada and France and plain typography in Britain leave many artists busy with supporting the war effort. On the outskirts of war were a contingency of international peoples with little means and a negative view of European culture and war that chose to defect to Switzerland where they created the art movement known as Dada.