The Beginning Of The Twentieth Century

Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

n reflecting on this week’s readings, I can see the connection between the previous readings on the Harlem Renaissance and the one on Abstract Expressionism, especially as it relates to art being used for social change. Just as our society was moving at a fast pace, so was our art. Looking back, it’s amazing to see how racism, women’s rights and war brought on so many different attitudes and the art of the 20th century represented these different ideas. As it relates to war, many people were concerned about the dangers of democracy, while others emphasized patriotism. In either case, you can see a split between people’s perceptions and beliefs. It’s clear that most of the artist of the 20th century that we discussed were always on the cutting edge toward cultural change. Their shocking and innovative techniques reflected the changing values that represented a forever changing society; and often times their art helped shaped our culture, and at the same time, reflected that culture back on to us. From all the different art movements discussed during this course, this week’s readings represents the changing role they art is beginning to play in the political area. I believe that art plays a vital role in democracy, by creating openness and the freedom of expression. It’s amazing how art, be that it through a painting, literature, sculpting or through music can bring about change. Art really makes an impact on our culture and society, from instilling values or by changing opinions. It seems at the heart of every major change throughout our history, you will find an artist that created that change through his or her works. We form our ideas by seeing,

History since the end of the Civil War to the end of the 20th century has changed drastically when you asses America on an economic, social, and political level. The changes between the end of the 19th century and the end of the 20th century are the cause in the way America has been shaped and how American’s think. In fact, industrialization and urbanization, equal rights for all citizens, and two world wars played a major role in the shape of America to our understanding. Although, there are numerous events that have shaped the country since the end of slavery throughout the United States, there are several that are viewed as signs of great change, such as the Reconstruction Era, the Industrialization Era, World War I and World War II, the Great Depression Era, and the Civil Rights Movement Era. Though, these descriptions only scratch the surface of the greater changes, they can be well-defined as events that created America today.

Art before the 20th century consisted of new styles and three-dimensional spectrums to create the most realistic painting possible. Portraits and landscapes were presented as sort of photographs with a paint brush. Everything required specific fundamentals and anything different would be rejected and labeled degenerate. During this time, foundations were put to the test and it was completely disordered by revolutionary ideas and styles. This art influenced a vast majority of modern day art. Pablo Picasso’s cubism and Henri Matisse fauvism helped shape this era not only in style of painting, but a revolution against conformity of a social artistic structure.

Before the 19th century, artists mainly made artwork for the wealthy people and the religious groups. They were controlled by the academy and painted in a way that mainstream society recognized. Many of their paintings depicted scenes of mythology and church. However in the 19th century, industrialization brought many new technologies to ordinary people, making the impossible possible. Many artists began to create artworks to explore the concept of symbolism. Many of their subjects were daily things such as ordinary people, normal places and the things they had direct experience on. They challenged the traditional concept that artists must depict realistic worlds. Instead, they used a wide range of colors, materials and techniques to

Between 1877 where William Morris wrote “The Lesser Art”, till 1919 when Walter Gropius came up with his program for artists in training, the world has witnessed not only waves of art movements. But also, one of the most devastating events in the modern history, WWI. However, for one to look at what Arts and Crafts movement have brought to the world of art, and compare it to Bauhaus, would not believe how similar the ideas of both men were. As a result of the industrial revolution, Morris wrote about unifying artists and producers, in hope to fight what he described as “vulgarity” (Gorman, 37). On the other hand, Gropius talked about the need for unifying artists with industry, in order to bring back art which became isolated in the “salons”

Art in the nineteenth century can be described as very traditional, similar, romantic, and simple. Stepping into the twentieth century, artists turned to color, angles, and new incredibly unconventional styles. Major art forms such as cubism, futurism, fauvism, non-objective, and the international style were born. Artists became more creative and inspired by the new age. All three styles rejected the traditional ways of nineteenth century art and entered the new century with unconventional and revolutionary techniques and pieces that have changed the way artists think and create still to this day.

Art can not be made without the unique and impactful minds of its creators. Many artists found inspiration from society’s desperate times to create new forms of art. Artists wanted their art to have an impact not only in their society but on others as well. They wanted their art to be meaningful. “The German Expressionist movement was more than just a style of creating works of art or of telling a story, rather it was more of a mindset that had social, cultural, and political aspects. German Expressionism can be understood as a means of approaching life and, in particular, change” (Gruber). “Many artists’ intentions was to show society’s desire for a new and improved society” (Bebuquin, p32).

The 20th century have seen more scientific and technological progress than all the other centuries. The 20th century saw a major change in the way people saw the nation with changes in economy, politics, ideology, culture, society, technology, medicine and science. The backdrop of the last half of the 20th century was the World War II. In the Late twentieth century, the world has become socially standardized with the developments of communication technology and transportation. By the end of the twentieth centuries, many non-cold war events occurred. For example, the decolonization of Southeast Asia and Africa, emergence of china as a global power, perpetual volatility of the Middle East, global terrorism, and economic and environmental issues.

The decade of 1920 is one of the most important in the progress of fashion, incomparable sheer development of artistic U-turn; begin in defined ideas with the expansion of women’s vote in the pursuing post WWI. The 1920’s era was a time of human being in the era of stylishness where a modern woman was inherent.

The early twentieth century saw a gradual shift in the way Americans desired to care for struggling single mothers. The well-being of poverty stricken mothers, and their offspring became a social responsibility for the first time. Americans wanted to ensure that they were protected, and constant advocation to improve upon nineteenth century poor laws that favored separating families reached the White House in 1909. Incited by the peoples demands President Theodore Roosevelt called a conference to address their concerns on how to properly deal with poor single mothers. The outcome would be the formation of Mothers Pension, a “movement (that) sought to provide state aid for poor fatherless children who would remain in their own homes cared for by their mothers” (Warner, 2008) . Illinois would be the first state to implement the pension in 1911, but within the next twenty years all but two states would adopt similar practices.

Throughout the vast history of art, historians can find connections throughout the centuries. Artists from the beginning of humankind have been inspired by the world around them. From the Apollo 11 stones to present day, history and culture have provided inspiration and have been the focus of various pieces. Examining artwork from the 15th-18th century, viewers can be shown a whole world that would be unknown to us without these artist’s contributions. History, religion, and cultural events have sculpted the art world, and we can observe this through many pieces during the 15th-18th centuries.

With the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century came a lot of change for the U. S. with the coming about of railroads and electricity, the U.S. was undergoing a profound economic revolution and as the economy grew, U.S. territory would also experience great expansion into the west, Latin America and Asia. The first form of U.S. expansion would occur in the American west. In 1862 the U.S. government would encourage its people to move out west in an attempt to improve and cultivate the land. The Homestead Act of 1862 would provide any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had not borne arms against the U.S. government, claim over 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants would need to have a valid plan for

“Modern painting, breaking through old conversation, has released countless suggestions which are still waiting to be used by the practical world.”(Gropius) The birth of modernism and modern art goes back to the Industrial Revolution, a period that lasted from the 18th to the 19th century, in which rapid changes in manufacturing, transportation, and technology profoundly affected the social, economic, and cultural conditions of life in Western Europe, North America, and eventually the world. Before the 19th century, artists created art pieces for wealthy people and institution places like the church where they can create art works about storytelling of religious or mythological scenes . These arts were there to instruct the viewers.However, this changed when during the 19th century many artists began to create works that were about people, places, or ideas that interested them, and of which they had direct experience. With the popularization of the idea of a subconscious mind, many artists began exploring dreams, symbolism, and personal iconography as avenues for the depiction of their subjective experiences.Challenging the notion that art must realistically depict the world, some artists experimented with the expressive use of color, non-traditional materials, and new techniques and mediums.

Art overall is created and adored by numerous amount of people for many reasons, such as amplifying shared common visual language. The word art often branches into many different movements and components. Modern art or Contemporary art is one those components; this specific genre began mainly in the 1860’s to the 1970’s. During, this time period artists began throwing aside their own beliefs in a spirit of experimentation and the bringing of new ideas. The purpose of Modern art is to beautify one’s surroundings with intrigue, its often very diverse and cannot be easily defined through a list of visual characteristics, artistic themes or cultural concern. Moreover, Modern art is often hard to understand by people because, unlike Egyptian tomb paintings or Greek sculptures, it speaks to the dramatic social, political and technological changes of the last 50-60 years, and questions many of society’s values and assumptions. Also, Modern artists known for incorporating a great deal of abstraction into their works and representational forms to convey their ideas more elaborately; Rene Magritte is one of those artists.