The Role Of Communism And Aesthetic Reforms In The 18th Century

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.

Social classes in America changed greatly in the 18th century because of the economic success that occurred at this time. “Expanding trade made possible the emergence of a powerful upper class” (Foner, 123), which also made possible the emergence of a weaker lower class. The upper classmen of the colonies, also known as the colonial elite, were the ones who planted staple crops or the ones who rule colonies. Although there were no set social rankings, it was clear that prominent men controlled the colonies’ governments. Planters of the colonial elite no longer had to worry about if they were going to be able to pass their wealth down to the next generations in their family; prominence in the 18th century became possible through family relations.

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.

The Reformation was a religious movement that divided the church between the Catholics and Protestants. The Counter-Reformation was a reaction movement that followed this originally crusade, and was lead by the Catholics as a response to the wide spread of Protestantism. The purpose of the Counter-Reformation was to spawn internal reforms. This movement was focused on the renewal of the church in the form of the use of images, focus on the church as the house of God, and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and Saints. The Counter-Reformation was responsible for the start of major change in the Catholic Church and with regard to the role of art; the importance of art was heightened and the movement sought out to restore Catholicism and make is more attractive, thus emerged the Baroque style.

There were so many reforms that happened during the 1830s and 1840s; many of which made a great impact, some didn’t make any impact, and some had an impact that took place a great deal later. Below are just some of the movements that were believed, created and fought for:

Transition of art and architecture from the gilded Age to the era of Ashcan artists

“The Transformation of European Society” by Gary B. Nash talks about the economic, social, and religious changes that took place in the British colonies in the eighteenth century in North America. The author discussed that the people of a once strict hierarchical society of Europe now had a more democratic and individualistic American view. The vast land, which distinguished America from Europe, allowed people to get rich fast and climb the social ladder. Unlike America, in Europe there was a large disparity between the rich and the poor. If you were born a blacksmith's son, you would die a blacksmith. However, the vast amount of land in America offered great opportunities for growth. Poor farmers could become rich businessmen in no time in the northern colonies, which helped to develop an

After the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment of the 16th and 17th centuries, much of Europe began to embrace progress. This new worldview led to the Industrial Revolution, a period beginning in the late 18th century and lasting through the 19th century in which England experienced economic expansion and a burst of new, major inventions that earned England great industrial power. However, this transformation did not come without issues. The problems of the Industrial Revolution, including horrific living conditions and a loss of humanity, were largely unrecognized by the English government at first, but after years of reformers, writers, and foreigners bringing attention to these issues, the English government acted to successfully

A few of the richest and most secure plantation families did aspire to live like a traditional landed aristocracy, and visiting English nobility accepted them as equaly. Big houses, elegant carriages, fancy dress balls and multitudes of house servants all reflect aristocratic aspirations

As a rule, there exists a high correlation between one’s skill level and the market value of those services in the absence of economic anomalies. One such aberration, the housing crash, swept across the United States shortly after the turn of the last century and displayed strong reverberations still experienced a decade later. Salient transformations can also eventuate from sweeping technological innovation or sociological paradigm shifts, especially after their championing by educational, business or political leaders. The historically significant period in Europe’s seventeenth and eighteenth century, known as the Age of Enlightenment, where ideas concerning the human condition would usher in a plethora of revolutionary developments in art,

Ireland’s political history has always been tumultuous and vivid. Especially the 18th century can be said to feature several key events of the nationalist conflict, which united Ireland and Scotland against the English Crown. Irish ballads and poetry, in general, constitute an account of various events that have happened in the 18th century. In the following essay, I want to give a brief overview of salient characteristics of this time, focusing especially on the “Jacobite” ballad ‘Mo Ghile Mear’ written by Seán “Clárach” Mac Domhnaill.

For as long as it has been in existence, the arts have been utilised to reflect, represent and review change and transformation within society, whether it be through art, literature, music or poetry. The ideas and expressions of the arts of the Romantic period were inspired by and formed around the Romantic’s experiences of social injustice, inequality and political turmoil. Political and economic developments and events such as the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the end of the Enlightenment period and the increased ideology of Capitalism were the primary source of inspiration for the Romantics, as they conveyed their ideas and thoughts on society through the arts. They expressed and portrayed a wide variety of things through their art, whether it be inequality in society, their feelings and thoughts on the state of politics, beauty, nature, sexuality and pleasure and animals. The Romantic movement was, in a sense, almost an act of rebellion against the typical confines and norms that society typically demands as it gave a voice and a platform to opinions that could be considered unconventional, tackled issues such as inequality and prejudice, normalised many topics that were considered to be taboo and encouraged things such as questioning dominant ideologies that dictated society, such as religion and the government. The works of art and literature produced by the Romantics portrayed somewhat of a utopian society in which inequality and exploitation ceased to

Communism is the system in which all property and wealth is owned in a classless society by all the members of that civilization. The development of labor forces and factories led to the ideas like communism. During the Industrial Revolution the government had control over the economy, such as controlling land that farmers owned but had no rights to. Karl Marx one of the creators of communism, encouraged the lower class to conquer the upper class to free them from poverty. The industrial process was the movement towards the feudal economy which was necessary for the development communism.

The first group to move towards anything like nationalism was the Slavophile movement that grew during the nineteenth-century. Largely writers and newly graduated university elites, they developed as a reaction to the elites’ identity crisis resulting from increasing western influences in Russia.11 They elevated the peasantry and collective in an effort to bring Russia back to her true identity. What they held to be true “Russianness” was a return to rural, folk Russia of the pre-Petrine era, before Russia had been opened up to the west.12 In reality much of their beliefs about true Russianness were very esoteric.13 The psychology behind this obsession with the peasantry and rural village social structure was an identity crisis. Russian aristocracy

Even though the country was continuing to flourish, minorities and women were treated as unfit to be citizens. Times were oppressive for those individuals who just wanted to be equal. Several movements spawn from this prejudice era. One of the main movements commonly talked about would be the feminist movement. As society progressed a foundation was put in place that often left out the rights of women. Feelings of unfairness fueled the fire, pushing women activist to fight for their rights such as voting, fair wages, sexuality, and equality. Women felt that men were the cause of their suffrage. Placing a negative connotation on the masculine role as a whole.