The Visual Art Of The Twentieth Century

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”.

Though the start of the modernisation may trace back to the beginning of Industrial Revolution. “Modernism in the design world did not exist in a fully developed form, until well after First World War.” (Wilk, 2006) Causing the great loss of lives and other countless damage to the world, it reshaped many people’s way of thinking the world. With the inspiration of early avant-garde movement, the modernism began to emerge advocating an utopian future and shared certain core principles by various styles of modernists: rejecting the past and applied ornament; forms follow function, a preference for

Modernisation allowed for new trends and styles to be created that no longer payed such homage to the past and tradition, but rather moved forward in obvious progress and difference. This is one of Edgar Kaufmann Jr.’s design principals from his catalogue titled ‘What is Modern Design’, that principal being Modern design should express the spirit of our times. (Kaufmann, 1950)

During the twenty years after World War One, three major art movements appeared: dadaism, functionalism, and surrealism. Dadaism, a movement which conveyed erratic and random movements that were supposed to contradict human behavior, was a response to the anxiety of those who didn’t know how to react because of all of the strange and despairing behavior in the world. Because of these conveyed ideas, dadaism promoted outrageous and random behavior. Functionalism, a movement which tried to explore the functions and purpose of things and nature, was an attempt to find the purpose of humans in the dark times following the war. Surrealism, a movement which painted wild dreams and complex symbols, tried to spread the idea of hope from the current scary world. Through surrealism, imagination and hope was brought out through paintings that featured crazy illusions and impossible dreams. Overall, these artistic movements tried to answer and embody the general sense of anxiety felt by

Dada, known for it’s chaotic nature, indirect protesting and iconoclasm also evolved into a political movement. Rejection of artistic mastery, defying authority, overprinting, and purposeful mistakes, where all a part of what Tristain Tzara and his contemporaries were trying to succeed. Cubism, Vorticism, Orphism, Purism, and Futurism also came about because of World War I. Heavily influenced by Cubism and it’s shattered glass appearance Futurism was the most politically mind of these five movements. Somewhat akin to Dada in it’s chaotic nature Futurist’s, however, were staunchly pro war and were looking for ways to bring Italy into the present times. Purism, on the other hand, took the collage look of synthetic Cubism and modern abstract style and made

Art has been a recurring part of history from the very beginning. As society changes so does the style of art. Each new style is known as a movement and one of the most prominent, long-lasting movements in recent centuries is known as Modernism. Modernism is characterized by its deviation from tradition. People who are a part of this movement found enjoyment in finding new mediums to use, creating art that revolves around feelings and emotions rather than reality. Abstract idealisms of modernism cause its viewers to need to think more critically about the art before them. In past movements, the meaning of the work was obvious as it was created to mimic reality.

At the start of the 1900s, the world was in troubling times. With a global war beginning in 1914 with barely twenty years of rest before the second World War initiating. Layered on top of this unrest, Spain was in the middle of it’s own crisis with a civil war ensuing in the 1930’s. With all the unrest, it is improbably to believe that artists were not greatly affected by the events of the world at the time. I am interested in how the wars specifically influenced the emerging art movements in the early to mid 1900’s, such as Dada and Surrealism. With a focus on Surrealism, how did the ideas identifiable to Surrealism emerge differently in different locations, and in relation to the war? I will view the direct involvement of popular

The sculptures created in the Renaissance era saw the use of new techniques and styles that were never used before. The artwork had a huge impact of humanism on the different artists in this era. Starting around the 14th century and ending around the beginning of the 17th century the Renaissance era art was all about realistic linear perspective where the artist would observe objects from close and far and then paint it. This enabled the artist to get a lot of depth in his or her sculptures. Also, the art changed to depicting joy of human emotions and pleasures of life. On the other hand, art of today, also known as contemporary art, started a few years after World War II up to present day. During this period, different art movements occurred that influenced artists all over the world. In the 1950 and 1960, contemporary art was influenced by movements like Abstract, Expressionism, Pop Art, Neo-Dada, Minimalism and New York School. Some of the famous artists of this era are Andy Warhol, Wassily Kandisky, Robert Lichtenstein and Jackson Pollock (Witcombe, 2005). The 1960s was a playground for modern art. In spite of this new movement in art, the innovation and technical skill was not of a near caliber as of the Renaissance era. This mainly because of the lack in detail and human spirit, these are not recognized in modern art sculptures, paintings and photographs today. This being a

When Cubism reached its glorious grasp around 1907–1914, the World was in a wild place. With the Ottoman Empire losing power; European influences were becoming avaricious for more, eventually leading to the start of World War I. On the other side of the world we had America rising as a global supremacy, creating its way to a worldly control. Because of these chaotic matters, society was shifting towards a new direction. The Art World with its artists and writers also responded to this conversion as well. The destruction and cruelty of War altered the lives of several European artists, brought an end to several art movements, and gave light to other movements and brought them to importance. Obviously the artists effected by the war had their work influenced by it but the early decades of the twentieth century gave birth to groundbreaking movements and styles, out of which Cubism (1908-12) was the most rational of all the Avant- Grade movements. It excluded the idea of linear perspective in favor of grander prominence on the two dimensional picture plane, scandalizing the arts academics of Europe along the visitors of Parisian Salon des Independants and the New York Armory Show (1913) in the process

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 from 1950-1960, more specifically pop art was aimed at making fun of contemporary art, by taking common objects and putting them in the spot light as regal and significant possessions. “The subject matter became far from traditional “high art” themes of morality, mythology, and classic history; rather, Pop artists celebrated commonplace objects and people of everyday life[…]” (Wolf 2015). Artists during this time were also influenced by many things, including the industrial revolution, recent wars and capitalism: two famous artists from this era were Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring. Both of these artists had different styles that can be compared and contrasted. Pop art was created with the intention of mocking contemporary art and was

Each artist of the Dada era had a new way of expressing Freud?s ideas. They also felt that art was a powerful means of self-revelation, and that the images came from ones subconscious mind had a truth of its own. As Marcel Duchamp mocked the Mona Lisa by drawing a Padilla 3 mustache on her, stated that the painting was a lewd message set by the conventional way of thinking. Since the Dada artist did not believe in western culture this made sense, because people only want believe what is told to them, instead of what is true. The Dada movement marked a meeting of people to have ?noise concerts? where they recited poems in a free association verse. In these poetry readings the artist perceived how they felt about the world. As World War I began the Dadaist perceived it as a world gone mad. Not only did they express their work in unconventional ways; they used the subconscious as a way of making their views true. Although the Dada era was short lived it influenced and questioned the traditional concepts of the western world. These techniques set an agenda for a new trial by error art form of this same era. The spirit of Freud in the Dadaist era never really died, it is shown today as ?Pop art? or sometimes known as neo-Dada art forms. Also this revolution of thinking and art paved the way for the Surrealist movement. The Surrealist movement of the 1920?s through 1930?s captivated the world with its bizarre way of thinking. Just as the Dadaist used

Art is one of the most magnificent things of this world. People have been inspired by art and have been creating it for ages. Art is a truly magical creation that will continue until the end of time. Throughout history, many different movements of art have been introduced. For example, there was Cubism, American Regionalism, Fauvism, Surrealism, Expressionism, and so on. Each movement was unique and contained fantastic artist who poured their heart and soul into their work. All of the different forms of art vary in color as well as technique. Two essential art movements that have an effect on art today are the Renaissance and Impressionism.

The beginning of 20th century was a time of drastic change. New developments were made in the arenas of the classical sciences, social science, psychology and philosophy - each challenging traditional thought. Industrialization and the introduction of many new, challenging concepts in the fields of politics as well as the development of new technologies gave artist more freedom to innovate and break the rules of traditional art. By using new materials, techniques and the new approach artists were pushing boundaries of what has previously been accepted art practice in order to invent radically new styles.

“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.