Transition Of Art And Architecture From The Gilded Age

Geoffrey Wright, an El Paso architect, describes Henry Trost’s grand design of El Paso High School incorrectly as a “renaissance revival” in a 1991 article in the Austin American-Statesman. Although he was mistaken in this observation, he made another observation that was correct, which is that the eastern façade of El Paso High School’s six humongous columns, on top of it’s bases and adorned with acanthus leaves, is most definitely a design of the Classical Revival style. He also went on to state, “[T]he style adopted the best parts of Greek and Italian architecture centuries later.”

The University Museum, here on Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus, is currently displaying “Gilded age to Great War: Milton Bancroft and His Art.” I was very impressed by the beauty and great diversity of his art, which had clear objectives and not abstract or hard to understand. It clearly resembles the era the Bancroft lived in. The museum had more than 100 pieces of his work, varying in age from 1896-1943. The history of the Bancroft art is very interesting, especially for our class, because he lived through both World Wars. He was married to Margaret Moore in June of 1893 He studied artwork in Paris for many years, and his first of three children was born in September of 1896. The family returned to New York City in May of 1989 where

Prior to the Gilded Age, the Northern and Southern areas of America were different; however, they were not as disparate as they would be after the Industrialization period that occurred during the late 1800's. The Gilded Age brought about common things known today, such as: railroads, steel production, telephones, etc. During the time, these grand improvements seemed to only happen in the Northen regions of the United States, whereas the South was still farming and such things. This was because of the huge immigration boom, resulting in foreigners looking for jobs in factories and whatnot in, typically, the North. The North stepped up their game in becoming more industrialized, leaving the South to still be focused on the agrarian sides of

When talking about art in the colonies, architecture is one thing that seemed to advance in this time. Once architecture began to advance it changed the way people lived. They began to live in brick houses that had symmetrical placement of doors and windows. This style had also been used for churches, schools and other important public places. In this time architecture wasn’t the only form of art that had begun to become popular at this time,

The long Gilded Age of America started in 1870 and lasted until 1930. It started right after the Civil War and was a period of extreme economic and industrial growth. After the war, a period known as Reconstruction started. The Reconstruction was meant to rebuild the economy of the South. However, the Reconstruction not only didn’t help the South that much, it also didn’t help the newly freed African Americans. According to Eric Foner’s book Give Me Liberty Volume 2, “African-Americans’ understanding of freedom was shaped by their experience as slaves and their observation of the free society around them.” Even after the Civil War, life was still not good for African Americans. One deadly system that was very similar to slavery was the convict leasing system. According to the Reconstruction Amendments, the 13th Amendment outlawed all slavery except ones “ except as a punishment for crime”. Those few words were enough for many people to exploit this by falsely accusing people(many of them African American) of crime and forcing them to work in horrific conditions such as mines and factories. In the Slavery By Another Name video, it told of situations when convicts were through with their time and yet would be forced to stay by the harsh rule of the place they were working at. Many blacks would get sent to prison and then leased for minor misdemeanors or idiotic actions such as stealing a pig or the “Vagrancy Statutes”(from Slavery By Another Name). These statutes basically

The aesthetic elements of 1877-1900 were very important and contributed to the era known as the Gilded Age. It was a time where people would proudly display their wealth through the use of their homes and parties, such as extravagant balls and weddings. The phrase “conspicuous consumption,” which was a tag created by a sociologist, accurately described this time period (Keene, 519). This phrase helps explain that during this time people used their luxuries on a very grand scale in order to enhance their own reputations. They constructed prominent mansions in the best urban districts and had private summer retreat homes.

The late 19th century of American history is most commonly known as the Gilded Age, because of its attractive appearance, but underlying corruption. Popular themes during this period were greed and guile. This can most clearly be seen in the nature of city governments and political machine systems. Political machine systems were made up influential men preying on the vulnerable for their own gain. A shining example of this unethical system is Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall was a political force in New York City from its 1789 inception as a benevolent association to its infamous end in the early 20th century (Tammany Hall). Run by William M. Tweed, commonly referred to as Boss Tweed, this political ring gained its popularity by supporting immigrants and the lower class. Tammany Hall pushed for real improvements in hospitals, schools, and infrastructure (Burns). Although these examples are viewed as a good within the system, they are irrelevant and ineffective in the overall upheaval caused by Boss Tweed and his political machine. Tweed 's idea of city government and his political machine was a failure because it took advantage of taxpayers, used political graft and corruption to disparage the Constitution, and set a bad example for future political leaders.

During the nineteenth century, there was a time of critical social problems we now know

The Gilded Age was a very special time for our nation that took place from the 1870s to around 1900. During this time, economic growth was at a rapid increase, politics were corrupted yet had high turnouts, and urbanization flourished. Every aspect of the life of an American changed drastically throughout this time of the Gilded Age. The entire era was focused on the enormous changes that each aspect of America was going through. As this is brought to attention, if we are to look into the way that America is in our time of today, we can find that there are many similarities to that of the original Gilded Age. The United States of America have currently found themselves to be experiencing the second era of the Gilded Age throughout the areas of economic, politic and social transformation.

The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of

New York City during the Gilded Age experienced a transformation on society that would leave a lasting effect on all aspects of the city. During this era in New York City, the idea of politics and its characters developed into some of the modern definitions that citizens still see in government today. The political corruption that consumed politics during this time period became a staple in New York City society. The word corruption gives the tactics of politicians in the Gilded Age a reputation that is filled with destructive and harmful methods that were unbeneficial to society. In reality, not all of the strategies of these politicians resulted in poor outcomes. Through questionable political tactics, officials used their power to negatively and positively push New York City into the 1900s, which would lead to political activism by the city’s people looking for change. Tammany Hall was one of the most influential political machines that directly impacted the people and society of New York City at this time, and exemplified what it meant to be a corrupt institution that helped positive change happen.

From 1870 to 1900 era was called the Gilded Age, a time of immense growth in the United States in transportation, especially in railroads, American workers were paid higher wages than their peers in Europe. In this thirty year span the United States saw twelve million immigrants pass through her golden doors, 70% of these immigrants were English, Irish, and German. Crop failures (potato famine in Ireland), job shortages, and religious freedom were the motivations behind many immigrating to America. Newly arrived immigrants faced a harsh reality in America, employers took advantage of them, the men were often paid less than other native born men and the women were paid even less. Immigrants suffered verbal and physical abuse from employers and other employees because they were different. While researching my Italian heritage I learned that Italians, especially southern Italians were not treated well because they were hired as strikebreakers or scabs by mining and railroading companies. They were called derogatory names such as "dagoes or guineas". Newspapers of the time said the southern Italians were "intellectually inferior and having criminal tendencies" (Laura Teddy Turner, Demand Media n.d.) http://www.emmigration.info/us-immigration-tv

The gilded age was an age of industrial revolution. With inventions of machines and the major social problems, it was an era of great change for the United States.

In certain eras of art, assorted styles were applied because it was the most popular, at the time. In the time of the gilded era, the United States wasn’t unified with other states and countries. So, their mindset was to upstage other states and countries by any means necessary. They wanted to be the first country with latest building and infrastructure, during this time they knew working children was wrong and the working condition of the workforce was suitable. Instead of showing the poor working condition of the workers in painting, they completely ignored the fact that it did not happen. If they did portray the working condition onto a canvass, it would reflect negatively upon society and to other countries. That is a perception they didn’t

From the Ancient Egyptian pyramids, to the Ancient Roman Colosseum, architecture is seen in different forms all over the world. As a mechanical engineering student and an art admirer, I am extremely interested in the rich history of architecture, as well as modern architecture. Architecture was, is, and will continue to be a very important aspect of people’s lives until the end of time. Today, architecture is more than the skyscrapers in Dubai. It’s more than the prominent church of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain. It’s more than just a house. Architecture is really much larger than that. Architect Daniel Libeskind declares, “Architecture is the biggest unwritten document of history”. Architecture has significant purpose and meaning. Architecture is capable of healing physically, economically, environmentally, and emotionally.