Early Modern Art & The Influence of World War One
Early Modern Art encompasses a large variety of time, art and art movements. In this assignment I'll be focusing in on styles of art and the huge influence that WW1 had. Looking at the art as it changed over time, from the start of war till the end, parallels most people's feelings about it, as well. Beginning with idealism, some movements were proud of their countries for fighting and standing up; bold, vivid, futurist. Though as many began to see and experience the war, opinions were heavy, worrisome and impactful, and then for some they felt and went beyond that. For some the war led to anger and what would be described as radical anti-government movements.
The war influenced and impacted everyone in all different ways, and these few different pieces of art are just the tip of the iceberg.
Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson, La Mitrailleuse, 1915. Created in Britian
He was an painter who was associated with a Futurist group, which is apparent in many of his pieces of art. Futurist art was one of the four Avant-Garde Styles that began before World War one. Christopher, often referred to as CRW Nevinson is now known for his vivid depictions of war in both the homeland and aboard (Carson, 2020). This particular image struck many people and was thought of as Machine and Man.
Futurism movement was a group of artists that felt things needed to be different, forward and future focused. Speed and efficiency were considered the aim, the machine was the method to get there. The group was embracing of what could be to come and was seen as glorifying all themes associated with the future, specifically technology, speed, and violence. The war had a large impact on Futurists; first the war was viewed as 'the world's only hygiene', only it seemed it shook Nevinson more; as seen in this piece - blurring the lines between man and machine. (Mackenzie)
This specific image captures my eye with emotion, the tone is dark, heavy, yet it does highlight the weapon. There is a lot of use of tone within this piece, and shadows. The only man whose face is visible seems unsure or confused, whereas the other men seen intently focused and on duty. This left me speculating if that is also how he feels, caught between the two; believing in Futurism and the war's hope for the future, to also seeing the impact, hurt, and pain it was causing.Thinking of art before this, the change in style is apparent from even just the lines, brushstrokes and coloring.
Nevinson said about a different piece of art, (though I think it is very fitting in this assignment to add) "I have tried to express the emotion produced by the apparent ugliness and dullness of modern warfare. Our Futurist technique is the only possible medium to express the crudeness, violence, and brutality of the emotions seen and felt on the present battlefields of Europe." (Carson, 2020.)
Percy Wyndham Lewis was known as pioneer of the Vorticism movement. He drew his style from Cubism and Futurism, but his art had a large impact on the war as he went on to be an Official War Artist, after serving with the Royal Artillery. Vorticism was a short movement, but Lewis's art was inspired by the ideas of Vortex and then propelled by the war. Though, unlike many other artists I've read about up until now, Lewis was more of a writer than an artist.
Vorticism was the first radical avant-garde group. The style and group embraced contradiction, humor and rhetoric while celebrating energy and modern machines. Artists developed an abstract style with bold colors, harsh lines and sharp angles that depict movement within the industrial life (Vorticism Movement Overview, n.d.). Once the world began that was deeply desired by Futurists, the Vorticist magazine BLAST called for elements of society to be 'blasted' while others were to be blessed'(Wyndham Lewis: Life, Art, War, n.d.).
This piece can be described exactly as such, specifically contradicting. The difference between this piece and most other Vorticist art, is the added influence of the war. The iron-muscled figures working hard and continuing to work for the war despite surrounding circumstances. It makes me think of worker bees, working away while the boss sit, cool calm and collected; the stark contrast that draws me and creates emotion. Faceless, emotionless workers, or soldiers really; working away while the world is falling apart. With nothing really left; the machines keep fighting, laying, digging and loading while things are exploding. Art elements wise, this painting also uses lots of clean lines and bright colors that build to display the shiny surfaces and hard edges of machines. Colors chosen allow the world around the men to pop, another stark contrast that was expected in this style. The tone is empty, almost cold. What draws me in most, is it is all so intentional to be unbothered, that leads me to believe it is a reflection of Lewis's opinions, left unbothered by the world.
George Grosz, The Pillars of Society, 1926. Oil on Canvas.
I believe created in Berlin, Germany.
During World War One, many artists and intellectuals escaped to the Swiss, and began to spend time together; growing to form another new radical movement, Dada. It was essentially a form of artistic anarchy born out of disgust from the world at the time, specifically influenced deeply by World War One. Unlike artistic movements before then, there was no unified style; it was simply artists united in ideals. This movement and his artistic role in it, had a large impact on political outlooks in Germany and beyond.
This specific piece, like others in the Dada movement was set to mock and satirizes the supporters of fascism that were apparent post war. Grosz personal disgust is evident within this art.
With this piece, Grosz uses lines, color, and shadowing to highlight for the viewer every detail he wants remembered. The way he displays each man as almost exactly the same, yet there are tiny differences like in clothing is important, almost to show how unimportant they are. Unimportant, yet disgusting.
From reading about this piece, I believe the differences in suits are to display the different main members of the elite class in Germany, businessmen, clergy, and generals. The intentionally disgusting or creepy looking faces while they are doing absolutely nothing unique. All of the elements within this piece are clearly made to mock and stir the pot with the elite. The lines, and coloring, and shadows leave you seeing how empty - maybe even soulless the elite are. I imagine it also left many not wanting to be associated with these people, The Pillars of Society.
An overall provoking piece, personally I love political artwork or satire. It is always so clever and provoking. Seeing the influence the war and political climate had on art and these specific artists was fun; especially the Futurist artist Christopher, who was thought to be left shaken after seeing the true impact of War.
References
Carson, James. "The Art Of World War One In 35 Paintings". History Hit, 2020, https://www.historyhit.com/the-art-of-world-war-one-in-paintings/#:~:text=When%20Britain%20fought%20in%20the%20First%20World%20War%2C,from%20realism%2C%20into%20a%20broad%20group%20called%20expressionism.
"Dadaism - Art And Anti Art". Artyfactory.Com, https://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm.
"Futurism Movement Overview". The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/futurism/.
"George Grosz Paintings, Bio, Ideas". The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/artist/grosz-george/.
Johnson, Reed. "Art Forever Changed By World War I". Los Angeles Times, 2012, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-xpm-2012-jul-21-la-et-cm-world-war-art-20120722-story.html.
MacKenzie, Felicity. "Looking For Solace: C. R. W. Nevinson And Futurism | Art UK". Artuk.Org, 2019, https://artuk.org/discover/stories/looking-for-solace-c-r-w-nevinson-and-futurism.
""The Pillars Of Society," George Grosz (1926)". Facing History And Ourselves, https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/image/pillars-society-george-grosz-1926.
"Vorticism Movement Overview". The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/vorticism/.
"Wyndham Lewis: Life, Art, War". Art & Living, https://artandliving.com/wyndham-lewis-life-art-war/#:~:text=The%20war%20that%20has%20been%20desired%20by%20the,part%20of%20this%20%E2%80%9Cwar%20to%20end%20all%20wars%E2%80%9D.
Hello Destiny,
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to see how World War One impacted the world of art during this time. I really enjoyed the first painting you mentioned. I noticed many shapes and sharp edges used in this painting. The faces of the men are very sharp and you can notice the lines used to make the one man’s facial expression. Shadows also stood out to me in this painting. Your second piece of work was also very interesting to look at. The lines and shapes in this painting stood out to me the most. The three men painted mostly black seem to be the ones in charge. While others continue to work. In your last piece of work this painting was something I have never seen before. I like the faces used on the three men it suits the meaning behind this painting. I agree with you on enjoying provoking art pieces.
I like the choice of artwork you went with they were unique, and I've never seen any of them before but the one that stuck in my memory was, “The Pillars of Society” where the ones with the weird, shaped heads with other things in place where their brain should be. You can stare at it for hours trying to figure out what the painter was thinking when he painted it and what all the details actually mean. But while you're looking at it you could totally see war, distress, and heartache painted into it. I’m sure it was, essentially a form of artistic anarchy born out of disgust from the world at that moment in time. Great work and I gathered a lot of information that I did not know. Thanks!
ReplyDelete