Arts Of The United States Essay Examples

Dorthea Lange’s photography is considered in the forefront of historical photography. Her photos are life altering because she carefully chooses each subject for its significance. She tries to find images that demand our attention; this can be an everyday object or something extraordinary. She challenges us to look at the world around us and find something brilliant within it. Her photographs take a single moment and expand upon it by exploring the emotion response it evokes. She considers her work to be images of “truth”.
Her photograph “Migrant Mother”, taken in 1936, chronicles the harsh realities of Depression era life and changes how we think about portraiture. The aim of the picture is to evoke emotion, not be a pretty portrait. The woman looks haggard and worried while the children look sad. Lang’s photograph depicts what many American’s must have been feeling at that time and expresses the great need to address these concerns on an individual level. The woman in the portrait is symbolic of the emotional toll the Great Depression took on Americans.
In George Bellow’s “Both Members of This Club”, the artist depicts an action scene between two boxers. Like Lang the artist also goes for a sense of realism, showing every detail down to the blood and sweat. It is not meant as a “pretty” painting but instead a dark and gritty one full of action. Bellow’s wishes to show the reality of a sport.
In Thomas Eakin’s “The Gross Clinic” the theme of realism continues. The artist depicts a dissection scene, not necessarily what one would consider a pleasant subject. Like the other two pieces the painting is fairly dark reflecting the subject of death. The artist doesn’t shy away from depicting a taboo subject.