Introduction
During first half of 20th century, widespread industrialization matured into what was called international industrial capitalism. These developments essentially presented the society with both significant problems and great promise. This change brought alienation and euphoria, anxiety and elation. These emotions would in fact characterize the west for early decades. The Great Depression, World War I, and rise of totalitarianism exacerbated this attitude.
Something worth to note is that arts mirrored this equivalent mind set in lofty De Stijl and Bauhaus utopian vision on one hand, and on the other, scathing social commentary of Dada artists. The new discoveries in various fields made it mandatory for the society and people to radically revise their comprehension of the world. Artists essentially precipitated in this reexamination, frequently acknowledging the new discoveries through shifting their work’s theoretical bases (Hunt 2005). In fact, much of early 20th century art history is a history of traditional limitations radical rejection and definitions of both universe and the art.
Until the initial decade of 20th century, human art, whether painting, sculpture, or drawing, essentially was always pictorial. This was also based on the compositions and themes that were representing the real world ideas. With an increasing use of the machines and emergency of new modernist thinking, artists actually pursued new ways of interpreting dynamic changes that were taking place around them. For that reason, this led to change of their techniques, styles, and efforts (Hunt 2005). For instance, modernist art imagery initially developed between the year 1905 and 1920 in Europe on various fronts under different names like cubism, fauvism, constructionism, Dadaism, Surrealism, De Stijl, and German Expressionism. The American artists learned these emerging “isms” and styles in Europe and eventually brought them to United States. Concurrently, the European artists immigrated to America bringing the modernist concepts.
Therefore, the change in techniques, styles, and efforts of the artists in 20th century/World War I was contributed by a myriad of factors. The effects of WWI on the change of these artistic factors cannot be underestimated. Modernism in music, visual arts, drama, and literature rejected old Victorian standards of how art was to be consumed, made, and mean. In period of high modernism period that is, from around the year 1910 to 1930, these factors experienced various changes. Modernism is the radical shift in cultural and aesthetic sensibilities that was evident in literature and art of post WWI period. Around 1910, as the airplane and automobile were beginning to accelerate human life pace, and ideas by Einstein’s were transforming universe perception, there was creative energy and an innovation explosion, which shook all fields of artistic endeavors (Hunt 2005).
Consequently, conflicts between the new ideas and traditional values raged in arts since the artists who existed during this time distanced themselves from the classical western styles. Numerous modern artists resisted the realistic and historic scenes that were still favored, for instance, by buyers for the public museums and powerful German monarchy (Hunt 2005). The modernism in arts both challenged the time honored standards and contributed to competing artistic styles proliferation, a phenomenon that still continues today.
Various artists addressed the city people who were caught up in modern life rush. A group of the Parisian artists who exhibited in 1905 essentially combined reds, greens, oranges, and blues very intensely after they left soft colors of impression since they were too subtle for an industrial society that was at that time dynamic. Henri Matisse, a short lived fauvism leader struck out in a different direction where he aimed to target the white collar workers expanding class. He viewed his art like it was meant for each mental worker. The artist’s colorful pictures of the domestic interiors, family life, and North Africa scenes actually departed from the strict realism. In fact, they continue being enjoyed by the modern viewers (Hunt 2005).
Paul Cezanne, a French artist introduced one of the enduring and most powerful trends in the modern art through emphasizing the structure in painting. This artist used the rectangular paint daubs to produce geometric visions of drapery, dishes, human body, and dishes. His art accentuated the planes and lines that are found in nature rather than presenting the variations in their work. The Eastern European and Scandinavian artists produced artistic works that expressed the torment that was felt by many during that time. Just like Freud ideas, these artists style of depicting the inner feelings termed as expressionism actually broke with the middle class optimism.
The artists from all the corners of the world came together in Paris, London, and the other great cities in Europe. Their objective was to join in ferment of the mentioned new ideas and various movements. Constructivism, Cubism, Acmeism, Imagism, and Futurism were among the numerous banners under which new artists grouped themselves. Thus, this was actually an epoch when main artists were fundamentally reinventing and questioning their arts forms for instance, Picasso and Matisse in painting, Igor Stravinsky in music, Gertrude Stein and James Joyce in literature, Frank Lloyd Wright in the architecture, and Duncan Isadora in dance.
However, the excitement came to a climax in 1914 when WWI began. In fact, this war wiped out young men generation in Europe, sowed seeds for the worse conflagrations in many years to come, and catapulted Russia into catastrophic revolution (Hunt 2005). By the time this war ended in 1918, century’s ancient European world domination had actually ended and American century had actually begun. For the artists and a number of others in Europe, this was essentially a time of insightful disillusion with values where a whole civilization had really been founded. For that reason, modernism marks distinctive break with the morality of Victorian bourgeois; rejecting the nineteenth century optimism.
Thus, the American artists at first were hostile to the European art forms. However, after a famous and large exhibit, Armory show in 1913, these artists opened new techniques and styles. Free of restraint, these artists created various idealistic fresh styles over the coming century including approaches like Surrealism, Constructivism, Minimalism, and Pop Art. In the coming years, flood of artists from Europe nourished the modernist seed.
Succeeding the war, intellectuals and artists who were now fatigued by the war horrors looked to New World for inspiration and fresh ideas. They were actually attracted by American Society vibrancy-its technology and industry, glamorous movies, and jazz music. For instance, to a Southern Italian immigrant by the name Stella, Brooklyn Bridge was essentially a shrine that contained all efforts of American new civilization (Hunt 2005). This immigrant painted this bridge many times. The 1917 to 1931 De Stijl art movement included the paintings, furniture, graphic design, and furniture and was based on abstraction principle or idea. As this movement developed, it did not only become a style but it was also a lifestyle.
References
Hunt, L. (2005). The making of the West: Peoples and cultures. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.
