For the second quarter, we read two articles discussing art shows - one called "The Disasters of War, 1800-2014" in a French museum (art. 1, p. 2), and one showcasing art made during and as a result of World War I. Both shows (and articles) focused on the way artists reacted to the wars of their era. However, it was done in much the same way as each other, with both describing examples of art and art shows that deal with responses to war or other related suffering. Though one was more comprehensive than the other (focusing on art from 1800 to 2014, versus the much smaller span of time of World War I), and the more comprehensive article offered a few paragraphs of personal experience from its author, the stories were told the same way for slightly different views.
I did not find anything really surprising in either article - I had correctly assumed that the artists in the shows would make such reactionary art, although some of it was more gruesome than I had expected. However, several small pieces in the articles did catch my eye, one of which was the comparison between the Napoleon paintings: "Barely 15 years later, the conception of what was worth depicting had shifted dramatically." (art. 1, p. 3) The first painting was the famous one we know, with Napoleon in his war uniform seated on a rearing white horse in full battle regalia. The second painting is the one featured at left, titled "Return from Russia" (named for the period after Napoleon's failed attempt at conquering Russia). Another comparison I found interesting was in the second article, which discussed art styles of the time at the bottom of the second page. Modernism had been the prevailing art style at that point in European history, but World War I changed everything. The British pulled away from it, as it "was identified with the enemy," and so they "reached (sic) backward to the steady, reassuring hands of tradition." However, the Germans, as they were losing, abandoned modernism as well, since they "are on the losing side and don't want to connect to the past. They want to sever ties with all that." (art. 2, p. 2) The readings definitely paralleled the few artists and pieces we did cover in relation to pain and suffering. Käthe Kollwitz even made an appearance in the second article; it discussed the same ideas we talked about in class, albeit in a more summed-up fashion - her son died in World War I, so she became devoted to making antiwar art. However, since Kollwitz was the only artist we covered in our notes (so far), there was not much else to compare the articles to. Hopefully if/when we cover more on this subject, more parallels will make themselves apparent.
4 Comments
Eli Scaparo
1/10/2018 02:26:06 pm
I thought the comparison between the Napoleon paintings was interesting as well, and it led me to wonder exactly what factors, besides obvious historical events, could have resulted in such a sudden shift. It's not as if every war has led to a focus on the themes of sadness, mourning, and death in the art of the losing country, so what about this particular 19th century loss sparked such a change? I agree with you, in that it was probably, in part, a reaction to popular movements in art during the time period, however I'm left wondering if any other factors could have been the cause as well.
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1/11/2018 05:13:51 pm
I like how you pointed out the little fact about modernism that was mentioned in the article. It was a point that I found quite interesting and I would have wished that you included some of your personal thoughts about this in your post.
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Ashley Nelson
1/12/2018 06:15:00 am
I think your focus on the artistic shifts before and after wars was very interesting. I had been looking at pieces based on what war they were in response to rather than when during the war the piece was created. I think that looking at those dates are very helpful in understanding the tone and content of the piece.
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Lilly May
1/12/2018 06:37:42 am
I really like how you clearly explained it and how you put it deeper into depth with your own view points. I also like how you brought up the parallelism of the articles and how you brought up Kollwitz.
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