Wilcott (2013) argues that art can be used to show the direct time it created. In this case, most of the art pieces should be examined in the context of their time. Up to modern times, art has been changing with the artist having continually use different forms to produce expression and inspiration reflected in their work. Looking at the American history, artwork experienced considerable movement between the period of great depression and World War II. Before the depression, most of the artists were concerned with the luxury and culture of finer things. However, during the great depression, a new artistic movement emerged focusing on the people's lives and the sense of financial security due to the facts that the society felt empty and hollow. It was during this epoch in which the art only expressed material aspects and social status. This paper will examine the American art before and after World War II by discussing one Abstract Expressionist artist and two artists of the great depression. Also, the paper will also analyze theme, the purpose of the artwork, and how Abstract Expressionism art differs from the artwork of the 1930s.
Two artists that worked during the Great Depression
In the period of 1930s, arts experienced an intense artistic experimentation with new forms and methods being explored to bring out the best social and economic expression. With the advent of social unrest during the Great Depression highlighted political concerns of the artistic works, while the development of the New Deal programs provided a platform that recognized the works of these artists to provide new social forms.
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Reymond Breinin
The Dead Tree, 1937
According to the above art, the landscape with dead trees and lack of greenery illustrated the devastating situation during the period of the Great Depression era. The theme “The dead tree” suggest an overwhelming environment with financial regression. On the other hand, if metaphorical interpreted, the artwork by Brennan would indicate that the entire Great Depression and caused the green environment and the emotional state of the American society. Additionally, the use of muted coloring in the painting and lack of substantial connection among other objects in the picture would suggest confusion and sadness. This is because, during the Great Depression, American society faced a lot of social and economic challenges that brought confusion and emotional state within the community. Moreover, I believe that the composition of the painting is striking with additional information on the effect of the Great Depression regardless of the bleakness of the painting. Finally, The Dead Tree reflects the anxiety and confusion that American society felt as result of the effect of the Great Depression.
Daniel Celentano (1902-1980)
Festival, 1934. Oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard48 1/8 x 60 1/8 in. (122.3 x 152.8 cm.)
Looking at the above painting, the subject festival as suggested by the Celentano represent the social events that assisted the Italian American Catholic communities living in the New York City to survive the adverse effects of the Great Depression as they had passed the previous decades of poverty and oppression (Johnson, 2011). On the other hand, Celentano used the solemnity of the ancient procession with the swing band towards the right of the painting, which the audience celebrated and dance the tunes joyfully in the streets (Johnson, 2011). Looking closely at the picture, the natural gas tanks have covered the scent of the Italian food. In this case, the poor lived along the gas plant and were affected. This indicates the effect of the great economic depression and emergence of the social class difference.
Abstract Expressionist Artist
It is referred to the movement that existed in the past World War II era, mostly in the United States. According to Crocker Art Museum (2014), most of the artwork of this kind are non-presentable in the sense that not objects are recognized or depicted.
Jackson Pollock (1812-1956)
The She-Wolf, 1943
This was the first painting that Pollock reflected a love for a free form of abstraction. In this case, one is not required to look closely at the picture to identify the main characters and objects, since there are several patterns and multi-colored elements. On the other hand, most of the Abstract Expressionism paints does not illustrate any clear theme. The She-Wolf seems to be proceeding forward; however, it is decorated with heavy backlines and abstract patches.
How Abstract Expressionism art differ from the artwork of the 1930s
Looking at the difference between Abstract Expressionism and the artwork that existed in the 1930s, Johnson (2011) argues that the recognition of the abstract expressionism led to the movement of artist that reflected high superior in freedom of expression. To start with, unlike the artwork of the great depression, the paintings of Abstract Expressionism present two categories that comprised of the action painting and gestural painting, and those paintings that majorly focused on reflection and mood (Johnson, 2011). Additionally, the abstract expressionism painting overshadowed all the traditional American art in the sense that the main idea in action painting is entirely abstract, the scale is enormous, and the painting lay in its straightforwardness and closeness of the manifestation. On the other hand, looking at the color field painting of the abstract expressionism, the primary drive behind this category is to directly show an image that can create an emotional impact (Street, 2017). In this case, these painting was to improve and maintain the relationship with the individual spectator but not to summon heroic magnificence.
Other aspects or characteristics that make Abstract Expressionism differ from the artwork of the 1930s are the fact that the paint is unconventional and unseen characters that tend toward amorphous shape in brilliant colors (Street, 2017). Moreover, gestural writing can be included in the painting in a calligraphic manner, and the plane of the paint is usually filled with cones of color that create emotion between the forms and descriptions. In conclusion, Abstract Expressionism artist are always motivated by the epic of the natural landscapes of the Western United States and was buoyed by the surge of the economic and cultural self-confidence after the Second World War (Street, 2017).
References
Crocker Art Museum (2014). Abstract Expressionism Guide. Internet Resource.
Johnson, W. (2011). Comparing and Contrasting Expressionism, Abstract, and Pop Art. Outstanding Honors Theses. Paper 86.
Street, B. (2017). Abstract Expressionism: Exhibition in Focus. Available from https://royal-academy-production-asset.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ed9eb3a2-fa72-4be4-9441-9b41c43acab2/ABSTRACTEXPRESSIONISM_EGvF2.pdf
Wolcott, M. J. (2013). Wartime Art: A Study of Political Propaganda and Individual Expression in American Commercial and Combat Art during World War II. History Theses. Paper 17.
