The definition of art evolves as artists push the barriers of the classification. Throughout this blog I examine artists, individual paintings, and movements in American art and how they represent the time period. Each artist and art movement that I look into create social impact and expand our definition of art along with commenting on the culture of the time.
I start by defining art in the Pre-industrial Revolution mindset, which was confined to oil on canvas and it typically featured landscapes or portraits. Art during this time showed a realist image and was restricted to oil on canvas. These images on landscape depicted the focus of the time, the new frontier in the west. Among the Sierra Nevada was one of the creations that depicted the western landscape in the 1860s. It shows the west in a favorable light and encourages people to travel west. Migration west was a culturally focuses topic, which is why this type of art thrived during the time period.
Once the Industrial Revolution took hold of America, Americans began to regard machinery as art. The most famous types of art shifted from oil on canvas to depictions of machines in factories and even machines themselves. Precisionism was a technique in creating industrial images. This style captured the American frontier of industry after WWI in America.
Not all art was created in order to depict what the American people were interested in however. Some art was created because the subject is what the artist wanted the American people to see, opposed to artist painting what Americans wanted to see. This is known as social realism, it is a style dedicated to displaying social issues. During the great depression Ben Shahn focused on social issues like poverty and prohibition. Images that Americans did not necessarily ask to see, but once the images were presented they provoked thought and even change. So the term art has moved from a restricted definition of oil on canvas to being a more interpretive word that encompasses machinery, politically charged paintings, and photography.
With the start of WWII artists were presented with a whole new set of cultural frontiers to depict. Nighthawks, a painting of a lonely New York City night life by Edward Hopper, shows a side of the city that Americans never imagined until WWII. It shows the typically vibrant city is a lifeless manner. No one is occupying the streets, and the only light source is coming from a café that has no entrance. This painting displays the American opinions of the war in a way that writing cannot. War time inspired painting continued in America with Jackson Pollock and his painting Convergence. Convergence is an abstract creation that became a symbol against communism during the Cold War. Pollock created the painting through splatted paint that he claims was guided by his unconscious. The abstract expression represents freedom and Americanism in a time when The Soviet Union and Russia pushed conformity.
Although the Cold War continued for the upcoming decades, the Civil Rights movement became the most prevalent social issue starting in the 1960s. Racially charged painting gained attention in the 1970s with Robert H. Colescott who created a line of paintings that took iconic American works of art and replaced the subjects with blackface characters. These images showed the resurgence of Jim Crow law stereotypes during the Civil Rights movement. These paintings helped people understand the disparity between blacks and whites in American culture from the interpretation of a black artist.
Throughout American history art made an effort to show people what they wanted to see, which was typically the frontier of American culture. Art was also used in American culture to push political agendas, as we saw with images of poverty during the Great Depression and during the Civil Rights Movement with racial stereotypes. There has been over than 200 years of American art and it started with the definition of oil on canvas on images of landscapes and portraits. Now, art is a term that we can use to describe multiple forms of creation. Painting, however, is one art form that has stayed prominent throughout our history.
I start by defining art in the Pre-industrial Revolution mindset, which was confined to oil on canvas and it typically featured landscapes or portraits. Art during this time showed a realist image and was restricted to oil on canvas. These images on landscape depicted the focus of the time, the new frontier in the west. Among the Sierra Nevada was one of the creations that depicted the western landscape in the 1860s. It shows the west in a favorable light and encourages people to travel west. Migration west was a culturally focuses topic, which is why this type of art thrived during the time period.
Once the Industrial Revolution took hold of America, Americans began to regard machinery as art. The most famous types of art shifted from oil on canvas to depictions of machines in factories and even machines themselves. Precisionism was a technique in creating industrial images. This style captured the American frontier of industry after WWI in America.
Not all art was created in order to depict what the American people were interested in however. Some art was created because the subject is what the artist wanted the American people to see, opposed to artist painting what Americans wanted to see. This is known as social realism, it is a style dedicated to displaying social issues. During the great depression Ben Shahn focused on social issues like poverty and prohibition. Images that Americans did not necessarily ask to see, but once the images were presented they provoked thought and even change. So the term art has moved from a restricted definition of oil on canvas to being a more interpretive word that encompasses machinery, politically charged paintings, and photography.
With the start of WWII artists were presented with a whole new set of cultural frontiers to depict. Nighthawks, a painting of a lonely New York City night life by Edward Hopper, shows a side of the city that Americans never imagined until WWII. It shows the typically vibrant city is a lifeless manner. No one is occupying the streets, and the only light source is coming from a café that has no entrance. This painting displays the American opinions of the war in a way that writing cannot. War time inspired painting continued in America with Jackson Pollock and his painting Convergence. Convergence is an abstract creation that became a symbol against communism during the Cold War. Pollock created the painting through splatted paint that he claims was guided by his unconscious. The abstract expression represents freedom and Americanism in a time when The Soviet Union and Russia pushed conformity.
Although the Cold War continued for the upcoming decades, the Civil Rights movement became the most prevalent social issue starting in the 1960s. Racially charged painting gained attention in the 1970s with Robert H. Colescott who created a line of paintings that took iconic American works of art and replaced the subjects with blackface characters. These images showed the resurgence of Jim Crow law stereotypes during the Civil Rights movement. These paintings helped people understand the disparity between blacks and whites in American culture from the interpretation of a black artist.
Throughout American history art made an effort to show people what they wanted to see, which was typically the frontier of American culture. Art was also used in American culture to push political agendas, as we saw with images of poverty during the Great Depression and during the Civil Rights Movement with racial stereotypes. There has been over than 200 years of American art and it started with the definition of oil on canvas on images of landscapes and portraits. Now, art is a term that we can use to describe multiple forms of creation. Painting, however, is one art form that has stayed prominent throughout our history.