ART 330
This module primarily considers Europe and America between the world wars. In Europe, the cultural hub has moved from Paris to Berlin. Berlin gained a reputation for the decadent atmosphere of its cafes and cabarets, and the passionately held political beliefs of its artists. Most Europeans were repulsed by Berlin’s unruly avant-garde, so much so in fact that Adolf Hitler was able to rise to power by capitalizing on this disgust. Hitler connected the radical lifestyles and art of Berlin’s avant-garde to long-held anti-Semitic feeling thereby blaming all of Germany’s problems on Jewish intellectuals. He also branded communists, gypsies, homosexuals, and the mentally ill as degenerates who weakened the fabric of society. In America, beauty was made of ugliness when, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Work Projects Administration (the WPA) and set unemployed artists to work cataloguing American life.
Perspective, continued
Frank Lloyd Wright, Edgar Kaufmann House, Fallingwater, 1937, Mill Run, Pennsylvania. From Stokstad Digital Library. Reprinted with permission Pearson Education/Prentice Hall.
Meanwhile, Frank Lloyd Wright strove to create a thoroughly American architecture that reflected specific regional influences, such as Fallingwater in Bear Run, Pennsylvania. In this module we will explore all these issues as well as how artists across the globe responded to atrocity and injustice with socially-aware protest art and music.
Chapter 37 in The Humanities: Culture, Continuity, and Change by Sayre, H. M.
Protest
At this time in Mexico, the United States, and Europe, artists began producing pointed works of art that explored the rights and dignity of humankind. When social injustices occurred, these artists created works that expressed their righteous anger and which could stand as timeless witnesses to atrocity and inequality. With this idea in mind, study the following resources and explore how Picasso, Rivera, Orozco, Kahlo and Lange used their art and talent to further human rights. As you do, keep in mind Saint Leo’s Benedictine values and how those values find voice in these works of art.
Frank Lloyd Wright
From his teacher Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright derived the belief that architecture should be rooted in nature. His houses used local materials and tried to reflect the individuality of their owners. Two famous examples are his Robie House (1909) and Fallingwater (Kaufmann House) (1935–1936). This put him at odds with Philip Johnson and the International Style of architecture. The Europeans, however, considered Wright to be the premier modern architect.
Citizen Kane is widely felt to be the best film ever made. Orson Welles co-wrote, produced, directed, and played the lead character in this Oscar-award winning film. As you watch Citizen Kane, be on the look out for innovative camera angles, deep-focus photography, and chiaroscuro lighting.
Find a copy of Citizen Kane and watch it.
Further Reading
Go to the Links tab under More Tools to visit the following information:
· Degenerate Art
· The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
· Life of the People: Realist Drawings from the Ben and Beatrice Goldstein Collection: 1912-1948
· About Life: The Photographs of Dorothea Lange
· Revolution on Paper: Mexican Prints 1910-1960. Watch a short video made by the British Museum.
· The Life and Work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Learn more about Wright’s architecture