Fred's Art 200x Blog

Art of the 1940's The 1940's were a time of change. America had recovered from the Great Depression but the country was still dealing with its impacts. Many of the children that grew up during the Depression turned to art as adults to help document their experiences.  The world was reeling from the outbreak of World War II while still attempting to process the collective trauma of World War I. Hitler's oppression of artists he deemed "degenerate" as well as the influx of European immigrants fleeing war exposed many young American artists to the novel ideas about art being developed in Europe.  This post will explore these changes through the work produced by 3 artists in the decade between 1940 - 1950; Jacob Lawrence, Pablo Picasso, and Mark Rothko. Jacob Lawrence (1917 - 2020) Jacob Lawrence  was an American painter from New Jersey who was known for his portrayals of contemporary African-American life.  One of his best known works is a series of 60 panels called

A New Deal for Artists Golden Gate Bridge by Ray Strong, 1937 While the Great Depression was a time of incredible struggle for most Americans, it was also a time of significant opportunity for artists. " As the Federal Emergency Relief Act, a prototype of the New Deal work-relief programs, began to put a few dollars into the pockets of hungry workers, the question arose whether to include artists among the beneficiaries. It wasn't an obvious thing to do; by definition artists had no 'jobs' to lose. But Harry Hopkins, whom President Franklin D. Roosevelt put in charge of work relief, settled the matter, saying, 'Hell, they've got to eat just like other people!' (Adler)"  This inclusion of artists within the Works Progress Administration (WPA) not only allowed the arts to flourish, it also provided the Roosevelt administration with propaganda materials to bolster the morale of the struggling public. Many WPA artists created works that touted the industri

  This post will contrast two vastly different styles of art to emerge from the Romantic Era, the Hudson River School and the Impressionist. Hudson River School The Hudson River School was the name given to a loose fraternity of American landscape artists that were famous for their depictions of the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York and surrounding areas. It is considered one of the first true American artistic movements. America in the 19 th Century was undergoing rapid expansion and the Hudson River artists infused their works with the spirit of discovery and exploration. They were enamored of the great American wilderness and painted their landscapes as pastoral scenes in which Humankind and Nature coexisted in untroubled tranquility. A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove) ; painted in 1862 by Sandford Robinson Gifford Sandford Robinson Gifford was part of the second-generation of Hudson River School artists and was one of the only members of this fraternity that wa

  Revolutionary Art   Artists have long found inspiration from politics and war. The late 18 th and early 19 th Centuries were a time of revolution. The American Revolution not only served to declare a new republic on the world stage, but also created a need for new art to commemorate its heroes and venerate its martyrs. The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, 17 June, 1775 John Trumbull ; painted after 1815–before 1831 in Boston, MA   John Trumball is one of the most well-known artists of the early American Era. He served as an officer in the American Revolution from 1775 – 1777. In 1780, he traveled to Europe to study painting. He returned to the United States with a mission to “ to immortalize the country’s struggle for independence with a series of compositions based on the critical events of the conflict, thus creating a new iconography for the new nation   (Davis) .” This painting depicts the climax of the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, one of the