Many emotions stem from war and violence. Some people cope by talking to a friend, others write things down in a journal. Very few choose to discard the written or vocal word for brush and canvas, chalk and paper, or any number of artistic mediums at their disposal. Eugene Delacroix and Otto Dix were two such men. Even though their careers blossomed almost a century apart, they shared common ground. Both men chose to speak through their work depicting history with an unfiltered approach. How does a piece of art affect a viewer? Does that piece convey a message effectively to its viewers? Let us investigate the two artists that roused plenty of conflict and sentiment with their depiction of two very sensitive topics in their era. …show more content…
In 1920 Otto Dix created a Drypoint print entitled Kriegeskrüppel (War Cripples). War Cripples was one of Otto Dix’s earliest attempts at print work. His basis for this print was a painting that Adolf Hitler and the Nazis damned as degenerate and demolished. The print illustrates a group of military veterans struggling down a city street. Dix brings attention to their deformed human shells by making them appear partly mechanized. The man pushing the wheel chair appears to be holding up a middle finger in the original painting as they walk by a shoe store that they do not have much use for anymore. Also, the man in the middle seems to be adding an abstract flair to the piece. He appears to be either shaking or having an out of body experience where his spirit seems to be floating above him. Delacroix’s The Massacre at Chios transmits feelings of loss, despair, and tragedy to its viewers. The Massacre at Chios requires no history lesson to understand that some great suffering had happened. Dix’s War cripples emanates some of the same feelings, viewers can see the artist’s political views and feelings toward the war. I feel that The Massacre of Chios translates its message more effectively to viewers across time. A viewer from our day and age can look upon the massive painting and immediately feel the transference of anguish and pain. However, in order to understand the message that Dix may be trying to convey, the viewer would have to understand
Through the cultural frame, artworks are concerned with understanding how an artwork is influenced by the values of the society it is produced in, and, in turn, how the artwork influences the values of the society. This includes examining the historical and cultural context in which the work was made, and religious and/or philosophical beliefs, which may have influenced the work. Plate 1, ‘Corpse in Barbed Wire’ 1924 is a German Expressionist etching by Otto Dix, reflecting war and. His works document the reality of the through the subject matter and positioning. He uses abstraction of form to represent the effects and perceptions of war. The work is also an example of German expressionism, a popular art movement at the time it was created.
A distinctly visual aspect of demonstrating the experience of the characters kindles curiosity in the audience to involve and instill emotional understanding of the context. Through the use of distinct and unique techniques, composers create an emotional response that can have a significant effect on the responders’ attitude on the world. The play ‘The shoe-horn sonata’ explores the crisis of circumstances as John Misto depicts the forgotten history of the women captured and imprisoned during WW2. Misto explores the experiences of the Australian nurses and the government’s response to their pleads of salvation, to emotionally bind the audience and the characters. Likewise, David Douglas Duncan involves the audience by evoking a feeling of pity and empathy in his Korean War photograph. He creates sentiment for the loss of innocence and employs distinctly visual elements to convey the horrifying nature of war. He profoundly highlights power in the photograph to explore the despair felt by the weak fleeing Korean citizens. Hence, both authors elevate the context with a visual representation of the individuals’ struggles to create curiosity and emotional rapport with the audience to improve the understanding of the characters experiences.
This painting tells a sad story about a general who is willing to die for his citizens. This story also tells a hopeful story about unity between two completely different civilizations.
An artist's job is to interpret, and express the aspects of life in a creative fashion. War has played a big part in shaping our human history, and many artists have portrayed their feelings about art through paintings, and even monuments. Whether it be to show; the joy of victory, the sorrow of defeat, or to educate the public on the gory realities of war. Art about war can also show us a great amount of history of the kinds of weapons that were used at the time. It is necessary for artists to interpret, and criticize all aspects of life; even ones as tragic as war, It can make the public more aware of what goes on in times of war.
In Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War, the haunting image “Harvest of Death” catches one’s eye with the seemingly endless field of corpses. The jarring facial expression on the figure in the foreground draws one into the narrative of the piece. However, our initial understanding of the image’s narrative is limited to what we can see and what we know of the circumstances surrounding it. While we know it was taken during the American Civil War, by simply looking at the photograph, we cannot know who is depicted. In black and white, it is difficult to even tell what side of the conflict these fallen soldiers fought for. We can interpret the image for our own readings, but we cannot tell what the artist intended us to see or what message he wanted to impart with it. These unknowns, however, are addressed in the related text associated with the image. These short passages can tell us a great deal about the photographer’s intentions and influence the way we read the image. Through the excerpt, we not only learn the intended meaning of the photography, but we also learn about Gardner’s political intentions and the key points he wanted his viewers to note within the image. Published as a pair, Gardner used his text to contextualize his images and inform the way we perceive them. This is clearly illustrated in “A Harvest of Death” and its accompanying passage.
Though World War II was awful in every respect, and it led to the destruction of many priceless works of art, there are some examples of beauty emerging form the chaos. One such example come from the work Dean Keller. Keller was one of many “monuments men” who were given the daunting task of the preservation of art during the war. The monuments men had little resources yet they prevailed in their efforts of protecting much of the art at risk during the war. The thought that the allies had the forethought to take earnest efforts to respect the history and culture that comes from these great European works of art, is a glimpse of the beauty that emerged during this time of turmoil. At the end of the war, Dean Keller led the Americans in returning the art they had gathered for protection. This was received by great crowds of emotional Florentine’s grateful for the return of their stolen history. This scene of compassion and gratitude
This piece was created during a time of political and social change. Increased political awareness and a focus on celebrity demanded art that was more
Painters enormously manipulated the truth in their portraits they painted since they aimed to present a specific meaning or feeling to their observers. One of the results, paintings of America`s wars especially before the Civil War had a
Tremendous technological advance and tremendous slaughter leave an artistic waste land of atrocity, emasculation and pointing posters used to manipulate the public into recruiting men to join the military around the globe. Skilled illustrators in America, less inventive but artistic allegory’s in Canada and France and plain typography in Britain leave many artists busy with supporting the war effort. On the outskirts of war were a contingency of international peoples with little means and a negative view of European culture and war that chose to defect to Switzerland where they created the art movement known as Dada.
Images, such as paintings and photographs, are intensely visually striking and evoke strong emotions in those who view them.“Into the Jaws of Death” provides a perfect example of that intensity, having been taken by Robert F. Sargent during the early morning hours of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Even today the famous photograph evokes strong emotional reactions in many people who view it. This photograph served a purpose more significant than was realized at the time, to the point of becoming a pivotal point in support for the war effort. How was this accomplished? By conveying personal themes of heroism, patriotism, and mortality through devices such as angles, colors, uniforms, and proxemics.
Many attribute the evolution of the French revolution as the catalyst for redirection of the style of artwork from Baroque and Rococo to Neoclassical and Romanticism. Two leading masterpieces that support this aspect are respectively: Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, (c. 1784) and Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, (c. 1830). As commented in Essential Humanities (2016), the French revolution “in all its heroic glory and grisly destruction” (par. 10) is masterfully portrayed in Delacroix 's personification of liberty. In addition, the summons for commitment to the cause of freedom is classically rendered in David 's vow of victory or death. Within this essay both of these paintings are examined in regards to their connection to the French revolution.
Intensively striking war imagery emerges throughout the course of the text and therefore effectively joins its underlining fore. Graphic images of the grotesque face of war characterize and develop the
At the turn of the century Paris was one of the capitals of culture and art to the outside world. However, the truth of the matter was that this taboo-ridden society was being run by an aristocracy that was repressing the arts. Naturally, when World War 1 broke out, the suppressed French society finally had a release and a rebellion against order arose. WWI specifically affected the theatre of French and it’s aftermath. From the ashes of war the avant-garde theatre grew and styles such as Dadaism and Surrealism were born. It was both the climate of culture before the war and the devastation of the war that lead to the outbreak of avant-garde theatre in France.
In art, there are qualities that speak louder than words. It expresses many different messages and emotions and each person has an experience different from the next. In this paper, I will be discussing two artworks I encountered. The piece is a good example of how people can encounter different experiences in one piece. I attended the Orlando Museum of Art a while back with family and overall enjoyed my experience. On my visit, I found the museum quite impressive and felt a deep connection with specific pieces.
Many characters’ lives are enveloped by a mental issue and they are a representation for these issues. Art covers these multiple issues. The Holocaust affected millions of people and of these millions, Vladek, Anja, and Mala all were left with