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Degenerate Art- AMAIA

A term adopted by the Nazis to describe modern art. By calling it degenerate art, they were saying that modern art was not Communist or German in nature. Those labeled as Degenerate Artists were unable to showcase their work in exhibits and shows, not allowed to teach and sometimes were unable to produce art any longer. The Degenerate Art Exhibition (German: Die Ausstellung "Entartete Kunst") was an art exhibition organized by Adolf Ziegler and the Nazi Party in Munich from 19 July to 30 November 1937. The exhibition presented 650 works of art, confiscated from German museums, and was staged in counterpoint to the concurrent Great German Art Exhibition.[1] The day before the exhibition started, Hitler delivered a speech declaring "merciless war" on cultural disintegration, attacking "chatterboxes, dilettantes and art swindlers".[1] Degenerate art was defined as works that "insult German feeling, or destroy or confuse natural form or simply reveal an absence of adequate manual and artistic skill".[1] One million people attended the exhibition in its first six weeks.[1] A U.S. critic commented "there are probably plenty of people—art lovers—in Boston, who will side with Hitler in this particular purge".[1]

The ash can school

Artists which focused on portraying the daily life of Americans, often at the poorer level., Group of American artists active from 1908 to 1918. It included members of The Eight such as Henri and Davies; Hopper was also part of the Ash Can group. Their work featured scenes of urban realism.

The Regionalists/American Scene Painters

At the height of the Great Depression, American Regionalists turned away from European modernism to embrace subjects of the heartland. The term American Regionalism refers to a realistic style of painting that began around 1930 and became popular during the Great Depression. Although urban subjects were included, the most popular themes of Regionalism were rural communities and everyday situations. These works were figurative and narrative. The American Regionalists celebrated familiar subjects in ways accessible for a general public, making their work popular among a broad range of audiences. Regionalism came to be seen as politically problematic and retrogressive. It would be soundly rejected in the rise of Abstract Expressionism in the 1940s. The most famous Regionalist painters, Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood, were all associated with specific regions of the American Midwest. They rejected the styles and theories of modern art to embrace techniques and stories that were more connected to an American folk tradition. Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930

Migration of African Americans North & Impact on Art-SIERRA

Hundreds of thousands of African Americans migrated north in the ears following WWI, seeking improved economic opportunities. They often faced as much difficulty and discrimination as what they experienced in the South. The experiences endured during the Great Migration became an important theme in the artistic movement known first as the New Negro Movement and later as the Harlem Renaissance, which would have an enormous impact on the culture of the era.

The Eight/The Ash Can School

Known for its gritty urban subject matter, dark palette, and gestural brushwork, the Ashcan School was a loosely knit group of artists based in New York City who were inspired by the painter Robert Henri. The group believed in the worthiness of immigrant and working-class life as artistic subject matter and in an art that depicted the real rather than an elitist ideal.Ashcan School artists were interested in new modes of seeing and being seen in modern New York City: people walking in parks, prostitutes on the street, artificial lights in boxing arenas and vaudeville reviews Robert Henri, "Portrait of Willie Gee" (1904)

Mexican Revolution & Impact on Art

Originally spawned by the need to promote pride and nationalism in a country rebuilding after revolution, the Mexican Muralist movement brought mural painting back from its staid retirement in the history of ancient peoples as a respected artistic form with a strong social potential. With it, a rich visual language emerged in public spaces as a means to make art accessible to all. It provided an opportunity to educate and inform the common man with its messages of cultural identity, politics, oppression, resistance, progress, and other important issues of the time. It was a fiercely independent movement; many of its early artists rejecting external influences and used this new, vast, and freeing medium to achieve personal expression. This movement proved that art could be a valid communication tool outside the confines of the gallery and museum.

Surrealism

Surrealism was a intellectual and artistic movement, founded in France in 1924 before spreading across the world. The movement was influenced by the emerging science of psychoanalysis. Artists wanted to tap into the deep recces's of the mind. A key method was to abandon desicion making in the creative process in favor of automatism and instinct. The best known Surrelaist painter is Salvador Dali. His best known work was The Persistance of Memory which was completed in 1931. Salvador Dali "The Persistence of Memory". Oil on canvas. 9.5" x 13". 1931

Mexican Muralists

The Mexican Muralism was founded in 1920 in Mexico and the United States. The major artist of this movement was Diego Rivera, Fernando Leal, Jose Clemente Orozco, and Frida Kahlo. Mexican murals were inclined toward the favoring of socialism, they would evolve over time to also favorably portray the industrial revolution, the progress of technology, and capitalism. Mexican Muralism liberated art from the art market and its elitism, making it free for people. One of the keys aims of this movement was to shake up art in the same way that the revolution had shaken up Mexican Society. Mural painting was ideal for inspiring revolutionary fervor in mostly-illiterate population, due to its narrative content and availability in public places, eschewing the traditionally elitist environment of the museum. This movement also hoped to reject all the conventional trappings of artistic production.

WWI & Impact on Art

WWI gave rise to the Neue Sachlichkeit movement in Germany. "New Objectivity" artists depicted the horrors of war and explored the themes of death and transfiguration. Dada, an artistic and literary movement that began in Zürich, Switzerland also arose as a reaction to World War I and the nationalism that many thought had led to the war.

New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit)

Disgusted with the corruption apparent throughout the Weimar Republic but also entranced by new freedoms, this diverse group of artists did not necessarily share a style but rather a commitment to expose the objective truth underlying contemporary ills. Highlighted the social and political turmoil of life emphasized through war-profiteers, beggars, and prostitutes. They explored the rise of the metropolis with its freedoms and sexual liberation, but noted the increasing alienation from nature and rural life. Otto Dix, Skat Players (Card-Playing War Cripples) (1920)

Precisionism

Precisionism was developed in America during the 1920's and was influenced by the Cubist movement (geometric shapes, sharp lines and flat planes) though they were more fascinated with the precision and aesthetic of machines and architecture. Important artists include Charles Demuth (1883-1973), Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986), Charles Sheeler (1883-1965).

The Harlem Renaissance

This movement occurred in the United States in New York in the 1920's. The Harlem Renaissance was inspired by African Americans and their desire to highlight their cultural accomplishments. Major artists were Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, and Meta Warwick Fuller. Trends include unmodulated color shapes, flat planes, subjective color, and African American imagery. "Noah's Ark" by Aaron Douglas.