Art History from 1900 to 1920

Art from 1900 to 1920 brought in new styles. It not only affected paintings but also many other art forms including movies, crafts, sculptures, architecture, and fashion. First, to give you an idea of how many different art styles evolved during this period, here is a short list of the well known:

Fauvism – (1905)

Fauvism introduced bright colors, contrasts, and abstraction.

• Artist represented their emotions towards the objects in the art by using colors to express their feelings towards the object.

"Charing Cross Bridge, London" (1906) by André Derain

Expressionism – (1905)

Expressionism showed what the painter thought or felt towards things including the world.

• The artist transforms the reality into the way they see it inside their own mind or the way they perceive it.

Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893

Cubism – (1907)

• Cubism brought the ideal of abstraction using geometric figures while having multiple ways to view the picture.


• Picasso and Braque were two of the main well-known artists that developed paintings of this type.


• Additionally, during the time the two worked together, they developed what is know as the collage (gluing paper or other objects to the canvas).

Futurism – (1910)

• Futurism dealt with machines, motion, and hostility, things that were not widely accepted at first.

Dadaism – (1916)

• If Cubism was new art then Dadaism was the anti-art.


• It mostly expressed anti-war or anti-politics in its creation.
  
• Dadaism was mostly popular during World War I and created during that period.

Each of these styles of art introduced new elements into society. They also brought new reality to how people envisioned the world and its surroundings. Violence, nudity, and realism from these types of art helped to shape the current culture of the time. One of the many groups/individuals that shaped the culture of society of this time by showing violence and reality in their paintings was “The Eight.” The Eight consisted of eight artists that decided to show the reality of life by using regular people, bright colors, violence, and every day situations. This group had a major impact on art as it helped people to understand that life was not all beautiful but had its own darkness ( for a good site on art of the 1900’s see http://www.all-art.org/contents.html, it also has pictures of the paintings from the era).

Another interesting aspect of art from this period is fashion. At the time, most women wore many undergarments and tight fighting outfits mostly consisting of dresses. In 1913, Coco Chanel opened up her first store. She helped change how women dressed shortly after the start of World War I by designing clothes that allowed the woman to move more freely. Additionally, during this period women started to wear pants. This was mainly influence by military and factory workers wearing them on a daily basis. As well, loose fitting and easier clothes to wear started to appear. This allowed more women to partake in more activities such as sports.


Reference:

A World History of Art. Retrieved November 13, 2007, from History of Art Web site:
http://www.all-art.org/contents.html

American Art. Retrieved November 13, 2007, Web site:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761563773&pn=4&s=8#s8

Pidduck, A Fashion in the 20th Century. Retrieved November 14, 2007, Web site:
http://www.sputnick.com/angela/fashion_through_the_20th_c.htm

History of Motion Pictures 1900-1920

History Motion Pictures, historical development of the visual medium known as motion pictures, film, cinema, or the movies. History shows that even in the 1900-1920 movies were still considered a business, art form and as a means of delivering major filmmakers and their films, principal fiction and nonfiction genres, and film industries in the United States and throughout the world. Around 1901 Edwin s Porter who was a former projectionist and traveling exhibitor, took charge of motion-picture production at Edison’s company in 1901 and began making longer films that told a story. For example the movie called the Great train Robbery was made in 1903 and was one of the most notable films that was in cinema. Motion pictures were said to have lacked sound that matched the action. There were always pianos and organs in films and at times a narrator or live actors behind the screen. As feature-length films (four reels, with a running time of 40 to 50 minutes or more) became the norm in the 1910s, live orchestras began to play in larger theaters, frequently using music written specifically for the film. Until World War I (1914-1918) European filmmakers was said to have dominated the world film market. France was the main the leading film-producing country, as well as Italy, Denmark, and other countries also played a significant role. Companies in the U.S. was said to have taken over by using the same tactics of high-volume production and lower prices that the Europeans had. By the 1920s some three-quarters of films screened around the world came from the United States. In 1915 Griffith came out with The Birth of a Nation which got the audiences attention with its events and an art form for cultured spectators. He continued to make films like Intolerance in 1916, which were four stories about victims of prejudice. I beleive that movies from the past has had a big influence on todays movie industry.

Listed below are major movies that were created between 1900-1920

Why Mrs. Jones got a divorce (1900)
The Gordon sisters Boxing (1901)
What Happen on Twenty-third Street, New York City (1902)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
San Francisco Earthquake, (1906)
His Duty (1909)
White Roses (1911)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
An Unseen Enemy (1903)
A Good Little Devil (1914
Mable at the Wheel (1914)
The Tramp, (1915)
A Fool There Was (1915)
The Pawnshop (1916)
The Rink (1916)
Easy street (1917)
Wild and Woolly (1917)
Shoulder Arms (1918)
Hearts of the world (1918)
Sunnyside (1919)
Daddy Long Legs (1919)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
The Mark of Zorro (1920)
Way Down East (1920)
Pollyanna (1920)
Get Out and Get Under (1920)

History of Motion Pictures," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2007 Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://encarata.msn.com/

Brief timeline of American Literature, Music, and Movies. (2007) Retrieved November 15, 2007, from http://www.wsu.edu/~campbells/amlit/190m.html

US Historical Events: 1900 - 1920

1900
- President is currently William McKinley with no vice president
- Hurricane ravages Galveston (off Texas Port) and 8,000 killed
- Carrie Chapman Catt replaces Susan B. Anthony as president of National Woman Suffrage Associate
1901
- President McKinley began his second term in office, but was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz on Sept 6. Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as successor on Sept. 14
- J.P. Morgan creates the United States Steel Co. (This will later become the first $1 billion corporation in the world)
- First set of Nobel Prices are awarded
1902
- Bureau of the Census is established – this will later become the Dept of Commerce
- Approx. 150,000 United Mine Workers strike in Pennsylvania – they were striking for wage increases and more suitable hours
1903
- Henry Ford created and organized the Ford Motor Company
- The first automobile transcontinental trip was achieved - it took 52 days to get from San Francisco to New York
- The Wright Brothers’ first successful powered flight
1904
- New York City’s first subway opens
- U.S. Supreme Court rules that citizens of Puerto Rico cannot be denied entry to the continental U.S.
- U.S. begins manufacturing of the Panama Canal
- Olympic Games are held in St. Louis
1905
- “Industrial Workers of the World” is founded in Chicago – the formation was created in hopes of uniting all workers and giving more control to unions
- Advancements in train service include 18-hr rides between New York and Chicago and the first train ever equipped with electric lights.
- President Theodore Roosevelt is joined by VP Charles W. Fairbanks
- Einstein prepares his “Special Theory of Relativity”
1906
- Over 500 people are killed during the San Francisco earthquake and three day fire
- President Roosevelt sails to the Panama Canal Zone – this would mark the first time a U.S. president has traveled outside the country while in office
1907
- Fall of the stock market ignites financial panic across the U.S
- Oklahoma becomes the country’s 46th state
1908
- President Roosevelt holds White House Conservation Conference - that leads to the establishment of the “National Conservation Commission”
- Albert Einstein presents “Quantum Theory of Light”
- Ford Model T is introduced by Ford Motor Company
1909
- “The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People” is founded by well-known black and white intellectuals
- Congress enacts Republican-sponsored “Payne-Aldrich Tariff” - this only led to great disappointments by the public
- President William Taft is elected president with VP James S. Sherman
1910
- Boy Scouts of America is introduced
- Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, becomes the immigration center for Asians entering the U.S.
1911
- 146 people killed in the “Triangle Shirtwaist Company” fire in New York
- Supreme Court finds “Standard Oil Company” on May 15 and “American Tobacco Company” on May 29 to be in violation of the “Sherman Antitrust Act” – this is one of the first antitrust laws introduced in the U.S. limiting cartels and monopolies
1912
- New Mexico and Arizona are admitted as states 47 and 48
- Woodrow Wilson is elected president
- Girl Scouts of America founded by Juliette Gordon Low
- Titanic sinks after hitting iceberg and 1,513 passenger drowned
1913
- Garment workers strike in New York and Boston - they win pay raises and reduced hours
- 16th Amendment for income tax and 17th for popular election of U.S. senators are adopted
- Bill creating “U.S. Federal Reserve System” becomes a law
- Woodrow Wilson becomes 28th U.S. President with VP Thomas R. Marshall
1914
- Congress sets up “Federal Trade Commission” and passes “Clayton Antitrust Act”
- U.S. Marines engage Vera Cruz, Mexico, in civil war to protect Americans
- The world’s first red and green traffic lights are installed in Cleveland
- World War I begins, although the U.S. was not involved this early
- The Panama Canal is opened to public
1915
- The one millionth Ford automobile drives off the assembly line
- “The Superior Court in Fulton County, GA accepts the charter for the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan” on Dec 4
- U.S. population exceeds 100 million people
1916
- In June, Congress authorized a plan to expand the U.S. armed forces over the next five years
- Montana voters elect Republican Jeannette Rankin (36) becoming the first woman to serve in the U.S. Congress
- U.S. National Park Service is created by act of Congress on Aug 20
- Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the country (in Brooklyn)
1917
- U.S. declares war (World War 1) with Germany on April 6
- “I Want You” – James Montgomery Flagg’s poster, featuring Uncle Sam, attracts thousands of U.S. recruits to WWI duty
- On June 28, between 10 – 15,000 blacks walked down New York City’s Fifth Avenue to protest racial discrimination and violence
1918
- Daylight Savings Time goes into effect in March
- New York subway accident kills 92 and injuries 100 after a train jumps a track in Brooklyn at 30 mph, which is five times the speed limit, on November 2
1919
- Massachusetts Governor John Calvin Coolidge acts to dismiss strikers, saying that no one has the right to strike against public safety
- In July, race riots explode in 26 U.S. cities during the course of the year, including Washington D.C. and Chicago, IL
- The 18th amendment, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages anywhere in the U.S., is ratified on Jan 16
- Alcohol Prohibition was introduced and began enforcement
1920
- Woman’s suffrage goes into effect
- The 19th amendment, guaranteeing woman the right to vote, ratified on Aug 26
- A bomb explodes in the J.P. Morgan bank building in New York City, killing 30 and injuring 200 on Sept 16

References:

Craig, J. (2003). Timelines: 1900 – 1920. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from
http://www.designingwithtype.com/timelines.php?year=1900&id=9

Whitley, P. (2006). American cultural history the twentieth century. Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Kingwood College Library
Web site: year=1900&id=9http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade10.html

Year by Year: 1900 - 2007. (2007) Retrieved November 14, 2007, from Pearson Education
Web site: http://www.infoplease.com/yearbyyear.html

BOOKS & LITERATURE – 1900 - 1920

Between 1900 and 1910 the larger American newspapers changed to the four-column, tabloid style paper. During this time the newspaper industry was largely controlled by two competing business leaders , William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, These two men turned producing newspapers into a rivalry when they began adding special sections such as sports and cartoon strips. The Christian Science Monitor was founded in 1908 and quickly became a popular media reference of its time.
Many of the novelists produced 'happiness novels' because the women during this time period were the majority readers of fiction. Best selling authors produced many fine books we still enjoy; Jack London's Call of the Wild - Mary Johnson's To Have and T0 Hold, and Owen Wister's The Virginian were best sellers during this decade. Zane Grey, William Dean Howells, and Carl Sandberg were publishing extensively during this decade. As in other decades, books reflected the times in which people lived. Notable books covered topics like big business, urban problems, racism, women's issues and worker's problems.
Between 1910 and 1920 some people began to express their discontent with what was perceived as a materialistic society. Much of the literature of the time reflected this discontent. As an example: The Education of Henry Adams assailed the nation's failure to live up to its founders' ideals. Popular authors included Walter Lippman and John Dewey.

Other best sellers of the decade included The Secret Garden (Francis Hodgson Burnett), Sons and Lovers (D.H. Lawrence), Of Human Bondage (Somerset Maugham), Wild Fire (Zane Grey), Tarzan of the Apes (Edgar Rice Burroughs),
The number one fiction of 1919 was The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, which was later made into a movie. A single copy sold for $1.90 - industry insiders felt the public would never pay $2 for a book but were happy to be proved wrong! (Oh for the good old days!) Margaret Sanger became a controversial figure when she published information on birth control and women during this time.

References:
Maltby, R. (1989). In Maltby R. (Ed.), Passing paradeA history of popular culture in the twentieth century. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
Whitley, P. (2006). American cultural history the twentieth century. Retrieved November 15, 2007, 2007, from http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade00.html

Team 2 Culture and Society: Interactions

Welcome everyone to our first group project together. We will use this blog for our posting of the following sections we need to research on for assignment 1-5:

Historical events in the U.S - will be assigned to Steve Parish
Literature in the U.S - will be assigned to Gregory Kulis
Music - will be assigned by Samantha Miller
Art - will be assigned to Lonnie Lacharite
Science - will be assigned to Scott Martin
Movies - will be assigned to Gloria Leonard

Keep in mind, these topics are not set in stone, if you would like to change topics with another person you can certainly do so. I think everyone should be able to have a minimum of two paragraphs on their topic and please have those topics posted by no later than Friday night. If someone has not posted anything under their topic by Saturday, we will try to help that person or if worse come to worse, someone else will do it for them. If anyone has any questions on this blog or would like to change something, feel free to give input. This is a group project so I hope everyone contributes to it.

US Music of 1900-1920

Strike up the band!

Music has always played a vital role in all cultures. In the 1900-1920 era music reflected the times, as it often does still to this day. In the 1900-1920’s America was on a fast ever-changing ride. Everything was changing within our country, as well as how the world viewed us and our cultivating popular culture. We were now becoming a powerhouse world leader in economics, entertainment and human liberties. Workers called for unions, child labor laws and education. Women’s suffrage issues and race riots were recognized as a force that demanded to be heard. And equal liberties were demanded for all races and genders. We pumped out products faster than ever and bought them just as quickly; industries boomed with business and growth.

With all this excitement and boom in the midst of the Great War, or WWI, people were becoming more inclined to “let heir hair down” and dance the night and their stresses away at local jazz clubs and bars. They had a little more money to spend on entertainment, thanks to the economy, and music and dance halls were there to provide recreational leisure. Piano players, brass bands, ragtime (pre-jazz), and folk time musicals kept everyone on their toes in the dance halls to the back street bars.