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