Early Modern Art
The Great Depression
Many Americans faced
difficult times during the Great Depression. Thanks to Works Progress
Administration (WPA), created by Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, artists were able
to illustrate the world through their lenses. Additionally, although purchasing
art was considered a luxury during these times, WPA Programs brought art into life’s
that had never been able experience it before through murals, music,
writing, and design for example..
Community based art focused on homelessness, bread lines and agriculture each artist focused on demonstrating the hardships that was a reality to millions of Americans. Through journalism and writing, Dorothea Lange, a famous photograph during this time was able to focus on documenting the terrible damage the Great Depression caused on the people living during this period.
Migrant Mother, one of Dorothea Lange most famous photograph, was taken in 1936 revealing the hardship times that a widowed mother of seven children was living in. The woman was a 32 year old that endured a life eating frozen vegetables from fields nearby and birds hunted by her children. She was living in a tent and had just sold her car tires for food. Lange states that having the image captured was an “equality”, that the woman hoped would lead to help for her family while giving Lange material that really assisted in demonstrating the truly heart breaking and devastating life endured for many during the Great Depression.
 |
| Migrant Mother, Dorothea Lange 1936 |
Lange photograph of the Migrant Mother was taken 175 miles north of Los Angeles. Growing up in the central valley my entire life, the image really struck a cord. The anguish and desperation in the woman's eyes is evident and there is something about the children hugging her that also is a reminder of a child's everlasting love to a parent, a mother; that although she is having difficulties feeding them, the love towards her is pure and her anguish is just. It is also photograph that is rich in the history of agriculture and gives me a sense of pride, knowing the progress that the farmlands have been through.
The Prodigal Son, an abstract piece by Thomas Hart Benton further illustrates the jarring times experienced. The Great Depression was a result from a drop in the stock market, causing an enormous disruption in employment, increasing poverty, and a declining in industrial production. Hart’s abstract piece full of distorted shapes and angles is with a purpose to evoke emotions of despair that the man is feeling after coming home to a shattered home. Benton’s piece is retelling the story in the bible’s New Testament of a man returning to disaster after leaving to seek out a better future. Instead of returning to a joyful home full of love and new hope, he is returning to ruins and poverty acquainted during this era.
 |
| Prodigal Son, Thomas Hart Benton 1939 |
Robert Gilbert is another
American artist that was known for his abstract art, using agricultural an industrial
backgrounds, with bold colors and tubular forms. Like other Americans living
during The Great Depression, Gilbert was no stranger to becoming unemployed, in
fact he was unemployed twice as a result of the massive unemployment rates
affecting everyone. It wasn’t until Robert began working for a gas company in
Santa Ana California that his art gained that Mexican aesthetic he is known
for. Gilbert’s work represented the local workers he grew to know and work alongside.
 |
| Industrial Composition, Robert Gilbert 1932 |
Furthermore, Gilbert won an award at the Laguna Beach Art Association after Arthur Miller, a Los Angeles Times critic claimed his piece to have a “poetic statement”. It appears that Gilbert’s real life experience as a worker has helped evoke the hard working visual that is seen in the art piece.
Causes of the Great Depression. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/causes-of-the-great-depression
Migrant Mother, 1936. (n.d.). Migrant Mother, 1936. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/migrantmother.htm
Prodigal Son - DMA Collection Online. (n.d.). Dallas Museum of Art. https://collections.dma.org/artwork/5303880
Robert Gilbert. (n.d.). Helfen Fine Arts. https://helfenfinearts.com/robert-gilbert/
Hilstrom Meuseum of Art. (n.d). PDF.
https://gustavus.edu/finearts/hillstrom/concertFiles/media/HMA_Shogren_catalogue_proof10.pdf
For the first work of art, I really like how real the picture is. You are able to tell the mother is stressed and unsure of what the future holds. The children aren't looking in the picture, which gives me the impression they are embarrassed because of their current living situation. I love that you picked this picture because I knew right away that you were connecting it to the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteFor the second picture, I don't like this one as much because although the meaning behind it is very real and a decrease in employment is serious and was during the Great Depression, the art itself is not my favorite. I think it looks more like a cartoon, but I feel like for something as serious as the Great Depression it should've been a little more realistic looking.
For the last painting, I think it's really neat that the artist created this painting because he relates to being unemployed because of the Great Depression. I feel like you can tell that he had experience through the painting with the detail to it. I wouldn't own it, but I do really like it.
For starters, I believe that all three artwork both follow the theme, The Great Depression. The first picture shows a lot of emotions. The struggles of this hard time is crealy shown in this photograph. I think the second picture is a little bit goofy in a sense. I think it does show what had happened during the Great Depression but it is in a cartoonish way. I feel like it is trying to make light of the situation. Or maybe just not show the harshness of what happened. Overall I really appreciated the artwork you have chosen for this blog. It was interesting to read why the artists did what they did to create these pieces.
ReplyDelete