Societal Emotions and The Great Depression: Early Modern Blog

    The Great Depression and Complicated Emotions

    The Great Depression not only affected American citizens economically but damaged overall moral and confidence. America was no longer the "winner" globally anymore and the existentialism of the everyday life started to become more apparent then the idealized American dream. The Great Depression was an economic collapse worldwide that created a societal fear of repression, monotony and overall unfairness that were complicated and otherwise unrepresented emotions that the Surrealist, Dada and The Harlem Renaissance art movements were able to express.  

Dada 

    Dada is known for being more of an artistic protest towards social, economic and cultural values of the early 1920's and 30's. While many pieces in the movement have been debated as "art' the artist George Grosz took a more serious route from the often "funny" approach of Dada to a more focused expression of his disgust at the cruelty and decadence of the bourgeoisie. 

'The Pillars of Society' by George Grosz 1926 (oil on canvas)

    While most of America was suffering from economic failure there was of course, groups of people that had considerably more wealth then the working class. The "American Dream" was a guarantee that if you worked hard you would be successful and citizens were starting to realize that was not the case anymore. Grosz painting "The Pillars of Society" illustrates the exploitation of the "working man".  The painting shows a scene of morose characters with their heads topped with different hats and items one character, resembling a priest having what looks like feces inside of his cup, and a worker having nails inside his while the superiors have different types of hats symbolizing the difference of class and the hierarchy of people in the scene much like the class system during The Great Depression. Grosz himself states "Man has created an insidious system - a top and a bottom. A very few earn millions, while thousands upon thousands are on the verge of starvation. But what has this to do with art? Precisely this, that many painters and writers, in a word, all the so-called 'intellectuals' still tolerate this state of affairs without taking a stand against it...To help shake this belief and to show the oppressed the true faces of their masters is the purpose of my work". The colors of paint used are hues of grey and black with pops of reds and browns as detailing. The lack of color  symbolizes a lack of happiness in the painting and in society at the time. The entire painting is spatially full of detail to the point of the scene looking "squished" giving the illusion of claustrophobia and no escape. The working class is put forward symbolizing what society sees, with the the superior officer right next to them. But behind the working class is a priest like character and men that resemble military officers. This placement of each person in the painting is done to show what the hierarchy at the time wanted to be kept secret and hidden from society. With all these elements combined I myself see this painting as a dystopian society near apocalyptic collapse. Through this paining I feel like society must have felt lost, abandoned and nihilistic as even the faith they leaned to for hope is turning a blind eye towards what's really happening, symbolized by the priest with closed eyes. 

 Surrealism 

    The effects of the economy from The Great Depression created world wide effects that would create lasting materialism, selfishness and increased Narcissistic qualities in the population due from lack of money and objects during the economic collapse. The people who grew up and lived through the Great Depression lived in such struggling environments they had to navigate life socially to get the jobs they needed to survive. 

                              

"Personal Values" by Rene Magritte 1951 oil on canvas

    In Rene Magritte's painting "Personal Values" he portrays objects that he gets ready with like a comb, soap and a makeup brush with a wine glass and a match. He gives human proportions to these objects to symbolize the importance in someone's life. Many people put a lot of value on how they look and especially so during and after The Great Depression. There was always the want to look good but many people in the population feel it is a necessity in life, like how every object is bigger or almost as big as the bed which IS a necessity. The placement of the objects in the painting can symbolize importance as well, like the comb being the biggest object in the paining and "sitting" on the bed like a person. Magritte uses reflections in the mirror of the dresser showing the soap as well as a window which seems to open up to nothingness, while the wallpaper of the room is a cloudy sky. Perhaps this could symbolize as someone is more free at home with their objects then outside in the working world. This value on personal looks would create narcissistic and materialistic qualities in people I feel calm while looking at this picture despite the message I get from it. I feel like this painting is a self aware illustration of what society can make a person become and looking at it gives a gentle warning. 

The Harlem Renaissance 

    Black Americans culture and history was and still is unrepresented. During the Great Depression many white people were out of jobs, but what about many black Americans that were already disenfranchised against? We know that the Great Depression had lasting effects and that is especially true for minority's where the American Dream was never built for them to begin with due to racial inequality and also were exploited before, during and after The Great  Depression. Jacob Lawrence created art pieces that showed life for black Americans and their integration from Africa into America and how black communities continued to be repressed after The Great Depression.  

"Tombstones" by Jacob Lawrence 1942 watercolor on paper

    Painted a year after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and a year before the artist would be inducted into the United States Coast Guard "Tombstones" displays Lawrence's views of the treatment of life and death, in his community.  The painting shows a scene of a black neighborhood at a makeshift graveyard with almost defeated postures. The situation looks like a recurring event of grieving over a lost member of the community. The two figures hiding their faces, the women on the left holding a baby and the man at the bottom of  the stairs seem to be the ones filled with so much grief that they need to turn away from it while everyone else in the portrait seems to embrace it. Including the baby in a carriage being the person closets to the graves. These people most likely have to walk by theses tombstone everyday to and from work, school and everyday activity's and are constantly reminded to the point of routine of the injustices they face. Lawrence uses bright colors throughout his painting that show the inside decorations of the peoples homes and details on their clothes giving that the event seen before us is just another part of ordinary life for their community. The shapes used for the peoples bodies are cube like with little to no detail on their faces except for white eyes and slits for mouths making the postures be the forefront of expression. Everyone in the painting looks exhausted to the point that they all are leaning on something to help deal with the heavy burden in front of them. This painting makes me feel sad and angry for the situation the community is in. The fact that these people don't even get to put their dead in a graveyard but have to make one out of a little plot of land they have is unfair especially unfair. I appreciate artist who create paintings of events in history that are overlooked

Works Cited

Dadaism - Art and Anti Art, www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/art_movements/dadaism.htm.

Lawrence, Jacob. “Jacob Lawrence: Tombstones.” Jacob Lawrence | Tombstones | Whitney Museum of American Art, whitney.org/collection/works/1192.

Personal Values, 1952 by Rene Magritte, www.renemagritte.org/personal-values.jsp.

Robin Urton, 4realarts.com. Eyeconart:Modern Surrealism, robinurton.com/history/surrealism.htm.

Robin Urton, 4realarts.com. Eyeconart: The Harlem Renaissance, robinurton.com/history/Harlem.htm.