ARTH 432 Final (Readings)
Lauren Strauss, “A Circle fo Radical ‘Kultur-Tuers’: William Gropper and his Yiddishist, Artist Comrades”
Gropper influenced by the communities he grew up in (Jewish & New York
Influenced by mother’s experience working in a sweatshop
Contributes to works that depict interpretations of the inhumane working conditions
Interpretation of communism → shifts during WPA, still politically motivated
Alain Locke, “The Legacy of the Ancestral Arts”
Black artists perceived Africa as a source of artistic inspiration → connection to ancestry
Served as a link between African civilization and culture (specifically Egypt and Ethiopia)
Renee Ater, “Race and Americanization”
Ethiopia is a representation of the emancipation of Black people (connections to Egypt)
Linked cultural aspects (ancient and current) to the modern struggle for liberation and resistance
Artistic celebration of race
Richard Powell, “Paint that Thing!”
Centers Douglas as a “true modernist” → work is largely considered outside of modernity definition because the definition is founded on interpreting Eurocentric works
Douglas should be considered through expanded modernist lens → take into consideration influence of Black culture on Black artistry beyond Harlem Renaissance
Emilie Boone, “A Nimble Arc: James Van Der Zee and Photography”
Only viewing Van Der Zee in conversation with the Harlem Renaissance is limiting
Argues his photographs are influential in propelling photography into modern art movement
Limiting interpretation devalues the extent of his portfolio
Lauren Kroiz, “Defining Straight Photography”
Pictorialism photography defined as an effort to draw on aesthetic and conventional art forms → connecting to painting
Characterizes emotion and human connections created within the works of art
Straight photography defined as an effort to avoid idealized and edited aspects
Focuses on reality of American Urbanism → unedited and unfiltered depiction of the modern American age and culture
Rejected celebrations of European art and society that pictorialism highlighted
Sascha Scott, “Georgia O’Keeffe’s ‘Black Place’”
O’Keeffe’s paintings are direct references to war → emotional and physical destruction
Goal was to capture the fears and anxieties of the public captured through the landscape
Mimicking current events through paintings which reflect the gravity of the time
Sharon Corwin, “Picturing Efficiency”
Paradox at the heart of the precisionist art movement is that these works are intended to be seen as efficient forms of productions, yet in reality that are very laborious and time consuming
Works that look efficient are incredibly time consuming
Cecile Whiting, “Practicing Democracy through Abstraction”
Argues that abstract art itself can be a form of anti-fascism
Abstraction is a departure from authoritarian nature of traditional figuration
Relationship to marxist ideas
Celeste-Marie Bernier, “Don’t Tell Me How to Paint”
“Self-made” rather than “self-taught” when referring to Pippen
Pippen’s art is a form of self-representation
Working within a social context of Black artistry and representative of barriers the art world
Acknowledged that formal art training isn’t a necessity for expression
ShiPu Wang, “The Other American Moderns”
Calls out traditional understandings of modernism as it’s attached to the Eurocentric white male label
Asian-American artist confronting the “Americanism” label and its impact on society from the experience of being an immigrant/minority in a racialized existence
Jacqueline Francis, “Making Race: Modernism and ‘Racial Art’ in America
Focus on the racial aspects of Asian-American artists and works
Points to connection of identity to understanding works as modern art
“Othering” of artists in modern movement explores the limitations of modernist definition
Monica Bravo, “‘The American Artist’: Edward Weston, Muralism, and Mestizaje”
A modernism that incorporates the artistic achievements of North America rather than just the US
Discusses influence of Mexican art and culture in crafting a blended artistic identity