Common Themes and Analysis
Artistic movements have always been met with aversion by the public. Whether it is the rise of naturalism or abstract expressionism, everyone's a critic of new ideas. However, with non-objective and abstract art, widespread criticism is commonplace. In "The 1913 Armory Show: America's First Art War," the author explores the various complaints of the public and publications during the controversial Armory Show which displayed hot new art from Europe. Hot new art meaning Impressionism, Expressionism, and, the most disputed, Cubism. These movements were all groundbreaking when they were birthed and in "The 'ism' that isn't" the author seeks to define what makes 'ism' movements 'ism' movements. Although at first glance these two articles seem barely similar, they share many common themes. For example, both articles are addressing the explosion of groundbreaking art movements in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. They both reference the influence of Cubism and how artists were truly breaking out of the constraints of realism and what the world had defined as art in the past. Cubism was one of the first movements to show that some artworks' intention is not to depict reality but an alternate, stylized, and sometimes incomprehensible form of it. Furthermore, both articles discuss art pieces' ulterior motives and messages in regards to the political world. When referring to political motives, "the 'ism' that isn't" finds that politics were central to the creation of art movements and is the defining feature of "isms." In "the 1913 Armory Show...," the author states that contemporary art is focused on the emotions of suppressed minorities and are used to make powerful political statements. Both understand the importance of politics in regards to art and the motivations it provides. In terms of differences, the Armory Show has a more focused and narrow approach to artistic movements. It hones in on cubism and its role in public outcry in 1913. On the other hand, the isms is a comprehensive analysis of the meaning of ism and how artists, curators, and collectors alike can not go around willy-nilly making up art movements. In addition, the isms are a critique on a specific art show that, according to the author, "travesties the history of modern art by stripping it of politics." The ism article also brings up multiple questions about how art will change in the future intrinsically while the Armory Show focuses on how reactions and the discourse surrounding art will change. Flaws and Strengths "The 1913 Armory Show: America's First Art War" is wonderfully written and provides images to go along with the article which I found very helpful. Seeing the works that were displayed in this show helped me envision myself in the shoes of a normal civilian going in to see this exhibit. Furthermore, seeing the so called "explosion in a shingle factory" of "Nude Descending A Staircase No. 2" was particularly interesting. The inclusion of quotes from the time period also gave the article a sense of trustworthiness and validity. The article was very easy to understand and digest which is always a good quality for widespread information. However, as someone unfamiliar with Gertrude Stein, I believe there could be more information included about her considering the amount of times she was mentioned in the article. "The 'ism' that isn't" is an intellectual piece. I enjoy the in depth analysis of the idea of an 'ism' and the various examples provided as well as the historical contextualization of the movements. I also enjoyed the quote by the painting tutor as first hand accounts always work in the favor of an article. Seeing the perspective of someone who disliked impressionism at this time period supported the argument about how isms are groundbreaking. Sometimes the article was a bit difficult to follow as it jumped around quite a bit. Personal Opinion As this new age of art dawns upon us in the 21st century, I believe there are no more boundaries left in art to push. As mentioned in the ism article, isms were all groundbreaking movements designed to question the idealized version of art that existed at the time. Their rebellion is part of what made them great. However, Duchamp's beliefs about everything being art as long as the artist intended it to be virtually destroyed the idealized version of art. I think that no more isms can exist as no more boundaries exist to be stretched. Public derision will forever exist towards art as the 1913 Armory Show indicates (as there are people who still hate abstract art today simply for not conforming to perspective and realism). However, their derision will always be towards the wide idea of contemporary art since we are no longer inching along the idea of non-objective, we are entirely in the mouth of non-objective. It's no longer uncommon for people to see works like White on White by Malevich hanging in an art museum. I guess I'm trying to say that the era of life-changing artistic innovation is over? Or, more optimistically, the era of isms are over because nothing is out of the question anymore.
2 Comments
Angela Chen
4/13/2018 08:36:34 am
Do you think the kind of openness that we have achieved in the art world and the rest of society is dangerous? Is it possible that the availability of such a wide range of ideas that are ever-present in our discussion of art actually collectively distracts us from something we would have instead been focused on? I feel if we take the example of anime/manga as an art form, then it's possible to see that acceptance of once stray positions into the mainstream can pervert/sidetrack an individual artist's direction. I think that there is value in focusing on a traditional skill base before evolving into that reduction (understanding why details are where they are before a progression in abstraction), and having that ever-present, hovering existence of the great Cubists or the Futurists perhaps makes some people jump the gun when it comes to their own progress, in spite of their undeniably important contributions to art.
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Renny McFadin
4/13/2018 03:56:16 pm
I agree about the handiness of the images provided in "The 1913 Armory Show: America's First Art War". It truly does submerse the reader in place with those viewing the art for the first time. Your comment about Gertrude Stein I also agree with, some more familiarization with her could've allowed me to digest this information with more emotion and bias. Regarding pushing the boundaries of art, I think you're correct in asking- What is left to push? With "The 'ism' that isn't" Saatchi seems content on removing political interaction and art all together. Could this be pushing a new boundary? Possibly, but I don't think so.
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