1970s to the Digital Revolution

The 1970’s era, up until the “digital revolution” was an era in which there were very major advances in terms of technology, with such items as the personal computer becoming more advanced. This technology helped to greatly revolutionise the modern era, in such areas as education, culture and the intake of knowledge, as well as this technology becoming cheaper and smaller, and thus more common, due to mass production and technological shrinking.
The handheld mobile phone, and its ability to be able to make a phone call to anyone, anywhere (as long as they had a cellular phone too). 
The internet (which was invented by Sir Tim Berners Lee), an invisible library of a hugely vast content collection, ranging from data, books, music, movies, and social media. 
And also stemming from the advance in computing technology, the usage of CGI (computer generated images) in movie creation. A notable film that the research will mention, is the Terminator II movie, which was released in 1991. It was the first movie in which live action scenes were used alongside CGI graphics. The research will also mention the short animated film, which was entitled Luxo Jr. It was the first digital movie developed by pixar, and was released in 1986. The movie was a technological feat at the time of creation.

In terms of political culture, in the UK and northern Ireland, there was social unrest emerging with the levels of unemployment rising, the closure of the mines being a big part of this era, and the then failing governments. This displeasure lead to the arrival, and the nourishment of the punk culture movement, which was a revolt against the rock movement, which arose in the 1950's and 60's. 'Mods' were often a more slang term for punks, whilst 'rockers' referred to people who were part of the rock and roll movement. Punk bands revolved around the themes of protest, anarchy and anti-politics. The movement arose with such bands as the Sex Pistols (figure 11), The Stranglers, and Pink Floyd. The Sex Pistols released such famous songs as 'Anarchy in the UK', 'God Save the Queen' and 'Holidays in the Sun'. Many of their songs were related around the theme of protest and political criticism. For example in the song 'God Save the Queen', a lyric mentioned refers the Queen, to the leader of a 'fascist regime'.

"God save the queen, the fascist regime" - Lyric from the song "God save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols.

Figure 1

Punk bands such as the sex pistols helped to begin a cultural rebellion, and anarchy. Such bands as the sex pistols showed that bands need not to be required to have a publisher or label to be known. They also helped create the visual punk stereotype, of leather jackets, skinny jeans and new hairstyles.

Much of the Sex Pistol's graphic artwork used for album sleeves, were designed by the graphic artist, and self devoted anarchist, Jamie Reid. Reid was born in 1947, in London. He studied at an art school called Croyden College, and it was here where he met the figure who would eventually become the manager for the punk band mentioned earlier, The Sex Pistols.
He left in 1970, and had associated himself with a French group that revolved around a section of libertarian marxism. To help fund the group, he created his own publishing outfit, that created material catering to fellow anarchists, as well as women's groups. It was whilst working with this group, and him working on his publishing outfit, where he developed a very signature style of his. This style involved the theme of cutting up elements of different objects, and bringing them together to resemble the style of what visually looks like a ransom note. After leaving the press he started, he moved away from the city of London, and in 1976, he was asked by the sex pistol's manager, where he was persuaded to go back to London.

At the time that Reid met the sex pistols for the first time, their group line up consisted of Johnny Rotten, who was the band's frontman and well as the lead singer, Paul Cook, Glen Matlock and Steve Jones. Sid Vicious, who was the previous frontman, had died earlier.

Reid's later career after the Sex Pistols graphic work, consisted of his own production of artwork, where he usually brought in an element of political/environmental themes. He is still a devout follower to the religions of Druidism, and the Shamanistic faith. His signature clipping style from the era of the Sex Pistols, he no longer practises, as he uses his new age faiths as key influences. Today, he exhibits his work in galleries.2

Figure 2

The figure above (figure 23) is an example of Jamie Reid's artistic style. His style uses a clipping, and collage like technique, and in the case of this image, which is well known in the world of punk, is very vivid, with very bright, and bold colours. This album is entitled "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols". This album was the Sex Pistol's debut album.

The cover art for "God Save the Queen" (figure 34), was another piece created by Reid, and featured imagery of the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as well as using a similar clipped style as the piece above used on the Sex Pistol's debut album cover.

Figure 3

Apart from Jamie Reid's work on album covers in the era of punk, there were other artists who illustrated in the field of music. There is one cover that should be noted in this research, due to the fact that it is to this day, one of the most well known album covers of all time. The album is called, "The Dark Side of the Moon"(figure 45) and it is an album by the band, Pink Floyd.
The people and bodies responsible for the cover, was George Hardie, and the design group, Hipgnosis.

Figure 4

The design of the cover is quite simplistic, and bold. It features a black background, with a simple triangle 'prism' in the middle. A beam of light is being shone in from the left side of the graphic, and as the beam is being passed through the prism, it is visually broken up into a spectrum of colours, ranging from violet to red. This is known as light refraction.

The image below is interestingly by the famous pop artist, Andy Warhol. It features the image of a banana on a white background, and is represented in a signature pop art style. At the bottom, is Warhol's printed name, and this is in black, which greatly allows the wording to stand out.
There is a little arrow pointing toward the stalk of the banana, which states, "Peel slowly and see".
The album has clear references toward a sexual theme. The banana is a reference to male genitalia. 

Figure 4

Moving to famous posters in this era now, and the figure below6, is a graphical poster campaign in the year of 1979.

Figure 5

The poster entitled "labour isn't working" was a piece commissioned by the Conservative party, and produced by the company Saachi & Sacchi, in the run up to the 1979 general election. It led to the Conservative party winning an overall majority, and this led to Margaret Thatcher becoming the first female prime minister in Great Britain. She was ousted after serving a lengthy 11 years in office. 

This topic will now move onto contemporary animation on this era.
Traditional animation really seemed to take off much earlier, in the early 20th century, with such feature length motion pictures as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', by the Walt Disney Corporation. As time progressed, and advances in technology allowed the digital revolution to arrive, the world of 3d animation began to emerge. 

Studios such as Pixar animation, were pioneers in this new 3d style. Pixar's first fully digitally produced film, entitled Luxo Jr, depicted two lamps, the largest one observing the smaller one, who was playing with a bouncy ball. The lamp, as well as the ball, went on to become a recognisable part of Pixar, and even today in their indent, the animation from 1986 is homaged as their introduction to movies.

(Above video7, the Luxo Jr short from Pixar Animation Studios).

The creation of Luxo, led onto many other short films such as Tin Toy (1988), and this led further onto more advanced feature length animated motion pictures, such as the award winning Toy Story (1995), and more recently, Brave (2012).8




References Used:
1.  Figure 1 (internet) :http://www.sidvicious.co.uk/communities/2/004/008/609/102/images/4541100486.jpg, Viewed: 9:59pm (23.2.14)
2. Jamie Reid. (Internet). 2014. The Biography Channel website. http://www.biography.com/people/jamie-reid-20937155 Viewed: 2:22pm 11 Mar 2014.
3. Figure 2: "Sex Pistols/ Never Mind the Bollocks" Artist: Jamie Reid, c1977, Seiler, B. (1998) The Album Cover Art of Punk. Pg: 13, London: Collins & Brown.
4. Figure 3: http://www.fmvmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/the-sex-pistols-god-save-the-queen.jpg Viewed: 8:54pm 13.3.14
5. Figure 4: "The Velvet Underground & Nico", Artist: Andy Warhol, c1967, Thorgerson, S. and Powell, A. (1999) 100 Best Album Covers. Pg: 149, London: Dorling Kindersley Ltd.
6.  Figure 5: (internet) “Labour isn't working”, URL: http://www.libdemvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Labour-Isnt-Working-poster.jpg 9:43am (1.2.14)
7. Video 1: (internet) URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMMrKQLxcMI Viewed: 9:09pm (8.3.14)
8. URL: http://www.pixar.com/about/Our-Story, Viewed: 7:33pm, 12.3.14

1950's and 1960's pop culture in USA and Britain

The 1950’s and 1960’s in the USA and Great Britain was an era generally surrounded by sub-cultures including the promotion of the teenager, politics, and consumer cultures.

In post world war II, the USA was more financially stable than Great Britain, and the majority of Europe. The united States issued a loan to aid in the recovery of Britain, for which the loan was eventually repaid in 2006. British rationing continued all the way up until 1954, and so because of this the promotion of European consumerism was postponed, unlike America where there was no rationing at this time. Such exotic items such as bananas, coconuts etc, were hard to get a hold of in the years following after the war. This was also the era in which there was a great emphasis around the American dream. After a devastated post war Europe, many European refugees, and those that lost everything in a war ravaged Europe, looked to ‘the land of opportunity’ as a way to begin a new life. It was the era in which there was mass migration to the United States.

It was also the era in which the television was introduced to a variety of markets around the world, however this research will focus on the introduction to the television in the USA and Great Britain. The television

The topic that this essay research will focus on, is Pop art. Pop art was an art movement which emerged during the 1950’s and 1960’s in the western world, and generally used a lot of bright colours, The movement also makes use of cultural themes that were happening at the time, referring to such themes as television culture, celebrity culture, and advertisements. This use of themes can be seen be seen in figures 1,2&3.

For example artists such as Richard Hamilton, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein all experimented with this art style. The style is often characterised by the distinct use of colour, as well as shapes, layers and patterns. Below the research highlights a very famous cultural piece by Richard Hamilton (figure 1).1

Figure 1

This image is interesting, as it highlights a lot of elements from popular culture at the time of the 50’s and 60’s. You can see the male and female form, as well as a television, which at the time was being introduced to consumers. Also, there is a reference to advertising on the staircase, a woman hoovering with a caption quoting

“Ordinary cleaners reach only this far” - extract from figure 1

As well as the reference to advertising, the fact that there is a woman operating the hoover, also seems to raise questions about sexism, and women’s roles in society. In the 1950's and 60's, women were seen as lesser equals, to their male counterparts. A woman's role was often seen as being in such places as the kitchen, cooking and cleaning for their husbands, (if they had one).

Another example of pop art in this era, is a piece by Andy Warhol, who was born in 1928. The document will highlight this image below this text.2

Figure 2

This image features a repeat pattern of the famous celebrity, Marylyn Monroe. It is a very well known piece in the pop art movement, and has been reproduced many times. Marylyn Monroe is often seen, and displayed as a fashion icon.

Figure 3

In this circa 1962 piece above entitled "Campbell's Soup Cans (Chicken with Rice, Bean with Bacon)", which is again by the artist Andy Warhol, (figure 33), it contains clear elements of consumer culture, like figure 1, with its reference to advertising. The piece displays a painted image of two food products by Campbell's soup company, one larger than the other.

Another pop art piece that the research will detail, is one by the artist Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein was born in the city of Manhattan, USA.
An example image will be situated below this text.

Figure 4

This piece above (figure 44) contains very bright and vivid colours, Lichtenstein left his mark in the world of pop art with his bold style, as today Lichtenstein is one of the most well recognised artists in this genre, alongside Andy Warhol. Another of his works are featured under this paragraph.

Figure 5

This piece (figure 55) was produced in 1961, and was painted before the figure above. Like the figure above, it contains bold and vivid colours, in a very cartoon like fashion. A style that is very recognisable to Roy Lichtenstein.

References Used: 

1.  Figure 1: “Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?” Livingstone, M. (1990) 'Pop art - a continuing history'. London: Thames and Hudson.

2.  Figure 2: “The Twenty-Five Marilyns”, Artist: Andy Warhol, c1962, Osterwold, T. (1999) Pop Art. Köln: Benedikt Taschen.
3. Figure 3: "Campbell's Soup Cans (Chicken with Rice, Bean with Bacon)" Artist: Andy Warhol, c1962, Osterwold, T. (1999) Pop Art. Pg: 171, Köln: Benedikt Taschen.

4. Figure 4: "I know How You Must Feel, Brad", Artist: Roy Lichtenstein, c1964, Osterwold, T. (1999) Pop Art. Köln: Benedikt Taschen.

5. Figure 5: "Engagement Ring", Artist: Roy Lichtenstein, c1961, Livingstone, M. (1990) 'Pop art - a continuing history'. Pg: 74 London: Thames and Hudson.



Alphabetical Ordered Bibliography:
Figure 1: “Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?” Livingstone, M. (1990) 'Pop art - a continuing history'. London: Thames and Hudson.

Figure 2: “The Twenty-Five Marilyns”, Artist: Andy Warhol, c1962, Osterwold, T. (1999) Pop Art. Köln: Benedikt Taschen.

Figure 3: "Campbell's Soup Cans (Chicken with Rice, Bean with Bacon)" Artist: Andy Warhol, c1962, Osterwold, T. (1999) Pop Art. Pg: 171, Köln: Benedikt Taschen.

Figure 4: "I know How You Must Feel, Brad", Artist: Roy Lichtenstein, c1964, Osterwold, T. (1999) Pop Art. Köln: Benedikt Taschen.


Figure 5: "Engagement Ring", Artist: Roy Lichtenstein, c1961, Livingstone, M. (1990) 'Pop art - a continuing history'. Pg: 74 London: Thames and Hudson.

The Second World War and the Cold War

The 1940’s-1950’s was an era in which the world began to change dramatically. It was the point in time where the second world war occurred, several years after the first world war, which originally involved the five great powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, France and The British Empire during the years of 1914-1918.

To this day, the second world war was one of the largest wars in modern history, and it was a war that was fought on an epic scale. It began in 1939 after the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland, and eventually took control of most of continental Europe. Later toward the end of the war, the development of such items as nuclear weapons were coming into place. The USA bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in 1945 being the first, and only instance in which a nuclear weapon has been used in conflict. This act brought the Second World War to a conclusion shortly after, when the Japanese surrendered to the allied powers. The development of nuclear weaponry, as well as the increasing development of nuclear weapons by other nations, paved the way for the start of the cold war, a time where political suspicions arose, notably between the United States, and the communist Soviet Union.  

The cold war was an era in history dating from after the end of the second world war, to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. It was never technically a conflict, but more of an escalation of
hostile suspicion after the war. Some notable countries involved in the so called 'war', include Russia, and the United States. It lasted between the years of WW2, to around the collapse, and dissolution of the Soviet Union, in 1989.

Going into a brief history of the Cold War now, in the following paragraph.
After the end of World War II, it was decided that the allied powers would break Germany up into zones, notably one side was governed by America, and the other by the Soviet Union. Initial attempts to govern Germany as a united task between the US and the Soviets failed. By 1948, Germany consisted of two separate states, the East and the West.1

The communist soviets sealed their zone off from the democratic side, and this led to the creation of the Berlin wall. A physical divide between the two zones of Germany. This wall was reflected in the media, in terms of art, film, and music. An example can be found in the pop song "99 Luftballons" by artist Nena. (See embedded link below2), as well as figure 2.

The writing background stems from the theme of anti-nuclear protest. Another example is graffiti that could be found on the wall. In figure 1, (below), there is an example of how the wall became a canvas for protest.3

Figure 1

The Soviet Union were developing nuclear weapons in the years after ww2, alongside the Americans. both sides tried to stay one step ahead of each other, in the event that nuclear war would break out. The escalation of the tensions closely reached conflict at certain points, one of them known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
on the 16th of october, 1962, photographs taken from altitude showed an array of soviet union soldiers occupying a nuclear missile site. The soviets were already known about their involvement in sending weaponry to communist Cuba.
The USA during the era of the Cuban missile crisis had a stockpile of over 25000 nuclear weapons, whilst the soviet union had much fewer than America. However, an open nuclear conflict would still have been incredibly devastating, and a conflict that both sides wished to avoid4.

For the research task, this part of the text will focus on the usage of illustration, graphics and posters during the second world war. The graphic arts were used in the war on both the allied front, as well as by the axis powers. It was used to promote such things as propaganda. Propaganda was seeped into society in many ways. This propaganda was presented in various forms, ranging from film, animation, illustrations, graphics and poster campaigns etc5. 

Below, is a well known example of a flyer, used by Great Britain just before the war, designed to keep British morale high. (figure 26 )

Figure 2

This poster pre-dated the famous, “Keep calm and carry on” posters, and it is worth noting that they were never distributed, however after discovery in 2000, they are now very well known in modern day popular culture, after being reintroduced as a ‘fashion statement’.

In comparison, there was also graphic propaganda being produced by Nazi Germany at the same time.
the piece below is an example of a Nazi propaganda piece,

Figure 3

This piece (figure 37) which states the message "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" (translated into English saying "One People, One Empire, One Leader", is an example of how the Nazis used propaganda to glorify their party, and motivate the masses to support, and be loyal toward hitler in his cause. It could be argued that this piece is trying to bring Germans together, and this can be supported in the message extract, "One People".

Another propaganda piece that was used as propaganda by the Nazis, is of the figure below, (figure 48).

Figure 4

This graphic piece is evidently discriminating against the jewish people, note the badge which was placed on Jews in Nazi Germany, to point them out. This piece is pinning the blame for the war, and Germany's troubles solely on them, and their culture. This style of propaganda was very widely used in Nazi Germany, and apart from the Jewish population, other groups, such as homosexuals, disabled people and Nazi opposers, were also discriminated against. 


References Used:
1. Wright, E. (1984) An Illustrated History of the Modern World. Pg: 431, London: Reed International Books
2. Video: URL: (internet) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYQTFudrqc, Viewed: 9:35pm 16.3.14
3. Figure: 1 (internet) URL: http://caroundtheworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/wall.jpg, Viewed: 4:49pm 13.3.14
4. (internet) URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/coldwar/kennedy_cuban_missile_01.shtml, BBC, Viewed: 11:08am 11.3.14
5. Samuels, C. (2013) Propaganda: World War II Sourcebook. Pg: 4, London: Wayland Books.
6. Figure 2: (internet) URL: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/yourcourage.jpg Time viewed: 1:31pm (15.2.14)
7. Figure 3: "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer" Samuels, C. (2013) Propaganda: World War II Sourcebook. Pg: 13, London: Wayland Books.

8. Figure 4: "He is to blame for the war", Artist: Hans Schweitzer, c1943, Luckert, S. and Bachrach, S. (2009) State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda. Pg:135, New York: W.W.Norton & Company.

The 1930s USA

The 1920’s to 1930’s were part of the 20th century. In this time period, certain movements in art, such as surrealism were at large, and this era heralds the introduction of the art deco style, which resembled ancient Egyptian visual fashion and architecture, (examples detailed first below1, and second below2). 

Figure 1

Figure 2

It was also the era in which an event known as ‘the great depression’ hit America, as well as other parts of the world. This was an event where there was a massive financial crisis, very similar, but far worse, to the recession which recently hit in 2008, and is currently still ongoing as of writing.

It began when the stock market in Wall Street, crashed in 19293, and this lead to many years of financial instability for both corporations, and individuals alike. 

Popular culture has referenced the great depression many times, and one that will be focused on, is the modern day remake of the movie, King Kong. In the 2005 movie, the early scenes depict such imagery of shanty towns, homelessness, and a general struggle, which can be seen in Anne Darrow’s character, most notably in the stealing of the apple, the restaurant, and the job offer scenes.

It was also an era in American history, where Hollywood culture emerged, and an era that has been called, a ‘golden era’ in film.

This research will be focusing on the study of two political, and two commerical art deco style posters.

Art deco was a very popular theme during the era of the 1930’s, and it was reflected in many visual forms. From building architecture, to pieces of artwork. 
Art deco as a style seems to reflect a lot of styles that resemble ancient Egyptian artwork and architecture. (See figure below for an example4)

You can see in the canine on the left of the illustration for example, how the body and style seems to resemble how canines visually appeared in hieroglyphs.

Figure 3

Figure 4

In this anti-Nazi poster(figure 45), which was produced in 1940 by Edward McKnight Kauffer, it highlights

how art deco has been influenced by politics at the time. The colours in this graphic are very contrasted, and the poster notably uses a lot of black. It could be suggested that his use of dark colour, could be used to add more emphasis to the anti-Nazi agenda, as black is often associated with death, grimness and misery etc.

The figure below, (Figure 56), shows another example of an art deco political poster.

Figure 5

This image above is a British pro-labour graphic piece, that contains a very limited palette of colours. The image has bold outlines which allow each shape and figure to stand out against the two tone background. In comparison to the image above, it definitely appears to be more colourful, and more positive.

Focusing on examples of commercial Art Deco style posters now, and the immediate figure(s) which can be found below, are perfect examples of how commercial themed Art Deco, visually looked.

Figure 6

This piece by the artist Adolphe Jean Marie Mouron, otherwise known as 'Cassandre'. Cassandre was born in the country of Ukraine, in a city called Kharkov. He travelled to the city of Paris in the year of 1915, and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts school. Here, he studied such art movements as cubism, futurism and purism, and and then took to printing in these styles. He designed his first poster graphic in 1923, and won his first award only two years later. In 1927, he teamed up with Charles Loupot, and named their alliance, "L'Alliance Graphique". This alliance lasted until the death of his artistic partner, Loupot, after which he travelled to the USA. After being there in work between tehbyears of 1936 and 1939, he moved back to France, and tok to the design of promotional graphic arts for theatres, and such areas as ballet.7

(Figure 68) is an art deco stylised advertisement for a French operated transatlantic ocean liner. The company of the service was called CGT, otherwise known as the Compagnie Génerale Transatlantique, and the name of the ship was 'christened', The France.
Note in the image how the poster contains near perfect symmetry. This can be especially seen in the waves at the bow of the ship, as well as the windows toward the top of the ship's bridge. The colours are quite flat, which is another characteristic of the art deco style.

The image below, (figure 79), is another example of commercial art deco stylised artwork, this time as an advertisement for the 'Nord Express'. This piece is also by the artist known as 'Cassandre', and was produced in 1927.

Figure 7

This image resembles a lot of the style that can be seen in figure 6. The image above contains a very minimal palette, as well as very simple lines, shapes and styles. The predominant tones in this graphic piece is grey, as well as white and black. Certain areas of the lettering overlaps, and Cassandre uses a lot of capital lettering which allows the words to stand out against the images beneath. Text can also be found around the edges of the graphic, there is additional information included in this way.

References Used:

1.  Figure 1: (internet) URL: http://www.titalus.com/art/Hum113/ArtDeco/Chrysler2.jpg, Viewed: 11:43am 3.2.14

2.  Figure 2: Cartier Egyptian Temple Gate Clock, Benton, C., Benton, T. and Wood, G. (eds.) (2003) Art Deco 1910 - 1939. Pg: 43 London: V & A Publications.

3. Author: T.H. Watkins, Book: ‘The Great Depression (America in the 1930s)’ Pg: 23, Year of pub: 1993, USA, Blackside Inc.
4. Figure 3, 'Woman Dressed in Black', Artist: Erté, c1930. Zaczek, I. (2003) Essential Art Deco. Pg: 66 Bath: Parragon. 

5. Figure 4, 'Anti-Nazi Poster' Artist: Edward McKnight Kauffer, c1940, Zaczek, I. (2003) Essential Art Deco. Bath: Parragon.

6.  Figure 5: (internet) “Labour Clears the Way”, URL: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2010/3/5/1267810632184/Labour-poster-from-1909-001.jpg 1:21pm, 24.2.14.
7. Zaczek, I. (2003) Essential Art Deco. Pg: 130, Bath: Parragon.
8. Figure: 6: "Poster for the French line", Artist: Cassandre, c1930. Zaczek, I. (2003) Essential Art Deco. Pg: 137, Bath: Parragon.
9. Figure 7: "Etoile Du Nord", Artist: Cassandre, c1927, Zaczek, I. (2003) Essential Art Deco. Pg: 131, Bath: Parragon.

1920s in Europe and Russia

The 1920's in Europe and Russia, was a time in which certain art movements occurred. For example

Bauhaus school, surrealism in western Europe, and expressionism in Germany.

Within this time period, such things as the Russian revolution occurred. The research will go into depth on some of the emerging art movements, and then move onto discussing the events of the soviet revolution, and then moving onto the chosen research task.

The term Bauhaus describes an art school that existed in Germany. it was a school with was founded in the year of 1919. Many famous artists have previously practised in this movement, a few of these artists include Josef Albers, Paul Klee, and Kurt Schmidt.1

The brief research on Bauhaus art will begin by focusing on an example piece below. This piece by Albers, (born in 1888, in Germany),  The figure below shows a strong use of colours, mainly red, with black and white lines. (figure 12)

Figure 1

Surrealism is the name of an art movement that is linked to the themes of baroque. It started around the year of 1910, and the movement experimented a lot with such themes as automatic writing, otherwise known as automatism. Automatic writing is the process of tapping into the subconscious mind, creating randomised, and abstract shapes.
Some of the earliest experimentations with this new art movement, began with several artists, some of which included Max Ernst, Andrè Masson, Salvador Dali, and Man Ray.3

The research will discuss the surrealist artist, Salvador Dali and his life, as well as detailing several analysed examples of some of his art pieces.

Dali was born on may 11th, 1904, in a town situated in the northern part of Spain. The year of 1916 was a very fundamental year for Dali, whilst studying in his secondary education at "The Figueres Instituto", as well as the "Marist Brothers' College", Dali was becoming familiar with such painters as Ramon Pinchot, and Juan Nunez. That same summer, he began experimenting with the surrealist movement, as well as Spanish symbolism, after looking at some paintings by the French artist, Ramon.
Ramon was aware of the art movements going on in the capital city,  and later held classes which Salvador Dali participated in after the summer.

He later began to illustrate, and some of his work made its way into Catalan magazines, like 'Patufet'.
Dali left the places in which he gained his secondary education, taking some advice from his father, a public notary, as well as a freethinker, and began attending at the 'Residencia de Estudiantes', as well as 'the Academia de San Fernando', which was a School that taught Painting, Sculpture and also Engraving.
He was excluded from the institutes after refusing to participate in an art theory exam.4

After this, he became very familiar with a few artistic figures, such as the film director, Luis Bunel, Poet, Garcia Lorca, and Pedro Garfias. All of whom, would become key influences in Dali's later life.
Dali soon after this, had created works that had a clear element of the cubist style within them. One of the pieces he created that provide evidence to this, is one entitled "Syphon and bottle of rum", figure 25, below.

Figure 2

Some examples of the other surrealist works that he created in the era of the 1920s, include the images below. The first one called, 'The Wounded Bird' (figure 3).6

Figure 3

This piece that was created in 1928, is an surrealist piece, depicting a wounded bird on the ground.

Expressionism is the name of an art movement that emerged at the turn of the century. Artists who practised in this genre didn't just stick to crating traditional artwork, such as paintings (although this was a common style), expressionists also created such things as poetry.
In terms of German expressionism, at the start of the 19th century, German culture began to celebrate nature, in the sense that it was a symbolisation of nature. Some Germans experimented, and took part in emerging new cults, as well as exploring activities such as nudism, and naturism. In the decades following the industrialisation of much of Europe, nature was often regarded as a relief to work, and crowded urban life in large towns and cities. Many artists created images of nude people in natural surroundings, as a celebration to this new celebration of nature. Existing commissioned artists for documentation were over shadowed by the camera, and thus allowed art movements to emerge in experimental forms.7

An example of some expressionist art depicting nudity, and natural forms now, and the first image that is below, (figure 48), stems from a German artist.

Figure 4

In this image called "Bathers in the Thicket of Reeds" c1922, by the artist Otto Müller, you can clearly see the theme of nudism, and also naturism. Naturism elements are supported by the inclusion of natural forms, in this case, the bushes, reeds and water.

For the main research task, the text will be focusing on surrealism and sexuality in 1920's art photography and film. It is clearly depicted in many aspects of creative forms. As an example of an artist who depicted a lot of sexualised images, the research will start by focusing on the modernist artist and photographer, Man-Ray.

Man Ray was born in Philadelphia, in the year of 1890, and in his later life, worked in an advertising office. After witnessing a show in 1913, started his venture into cubism.9
In 1921, he discovered a photogram technique, which he dubbed, the 'Rayograph'. Later, he also discovered the process of solarisation (see figure 3 below). Although he continued to paint throughout the years after these discoveries, he ventured heavily into the use of photography.10 (Below, an example of his experimentation into photography, figure 511).

Figure 5

This surrealist photograph duo is entitled "The Marquise Casati", and was shot in 1922. Both images are out of focus, and the image on the left side is an example of solarisation, which resembles a negative piece of analogue film. The photograph could also be a reference to sexual themes, due to the bare skin of the women figure in the photo, it could suggest that she is topless.

Figure 6

The image above (figure 612)is another example of Man-Ray's surrealist photography, and another containing a solarised visual style, as well as a sexual theme of nudity. This image is not from the 1920's, however it is from the 1930's, and is an example of Man Ray's style at a later date.


References Used:

1. Kennedy, A. (2006) Bauhaus. Pg: 13, London: Flame Tree Publishing.
2. Figure 1: "Fugue" Artist: Josepf Albers, c1925, Kennedy, A. (2006) Bauhaus. London: Flame Tree Publishing.
3. Voorhies, James. "Surrealism". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/surr/hd_surr.htm (October 2004) Viewed: 
4. Bradbury, K. (1999) Essential Dali. Pg: 6- ,Bath: Dempsey Parr.
5. Figure 2: (internet) "Syphon and Bottle of Rum", c1924, http://uploads5.wikipaintings.org/images/salvador-dali/siphon-and-small-bottle-of-rum.jpg Viewed: 12:05 13.3.14
6. Figure 3: "The Wounded Bird" Artist: Salvador Dali, c1928, Bradbury, K. (1999) Essential Dali. Pg: 43, Bath: Dempsey Parr.
7. Barron, S. and Dube, W. (1997) German Expressionism: Art And Society. Pg: 23, 1st edn. London: Thames & Hudson.
8. Figure 4: "Bathers in the Thicket of Reeds", Artist: Otto Müller, c1922, Barron, S. and Dube, W. (1997) German Expressionism: Art And Society. Pg: 164, 1st edn. London: Thames & Hudson.
9. Ronald Alley, Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, p.477
10. Bouqueret, C. (2008) Surrealist Photography. London: Thames & Hudson.
11. Figure 5: "The Marquise Casati", Artist: Man Ray, c1922, Bouqueret, C.(2008) Surrealist Photography. Pg: 7, London: Thames & Hudson.
12. Figure 6: "Man Ray: (Jacqueline Goddard)" (2005.100.141) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2005.100.141. (October 2006) Viewed: 1:23pm 12.3.14






Alphabetical Ordered Bibliography:

Cubism and the First World War

The 20th century, consisted of many historical aspects and happenings, for example the first world war occurred in this era, as well as the improvement of the photographic camera, the first ‘movie star’ celebrities, and the introduction to such large art movements including cubism, futurism, abstraction, expressionism, constructivism, as well as more. 

Below are examples of some art pieces from some of these movements, In the respective order of Cubism, and Constructivism.

Figure 11

The image above is an example of cubist art, which (like the name of the movement) uses a lot of square, and cube like shapes to produce figures and images. This portrait of Pablo Picasso by the artist Juan Gris, in 1912 is a good example of a piece from the cubist movement.

Figure 22

This image above is an example of an art piece from the constructivism movement. Note how the lines are almost perfectly symmetrical on each side. This particular graphic above could suggest also an element of abstraction, since the shapes have no clear purpose.

This section will start off research on this time period, by choosing to firstly detail the camera. The invention of photography in this era, was a liberation to traditional artists, as there was no longer a large need for them to be as representative, especially now that optic technology had greatly increased since the introduction of cameras in the 1800’s. This lead to new genres of artwork to be introduced into society, and some of these genres included cubism, dadaism, futurism, modernism and abstract styles.
The improvement to camera technology allowed for photographic devices to become a lot smaller, becoming handheld and far more portable. This was a revolution for documentation, in such areas as conflict (mentioned later in research). It also allowed cameras to become more clearer, and with sharper, more refined images. If you compare an image from the industrial revolution, to photography of the 1900's, there is a definite difference.

The essay will talk about each two genres in this section, firstly talking about cubism. Cubism is an artistic form, which was developed in France during the very early 20th century. The movement was pioneered by such assists as Picasso, Braque, Gris and Léger.3 

Early into the cubist movement, it was often disregarded as an art form, and also made a mockery of. 

Another genre was expressionism. 

For the research task, the point of researching art of the documentation of the first world war will be noted. The last lecture research session touched on war photography, which was entitled ‘ Impressionism and Art Nouveau’. The documentation of war came with the invention of the camera, and as optics developed and the size of the technology shrunk, it meant for more portable imaging equipment, which brought about better mobility. Because of this, documentation of scenes such as a war, a very mobile situation, went up.

The First World War (1914-1918), began after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, on the 28th of june 1914. This introduced the conflict known as the “Third Balkan War”. This conflict was caused as the result of the declaration of war on the country of Serbia, after Austro-Hungarian declared this on 28th july 1914.4

The conflict quickly became a worldwide affair in pre-UN politics, as a defensive pact between certain powers in Europe, created a divide between many nations. On one side the ‘central powers’ which comprised of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the other, called the ‘entente’, which consisted of Belgium Britain, France, Montenegro, Serbia and Russia.5 The war lasted 4 years, and devastated Europe both financially, and politically. 

An example of art that was developed during the first world war, include the following example.
Figure 36 (below) is a piece by the well known artist Pablo Picasso. It was created in 1914, which was the first year of WWI. The piece is called "Bowl of Fruit with Bunch of Grapes and Sliced Paper". It consists of paper, gouache, pencil and sawdust on cardboard. It is held in St. Petersburg today. Interestingly the theme of this piece stems from the cubist movement, which was one of the emerging themes, at the time, alongside the list that was mentioned at the start of the research text.

Figure 3

The war finally ended in 1918, after an armistice was signed between the countries involved in combat. Notably it was the largest war at the time, before the Second World War, that was being documented by photography, as the camera was becoming more advanced in terms of portability, and quality, and this for example made it easier for war photographers to move about with the troops on the battlefield.

Below, I will detail an example of visual recording using camera technology, as part of the documentation of WWI. 

This image (figure 47)

Figure 4

Is of a photograph taken in 1917, and it features soldiers from the British forces, in a trench on the western front. This photo was taken toward the end of the first world war, and is a very good example of documentation.

This image depicts what seems to be an ongoing battle between British forces and enemy units.

In a comparison to an image I depicted in my industrial revolution research, which was entitled “The valley of the shadow of death” and was shot by Roger Fenton in 1855, you can see some major differences between the two. For instance this image unlike Fenton’s, depicts figures, and also shows the battle field  prior to battle. Roger Fenton’s image depicts a post battle environment, with a field covered in an array of many cannonballs.

Another example of WW1 documentation now, and this image (figure 58), is interesting because it shows the camera technology at the time of the first world war. This photo by an unknown photographer, displays what appears to be a soldier taking a photo of the battlefield, whilst in the background, there is a man aiming a rifle. This suggests the location of this image could perhaps be somewhere like a trench, especially how the armed man is resting on what appears to be a dirt bank.

Figure 5

Another example of photographic documentation in the First World War, include this image below (figure 69). The image is of Belgian carabineers, who at the time were retreating to Antwerp. The date this photograph was taken, was 20th of august 1914.10

Figure 6

Due to the retreating soldiers, this piece seems to be more on the side of photographic documentation, over propaganda.

References Used:

1. Figure 1: "Portrait of Pablo Picasso", Artist: Juan Gris, c1912, Cabanne, P. (2001) Cubism, Pg: 66. Paris: Editions Pierre Terrail.
2. Figure 2: "Pier and Ocean", Artist: Piet Mondrian, c1914, Rickey, G. (1967) Constructivism: Origins and Evolution. Pg: 36, London: Studio Vista.
3.  Cooper, D. And Tinterbrow, G. (1983) The Essential Cubism: Braque, Picasso & Their Friends 1907-1920. Pg: 10, London: The Tate Gallery.

4.  Beckett, I. (2006) Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War. Pg: 206, Tundbridge Wells: Search Press Ltd.

5.  Beckett, I. (2006) Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War. Pg: 206, Tundbridge Wells: Search Press Ltd.

6. Figure 3: "Bowl of Fruit with Bunch of Grapes and Sliced Paper", Artist: Pablo Picasso, c1914 Pablo Picasso 1881-1914 (2003) London: Sirocco.
7.  Figure 4: ‘The British army on the western front’, c1917, Photographer: John Warwick Brooke, Author: Book: ‘War photography images of armed conflict and it's aftermath’, Pg: 143, 2012, New Haven and London, Yale University Press.
8. Figure 5: "Untitled", Photographer: Unknown,  c1914/15, Book: ‘War photography images of armed conflict and it's aftermath’, Pg: 152, 2012, New Haven and London, Yale University Press.
9. Figure 6: "Untitled", Photographer: Unknown, c1914, Keegan, J. (2001) An Illustrated History of The First World War. USA: A.A. Knopf.
10. Keegan, J. (2001) An Illustrated History of The First World War. Pg: 85, USA: A.A. Knopf.

Alphabetical Ordered Bibliography:
Keegan, J. (2001) An Illustrated History of The First World War. USA: A.A. Knopf.

Beckett, I. (2006) Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War. Tundbridge Wells: Search Press Ltd.

Cooper, D. And Tinterbrow, G. (1983) The Essential Cubism: Braque, Picasso & Their Friends 1907-1920. London: The Tate Gallery.

Figure 1: "Portrait of Pablo Picasso", Artist: Juan Gris, c1912, Cabanne, P. (2001) Cubism, Pg: 66. Paris: Editions Pierre Terrail.

Figure 2: "Pier and Ocean", Artist: Piet Mondrian, c1914, Rickey, G. (1967) Constructivism: Origins and Evolution. Pg: 36, London: Studio Vista.

Figure 3: "Bowl of Fruit with Bunch of Grapes and Sliced Paper", Artist: Pablo Picasso, c1914 Pablo Picasso 1881-1914 (2003) London: Sirocco.

Figure 4: ‘The British army on the western front’, c1917, Photographer: John Warwick Brooke, Author: Book: ‘War photography images of armed conflict and it's aftermath’, Pg: 143, 2012, New Haven and London, Yale University Press.

Figure 5: "Untitled", Photographer: Unknown, c1914/15, Book: ‘War photography images of armed conflict and it's aftermath’, Pg: 152, 2012, New Haven and London, Yale University Press.

Figure 6: "Untitled", Photographer: Unknown, c1914, Keegan, J. (2001) An Illustrated History of The First World War. USA: A.A. Knopf.