East vs. West: Female Artists of Iran

The cultural state of women in Iran has gone through many changes since the beginning of the 20th Century. The first of these revolutions was the Persian Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911) during the reign of the Qajar dynasty, which established a parliamentary government system in Iran. Women played a pivotal role in the revolution and soon were seen taking positions in jobs previously held by men, with more women becoming journalists and writers. In the 1920s, the revolutionist movement lost power to the Pahlavi dynasty. Ruler Reza Shah Pahlavi was ruthless and asserted dominance over the multi-party system, turning him into the head of a one-party state. His secret police imprisoned and tortured those who rebelled against him. The rights women had gained so far were taken away. They were no longer allowed to hold positions in public offices, and the reforms for mass education and paid employment were also dissolved. However,  in the 1960s, the Shah's son, who became the successor, Mohammad Reza Shah, began to implement more laws concerning women rights. In 1962, the Shah began a White Revolution, giving more suffrage and rights to women. For example, the age of marriage for girls was changed from 13-15 years old to 18 years old, polygamy became more restricted, and divorces were easier to obtain. His father, Reza Shah, had already instituted a ban on wearing the Islamic hijab, or veil, out in public during his rule ("Women's rights in Iran").  Despite these reforms, women, alongside the men, protested against the ruling family, who was eventually overthrown during the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The new Iran, called the Islamic Republic of Iran, led by new religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, repealed many of the rights and laws the Shahs had instituted in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Women were forced to resume wearing the hijab again, but this time with the chador, a full body cloak. The Iranian people fought the Revolution in order to obtain more freedoms and individual rights from the Shah, but only succeeded in replacing one power for another when Khomeini and his mullahs, Islamic clerics, took over, "Khomeini and the mullahs-and a roving army of 'spiritual enforcers' knows as the Revolutionary Guards-ended up substituting one autocratic regime for another. In doing so, they dashed the hopes of millions of Iranians who thought the revolution would bring more freedom, not less" (Cohen).

Graffiti Wall with Ayatollah Khomeini and 'Ali Shariati, 1981

The new Islamic Republic of Iran focused on ridding the country of the Western influences that had dominated the Pahlavi Dynasty and its reign. The United States had supported the previous Shah autocracy in order to prevent the spread of communism, a fear which was prevalent during this period in world history, the Cold War Era. During the Revolution, Khomeini's two most popular slogans, against the West and the United States were " the Great Satan," and the "enemy of Islam" (Cohen).  Once Khomeini came into power western culture, namely music and art, was strictly banned. Above is a graffiti wall art depicting anti-West sentiments, with Khomeini pictured on the right and 'Ali Shariati, a revolutionary sociologist, on the left. Protesters would often times use white paint to cover previous slogans, and either use theirs or the blood of others injured or dead to write ("Graffiti Wall with Ayatollah Khomeini and 'Ali Shariati").

The Significance of the Veil

The veil, also known as the hijab, has many different meanings for women in the Middle East. Once a girl hits puberty, the wearing of the veil is a subject for personal consideration. Some who wear the veil see it as following God's commandment of being modest and covering their heads to show their devotion. This is a personal choice for them. Others wear the veil as a way to respect their cultural beliefs, showing the outside world they are Muslim and "provide witness of their faith" (Dr. Saher Amer). There are also others who wear the veil to voice their social and political ties to their home country and to protest against the preconceptions of the West. (Dr. Saher Amer).
There are also those who choose not to wear the veil, also for religious and cultural purposes. Some women see the veil as drawing attention to themselves, mainly in Western society, which defeats the scripture concerning modesty and not calling attention to oneself. Others feel the veil has taken the focus away from their personal and spiritual relationship to God by becoming the focal point for their Islamic religion. Many women feel wearing the veil is a deeply personal choice and commitment, and this choice has been taken away from them multiple times. The Shah took away their choice to wear it when he came into power by banning its use in public, and Khomeini took away their choice to now wear it by forcing its use.
This post will focus on two Iranian women who grew up in Pre-Revolutionary Iran and show how their artwork voiced the Revolutionary changes they've witnessed during these times and their own personal rebellions against them.

Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis: A Story of Childhood-The Veil

Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Tehran, Iran. She is a graphic novelist, illustrator, director, and author of children's books. Though she is now a French citizen, her early childhood and later adulthood was spent in Iran during and after the Revolution. Her books Persepolis: A Story of Childhood,and Persepolis: A Story of a Return describes her and her family's personal experiences under the reign of the Shahs to the coming of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The stories, themselves, are a piece of artwork, for it is told in the form of graphic images, almost like a comic book.
Satrapi is related to the Qajar Dynasty, so her family was deeply against Reza Shah's rule. Her grandfather was imprisoned once the Shah came into power. Her parents were in favor of Communism and fought against the Shahs in the Islamic Revolution, however they came to regret this decision once Khomeini began his religious rule. The image on the right shows Satrapi's confusion on the enforcement of the veil after the Revolution when she was a little girl, and how the forcing of wearing the veil correlated with the new religious fervor of Islam being instituted.

Persepolis 2: A Story of A Return-The Socks, Image 1

Persepolis 2: A Story of A Return-The Socks,  Image 2

Persepolis 2: A Story of A Return-The Socks, Image 3

When she returned to Iran from Vienna, she attended the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, studying Graphic Arts. However, the wearing of the veil made it extremely difficult for her and her fellow female classmates to hone their artistic skills. Women were forbidden to look upon males, especially nude,  and women were forbidden to be nude and must be drawn wearing the hijab and chador. Marjane's time in the western culture of Europe spurred her towards rebellion and her parents made her leave Iran and settle permanently in France. They feared she would be killed for her outspoken behavior towards the veil, the ban on wearing makeup, and all anti-western influences she was forced to live by.

Shirin Neshat

Women of Allah-Untitled, 1996

Women of Allah-Speechless, 1996

 Shirin Neshat is an Iranian visual artist who was born in 1957 in Qazvin, Iran. Her parents immersed the family in western culture, and even enrolled her in a Catholic School in Tehran. She left to attend college in California around the time of the Revolution and returned to Iran in 1990 to visit her family.  In the Art in Exile video below on the right side of the page, Neshat describes how she tried to be neutral as an artist when portraying the Iranian culture and women, because she was technically an outsider, who had not been present during the Revolution. However, her work became more critical as it progressed, and she became "a voice for her people, but unable to go home" ("Shirin Neshat: Art in Exile".) I highly recommend watching the video, it is an emotionally inspirational interview from her. She says, "every Iranian artist in one form or another is political. Politics have defined our lives. If you're living in Iran, You're facing censorship, harassment, arrest, torture...at times execution" and that living outside of Iran means living in exile, experiencing the pain of never being able to return to see those you love ("Shirin Neshat: Art in Exile").
Pictured above are two of Neshat's first works of art in her Women of Allah series, Untitled, 1996 and Speechless, 1996. In her series she features poetry from female Persian poets, some of which had been banned by the Islamic Republic. Untitled, 1996 features the poem I Pity the Garden by Forrough Farrokhzad written in Neshat's own handwriting on the fingers of the woman, disregarding the strict dictates of Islamic calligraphy. ("Shirin Neshat: Untitled, moma.org). It reads the first stanza of the poem:
No one is thinking about the flowers
No one is thinking about the fish
No one wants to believe that the garden is dying
that the garden is slowly forgetting its green moments. ("Shirin Neshat: Untitled", moma.org)
In the poem, the garden is seen as a metaphor for a woman. She has her fingers placed before her lips to signify she is speaking, and the poetry painted on her fingers is what she is saying, an effort of a woman to speak in the most un-speakable way; the words she wishes to say are inscribed on her hands. ("Shirin Neshat: Untitled", moma.org)
The poetry of Tahereh Saffarzadeh is written on the face of the next photograph in the series, Speechless, 1996. The muzzle of the gun is placed on the side of the woman's face, inside the viel and next to where her ear is, mimicking a piece of jewelry. The poem is about a woman who pleads with her brothers to join the Revolution. Neshat uses this image to show how the women of Iran were desperately fighting for the right to control their voice and protest. 

Conclusion and Aesthetic Response

Both Marjane Satrapi and Shirin Neshat became political activists because of their gender and how they expressed their personal beliefs about their culture and religion through their artistic skills. They were both also exposed to Western culture, and knew the impact it  had on their lives and how it changed not only their own perspectives of Iranian religion and culture but also the rest of the world's understanding of it. The veil and the choice to use it became an important aspect of their works because it's strongly tied to their lives and the lives of their people. Satrapi used her graphic art to tell her story and show others how the Revolution impacted her people and her life. The black and white of her drawings contrast sharply with each other. It is a symbolic meaning of how the different sides of opposition in Iran see the political and religious issues being fought over as black or white. You are either for the veil or against it, for democracy or against it, for God or against Him, there is no in-between. Neshat uses the writing on the veiled woman to show the forbidden and unspoken desires within their hearts. The poetry she has chosen has a significant purpose by not only showing the sorrow of the plight of the woman, but also the need for permission from others to decide their fates and their choices.
For Marjane Satrapi and Shirin Neshat, it's not about just the veil, but the many choices and freedoms that have been taken away from them. Many countries and nations in the West see the wearing of the veil as a sign of oppression for women. However, women of the East do not share the same view, for it is not that simple. Why did women rise up against the Shahs after they were being granted suffrage and more rights and help fight the Iranian Revolution of 1979? One of the reasons, among many, is because the Shah took away their choice on whether or not they could wear the veil in public, thus preventing them from exercising their religious and cultural freedom.
The West's presence also has had an impact on the revolutions happening in Iran since the 1920s. The United States and Britain heavily influenced the Pahlavi Dynasty's reign, which only further propelled and spread the propaganda used against them during the Revolution by Khomeini and his supporters. Today, the correlation between women's rights, the veil, and the Islamic religion is often misunderstood in Western society. When I first learned about the veil, my understanding of what it symbolized was deeply rooted in my culture. I never thought women would want to wear something that forced them to be submissive and left them powerless, for that is what I understood it to mean. However, as I began to read more about the hijab, I realized it had nothing to do with the actual veil but the choice concerning its use that was being forced upon women.
I first read Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood a few years ago for one of my English classes and it was an emotional and educational read for me. I especially liked how Satrapi told her story in the form of a graphic comic book. I have not read the second book but it is on my future reading list. I admire Neshat and her drive to tell and show the world the real image of Iranian women and their convictions. When I look upon the two photographs from her Women of Allah series, it moves me and makes me appreciate my culture and my right to personal choice. They are both the voice of their people, and without their art the rest of the world will only have the knowledge of Iran and its women obtained by misconception.

Works Cited

Dr. Saher Amer. "Women>Veiling> What is the Hijab and Why do Women Wear it?" arabsinamerica. University of North Caroline-Chapel Hill, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://arabsinamerica.unc.edu/identity/veiling/hijab/

Cohen, Roger. "1979: Iran's Islamic Revolution." TheNewYorkTimes: Upfront. Scholastic, 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f091806_TP_Iran. 

"Graffiti Wall with Ayatollah Khomeini and 'Ali Shariati." University of Chicago. University of Chicago Library, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/webexhibits/iranianposters/revolution.html. 
 
"Qajar Dynasty." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qajar_dynasty.

"Marjane Satrapi." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Apr. 2015, Web. 23 Apr. 2015.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjane_Satrapi

"Pahlavi Dynasty." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Mar. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahlavi_dynasty.

"Persepolis: A Story of A Childhood-The Veil." cbldf.org. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://cbldf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/persepolis.jpg

"Persepolis 2: A Story of A Return-The Socks (Images 1 and 2)." sacredchaos.com. Sacred Chaos, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.sacredchaos.com/readings/reviews/satrapi_persepolis_2.html

"Persepolis 2: A Story of A Return-The Socks (Image 3)." orble.com. On Topic Media, 2 Nov. 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.orble.com/persepolis-2007-marjane-satrapi/ 

"Persian Constitutional Revolution." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation,  21 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_Constitutional_Revolution.

"Shirin Neshat: Art in Exile." ted.com. Ted Conferences, Dec. 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.ted.com/talks/shirin_neshat_art_in_exile#t-492465.  

"Shirin Neshat." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Mar. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirin_Neshat. 

"Shirin Neshat: Speechless, 1996." moma.org. MoMa Mutlimedia, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/audios/27/652.

"Shirin Neshat: Untitled, 1996." moma.org. MoMa Multimedia, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/audios/27/653.

 "Speechless, 1996." gladstonegallery.com. Gladstone Gallery n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.gladstonegallery.com/artist/shirin-neshat/work#&panel1-4.

"Untitled, 1996." gladstonegallery.com. Gladstone Gallery, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://www.gladstonegallery.com/artist/shirin-neshat/work#&panel1-8.

"Women's rights in Iran." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_rights_in_Iran.

The Emotional Voice of Art in the PostModern Era

Art has been used throughout the many different periods and centuries to incite protest, elicit emotions, and to spur new movements of change around the world.  Expression and artistic endeavors have fueled the transformation of old and traditional ways to more free and individualistic styles. Once again the art forms that arose out of the World Wars gave rise to new artistic styles and concepts. Abstract Expressionism faded, being replaced by Conceptualism, Super-Realism, and Neo-Expressionism styles that would spur the beginning of a new Post Modern period. This period would introduce two different ways of seeing the Post Modern Era, Deconstructive and Constructive. Deconstrucive Post Modernists stated that "nothing in the world was knowable or understandable," whereas Constructive Post Modernists supported the pre-Modern ideals that "aesthetics, spirituality, science and ethics were understood to be united-artists did not consciously differentiate between what was aesthetically pleasing and spiritually profound" (Modern Art Theory: PostModernism).
Leo Steinberg, a teacher of art history at Hunter College in the 1950s, saw the end of Abstract Expressionism. He said,"AbEx and similar modern styles had proven themselves valueless art forms, and the art world was hungry for art with social meaning and historical context, produced by artists who made their motivations clear," and asked questions, such as, "Why does one become an artist in the first place?" and "What is the artist communicating to the public with this painting"(Modern Art Theory: PostModernism)?
This blog will focus on these two specific questions, and describe the aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual meaning behind the motivations of the following artists, and their artworks.

Dinh Q. Lê 

Mr. Lê is a Vietnamese-American Conceptual artist and photographer who specializes in woven photographs. When he was a child he fled with his mother and family from Vietnam, eventually settling in Southern California. As an adult, he began to question the images of Vietnam made popular by Hollywood, which portrayed the Vietnamese during the war as "either the shadow in the jungle, the farmer who doesn't say anything or the prostitute who is always horny" (Banks). His professor at the University of California-Santa Barbara, Walter H. Capps, held a lecture course on the impact of the Vietnam War, and often invited Vietnam Veterans to discuss their experiences to the class, which were "very emotional" and by the end, "more than half the class was crying" (Banks). However, he felt the perspective of the war as viewed in the United States was only one-sided, and that a crucial element was forgotten, the aftermath of war experienced by the people living there. His photo-weaving series, Vietnam to Hollywood, portrays the images used in both Hollywood and those taken by the media during the War. 

Untitled, (Columbia Pictures), 2003

Untitled, (Floating Figure), 2004

These two pictures on the left are only a select few out of his series. He used a technique his grandmother taught him for making grass mats to weave the different images together. The methods he used convey his heritage, and the subject matter of Hollywood and media depictions of the War highlight his and other Vietnamese people's feelings about the inaccurate images the War portrayed to the world. The surreal photographs "refers to real physical bodies and real sites of violence as much as it does to spirits of the dead and haunting architectures" (Truong).  He utilized an innovative way to bring about his visions using a Vietnamese technique, which further impacted the voice of emotional protest and depiction upon a devastating conflict which was only told through the eyes of the American.

Lee Teter

Lee Teter's Reflections is another art work that conveys a powerful voice about the Vietnam War. Historically, towards the end of the war and afterward, as American soldiers began coming home, they were not welcomed back with cheer and gladness. They were ignored, seen as murderers for the atrocities done there, and for what many believed to be for pure political gain. The loss of brothers-in-arms went unnoticed by all except those who lost them. Lee Teter painted Reflections to voice the hurt and emotional pain many soldiers suffered, the pain of survivor's guilt. At a black powder event in

Reflections, 1988

Virginia, which was a re-enactment event, he brought the painting to show some friends. He left his tent to get something to eat and as he returned he saw a long line of people standing in front of his tent, and others coming out of it crying, "he could see the tears running down their faces. 'I knew what happened-Someone had put out Reflections. These people coming out of the tent would immediately go and get one or two other people to stand in line, and then they'd wait again so they could see the picture with them'" (Belsaw). Teter's skill at the time he painted this piece was still developing for it was only his third oil painting. Looking back on it, he sees things he would have done differently, or details he would have painted better. However, the impact was the most important thing for him, "But some things shouldn't be done for money. I thought of the concept and the emotions that American veterans and families had invested in the Vietnam War. I didn't want to pollute the purity of it by making a lot of money off of people's misery, people's sorrow, people's pain and that is what this picture's about" (Belsaw).

Maya Lin

Aerial photograph of 'The Wall', 26 Apr. 2002

Maya Lin is an architectural artist and innovative designer. If you have time, I strongly recommend clinking on her name above and following the link to her website. The design of it is extraordinary and astounding. It compares strongly with her work, especially her memorials. The first memorial she ever designed was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Every detail in its design has a precise reasoning and symbolism. The aerial photo taken from above shows the open wound in the earth, as she meant it to look, "to symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiers" ("Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Wikipedia). One side of the V-shape faces the Washington Monument, the other the Lincoln Memorial. This was an extremely controversial design, for she was an inexperienced architect. Many saw her as unfit to design a memorial because she was Asian and a woman. However, she let her work speak for itself, and it did. The emotional voice of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is powerful. Each name engraved upon it is chronologically listed, and "at the apex where the two walls meet, the dates 1959 and 1973 (marking the beginning and ending of the war) 'meet' thus closing the circle of the time span of the war' (Maya Lin Studio). Every Veteran experiences a different feeling when they find their tour time frame, making it a special and individual feeling and time of reflection.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D. C., 2015

Lin's work further progressed after the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, which led her to design and create other memorials and sculptures. The Civil Rights Memorial is another one of her creations, and it can be found in Montgomery Alabama. It is a stone water table that combines the historical events of the Civil Rights Movement with those who died for it. "It describes what was in effect a people's movement, not just the work of a few well-known individuals, and shows how individual people helped change history" (Maya Lin Studio).

The Civil Rights Memorial

 The quote engraved on the black marble is from Martin Luther King Jr. and is from the Book of Amos.
Lin accomplishes a certain level of emotion for each piece she creates, ensuring the voice of the art is not lost amid the design but enhanced by it.

Civil Rights Memorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charles Bibbs

Legacy of Hope, 2012

Charles Bibbs is an internationally known artist, whose works focus on the authentic and genuine interpretations of subject matter with deep ethnic roots. He says, "my most important goal is to make profound aesthetic statements that are ethnically rooted, and at the same time, arouse spiritual emotions within us" (Charles Bibbs). His art piece, Legacy of Hope, portrays a woman clothed in a robe depicting the various events and elements of the Civil Rights Movement. He is showing how each piece is interwoven and forms the base of what has defined his culture from the beginning. The bird in flight symbolizes the freedom to fly and be free. Legacy of Hope gives voice to the struggles of Blacks and shows how far they have come. He believes that we are the" Keepers of our Culture," and he has strongly focused on supporting museums, galleries, and the aspirations of young artists (Charles Bibbs).

The Voice and Personal Aesthetics

Dinh Q. Lê, Lee Teters, Maya Lin, and Charles Bibbs all have one thing in common. They used their artistic skills to interpret and elicit the emotional response needed to make their creation a memorable piece for their audience. These art works have a voice. They speak out in protest, in pain, in sorrow, and in hope.
I find each and every piece to be wonderful, in their own rights. My favorite part of Mr. Lê's pieces are how he created them. I like how he wove the two different photographs together, showing both sides of the story. Teter's Reflections I have seen many times before this. In fact, one of my husband's friends has it on their wall. It has brought out very raw and passionate feelings when I first saw it, and it still does. All of Lin's designs are innovative and thoughtful. The elements of emotion for each theme are concise, perfect, and symbolic. She puts thought into every line and every curve, ensuring the emotional quality is preserved. Lastly, I picked Legacy of Hope because it shows all of the trials and tribulations endured for freedom, much like Lin's Memorial of the stone table. Each picture, just like each year engraved, has meaning and a voice.
To answer the questions, "Why does one become an artist in the first place?" and "What is the artist communicating to the public with this painting?" The answer to both of these is simple. A person becomes an artist to break out the emotional voice hidden within, and the desire to share that voice with those who will understand it.

Works Cited

Banks, Gabriel. "Artist's work grapples with the Vietnam War's effect on Soldiers and Civilians." post-gazette.com. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 21 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-architecture/2013/08/21/Artist-s-work-grapples-with-the-Vietnam-War-s-effect-on-soldiers-and-civilians/stories/201308210128.

Belsaw, Jim. "An Image Crystallized: Lee Teter's Gift to Veterans." LeeTeterFineArt.com. Lee Teter, 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://www.leeteter.com/website_017.htm

"Charles Bibbs." cbibbs.com. CBibbs Online Gallery, 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://cbibbs.com/bio/

"Civil Rights Memorial." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Memorial#/media/File:Montgomery_Civil_Rights_Memorial.jpg

"Legacy of Hope." heritagesart.com. Heritages Art, 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://heritagesart.com/images/legacy_of_hope.jpg

"Modern Art Theory- Post Modernism." theartstory.org. The Art Story Foundation, 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://www.theartstory.org/section_theory_postmodernism.htm#.

"Reflections." terryjamesart.com. Terry James Art and Frame, 1987. Web. 13 Apr. 2015.  http://www.terryjamesart.com/images/items/enlarge/326.jpg

Truong, Hong-an. "Dihn Q. Lê at P.P.O.W." Idiom. Art Cat and Tristan Media, LLC, 21 Feb. 2010, Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://idiommag.com/2010/02/dinh-q-le-at-p-p-o-w/.

"The Civil Rights Memorial." MayaLinStudio. Knowawall, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://www.mayalin.com/ 

"The Civil Rights Memorial." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Memorial#/media/File:The_Civil_Rights_Memorial,_Montgomery,_AL.jpg

United States Geological Survey. "Aerial Photograph of 'The Wall'." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Apr. 2002. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial#/media/File:Vietnam_veterans_wall_satellite_image.jpg

"Untitled-Columbia Pictures." Idiom. Art Cat and Tristan Media, LLC, 2004. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://idiommag.com/2010/02/dinh-q-le-at-p-p-o-w/

"Untitled-Floating Figure." P.P.O.W.gallery.com. P.P.O.W. Gallery, 2004. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://www.ppowgallery.com/exhibition/1461/work#&panel1-1

"Vietnam Veterans Memorial." MayaLinStudio. Knowawall, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://www.mayalin.com/

"Vietnam Veterans Memorial." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial

"Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C." vietnamfulldisclosure.org. Vietnam Full Disclosure, 4 Apr. 2015. Web. 13 Apr. 2015. http://vietnamfulldisclosure.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/vietnam-veterans-memorial-washington-dc-ilker-goksen.jpg


   

The Great War's Influence on Modern Art

A Brief History

World War I, also known as the Great War, had many ramifications resulting from the newly emerging era of the Industrial Revolution, and it drastically changed the movement of artistic expression away from the Impressionist period to the beginnings of what we now know today as Modern Art. Many historians still debate on what circumstances were the cause of the war, though everyone can agree the assassination of ArchDuke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 was the first stone thrown. The hunger for more power, the fickle alliances between countries and empires, and an evolving arms race were all contributing factors that would shape and define the 20th and 21st Centuries.

Europe on the Eve of World War I, 1914

Before the war, the Romantic Period dominated the art world, which had developed from the traditional styles of the Baroque and Classical Eras. Romanticism, Realism, and Impressionism took hold over the frivolity of the Rococo style, and though the seriousness and linear aspects of the Neo-Classical movement lasted into the beginning of the Romantic Period, it too soon gave way to the more traditional subject matter of religion, fantasy, landscapes, and dream-like depictions. These same traditional styles heavily influenced the growing dissension among artists against the Impressionist movement. Seeing the cruelties and tragedies happening during the war, motivation for new subject matter was needed by many artists for they began to turn away from the unrealistic schemes and peaceful images of Impressionism. They began to create non-traditional art forms in styles that portrayed their growing abhorrence and disgust of the powerful and wealthy traditional monarchies and empires; whose actions, these artists felt, started the Great War in the first place.

Transitioning Away from Tradition

Out of the rubble of Romanticism came the Avant-Garde styles of cubism, fauvism, expressionism, and futurism. No longer was art under the guidelines of conformity. The unpredictable and unplanned art piece began to emerge, hosting a nuance of unexpected colors and lines. These styles would eventually morph into a more abstract and expressive Dada movement, leading artists even further away from the nationalistic ideology they felt propelled the course of the war, "their interests lay primarily in rebelling against what they saw as cultural snobbery, bourgeois convention, and political support for the war" (Dada Movement, Artists, and Major Works).

Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson

C. R. W. Nevinson, born in 1889, joined the Red Cross in 1914 and served with the Royal Army Medical Corps until 1916. One of his paintings, The Machine Gun, depicted the influence of the Industrial Revolution with a mechanized approach to warfare. As seen below, the lines and shapes of

The Machine Gun, 1915 by C.R.W. Nevinson

the image portrays a machine-like quality. The outlines of the men, machine gun, and scenery are bold and thick. There are no soft lines, or vibrant colors painted, only muted hues of brown, blue, and red separated by darkness and shadow. Nevinson was a pacifist, and his artwork portrayed his sentiments on war, and the cost of it. This image is painted in a way to showcase the harsh reality of the machine gun, a weapon that causes multiple deaths in an instant. The blank and dark faces of the soldiers mimic this detached sentiment, as there is a void of expression in each face.

After he was discharged from the Corps, he began working for the War Propaganda Bureau, where he was sent to the Western Front to obtain subject matter for his work. The piece, Paths of Glory, was influenced by his journeys there, and from the poem by Thomas Gray, titled Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard,
"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave" (33-36).

Paths of Glory, 1917 by C. R. W. Nevinson

Nevinson portrayed the deaths of two British soldiers, nameless and faceless, lying in the mud. The barbed wire fencing identifies this area as the Western Front. The browns of the landscape blend in with the dead soldiers uniforms, the almost indiscernible forms of their bodies being absorbed by the ground. This symbolizes the cost of war, how the soldiers fighting for nationalistic pride of their respective countries will soon become forgotten as their bodies turn to dust where they fall.
It was this horror and disgust of the mounting casualties, gruesome injuries, and repercussions of chemical warfare Nevinson had seen first hand on the front that led him to paint images and propaganda pieces, which were often times censored because they did not follow the sentiment of what the government wanted the people to see. Only his working relationship with certain people within the War Propaganda Bureau allowed for his pieces to show and circulate to the public. It was these paintings, among those done by other artists, which helped spur the Dada movement, as the cost of war was seen as being incredibly high, and the suffering caused by the new age of modernized warfare was finally being shown around the world.

John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent was one of the leading painters of the Impressionist/Post-Impressionist era. However, in his early 60s he was commissioned by the British government "to do justice to the sobering horrors of conflict" and was sent to France. There he personally witnessed the aid being delivered to soldiers injured by a mustard gas attack at Le Bac-du-Sud by the Germans. The men were seen as he painted them in the picture below, being led to the dressing station single file with blinds over their eyes (Glover).

Gassed, 1919 by John Singer Sargent

This painting provides an accurately painful depiction of the ramifications of war. Rows upon rows of blinded troops suffering under the effects of poison gas, many of them would not make it, while those who lived would be permanently blinded and have respiratory problems and scarred skin from the gas burns for the rest of their lives. This piece was voted Picture of the Year in 1919, for the powerful impact it provided.

Conclusion

Nevinson and Sargent are only two out of the many artists who left the the traditional styles of the Romantic and Impressionist/Post-Impressionist Period behind. World War I had much impact on the change happening within the art world and the coming of Modernism. Many past ideals of what was considered artistic began to be seen as trivial when compared to the real-life suffering occurring in the world. This opened the way for a new movement, one which provided no rules and left the aesthetic appreciation of art open to interpretation. Dada Art was known as the Anti-Art, because it "challenged what Art was", and artists no longer wanted to be a part of art the same guided principles that was creating chaos and danger across Europe (Art as Concept, khanacademy). Dr. Steven Zucker states that there is a level of cynicism within Dada, which is "related to the objectives of Dada, which was to undermine the way in which we valued art" (Art as Concept, khanacademy).

In Advance to the Broken Arm, 1915 by Marcel Duchamp

For example, Marcel Duchamp's piece In Advance of the Broken Arm seems to be nothing more than a snow shovel. However, if this piece is viewed without the preconceived notions of what traditional art is, and seen as a protest of confined boundaries, a snow shovel can mean so much more.  Basically, a snow shovel is just a snow shovel unless you put it on a pedestal and call it art.

My Aesthetic Response

War always has a lasting impact, good or bad, on the people and environment affected by it. I chose this influence for the post on my blog because I appreciate the lengths to which these artists went in order to protest against something they saw was destroying the world, and the things they loved living within it. They paved the way for a new way of looking at art, or not looking at art. As for In Advance to the Broken Arm, I feel the perceived cynicism in the "sculpture" as anything can be art and nothing can be art.

The Machine Gun gives me the feeling of a before and after when compared to Paths of Glory, almost as if Nevinson was showing the weapon first, and its victims second. I like how he made The Machine Gun stand out with its lines and colors. I see the mechanically cold perception of the gun and the anonymous soldiers holding it.  

The paintings Paths of Glory and Gassed elicit many feelings from me when I look at them. I see my and my husband's friends, brothers who have returned physically and mentally scarred, with missing limbs, those who returned home only to take their own lives, and those who didn't return home at all. It's a bittersweet and painful feeling of remembering them, making sure they are not forgotten among the chaos of war like two British soldiers lying in the mud. I think this is the feeling of outrage and anguish Nevinson and Sargent wanted the people to experience; the knowledge of what power, wealth, and prideful arrogance can cause and the sacrifices of those remembered by their families and friends and only briefly recognized by the populace. Nevinson and Sargent saw the numbers of deaths and injuries, witnessed the maiming of limbs from the advanced weaponry new to the times, and knew they had to memorialize it.

 I personally appreciate some of the poetry and literature that arose during this time. My favorite poem is called In Flander's Fields by John McCrae, and it's one I share on my Facebook every Memorial Day.

In Flander's Fields, May 1915 John McCrae memorial book close-up

If you have ever wondered about the red poppy on Memorial Day, this is where it comes from. The fields in Europe are covered with them, so it is an accurate assumption that these WWI soldiers died among them. Last year, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the start of the war, a massive art project was being created, to finish on Armistice Day, 11 of November 2014, at the Tower of London. Individually hand-crafted ceramic red poppies were planted, one for every British and Colonial Soldier who died during the war, all 888,246 of them (Final Tower of London). This visual reminder is a heart-breaking reality of the cost of war

Tower of London Poppies

  

London Tower Red Poppy Field, taken by Simon Mason

I wish I could have seen this in person, but the poppies are now all gone. They were auctioned off, the money going to different charities. Whenever I look at these pictures I am moved to tears. This representation of lives lost during WWI only further emphasizes the influence this war had on art, back then and up to the present, and the birth of the Dada movement.

Works Cited

"Dada Movement, Artists, and Major Works." theartstory.org. The Art Story Foundation, 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.theartstory.org/movement-dada.htm.

  "Europe on the Eve of War." Map. ww.norton.Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/resource/wwi.htm 

"Gassed." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Mar. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gassed_%28painting%29#/media/File:Sargent,_John_Singer_%28RA%29_-_Gassed_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg 

Glover, Michael. "Great Works: Gassed (1919) by John Singer Sargent." independent.co.uk. Independent.co.uk, 31 May 2013. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/great-works-gassed-1919-by-john-singer-sargent-8637923.html 

Gray, Thomas. "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard." thomasgray.org. Thomas Gray Archive, 2000. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.thomasgray.org/cgi-bin/display.cgi?text=elcc.

"In Advance to the Broken Arm." wikiart.org. WikiArt, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.wikiart.org/en/marcel-duchamp/in-advance-of-the-broken-arm-1915 

"In Flander's Fields." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Flanders_Fields#/media/File:Johnmccraememorialbookcloseup02.JPG

Jones, Bryony. "Final Tower of London poppy 'planted' on Armistice Day." cnn.com. CNN, 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/07/world/europe/tower-of-london-poppies/

Khan, Sal and Dr. Steven Zucker. "Art as Concept: Duchamp, In Advanced of the Broken Arm." khanacademy.org. Khan Academy, 8 May 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/wwI-dada/dada1/v/duchamp-s-shovel-art-as-concept

"London Tower Red Poppy Field." @WineBoar. Twitter Feed, Sep. 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.  http://i0.wp.com/royal-fans.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/London-Tower-Red-Poppy-field-Simon-Mason-@WineBoar-Twitter-Feed.png?resize=650%2C367

"Paths of Glory." iwm.org.uk. Imperial War Museums, 2014. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/20211

"The Machine Gun." tate.org.uk. Tate.org, Jul. 2007. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/nevinson-la-mitrailleuse-n03177 

"Tower of London Poppies." express.co.uk. Northern and Shell Media Publications, 2015. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/1/590x/tower-of-london-poppies-532317.jpg

"Who's Who: Christopher Nevinson." FirstWorldWar.com. Michael Duffy, 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/nevinson_christopher.htm