Mid Modern Art WW2
Mid Modern Art WW2
Blind man in Belsen, Alan Moore, 1947, Painted in Melbourne, Oil on Canvas, From the collection of: Australian War Memorial
"Moore accompanied a British unit, the Welsh Guards, during the liberation of this notorious Nazi concentration camp on 15 April 1945. He made a number of sketches and drawings and also took photographs of the atrocities committed against the mainly Jewish inmates. These were used as reference for the paintings he completed on his return to Australia. Moore later recounted that he was advised to take photographs as no one would believe the horrors that he witnessed." https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/artwar/artworks/art27620_blind-man-in-belsen_e.html#:~:text=Moore%20accompanied%20a%20British%20unit,against%20the%20mainly%20Jewish%20inmates.
This Painting shows a horrific tale of war and what Hitler concentration camps were like for the Jewish people he sent there. This painting depicts the pain and agony and death the camps brought with. As well as it shows they may have been freed but they will never forget the horrors they went thru. The first art element I see in this painting is the use of color. The artist uses white colors on the faces and dead body's to show the torment these people went thru. As well as black clothing to give it a dark type of feeling. Another art element I noticed is the use of texture just by looking at the painting you can feel the darkness and hardships these people went thru. If you touched them you could feel the pain and sorrow they went thru which makes this painting so powerful. The last art element I noticed is the use of space this artist has the people at the front very visible with their emotions. However makes the depth show there are thousands on thousands of people affected by these concentration camps.
Blitzed Site by L.S Lowry, 1942 in Manchester, Oil Paint on Canvas, painting found https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/blitzed-site-ls-lowry/tAFbCbgE4bBwkw
L.S Lowry was a fire watcher in Manchester in during the WW2. Lowry would sit and watch and paint exactly what he was seeing as it was happening. This allows him to depict the hardships of war and the way it affects the people who are in it or even just the bystanders living in the area. The first art element I saw in this painting is the use of value. The artist uses white to show the smokey and cloudy air due to the fire. Lowry uses black to show the burnt buildings and the people standing in front trying to collect what is left of their homes. The second art element I see is the use of depth. Lowry uses depth in a weird but amazing way. Lowry uses the white smoke to show how far these fires go as well as burnt buildings in the back to show how the fires just continue past what's showing. The last art element I noticed is the use of color. The artist has a red house in the back to pop out to show the difference between the burnt buildings and what the houses may have looked like before.
St Augustine's Church, L.S Lowry, Made in Manchester, Oil on Canvas, https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/st-augustines-church-manchester-205460
"A close-up view of St Augustine's Church in Manchester, destroyed by air raid bombing. Only the shell remains, which is surrounded by a pile of rubble. A few figures stand in the street to the right, and there are more bombed buildings in the background to the left. Although not an official war artist, Lowry frequently represented scenes of destruction in Britain, and this work was in fact purchased by the War Artists' Advisory Committe. The sky is pale cream."https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/st-augustines-church-manchester-205460
The first art element I saw was the use of Value. L.S Lowry uses value by making the destroyed St Augustine's church much darker than it's surroundings. This creates contrast and makes the church the focal point of this painting. The next art element I see in this painting is the use of line. The line use in the lower half of this painting shows the fallen debris. The last art element I noticed is the use of color. The color of the buildings in the background show the building's not affected by the air raid bombing which is why the church is much darker than the other houses.
The City : A fallen lift shaft, Graham Sutherland 1941, London,https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-city-a-fallen-lift-shaft-sutherland-graham-om/7wFHBL7Ed5YT9w?hl=en
"This painting captures an area of London just north of St Paul’s Cathedral. A liftshaft is the only thing left of a formerly tall building, Sutherland himself writing that in its lateral fall it ‘suggested a wounded tiger in a painting by Delacroix’. The gloom, only illuminated by a fiery orange, depicts a city marred by dust, rubble and fire." https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-city-a-fallen-lift-shaft-sutherland-graham-om/7wFHBL7Ed5YT9w?hl=en
The first art element I noticed is the use of depth. The depth in this painting help creates contrast from
the sky and the fallen liftshaft. The second art element I noticed is the use of color. The majority of the painting has no color, except for the upper left corner. This gives the feeling of tragedy and sadness. The last art element I noticed is the use of composition. There is a lot of empty space in this painting except for the fallen building with the liftshaft being what's left of the building.
Devastation, 1941: An East End Street, Graham Sutherland, London, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sutherland-devastation-1941-an-east-end-street-n05736
"The Blitz had begun in London on 7 September 1940, spread to other conurbations shortly afterwards and continued through the first half of 1941. By May of that year 20,000 Londoners had been killed and 25,000 injured. On the first day of his contract, three days after the massive fire-bomb raid that was dubbed the ‘second fire of London’,[9] Sutherland was requested to stay a few nights in St Paul’s Cathedral from where various officials surveyed the surrounding destruction. He was there on Sunday 12 January, and told Edward Sackville-West a few weeks later that he spent one night a week at the cathedral ‘waiting to record fires’.[10] However, few if any depictions of fire survive, rather his Blitz images concentrate on the calm of its aftermath." https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sutherland-devastation-1941-an-east-end-street-n05736
The first art element I noticed in this painting by Graham Sutherland is the use of line.
The lines used to create the bricks and window panes really show the detail of the destruction of the street. In the middle of the painting you can see clearly outlined houses that don't seem to be destroyed compared to the rest of the street. The next art element I noticed is the use of color. There is little color in this painting, but the color that is used is a muted mustard yellow. This shows the gloomy aftermath of the bombing. The last art element I noticed is the use of value. The whole painting has a very deep value, except for the houses in the background. This also helps show the contrast between the destroyed street and the houses that weren't as affected by the fire bombing raid.
Leonard Henry Rosoman was a firefighter during the world world 2 and this sad painting is something he witnessed. In shoe lane London Leonard Henry Rosoman witnessed this horrific event during the fire that he was helping fight. The first art element I noticed is the use of light. The light of the fire is bright and creates a shadow of the man running trying to escape. The next art element I noticed is the use of color. The color of the fire is yellowish orange and it reflects on the walls and floors. You can see small orange flames mixed in with the smoke above. The last art element I noticed is the use of value. The value and contrast in the smoke really brings the painting to life. Also the firefighters running out is a deeper value compared to the bright flames. This helps the firefighters stand out in this painting.
Citation
“The Art of World War II - Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/kgLCucQL-JTiLA.
“Exhibition Theme - Captivity.” Canadian War Museum: Canada's National Museum of Military History, https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/artwar/artworks/art27620_blind-man-in-belsen_e.html#:~:text=Moore%20accompanied%20a%20British%20unit,against%20the%20mainly%20Jewish%20inmates.
“St Augustine's Church, Manchester.” St Augustine's Church, Manchester | Art UK, https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/st-augustines-church-manchester-205460.
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sutherland-devastation-1941-an-east-end-street-n05736
Tate. “'Devastation, 1941: An East End Street', Graham Sutherland Om, 1941.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1970, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sutherland-devastation-1941-an-east-end-street-n05736.
“A House Collapsing on Two Firemen, Shoe Lane, London, EC4.” Imperial War Museums, https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/23296.
Hi Kody,
ReplyDeleteOriginally, I considered using World War 2 as the theme for my Mid-Modern Post, specifically because it would have been the perfect follow-up for our World War 1 theme during the Early Modern Post. I wanted to compare the difference between the propaganda used in both conflicts, but I believe the way you detailed the effects WW2 had on art was far better! Here in the United States, I feel many do not understand just how destructive war is, especially during struggles like the World Wars, because the last devastating battle on our shores was during the Civil War. During this class, I visited Germany and the Czech Republic, and though they have gone through hefty reconstruction since WW2, cities like Nuremburg have numerous pictures that compare the modern city to the destruction caused from Allied bombing. Though your pieces depict the extensive damage Britain suffered, the paints are extremely close to the photos I saw of Germany’s ruins. Seeing just how much infrastructure was destroyed in the war gave me a new perspective of WW2. I am a huge history nerd and have always been fascinated by this war but visiting the battlefields and the cities that witnessed so much death was surreal to say the least.
Your post was really insightful Kody. Depictions of WW2 and its events are often devastating and in some cases horrifying. The ones you chose to share illicit strong emotion through colors like red, dark gray, and off-white. I think this was important when the images were created and it is significant today, as we are able to see and feel the destruction of war many years later and are reminded of how much has changed for the better and the importance of peace and equality.
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