WW1 Influence on Art
The art made during the war were very intense as many showed the destruction and death war caused. As well as there view of war thru their eyes the horrors that came with it. This also showed lot's of people who may not have been in the war a snippet of what it is like. Looking at all of these pieces made me feel uneasy and I cant even imagine what people were going through during this time.
Created in1918-1919 March , By John Singer Sargent, oil on canvas, Created in London
"Gassed" was painted by John Singer Sargent, it is a painting of a group of wounded soldiers getting walked to a dressing station. Majority of the soldiers in this painting have there eyes covered with gauze because they were gassed and their eyes were burning. One art element I see in this painting is the use of color. The yellow, green, and brown colors in this painting are all very muted. This gives the feeling of sorrow and hardship. The sky in the painting looks yellow and muddy, this makes it seem like the gas it filled throughout the air. Another element I noticed is composition, the soldiers walking to dressing station are in the middle of the painting and therefore are the focal point of this painting. In the foreground you can see many fallen soldiers, who also have gauze covering there eyes. This helps show the tragedy of the war and the gas used in it. The last element I noticed is value, the soldiers are more of a deeper tone compared to the sky behind them. This helps make the soldiers stand out so we can see them clearly.
Over the Top by John Nash Created 1918, oil painting, made in Buckinghamshire
"Over the Top" by John Nash is a painting of soldiers crawling out of the trenches. During WW1 trenches were a common thing on the battlefield no matter the weather. The first art element I noticed was value, the use of value in this painting really brings it to life. The contrast between the soldiers and the snow make the snow look like it is glowing. Another art element in this painting I noticed was the use of composition. In the background you can see the soldiers walking towards the battle, and in the foreground you can see two fallen soldiers. This painting really shows a glimpse of how sad and hard war was in the trenches. This painting shows that even when your fellow soldiers die you have to keep moving. The last art element in this painting is shape, The dark smoky clouds in the sky show the great use of shape in this painting. The shape of the tunnels show how imperfect they were and how hard it was to get out of them. I really like this painting because it isn't as gory as some other paintings from this era but it still show us the tragedy of the war.
Canadians at Ypres By William Barnes, Made in 1915, Canada
This painting by William Barnes shows the battle of the Canadians and the British vs the Germans in WW1. It Shows the Canadians trying to stand there ground against a rushing of German Soldiers trying to take them out. The first art element I noticed was color. There are a few bright colors in this painting like the green grass, I like how this painting has a lot more color compared to the other two paintings I have discussed. Even with the use of bright colors this painting still has a gloomy feel to it. The next art element I saw in this painting is composition, there is a lot of thing happening in all parts of this painting. In the foreground you can see a few dead or wounded soldiers. In the middle ground you see soldiers shooting at their enemy. In the background you can see lots of smoke and fighting. I think the composition of this painting really shows how chaotic the trenches were. The last art element I noticed is movement. Even though this is just a painting the chaos depicted really brings the painting to life. The movement of the man throwing a grenade really emphasizes how fast he would be throwing it.
All these art pieces are very hard to look out and picture your self there. These were hard times with gas and new technological warfare began and these depictions show the hardships they caused. They all relate to WW1 and show the hardness and sadness war brought and also the strength of the soldiers to keep going even if there friends had fallen in battle.
Carson, James. “The Art of World War One in 35 Paintings.” History Hit, History Hit, 12 Nov. 2020, https://www.historyhit.com/the-art-of-world-war-one-in-paintings/.
Jones, Simon. “'Pure Murder': John Nash's 'over the Top'.” Simon Jones Historian, 8 Apr. 2022, https://simonjoneshistorian.com/2017/12/31/over-the-top/.
Kody,
ReplyDeleteThese paintings are difficult to look at, not because the art is poor, but because they tell us of the brutality of war. Through each of these pictures, I can clearly see the theme of artists trying to convey to their artists the horror that these men experienced in the trenches.
I think my favorite of the paintings you posted is the third one, "Canadians at Ypres." From the visible movement in each standing man to the smoke in the sky, it is almost as if I can feel that moment. The green stands out to me in this picture, but it doesn't distract me from the energy and the terrible emotion the artist was trying to convey.