A discussion of whether the imagery that artists in the twentieth century used to portray New York City was manipulated by the artists or were more documentary in nature.
Abstract As America developed in the nineteenth century, large cities sprang up across the nation. In particular, by the twentieth century with the help of an influx of immigration, New York City had become a bustling city with well over one million people. Opinions on the quality of city life were mixed, especially among artists. This paper refutes the arguments put forth by cultural historian, Alan Trachtenberg, in his book "Reading American Art", that artists, specifically photographers like Alfred Stieglitz, manipulated their art to convey their individual feelings toward the big city. The paper argues that Trachtenberg unfairly groups all artists that presented urban imagery into the same category. The photography Trachtenberg refers to differs substantially from other photographers and painters that portrayed city life. The paper includes several reproductions of photographs and paintings.
From the Paper "However, most often, the Ashcan artists focused on the city as a collection of individual "microneighborhoods"4 rather than a larger entity. This differs again from Trachtenberg's assertion that the city is most often depicted as picturesque. Again, by inserting people into the picture, the picturesque nature is lost. In comparing Sloan's A Woman's Work to Hine's Playground in a Tenement Alley there are parallels that can be drawn. Both show low class tenements with their laundry hanging out to dry over an alley. Sloan's painting portrays the house work that women must do and suggests that the woman is the one who keeps the house in order. Hine's photo proposes that while the children live in a run down rookery tenement, they are quite satisfied playing baseball."
Tags: Jessie, Tarbox, Beals, Arnold, Genthe, Lewis, Hine, Ashcan, School
Abstract This paper examines how, while much of art progressed toward abstraction in the early part of the twentieth century, Regionalist painting continued relatively the same. One artist, Stuart Davis, spear-headed the movement to paint the American scene in a imaginative new way. It looks at how one of his works, "Landscape with Garage Lights," is a prime example of this progression of art and how it proved to be a new benchmark in Regionalist painting. It also shows how, by rejecting earlier traditionalist beliefs and embracing modern influences, he comments on the urban American life with abstract forms and highly saturated colors, creating a truly unique and upbeat work of art.
From the Paper "Matisse and the emergence of jazz also influenced Davis. Matisse helped pioneer the use of highly saturated colors in his works, and this concept did not go unnoticed by Davis. Although these saturated colors did not truly represent any real landscape, that did not stop Davis from making use of them. In Landscape with Garage Lights there are strong reds, oranges, blues, and greens. Every color seems to be of the variety that a child could easily pull out of his/her small box of Crayola crayons. However, this assortment of primary colors causes the work to evoke an upbeat response. This upbeat response can be compared to the rise of jazz music during the period. Jazz was a new, experimental, and colorful way to write and play music."
Tags: art, ashcan, regionalism, abstract, matisse, color
