Early Modern Blog: The Influence of The Great Depression (1900-1939)

Early Modern Blog: The Influence of The Great Depression 

(1900-1939)

“Rust Red Hills,” from 1930 Georgia O’Keeffe

I chose to go with Georgia O’Keeffe’s Rust Red Hills from 1930 because it was simple and the start of new techniques. The Rust Red Hill is one of the Brauer Museum of Art’s most beloved paintings, a masterpiece by the artist. The Great Depression is a great epoch in American history.  It was a period in time when the economy in the United States, Europe, and other industrialized countries in the world collapsed.  It started in 1929 when the stock market crashed in the United States and lasted until about 1939.  After World War I the United States aided many countries financially to help recover from the war and when the stock market crashed millions of people lost their savings and became unemployed.  The Great Depression lead to the election of a Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.  President Roosevelt developed programs with the intention of helping boost the American economy and decrease the high unemployment rate and in some ways he was successful.  

Roosevelt implemented what was called the “New Deal” where several jobs were created to help people find jobs.  One of the many programs created in the New Deal was cultural projects.  Many artists were given jobs to paint murals and take photographs to help record this period in American history.  Many movements in art developed during this period and one of them was American Modernism.  American Modernism continues with the fad of breaking away from traditional techniques and visions in painting from the art of the Renaissance, etc.  It finds its home between WWI and WWII and continues into the 21st century.

One of the American Modernist artists that painted during this time was Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986).  Georgia O’Keeffe is known for her beautiful, exotic, and somewhat erotic paintings, her painting is displayed below.  Her paintings are really beautiful.  I love the use of color, in particular how she blends the colors to create her voluptuously detailed pieces of art. This was a new technique that was sought out for, and it let into the 21st century. 

The title of the painting refers to a street in Barcelona, Carrer d'Avinyó, which was known for its many brothels. The five figures, “The Women of Avignon”, depict prostitutes of this red-light district in Barcelona boldly staring back at the viewer from the painting. This art piece was very rich to me because it told a lot in a simple picture. 

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. 1907. Pablo Picasso, Museum of Modern Art, New York.


References: 

O'Keeffe, G. (no date) Rust Red Hills - georgia o'keeffe, www.wikiart.org. Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/georgia-o-keeffe/rust-red-hills (Accessed: November 7, 2022).

About Georgia o'keeffe (2022) The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Available at: https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/about-georgia-okeeffe/ (Accessed: November 7, 2022).

Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907: Moma (no date) The Museum of Modern Art. Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79766 (Accessed: November 7, 2022).

Comments

  1. MariahNovember 7, 2022 at 11:26 PM

    Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is a great depiction of the Depression. I would have loved to hear more about it throughout your blog. The 5 women surrounding themselves around a slice of melon suggest the frugality communities had to engage in during a time of minimal prosperity and food scarcity. The vague shapes of the faces and bodies can help discuss the uncertainty of the Great Depression and what food scarcity looked like beyond families and within communities that were expected to share with one another for a sense of solidarity during struggling times.

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