Museum of Industrialization and Poverty: 2011

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Welcome,

The Industrial Revolution, which occurred between the 18th and 19th centuries, is seen as a leap in scientific and technological discoveries, and lead to the invention of the steam engine and locomotion.This reputation of the Industrial Revolution is marred, however, by deplorable, and disturbingly cruel, living conditions that workers were forced to bear from their jobs. The art during this period serves as a memento of the agony of living that was endured by the lower-class.
-=-=-=-=-=-= Toshiki Nazikian

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Honors Extra: Background Information for the Industrial Revolution

This is a slideshow that explains, in detail, the events which led to the widespread destitution seen during the Industrial Revolution.

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/Toshiki-1008488-industrialization-and-poverty/

I hope you enjoy it.

Gustave Courbet's "The Stonebreakers" (1849)

Gustave Courbet was an entrepreneurial painter during the mid-19^th century; he was one of the founders of the realist movement (Fernier), which is depicted in his style. Europe, during the 19th century, had still clung to recycling famous and classical themes in their paintings rather than focusing on the events that surrounded them. Courbet was one of the first who realized this, and countered the outdated system by accurately portraying the lifestyles of working class peasants and farmers in his paintings, which roused animosity against him amongst artists and critics due to its inelegant nature (Fernier).

The Stonebreakers realizes Courbet’s aim of informing the masses about the harsh existence of peasant workers during his time by revealing the trying conditions that miners had to face, so as to encourage people to aid them (Fernier). This painting shows two peasants, a boy and a grown man, in tatters, slaving away on boulders with mallets. From a cursory glance, we immediately realize the depth and sharpness of the canvas; the painting is rigidly detailed to the point where it is devoid of any romanticism or drama, a quality that is unique to realism. Secondly, we notice that the colors used are monotonous, which reflects the languishing tone of the painting while the two peasants toil away on stones. This allows Courbet to draw emphasis on the hardship that peasants had to overcome. Third, the manner in which Courbet depicts the boy, who is too young to carry stones, and the man, who is too old to continue breaking stones, demonstrates his sympathy for the disadvantaged workers (Fernier).

Both poverty and industrialism are represented in this scene. Unfortunately, impoverished farmer and peasant workers during the Industrial Revolution were subject to frequent eviction and abuse by capitalists and factory owners. Most peasants were forced into industries, where underage children and women were exploited by being given treacherous jobs, with miniscule wages (“Industrial Revolution”). The Stonebreakers reflects Courbet’s disgust with the system’s abuse of people who are too weak or unfit for duty by showcasing the agony of their work, whereas his style and clever usage of mellow colors rouse pity for the sufferers. Courbet’s works inspired future impressionists and modernists to focus their themes more on modern events, and suggested a new innovativeness that would then take hold of modern art.

Fernier, Robert. "Gustave Courbet." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/140530/Gustave-Courbet>.

"Industrial Revolution." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/287086/Industrial-Revolution>.

Honore Daumier's "The Uprising" (1860)

Daumier was a prolific printmaker and caricaturist, but is also recognized for his dramatic paintings of the third class. His resentment for the upper classes, which exploited the working and lower classes, served as his primary motive for painting, and compelled him to reflect this in clever caricatures. By seeking a social reform through “social justice” (an early socialist ideal which sought to make all classes of society equal in both economy and politics), his artistic endeavors were explained (Adhemar). He aimed to truthfully present the lives of peasant workers, and accurately depict their struggles in his paintings. Daumier, however, unlike Gustave Courbet, who lived at the same time, was an avid supporter of the naturalist movement, which aimed to depict realistic things in its natural environment, or setting. Traces of this style are evident in this scene; the scene itself is not sharply painted; instead it is more abstract and blurred, which highlights the movement of the man in the center. Second, it portrays workers coalescing and creating a riot, perhaps against undesirable working conditions of factories that they were employed in during the 19th century. This is historically accurate according to Daumier’s time when workers were beginning to form “labor unions”, or strikes by workers who advocated against factory owners’ unfair exploitation of their workers (“Industrial Revolution”).

The workers in this painting shout for change in their lifestyles; they represent the attitude of the working class during the first phase of the Industrial Revolution. The people are the byproducts of the rapid industrialization of Europe; they are agitated and wish for reform. The need for this reform is strongly represented in Daumier’s works, who tries to make a political statement to advocate for equality in all classes of society. We can infer that the people portrayed are members of the working class by observing their plain clothing. The aggravation of the working class is translated by the fist-waving motion of the man in the center who is the main focus of the painting; this is because he is the most detailed figure in the painting, is centralized, covers the most space in the painting, and also wears bright-colored clothes that easily allow viewers to focus on the man. Given his unique style of painting, Honore Daumier helped to “introduce impressionism into modern art” (Adhemar).

Adhemar, Jean. "Honore Daumier." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/152400/Honore-Daumier>.

Blandford Fletcher's "Evicted" (1887)

By the 19^th century, Europe’s new attitude towards art was reflected in dramatizing social issues instead of dull portraits. This painting, “Evicted”, represents the realist movement of art, which is characterized in the meticulous details of the people and buildings. This painting realizes a major repercussion of England’s Industrialization when pestilence and unemployment were rampant and multitudes of families were displaced from their homes (“Industrial Revolution”). Such movements inspired future expressionists like Pablo Picasso, who aimed to depict the plight of peasants in a more subjective and ambiguous manner (McCully).

In the late 19th century there was widespread poverty and famine amongst the lower-working classes from unemployment, which made tenants of homes unable to pay their rents to their landowners, and allowed landowners to evict farmers and render them homeless and jobless. In fact, a great number of people faced a similar situation to what is depicted in Evicted. By 1900, between 15%-20% of England’s population were displaced, and an additional 8%-10% of the population lived below subsistence level (“Industrial Revolution”). Realism addressed this issue by increasing public awareness of the sparse living conditions of the lower class.

Fletcher attempts to portray the truth as accurately as possible by presenting the figures as sharply as possible; the walls of the buildings, the people’s clothes, and the precision of their facial expressions attest to this. Next, he attempts harmonizing the painting by placing the villagers in groups, and fixates them to the lower left corner of the canvas. Fletcher clarifies his message by the central figure of the painting, which is a small girl, who is the central focus of the canvas, and sadly stares back at the viewer as she pathetically drags a small wooden horse behind her. By dramatizing the scene through realism, he projects the suffering of the poor by showing the demise of the lower-class family in England, and appealed to middle-class viewers and buyers ("Blandford Fletcher: Evicted”).

"Blandford Fletcher: Evicted (1887)." Queensland Art Gallery: Gallery of Modern Art. Web. 24 Apr. 2011.

Pablo Picasso's "The Old Guitarist" (1903)

Picasso’s style is characterized by Cubism, which is an amalgam of modernist, impressionist, and symbolist styles. For Picasso, the dawn of the 20th century is known as his “blue period”, which was influenced by his poor living conditions and the death of his friend, when he painted miserable scenes of the working class and poor (McCully). Picasso, similar to most modernists during his time, attempted to capture the true lifestyles of beggars and the working class with art.

The working class during the early 20th century had just emerged from the Industrial Revolution, when the social hierarchy was growing increasingly unstable due to the rise of Socialism amongst the working class (“Industrial Revolution”). A repercussion of the Industrial Revolution was that many workers who remained poor were left with desolate working conditions, and many more were afflicted with unemployment and pollution. Picasso, who lived as a vagrant during this time, was one the artists who could relate to this group of people, allowing him to accurately portray his and others’ shared moods.

Upon viewing “The Old Guitarist”, we notice that Picasso shades nearly the entire scene blue (with the guitar as an exception), which immediately establishes a desolate and depressing tone. The guitarist’s cadaverous figure and pale skin color shocks viewers with the famine and strife that beggars endured. The blurred strokes of the painting around the guitarist give an impression that he is meditating, and intensifies the mysticism of the portrait. However, Picasso paints the guitar as the central figure of the painting by using brown instead of blue, which pushes the guitar forwards as a more significant and powerful object. It is the only object that is unadulterated by the seemingly constant blue surrounding it and is animate. This could allegorically connect to the guitar being the man’s only means of earning food and money, and is the only thing that keeps him alive (McCully).Overall, The Old Guitarist is a powerful, metaphorical testament to Europe’s issue of poverty after the Industrial Revolution, and inspired future artists to experiment with modernism and other styles of art.

McCully, Marilyn. "Pablo Picasso." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/459275/Pablo-Picasso/59628/Blue-Period>.

Brian Tolle's "Irish Hunger Memorial" (2002)

   Brian Tolle set out to raise public awareness of the Irish Potato Famine that occurred between the years of 1845-1852 and claimed over one and a half million lives. The memorial was founded on July 16, 2002 in New York and is composed of stones, soil, and plants that are all imported from Ireland; the memorial stones each are from different counties of Ireland, and the monument also has an authentic Irish cottage from the 19th century. The cottage itself was donated by a family of descendants of the Irish immigrants of the mid-19th century (Smith).

   During the Irish Famine, approximately 1 million people died of starvation and an additional million more emigrated from Ireland, which caused Ireland’s total population to decrease by a massive 20%-25%. Many farmers harvested mostly potatoes during this time, and faced a widespread potato disease that destroyed their crops. Ireland itself was in a state of political turmoil in which its population was rapidly growing, nearly three quarters of the population was unemployed, and living conditions were extremely low (Mokyr). An additional repercussion of the first phase of the Industrial Revolution was that Britain still had great influence over Ireland, and prohibited the education of Irish Catholics and limited the amount of land one may possess, which stifled any chance of repairing Ireland’s social issues (Mokyr).

   The platform itself is lifted by a limestone base with bands of kilkenny limestone that have historic texts inscribed on them to commemorate the dead (Smith). The platform is slanted towards the entrance so as to invite people to walk up the pathway, observing the ruined cottage and stone walls until they reach a pilgrim’s standing stone, where one can overlook the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Poverty is realized in this work in the destroyed cottage, where its condition reflects the physical tribulations that Irish immigrants faced. Industrialism is also loosely represented, where the area of the memorial is a quarter acre. This relates to a land-restrictive law passed in 1847, which dictated that no man who owned more than a quarter acre of land could gain relief (Mokyr). The manner of how the lives of Irish immigrants are represented serves as a testament to the horrors of famine, and appropriately honors the fallen.

Mokyr, Joel. "Irish Potato Famine." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/294137/Irish-Potato-Famine>.

Smith, Roberta. "Critic's Notebook; A Memorial Remembers The Hungry." The New York Times. 16 July 2002. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/16/arts/critic-s-notebook-a-memorial-remembers-the-hungry.html>.

Introduction to the Museum

Greetings, fellow bloggers. This museum showcases the themes of despair and destitution that manifested in post-romantic art during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. People during this time either encountered or experienced widespread poverty, which was a major repercussion from Europe’s rapid industrial advances. Most of these misfortunes were cast mainly upon lower-class society, where most modernist artists would emerge. These new artists would adopt new and unique styles of art to communicate and chronicle their own toils and financial issues. This allowed the cultivation of different societal values people held, which greatly influenced modern art. Finally, I will discuss the cause and significance of the transition in styles of meticulously detailed works by Gustave Courbet and Blandford Fletcher to modernistic and abstract ones by Pablo Picasso and Brian Tolle. I hope you will enjoy my museum!

Other Related Exhibitions

"Technology: A Perpetrator of War"

by Marcos Lopez

http://technologyandwar.blogspot.com/

This extensively researched blog by Mr. Lopez contains an amalgam of pre-Industrial and modernist works of art, ranging from paintings of scenes from the American Revolution to modern weaponry, which rapidly evolved during and after the Industrial Revolution. This exhibition presents technology as something that "ravaged the earth with advancements in weaponry, time and time again making wars bloodier and more destructive". Indeed, the rapid transition, from the use of the first rifles as depicted in John Trumbull's "The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill (1786)" to the fortuitous destructive power of atomic bombs represented in Seb Janiak's "Downtown L.A. Atomic (2005)", is ever more present in this meticulously researched blog. The severe psychological trauma experienced during World War I is lengthily explained in Otto Dix's "Wounded Soldier (1924)", and tells viewers gruesome tales of how the discovery of new technology also entailed the development of fearsome and terrible weapons that have the power to annihilate hundreds of thousands of humans. By elaborately explaining the terrifying efficiency of weapons both in the past and the present, Mr. Lopez suggests an esoteric alternative to war: "...with these weapons will come the power to destroy mankind as we know. We must stop this vicious cycle...whatever the cost may be".

"The Effects of Industrialization"

by James Hoffstetter

http://hoffinator9.blogspot.com/

The Industrial Revolution permanently altered the development of weapons, and the workforce. This blog, by James Hoffstetter, contains analyses of various paintings made during the Industrial Era that depicted the widespread epidemic of poverty within Europe. By choosing three distinguishable paintings of the Industrial Revolution's various repercussions, the viewer can gain valuable insight on the tough conditions people faced during that time. By analyzing Gustave Courbet's "The Stonebreakers", the viewer gains a perspective of peasant life during the mid-19th century, and learns of the abuse of children and elderly workers. Also, by using Otto Dix's "Wounded Soldier (1924)", the viewer learns the aftereffects of the rapid evolution of weaponry, and its dangerous implementations on the battlefield. James delves into the significance in the shifts in styles of art between the 19th and 20th centuries: "...to reveal the hardships of the normal life in the country and to open the eyes of the public".