Modernisation, Modernism & Modernity

The early 20th century was a period where avant-garde artists attempted to rationalise several late-nineteenth-century ideas into a new form of art that would be equally admired among art movements. The form that these artists took was one of expression, where the changing lives of urban citizenry were depicted.

Pushing Boundaries in Europe: Avant-Garde

The avant-garde became a global movement by 1914, and although Paris still led the way, the rest of Europe also saw the avant-garde develop. In Central Europe, expressionism became popular while Italy and Russia responded to the slow-coming modern through various forms of avant-garde including expressionism, futurism and cubism. As these ideologies were new to society, traditionalism remained strong in society. This created an interesting contrast between those who lived the modern, and those who still embraced the past.

The Changing World: Political & Social Transformations

Modernisation refers to the advance in science & technology that forced society to change. The introduction of efficient machines in many industries (notably transport) sped the pace of life up significantly, resulting in a social and cultural change referred to as modernity. This new way of life was expressed through Modernism.

There was a feeling that with modernity a negative aspect came about. This is that with industry and efficiency taking centre-stage, and the early signs of capitalism flickering, the importance of the individual was being lost as humans became part of a ‘machine’. Despite this, some felt the change brought about an adrenaline rush where it is ‘exciting’ to be part of an intense, fast world.

There were not just physical changes with the modern, but also attempts to analyse the physiological responses of humans. There are the two separate responses discussed above of the loss of the individual and the adrenaline rush, but there is also the centrist view. This brought two new terms with it- capitalism and socialism. These ideologies reflected the new relations between classes as well as material possessions. The mobilisation of the masses was seen as an opportunity by the upper class to create capitalism, while it was seen by the working class as an opportunity to create a utopian equal society; socialism.

The Artists’ Response: Cubism

Conflict arose as to where art stands among this- is art something that should be a servant for socialism or capitalism? It provoked a ‘fight back’ in art at the new modern world. Cubism was one response- a style where the individual was depicted giving little indication of the modern world evolving at the time. Despite this, cubism managed to become the foundation of the avant-garde, setting an example for future modern art due to it embracing new technology. This meant that although the subject was still ‘traditional’, the style was not, and so the subject became less important. Cubism therefore firmly established the conflict in art between those who see art as a form of illustrating the modern world and those who see art as something that must change to fit the modern.

Image Analysis: C19 USA/C20 UK

This image was an advert by Schumacher & Ettlinger (New York), produced in 1876 for The Uncle Sam Range. Initial reactions are not those usually associated with advertising. There is no central focus to the image, and there is a lot going on; a great contrast to the adverts of today. Therefore, on first glance the thoughts are that it is a bad advert. The first thoughts are 'what is the image about?' before even realising it is an advert.

Further inspection of the advert reveals a lot of symbolism and meaning however, and there is infact a rather powerful image infront of us. The first thing to note is the Americana running throughout the image. The central figure, representing Uncle Sam, is wearing the American colours. He also bears resemblance to American President Abraham Lincoln, a great figurehead of the USA. The continuous Americana running throughout the image depicts power and strength, glorifying the objects in the image because they are American.

The depiction of American greatness is emphasised even further by the mocking of other parts of the world. As the image was produced one hundred years after US Independence in 1776, the female figure representing England is placed at the back behind the Americans, as well as being inferior as a female. Sat next to her is a crudely drawn globe, where Africa is represented as a cartoon face to mock the continent. The list mocks the stereotypical cuisine of various countries at the time.

On the other side of the table, Americans enjoy the food cooked by the Uncle Sam Range. There is further racism demonstrated here as a black slave cooks the food. The advert is likely to be aimed at the middle classes, particularly the lower-middle classes who cannot afford a wealthy lifestyle. This is evident in that the people in the image are enjoying a more-than-comfortable lifestyle, due to the fact they have the Uncle Sam Range. The Uncle Sam Range is a mechanism for the middle classes to be able to live the American Dream of the time.

This example of a British wartime poster produced in 1915 by Savile Lumley is far more subtle than its American counterpart. There is nationalism evident in the nationalistic patterns on the upholstery, but no Union flag is shown.

The poster aims to recruit more people into the armed forces. It does this by glorifying war. The poster is set in the future as the father has children and is proud of his wartime achievements. It therefore makes the assumption that firstly, soliders will survive the war, and secondly that their children will look up to them. Therefore, if the father did not fight in the war, he would dissapoint his future children by not having a great story to tell. The theory of the poster is to recruit by guilt tripping essentially. It is clear that the children are shown to be looking up to the father figure as the boy is playing with toy soliders, although these are Royal beefeaters and not real soliders, and the girl is reading what we assume as a history book about the war.

It idealises the future, saying that if you fight, the country can be like this and we can lead comfortable lives. It makes it clear that the UK will win the war if you fight for your King & Country. It is also a very personal poster, in that the father is looking directly at the viewer. The 'you' is also underlined and in uppercase to emphasise that.

It seems this poster would have been aimed at the middle classes also. The lower class were likely to have already subscribed to the army at the beginning of the war in 1914, and the very rich would have fled the country or found more senior positions at home. The middle classes are likely to have tried to avoid fighting in the war, but as numbers on the battlefields diminished in 1914 and 1915, more soliders were needed to keep the strength of Allied Forces up. The attention therefore turned to the only people left; the middle classes.