Art and the Great War - An Early Modern Art Exhibit
The first World War came at a time when modern art was beginning to flourish. Artists were experimenting with color, perspective, and form in exciting new ways. The paintings just below are outside the scope of this analysis, but serve as examples of the multifarious kinds of images that were being created just prior to the advent of World War I.
All images above courtesy of Obelisk. Please visit the link for more information.
When global war broke out in 1914, there was a perceptible impact on art. The vivacity on display in the above images was generally replaced by a more somber aesthetic and darker subject matter. Even as artists continued to explore their own eclectic styles, their output changed in response to the anxiety that swept across the globe.
Romaine Brooks, The Cross of France (1914)
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
In The Cross of France, a Red Cross nurse stands looking on with a determined expression. The Belgian city of Ypres, where over 100,000 lives were lost early in the war, burns behind her. Her paintings typically depict women, often of an androgynous appearance, standing alone amongst cold and desolate surroundings. These images say a lot on their own, but knowing about the artist makes them even more meaningful.
Brooks led an unhappy life plagued by difficult circumstances. As a child, her wealthy mother was cruel and unaccepting, favoring her older brother. Furthermore, her mother was mentally unstable and prone to hear voices. Brooks became traumatized by the atmosphere of fear at home. At age six, her mother abandoned her and she was sent to live with a poor family, then to a series of boarding schools, and an Italian convent, where, at age fourteen, she attempted suicide. At age 21 she was raped by her sister's husband, resulting in a pregnancy. The baby died at less than three months old. She went to study art in Rome, where she was the victim of repeated sexual harassment by her male peers.
In 1901, Brooks' older brother died, with her mother soon to follow. Brooks found herself the inheritor of a sizable fortune, which finally afforded her some independence and comfort, but she would continue to struggle with the inequities of her time. Brooks was a lesbian and so entered into a marriage of convenience with a homosexual man in order to ward off the advances of men. During World War II, she lived in Italy with her Jewish lover Natalie Barney, who she had to hide from the Nazis.
It isn't hard to imagine why Brooks deemphasized sexuality and depicted women alone, deserted, and sternly self-reliant.
Brooks' paintings were characteristically gloomy, so the cold colors and darker tones, while befitting to the scene, are as much attributable to her lifelong sorrows as her feelings about the war. What I find more interesting about The Cross of France as a response to war is the prominent subject and her stoic expression.
During World War I, Brooks was a vocal opponent of the war. She volunteered as an ambulance driver in France and helped raise money for the Red Cross. Maybe because of her own suffering, I think she had a deep compassion for the suffering of others, and saw virtue in being able to ease it. In depicting war, Brooks chose not to focus on violence or suffering, but the virtue of helping others.
The nurse's expression is the heart of this image. The background is expressive, but it is more interesting as an extension of the woman's thoughts. In spite of the deceptively flat look of the image, form is used to great effect here: the clouds and marshland appear to erupt out of the horizon, even with few protruding features to judge depth by. Even the way the woman's headscarf tosses in the wind enhances the stoic mood.
The Cross of France was most likely painted in Paris, where Brooks lived at the time. Brooks' lover, the Russian actress Ida Rubinstein, served as the model for the nurse.
Gino Severini, Armored Train in Action (1915)
Public domain image courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art.
Armored Train in Action is a celebratory, and I think, naïve and idealistic depiction of war. Severini didn't actually serve in the war, but he was a champion of it. I see this image as a patriot's fantasy: there is little sense of danger or consequence, just a display of overwhelming superiority. The soldiers all crouch behind the unblemished and impervious looking walls of the train. There is no concern for whoever the men are shooting at outside the frame. The invincible white train speeds onward toward victory.
As little as this scene appeals to my own sensibilities, I have to give Severini's intelligence the benefit of the doubt and assume that it wasn't his aim to say something about the reality of war. This piece is a rallying call. His intent was to cheer Italy towards victory.
I can understand Severini's patriotism. No one living in that time, seeing their city get bombed, would have wanted to feel insecure. I can only imagine anyone living during that time preferred to believe those advanced new weapons would come to their defense, not their demise.
The many prominent straight lines stand out in this painting, intersecting in a haphazard commotion. Basic geometric shapes are layered everywhere, and used to create movement. All along the left side of the train a frenzy of triangles describe the commotion of gunfire. There are more triangular shapes in the soldiers' clothing and at the top of the train, directing the speeding movement of the train into the foreground. The colors are unusually bright and cheery for a war scene, but this piece is meant to evoke triumph and honor might, not call attention to the horrors of modern warfare.
Armored Train in Action was painted in Severini's Paris studio, where he had a view of the Denfert-Rochereau train station used for military operations.
Max Ernst, The Elephant Celebes (1921)
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Without depicting a single soldier or tank or gun, (or much of anything recognizable, for that matter), The Elephant Celebes just oozes "war."
Max Ernst was drafted into the German army and served for the entirety of the war from 1914 to 1918. His interest in the nihilism and absurdity of Dada and Surrealism was born in reaction to the war. Of his experience in the war, Ernst wrote, "On the 1st of August 1914 Max Ernst died. He was resurrected on the 11 November 1918 as a young man who aspired to find the myths of his time." As World War II erupted, he fled Germany for the United States.
Trying to interpret this image is a lot like trying to interpret a dream. It forgoes rationality in order to speak directly to the subconscious. What the machine is and what it does are secondary to the impression it creates: its darkness, its immensity. In that way of dream logic, the nonsensical nature of the machine makes it an apt symbol for the horrible inanity of war. The mechanical abomination is irrational but undeniable, a horrible perversion of reality. The strange shapes that comprise its head can be seen as two heads, with a third head atop the trunk. With so many heads, one can imagine this machine acts in a confused and unpredictable manner. The headless mannequin presents the horror, as if to say "See what I've wrought? I've lost my head!" The black smoke in the sky is reminiscent of a plane being shot down, but there is no plane to see. I think Ernst wanted to portray the essence of war without actually showing war.
Form is the most important element here. The forms are mostly unrecognizable to us, but vaguely familiar enough to feel meaningful in a dreamlike way. For example, the tip of the trunk is not exactly a bull's head, but resembles one enough so that I imagine it to behave with a bull's temper. The dark tones and drab colors help create a foreboding feeling. Perhaps the most striking visual element here is the metallic collar around the elephant's trunk. It has a surprisingly realistic texture and three-dimensionality in comparison to the rest of the image, creating a confused sense of reality, like seeing a real object in a cartoon world.
The Elephant Celebes was painted in Cologne, Germany a few years after the war ended. Its title is derived from a German children's rhyme which begins, "The elephant from Celebes has sticky, yellow bottom grease."
Works Cited
All of the pieces you chose are amazing, my favorite would have to be The Cross of France because of the atmosphere and composition. I also really appreciate that she doesn't sexualize and portrays women in strong stances. In all three paintings you can see the influence that the war had on the artists.
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ReplyDeleteYour writing on The Cross of France is outstanding. Such a tragic piece of art, but it expresses so much. The nurse looks so determined. Is she determined to never let this happen again? It leaves me with so many questions. I appreciate art like this, art that isn't just handed to the viewer, saying; "this is how you should feel." The events of WW1 were dark and often times not humane. The art from the time is more than that.
Hi Alex! Thank you for sharing your point of view on this week's theme. I love the art you have chosen to share. I was drawn to the Gino Severini piece. I love the abstract look and the many shapes used to create an image. This image also connects very well to the theme of war that you had mentioned. This was a very common theme of the time and the modern look definitely comes out through the elements of shape and color.
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