Modern art in U.S.A.

American modernism like modernism in general is a trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve, and reshape their environment, with the aid of scientific knowledge, technology and practical experimentation, and is thus in its essence both progressive and optimistic. American modernism is an artistic and cultural movement in the United States starting at the turn of the 2 th century with its core period between !orld !ar " and !orld !ar "" and continuing into the 2#st century. Modern art begins with the heritage of painters like $incent van %ogh, &aul '()anne, &aul %auguin, %eorges Seurat and *enri de +oulouse ,autrec all of whom were essential for the development of modern art. +he notion of modern art is closely related to Modernism. Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement in the arts. Explanation 'haracteristically, modernist art has a tendency to abstraction, is innovative, aesthetic, futuristic and self-referential. "t includes visual art, literature, music, film, design, architecture as well as life style. Music .arly in the 2 th century, /a)) evolved from the blues tradition, but also incorporated many other musical and cultural elements. "n 0ew 1rleans, often considered to be the birthplace of /a)) 2a)) music, as a central element of American culture, has its roots in 3lack slave culture. +he music combined elements from African call and response patterns into its instrumentation and riffs. "n its early beginnings /a)) was looked critically upon by parts of the white population, who considered /a)) and ragtime rhythms to be 4savage crash and bang5 and denigrated the genre as a product 4not of innovators, but of incompetents.4 "ts expressive and pulsating style initially served racial stereotypes in the public mind and was widely encountered with skeptical re/ection. 2a)) is distinctly modern in sound and manner. According to ,awrence ,evine, 42a)) was, or seemed to be the product of a new age6raucous, discordant6accessible, spontaneous6openly an interactive, participatory music.4

Visual arts +he Armory Show in 0ew 7ork, held in #8#9, was the first opportunity for Americans to see the new art that had been developing in .urope. !ork by the "mpressionists, &ost "mpressionists, Matisse, and &icasso were included in this exhibition. Pop art is an art form based in the power of popular images, derived from the commercial and mass media sources that permeate modern American society. 3y elevating the banal to the status of Art, the viewer is challenged to reconsider the nature of society and its values. Andy !arhol:s soup cans, coke bottles, and movie stars are the best known examples. Op art is a term used to refer to a style of nonob/ective art in which optical effects of color relationships and formal relationships are the primary sub/ect matter. +hese works are characteri)ed by intricate, usually geometric patterns and carefully calibrated colors. Among the artists known for this style are 3ridget ;iley and $asareley. Minimalism grew out of 1p Art, a logical extension of the obliteration of sub/ect matter. &ainting and sculpture are reduced to essential forms without embellishment or complication. .llsworth <elly, ;obert %rosvenor, "samu 0oguchi, and =rank Stella were among its practitioners. 'onceptual art is rooted in the >a>a movement of the early #82 :s, in that it attacks the sacredness and permanence of the artwork itself, claiming that the art is in the idea, and that once the concept has been expressed, the ob/ect is unimportant. Environmental art can involve large scale installations or earthworks, such as a field of lightning rods, or ;obert Smithsons 4Spiral 2etty4 or 'hristo:swrapped environments. A contemporary environmental artist who has actually done pro/ects here at 'ornell is Andy %oldsworthy ?scroll down for images. "n addition to the images on the previous link, take a look at this video clip of %oldsworthy at work from a documentary 4;ivers and +ides.4 Electronic media is the new technologies of the information age are creating entirely new opportunities for artists. $irtual reality refers to forms of computer animation that permit the viewer the illusion of moving through the visual space. "nteractive multimedia, can combine poetry, theater, music, dance,video and more. Fashion ;eferring to fashion, usually one would think of dressing styles or

costumes. 1f course, dressing style is a very important category of the word 4fashion4. 1n the other hand, 4fashion4 has more meanings and could be explained and found in many other fields, such as architecture, body type, dance and music, and even forms of speech, etc. 1. Costumes Women@ 3y #82# the longer skirt, which was usually long and uneven at the bottom was out of date. +he short skirt became popular by #82A. 0o bosom, no waistline, and hair nearly hidden under a cloche hat. +he manufacturing of cosmetics also began from this decade. &owder, lipstick, rouge, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, colored nails, women had them all. Moreover, pearls came in fashion as well. Men@ "n this period, the clothing for men was a bit more conservative. +rousers widened to 2B inches at the bottoms. <nickers, increased the width and length, were called 4plus fours4. >uring the summer white linen was popular, while in the winter an outstanding American coat---- the raccoon coat was in fashion. +he slouch hat, made of felt, could be rolled up and packed into a suitcase. +hese were very popular with the college men. 2. Furniture +here:s no pure American modern style in the designing world. +he American modern artists inherited the style characteri)ed by simplicity of form, absence of decorative ornament, and focused on functional concerns from their precedents. At the same time, the American designers blended the wild style of &arisian painting, as well as the features of modern architecture in their works, such as Art >eco. Moreover, the designers also placed much emphasis on the materials, especially those invented in the modern age. Literature American Modernism covered a wide variety of topics including race relations, gender roles, and sexuality. "t reached its peak in America in the #82 Cs up to the #8B Cs. 'elebrated Modernists include .)ra &ound, !illiam 'arlos !illiams, =. Scott =it)gerald, .rnest *emingway and !illiam =aulkner, and while largely regarded as a romantic poet, !alt !hitman is sometimes regarded as a pioneer of the modernist era in America.

Architecture and space +he United States played a great role in the modernism movement concerning new advanced building and construction technologies. Among construction innovations there are such materials as iron, steel and reinforced

concrete. 3rooklyn 3ridge by 2ohn and !ashington ;oebling ?#DE8F#DD9G ?for more details see 2ohn ;oeblingH!ashington ;oeblingG