Despite initially supporting the war effort by creating works for periodicals such as Kriegszeit ( War Time)-the bellicose art journal founded by the publisher and gallery owner Paul Cassirer in the summer of 1914-by 1916 artists such as Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz had begun making elegiac works about the devastation experienced by families and communities. Collection of Johanna and Leslie GarfieldĪs the war progressed, artists expressed a variety of emotions. Ink, gouache, graphite, and crayon, sheet: 10 x 8 in. Left: Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (British, 1889–1946). Those working in applied and commercial arts also revealed a variety of approaches some work was commissioned by the government or other organizations to support the war effort and charities, while other propaganda-sometimes the most inflammatory-was independently produced and distributed as periodicals, postcards, and posters in order to boost morale and demean the enemy. Represented in the exhibition are several generations of artists, ranging from those who had gained fame in the 19th century such as Pierre Bonnard, John Singer Sargent, and Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, to younger figures who were still finding a voice such as Otto Dix, who left art school to enlist in the German army. While some figures employed a modernist approach that drew from avant-garde experimentation begun before the war or was born in reaction to its carnage, others embraced a more traditional, figurative style still others drew elements from both approaches or moved between styles for a variety of reasons. In response to the unprecedented turmoil and trauma resulting from the war, many artists' reactions changed dramatically over a short period of time as fierce nationalism, enthusiasm for regalia and combat, and even optimism for a more democratic future frequently morphed into mournful reflection, feelings of loss and betrayal, pacifism, and rage-directed not only at the institutions deemed responsible but also at their own complicity.Īrtists searched for an appropriate language to express the chaos and carnage that resulted from modern industrial warfare, reevaluating subject matter, techniques, materials, and styles, as well as their positions and responsibilities as cultural producers. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Yorkīecause there were a large number of artists who experienced combat firsthand, either as soldiers, medics, or war artists documenting life at the front (with many suffering severe injuries or death), several figures produced work either at the front or based on their experiences engaging in or witnessing combat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Reba and Dave Williams Gift, 1999 (1999.232.2). In the case of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, he strongly advocated for his country, Italy, to enter so that he could join the army and be a part of the battle. ![]() While some artists, such as George Grosz-who had long rejected militarism and nationalist sentiment-rejected the war from the beginning yet were conscripted into service, and others, such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, "involuntarily voluntarily" enlisted with the goal of gaining some control over their placement, many more figures, including Max Beckmann and Otto Dix, enthusiastically enlisted. Like their countrymen, many artists, writers, and intellectuals initially welcomed the war for a range of reasons: some because of nationalist sentiments or a sense of patriotic duty others had a desire to experience an "adventure" they assumed would be over in a few months, if not weeks and still others because of a mistaken belief that, after what they viewed as a final and necessary conflict ended, oppressive political systems (often dynasties whose various rulers were related by blood or marriage) would disappear and a more peaceful, spiritual, and anti-materialist era would begin. As visitors move through the galleries, so does the exhibition move chronologically-from the mobilization in the beginning of August 1914 to the 1918 armistice and the decade that followed. The exhibition showcases some of the ways in which artists both reacted to and represented the horrors of modern warfare and its aftermath. Organized to commemorate the centennial of World War I, World War I and the Visual Arts features more than 130 works-mainly works on paper-drawn from The Met collection and supplemented with select loans. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1924 (24.58.31) ![]() Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (French, 1859–1923).
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