Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century in short

It is better to understand the historical processes of the first half of the 20th century, by looking through the pictures of artists of that time and reading the most interesting literary works of their contemporaries. Let's go in a little digression.

Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century: a summary

At the turn of the century, decadence prevailed in European culture - there were a huge number of different contradictory currents that did not share a common trait. Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century has two main directions:

• Modern (French - Art Nouveau, German - Jugendstil).
• Modernism.

The first was born in the last decade of the 19th century and gradually ended its existence with the outbreak of World War I (in 1914).

Modernism is the most interesting trend in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So rich in masterpieces of painting and graphics, which is divided into separate streams by characteristic features.

Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century is not a topic of one lecture, the work of some Impressionist artists can be studied all my life. We will still try to talk about this most interesting phenomenon briefly. First, let's give a characterization of two most important areas: modernity and modernism. Without them, the culture and art of the first half of the 20th century is inconceivable. Next, let's move on to literature and cinema.

Modernity: nature is the source of inexhaustible inspiration

The name of the line came from the French word "moderne", which means "modern". This current in American, European and Russian art at the turn of the 19-20 centuries. Modernism is often confused with modernism, although these are fundamentally different things that have little in common with each other. Let's list the distinctive features of this trend in art:

• Search for inspiration in nature and in the surrounding world;
• Rejection of sharp lines;
• Faded, muted tones;
• Decorativeness, airiness;
• The presence on the pictures of elements of nature: trees, grasses, shrubs.

Understand what is modern, the easiest way, while contemplating the architecture of European cities in this style. Namely - the buildings and cathedrals of Gaudi in Barcelona. The capital of Catalonia attracts so many tourists precisely due to its unique architecture. The decor of buildings is distinguished by its elevation, asymmetry and airiness. The Sagrada Familia (Sagrada Familia) is the most striking project of the great Antonio Gaudi.

Next, consider the work of European artists who created their paintings in the Art Nouveau style. To simplify the perception of the material, we give a small table.

Artists-modernists

The direction of Art Nouveau	Artist-representative
Painting	Gauguin, Klimt
Graphic arts	Bradley
Posters and posters	Toulouse-Lautrec

Modernism

Why, then, was this trend born, to win the audience's love and to start the development of such interesting trends as surrealism and futurism?

Because modernism was a revolution in art. It arose as a protest against the outdated traditions of realism.

Creative people sought new ways of expressing themselves and displaying reality. Modernism has its own characteristic features peculiar only to it:

• A high role of the inner world of man;
• Search for new original ideas;
• Great importance is given to creative intuition;
• Literature contributes to the spiritualization of man;
• The appearance of mythmaking.

Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century: pictures of various artists will be studied in the following two sections.

Interesting trends of modernism

What are they? Surprising: you can think over them and constantly discover something new for yourself. Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century will be briefly described below.

We will not torment and submit information in the most concise form - in the form of a table. On the left will be the name of the artistic trend, on the right is its description.

Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century: table

Original currents of modernism

Name of the current	Characteristic
Surrealism	The apotheosis of human fantasy. It is characterized by a paradoxical combination of forms.
Impressionism	Originated in France, and then spread throughout the world. Impressionists conveyed the surrounding world in its variability.
Expressionism	Artists sought to express their emotional state in pictures, from fear to euphoria.
Futurism	The first ideas arose in Russia and in Italy. Futurists in their paintings masterfully conveyed movement, energy and speed.
Cubism	The paintings consist of fanciful geometric figures that are in a certain composition.

Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century (table, grade 9) reflects the basic knowledge of the topic.

In more detail, consider Impressionism and Surrealism as currents, which brought to the art fundamentally new ideas.

Surrealism: the work of mentally ill or geniuses?

It was one of the trends of modernism, originated in 1920 in France.

Studying the work of the Surrealists, an ordinary person often asks about their mental health. Most of the artists of this direction were quite adequate people.

Then how did they manage to draw such unusual paintings? It's all about youth and the desire to change standard thinking. Art for the Surrealists was a way of getting rid of the generally accepted rules. Surrealistic pictures combined sleep with reality. Artists were guided by three rules:

1. Relaxation of consciousness;
2. The acceptance of images from the subconscious;
3. If the first two items were successful, they took up the brush.

To understand how they painted such polysemantic pictures is rather difficult. One of the assumptions suggests that the Surrealists were fond of Freud's ideas about dreams. The second is about the use of certain substances that change consciousness. Where here the truth is unclear. Let's just enjoy the art, regardless of the circumstances. Below is the picture "Clock" of the legendary Salvador Dali.

Impressionism in painting

Impressionism is another direction of modernism, the homeland is France ...

Pictures of this style are distinguished by glare, play of light and bright colors. Artists sought to capture on the canvas a real world in its variability and mobility. From the paintings of impressionists , an ordinary person improves his mood, so they are vital and bright.

Artists of this direction did not raise any philosophical problems - they simply painted what they saw. In doing so, they did it masterly, using various techniques and a bright palette of colors.

Literature: from classicism to existentialism

Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century are new directions in literature that have changed the consciousness of people. The situation is similar to painting: classicism goes back in time, giving way to new trends of modernism.

He contributed to such interesting "discoveries" in the literature as:

• Internal monologue;
• mindflow;
• Distant associations;
• The ability of the author to look at himself from the outside (the ability to talk about himself in the third person);
• Irrealism.

New directions in the literature of the first half of the 20th century

Name of the direction	Authors
Social Romanticism	Galsworthy, Mann, Belle
Surrealism	Eluard, Aragon
Existentialism	Kafka, Rilke
Modernist prose	James Joyce

The Irish writer James Joyce was the first to use such literary devices as an internal monologue and parodies.

Franz Kafka is an outstanding Austrian writer, the founder of existentialism in literature. Despite the fact that during his lifetime his works did not provoke enthusiastic enthusiasm of readers, he was recognized as one of the best prose writers of the 20th century.

His work was influenced by the tragic events of the First World War. He wrote very deep and heavy works, showing the impotence of man in the face of the absurdity of the surrounding reality. At the same time, the author is not deprived of a sense of humor, although he is very specific and black.

We warn that sensible reading of Kafka can help to reduce mood. To read the author is best in a good mood and a little abstracted from his gloomy reflections. In the end, he describes only his vision of reality. The most famous work of Kafka is "The Process".

Cinema

Funny silent films - this is also the culture and art of the first half of the 20th century, read about them further.

There is no other kind of art developing as rapidly as cinema. The technology of creating films appeared in the late 19th century: literally in 50 years it was able to change a lot and win the hearts of millions of people.

The first films were created in the advanced countries, including Russia.

Initially, the movie was black and white and without sound. The meaning of silent cinema was to transmit information through the movement and facial expressions of actors.

For the first time a movie with speaking actors appears in 1927. The American company Warner Bros. decided to release the film "Jazz Singer", and this is a full-fledged film with sound.

In Russia, the cinematography did not stand still either. The first successful project was the film Don Cossacks. True, censorship in Russian films also took place to be: under the ban were shooting church rites and members of the royal family.

A special stage in the development of Russian cinema began after the Bolsheviks came to power. These comrades quickly realized that cinema can be not just entertainment, but also a serious weapon of propaganda.

The most famous Soviet director of the 1930s was Sergei Eisenstein. Such works as "Battleship Potemkin" and "Alexander Nevsky", have long become classics. Kiev director Alexander Dovzhenko also reached heights in the cinema. The brightest work is the film "Earth".

The most interesting topic for conversation among adults is the culture and art of the first half of the 20th century. Class 9 gives truncated information, which quickly disappears from the head. Fill this gap can be a constant self-education.