You can better understand the historical processes of the first half of the 20th century by looking at the paintings of artists of that time and reading the most interesting literary works of their contemporaries. Let's go on a little excursion.
Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century: summary
At the turn of the century, decadence reigned in European culture - there was a huge number of different conflicting trends that did not have common features with each other. The 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 the First World War (in 1914).
Modernism is the most interesting direction of the late 19th - the first half of the 20th century. So rich in masterpieces of painting and graphics that it is divided into separate movements according to characteristic features.
Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century is the topic of more than one lecture, the work of some impressionist artists can bestudy for a lifetime. Nevertheless, we will make an attempt to describe this most interesting phenomenon briefly. First, let's give a description of the two most important areas: modernity and modernism. Without them, the culture and art of the first half of the 20th century are unthinkable. Next, let's move on to literature and cinema.
Modern: nature is a source of inexhaustible inspiration
The name of the direction comes from the French word "moderne", which means "modern". This is a trend in American, European and Russian art at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Modernism is often confused with modernism, although these are fundamentally different things that have little in common with each other. We list the distinctive features of this trend in art:
- search for inspiration in nature and the world around us;
- rejection of sharp lines;
- faded, muted tones;
- decorative, airy;
- presence in the paintings of elements of nature: trees, herbs, shrubs.
To understand what modern is, the easiest way is by contemplating the architecture of European cities in this style. Namely - the buildings and cathedrals of Gaudí in Barcelona. The capital of Catalonia attracts so many tourists precisely due to its unique architecture. The decor of the buildings is distinguished by elevation, asymmetry and airiness. Sagrada Familia (Sagrada Familia) is the most striking project of the great Antoni Gaudí.
Next, consider the work of European artists who created their paintings in the Art Nouveau style. To simplify the perception of the material, we present a small table.
| Modern direction | Representative Artist |
| Painting | Gauguin, Klimt |
| Graphics | Bradsley |
| Posters and posters | Toulouse-Lautrec |
Modernism
Why was this direction able to originate, win the love of the audience and give a start to the development of such interesting movements as surrealism and futurism?
Because modernism was a revolution in art. Arose as a protest against the outdated traditions of realism.
Creative people were looking for new ways to express themselves and reflect reality. Modernism has its own characteristics that are unique to it:
- 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;
- emergence of mythmaking.
Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century: we will study pictures by various artists in the next two sections.
Interesting currents of modernism
What are they? Amazing: you can reflect on them and constantly discover something new for yourself. The culture and art of the first half of the 20th century will be briefly described below.
Let's not languish and present the information in the most concise form - in the form of a table. On the left will be the name of the artistic movement, on the right - its characteristics.
Culture and art of the first half20th century: table
| Current name | Characteristic |
| Surrealism | The apotheosis of human fantasy. Differs in a paradoxical combination of forms. |
| Impressionism | Started in France and then spread around the world. The Impressionists conveyed the surrounding world in its variability. |
| Expressionism | Artists sought to express their emotional state in their paintings, from fear to euphoria. |
| Futurism | The first ideas came from Russia and Italy. Futurists masterfully conveyed movement, energy and speed in their paintings. |
| Cubism | The paintings consist of bizarre geometric shapes in a certain composition. |
Culture and art of the first half of the 20th century (table, grade 9) reflects basic knowledge on the topic.
Let's take a closer look at impressionism and surrealism as trends that brought fundamentally new ideas to art.
Surrealism: creativity of the mentally ill or geniuses?
It was one of the currents of modernism, originated in 1920 in France.
Studying the work of the surrealists, the average person often wonders about their mental he alth. For the most part, the artists of this direction were quite adequate people.
Then how did they manage to draw such unusual pictures? It's all about youth and the desire to change standard thinking. Artfor the surrealists, it was a way of liberation from generally accepted rules. Surrealistic paintings combined dream with reality. Artists were guided by three rules:
- relaxing the mind;
- taking images from the subconscious;
- if the first two points were successful, they took up the brush.
Understanding how they painted such meaningful pictures is quite difficult. One suggestion is that the Surrealists were fascinated by Freud's ideas about dreams. The second is about the use of certain mind- altering substances. Where the truth is is unclear. Let's just enjoy art, no matter the circumstances. Below is a picture of the "Clock" by the legendary Salvador Dali.
Impressionism in painting
Impressionism is another direction of modernism, the homeland is France…
Paintings of this style are distinguished by highlights, play of light and bright colors. Artists sought to capture on canvas the real world in its variability and mobility. Impressionist paintings improve the mood of an ordinary person, they are so vital and bright.
Artists of this trend did not raise any philosophical problems - they just painted what they saw. At the same time, they did it masterfully, 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 trends in literature that have changed the minds of people. The situation is similar to painting: classicism goes intothe past, yielding to the new trends of modernism.
He contributed to such interesting "discoveries" in literature as:
- inner monologue;
- stream of consciousness;
- distant associations;
- the author's ability to look at himself from the outside (the ability to talk about himself in the third person);
- irrealism.
| Destination name | Authors |
| Social Romanticism | Galsworthy, Mann, Belle |
| Surrealism | Eluard, Aragon |
| Existentialism | Kafka, Rilke |
| Modernist prose | James Joyce |
Irish writer James Joyce was the first to use such literary devices as internal monologue and parody.
Franz Kafka is an outstanding Austrian writer, the founder of the current of existentialism in literature. Despite the fact that during his lifetime his works did not arouse the enthusiasm of readers, he is recognized as one of the best prose writers of the 20th century.
The tragic events of the First World War influenced his work. He wrote very deep and heavy works, showing the impotence of a person when confronted with the absurdity of the surrounding reality. At the same time, the author is not deprived of a sense of humor, however, he has a very specific and black one.
We warn that meaningful reading of Kafka can contribute to mood swings. It is best to read the author in a good mood and a little abstracting from hisdark thoughts. In the end, he describes only his vision of reality. Kafka's most famous work is The Trial.
Cinema
Funny silent films are also culture and art of the first half of the 20th century, read the message about them below.
There is no other form of art that is developing as rapidly as cinema. Filmmaking technology appeared at the end of the 19th century: in just 50 years, it was able to change dramatically and win the hearts of millions of people.
The first films were made in advanced countries, including Russia.
Originally, movies were black and white and without sound. The meaning of silent cinema was to convey information through the movement and facial expressions of the actors.
The first movie with talking actors appears in 1927. The American firm "Warner Bros." decides to release the film "The Jazz Singer", and this is a full-fledged film with sound.
In Russia, cinematography also did not stand still. The first successful project was the film "Don Cossacks". True, there was also censorship in Russian films: filming of church rites and members of the royal family was banned.
A special stage in the development of domestic cinema began after the Bolsheviks came to power. These comrades quickly realized that cinema can be not only entertainment, but also a serious propaganda weapon.
The most famous Soviet director of the 30s was Sergei Eisenstein. Works such as "Battleship Potemkin" and "Alexander Nevsky" have long beenclassics. Kyiv director Alexander Dovzhenko also reached the heights in 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. Grade 9 gives truncated information that quickly disappears from the head. This gap can be filled by constant self-education.
