Various Periods and Their Influence on Art and Design - Essay Example

Task Various Periods and their influence on Art and Design Introduction Art and design are entities that have been applied in the society since humanity attained civilization to help aid in the overall development. Depending on the period, the styles and techniques applied to achieve a completed work have been variable with the application of technology finding most use towards the blooming of industrialization. Development attributes have been evolving systematically and the behavior of the society may be variable depending on the available technology. Various developmental attribute had been articulated to various forms of developments in the production industry and the desire of inventors to make life easier. Many artists and designers of the renaissance period practiced their trade to express their desires and emotions to the society and display their talents to be remembered as talented artists. However, with the development of a more complex society that demanded economic stability from its societal members, most activities became commercialized, with competition growing in creativity. The artists and designers ventured into marketing their products where the item that impressed the customer most gained favor and hence more income to the creator. The major developments in the society occurred in the beginning and towards the end of the 20th century that influenced art and design movements. 1900 – 1910 This period marked the beginning of intense developments especially in the industrial front. Urbanization was driven by the quest by individuals to acquire better facilities. This period saw immense developments in the invention area with George Eastman making the first immobile camera in 1900 and the first comic book’s creation in 1903. Life in the 1900s was mainly centered on the family developmental aspects with food being abundant from the farm that supplied the main towns. The main development of this period was the low price index that made items affordable among the few that had the capability to purchase items. Food was particularly cheap with labor centered among the few who had been sensitized on the proper methods to be applied on the industrial front. The overall fashion was homemade with women making most of the attires from the homes. However, there saw a development with tailors venturing into the clothe creation business with a common trend created in the fashion industry. Women wore skirts and dresses that extended down to the ground despite the activity being professional or leisure. There was also a trend in buttoned shoes and corsets with a hat full of decorations. Men, in turn wore dark and heavy suits mostly with a white flannel occasionally especially on the hot weather. Their shirts possessed removable cuffs for easier wear and means especially when washing. The outstanding feature of the 1990s dressing code was the hats that most individuals had in their dressing package. Women’s hat had fancy decoration with rich individuals having characteristic silk hats and farmers straw hats. The dressing code of this period was strict with individuals insisting on upholding moral values in the society. The dressing pattern influenced the development of the Edwardian fashion that cropped during the beginning of the first WW. The most distinctive feature involved the women fashion that involved much detail as influenced by King Edward VII’s mode of living (Gernsheim, 1982, p.24). The inspiration of the women’s fashion had been centered on the S curve that instilled a beautiful pattern incorporated within the dressing (Monet, 2011). Earlier, the design patterns were mostly the shape of the hourglass that had been experienced during the Victorian era. The corsets designed for the women forced the S shape with the hips backwards and the bust frontal position. The development of the industrial society saw a distinctive class emerging within the society with the wealthy having the most benefits whereas the middle-class occupying the industries. The advantage that this period brought lied in the invention of technologies and machines that made the creation of products simpler reducing the workload by a greater percentage. Sewing machines created the fashion trend with moist cumbersome tasks reduced and new designers propping to create exemplary designs. Heightened literacy level in this middle-class individual meant the easier access to information with women enjoying the access to information to gain enlightenment. Various inventions followed in this period with each year bearing significant developments. In 1900, George Eastman’s camera presented to the public and invention of the first electricity powered typewriter. 1902-1905, Henry ford creating the famous Ford motor industry, with the first yellow page invented in 1905.This period holds development of cubism by Picasso and color photography by the Lamiere brothers in 1906 (Wiegand, 1999). The society became more informed with the Edwardian class creation where women became involved in official jobs with knowledge acquisition. Most secretary job positions had been held by the women as they occupied pivotal roles in the society further from the family roles that they had been earlier assigned. African traditional sculpture was perceived from a different angle to influence the European art development famously known as cubism. Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso incorporated the African sculptural trends that utilized the human distorted aspects to introduce the cubism trend in their Paris school. They created distorted images that had flatness and applied vivid color to define the modernism aspect. Picasso and the cubism school had little information on the importance of these sculptures to the African culture but saw the images as inspirational to break from the conservative society that the 19th century had created. However, the spiritual aspect of the forms were known and adopted to create works that defined aspects beyond naturalism that society the society had created. Edward Ludwig Kirchner, a German expressionist form the bridge group further applied the African aspect to create emotional arousal that applied strong vivid colors from the African aspects depicting the message that was anxiety in the industrial era. Artists in this period embraced the change that the new century presented and found importance in the need to create pieces that communicated better with the new society. The impressionism style of the 19th century became unpopular and the society required a new movement that would handle the challenges that the new period presented. The advancements in technology and industry positively influenced the art industry with the emergence of a new breed of artist. These societal individuals mostly participated in the development of new techniques and occasionally applying various technological formats in their work. Impressionism was viewed as an old style that mostly depicted the suburban lifestyle that was the trend of the 19th century. The industrial revolution led to the city lifestyle that led to the expressionism movement that mostly applied the bird’s eye view, (example of Passaro’s work) to cover more subjects within a minimal art space. Dance of veils (1907) by Picasso and Houses at L’Estaque by Braque of the cubism movement Images retrieved from : The new era meant the single suburban life had been eradicated to create integration among individuals in the society with the industrial society requiring people to move into cities for personal development. Feelings were given more priority with individuals desiring self-expression to relay the oppression of the society and the hash implications that toiling had contributed towards. There had been the application of color to express feeling and some artists incorporated the use of common symbols. Most of the societal problems and negative influences were used in the works to depict the new society that industrialization had bred. Drugs and alcohol, religion and social class became the driving entities of the new art with most societal individuals preferring a true reflection of their daily constraints. The blue rider movement emanated from the realization of the primitive art techniques of the African societies to use depictive colors to create harsh images that were characteristics of the fauvist movement. Most art forms in the beginning of the twentieth century held significant importance to the developing society as it sought to enlighten the society about the evils the developments had brought in their lifestyle. The development from impressionism movement to expressionism and cubism explained the desire for change from an old style to the new techniques applied. With technological advancement in the majority of the fronts, there was a relaxed effort in creating art forms. The technology led to the invention of easier means in creating design elements. Electricity meant machines could be operated that produced massive clothing designs and new paints to give the art a new beauty sense. Industrial development though a key developmental step towards civilization, bred societal evils that were communicated better via the works of the avant-garde artists. 1980-1990 The society had grown to be more civilized and urbanization becoming the defining factor of the modern state. The society had witnessed immense developments in most of its fronts that created a period marked with harsh budget allocations and economic crisis. This was majorly termed as the recession years. Individuals rushed to acquire better industrial conditions with most firms hiring qualified personnel. There were fewer opportunities with the increase in population in developed areas and inadequate farm produce due to irregular weather patterns. Most families were separated with working trends and political affiliation growing with leadership desires cropping among competitive societal individuals. There is no actual technological advancement that were characteristic of this period. Manufacturers fought over ownership of various gadgets with competition advancing in vital industries. This period is mostly common with advertisement with individuals desiring to get best values for their money. The period brought more vices as the society brought more integration in the society with the emergence of urban centers. Cities accumulated individuals that ventured into the towns that provided more opportunities with the emergence of development stations. What followed the increased populations in cities was the accumulation of a group that was not employed and developed crime rate in capital cities. The struggle by individuals to find a source of income led to desperate measures and sexually transmitted infections became the order of business with the law upholding most of society’s virtues. 1981 saw the onset of AIDs as America became the first nation to identify its existence. It had been witnesses among a group of gay men in society, a virtue attributed to rise in sexuality among people in the society. Idleness and unemployment was the mostly applied attribute of this age as the developed society failed to sustain most of its individuals. AIDS eventually grew to become the world’s mostly feared disease. Several events across the globe have been identified as contributing to the great period towards the end of the twentieth century. In 1980, there was the development of the Iran-Iraq war that led to deaths across the Arab nations and the rise of terrorism. In 1984, Indira Gandhi the prime minister to India was assassinated followed by a chemical accident in one of the country’s leading industrial plant. 1987 marked the beginning of the recession years saw Black Monday’s development. During the period, a crash in the stock market led to the closure of key companies of the developed nations. There had been serious losses attributed to a decrease in stock supply and shortage of financial returns. The same year saw the reduction of nuclear arsenal in US and Soviet leaders signing that would promote lasting peace between the nations. Towards the end of the decade, various revelations were made into promoting peace in the tension that had been earlier witnessed with the Iraq-Iran war ending by 1988 and release of Nelson Mandela after his 27-year term in prison. Rebellion and chaos were the chief characteristic of this period as individuals sought to find a solution to the economic crisis arising from this period. Most individuals sought refuge in freelance activities with limited spaces left in the employment industry. Artists and designers of the 1980s created works that could venture into the market and produce income to face the harsh economic implications. Neo-Expressionism movement developed from 1970s through to the mid 1980s and was a reaction after the minimalist art movement of the 1970s. The movement stressed on recognized images like the human body though sometimes changing the images to appear vague and abstract. The style used was rough and vivid colors that portrayed the violent nature of the society following events and using the artists desire to depict the current moods. This movement found its inspiration from the German expressionist Emile Nolde, Edvard Munch and their colleges who believed in the application of vibrant colors holding expressive images to discuss the society’s evils. The style of art and its concepts found promotion from art galleries set up mostly in capital cities that had been utilized by the avant-garde artists. The development of the media technology and the ability of communicative gadgets in the society built the spread of the movements. This period further saw the advancement o the computer period that promoted graphic design. The first microcomputer by HP that had the capacity to hold the software needed to develop the graphic design industry. Further advancements in the computer industry by specialists like Steve jobs made graphic design software simpler to apply promoting development of advanced magazine and billboard layouts. Neville Brody was a graphic designer famous for her typography layouts in the British magazines. He applied this developed technology to create types that were used in difficult graphic design jobs and websites. This had made a significant implication in graphics industry possessing the capability to generate visual images faster and effectively to achieve perfection. Brody’s works became famous in spreading the graphic design concept and new systems of creating vivid typefaces in images emerged (Hopkins, 2009). This technology aided the society in creatively relaying information especially during the activist era. Most individuals in the society sought to express the oppressive nature of the developed world and their quest to find justice. The rules of the governments had been strict with capable individuals favored before those that lacked literacy and technological capability. The rules were stricter in the 1980s with crises emerging from environmental challenges and the quest to achieve a comfort spot in the society. Some of Neville Brody’s graphic works Images retrieved from: Conclusion The development of technology made art and design easier among the avant-garde system of artists who dominated the society in the 20th century. To achieve effectiveness, there was the need to integrate the new techniques into the art movements with most artists eager to experiment with the acquired technology. The overall interest emanated from the society and their response towards changes that were mostly subjected upon them in the society. Art movements and developments in design technology have constantly adapted to the societal developments (Tickle, 1996, p.30). A major attribute towards these developments lie in the desire to commercialize the entity. There will be continued growth in the techniques applied in art and design to generate maximum returns especially to the artist’s lifestyle. Bibliography Gernsheim, A., (1982), Victorian & Edwardian fashion: a photographic survey, New York, Courier Dover Publications. Hopkins, T., (2009), Graphic Design History 2009, bog spot, retrieved on 24 January 2012, from: . Monet, D., (2011), Fashion History - Edwardian Fashion Designs of Late 1890s – 1914, Hub pages, Retrieved on 24 January 2012, from: Tickle, L., (1996), Understanding art, art in primary schools: cases from teachers research, London, Routledge. Wiegand, D., (1999), The Times of Our Lives in Art and Culture / 1900-1910: Cubism and Jazz Define New Century, Sfgate, retrieved on 24 January 2012, from: . Read More