Artistic Area Changing From 19th Century to 20th Century - Essay Example

During this era, Paris was reconstructed which can be termed as a symbol of a world of freshness in the field of art. This city acted as a cultural capital offering great chances to people who were interested in the field of art. Art training institutions came up and artists were able to travel all round Europe to widen their knowledge and ideas. Consequently, artists were able to reflect their own feelings and emotions through art such as poetry (Yanli 54). With the decline of the enlightenment age, philosophers and poets started to question the ideals of enlightenment such as science, rationality and logic.

At this point, poets sought to find out if these ideas were good enough for mankind (Barrette 60). They did this through Romanticism and Idealism, which revolutionized their way of thinking completely. The two movements existed concurrently and were characterized by the nature of poets putting emotions and feelings before reason. The main aim of romanticism and idealism movements was for artists to express what they felt inside regardless of the rational perspective of those feelings. This was mostly done in the expression of romantic feelings.

The romantic period lasted approximately 25 years, and is still said to be the greatest movement in the field of literature. Some of the poems at this time included: A Brother in Need by Henrik Ibsen, The Dole of the King’s Daughter by Oscar Wilde and The Grave and the Rose by Victor Hugo (Monius 1406). A critical study of the three poems depicts a social satire expressing the oppression that existed in the field of love. Tillmann and Dowling (628) assert that romantic poets made nature to be central in majority of their works, where they used it metaphorically to represent human relations to one another.

These poems expressed passion indirectly, hence readers were expected to imagine and read them with an open mind. The message in these poems was clear as it openly portrayed the heart to be central in our lives. As a result, the way we relate with nature and other people is determined by our hearts, and it reflects our lives. Through these poems, the ego-centric nature of man is put forth, where people were ready to do anything to have what their hearts desired (Barrette 79). This perspective was later taken over by the rational perspective as poets changed their poetic styles.

The 20th Century Artistic thought during the 20th century was highly influenced by science as it dictated almost every aspect of man (Yanli 55). At this time, nuclear weapons were being used during war, making people to adopt new ways of looking at life. The two major literary criticisms of this time were: modernism which was later followed by post-modernism. After the enlightenment era, the educated elite gained confidence within themselves as they were able to explain nature and science. However, the industrial revolution brought about its own evils, creating a feeling of resentment within poets, which was expressed through modernism (Tillmann and Dowling, 629).

The social lives of people were affected with the subsequent urbanization, while the field of politics was marked by diverse views of capitalism and communism. According to Sacvan (574), during this era, American poets had dominated the field of poetry as they sought to give explanations to what was happening around the world. Some of the poems composed during this time include: Allen Ginsberg’