Twentieth Century America and Modern Art - Research Paper Example

Twentieth Century America and Modern art (African-American) African American art is basically a term which is used to explain or describe the arts or in particular visual arts of the African Americans. African Americans are the people who were shifted or taken, from Africa to America as salves. In simpler words the African Americans are also called Blacks. These people were quite impressed and influenced by different cultures like the Africans culture, the American culture and also the European culture. They were also impressed by different traditions present in all these cultures. The African American art mainly includes basket weaving, a huge range of arts done on plastic, wood carving, pottery and also painting. (Gardner) The highway men during 1950’s & 1960’s: The African Americans were taking part in art for some time but they actually got accepted and their art got famous during the middle of the 20th century. In 1950s and 1960s some African American artists hit the cord and become known around the country and were accepted open heartedly. During the same time period a self-claimed group of artists called the Highwaymen which was consisted of around 26 African Americans belonging from Fr. Pierce in Florida made paintings of the landscape of Florida and because back then there wasn’t a really common concept of art galleries and that too who would welcome the self-claimed artist group belonging to the African American community, this group of artist took the other path. They peddled around 200,000 and put them in their trucks and went all around selling them directly to the public. Today in the history of American folk and in the History of African American culture they are regarded as and known as one of the most important figures and notable groups who did a lot of amazing work in the field of arts. Their paintings are considered so important in today`s world that the price of their paintings in today`s world is around a thousands of dollars. In the year 2004 the famous groups of the 26 Highwaymen were included into the hall of fame in the Florida Artists Hall. Eight of the original 26 highwaymen have died including H.Newton, George Buckner, A.Hair, L.Roberts, A. Moran, Hezekiah Baker, Jonny Daniels, and Ellis. (Sharon.F.Patton) Apart from these there was some African American artist who made their mark in the New York art galleries which were considered very important at that time. Some of the lucky African American artist who made their way to the New York galleries in the 1950s and 1960s were Romero Bearden, Horace Pippin, William T. Williams, Jacob Lawrence, Thomas Sills, Norman Lewis, and Sam Gilliam. They were very successful and were very well known at that the time. Civil right movement during 1960’s and 1970’s: Later in the 1960s and 1970 when the civil rights movement began, it gave the African American artists new ideas, of how they can project or portray the winds of change in their visual arts. Change was the talk of the country and the artist took full advantage of this. African Americans started opening and starting their own art galleries to promote their arts and this helped their artists a great deal. Some other African American artists who were very common at that time were Paul R. Jones collections from the Delaware University in Alabama. Hip hop graffiti during 1980’s and 1990’s: By the time of the 1980s and 1990s a new form of art became very famous and prominent in the different major parts of the American society. This was known as the Hip Hop graffiti. It became a part of the urban lives and cities actually made museums which were only for the artists who were working on this. They were all African Americans. There were national level establishments which were made to support this African American artist one of such national level organization was the National Endowment for the Arts. The African American art plays a very important role in the visual arts study and its progress in America as Africans are a part of the American culture is it that they are not considered a part of the mainstream culture but they have influenced the American culture and arts in many ways. They were brought in as slaves from Africa by the Americans so they brought in their arts and their form of drawings, their specific ways, and techniques. (Copeland) The contributions that they have to the American arts started from the eighteenth century when they were the slaves. Folk and decorative arts such as ceramics, handmade quilts, African animals and carvings drawings along with sculpturing and photography were a major part. These continued till the twentieth century and inspired the upcoming artist a lot even if the did not belong to the African culture. Harlem Renaissance: One of the major turn in the twentieth century American and modern art was the Harlem Renaissance to contemporary art, it is considered to be one of the most important movements in the African American art, and from there the whole course of American modern art changed. They portrayed their ideas on freedom and tried to spread it through their arts and paintings. The notable artists of this movement were Richmond Barthe, Lawrence Harris, Malvin Gray Johnson and many more. They were all African Americans and brought up their voice through their art. One of the paintings from this renaissance period by the artist Henry Ossawa in placed in the white house and the painting was “Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic city, on the green room, it is on f the first paintings to be laced in the White House by an African artist. (Foner) The African Americans made a lot of progress in the textile industry as artists. They were always very good in textile designing they came up with many new and exciting textile painting and designs which were very colorful and attractive for the masses of America. Artists of the 20th century: Another very famous African American artist belongs to the 20th century was Kara Walker who was a contemporary artist. She is very well known for her works of art in the exploration of gender, violence, race, and sexuality. She displayed all these topics very beautifully in her art. All in all it can easily be said that arts was a filed in which the African American made a huge mark in during the 20th century and it got them a very respectable place in the American society. In the book the “African-American Art (Oxford History of Art [Sharon F. Patton] “ the author says that the African Americans used to dance a lot and liked to use different technologies in their music and dance both to form new forms. African American composers, writers and their theater performers were considered to be very promising and offered quite a lot of new things to the people of the United States. By this the author means that in the 20th century the blacks or the African Americans emerged as strong cultural and artistic representatives of the society. (Powell) They succeeded to develop their own separate identity in the American society which meant a lot for them. They started making progress and made a huge mark. They never tried to erase the culture or the arts of the White, they just put forth their own form of art which represented their true culture, and spirits, their art was a depiction of their talents and thinking. The author also talks about how the African Americans started shift or migrating from the rural parts of the country towards the urban parts and this all happened by the help of their developments made in the different fields of arts during the 20th century. He says that the African Americans moved towards Chicago, New York and other big cities to exhibit their art products and become famous and recognized for this. The author also talks about how the African Americans helped to develop a dancing and musical culture in America. They introduced different new dance forms and rhythms. He also mentions that the Jazz was introduced and promoted in America by the African Americans, it become so popular that it started defining the night life or the club life of the urban American societies. He also says that the black artists and writers were actually opening the door for the future which looked very promising and could be shared with the white point of views of culture it didn’t have to go against them. Both the arts could and did go parallel will one another. It is also said that the culture and arts of the African American from the 20th century resembled the Europeans more than the whites. (Powell) The African photographers: The African American photographers made a huge contribution in the arts sector as well they started documenting the changes and the progress made in the African American communities which encouraged more artists to come forward and do something. At the end it could be said that arts was a filed in which the African Americans were very strong at, they made a huge mark in this field. They introduced new forms of arts to the people of the United States and impressed the whites as well. And the time period of the 20th century was the peak time for the growth of the African American arts in the United States of America. The effects and signs of African art and culture can still be reflected in the American arts and modern culture, be it graffiti that covers the street or sophisticated paintings in the white house, sculptures and textiles. All reflect the African imprint on them. Works Cited Copeland, C. "Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Art." (1987). Foner, Eric. "Harlem Renaissance." (1991). Gardner, A.T. "American art: Twentieth Century." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia (2012): 32. Powell, Richard J. "Black Art and Culture in the 20th Century." Powell, Richard J. Black Art and Culture in the 20th Century. Thames & Hudson, 1997. 256. Sharon.F.Patton. African-American Art. Michigan: Oxford Paperbacks Oxford History of Art, 1998. Read More