The Influence of Industrial Efficiency as it was Expressed Through Modern Art

 American Modernism: The Influence of Industrial Efficiency as it was Expressed Through
Modern Art
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American Modernism: The Influence of Industrial Efficiency as it was Expressed Through
Modern Art
With World War II ending, there were tremendous changes on Western from a general
perspective, and many other different changes both in the lives and art of the citizens found in
various Allied countries. The cultures of the allies of the United States in the war commenced the
process of rebuilding, which was a long one. These allied countries were mainly England and
France, which came to form part of Western Europe. The United States on the other hand was
bathing in the glory of the military victories within the Pacific and European fronts. This was due
to the fact that the United States had its industrial complex intact. There was also a widespread
innovation as well as increased production of technology and programmes of manufacturing
existent in the wartime. A remarkable trend in the artistic sphere was the influx of artists into the
United States, which was as a result of these artists fleeing the Nazi occupation in Europe. This
phenomenon led to the development of the Art that was prevalent in the period of American
Modernism. This study therefore delves into the concept of American Modernism in light of
industrial development. The research looks at the manner in which modern art has been used in
expressing this important phase of the concept of American modernism.
With the advent of American modernism emerged renowned creative individuals who
exhibited, taught as well as shared and influenced a generation that developed during this time.
These notable people included Piet Mondrian, Arshille Gorky, Salvador Dali and Marcel
Duchamp1
. Surrealism as a technique of art became very popular among these practitioners of
this important historical time. Surrealism was a very new experience for the artists, as it offered
1 Corn C. Wanda, 1999. The Great American Thing, Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935
 2
them the freedom towards the exploration of their own psyches. Furthermore, it helped in
establishing a connection, which was direct between the deep archetypal self and the art of
painting. There was a reawakening characteristic of the modernism period in America whereby
individuals went to college to gain knowledge that would help them to make universal sense of
the experiences they went through. Art during this time also went through some sort of
revolution as it gained academic respectability. Universities began to offer a new graduate
professional diploma as well as the distinguished Master of Fine Arts degree2
. Different theories
and criticisms explain the art of the American Modernism era. These theories and criticisms are
instrumental in understanding the art of this important phase of American history.
In tackling the period 1915-1935, Corn uncovers the roots of an exceptionalism
discourse, a concept that is prominent in the arts and letters of America during the modernism
period3
. What the theory means in essence is the grand narrative of American exceptinalism,
which was a guiding concept for research and writing for the period following World War II in
the United States. This ideology hinges on the assumption that the exceptional circumstances that
informed the American experience gave rise to the alteration in the course of artistic
development as well as development in other fields, whose general trends had been hitherto
predictable. There were pertinent questions prevalent in the culture of graduate school of the
1960s concerning the concept of exceptionalist discourse. Corn asserts that the most common of
these questions was why the American abstract expressionism more spontaneous abroad as
compared to the abstract paintings of 1950s in the same front. The Revisionist texts of the late
1970s and early 1980s attempted an explanation of these questions and revealed the ideological
2 Corn C. Wanda, 1999. The Great American Thing, Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935
3Wiebe Robert . 1998. The Search for Order
 3
assumptions bases that were responsible for this school of thought. The origins of these trends
were established to be in the Cold War as well as the politicized sites that attempted cultural
legitimization, which included sources such as journals4
, some which drew their funding from
the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A)5
, exhibitions, and organizations such as the Congress for
Cultural Freedom affiliated American Committee for Cultural Freedom. In an attempt to
examine the cultural history identified with a generation of artists, who perceived the notions of
America and Europe as mutually dependent concepts that could not be looked at without the
other. These pertinent questions about the art of the modernism period trace their roots to the
early twentieth century. The quest to