What Art Reveals About Societies

[♥ Lily ♥]

It's no coincidence that Horatio Greenough's statue of George Washington, made in 1832, portrays America's first President as a Classical hero.

The Founding Fathers saw themselves as the inheritors of Greece and Rome.

Art, once again, expressing self-perception.

[♥ Lily ♥]

In the 19th century it was normal to make statues of politicians and generals — consider Nelson's Column in London, built in honour of Admiral Nelson.

This might either tell us politicians and generals were held in higher regard back then, or simply indicate who held most power.

[♥ Lily ♥]

In the 21st century? Statues of sporting stars are far more common than statues of politicians or generals.

Perhaps it indicates how much more democratic we have become, when the real heroes of the people — rather than those who simply hold power — are revered the most.

[♥ Lily ♥]

What did Soviet art depict? One of two things: either the political leaders, as in this colossal and now-demolished statue of Stalin.

Or the workers, as in the huge Worker and Kolkhoz Woman statue.

Art and artists in service of the state.

[♥ Lily ♥]

The portrayal of working people in art was nothing new — the difference came in *how* they were depicted.

Jean-François Millet's The Gleaners, an early example of Realism, portrays workers in a wholly unidealised way.

As opposed to Soviet art, in which workers were heroised.

[♥ Lily ♥]

Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance there were endless paintings of Mary and Jesus.

That these were deeply religious societies is clear, but look at how much these paintings differ stylistically.

Art also tells us how a society sees and understands the world.

[♥ Lily ♥]

Medieval art was much less "realistic", but this changed during the Renaissance.

One style represents a more distant and symbolic understanding of the world, while the other suggests a proto-scientific one, in which the world exists to be investigated and understood.

[♥ Lily ♥]

Much Western art of the 20th century, from Surrealism to Abstract Expressionism, seems to indicate an uncertainty about the world, about reality, and even about humankind.

Strange, incomprehensible, discomforting.

An accurate reflection of how many feel about modern life?

[♥ Lily ♥]

Of course, the most popular art forms of the 21st century are cinema and television, and most popular of all are superheroes.

Is it a form of honest escapism? Or do we want to believe that, like our superheroes, we are in some way special and different from everybody else?

[♥ Lily ♥]

And so art also expresses social anxieties.

19th century Romanticism was a reaction against the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution.

The Romantics preferred mystery, emotion, and nature to science, reason, and industry — they feared the effects of the latter.