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American Art Before and After World War Ii

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Submitted By zorbing1
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American Art before and after World War II
Marty Rieth
ARTS/125
June 27, 2016
Sarah Baer

American Art before and after World War II
The objective for the following paper is to discuss issues concerning American art before and after World War II. The discussion will include an examination of the artwork of three artists. Two artists will have worked during the Great Depression and one artist will have been an Abstract Expressionist. In discussing the artists’ work, a description of each work and its style will be included. An examination into the Great Depression and the purpose of artwork created during that time, whether they were tools for social reform, and other types of messaging that were present in the works will be discussed. Post-World War II Abstract Expressionism and how it differed from art work of the 1930’s will be discussed. Finally, an explanation into the style of the chosen Abstract Expressionists work and why they were interested in the style will be discussed (Was there a meaning to their work?).
Artist Examinations Two artist that come to mind when speaking of The Great Depression are Maynard Dixon and Grant Wood. The artist Maynard Dixon showed his artistic abilities during The Great Depression by creating images in a style dubbed social realism. One of Dixon’s famous paintings was called Springtime on Bear Mountain. The illustration is of a plot of land from the mountainous western countryside. In the front is flat land where a few cattle are situated. Behind the cattle a rise of the land begins that looks like mountain formations. In the distance behind the first formations of mountains is another mountainous formation but it looks like it is scattered with snow. Speaking of artists during the Great Depression another one that comes to mind is Grant Wood. One of, if not, the most famous painting created by Grant

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