Introduction
Over the last few centuries, cultures all around the world have and continue to change. These changes are characterized with people challenging their entrenched traditions especially due to the belief that human beings are free, equal, and independent. Such beliefs led to the Civil War in England between the Catholics and Protestants. There was also the abolition of monarchial power in Britain which was characterized by the execution of a king. As these changes occurred around the world, art was also undergoing its own form of evolution with artists basing their creations on what was happening around them. To understand the changes that occurred and how they have influenced art, I undertook a cultural activity of visiting The Morris …show more content…
One such artwork was The Lost Cause by Henry Mosler, found in the Civil War section of the museum. The painting was one of a pair of paintings made addressing the realities of the civil war. It was made as a tribute o farmers of the south who took up arms, fought, and lost the Civil War (Sayre,2014). The painting mainly focuses on the devastation that the war caused and the immense loss that both the wealthy plantation owner and the farmer went through. The war veteran in the picture can be seen with his head bowed leaning on his gun and awkwardly still dressed in heavy war gear. The veteran stands outside a deserted log cabin which had been his home before the war. He is tired and depressed after getting home and discovering that his family is gone and what is left of what used to be his household is the broken down log cabin. The Lost Cause painting was purposely meant to depict the poor state in which the war left many residents of the south. However, the painting also presents some contrast by the green surrounding which displays the promise of spring. This means that after the despair of the war there was still some hope of a better tomorrow although the confederate soldier is seemingly oblivious of this