Machine Imagery in Twentieth Century Art

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Dani Jessee

Midterm Essay One

Machine Imagery in Twentieth Century Art

The beginning of the twentieth century was shaped with explosive advancements in industry and engineering. The Industrial Revolution in Europe brought the world closer together (and would soon cause conflict of power among nations) with developments like the steam engine, railroad system, advanced weaponry, and reinforced steel. Drastic increase in population led to a need for building cities up instead of out; thus, the skyscraper and high rise buildings, made from iron, steel, and glass, covered the land in Europe.  The arms race between Britain and Germany soon extended to the rest of Europe, with all the main nations dedicating their industrial base to the manufacture of equipment and weapons needed for looming battle.  In 1914 the First World War broke out across Europe and devastated and changed the lives of millions of people. Artists during this time were significantly influenced by the new age of machinery, and mechanization (the idea that machines will replace human labor.)  The use of machine imagery to depict the human figure is found in many styles such as Cubism, Futurism, and Suprematism .

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Cubism’s use of fragmentation and grid like patterns paved the way for other styles and introduced ways to form the human body into mechanical parts. The French artist, Fernand Lẻger, channeled Picasso and Braque’s style of cubism in his painting, Nude Figures in a Wood. Lẻger’s artwork uses bold tubular shapes and monochromic colors to symbolize the new mechanical world. The figures look more like robots than humans and it is difficult for the viewer to decipher the trees from woodcutters. Lẻger wrote an essay, The Machine Aesthetic: Geometric Order and Truth in 1924, and stated “I have made use ...

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