Realism evolved in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. Life wasn’t always pretty or happy. It could be downright dull, if not depressing. Artists looked to the working class and people performing everyday, often boring, tasks as subjects for their artwork. Paintings broke the accepted compositional rules, cutting people off at the edges of the […]
Monthly Archives: April 2013
Tennessee Williams
In class, there were two aspects of Williams’ work that required further discussion. The first was his ability to combine realism and expressionism. The second was his use of Freudian psychoanalysis to create his characters.
Music
Realism in the arts applied more to visual arts and theatre than to any musical style. It is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. In the spirit of nationalism, many composers used the melodies from common folk tunes and dances in their formal compositions. Some operas were […]
Folk and Social Dance
In the early 1800s, America was still a very young nation, largely being explored and settled by pioneers. Dance as artistic expression was not practical under these conditions. People did not have leisure time or money to spend on cultivating dance as an artistic form. Therefore, dance as a means of social interaction became extremely […]
Drama/Theatre
In the mid-nineteenth century, there was a revolt against the romanticism and melodrama in play productions. Writers emerged creating plays with more natural speech and realistic situations, mirroring real life. These playwrights also raised questions about social and economic problems of the lower and middles classes that existed at the time. One big change in […]
Realism (1820–1920)
Realism seeks the truth. Artists found beauty in the commonplace. They focused on the Industrial Revolution and the conditions of the working class. [wpfilebase tag=file id=12 /]
Visual Art
Neoclassicism was still popular Challenging calm & order with drama & emotion Romanticists felt confined by Neoclassicism Rebelled against established rules of painting in their search for more artistic freedom New Importance to: Sentimentality about the past Reflecting on the wonder of nature Using the imagination gained new importance New Subjects: Exotic, faraway places Primitive […]
Wagner
Video presentation on Richard Wagner. Be sure to answer the questions below the video.
Tchaikovsky
Video presentation on Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsvky. Be sure to answer the questionnaire below the video.
Drama & Theater
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Faust (Part 1, 1808; Part 2, 1831) Faustus legend Originated in Middle Ages Tragic tale Man sells soul to devil in exchange for 24 years of knowing, doing, having anything wished Very different from earlier versions Deal struck between Faust & Mephistopheles: devil only wins if he quenches Faust’s desire […]