Lewis and Lewis introduced many ways that artists use their work to identify and illuminate cultural beliefs and ideas. Select one of the artists and works shown on pages 446-447*, investigate this artwork and then construct a response that addresses the following questions:  What was the artist protesting or illuminating in this work How does this work attempt to engage the viewer with the ideas of the artist Be specific. Does this artist create other works with the same focus of this piece Give an example. What emotional or ideological shifts occur to you, as a viewer of the work  

 

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Timeless Links: Protest and revolution Service to the powerful-church, state, or simply wealthy-has been the artist's role for much of art history. Yet, there have been moments when artists felt compelled to stand up, speak truth to power, and resist the authorities at times changing the course of history. masterpiece of protest, Guernica (18-15) in 1937. He had already received a commission from the Spanish government when he heard of the bombing of a small Basque town by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War. It was market day, so mostly women and children were caught in the town's center during the two hour bombardment. Picasso uses the twisted forms of Cubism to depict the suffering of the trapped innocents. Even without weapons, government policies can inflict suffering. Kthe Kollwitz's Bread! (18-27) shows the misery of a mother who cannot feed her children during Germany's food shortages in the 1920s. In The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1-20), Betye Saar uses grim humor to shed light on deep- seated attitudes about African Americans. The stereotypical mammy featured on syrup bottles has a broom in one hand but a rifle in the other. Ingrained prejudices about gender are the target of Untitled (We don't need another hero) (6-17) by Barbara Kruger. By using an old-fashioned illustration of a boy flexing his muscle for an admiring girl, Kruger makes her point and amplifies it with the lettering on top. Spelling out the prejudice against women in the art world itself is the mission of the Guerrilla Girls-a secret organiza- tion of art professionals who stage events in gorilla masks. Their posters (20-18) use simple but devastating statistics to demonstrate how rarely women are exhibited in major muse- ums compared to men even today. At the end of the eighteenth century, the French painter Jacques-Louis David received a royal commission to inspire loyalty to the state. However, in 1784 when he unveiled his Oath of the Horatii (16-5), which paid tribute to heroic Romans willing to die for their beliefs, it was rightly seen as a slap in the face of the decadence of the Royal Court and a call to arms. Five years later, the French Revolution began and the King was arrested. David became the leader of the arts in a new French republic. Forty years later in France, a new king was overthrown, and Eugene Delacroix celebrated how the French people of all social classes took to the barricades in Liberty Leading the People (16-16). Marianne, the figure at its center, became a symbol as important to the French as America's Statue of Liberty (which was inspired by this painting) is to the United States. Revolts do not always lead to victories. Goya's Third of May (16-9), 1808 graphically depicts the response of Napoleon's armies to a Spanish uprising during their country's occupa- tion. Across from the heartless, faceless firing squad, the bodies have begun to pile up. At the center, a peasant throws out his arms in a Christ-like pose, as others in line cower and pray. Pablo Picasso had this picture in mind when he created his Brot! Kathe Kollwitz, Bread!, 1924 (18-27) Betye Saar, The Liber- ation of Aunt Jemima, 1972 (1-20) We don't need another hero Barbara Kruger, Untitled (We don't need another hero), 1987 (6-17) Guerilla Girls, 1985 (20-18) Timeless Links: Protest and revolution Service to the powerful-church, state, or simply wealthy-has been the artist's role for much of art history. Yet, there have been moments when artists felt compelled to stand up, speak truth to power, and resist the authorities at times changing the course of history. masterpiece of protest, Guernica (18-15) in 1937. He had already received a commission from the Spanish government when he heard of the bombing of a small Basque town by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War. It was market day, so mostly women and children were caught in the town's center during the two hour bombardment. Picasso uses the twisted forms of Cubism to depict the suffering of the trapped innocents. Even without weapons, government policies can inflict suffering. Kthe Kollwitz's Bread! (18-27) shows the misery of a mother who cannot feed her children during Germany's food shortages in the 1920s. In The Liberation of Aunt Jemima (1-20), Betye Saar uses grim humor to shed light on deep- seated attitudes about African Americans. The stereotypical mammy featured on syrup bottles has a broom in one hand but a rifle in the other. Ingrained prejudices about gender are the target of Untitled (We don't need another hero) (6-17) by Barbara Kruger. By using an old-fashioned illustration of a boy flexing his muscle for an admiring girl, Kruger makes her point and amplifies it with the lettering on top. Spelling out the prejudice against women in the art world itself is the mission of the Guerrilla Girls-a secret organiza- tion of art professionals who stage events in gorilla masks. Their posters (20-18) use simple but devastating statistics to demonstrate how rarely women are exhibited in major muse- ums compared to men even today. At the end of the eighteenth century, the French painter Jacques-Louis David received a royal commission to inspire loyalty to the state. However, in 1784 when he unveiled his Oath of the Horatii (16-5), which paid tribute to heroic Romans willing to die for their beliefs, it was rightly seen as a slap in the face of the decadence of the Royal Court and a call to arms. Five years later, the French Revolution began and the King was arrested. David became the leader of the arts in a new French republic. Forty years later in France, a new king was overthrown, and Eugene Delacroix celebrated how the French people of all social classes took to the barricades in Liberty Leading the People (16-16). Marianne, the figure at its center, became a symbol as important to the French as America's Statue of Liberty (which was inspired by this painting) is to the United States. Revolts do not always lead to victories. Goya's Third of May (16-9), 1808 graphically depicts the response of Napoleon's armies to a Spanish uprising during their country's occupa- tion. Across from the heartless, faceless firing squad, the bodies have begun to pile up. At the center, a peasant throws out his arms in a Christ-like pose, as others in line cower and pray. Pablo Picasso had this picture in mind when he created his Brot! Kathe Kollwitz, Bread!, 1924 (18-27) Betye Saar, The Liber- ation of Aunt Jemima, 1972 (1-20) We don't need another hero Barbara Kruger, Untitled (We don't need another hero), 1987 (6-17) Guerilla Girls, 1985 (20-18)