Essay Sample on Modernism: 19th Century Cultural Transformation

The aspect of modernism refers to a movement that spearheads cultural change and Western transformations in spirituality, art, literature daily, activities, and social organizations. In the 19th century, modernism would mean moving forward, and the development of a utopian vision to describe human life and spirituality. As these changes covered other aspects like art, painting, music, and consciousness, the century also defined in different ways. For instance, the art created between the 1920s and 1930s included surrealism, De Stijl, Dada, and German Expressionism (Laughlin, 34). Some of the modern art artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, and Piet Mondrian, who mastered colorful art. The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of color in the modern definition of art and spirituality.

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Different Artistic Approaches to the use of Color

Most artists have defined color as either smooth or rough. The smoothness of color defines its uniformity upon painting. Contrarily, the roughness of color describes its stickiness when painting. The two features of color attract one to touch and feel the texture. Such dyes include dark ultramarine, rose madder, and chromic oxide green. According to Kandinsky, the roughness or smoothness of color can be defined by drawing a difference between cold and warm colours. As a modern artist, Kandinsky uses the softness or roughness of paint to determine art. In his explanation, soft colors include rose madder while hard colors include blue-green oxide and cobalt green (Kandinsky, 34). Hard colors appear dry even when fresh from the tube. Therefore, it is easy for an artist to distinguish them when painting.

Moreover, color can be defined by scent and sound. Concerning sound, it is not possible to express color in trebles or base notes. As Kandinsky adds, the modernity of color gives artists the ability to illuminate the souls of viewers. Color could represent the keyboard while the eyes are the hammers. As color is portrayed in modernity, the soul represents the piano with many strings while the artist stands in as the hand that touches the strings to produce positive vibes for the soul.

Color and the Meaning of Art

Color can be entwined with the form to describe essential weapons of art. Way implies the outward revelation of inner feelings. Contrarily, color brings visibility to the expressed state of the art. The combination of the two aspects creates meaning in modern art as they are used to represent spirituality, religion, daily activities, social life, and other elements (Laughlin, 50). The aspect of personality creates meaning in art as the creator develops an inward push to express his feelings. Another relevance of color in art is the style each artist uses. The paint used by an artist represents the era of his work, the spiritual background, and the country of origin. Therefore, form and color are a source of identity in art. Factors of identity include the late Cubism, Surrealism, Bauhaus, De Stijl, expressionism, and Dada (Kandinsky, 67). All these aspects relate to an artist's era of practice and home country. Importantly, every artist has to be a slave to art and influence its cause henceforth. As color is defined by Kandinsky, this element knows no nationality nor era but focuses on the artistry produced by each artist.

Color as a Hindrance to Conveying Message

Even though the outside expression of a piece of art should represent the inner feelings of the creator, sometimes the artist deviates from the intended message to conform to the era, style, and personality. Significantly, class and age of operation hinder the inner meaning of art. Living and working in a period of cubism implies that an artist should convey to the painting features of this time (Kandinsky, 79). Even though the inner message may require modernity, one will conform to his current era's style. In the end, the intended message is tampered with. Sadly, Kandinsky realizes that the age of reality in color and art will take a long time before artists who depend on style and personality conform.

Modern Art -Modernism

Modernism was first used in the 1880s after the Chicago School of Architecture built skyscrapers like the Montauk building. The aspect of modernism in art existed between the 1880s and 1969 (Gage, 45). It was one the longest as compared to fauvism and cubism. The art form was common in American and became a practical feature of commercial sky crappers. Eventually, modern building designs worked effectively leading to the establishment of a permanent center in the U.S (Gage, 56). Majorly, the long existence and effectiveness of modernism in architecture were due to the efforts of Mies van der Rohe who lived between 1886 and 1869 and other artists like Le Barron Jenney and Henry Hobson Richardson.

Color in modernism impacts on spirituality in many ways. For instance, the spirit has to be quenched for it to grow. However, if it is unattended to, it becomes unproductive and eventually dies. Similarly, art is born from the inner personality of its creator. If a person can confidently express what he feels, this implies quenching the artistic soul. However, deviating from the inner self to fulfilling desires of style and age can kill the spirit of art. Therefore, modernism aspires for the growth of one's personality and consciousness without seeking to please the world around them.

Reflection

I agree with modern art, as described by Wassily Kandinsky. Color and art should represent a person's feelings just as they are. An artist should feel self-conscious of their skills and express their feelings without fear. In modernism, no piece of work should represent a person's personality or era in which they work. Art should be solidly defined by the creator's freedom to act on their feelings.

Reply on Peer Reviews

Some of the critics from my peers include the loss of culture and historical origin in the adoption of modernity. However, I defend my stance that modernity does not deviate from traditional art. Modernity and color in art only heighten what was traditionally created. The essence of modernity is to give an artist the ability to freely develop a piece of art that may include different eras, cultures, countries, or styles. The creator has to present what he feels rather than what the audience wants.

Works Cited

Gage, John. "Color in Western Art: an issue?." The Art Bulletin 72.4 (1990): 518-541. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-cB1tYb7Sc8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=Kandinsky+on+the+Spiritual+Element+in+Art+and+the+Three+Responsibilities+of+Artists&ots=37JwQoZOqk&sig=KCmmTWf_q-PoHHDR3FUN4EVWyV0https://caa.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00043079.1990.10786454

Kandinsky, Wassily. Concerning the spiritual in art. Courier Corporation, 2012. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=URvGFXf2vXgC&oi=fnd&pg=PR2&dq=Kandinsky+on+the+Spiritual+Element+in+Art+and+the+Three+Responsibilities+of+Artists&ots=xRbwLCM3mD&sig=o4PmuEKkNeOaRj_ArvDd_M1MHho

Kandinsky, Wassily. The art of spiritual harmony. Cosimo, Inc., 2007.

Laughlin, Charles D. "Art and Spirit: The Artistic Brain, the Navajo Concept of Hozho, and Kandinsky's "Inner Necessity"." The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 23 (2004): 1-20. http://www.cista.net/tomes/Somagetics/The%20International%20Journal%20of%20Transpersonal%20Studies,%202004,%20Volume%2023.pdf#page=5