Art for War in the Mid-Modern Era

 Art for War in the Mid-Modern Era

During the era of art that we call "Mid-Modern", there were three wars. These were World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. In this time, art was used to influence the minds of the public. Propaganda was spread far and wide to get recruit people for these wars, the Cold War was a special case we will go over later, and spread awareness about them. Today, we will look at examples of art related to each of these wars.

World War II

    The first work in this week's lineup is an American icon. This is "Rose the Riveter". Rosie was a real person, who inspired the creation of this poster. During WWII, most of the men had gone to war, and the nation needed workers to keep it alive. This poster was meant to give women confidence to join the American work force. It was produced by Westinghouse and the actual art was done by J. Howard Miller  in 1942. This image gives the viewer the feeling of empowerment and unity among compatriots through the look in Rosie's eyes, the fact that she is rolling up her sleeve (insinuating that she is about to get some work done), and the phrase "We Can Do It!". (britannica.com)

    Our next work of art is very similar to the first. Here we have the British version of "Rosie". The story behind the propaganda is exactly the same for these two works. In Britain, now the United Kingdom, women were able already part of the workforce, but only comprised about twenty-five percent of he overall force before the war. The British workforce needed people, and the men had gone to war, leaving the women to fill the void they left. This poster was designed by British cartoonist Philip Zec in 1941. The woman's upraised arms give a sense of strength and and confidence. There is strong contrast between the sky and the black background behind the words at the bottom of the work. This draws you attention upwards and compliments the woman's posture.

The Cold War

    World War II left lots of the world in ruins. The worldwide economy had changed due to the damage the to resources and the shifting in ownership of territories. The different economic philosophies of Capitalist America and Communist Russia and the recovery from WWII catalyzed the Cold War. We will look at the contrast between one work from America and one from Russia.

    This work probably made you pause and wonder if I had used the wrong image. Here is the explanation: The Cold War was fought in an abstract way... with abstract art. We are looking at Convergence by the famous Jackson Pollock. This is related to the war through symbology. It turns out that the CIA funded a lot of abstract art because they were free and had many interpretations just as Capitalism has many opportunities for small business to begin (daily.stor.org). This contrasts with the strict rigidity of Soviet communism, which we are about to see. So yes, I mean it when I say that this is a propagandistic work of art. The fluidity of the interpretation represents the fluidity of capitalism. Jackson Pollock painted Convergence in 1952.

I feel confused, and my mind instantly begins trying to give reason to the splotches and colors. There is no perspective or subject matter to be seen, which is why it is so open to interpretation. Is it madness or genius? I cannot tell.

The title of this piece alone shows is enough to contrast with Pollock's Convergence. Her we see "We Smite the Lazy Workers". Need I say more? Well, I must. The artist of this thing is unknown, but it was created in 1931. It is true that the Cold War didn't start until 1947, but this is undeniably the attitude of communism, and thus is relevant to the Cold War. Compare this with the preceding work. We have lack of structure vs rigid forced structure, lack of lines vs strong lines that give off lots of energy, and openness to interpretation vs one interpretation. These are very different pieces that show the how there could be a war between philosophies. I feel fear in this piece. The strong line work gives a forcefulness to the hammer blows that are going to peoples' heads. The use of red also gives a feeling of power to the men who wield the hammers.

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was also about the spread of Communism, but instead of dealing with economic philosophy and power, it was a long and brutal war fought in the typical fashion. It, not surprisingly, took place in Vietnam. The North half of the country had been taken over by Communism, but the South was supported by the Capitalist United States. The U.S. began by just giving support to the people of South Vietnam, but kept on investing more and more as time went on.

This poster is titled "Come South". No specific artist is credited, though it was designed in 1954. It depicts Korea being split across the 17th latitude, and people fleeing to the South where they would be welcomed with open arms. It is a piece of American anti-communism propaganda. 

Even though both North and South Vietnam were war zones, this poster shows the South as having green pastures and healthy farm lands. This is done to show the damage caused by the communist-driven war. Our attention is drawn to the top portion of Vietnam as we see the giant-scale man staring in that direction. This is use of line, the lines of both our vision and his. The green color of the South denies the truth that all of Vietnam was suffering from the war efforts of each side. Every element of this piece contrasts the halves of Vietnam, and makes the South seem inviting. (history.iowa.gov)

Our final piece of propaganda is from North Vietnam. The artist of this piece from 1968 is not known. It makes use of color to contrast between the sides of the war. The U.S is shown in green and fighters from northern Vietnam in orange. The guy in the front is shown in both colors, but is the from the latter. The theme of this piece is an American pilot being shot down. His plane is seen falling from the sky in the background. Perspective is given to the piece through more detail being seen in the closer elements, the man with the bazooka and the a fallen U.S. pilot directly behind him. A third interesting element is that the image is framed by negative space. I feel that this makes the image more impactful. The only actual line and color are in the elements of the piece itself, rather than having a bold border to frame them. This makes the elements pop out of the paper more.

 When viewing this piece, my eyes first travel to the plane falling. This is due to the fact that lots of the lines point to it. I am not particularly fond of this one, but it is important to see how both sides of the war promoted their efforts.

Sources

Rosie the Riveter (2024) Encyclopædia Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosie-the-Riveter (Accessed: 30 July 2024).

(No date) Was modern art really a CIA psy-op? - JSTOR DAILY. Available at: https://daily.jstor.org/was-modern-art-really-a-cia-psy-op/ (Accessed: 30 July 2024).

‘come south’ propaganda poster, August 5, 1954 (no date) ‘Come South’ Propaganda Poster, August 5, 1954 | State Historical Society of Iowa. Available at: https://history.iowa.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/cold-war-vietnam/come-south-propaganda#:~:text=There%20was%20a%20300%2Dday,seen%20on%20this%201954%20poster. (Accessed: 30 July 2024).