Museum Monday

October 31, 2011

By Mary Jo Gibson

This week’s Museum Monday takes a virtual tour of World War archives and propaganda, supplied by the Chicago Institute of Art, the British National Archives and the National Archives of the United States.

Propaganda of the World Wars is recognized in the form of war posters, but at the core is a style of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.  Although propaganda is often used to manipulate human emotions by displaying facts selectively, it can also be effective at conveying messages. People encounter posters in places other media could not reach – schools, factories, offices, store windows and locations outside the scope of paid advertising. During WWI, posters were a primary form of public communication, but by 1940 posters had been supplanted by radio, movies and billboards.

The Ministry of Information, the central government department responsible for publicity and propaganda, was formed in Britain the day after their declaration of World War II.  Their initial function was news and press censorship, home publicity and overseas publicity in allied and neutral countries.  The website of the British National Archives contains a plethora of archival information, identifying the artists that worked during this crucial time, and separating the art into a short selection of tabs, each containing hundreds of images.

During WWII, the Soviet Union’s new agency, TASS, enlisted artists and writers to bolster the nation’s war effort.  Working from Moscow, this studio produced hundreds of storefront window posters, one for nearly every day of the war.  These posters, between five and ten feet tall, using the vibrancy and texture of the stencil medium, were sent abroad to serve as cultural ambassadors and to rally allied and neutral nations to the endeavors of the Soviet Union.  The Tumblr  page of the Chicago Art Institute shares over 80 images from their now closed exhibition “Windows on the War” illustrating the unique Soviet view of the Axis nations.

Tapping the creative energies of American artists, the Museum of Modern Art organized a National Defense Poster competition in 1941.  The museum and two of the government’s largest users of posters, the Army Air Corps and the Treasury Department sponsored the contest.  War bond posters called upon all citizens to share in “ownership” of the war, the Treasury Department financed the war through the sale of bonds and stamps to the public. Artists of the government sponsored Works Progress Administration (WPA) pioneered silkscreen techniques that simplified the serial production of colorful poster images.  The artist Norman Rockwell also contributed to this artistic effort with the image of “Rosie the Riveter” on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, promoting the change in the workforce.

Propaganda has been a human activity as far back as reliable evidence exists.  Spreading beliefs and the tools to disseminate the information have taken many forms over the centuries, Henry VIII even use propaganda art in his regime.  During the course of WWII, the Italians created virtually no art documenting the conflict, and the French began to paint the war only after it ended in 1945. Take the virtual tour of these individual sites and see the art that transformed the thought of the day, the message of the government communicating the changing times and the dramatic differences in the art.

Join me on Friday for my Cabinet of Curiosities!  If you have any comments or suggestions you would like to share, please use the Observations box at the bottom of the page.

Until next time,

Cheers!

MJ

Cabinet of Curiosities

June 25, 2011

By Mary Jo Gibson

At the end of every research week I have an assortment of interesting bits I find on the web, but have nowhere to share them.  Creating this small post gives me a depository for extra information that I can share with my readers.

Time Travel, by way of a Tiny Painting, by Michael Kimmelman.
A small painting by Velazquez at the Prado of the Villa Medici around 1630; the descriptions in this short article are what I wish I could personally convey every time I discuss what I think great art is and why.

Blogs:

A daily source of anything and everything related to the 18th century.  This particular page has a painting by Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806), “Italian Interior”.  The chaotic domestic scene makes one glad for the advances of time.

A wonderful collection of photos from around London, and short essays on the history of the subject.  This picture of a church by Sir Christopher Wren in South London, post the Great Fire, and the accompanying story gives an informative overview on architecture and the rebuilding of the city.

The Family Recorder shares a link from Documentsonline and the digital microfilm initiative.  A must for anyone researching family history using the British National Archive, the extensive record is also a great place to find character names and research the lives of ordinary citizens of the realm.

Beloved Eleanor
The National Trust for Scotland has made available online virtual tours of their sites.  These are incredible!  The Falkland Palace alone is worth looking over, the oldest tennis court in Britain, the stained glass outside the chapel, and don’t forget to look at the ceilings.

The Secret History of Art tells a reader’s story about a possible lost Renoir and his quest to validate the mystery.  Noah Charney adds this to his wonderful blog about art historical mysteries and art crimes.  Perhaps you have a painting you believe is a lost masterpiece, if so, this would be the place to start.

Museums and Libraries:

The New York Public Library has a great new online collection called Biblion.  Unfortunately it is only available through iPad, but does contain a great archive of the 1939 New York World’s Fair.  The site opens hidden parts of the collection and the myriad storylines they hold through a unique immersive experience.

Black Book Magazine has an excellent article “An Inside Look at the Lives & Art of Those Who Guard at the Met Museum.”  Putting into perspective the job of a guard, their influence on visitors, and their response to the art they protect.  This group of individuals set a standard many museums need to follow.  I make this statement from firsthand experience with a guard that had no idea where the Rembrandt was, nor the Bernini, but was more than happy to tell me he knew all the latest basketball scores.

If you are looking for some random art inspiration, the National Gallery of London can give you an idea or two.  Their new generator is designed to give their collection more online exposure, 10 masterpieces at a time.  Easier than browsing Artist A to Z when you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, but your muse does.

Indiana University has acquired the library of Bernardo Mendel, collector of early Latin American exploration texts that include geographical maps, navigational records, early Mexican imprints and atlases from the late 16th century through the 19th century.  A sequence of letters from Vespucci, Cortes, Columbus, de la Vega are just some of the authors giving first hand information of this historical time.

Rebecca West, the Forgotten Vorticist
The Tate has a new exhibit on the Vorticist movement in art and literature.  A writer from this intellectual melting pot leading up to the first world war, Rebecca West could not be contained in a single genre.  A career lasting 70 years, she worked in journalism, polemics, travel writing and fiction with a distinctive voice that would be at home in a contemporary audience.

Books:

Akashic Books
An indie publisher with a hit book on his hands, you may have heard about Adam Mansbach’s new book, “Go the F— to Sleep,” but the story behind how it came to be is fascinating in itself.

And finally, this blog would not be complete without the mention of a possible new Caravaggio.  Discovered in a private collection in Britain, it will appear in print for the first time in a book produced by Yale University Press.  For a painter that has been dead over 400 years, this is a great find, but the mind wonders, how much art does the owner have that this monumental piece of work has been ignored?  You be the judge and tell me if you think it is a comparable work by this great, albeit short lived, master.

Do you have any great art or history blogs?  Share them with me in the comments below.  I will return on Monday to highlight the early paintings collected by William T. Walters from the Walters Art Museum.  Until then,

Cheers,

MJ