Modernist Art: Examining the Impact of Politics on Artistic Creations

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between politics and modernist art, examining how societal and political changes have profoundly influenced artistic expression. The analysis focuses on two prominent modernist painters, Pablo Picasso and Norman Rockwell, illustrating how their artworks served as powerful reflections of their political ideologies and responses to significant historical events. Picasso's 'Guernica' is explored as a poignant depiction of the tragedies of war and suffering, while Rockwell's 'The Problem We All Live With' highlights racial issues and the struggle for equality. The essay contrasts their approaches, highlighting Picasso's symbolic and opinionated style versus Rockwell's representation of political incidents, ultimately concluding that political changes are indeed mirrored in the art of modern painters. The artists' responses to issues during the world wars and racial conflicts are also discussed, emphasizing how their art served as a response to political upheaval. The essay underscores the lasting impact of these artists' works in conveying political messages and shaping public perception, offering insights into the role of art in reflecting and critiquing societal realities.

Running head: MODERNIST ART
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The aim of this essay is to discuss the connection of the political changes in the
society and art. The modern art has always been influenced by politics and social changes.
Therefore these is a strong relationship among the art works of the modernist painters and
politics (Miranda & Neumark, 2018). This particular pattern can be seen in the societies of
every nation irrespective of their cultural differences. The social and political changes in the
countries have given birth of controversy which has attracted the attention of the artists
(Nochlin, 2018). Among the modernist painters, Pablo Picasso and Norman Rockwell are two
most important names.
The artists have reflected their political ideologies through their modernist artworks
and reveled different points of view influencing people around the world.
Politics and art of public figure so can go hand in hand. According to you art is never
chased but it is super dangerous. He proved through his art words that it is not merely
aesthetic material but also the vehicle of Representation of society (Hewison, 2015). It is
capable to call out the imperfections of the government and change the society by changing
the perceptions of the people. Picasso in every one of his art works has reflected his courage
to oppose the oppressive fascist and Nazi regimes at that point of time well both of these
political ideology where dominating the politics of Europe . The fiery personality of Picasso
drove him to reflect his beliefs as well as opinion without fear in the authoritarian and
operative police state. His period was super powerful and mindset could be felt when one
sees his 'Guernica'.
The style of his art form is very intriguing because he had gone through different
stages in his career when he used to experiment, adapt thus created various styles (Lampert
2017). Starting from the blue period to the cubist stages this artist had a long period of
struggle to find out his own style of craft. This is quite difficult for the artist to make Fame
for or himself and his artworks to get recognition as well as value. In case of Picasso every

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one of his artworks represented his short thought and opinion about the society clearly. Every
one of this political paintings have been worth more than 1 million dollars and most of them
where famous and well reputed.
Pablo Picasso has always been portrayed as extroverted and a dominating character.
In the case of art he was a serious person having opinion on every perception of politics step
towards the end of the Second World War he was goaded by persons asking on the
relationship of his art and politics (Duran, 2017). He was an artist and at the same time he
was a political being who was constantly alarm to the passionate and pleasing order fire
events taking place in the world. It is not possible for the person like him to be uninterested in
search bordering events and could not detach himself from the life by the virtue of cold
nonchalance. There are different incidents and biographies written on the political view of
Pablo Picasso that set out to explore this artist as a political being. His commitment to the
French political parties specially the Communist Party that he joined in the year 1944 with
great passion and never left. In his course of long life time he had explored every type of
political upheaval starting from the Spanish American War in 1898 and the missile crisis of
Cuba in 1962. Being a political artist, he was well known to bolshevists, anarchists, socialists,
communists, pacifists, fascists, Stalinists and Falangists and he knew them also. He grew up
with monarchism assailed by the Revolutionary anarchism. He grew old with the
republicanism that was served by the Monopoly capitalism (Chavez, 2018). He knew every
sadists, cubists, futurists, supremacists, surrealists, stridentists, constructivists as well as
destructivity.
The devastation of the WWII and Civil War of Spain had affected Picasso so deeply
that his feelings were reflected in his art works. Picasso through his art and selection of
objects or incidents had created symbols of peace and war. His painting ‘dove of peace' has
been the universal symbol of peace against war. Similarly the haunting painting of Guernica

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is the response of Picasso’s response to the bombing of Basque town in the Spanish Civil
War. Guernica shows the tragedy of war and suffering that it inflicts upon human beings
(Bleiker, 2016).
In this particular painting the culmination of Picasso’s experimentation and skills
have created wonder. In the profile the way heads are really reflect the African influence.
Here the horse is dead in menacing way and dominates the body which is a thin diamond
shape. This printing is emotionally charged as well as intense because it is the way that
because so painted the term of the women with agape countenance. The idea is so sharp that
each of the figures reflect poignant grief as well as suffering when she’s holding her dead
baby. It is her scream that is reached properly to the ears of the viewers this shrill scream of
anguish can be characterized through the straight and pointed triangle town. there are shapes
along with emblems in the canvas have overlapped which interestingly show how the painter
draw vertical line on the horse as well as those shapes on the top of it . It is trying to parody
the newspaper texture (Manderson, 2018). This is due to the fact that news sources had been
covering the news of bombing of the Civil War and spreading of these news affected the
points of view of the artists of that time. Thus Picasso had immortalized this horror through
his painting and have the viewers who see this painting from different points of view and lens
of horror rather than just reading the news. It is the idea of having lasting effect of apocalypse
throughout the history of modern period.
Similarly the painter like Rockwell through being to compete different area of
painting but also focused on painting the most touching paintings. His painting of ‘The
problem we all live with’ I deals with the political problem of the African American
community. In this painting, a six years old afro American girl is seen to be escorted by four
US marshals to the first day of all white school in New Orleans. This painting refers to the
political events of the racial issues in the US and how the sufferings of the Afro-Americans

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were increasing day by day. It is the portrayal of conflict as the racial slurs and ominous
acronym KKK is written above this image of six year old child (Rockwell, 2015). The
viewers can notice red splatter on the wall along with the sidewalk. This red mess is of the
thrown tomato, a symbol of harassment and demeaning activity. However, the girl in this
picture is the only face that revels the feeling of determination and mental strength of the
little girl put perfectly to replace the angry mob. Rockwell like Picasso had this political
ideology based on which he saw the entire picture of oppression, disgrace and deformity of
the political actions. However, this particular work of Rockwell refers to the idea of
integration school where the white and black children are mixed nullifying the idea of racial
discrimination (Rockwell, 2015). It is the struggle for reviving the lost reputation and having
equal rights in the society.
Despite the fact that the ideology or Picasso is completely different from Rockwell
and they used different techniques of painting or medium along with subjects but both of
them have felt the same political urgency that have been reflected in their art works. The
different political contexts have been represented in the work of both the artists. However, the
art works of Picasso are reflective of the deep resided anguish and suffering in the minds of
the artist but the paintings of Rockwell is the representative of the political incidents of his
time. The idea of connecting art with politics have been seen in depth in the arts of Picasso in
comparison to that of Rockwell’s. Picasso’s works are more symbolic and opinionated rather
than only representing the incidents connecting political upheaval.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the political changes are reflected through the art
works of the modern painters in a far reaching way. Each of the issues during the world wars
or for that matter the racial conflicts organized in the regions of the western world had put
impression on the minds of the artists like Pablo Picasso and Norman Rockwell. The art
works from time to time have been the responses of the artists against the wars or any

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political upheaval. Be it Picasso’s Guernica or Norman Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live
With.

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References:
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New Perspectives. Interdisciplinary Journal of Central & East European Politics and
International Relations, 24(2), 13-21.
Chavez, R. (2018). Objects of Politics, Objects of Art: Three Studies on the Display of
American Political Prints (Doctoral dissertation, San Jose State University).
Duran, A. R. (2017). Painting, Politics, and the New Front of Cold War Italy. Routledge.
Hewison, R. (2015). Culture and Consensus (Routledge Revivals): England, Art and Politics
since 1940. Routledge.
Lampert, M. (2017). Beyond the politics of reception: Jacques Rancière and the politics of
art. Continental Philosophy Review, 50(2), 181-200.
Manderson, D. (2018). Here and Now: From “Aestheticizing Politics” to “Politicizing Art”.
In Sensing the Nation's Law (pp. 175-190). Springer, Cham.
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art. The Routledge Companion to Media and Activism.
Nochlin, L. (2018). The politics of vision: Essays on nineteenth-century art and society.
Routledge.
Rockwell, A. (2015). Norman Rockwell: Artist or Illustrator?.