SOCQAL ‘PROTEST. ARTISTS
EN: WESTERN ART.

Thesis forfha Duran of M. A.
MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE
Sadayoshi Omoto
1950

This is to certilg that the

thesis entitled

Social Protest Artists in Western Art
presented bl]

Sadayoshi Omoto

has been accepted tmvards fulfillment

of the requirements for

11"“ degree in_ _A_____I‘t

WWW

Major professor

llate August 2i} 1950

0-169

SOCIAL PROTEST ARTISTS IN WESTERN ART

BY

Sadayoshi Omoto

A THESIS

Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan
State College of Agriculture and Applied Science
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

EASTER OF ARTS

Department of Art

1950

THESES

 

SOCIAL PROTEST ARTISTS IN WESTERN ART

BY

Sadayoshi Omoto

August 25, 1950

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface and Acknowledgments . . . .
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Artist, Art, and Society. . . .
General Survey. . . . . . . . . . .
Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Injustice and Corruption. . . . . .
War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
General Discussion. . . . . . . . .
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . .

- iii -

iv

20
28
46
58
80
88
93

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The work on this thesis represents a culmination point
in the recognition of the role of the artist in society.

My awareness of this relationship was heightened when I came
to Michigan State College and enrolled in the Art History
courses. My background in this matter was quite limited be-
cause of the different type of training I had received in
my undergraduate days. Today, I realize more fully that the
artist does have a responsibility to society, and in the
same vein, society also owes a responsibility to the indi-
vidual artist. One can broaden this concept further to in-
clude the whole field of art, and of how we should strive

to bring art and society into a closer unified harmonious
whole.

In addition to the studies in books and magazine
articles, I have also examined reproductions of paintings
and prints in trying to get at the core of ”protest art".

I would like to acknowledge my appreciation to Mr. Walter
Abell, my major professor for his interest in my work, his
constant guidance, and for his kindness in reading my
thesis during his leave from.class duties. Also to Miss
Mildred Jeffers who so kindly took upon her the task of
typing this manuscript. I also wish to thank the numerous
friends with whom I have talked regarding this subject

matter, for their kindly suggestions and encouragement.
-1v-

l :

 

a £61] I-

Angus 2.

 

 

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Credit for the reproductions is due hr. William.Rice,

a fellow-student at Michigan State College.

August 25, 1950
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INTRODUCTION

In the face of the threat of a Third World War, more
and more peeple are asking themselves the question of "Why?”
Why do nations have to kill, pillage, and ruin? Those of
us of the present generation have known very few years
which we can truthfully call "peaceful" years.

For those of us who accept the Malthusian theory of
pOpulation--that wars and other catastrOphes will overtake
the earth to take care of the surplus pepulation--then
wars are an inevitable result. Nothing can be done to
prevent wars and famines and other similar catastrOphes.
Sitting back and saying that nothing can be done is Just
one attitude. However, when we look back on history, we
will notice that there were and are those strongaminded
ones who have taken and are taking an active role in trying
to combat the ills of a civilization.

The artist is among those who has made himself heard
in this protest. While there are those who write in
.protest, the artist has painted and drawn in trying to
arouse the peOple to the sickness which is in a civiliza-

tion. In my studies in Art History, I noticed that there
were those instances in which the artist painted or draw
in his own "protest" against a wrong which he observed
about him. I felt that because of his strongly held views,
he was able to instill depth and meaning into his work.

This aroused my interest in the subject for this thesis,
- 1 -

 

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- 2 -
”Social Protest Artists in Western Art".

Though the artistic group comprises a small segment of
society, I feel that what they have to say in their works
should not be taken too lightly. Whether we agree with
them or not is not the main concern--the main point should
be that we, as the peOple, should recognize and Open our

eyes to what the artist is trying to convey.

 

 

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PURPOSE

The purpose of this thesis is to study and examine the
role that the artists have played in this "protest" art,
and to evaluate their effectiveness in their "protest".

In the present world situation, it may be that the artist
can be another voice entered into the cry for the better-
ment of Humanity, rather than its destruction.

Not only will the aspect of "protest" be studied, but
an attempt will also be made to stress the fact that the
artist is an integral part of society. Too many people
are prone to consider the artist as a misfit in society,
as someone who has a personality problem and as one who
is an eccentric. We should think of the artist as one of
33, and that he certainly has a worthwhile contribution
to make to society.

In this particular study, I will deal with the

.negative rather than the positive aspect of social con-

 

.scious art. By this I mean that this thesis will deal
with those artists who "protested" against something,
rather than those who simply made commentaries on the
life about them. Certain artists will serve as key

1'1 gures in this study, and my main concern is with the
811b ject matter rather than the painting or print strictly

in aesthetic terms .

 

 

 

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In my approach to this study, I will begin with a
consideration of some of the general principles underlying
this type of "protest" art. A brief general survey will
then be undertaken in which I will give a short historical
resume of the development of this type of art. Three main
themes will be discussed: "Society," "Injustice and Cor-
ruption," and "War." In discussing these themes, I have
selected a few of the main exponents of each theme. My
aim is not to provide a complete history of these artists,
but only a critical analysis as to their works and their
approach in "Social Protest Art". In the final analysis,
I will attempt to point out instances where "protest" art
was effective, and also to draw some general implications

from this type of art.

 

 

 

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““151
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that '

THE ARTIST, ART, AND SOCIETY

For nearly two centuries, the cultural traditions we
inherited from EurOpean Renaissance have been losing sub-
stance--that is, in plastic concreteness. In place of
craft and great architecture, architectural paintings, and
sculpture, we have "...the mass-produced, insensitive
fabrication of the machine along with its characteristic
by~product--centralization, slums, social neurosis, a
devitalized proletariat, a dehumanized intelligentsia."1
This appears to be a biting condemnation of our age, and
yet there is no denying the fact that such are the condi-
tions as they exist. It is in this type of civilization
that I feel that the artist has made his voice heard.

Today, art has become divorced from ordinary activ-
ities and thus, there exists a chasm which separates the
mass of mankind from the artists. This cleft should not
exist, for the artist "...is...a social creature, always
‘wide-awake in the face of the heart-rending bitter or
sweet events of the world and wholly fashioning himself
axscording to their image..."2 "The artist...is a unit of

a Jaecessary social organization and cannot arrive even at

—._

1 Herbert Read,"The Grass Roots of Art", Wittenborn
2 and Company, New York, 1947, p. 24.
Juan Larrea, Guernica-Picasso, Introduction by
Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Curt Valentin, New York, 1947,
p. 13

- 5 -

 

 

 

the tines
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- 5 -
the threshold of his potentialities without the conditions
which a culture provides.”3 man is a social animal, and
the artist is no exception, "For the artist, however
isolated he may choose to think himself, is still in contact
with other men."4

It is because we have had those men who have been
misfits in society, and these men (as van Gogh and Utrillo)
have received publicity in this respect, that the mass of
the peOple are quick to stereotype the artist. However, I
feel that even though we have had those who led a bizarre
life, we have also had those who were good solid citizens.
Hiler5 holds the view that artists in general hays made poor
social adaptations. “The only thing which makes the artist's
chance of adapting himself to the social set up any good is
the same thing which makes his general social adaptation bad;
namely, his sensitivity (my italics). This capacity for
feeling gives him a certain barometric quality of intuition."6
Certainly it appears then that the artist is more sensitive
to those conditions about him. (This will be pointed out
znore fully later in this thesis). It is this matter of

gflsnsitivity which I feel is important, and thus the artist

153 able to grasp those things which the average man may

I3;

__

Herbert Read, Art and Society, Naomillan Company,
New York, 1937, p. 184.

George Boas, "The Social Responsibility of the
Artist," College Art Journal, vol. 6, no. 4,
p. 275 (Summer, I§47jt

5 Hilaire Hiler, Henry Miller and William Sarovan,

Wh Abstract?, James Laughlin, New York.
6 file—*1 ., p. ’78.

 

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- 7 -

overlook. "A society that finds no place for the artist,
which gives him.nothing to make and leaves him to starve,
cannot expect to get much out of him. Without faith in
himself and the assurance that comes from being wanted, he
will be driven back into himself. It has been said the
artist is a focal point of experience wider than his own."7
In this study of ”protest" artists, can we not say that

this greater sensitivity and more universal experience are

 

two attributes of the artist which single him out among
the others?

Yet, it is his environment which will mold him into
the individual that he is--his reactions will be recorded
through his own medium.

George Boas8 has made a classification of the artists
in his article, "The Social Responsibility of the Artist".
He has classified them as follows:

(1) "Narrative"--those who relate.

(2) "Lyrical"--those who may seem to illustrate
a fact,but they are not about
that incident or fact; they are
about themselves.

(3) "Hortatory"--those who pass judgment on

the human race, as in men like
Daumier. "They are supposed

to change people's minds, not
simply to record, to tell

stories, to express emotion,

though they also do these things."9

7
Margaret H. Bulley, Art and Understandin , Charles
Scribner's Sons, New York, London: B. T. Batsford
Ltd., 1937, p. 41.

8 George Boas, op. cit.. PP. 270-273.

9 Ibid., p. 273

 

,- 8 -
It is this last category of artists which is of
interest in this particular paper. It is the task of
this artist to make the picture come to life when per-
ceived, and this is at the time when the perceivers
contributions comes from his whole total past. Admit-
tedly, those of us who have never felt need or want in
any respect, will have less sympathy and understanding
than one who has, when they both look upon a scene de-
picting the crowded slum conditions of a large metropol-
itan city. The artist is trying to tell the people of
the evils about them, of how we should all be aware and
try to correct these for the betterment of Mankind. One
prerequisite for this type of an artist is the sincerity
of the artist himself, for unless he or she does feel
strongly, certainly the work will lack depth and meaning.
It is "Simply to tell the truth...whether one does any-
thing about it or not,”10 and I feel that if a work of
art is able to start the onlooker thinking and becoming
aware of the evils, then art will have at least taken a
.step in the right direction. "The essential nature of
art will be found...in its capacity to create a synthetic
sand self-consistent world...a convincing representation
01’ the totality of experience: a mode, therefore of
°nvisaging the individual's perception of some aspect of

Eglisversal truth (my italics)."11

‘

10 Ibid, p. 276.
ll Herbert Read, Art and Society, Iacmillan Company,

New York, 1937, p. xii.

 

 

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Up to this point, I believe we can safely say that
(l) the artists is an integral part of society, and (2)
that his sensitivity gives him an opportunity to express
himself in his own medium. One may well ask, what is the
importance of fine art for society? Gotshalklz has given
two answers-~the first one is that fine art can be a
spiritual asset. It can be one of great immediate and
self-rewarding good in terms of the "spirit" of experience.
Whenever one looks upon a great work of art, the active
psychological rapport set up between the work and the
onlooker does give one the spiritual asset of living with
the painting. It is like a great spiritual sensation.
The second importance of fine art in society as given by
Gotshalk, is that it can be a social force. "In short,
fine art transforms what social action everywhere embodies
and thus implicitly a social force in the way creation and
appreciation of an object which serves purely aesthetic
purposes."15 Once again, it is this aspect of the social
force of fine art which is pertinent in this thesis.
In general, there are two methods by which this
aspect of fine art can be communicated to the people.
First, we have the explicit, method. This method is direct

and open; the message is undeniably there in all its

k

2*
D.W.Gotshalk, Art and the Social Order, University
of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1947, p. 202 ff.

3 Ibid., p. 204

 

 

nakedness.
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- 10 -
nakedness. Goya's bitter indictments against war in his
series of Desatres de la Guerra, certainly is direct with
the bloody, gruesome phase of war. This approach does
have its drawbacks however, for directive art needs pres-
sures and terrors from external sources to make it
effective. In time of a critical situation, such as a
national calamity, or an economic or moral crisis, it is
effective. However, this method usually has short-ranged
effectiveness, for once the external circumstances are
altered, the effectiveness is diminished. We have to
employ more elementary and conventional techniques, and
thus have to "...sacrifice all the subtle and novel

possibilities of fine art."14
The other method is the implicit one—-the method of

 

"...burying them (the messages) in the perceptual texture
of the creation so that they form a kind of framework
within which the subject is articulated."15 (Gauguin
utilized this means when he fled to the South Sea islands
to seek tranquility and peace--his implied message was
“that the civilization in which he lived was filled with
«decadence and disillusionment. Instead of painting such
a civilization, he fled from it and painted those harmon~
ious things he found in the South Sea islands.

In comparison with the explicit means, the implicit

Inethod lacks the pointedness and immediate brute force

 

14 Ibid., p. 205.
15 IBIH., p. 206.

 

 

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- 11 -

of the more blunt directive one. The message or social
doctrine is more vague and indeterminate, and covered
with subtlety. In the explicit, method, there is no
question as to the message or "protest" when one first
looks upon a work done in that approach. However, in
the implicit approach, the onlooker will have to react
in an active manner to the work before him before he is
able to comprehend its meaning. As we like to have room
for the imagination rather than having everything present-
ed in its entirety, in like manner, the subtle ”behind
the painting" message is more effective if room is left
for the individual to "fill in" the gaps. In speaking
of this latter implicit method, Gotshalk stated that:

"Their force and vitality can be based upon

the force and vitality of the art itself...

The art can become saturated with the out-

look of the artist, and this outlook can

be empowered by all subtleties and devices

of the art...(th1s method) involves a more

'natural,’ complete, effective, and enduring

fashion of fine art and social doctrine; it

permits the articulation of outlooks that

are more subtle in aesthetic appeal and more

elastic and general in social application;

it is more favorable to the creation of

objects less marred by intellectual distrac-

tion and gross error; and it employs the

doctrinal element in such a way that,

erroneous or not, it can be 8f permanent usefulness
as an artistic instrument."1

I feel that the first approach verges on the rim of
jpropaganda. In this paper I do not intend to deal in the
realm of propaganda, but rather in.what I have termed more
of the creative art in "protest". For example, a political

16 Ibid., pp. 207-208.

 

cartoon is
and yet 11
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- 12 -
cartoon is a type of "protest" art technically speaking,
and yet it seems to lack the depth say of a political
”protest" of a Cropper, or a Daumier. The political
cartoonist has a job to do (with mercenary end in mind),
and that is to dramatize the tactical wants of a party
line from day to day. He is working for someone else,
or a party, and thus is not creative to the extent in
which Daumier was successful. Propaganda is "...a special
pleading of a sort,"17 and it Egg be ephemeral or enduring.
This is not to discount Ell pr0paganda and Ell political
cartoons as unworthy of a place in this "protest" art,
for certainly we do have works which have attained stature
in its own right. Zigrosser has made an interesting
comment on this aspect when he stated that "It will be a
work of art only if its appeal is enduring, if the artist
speaks purely in terms of his art, if his allegiance is
not to party, but to humanity, if the issues are the eternal
verities--death, suffering, love, children."18 (I am in
agreement with Zigrosser on this point, for it is just
‘this type of art which I wish to include in this study of
'Tprotest artists".‘ Pr0paganda poster works have been under-
'bak£n.by many well-known artists, it is true, and yet to

deal in the realm of posters and political cartoons will

constitute a topic in itself.

—_—I‘7

 

Carl Zigrosser, Kaethe Kollwitz, H. Bittner and
18 Comany, New York, 1946, p. 19.
Ibido’ p. 190

 

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- 13 -
If the artist has a message to give to his society,
hwhat effect would this have on the aesthetic qualities of
his work of art? There are those who contend that as soon
as the subject matter (and social message) becomes so
dominant, then the painting will suffer as a work of art.
This is where I feel that the propaganda work (as well as
illustrational) of the past war has revealed this weakness.
If the subject matter can be so integrated with the painting
or print, then the work will still retain its aesthetic
quality. The subject matter should strengthen and condition
the ordering of a design, ”...as lime into bones."19 "For
just as in food what matters is not its flavor, its odor,
its temperature, or its consistency, but its nutritive
porperties, so the essence of this plastic art is not color,
not the charm of design, not even the perspective, the
Chiaroscuro, etc., but another more hidden and more recon-
dite dimension, and one more revolutionary, too: its
gommunicative (my italics) power."20 If we took the
.psychoanalytical viewpoint, then, like dreams, art is
associated with desires which move‘and guide us. It has
laeen like a screen upon which we project our metaphysical
<3ravings, and the desire to place eternal and a general

tralidity on the particular, whether it be an individual or

a culture .21

 

19 Margaret H. Bulley, op. cit., p. 48.

20 Juan Larrea, op. cit., p. 29.
31 Ibid., p. 31.

 

 

 

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- 14 -

Now that we have looked at the artist and his art,
let us carry this analysis one step further and examine art
in relationship to society. Too many people are apt to
consider only the works in museums as works of art, and
these to be looked upon by the selected few who can think
along abstract and aesthetic lines. This should 223 be,
for inasmuch as the artist is an integral part of our
society, should not his handiwork be a part of our society
also? Art in general may come under two classifications:
(l) as an economic factor, that is, a quality belonging to
objects which are produced to satisfy practical needs; and
(2) as expression of ideals, spiritual aspirations and
myths, the idealogical aspect of art. Once again, our
primary concern is with the latter category, that of the
expression of ideals.

The ethical appeal of art is wider than the aesthetic--
it is an appeal to our more immediate interests. The
emotional factor does warrant a place in a "protest" painting,
simply because of its very nature, and_emotions have no
liecessary connection with aesthetic faculties. The art of
‘today is no different than that of the past if we can think
(If it in its wider scope; and that is, according to the art
liistorian Wofflin, that art can be thought of "u..primarily
as expression, expression of the temper of an age and nation

as well as expression of the individual temperament.'"32

‘—

22 Aline B. Lauchheim, 5000 Years of Art in Western
Civilization, Howell, Soszkin, New York, 1946, P.197

 

 

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emerged,
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the kind
consider
sestheti

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- 15 -
As the works of art reflect the society out of which they
emerged, conversely, cannot the society reflect the types
of art which will arise?

Not only does art serve society in terms of reflecting
the kind of society, but there are other functions to be
considered. Gotshalkzs went to some length to prOpose
aesthetic and nonaesthetic functions of art. Under the
nonaesthetic functions he listed the following:

(1) Satisfaction of will or desire for mastery
and achievement.
(2) Modification of the scale of values that

a work of art may effect, especially in
the appreciator.

(3) 0ther--functional uses, as religious icon,
record deed.

Under the same nonaesthetic functions, Gotshalk
listed two which may be termed "psychical" functions.
These are: (1) function of satisfying certain so-called
"physical" group needs such as shelter, transportation;
and (2) satisfying certain so-called “mental" group needs,
such as the communication of feelings and experiences, the
welding of the individuals of a group into a purposively
active, unified society. It is this latter group which
:18 of importance in this thesis. The individual artist,
:lf he is able to communicate to others the same sensitivity
which he feels, will tend to unify society, and thus, a
lrealthier society will be the result. (This is on the

assumption that the artist is net doing propaganda work for

those who may be in power).

‘

33 D. w. Gotshalk, op. cit. p. 157 ff.

 

-- 16 -

What has just been said in the preceding paragraph
may appear idealistic-~it is, and yet, unless we do set
our heights of idealism mixed with realism we will never
attain anything close to the maximum of our aspirations.
Gotshalk24 listed two general conditions for the realiza-
tion of the ideal. First, he stated that a good society
must put the welfare of the citizen first. In regards to
the artist, more freedom must be given him compatible
with his responsibilities, and society must seek to
cooperate with the artist. We should also have a wide
and critical alertness in society to hold the artist to
his responsibilities as well as to secure diffusion
through society of the maximum good that art can bring.
The other condition for the realization of the ideal was
that "...the artist (must) reach an attitude towards the
difficulties confronting his times that is truly coherent
with himself as an artist."25 This does not necessarily
have to be in the form of a social message art, for it can
be purely imaginative. "Its essential character would be
disclosed not by lofty pretensions but by effective action
23nd would be verified not by official claims but by actual
eeffects it had on the artist's specific creation."26

With the advent of the Twentieth Century and indus-

‘trialism, Gotshalk maintained that the irresponsibility of

 

24
Ibid. p. 226 ff.
3: 1333.: p. 226. ‘.
Ibid. ’ p. 227.

'.]_7-
artist to society and of society to the artist, was
complete. "In the sooty, dynamic, gargantuan, hurly-burly
of the industrial commercial society of the times, the
artist hid his head like the proverbial ostrich in 'the
realm of his subjective fancie’..."37 It was after this
that we had esoteric types of art, individualistic,
rebellious, restless, and anarchistic...We had surrealism,
dadaism, futurism and all the other "isms" of art. The
Capitalistic system with its stress on rugged individual-
istic capitalism, on a commercial society was not conducive
to the artist, and so he turned his back on the dynamic
forces of his time. Why? Why did this take place?

Unlike the Catholic Middle Ages and the humanist
Renaissance, our modern society offered nothing compelling
them to stabilize the artist's mind and bring forth his best
work.

Gotshalk in reply appears somewhat harsh in his con-
demnation when he stated that there was no solidarity of
feeling and of purpose, there was no unifying religion, no
general idealism, but instead there was a world which
encouraged pretense and facetious achievement.

The fault for this lack of a harmonious relationship
between the artist and society lies in both society and the
artist. Instead of squarely facing the issues, the artist

turned his back--he felt that the larger issues were no

-"“‘27

 

Ibido, p. 231‘

- 18 -
longer any of his concern. "He laughed or sighed and retreated
into his own little world of private observation and reverie,
or he became absorbed in the methods and experimental tech-
niques of his craft."28 This then, was the situation at the
turn of the century, and yet, there were those artists who
were strong enough to swim against the current of their times.
These are the ones who "...either make a big splash or sink
beneath the stream to find a fairy grotto; or else it is
said of them after their death that they saw much and traveled
in strange directions and discovered new streams."29

Head5° proposes three paths which the artist may take
today, since he has lost the solid support of his former
patrons. He can take the path of the abstract or non-
objective artist. Here the primary concern is with the
heightened sensibility of purity of form, economy of means,
and the role of color and patterns. The second alternative
is that of the super-realists, or the surrealists. This
group is conscious of the lack of organic connection between
art and society, and surrealism expresses" '...a desire to
deepen the foundation of the real, to bring about an ever
dearer and at the same time ever more passionate consciousness
of the world perceived by the senses.”31 The last path is
the one which is pertinent to this thesis-~and that is the
:route of expressionism. This is a "...type of art which

__

23 Ibid. . 232.

29 flzigrosser, The Book of Fine Prints Crown
30 Publishers, New Y6”EI‘I937“I9§8‘“"’IE§

Herbert Read Art 0and Societ ,Macmillan Company,
31 New York, 195 , p.
Ibid., p. 5.

- 19 -
strives to depict, not the objective facts of nature, nor
any abstract notion based on those facts, but the subjective
feelings of the artist."52 This is the category into which
the "social protest artists" fall, for basically, it is
individualistic and subjective.

In this particular chapter, I have endeavored to
establish my basic tenets. First, that the artist is an
integral part of society; secondly, that he has a high
degree of sensitivity to that which is about him; and third,
that art does reflect the society, and serves as a guiding
light for the ”mental" health of a society. I believe that
these understandings are basic in this study of the role of
the "Social Protest Artists in Western Art". We will then
be able to evaluate better the artist, his message, his work,
and the environment which was responsible for his "protest".
For we must remember that a "...work of art...has its immed-
iate origin in the consciousness of an individual; it only
acquires its full significance however..to the extent that
it is integrated with the general culture of a people or

per 10d 0 "32

 

”’32
Ibid., p. 190.

GENERAL SURVEY

Before we actually undertake to examine the "social
protest artists", let us take a glimpse at the historical
aspect of this type of art. Why does this type of art
arise? What are the conditions conducive to the fostering
of "social protest" art? The answer to these questions
will be found only if we are able to correlate the general
development of a civilization with the various phases of
art.

Let us begin with the central thesis of the Marxist

writer, Plekhanov, who stated that "The tendency of

 

artists and those concerned with art to adopt an attitude

 

of art for art's sake arises when a hopeless contradiction

 

exists between them and their social environment."1 Or to
approach this from the vieWpoint of "protest art", "The so-
called utilitarian concept of art, that is, the tendengy
to regard the function of art as a£judgment on the phenomena
of life and a readiness to participate in social struggles,
develops and becomes established when a mutual bond of
sympathy exists between a considerable section of society
and those more or less actively interested in artistic
creation."2 To illustrate this latter point, Plekhanov

1

 

 

George V. Plekhanov Art and Society, Critics
2 Group, New York, 1936, p. 48.
Ibid., p. 48.

- 21 -
points to the fact that when the February Revolution burst
forth in 1848, many French writers who had previously
advocated the theory of art for art's sake, now repudiated
it. The utilitarian view of art arises out of one condition,
and that being, "an intense and active interest in a given
social order or social ideal, and it disappears when this
interest...ceases to exist."3 Thus, this "protest art"
arises not only because of the individual artist's temper-
ament and his distaste for that which is about him, but
also because of his position as a part of society. No
doubt, if he allies himself with the emancipatory ideas of
his time, the forcefulness of his art will be heightened.

If we were to turn back to the early Middle Ages, we
would find that this type of art did not exist even though
there was a strong tie between artist and society by virtue
of the intense religious fervor of that time. The individual
artist as such, was pretty much subordinated to the dictates
of the Church. However, art did serve utilitarian purposes
in the sculpture work of the great cathedrals, for its
purpose was to teach those who were unable to read. The great
doorways, such as those of Chartres Cathedral, were like the
Bible to the large mass which was unable to comprehend the
written language.

With the coming of the Renaissance and its stress on

 

‘3 Ibid., p. 52.

_,22 -
humanism, we had the emancipation of the individual artist
from the control of the Church. In the sixteenth and the
seventeenth centuries, especially in Holland and Flanders,
we had the artist dealing with genre subjects, and there
was also a growing concern for those things about them.
Peter Brueghel was among the first of those who can be
called social conscious artists. The role of the artist
had changed, for now he was an individual, and worked much
in his own manner.

At the time when etching was at its height in the
seventeenth century, Callot emerged as the giant among the
French etchers. This was also the time of the Intellectual
Revolution which was beginning to sweep Europe. More
specifically, Callot had witnessed the horrors of the
Reformation troubles, the petty civil wars between princes,
and the French invasion of his own province of Lorraine. It
was from his experiences that he executed his series of.£gg
Miseres de la Guerre while his memory was still vivid with
the pillaging and plundering accompanying war.

Hogarth took a purposeful approach to art in England--
and that was his literary documentation and moral aim. He
raised p0pular illustration to a socially and politically
significant activity, and at the same time brough serious
art down to the English masses mainly through his engravings.
1H0garth came in the backwash of imported painters from the

continent, as well as during the time when the British courts

--23 -
patronized the arts. The Enlightenment began in England
about 1680, and this climaxed the Intellectual Revolution
in philoSOphy. John Locke issued his philosophy in which
he stated that all of man's knowledge originates from sense
perception. These simple ideas must then be integrated and
fused into complex ideas--and this was the function of
reason or understanding.

In Spain, Goya had also witnessed the ravages of war
at first hand. Napoleon's army had invaded Spain (1808-
1814), and the bloody Nay Second incident left an indelible
mark on Goya's mind. Goya put down his vivid first impres-
sions of the bloody reprisals on the part of both the
French and the Spaniards in the recently discovered aquatint
medium. This medium in combination with the etching process
(in most cases), served Goya best in his indictment of war's
brutalities.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Indus-
trial Revolution was the big force. The introduction of
machines, the disappearance of the crafts, the growth of
cities, and the emergence of the factory system with the
subsequent stress on material wealth, brought about the
exploitation of the masses. Daumier was highly critical
of the status of the working class-~that is he was symp
pathetic with them, especially the poor of the cities and
this is evidenced in his art in which he upheld the prole-
tariat class. Daumier was. also a rebel against the class-

ical and romantic traditions, and strove to present his

- 24 -
works without the sentimental embellishments of the
romantic shcool. Even though there was the mad rush for
wealth, there were those who recOgnized the evils intro-
duced by the Machine Age. Paul Gauguin fled this world of
disillusionment and sought his peace in the primitive
South Sea islands.

However, it was really in the twentieth century that
we had the growth of social consciousness in both art and
literature. This growth had been anticipated earlier in
the works of Millet, Daumier, and Goya.

If we were to break down the twentieth century into
its critical points as to "social protest art", then we may
be able to analyze this whole problem a little more clearly.
The first critical point is at the close of World War I.
After having so many were throughout the ages, it seemed as
if the people were finally awakening to the folly of war, and
that no one ever wins a war. This was the time when George
Gross and Kaethe Kollwitz both emerged with their bitter in-
dictments against war. Both of these artists had seen the
devastating effects of war. One, of the destruction of the
meriwho had to fight and suffer, and the other, of the cruelty
inflicted upon the women who had to stay behind. Jubliant
throngs hailed the Armistice as the end of the "war to end all
‘Wars," but nothing is ever gained when one force spills the
'blood of the other and "wins" the war.

The success of the Russian Revolution of 1917, has been

- 25 -
given as a second critical point of the twentieth century
according to Zigrosser.4 The third impetus was the depres-
sion of the Thirties. Especially notable in the United
States were the works of Cropper, Robinson, and Marsh. The
Mexicans, Rivera and 0rozco, also flourished with their
works at this time. Certainly, in tunes like the Thirties,
there was the common bond between society and the artist.

To both, it was the matter of survival-~of being faced with
the struggle to survive under trying conditions.

However, if we were to probe deeper into this matter
of social consciousness, or more specifically, "social
protest art", then we will see that this art envisages the
essential solidarity of all human beings. The abolition of
injustice and discrimation and exploitation would make this
a better world in which to live. This type of art begins
to take on universal and eternal sepects in this search for
a Nirvana here on earth. Read5 has likened the creation of
a work of art in terms of the Freudian psychological approach.
twhereas the inspiration is regarded as emanating in the lg,
giwem.formal synthesis and unity by the Egg, and "...finally
it may be assimilated to those idealOgies or spiritual aspir-

ations which are the peculiar creation of the Super-eg_."6

4 Carl Zigrosser, The Book of Fine Printg, Crown

5 Publishers, New Ybrk, 1957, 1948, p. 172.
Herbert Read, Art and Society, Macmillan Company,
1937, PP. 201-202.

5 Ibid., p. 204,

-'25 -

The idealogies or spiritual aspirations which Read speaks
of can very well be thought of in its broadest aspect as
that of the improvement and betterment of Humanity.

The individual artist is left with two paths to take
in the aspiration for this Earthly Paradise. With the
majority, the impulse goes no further than "...a generalized
sympathy for the downtrodden and oppressed...and a painful
realization of the horrors of war..."7 The other attitude
is that which "...stems from a more specific conviction as
to the cause of injustice and its eradication."8 This
second alternative has a dual phase. In the first place,
the artist can be critical and satirical in his denunciation
of the flaws which he observes in his social order. This is
the negative aspect whichis of concern in this thesis. The
other aspect is in a more positive line-~that of "...a glor-
ification of the heroes of the class struggle, and a faint
adumbration of a better world to come."9 This positive view
will necessarily have to be in general terms rather than
specific as in the negative aspect, since the artists are.not
social geniuses and have no clear-cut solution for working
out any new order which will be satisfactory to all.

New methods and techniques-~such as etching in the
seventeenth century, and aquatinting discovered in the late

7

Carl Zigrosser, The Book of Fine Prints Crown

8 Publishers, New YOrk,‘1937, 1958, p.'l75.
Ibid., p. 175.

9 1513., P0 1730

- 27 -
eighteenth century, certainly marked the impetus for wider
dissemination of works, such as those of Goya in his bitter
sarcastic commentaries on society and his indictment against
war. The discovery of lithography around the beginning of
the nineteenth century by a German, Aloys Senefelder, cer-
tainly accounted for the wide distribution of Daumier's
works.

The advent of the Industrial Revolution altered the
lives of the people so that their whole way of living had
to be changed. Along with the numerous improvement and
_benefits from the Machine Age, we also had the ills which
provided fertile ground for the now-emancipated artist to
voice his opinion. Today, themes for works of art are
taken from mythology and from tenement districts-and each
artist has his own individual way of expressing his personal
viewpoint. While there are those who may rely on vivid and
accurate representation, there are those who may resort to
the non-objective approach. In any case, I feel that we do
have much to gain from.the message of these artists, for
truly, the artist does reflect his age, and in Daumier's

words, "If faut Stre de so temps."lo

Ynez Ghirardelli, H. Daumieg, Interpreter of History,
Grabhorn Press, San Francisco, 1940, p. vi.

 

SOCIETY

In this particular section, I will deal with those
"protest artists" who protested against some general phase
of society and the people in that society. These artists
will be of a number of different centuries and thus of
different times. There will be no direct historical con-
nection between them. However, dealing with a general
subject such as "society" will necessarily mean that the
specific effects and results of the "protest artists" will
be rather indefinite.

William Hogarth (1697-1764) will be considered as a
typical representative of the new middle class. HOgarth was
faced with two choices when he emerged in the art world.
First, he could depend on the patnonage of the wealthy upper
classes such as Holbein or vanDyck had to put up with; or
secondly, he could use some method to reach the poorer but
a wider market. His choice was the latter, and his
pepularity is attributed to his many engravings which sold
for a few shillings apiece. Not only was there a change in
the medium, but Hogarth also had to change the subject matter.
He rejected in its entirety the classical traditions of the
Renaissance and the convention and idealism.of the Grand
‘Manner. He claimed "...that he returned to the humility and

- 28 -

- 29 -

truth of nature.”1 However, according to Read, "Actually

he returned to that humoristic and realistic transcription

of nature already embodied in the fiction and drama of his

period."2

The English scene of Hogarth's time was an imperfect

world, and the average Englishman had to enjoy himself as

well as a poor human being could under existing conditions.

Bowen described this age as follows:

"It was a bitter age, coarse, heartless,
with despair; science was asleep, scepticism,
bigotry and superstition went side by side,
pleasures were almost lewd and vulgar, ideal-
ism was almost eclipsed by materialism...

"Taste was at a low ebb and expressed
itself in a profusion of gaudy, senseless
ornament...

”Noblemen affected fine manners and a
patronage of the arts, but the former were
skin-deep and the latter founded on ignorance;
nowhere was that truly civilized elegance
which had flourished in Italy during the
Renaissance, and which was being sedulously
cultivated in eighteenth-century France--

a country which the English nobleman unskil-
fully aped and at which the English commoner
unskilfully mocked.

"Such as this world was, it offered rich
and varied material to a satirist, to a student
of manners, to one sensible to the violgnt,
horrible and moving drama of humanity.”

And Hogarth was such a satirist who entered upon the

scene.

In addition to a sound artistic background, he

had a sense of the dramatic, the horrible and the grotesque.

 

 

41 Herbert Read, Art and Society, Macmillan Company,
2 New York, 1937, p. 177.
3 Ibid., pp. 177-178.

Marjorie Bowen, William Hogarth, D. Appleton-Century
Company, Inc., New York,tondon, 1937, pp. 29-30.

 

Probably the most widely known of his works is the
series of six prints (after his paintings) entitled,

Marriage-a-la-Mode. This series followed The Rake's

 

Progress and Harlot's Progress. The objection was raised

that the two PrOgresses ”...were hardly suitable to adorn

 

the boudoirs and closets of fashionable people, being
altogether full of '1ow life', and a good deal of not
unnatural umbrage had been taken by those who had discovered
their likeness in the plates."4 As a result, he treated the
high life in his Marriage-a-la-Mode, but not in a manner to
please the aristocracy. The central theme is simple, the
satire crude, and his victims have no chance of escaping
their fate. "The object of his bitter ridicule, a marriage
which is a bargain, a title being 'exchanged for money' is
as old as civilization itself; such alliances are not hard
to seek while wealth and tithes are considered desirable in
human society."5 Though no such story as depicted actually
occurred in real life, Bowen feels that "...he might have
had in mind the divorce case of the Earl of Macclesfield and
his countess, who was afterwards Mrs. Brett and whose story
was made so public by the complaints of her alleged son,
Richard Savage."6 Basically, this series is more of a satire

on manners than on morals.

g Ibid., p. 69.
6 MO, p. 109.
Ibid., p. 168.

 

- 31 -

Bowen is of the Opinion that the moral content of
Hogarth's work was probably sub-conscious, and that we
should not take too seriously Hogarth's desire to improve
the morals of his fellowmen.7 The moral aspect of Hogarth's
works provided a good selling point to the public. It is
for the simple reason that the "moral" and the "story" were
so fascinating to the public, which accounted for Hogarth's
popularity with the people; but at the same time delayed
the recognition of the work in the sphere of pure aesthetics.

Hogarth's works verge more on the brim of satire and
humor than it does along "protest" lines. However, I feel
that his works do have overtones of a "protest"-of a "pro-

test" against the conditions of the society of his time.

Yet by comparison, it will be seen that Marriage-a-la-Mode,

 

for example, will not have the biting indictment of a work
by Goya. Even though Hogarth is representing eighteenth
century England, I am very much in accord with Bowen when

she stated:

"Hogarth's world, then, is essentially
a world that not only really existed, but that
exists still; his characters are Mr. and Mrs..
Everybody; he shows us long-established vices
and stupidities with which we are, at first
hand, familiar. But because his people wear
ancient costumes and are set in scenes strange
to us, his work seems to show something remote,
entirely out of harmony with ourselves. Again
he shows the essence of life that we ourselves,
involved in our individual hurries, cannot

 

7
Ibid., p. 51

- 32 -

perceive; an artist of his power could extract

this essence from any age, and it would always

seem terrible, touching the grotesque, for

stripped truth is both terrible and grotesque.”8

Hogarth's appeal is universal, and not limited to
eighteenth century England. He really show us ourselves,
the good and the bad. This was the beginning of great
movements for the betterment of humanity which yet un-
noticeable to the casual eye.
Let us turn next to a man of a century later who took

a different approach in his'protest", Paul Gauguin (1848-
1903), the first of the so-called modern primitives.
Gauguin was a respectable businessman, a stock broker, a
family man, and he would paint only on Sundays. When he
was 35, he abandoned business, family, and security to
take up painting. Not only is he one of the leading artists
of the decorative school, but he "...is important also as
a symbol of the disillusionment which spread through
intellectual and artistic circles toward the end of the
nineteenth century. Dismayed by the complexity and artific-
iality of-civilization, he fled to the South Sea islands and
spent the last decade of his life painting the hot and
luscious colors of an unspoiled, primitive society."9

(Though Gauguin made a theatrical gesture about abandoning

a decadent civilization-~he probably had some sincerity in

¥

8

9 Ibid., p. 277.
Edward McNall Burns, Western Civilizations,gTheir
History and Their Cultures,W. W. Horton and'Co.,

New York, 1949, p. 664.

- 33 -
purpose--yet, he also had some hills which were due as well
as the fact that his erst-while friend, van Gogh, had made
an attempt on his life).

Gauguin wanted to go where life was simple and primitive
--away from a world infested with bourgeois imbeciles, and
”'...far from this EurOpean struggle for money.”10 He had
no love for sham and stupidity and the so-called bourgeois
virtues, for he wanted to put behind him physical privation
and senseless distractions which he felt came in the wake of
that civilization.

It appears that Gauguin was successful in his escape,
for at times, he found idyllic happiness in the islands. He
had discovered the fresh and wholesome purity and silence,
and he had found the poised order which he was seeking.

This phase is summarized in his book, Noa-Noa, in which he
tells of how the natives adopted him. He lived like the
natives, ate with them, dressed like them, and unhaped-for
peace filled his heart. "'...I begin to think quietly...
to entertain but little hatred for other men; nay, to love
them, I am in possession of every Joy of life in freedom,
animal and human. I have escaped from.the false, and enter
:Lnto Nature with the certainty that the morrow will be as
to-day, as free and as fair; peace wells up in me; I am

developing normally and am rid of empty cares.'"n

¥

10 Sheldon Cheney The 0Story of Modern Art, The

11 Viking Press, NM ,194/} p. 250.
Robert Rey, Gauguin, Dodd, Mead and Co., New York,
1924, p. 37.

- 54 -

Instead of depicting cruel and biting satirical comment
and "protest" about the ills of his society, Gauguin ran
away from it and sought a society unmarred by the so-called
civilized world. This was his "protest"--in trying to exem-
plify to others that the world in which they lived was a
diseased one. He hated the hampering civilization and found
his peace in the South Sea islands. When he was compelled to
return to France, he left with many regrets, for "Yes, indeed,
the savages have taught many things to an old man of an old
civilization; these ignorant men have taught him much in the
art of living and happiness."12

His works of this period have a warm cast throughout,
reflecting the warmth of the islands. His emphasis was on
the decorative aspect of art, and to portray the world in
accordance with his own subjective feelings. They do not
have the violence of a Goya, nor the satirical quality of
a HOgarth or Daumier, and yet, if one considers the reason
as to why Gauguin did seek the South Sea islands, then he
can rightly be classified as among the "protest artists".

Georges Rouault (1871- ) is somewhat like Gauguin
.in.his "protest” against the conditions existing in society
today.13 He stands as the solitary figure, a devout Catholic

#12 Carl Zigrosser, The Book of Fine Prints, Crown

Publishers, NewYErE, 1937, 1948, p.fi146
In addition to the general condemnation of society,
Rouault is known for his "protest" against war.

This will be considered later in this thesis.

13

- 55 -
and a devotional painter in a period when many of the artists
have run the gamut of anti-religious feeling. His approach
in his "protest" is one of deep inner vision, and does not
have the dramatic violence of a Goya. In speaking of Bouault,
Cheney stated:

"Personally unworldly, and given to
medieval ideas of withdrawal and of dedica-
tion to his craft, Rouault was known as
'The monk of modern painting.'“ He took
many episodes from the Bible for his themes,
and "In this he was completing constructively
a work he had begun long ago from the Opposite
approach, in criticism and exposure of the
ills of modern civilization." 5
To this great artist, what one senses was more important
than what one sees; this was one of the teachings he retained
from his own teacher, Moreau. His paintings and prints are
those of expressionism, and yet an expressionism which is
highly individual to Rouault. In his treatment of sad-faced
clowns, they appear like melancholy witnesses of bourgeois
corruption, and the clowns weep for humanity; they do not
accuse.16sround 1907, he made a series of satirical painting
of judges. Yet there is a deeper meaning behind the paint-
:ings, for "Judges were for him...symbols of burgeois corrup-

1:ion, of justice become a travesty of itself through the

callousness of the prosperous middle class."17 Rouault

 

14
15 Sheldon Cheney, op. cit., p. 486.

16 Ibid., p. 486.
James Thrall Soby, Georges Rouault, Museum of
Modern Art, New York, 1943, p. 157

17 Ibid., p. 17.

 

spared nothing in his ridicule of bourgeoise and its
officialdom. He also executed a series with prostitues as
the dominant theme. And yet, "He drew on the houses of
prostitution for subjects, not with Degas's or Lautrec's
careful objectivity but in order to castigate prostituion."18

I feel that the works of Georges Bouault relative to
the general theme of the ills of a civilization, are a
"protest" against those things which he senses. In all
his works, there is a pathetic feeling; no doubt arising out
of his deep religious feeling. The method employed here is
an implicit one, for the message element is subtly concealed
behind the guises of clowns, judges, and prostitutes. The
words which Rouault used in reference to that impassioned
champion of the Middle Ages, Leon Bloy, may well apply to
himself. They were, "'He vomits his epoch.'"19

Leaving Europe, let us take a glance at the United
States. In the 1930's, there were two trends in this
country. The artists were becoming aware of some of the
,evils of the Industrial Age, and it was also the period
of the Great Depression. One of the trends was that certain
of the regional artists of the Middle West and elsewhere
were revolting against the domination of the big cities,

such as New York and Chicago. In their "protest", these

_—

Sheldon Cheney, op. cit., p. 319.
19 James Thrall Soby, op. cit., p. 5.

- 37 -

artists selected higherto neglected material for pictorial
use close to home. Thomas Benton, Steuart Curry, and Grant
Wood were notable examples. Their "protest" was an implicit
one, for instead of an open condemnation of an evil, they
resorted to a more subtle approach. The other trend was the
spread of social conscious art in the large cities during
the Depression. However, when the conditions changed, only
a relatively few were left. New creative approaches were
being introduced in style, design, and technique. we: Weber,
John Marin, and Stuart Davis are figures in this movement.

Notable among the more "pure" social protest artists"
are William Gropper (1897- ) and Philip Evergood (1901-

). Gropper worked primarily in the lithOgraphic medium,
and is noted for his bitter political attacks. His early
life was that of a struggling youth born on the lower east
side of New York City, and who was working for six dollars
a week at the age of fourteen. He also worked as a political
cartoonist for the Tribune; however, he quit this paper to

work for the Rebel Worker. In 1927, he made a trip to Russia,

 

and has been called a Communist sympathizer. Mention is made
of his political leanings since this is indicated in his
humorous jabs at capitalism. For the Record, Plate I

(Page 39), is a stinging blow against the legislative system
of our government. While the one man is talking with all

the forcefulness and energy of his deep-felt (7) emotions,
the others are lolling, reading, or doing anything but listen

to the speaker. Another one of Gropper's works, The Senate,

- 38 -

was along the same satirical lines. Gropper had six one-man
shows in New York between 1956-41, and "...showed himself a
forceful commentator upon national life and political affairs,
and at the same time a master of design."20 "William Gropper
is a positive person...He has always had a conscience and an
inner necessity to use his art...to lampoon, point out, and
dramatically satirize wrong--to make people aware of their ,
heritage and the ever present dangers involved in preserving
it. In many ways he's the nearest thing we've had to Daumier."2l
Gropper's message of "protest" is direct and explicit, and has
a forcefulness which makes his work a powerful creation.
However, to limit his "protest" to the United States Congress
is to say only half of what can be said, for deeper than that,
I feel that For the Record may easily be construed to be a
”protest" against all forms of inefficiency and corruption
within a governing political body.

, Evergood ranks second only to Gropper as a social
message painter, Evergood was bitter in his condemnation of
those who considered useful art a bad form of art, aestheti-

22 He felt that true realism and satire are

cally speaking.
useful in helping to accomplish betterment and change. "As
a matter of pure fact all good art throughout the ages has

been social art. And because good art of the past has

 

20 Sheldon Cheney, op. cit., p. 585.
21 J0 Gibbs, "William.Gropper, Protester in Paint,"
22 Art Digest, vol. 19, p. 15 (April 15, 1945).
Philip Evergood, "Sure I'm a Social Painter",
Magazine of Art, vol. 56., p. 251 (November, 1945).

 

-39-

“Q‘-

 

' .‘Vc: : '“ ;,,. . ’ ." '
- ‘ fig“. 1' 4. _,_.. A
-. mess-3w we.
.“ x ‘ '$ ’2 .ig.e‘xfh
J $'-‘ vj-t:_...

 

[ 440. Gropper. For the Record

 

PLATE I. GrOpper. For the Record. LithOgraph, 1936,
11 1/2 x 13 374". Philadelphia Museum of Art.
(From Carl Zigrosser, The Book of Fine Prints,
Crown Publishers, New fink, 19:37, 1948, Plate 440).

- 4O -
has portrayed human beings and their habits, it has consti-
tuted the most pleasing record of the past that exists..."23

His large oil painting Street Corner is more than a scene of

 

workers and of lower classes. Evergood has so depicted the
scene that we do have overtones of the stark comparison of
the sordid conditions which exist even in the modern
twentieth century. His message is that of awakening the
people to the realization that we do have the struggling
lower classes who know not the comforts and luxuries of the
so-called "average American". I agree with the statement
made by this artist that "The greatest art is the result of
human experience--a searching for the big truth but not being
enslaved by its petty detailed"?4
Reginald Marsh (1898- ), Grant Wood (1892- ), and
George Bellows (1882-1925) are other American artists who
have made contributions in this field. The message of these
artists was not as Open and explicit as some of the others,
while Gropper and Evergood Specialized in this social con-
scious type of art. Marsh falls into the classification of
the "Urban Scene Painters" of the 1930's, and he depicted
many scenes of city life--in an almost lurid way, and yet
there does exist a certain element of social criticism.
Coney Island and Harlem were his favorite subjects. In

his Twenty-Cent Movie and his mural works, we see evidences

 

 

23 Ibid., p. 255.
34 Ibid., p. 258.

- 41 -
of "protest" against the squalid conditions of the unfort-
unate segment of our population. 0f Marsh's works, Cheney
stated that "His record of burlesque strip-teasers and their
audiences, of beach parties at Coney Island, and of the
Negro stoppers of Harlem were interesting as social documents,
if often disturbingly gross and faintly obscene."25

Grant Wood's Daughters of The American Revolution was
the result of his personal experience. Because he had gone
to Germany for inspiration for a design for a stained-glass
window commemorating the dead of World War I, he was
severely criticized by the Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion. In turn, Wood painted this stinging work, in which he
is criticizing a certain aSpect of society--those who make
certain claims and do just the opposite. This work verges
on the rim of satire of the snobbish element of society.

Though he is best known for his athletic paintings,
Bellows executed two works in the realm of "social protest"
art. He also worked in "protest" against war, which will
be discussed in a subsequent chapter. Primarily a draughts-
man, it is said that he was perhaps most happy as a lithog-

rapher. In his The Law is Too Slow, he showed the "...most

 

starkly realistic indictment of lynching to come from any
lithographic stoned“?6 He was not a reform artist, and

yet he was sensitive enough to recognize the social obliga-

2 x
Sheldon Cheney, op. cit., p. 580
26 Peyton Boswell, Jr., George Bellows, Crown
Publishers, New York, 1942, p. 23.

 

 

- 42 -
tions of the artist. His painting, River Front Number 2,
also displays a tendency towards social criticism. Here
we have a scene depicting the "ol' swimming hole" for those
who live in the cities--a swimming hole with filth and
crowded conditions. It was implied criticism in this par-
ticular case, and during the 1930's, the W. P. A. constructed
a number of swimming pools.

The Mexican artists Diego Rivera (1886- ) and Jose
Clement Orozco (1883- ) have made the Mexican School one
of the vital ones of our day. The keynote of this School
is humanity, and their art is primarily a social one. The
struggling peon was glorified, and the capitalist was
subject to satire. .The aim of these men was to depict the
social conditions of the modern world and to present the
hOpes and struggles of the toilers. Thus, the art was in
defiance of the bourgeois, and ”...by working for one's
own conscience and approval of one's fellow artist, that
the painters could preserve their integrity."27 In Mexican
art, murals have had and do have an important function. As
- in the Middle Ages where the sculpture on the cathedrals
served as the Bible for the mass who were unable to read,
murals are for the Mexicans, as the mass is unable to own
books or even paper. "'What writing is to those who read,‘
Gregory the Great wrote in the Sixth Century to the Bishop
of warseilles, *that a picture is to those who have only

eyes...for the people especially, pictures stand in the

.a_ 4427

 

 

Bertram D. Wolfe, Diego Rivera, American Union,
Washington D.C., 1947, p. 4.

 

- 43 -

place of literature."'38 This statement in the sixth century

still is applicable to the impoverished mass in Mexico.
Rivera reflects not only the social currents of his

country and his time, but also the aesthetic. The very manner

of painting of subject matter was a form of "protest" for

Rivera. Art was now meant to be for the people instead of

the bourgeois middle class. Wolfe stated that, ”One of the

great services of the Mexican Revolution to the painters

was to break through the vicious circle of private patronage.

'I was sick of painting for the bourgeois,’ Diego told me in

1923, 'The middle class has no taste, least of all the

moxican middle class...Rare indeed was the sitter who would

consent to my painting him as I saw him...Even from the

standpoint of art alone, it was necessary to find some way

of painting for the people.'"29

. The works of Orozco depict more of the brutal savagery

of man in his struggle to survive. He feels that he must

also reveal the falsity and evil he meets in complex forms

about him. Fernandez was high in his estimation of the

man Orozco, when he stated, "I feel that Orozco is one of

the finest characters in the world today; his art reflects

man's sacrifice in order to realize new ideals in the midst

of a passionate and corrupt world."3° Orozco completed

 

28 Ibid., p. 7.

 

29 Bertram D. Wolfe, Die 0 Rivera, Alfred A. Knopf,
30 New York, London, I93é, p. I60.

José Clemente Orozco, Text by Justino Fernandez,
Mexico, 1944, Intro. Eugene Fischgrund.

- 44 -
mural works at Pomona College, Dartmouth College, and the
New School for Social Research in New York City, and all
his works are socially significant. “The barbarities of
war, socialistic propaganda, satire of the rich and the
pretentious, pity for the poor and the exploited: all
this enters into the picturing of this typically Mexican
painter, and he matches the importance, the compulsion of
his thematic material with a pictorial power, a plastic
competence, equal to that of the overseas leaders of the
modern movement."31

It is apparent that these two notable artists do take
on certain ideological tendencies as reflected in their
art. Both Orozco and Rivera certainly had close association-
ship with the Communist party--though Rivera later resigned
from the Party. ihe struggle of the masses and the uphold-
ing of the proletariat, the theme of the rebirth of a new
world under new ideals--such was the communistic invasion.
Nevertheless one must admit that, "One distinction of the
Mexicans is that they £313 had something to say. They have
proven the adaptability of a simplified, form-enriched

-method to themes of magnitude and profundity."52

However,
I believe that the Mexican art is more of reform than
"protest art", and is influenced by the teachings of com-

munism. In some respects, a tinge of the propaganda

3: Sheldon Cheney, op. cit., p. 556.

Ibid., p. 556.

 

- 45 -
element seems to creep in, rather than a sincere "protest"
on the part of the artist.

It has been illustrated that the artists were sensitive
to those deplorable conditions, and spoke up in their medium
--that is, in terms of paintings and prints. They had a
message to give to the peOple, and they "protested" either
in the subtle implicit method or the more direct and open
explicit means. The Industrial Revolution certainly has
proven beneficial for the welfare of the people, and yet,
there were those evils introduced by the Machine Age. The
struggle for materialism, wealth, and the abandonment of
the spiritua1--these were some of the ills about which the
artist "protested"; he wanted to wake up the "mercenary-
doped" public. In the final analysis, the ultimate aim
was for a happier and better world here on earth--a search
for that Earthly Paradise. The means to attain that end is
not of consequence here--what is more important is hp! the
artists "protested" against the glaring weaknesses of a

society and a civilization.

INJUSTICE AND CORRUPTION

Honoré Daumier (1808-1879) stands out as the great
figure among those artists who "protested" against
injustice and corruption. Daumier was indeed versatile,
for he was capable of dealing in different kinds of
subject matter, and because I will deal with him only in
connection with injustice does not mean to imply that this
was his only subject. Primarily a journalist who drew
caricatures and cartoons, Daumier, nevertheless gained due
recognition for his mastery because of the eternal universal
quality of his lithOgraphs. When one considers that Daumier
turned out about four thousand lithographs in his lifetime,
and even turning out four in one night, then it is more
amazing that one man was able to instill such a universal
appeal in those works. He would draw lithographs simply
because he had to have an income, but deep within him.was
the one intense desire to paint.

Millet and Daumier were the first painters to dedicate
themselves wholly to contemporary or "common" themes of
nineteenth century France. Though Millet's works tended
towards portrayal, he so suggested a sense of his brother-
hood with the struggles of the humble toilers, that the
world was stirred to sympathy. However, Daumier "...was a
trained social commentator, a cartoonist by trade, and he

- 45 -

- 47 -
carried over to his painting his interest in the contemp-
orary scene, and at times his barbed criticism and satire...
and he caricatured the predatory lawyers and corrupt courts
so subtly that his paintings rouse ultimate anger over
official injustice."1 In his early youth, he had worked in
the court as an usher and errand boy to a bailiff of the
courts, and as a result, was familiar with the ways of the

courts. Later in 1831, he joined the staff of La Caricature

 

where he drew biting cartoons of the political machine taking
bribes at one end and discharging decorations, commissions
and favors at the other. On one occasion, he had to spend
six months in jail because of his condemning political works.
Daumier's satire Spared no class, and least of all the
bourgeois. "He ridiculed the corruption of petty officials,
the pompous blundering of lawyers and judges, and the hypo-
critical piety of the rich."2 As it was with HOgarth, to
Daumier, moralism.was a way out of intolerable dilemma of
the artist in a capitalistic epoch.

The creation of the illustrated paper and the improve-
znent of the techniques in lithography, afforded Daumier an
excellent opportunity to_burst forth with his deep-felt

"protests”. The medium lent itself to the rapidity of

 

l Sheldon Cheney, The Storv of Modern Art, The

2 Viking Press, New York, I947, p. 101.
Edward McNall Burns, Western Civilizations, Their
History and Their Cultures, WIW.Norton and Co.,
NewfiYork, 1949, p. 662.

 

 

- 4a -
conception which demanded rapidity of execution--and Daumier
ably fitted this role. LithOgraphy was used mostly for
commercial purposes in the nineteenth century, except for
Goya and Daumier, and these men used it as a medium of great
power.

Some thirty years after his imprisonment for creating

a bitter caricature of Louis Philippe, Daumier drew his

series of the Gene de Justice. This series no doubt re-

 

flected his earlier imprisonment which gave him a lifelong
hatred for the men of the courts. Daumier drew many
lithographs and treated a variety of subjects, and thus it
is hardly fair to a genius as this man, to omit many of
his great works. However, instead of the more apparent

”protests" as in his Gens de Justice series, I felt that

 

his Rue Transnonain,le 15 avril, 1834, Plate II (page 49),

 

serves as an excellent example of his "protest" against
injustice.

In the book, H. Daumier, Interpreter of History, the

 

author Ghirardelli, has gone to a great deal of research
and study correlating Daumier's works with his time. The
prints are discussed in detail, and this book is heavily

documented. Rue Transnonain, 1e 15 avril, 1834 is among

 

I the selected works, and I have drawn heavily upon this
source for the factual information involved. All we see
in this print through the visual eye, are three adults and
child, all dead and spots of blood are on the floor. The

-49-

.AHH.o»eHmnceoH.oomweesmk sum .mmenm quonosnc one
NnOpeHm no noponmpopaH .nedassn .m .Haaecnsnfinc use» aonuv

.Saaaaw can; cospoodwoi [man B a a? S .33
.nmsnwoanA .enma .Hfines ma OH .seanocnaena osm .neaadsn

 

.HH HB‘HM

 

 

- 50 -
furniture indicates that a struggle had taken place. The
large white central figure of the man lying lifeless on
tOp of the child is contrasted sharply with the grayer and
darker areas around this figure. From this contrast, one
gets a feeling of the dramatic, and also the feeling of the
brokeness of the body as it lies inert slumped against the
bed. The event depicted was an episode of minor importance,
but this Plate is "...remembered today chiefly because he
immortalized the tragic scene with his great plastic power."3
In order to fully understand the deep-felt "protest:
behind this Plate, it is necessary to know a little about
the historical setting. The scene itself depicted the
massacre in the Rue Transnonain, which was the episode which
closed the series of attempted insurrections in France. The
Republicans who had been beaten in June, 1832, carried out
these insurrections, as a part of their revenge program.
The Rights of Man was the newly formed Republican society
with more positive demands such as universal suffrage, the
jury system, and emancipation of the working class. In
April, 1834, the bourgeoisie, alarmed by the manifeSto Of
The Rights of Man, retaliated with a repressive law. This
"...forbade associations divided into sections of less than

twenty persons (The Rights of Man was divided into sections

 

of twenty persons to evade a previous law which forbade

"—-_3C

 

Ynez Ghiradelli, H. Daumier, Interpreter of History,
Grabhorn Press, SanFrancisco, 1940, p. 29.

 

- 51 -

associations of more than twenty persons) and referred
infringements to courts of summary jurisdiction instead

of trial by jury."4 In retaliation to this suspension of
liberty, the Republicans came through with a suSpension of
law and order. By April twelfth, order was restored in
Lyons, but on the following day, barricades (after a

signal from The Rights of Men) were erected in the Quartier
du Marais, Paris. The bourgeois government had disPersed
those insurgents, when a rumor was circulated that at NO.

12 Rue Transnonain, some Republicans were firing on the
troops. Government troops forced their way into the house
and massacred the inmates in blind fury. "'Sixteen innocent
victims sacrificed in a few minutes--sixteen deliberate and
cruel assassinations--such were the first effects of the
methods adopted for putting down the insurrection.”5 This,

then, was the setting for Rue Transnonain, 1e 15 avril, 1834.

 

Facts collected by the brother of one of the victims--
descriptions by eye-witnesses--and recorded in a memorial
remain as mute testimony to that massacre. Ghirardelli
included one in his book, and excerpts from it will be
sufficient to explain the event immortalized by Daumier.

”...The evening before there were sixteen
men and women assembled in the room...We had
retired there when the insurgents threatened
to break into the house, for it was them we
were afraid of: we little thought we should
have any reason to dread the military, We

_L

4
5 Ibid., p. 29.

IEid., p. 29.

were crowded together...there were still thirteen
of us there when the troops tried to break down
the door..Madame Codefroy...had an infant...in
her arms...my husband...held an infant...said my
husband; 'let these gentlemen see' (and he held
the child forward) 'We are here, you see, with
our family, my friends, my brothers: We are all
peaceable mothers and fathers Of families...M. Hu,
mortally wounded, fell with his son under him, the
child had its arm broken with a ball...twenty-two
bayonet wounds...M. Thierry was killed... then
they perceived M. Bonton...As they had no musket
loaded, they ran him through with their bayonets.
His cries were such that I seem to hear them
now..."6

Even though the scene is a specific one, and Daumier
immortalized the scene with this print, deeper than what
is obvious, there is universal condemnation of injustice.
The ruthlessness of those in power without heed for the
individual is a "protest" against injustice. The human
soul--the individual--means nothing to those who seek
power and greed. Whether we look at this print today
or fifty years from today, I believe that its message is
an eternal one. What price the individual self? Nothing.
The methods of injustice are clear...

Jean Louis Forain (1852-1931) was another man who
had a stubborn sense of social injustice like Daumier.
However, I feel that his works have a certain religious
compassion even in his satires. He has a strong sense of
humanity which stirs his artistic emotion. He was a
master-etcher and a very able draughtsman. While we may

read Hogarth's prints, we feel Forain's etchings.7

 

f; 33244.. p. 30.
Modern Masters of Etching, J.L.Forain, The Studio
London, 1925, p. 4.

 

- 53 -

More than a sense of "protest", one gathers a wide-reaching
sympathetic outlook from his work such as Apres 1a Saisie.
In this print, we have "...a poverty-stricken family turned
out of such home as they had, the woman striding along with
her two little children, the man slouching after them; a
bleak scene, but with pity eloquent in the very simplicity
of the etcher's expression.”8 The innocent questioning
glances of the two children--innocent victims of the heart-
lessness of a society, or possibly the inadequacy of the
father. And yet, one cannot help but feel that the father
and mother have tried every conceivable means to retain
their home, but to of no avail. What is this a "protest"
against? A "protest" against the modern civilization which
is full of injustices--injustices to the innocent children
who have to suffer and know not why. This may well be a
stark testimonial to the fact that we today are losing the
value of human significance.9

George Bellows executed a painting (also a lithograph
after the painting) which he entitled, Edith Cavell. The
painting is done in nocturnal greens, blacks, and yellow
lights. Simply by looking at this work, one may find it
difficult to see the element of "protest" against injustice.

‘

8

9 Ibid., p. 4.
The many "No Children" signs in apartments-for-rent
today may serve as a comparable situation of
"protest".

- 54 -
Once again, this is a specific episode, and yet, there
does exist that intangible element of universality and
lastingness. The scene is one in which we see a Red Cross
nurse coming down the steps into a dungeon in which there
are many soldiers. Some are wounded and helpless, while
a few struggle meekly to stand and greet this nurse.
Edith Cavell was the British Red Cross nurse who was the
greatest heroine in the fight to preserve democracy in
World War I. She had aided wounded English, French, and
Belgian soldiers to escape during the German occupation of
Belgium. She was caught and sentenced to die before the
firing squad--even though she had cared for many wounded
Germans. Despite appeals from all over the world to stay
the sentence, she was executed before a firing squad on
October 12, 1915. The calm dignity of her last words can
still be heard: "Patriotism is not enough."10 This is

not an idealized scene--instead it is striking in its

tragic appeal. This work by Bellows may well be interpreted

to be a "protest" against war and all the evils accompanying

it; but once again, this is a "protest" against injustice to

the value of individual worth. Technically, she was guilty

in aiding the enemy, and yet, was she guilty when she tended

the wounded regardless of nationality? When so little value

is placed on the individual, then I feel that degradation of

a civilization is making itself felt.

 

107

Peyton Boswell Jr., George Bellows, Crown
Publishers, New York, 1942, p. 19.

 

- 55 -

Ben Shahn (1898- ), a contemporary American
artist, made a series of twenty-one paintings on the
Sacco-Vanzetti trial theme. The story is simple--two
Italian immigrants are unjustly accused, and are sentenced
to be electrocuted for a crime they did not commit. The
lack of knowledge of the English language was a strike
against the defenders before they even took their stand.
At this time, feeling was none too friendly towards the
Italian immigrants, and this was another strike against
them. They were electrocuted in 1927 despite all the
demonstrations all over the world against the injustice.
In this series, he painted Sacco and Vanzetti quite
simply, but with a great deal of attention to the facial
features. Not only the outward characteristics, but more
of the inward features--of how these men felt. Shahn
specializes in the intense study of the tensions which
may exist over a person's face which has its roots within
the heart of the individual. Both Sacco and Vanzetti are
calm, and are kindly-faced--nothing of the deepair or
anxiety. In many ways, the paintings are like true cruci-
fixions. Again, a "protest" against the injustice of the
law courts--of how a man's life can be so easily snuffed
out strictly on the basis of evidence. How much value is
attached to the life of man?

In the murals in the Supreme Court Building of Mexico

City, Jose Clemente Orozco added his bitter "protest" against

- 55 -
the judicial system with all its laxities. We have justice
lolling, snoring with his mouth agape. "...his painting is
more disquieting than the ancient ones (the Flemish works),
being a sweeping indictment of all human justice rather than
a single scoundrel. To the doubtful enjoyment of Mexican
judges, who must pass the murals every day on their way to
work, Orozco chose literally to broil human lawmakers and [1

justice dispensers on a set of divine spits."11 The

Justices of the courts would be very happy to see this work
erased, and yet it still remains as a mute "protest" against
the injustice of the so-called courts of justice.

From this survey dealing with those "protests" against
injustice and corruption within a political system, can we
not deduce that the artists were quick to point out the in-
justices and tried to convey this idea to the public? Yet
the injustices were those which, though they had their
immediate origin in a particular time and place, nevertheless,
took on certain aspects of universality. It is this element
of an universal appeal--to all men regardless of color or
creed--which makes the mass of humanity become more aware of
the worth of the individual self. The injustice is not
limited to a wrong in the legal sense, but an injustice to
mankind. The artists themselves certainly must have felt

deeply about the wrongs in order to successfully portray

 

Jean Charlot, "Jose Clemente Orozco," Ma azine
of Art, vol. 40, p. 259 (November, 1947).

- 57 -
that theme to the people. This "protest" is only one of
the many in the struggle to make this worlds better place
in which to live. Man lives with his brothers, and an

injustice to one is an injustice to all.

 

WAR

The "protest" against war has been a long one, and
in the face of the threat of another war, may we not take
stock of ourselves again to see who "wins" in a war.
Destruction of men, pillaging, ruin, devastation-- all
follow in the wake of a war--a war which usually has its
roots in economic sources or in the greed of a few in power.
Many are the "protests" heard today against war, and yet in
Korea today, we have blood being spilled after only five
years since the end of World War II. Patriotism and loyalty
to nation? Yes, but deeper than simply nationalistic feel-
ings, what about the Brotherhood of Man? When one can
objectively imagine that if the time, money, and efforts
which are directed towards destructive ends could be directed
to constructive ends, would we not be taking a step in the
right direction towards the attainment of this Earthly
Paradise? ‘

Jacques Callot (1593/4-1635) was among the first to
depict his "protest" against war. He used the etching
medium, and though his series of the Greater and Lesser

Miseries of War are small (about 3 1/4" x 7 3/8"), they

 

are shown in complete details. Callot was born in the
province of Lorraine in France, and was born into a
historical setting which was full of Reformation troubles

-58..

 

- 59 -

and of ravaging civil wars between the provinces. He had
seen the barbarity of warfare in general, and of the sense-
less brutality of religious warfare in particular. The
historical background for his particular series of "protest"
against war is laid in the French invasion of Lorraine, and
of the meaninglessness of treaties signed for purposes of
maintaining peace. When Lorraine was finally taken by the

French, Callot was commissioned by Louis XIII to do two works

 

depicting the conquest of L'Ile do He and La Rochelle. Later,
however, when he was asked to execute an etching commemorat-
ing his own country's humiliation, he made his famous reply:
"Sire, je suis Lorrain et je crois ne devoir rien fairs

contra l'honneur de mon pays." Callot was a man as well as
an artist.

Callot was an etcher of the actual world--there was very
little moralizing, and he did not reveal his own feelings.
The works are detailed, and show the detachment with which
Callot approached his work. There is beauty of design and
aesthetic qualities, and this series has often been described
as a "...ballet of horror and death."1 The scenes themselves
are kaleidoscopic views of unfettered bestiality, of pillag-
ing, raping of nuns, plundering of convents, and of battle-
fields strewn with entangled masses of dead soldier and of

wounded horses.

 

1 F. D. Klingender, "Les Miseres et Malheurs de La

Guerre, " Burlington Magazine, vol. 81, p. 206
(August, 1942).

- so -

Though Callot's works do not have the dynamic forcefulness

of some of the other artists who "protested" against war,

yet, I feel that his works do have more depth than what
may be apparent at first glance. They show the horrors
endured by the common people in a war conducted in the
interest of princes. By implication, these prints show the
suffering of the civil population whose lost it was to
"feed the war."2 Kup has felt too that Callot's works are
more than ilustrational when he stated, "With an accusing
(my italics) hand Callot depicts the plundering of French
armies in Northern Italy, the burning and raping of Swedes
in the towns and villages of war-torn Central EurOpe.":5
The Miseres de La Guerre has also been called the pictorial
"All Quiet on the Western Front" of the Thirty Years War.
The spirit of Callot's war prints was adequately

described by Klingender. He referred to Voltaire's Candide
in which the following excerpt describes an Arabian village
which the Bulgars had burned according to the laws of
Public Right.

"...Here old men riddled with blows watched

their wives dying, with their throats cut,

their infants clasped to their bleeding bosoms;

their disemboweled girls, having assuaged the

carnal needs of various heroes, were giving

up their last breath; others who had been

half burnt cried out for someone to finish
- them off; brains were spread out on the ground

 

2

3 Ibid., p. 205.

Karl Kup, "Prints," American Artist, vol. 11,
p. 30 (January, 1947).

 

- 51 -
along with cut off arms and legs.
"Candide fled to another village; it

belonged to the Bulgars, and the Arabian
heroes had treated it in the same way...”

4
Callot's "protest"? Against the cruelty and brutality
of war because it is the civilian population which suffers--
the first direct cry heard against war in Western Art.
The French occupation of France from 1808-1814, ’
provided the material for Francisco Goya's biting indictment

of war in his series of Desastres de la Guerra. These are

i?"- ’

mainly etchings, while some are in combination with aqua-
tint; and these were etched intermittently between 1810 and
1820. (However they were not published until 1863). The
French occupation disrupted Spanish life, and though many
(Goya probably included) were sympathetic with French hieals
of liberty at the beginning, the cruel and useless crimes

on the part of the invaders quickly unified the Spaniards in
"protest". France had really started the Spanish war of
independence, for the Spaniards were fighting in Opposition
to domination by the invader. H. D. W. in the Bulletin of
the Milwaukee Art Institute, summed up the setting for Goya's

works.

"Butchery, mutilation, famine and rape stalking
through Spanish history, left a gory trail in
the turbulent years when the puppet Joseph
Bonaparte tottered on an almost mythical Spanish
throne...Complaisant Charles IV, in a French
provincial village, surrendered Spain to the
Corsican emperor, and trailed Godoy, the Prince

 

F. D. Klingender, op. cit., p. 206.

- 52 -

of Peace, and Maria Louisa, their common Queen

into obscurity. From the abdication in 1808 to

the short-lived restoration in 1813, Spain was

a torchlit panorama of pillage and carnage."6

Y no Hay Remedio, Plate III (page 63), has been
selected as an example of Goya's "protest" against war.
We have here all the bloody, brutal aspects of war as men
are being shot as they are bound to a stake-~shot from the
gun of the "invaders". In his work on the Desastres, Goya
was’careful not to designate which country was the invader,
since he was more concerned with the inhumanity of war.
Both the French and the Spaniards were guilty of brutality
and disregard for humanity. He would generalize from
specific incidents, so that his works take on a symbolic
aspect in "protest". Mayor stated that, "Above all Goya
introduces us to the realities of the 'small incidents' of
war. The horrors which he depicts here are more dreadful
than the big battles."7 Goya never depicted battles nor
masses of troops--his concern was with the war as it affected
the civilian population. "All he shows us is war's disasters
and sdualor, without any of the glory or even picturesque-

ness."8

Goya's message of "protest" was of eternally saying to

6 "Goya's Bitter Heritage," Art Digest, v01. 11,

p. 17 (February 15, 1937).
7 A. H. Mayor, "Goya's Disasters of War," American
Magazine of Art, vol. 29, p. 710 (November, 1936).
The Complete Etchings of Goya, Crown Publishers,
Few York, 1943, p. 13

 

 

 

I i , _ ,___._ ,.__ _, ,4

PLATE III. Goya. Y No Hay Remedio. Etching from Los
Desastres de la Guerra, 1810-1821, 5 1/4 x
7 I72", metrOpolitan‘Euseum of Art.
(From.The Complete Etchin s of Goya, Crown
Publishers, New‘York, 19943 .

 

- 54 -
men that they stop being barbarians. Wars were the result
of man's absurdities, for not only do peOple suffer during
the period of actual war, but famine, hunger, and hopeless-
ness follow in its wake. In comparison with the work by
Callot, Goya lent a terrifying atmosphere to his work, and
depicted the utter brutality of men against men. Goya him-
self never intended that his work be utilized as propaganda
--nowhere does he imply the message "Let there be no more
such wars." Goya is not interested in uniforms or parties,
but with men and women. However, I feel that one cannot
help but shrink and cringe at the utter brutality and
bloodiness of war, and it seems that his Desastres may prove
to be an effective weapon in the hands of a pacifist group.

"The Desastres are a dance of death. In times of peace they

 

seem stark and magnificent art. In times of war they are
recalled again as the most brilliant timeless picture of
war's dark backwash any man has ever drawn."8

It was after World War I, that we had the emergence
of another "protest" artist, but this time from an entirely
different approach. Kaethe Kollwitz (1867-1945) grew up in
an atmosphere of intense religious feeling, philosophical
speculation, revolutionary thought, and social and moral
idealism. The period of 1894-1898 was one of intense
creative activity for Kollwitz, and this was when she re-

ceived recognition at the Berlin Art Exhibition (1898) on

 

A. H. mayor, op. cit., p. 710.

-65-

her series of six prints, The Weavers. These prints depicted

 

the plight of the Silesian weavers (adapted from Gerhart

Hauptmann's play, The Weavers) who earned their living with

 

hand looms. "It was a landmark of class-conscious art:
for almost the first time the plight of the worker and his
age-long struggle to better his position received sympathetic

treatment in picture."10 When the jury recommended The

Eggzggg for a gold medal, the honor was vetoed by the Emperor. a
He was opposed to all art of social content: "gutter art L4

 

"11

(Rinnsteinkunst).was what he called it. The Peasant War

 

series soon followed, and this dealt with the exploitation
of peasantry, the revolt, and the savage brutality on both
sides.

The period of World War I affected Kollwitz adversely.
Not only was there very little in terms of production, but
she also suffered a personal loss. Her younger son had
volunteered, and was killed in Flanders. The years after
1919 were marked by another intense creative period during
which she treated war themes, and her "protest" against
wars. She worked in several mediums, and finally felt
that the woodcut medium would serve her purpose the most
satisfactorily in her war themes. However, one lithograph,
.Ejlled in Action, Plate IV (page 66), has a stirring message
in her "protest" against war. A mother covers her face in

k

10 Carl Zigrosser, Kaethe Kollwitz, H. Bittner and

11 Company, New York, 1946, p. 8 |
Ibid., p. 8.

 

- 55 -

 

3| KILLED IN ACT!“

Lam-v.95 '9“

 

 

 

PLATE Iv. Kollwitz. filled in Actip_n_. Lithograph, 1921
16 1/8 x 15",C§llection Erich Cohn.

(From Carl Zigrosser, Kaethe Kollwitz H. Bittner
and Company, New York, I946, PIate 38).

- 57 -
anguish when she discovers that her husband has been killed
in action. The innocent questioning faces of her children
know not the full significance of her plight and loss, and
no doubt are clamoring and wondering why their mother is
crying. A timeless "protest", and I feel that the artist
has effectively portrayed her mute "protest" against the
cost of war in terms of the loss of loved ones. In Killed (’

in Action, one cannot help but feel the strong inner exper- i

 

 

ience, for Kaethe Kollwitz knew the pangs of sorrow through
the loss of her son. Her emphasis in this type of art is
on the reaction of woman to war--as a wife, and as a mother;
in woman, she saw "...woman as (a) creator, Mater-Genetrix,
begetter of the human race, link between past and future.
In the person of the mother, the artist voiced her faith
'that the people will carry on."12

. One of the seven woodcuts in the series dealing with

war, The Parents, which depicted resignation, is indeed

 

another mute "protest" against the toll of war. Both
mother and father are kneeling, embracing one another,
while the mother buries her face in the father's arms;
he covers his face with his other hand. Nothing melodra-
matic, but dramatic with strong emotional overtones. The
reactions of the characters are innately felt and psycholege
ically true.

Of Kollwitz, Zigrosser stated that "She had the gift

12

 

Ibid., p. 14.

 

- 68 -
of generalizing from the particular into the universal..."13
This is what makes her works timeless. "The ethic of her
social conscience was a personal evaluation of right and
wrong and not a tactic of organized mass movements..."14
Kaethe Kollwitz did not stress the savage brutal aspect of
war, but instead looked at war through the eyes of a woman
and of Humanity.

Another German-born artist (now a naturalized American
citizen), "protested" against war, and like Kollwitz, drew
upon his own experience to mirror his "protest". George
Grosz (1893- ) served for four years as a foot soldier
in the Kaiser's army in l"orld War I, (and hated war and
regimentation), and the vivid memory of the ruthless
savagery of war left its imprint. He was hospitalized at
one time, and he would sketch as a means of an outlet for
his pent-up emotions. "Everything I disliked in my
environment I would sketch in my notebook or on sheets of
writing paper...beastly faces of my comrades, war cripples,
arrogant officers, embittered nurses...They just repre-
sented the ugliness and distortions I saw all about me."15
JMuch of Grosz's art was devoted to post-war Germany, and
he lashed out at those who exploited German wretchedness.
"War, to Grosz, is the greatest sin of all, so far exceeding

the lust, gluttony, envy, and sloth that have also character-

 

15 Ibid., p. 19.

14 “Ibid., p. 20.

15 George Grosz, A Little Yes and A BiggNo, The Dial
Press, New York, 1946, p. 161.

- 59 -

ized his subjects that a kind of fever comes over him when
he approaches it.”16

A Piece of my World is a painting by Grosz which shows
tattered, festering soldier-scavengers tramping through a
rat-infested landscape. Hopelessness and misery are clearly
reflected here; the aftermath of war. In his treatment of a
painting, he dealt in details and exactness. He defended his
style and his preoccupation with death and the macabre, when
he stated, "...But in contrast to the expressionists, I try
to recreate my world as realistically as possible. Over and
over again I say to myself: Be more exact...more exact...
because the more of a nightmare it is, the more I must
recreate it in an understandable way..."17 This is certainly
an explicit approach, and it is not difficult for the onlooker
to see that the artist was bringing out the sordid destitute-
ness of those who were left in post-war Germany. Commenting
on the works of Grosz, the Chicago Art Institute Bulletin
stated, "...Grosz was depicting the corrupt life of Berlin
during the war and in the dreadful years after, and that the
sordidness he set down lay in society of that time and not in
his art..."18

In his "protest" against war, George Grosz laid bare

the tragic conditions which follow in its wake, and these

 

15 "Spotlight On:" Art News, vol. 45, p. 50 (October, 1946)
17 Ben wolf, "Grosz Shocks a World Toward Peace."
Art Digest, vol. 21, p. 12 (October 15, 1946).
18 "Grosz Rated with Hogarth and Daumier," Art Digest,
vol. 13, p. 12 (January 1, 1939).

 

 

 

- 70 -

were vividly portrayed, for he knew of these from his own
life's experience. The appalling misery is one that will
be hard to forget. His "protest" may well be seen in the
words he uttered when the war finally was over. "I was
disappointed, not because the war was lost, but because
the people had tolerated it and suffered it for so long a
time, refusing to follow the few voices that were raised
against the mass slaughter."19 I feel that today, we may
well take stock of those words before we plunge into World
War III. Grosz mercilessly ridiculed the bourgeoisie and
the officers--all arising out of his own hatred. In the
words of Alfred H. Barr, Jr., “...Here is satire without
laughter, without wit, but with a sense of moral outrage
against human ugliness and vice which remind one of
Jonathan Swift in its morbid intensity."20

On April 28, 1937, the Basque town of Guernica was
reported destroyed by German bombing planes flying for
General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. This unprotected
town was pulverized, and thousands of helpless citizens
were destroyed--simply as a test of the effectiveness of
the German war planes. Three days later, Pablo Picasso
(1881- ), one of the giants of contemporary art, began
the work on his Guernica, Plate V (page 71). Picasso

clearly indicated his position when he made a statement

 

19

20 George Grosz, op. cit., p. 161.

"George Grosz from War to War," Art Digest,
vol. 16, p. 9 (October 15, 1941).

 

- 71 -

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.:0 H .mm H :0

.pmawns an compo
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.> madam

 

 

 

at the time he began his painting. He stated:

"The Spanish struggle is the fight of reaction

against the people, against freedom. my whole

life as an artist has been nothing more than

a continuous struggle against reaction and

death of art. How could anybody think for a

moment that I could be in agreement with reaction

and death? When the rebellion began, the legally

elected and democratic republican government of

Spain appointed me director of the Prado Museum,

a post which I immediately accepted. In the

panel on which I am working, which I shall call

Guernica, and in all my recent works of art, I

clearly express my abhorrence of the military

caste which has sunk Spain in an ocean of pain

and death..."21

"His theme is the holocaust of war, the calculating

frightfulness that descended upon a Spanish town and upon
the world. A woman falls from a burning building...a
dead warrior lies dismembered...a bull symbolic of death
witnesses this triumph of death. It is doubtful if any
man but a spiritual descendant of El Greco and Goya could
have conceived so appalling a symbol of human fury...
incisive and universal...picture of the worhi's agony.”22
Picasso used only blacks, whites, and greys, and this added
much to the effectiveness of the scene of death. His
abstract approach was one away from the traditional concrete,
and this painting is filled with implications. It expressed
indignation and the context of the historical situation was
one which was to produce gas chambers and concentration

camps o

 

v—j

21, Juan Larrea, Guernica-Picasso, Curt Valentin,

22 New York, 1947, p. 12.
David.M. Robb and J. J. Garrison, Art in the Western
World, Bar er and Brothers, New York, London, 1935,
I942? p.81

- 73 -

In order to understand this painting, one must realize
that "...the reality conveyed by the Guernica is not physical
but a mental reality, alike in this to language and writing."23
It is mainly a mental thing, and is full of symbolism. The
weeping mother on the left is Mater Dolorosa calling down
justice from heaven, and the dead child on the left is sym-
bolic of hope for the future of the world--that is, jeopardiz-
ing all hOpe for future of the world. Picasso began with a
particular and expanded it to a universal thing.

Juan Larrea made some interesting comments on the
Guernica.24 As in many of Picasso's works, the characters
have two dimensions or faces. One is addressed to the on-
looker, appealing to the moral sensitiveness, and trying
to overwhelm him through the fury and horror coming from
the composition. It is a scene of maddening fright. The
other face speaks to the imagination in its own language.
Guernica meant to seize the onlooker by acting on the
conscious and unconscious, "entangling him, as it were,
in its complex coils."25

Picasso's "protest" is like the others discussed up
to this point--against the ravages of war, and its accom-
panying injustice to Humanity} This great artist used
his own particular style to put forth the message to the

people,and there are those who claim that this is among

 

23 Juan Larrea, op. cit., p. 28.
24 Ibid., pp. 39-40.
25 Ibid., p. 40.

 

 

- 74 -
Picasso's greatest works. on the other hand, there are
those art critics who feel that he has overweighted this
work with the message element. Though this may lack the
directness of a Goya, or the pathetic humanitarian
approach of a Kollwitz, I feel that Picasso has clearly
"protested" against war, and in terms of the art of today.
He is not interested in representing nature, but is inter-
preting nature and that which he sees about him in his
own particular style.

Another great contemporary artist, Georges Rouault
(1871- ), has been selected as the last of the artists
who "protested" against war. I am discussing him again
(his work relative to "protest" against society was dis-
cussed earlier) since I feel that he represents a univer-
sal approach in "protest" against war. This approach is
basically the return to religion--on man's humility
before Our Father. We should adhere to the words of the
Lord's Prayer, "...and forgive us our debts, as we for-
give our debtors..."

Rouault was a devout Catholic (converted) and I feel
that this is apparent in all his works. There is none of
the violence, the bloodiness--but only calmness. Whereas
his earlier works were more emotional, his later works
(after 1911) had much of the mature dignity. "...To
vicious protest has succeeded a resignation which surrenders

nothing of pity but much of hate."26 Rouault's series of

26 James Thrall Soby, Georges Rouault, Museum of
Modern Art, New or , , p. ,

 

 

l__ __ __ _

"be

 

- 75 -

series of prints for Miserere et Guerre were executed

 

between 1916-1918, and 1920-1927. They were done as part
of a commissioned work for one hundred etchings. The
book was never published, and only fifty-seven out of the
etchings were issued officially. "The themes of the
prints are eternal, they deal with conflict and are of the
most broadly applicable kind..."27

Plate VI (page 76), Man is a Wolf to Man, shows men
"...lying armed and deSpairing amid the industrial supply
houses of war with which he has replaced the cathedrals
of Rouault's beloved Middle Ages."28 There is no violence,
but I feel that there does exist depth of feeling--of
loneliness, emptiness, and despair. The dark windows
contrasted against the light houses appear to be giving

testimonial to the utter folly of war and destruction.

Who Does Not Frown?, Plate VII (page 77), shows a

 

sad-faced clown--that is all. Yet, I feel that in this
figure, we can gain much as to the helplessness of Man--
for he "...appears as a professional performer turned
helpless spectator..."29 E. D. H. Johnson summarized
Rouault's commentary on modern civilization when he
stated:
"In a world haunted by misery, war comes
increasingly to seem not so much the cause as

the grimmest effect of our spiritual desolation.
For Rouault the real tragedy of the human sit-

 

27
Ibid, p. 22.
33 b1 0: p. 23.
bido’ p. 220

 

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PAIR. ulu‘i I1.

 

 

 

 

-PLATE VII. Bouault. Who does not Frogp? Etching from
Miserere et Guerre, l9l6-1931, 22 1/4 x 16 7/8",
The Museum.of ModErn Art, Extended Loan.
(From James Thrall Sob , Georges Rouault, The
Museum of Modern Art, ew York, 1945, page 102).

- 78 -

nation is not the man's inhumanity to man, but
man's inhumanity to himself. Thus, where Goya
stOpped short with registering the physical
atrocities of warfare, Rouault lays bare the
crucified Christ within each heart. The drama
is an intensely private one...we are made to
know the everlasting implications of our most
mundane commitments. The artist's judgments
are inflexibly stern; yet nowhere does righteous
indignation obscure the underlying pity and
grief born of the wisdom that no man is without
guilt, that all share alike in the fate of
humanity."30

Rouault talks to us through symbols, and the actors
are timeless personages of allegory. The outward appear-
ance reflects in inverse ratio the state of interior
grace--"Nakedness and a sense of stripped skeletal struc-
ture within the flesh betoken the ordeal of true faith,
epitomized in the wasted and suffering body of Christ."31

Thus, Rouault's "protest" against war is along
personal lines rather than in terms of humanity in general.
The spiritual aspect is emphasized, and the figure of
Christ is dominant. Man must live more by the teachings
of Christ with sincerity of heart. "It is not that we
need to be reminded, actually, in picture and in words,
of the horrors of war, as they were etched or engraved
by a Callot, a Goya, a Currier and Ives, a Kerr Eby, a
George Grosz, but that we are constantly reminded as
Rouault does, of the spiritual forces underlying the

impact and incongruity of war and destruction."32

k

 

 

#30 Georges Rouault, miserere et Guerre4 Kleemann
Galleries, New York, no page.

31

53' Ibid. no page.

KarI kup, "Prints " American Artist, vol. 11,
p. 41 (January, 1947).

-79 -

In the "protests" against war, we have seen those
earlier artists who were harsh in their condemnation; of
those who spared nothing to present war in all its brutal
nakedness. Goya stand out as an example of this type.
Kollwitz introduced the element of the suffering humanity
in the guise of womanhood, and Grosz vividly painted the
destitution and misery in the backwash of war. Today,
Rouault stands as the dominant figure in this "protest"
against war--but with an emphasis on the spiritual aspect.
The individual self must re-evaluate himself in the eyes
of Our Father, and realize that we will be judged along
with the rest of humanity. It is like a cry back to
religion as of Rouault's beloved Middle Ages, and I feel
that we are lacking the spiritual element in today's
material-minded world. The artists have "protested"
against war throughout the ages, and I feel that we do
need to take cOgnizance of the fact that these men are

almost like prophets of early Biblical times.

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Now that we have surveyed the "protest" artists
and their messages, let us take an objective approach to
see if these artists did have any influence. Were they
able to bring about the correction of some evil? Was the
lot of Mankind improved? In order to carry this discus-
sion of the "Social Protest Artists in Western Art" to a
logical conclusion I feel that we must evaluate them in
terms of their effectiveness. .If, going back to one of
the basic tenets, the artist is an integral part of society
and that he is highly sensitive to his environment,fithen
should not he be the one to take the lead in correcting
that which he is "protesting" against? Admittedly, it will
be extremely difficult to single out any ppp reason for
improvements or change within a society, but we may be
able to point out instances where the artist could pos-
sibly have exerted his influence. The complexity of
society does not allow for a simple, clear-cut definite
answer. I feel further that the "protest" artists may
have contributed to the spiritual aspect of a society, and
yet, this quality is intangible and cannot be measured.

Let us glance back and see what happened in the realm
of "Society"and "Injustice and Corruption."

 

- 81 -
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, there was a
general movement for social reforms. Agitation was begun
in many countries for what has been called economic
democracy, which "...implies that all men shall have a
substantially equal opportunity to make the most of their
latent abilities."l In the nineteenth century too, we
had the rise of the proletariat which was one of the
effects of the Industrial Revolution. "The period from
1900 to 1914 was an era of great progress in social reform
and of magnificent dreams for the future."2 William
Gropper's studies of the United States Senate certainly
are not the most complimentary--his was a biting satire
against the ways of our Senate. In 1941, his paintings
were shown with paintings and pictures of Loyalist
fighters for Spain, of air bombings during World War II,
and of workers and street characters. Was this not a
practical application of the usefulness of the "social
protest" art?

I believe that the artist's task lies more in the
realm of broad contributions as fostering the maturity
of the personality. A more specific contribution might
be in the field of unifying certain specific feelings in

a society. Gotshalk listed three broad contributions

 

 

 

1
Edward McNall Burns, Western Civilizations, Their
History and Their Cultures, W.W.Norton and co.,

2 New York, 1949, p. 604.

Ibid., p. 655.

- 82 -
which need to be considered when one is weighing the effect-
iveness of the work of fine art and of "social protest artists".
These were::5 (1) Art can make the mind more flexible, recept-
ive, discriminate, and responsive; (2) can cultivate a sense
of human worth and dignity; and (3) can suggest generalized
models for human living in all its forms. In addition to
making for a richer personal life, "...it makes for decent
social action; for we act largely on the basis of what we

sense and imagine, on what we feel and think, on what we

 

value and cherish."4 And if fine arts can refine behaviour,
"...they constitute a discipline in decency and a modifica-
tion of character from which decent social action can
spring."5 If art can function as a tonic lift, a morale
builder, of hope, and of courage, then I feel that it will
have accomplished its task--and there is no tangible scale
by which we can measure these. Basically the question is,
what is the function of art in general? "The power to
translate sensate experience into some larger frame of
reference, i.e., to render sensations meaningful, is the
supreme function of art."§ If we are to agree with this
answer, then I feel that in view of the constant changes
in society and civilizations, art has contributed to
D. W. Gotshalk, Art and the Social Order, University

4 of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1947, pp 212-215.

5 ABA-3: £1 13:11.2:

5 a

David M. Robb and J. J. Garrison, Art in the Western
World, Harper and Brothers, New York, London, 1935,

I942, p. 847.

 

 

 

 

1 83 -
that change or improvement.
Let us examine something more concrete in the "protests"
against war to see if we can find any specific evidence on

the effectiveness of the artist. 0f Callot's works, Kling-

ender stated:

"...the actual effect produced on posterity
by the Miseres et Malheurs de la Guerre has
been immeasurably...profound. Just as the
formal quality of Callot's style in many
respects anticipated the light and airy
caprices of the Rococo, so his approach to
the picaro theme in general anticipated

Le Sage's Gil Blas. Gil Blas was the bridge
between the grim cynicism of the genuine
picaresque novel and the graceful brilliance
of the_philosphes who prepared the soil for
the French Revolution. By its very contrast
to the abuses they exposed, their elegant
ingratiating style became a mighty weapon."

 

In addition to this aspect, Callot's subject matter

gave inspiration to others who followed, such as Goya.
Kup, the Curator of Prints of the New York Public Library
believes that the work of Callot must have horrified the
peOple then as they teach us a lesson today. The utter
folly of destruction was his theme, and I feel that he
has been effective in impressing that on our minds. Of
Goya's series on the Desastres de la Guerra, Kup stated:
"The plundering and looting of French armies was not
stOpped by the accusing plate of Goya's but the artist's
*wrath has given the world an unforgettable monument and

one that should be engraved upon every invitation to a

 

7 F. D. Klingender, "Les Miseres et Malheurs de La
Guerre, " Burlington Magazine, vol. 81, p. 206,
(AUEUSt , 1942) o

- 84 -
peace conference."8
Another one of the effects of Goya's prints may
possibly be drawn from the historical aspect. This may
be inferred from the fact that "The First episode of
Napoleon's downfall was the Spanish revolt which broke

out in the summer of 1808...the courage of Spain in

resisting the invader promoted a spirit of defiance else-

....~ . Km

where, with the result that Napoleon could no longer 3

count upon the docility of any of his victims."9 This

 

historical fact coupled with Goya's bitter indictment,
could possibly have influenced the other nations of any
subsequent age in resisting any invader. However, Goya
was not a propagandist--he only meant to put down vividly
his first impressions, and yet deeper than this, I feel
a universal message against domination and wars.

Kaethe Kollwitz was refused the gold medal (even
though recommended for it by the jury) by the Emperor in
her work, The Weavers, in the Berlin Exhibition of 1898.

 

"When Hitler went into Poland, among the first individuals
he earmarked for the death penalty were the artists who
indulged in social painting and cartooning."1° Kollwitz
was among those exiled when Hitler came to power, as were
numerous other artists, including George Grosz and Max

Beckmann, for their biting criticisms. When Grosz came

 

8 Karl Ku , "Prints " American Artist, vol. 11,
9 p. 40, January, 1947).

Edward McNall Burns 0 . cit 518
1° Alonzo Lansford, "Deprgssibnistpéchool," Art

Digest, vol. 21, p. 11 (March 1, 1947).

 

- 85 -
to the United States, he felt that he wanted to get away
from themes dealing with war and death. Yet, when he
retired from the field of social satire for "pure" paint-
ing, he was the subject of critical fire from Miss McCausland,
the art editor of the Springfield (Massachusetts) Union and
Republican. She asked, "Shall the artist concern himself with

 

only his art or shall he take part in the wider life of a
citizen?"11 After World War I, Grosz's style flourished.
The principle was this: "Let the artist express his inner-
most emotions; that is enough. In that era, and in that
Oppressed country, the mood was the logical product of
historical forces."12 But today, the artist should not
only express his ppp emotions, but also the larger truths
and enduring goals of human life. In this endeavor, the
artist must be on the side of life, not death.

When one glances back over the history of civilizations,
it is apparent that we have had were regardless of the,
"protests" by these artists. What, then, is the answer?

Is the artist simply painting these "protests" as an outlet
for his own tensions? For recognition? For social acceptance?
the answer to why we have were is indeed a difficult one, and

I do not prOpose to offer a solution. As was mentioned in

the Introduction, the Malthusian theory accepts were as an
inevitable and even a desirable thing. William Galt has

_

’11 "citizens or Artist?" Art Digest, vol. 13, p. 7

12 1113-. p0 '70

- 86 -
proposed a psychological solution. He stated that "War is
a disease of society just as schizophrenia is a disease of
the human personality, and society can only be cured of its
ills by returning to its 'biological heritage of cooperation
and truer social integration.'"13 Or a theory by Read in
which he states that societies have a life cycle like human
beings. They have two moods, pppp and apathy.14 gppp is a
period of adventure, expression and creative activity in the
arts. Apathy is accompanied by national wealth and vast
possessions, which implies first security, than boredom, and
finally decadence. According to Burckhardt and other philo-
sophers of history, war then has a vital function in the
social develOpment--that is, "...War restores real ability
to honor."15 Read makes a point that with the devastating
arms we have (such as the Atomic Bomb), societies are bound
to be exhausted. As a result, other philosophers have sought
a moral equivalent of war to fit the general theory.

I feel, however, that the work of the artists has not
been in vain. If one will recall the trend of this "protest"
art against war, he will note that there was a trend from the
violent, bloody, brutal aspects of war to the calmer, spirit-
ual phase. Is this not indicative of the fact that the
artists (and people) have become sensitive to the utter folly

15

and Company, NewIYork, 1947, p. 29.

:4 Ibid., p. as.
5 Ibid., p. 28.

 

Herbert Read, The Grass Roots of Art, Wittenborn

 

- g7 -
and the absurdity of wars? Instead of graphically appealing
to the blood instinct of man, the approach is to try to reach
him through his heart. The material wealth and possessions,
I feel, has become less significant to many. It is along
these intangible lines that the artists have made their deep-
est impress. No one or no single thing will put an end to
wars, as we no doubt know--but certainly the artists have
made themselves heard in this struggle to eliminate wars.
Bitterness and hatred was the aftermath of World War I and
the Treaty of Versailles. There was less bitterness and
hatred for the enemy after World War II as evidenced by the
re-educational efforts of those in command as well as the
occupation forces. A more humanitarian brotherly approach
is being taken today.

I believe that the artists in their "protests" against
"Society", "Injustice and Corruption," and "War," have made
a positive effort in the right direction. To expect the
individual artists to accomplish miracles as to the elimina-
tion or correction of evils, is fantastic. The subject
matter which the artist selects can reflect what is happening
in society. It thus becomes an avenue for directing our
attention, and though its effects are only a matter of specu-
lation, we should not ignore them. We should not ignore
these artists since it is their sensitivity which should

eventually make the world a better place in which to live.

CONCLUSIONS

When such evidence as Hitler's earmarking social
conscious artists for the death penalty, the exiling of
artists active in social criticism, the refusal of honor
to an artist who deals in "gutter art", are presented to
us, then it appears that the "social protest" artists
have been effective. It is not what they accomplished
directly, but more of how the work affected those about
them. Certainly, if these artists were not effective,
would there be any reason to exile them or to refuse
them honor? It seems that these artists must have taken
the lead in the "protest" against an evil in their society.
I feel that it is their high degree of sensitivity to
those things about them which makes them an important
segment of our society.

Their message is universal, for even though the
immediate cause of a particular work of art may have
its roots in a specific episode, these artists have so
imbued the work so that it takes on an eternal and
universal message. The depth of their understanding
has been brought to fore through their own particular
medium. With wider dissemination of their "protests"
possible through the new and improved mediums (as
lithography), a greater portion of the population can

- as -

 

- 89 -

now be reached. All the population, whether they be rich
or poor, education or uneducated, can easily understand
the graphic representation of the artist's "protest"
against a wrong or evil. In the "protest" art of today,
the work intrinsically is a fine painting or print
regardless of the subject matter or message. The "pro-
test" does not take the form of trite melodrama, and

does not insult the intelligence as did the Depression- 3

ist School.1 ’

 

According to the Soviet critic, A. Solodovnikov,
there is "'a clash of two general trends in art. One
of these trends is founded on the principle that the
chief purpose of art is to carry man away from reality,
to provide amusement and relaxation; the other claims
that art is called upon to educate society."2 Solodovn-
ikov further states that the whole world is witnessing
aggrandizement of forces of regimentation and collectiv-
ism. This anti-individualistic tendency is universal--
the individual is submerged to the masses as evidenced
by mass production, the radio, and the packaged foods,
However, it is against this current that we find the
artist, for "The artist by instinct and training stands
apart from this collective drift. He believes in free-

dom and individuality, that is to say, a personal view-

 

It Alonzo Lansford, "Depressionist School," Art

Di est, vol. 21, p. 11 (March 1, 1947).
CarI sigrosser, The Book of Fine Prints Crown
Publishers, New York, I937, I948, p. I98.

 

7' 9O -

point is his greatest asset."3 Cheney, in his prlg
History of Art (page 903), stated that: "Grosz might

be taken as a symbol of an artist endowed with a gift
approaching genius thrown into the chaotic cauldron of
contemporary civilization, struggling to find some point
at which art--which presupposes a certain calm and E;
detached imaging--can be used in service to society."

As the artist is trying to find his place in society,

 

so should the public find its place in the life of the
artist and what he has to say.

During World War II, the artists demonstrated that
their talents could be used in a useful manner. Murals
adorning the interiors of the service centers for the
morale of the troops, the works of art as a mean of
enjoyment and sanctuary in times of stress and need,
and the formation of the Artist's Society for National
Defense. Art can well be used as that element which
maintains society in equilibrium, and I feel that it
is the artists' sensitivity which accounts for this
useful effort.

"Social protest art" is only one phase of the whole
field of art. Today, we can see how this art expresses
the tensions and catastrOphes of our age. The message
is to shock and wake the public to the sensibility of
the artist. What cannot be said, can be felt...and if

"protest" art can so direct our attention, then it will

 

3 Ibid., p. 199.

- 91 -
have accomplished its purpose. The rest will be up to
us--we have to take the action. "It is only when we
have clearly recognized the function of art as a mode
of knowledge parallel to the other modes by which man
arrives at an understanding of his environment that we

can begin to appreciate its significance in the history

CT

of mankind."4
In the final analysis, I realize that the effective-
ness of the "Social Protest Artists in Western Art" can

not be measured by any well-defined scale, and yet, I

 

believe that the evidence presented in this thesis indi-
cates that we should ppp ignore their "protests". Our
society is an expansive and complex thing, and just as
the different individual personalities go to make up

the personality of that society, in like manner, the
different degrees of healthiness of different segments

of society, determine the health of that society. This
is where the "social protest artists" fit--they are a
small part of a greater whole, and yet they have a worth-
while contribution to make.

A joint statement on modern art by The Institute of
Contemporary Art, Boston; the Museum of Modern Art, New
York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York,
may well summarize the theme of my thesis. Though this

statement is on modern art and not on "social protest

 

Herbert Read, Art and Society, Macmillan Company
New York, 1937, p. xix.

 

- 92 -

art", I feel that this may be applicable to the "protest"

artists.

"Contrary to those who attack the advanced
artist as anti-social, we believe in his
spiritual and social role. We honor the man
who is prepared to sacrifice popularity and
economic security to be true to his personal
vision. We believe that his unworldly pursuit
of perfection has a moral and therefore a
social value. But we do not believe that
unreasonable demands should be made on him...
Though his art may symbolize discipline or
liberty, he cannot be asked to save a civiliza-
tion."

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