E-Catalogue
The Modern Print: Man and Machine
| Machine, work, and industry were glorified and villified by artists of different philosophical positions in the first half of the 20th century. Joseph Pennell was captivated by “The Wonder of Work” where Clare Leighton saw excesses of industrialization leading to New York Breadline. The culture of the 1920s and 30s produced a modernist milieu in which most were familiar with the pounding rhythms of Stravinsky and the futurist visions of Fritz Lang’s 1927 Metropolis. Bridge-building, skyscrapers, transportation, steel mills, and armaments fabrication were a staple of the Modern Print. At a time where rustic, rural Regionalism captivated the attention of much of the art-interested public, the industrial, modern, and urban provided alternative and equally powerful subjects. |
