The Global Village HUM 300 20th Century Arts and Artist

The 20th century is replete with personages who helped set the standards or defined the course of national or international history. In the artistic world, many great individuals contributed to making the period interesting, revolutionary and creative.

Literature: William Butler YeatsIn the literary world, among the 20th century giants is William Butler Yeats. An Irish-born dramatist, poet and prose writer, Yeats is regarded as one of the towering giants of English-language writing for the century. Yeats, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923, was one of those responsible for the famed Irish Literary Renaissance movement (Hallstrom). One of Yeats’ greatest works is The Land of Heart’s Desire, a magical fairy poetry that is both dramatically fine, and fresh and dreamy in its melody. This work well represents the Irish Revival not only because of its poetic fineness but as well, for its theme of Midsummer Eve’s fairies, which derives from Irish traditional legends.

Literature: Robert Newton PeckAnother influential 20th century literary figure is Robert Newton Peck. He is a celebrated American award-winning author who has published over 60 novels and poetry, children’s and young adult works in particular. He is most famous for his first and auto-biographical novel A Day No Pigs would Die, an unsentimental portrayal of his youth’s farm living. The novel is among the top eight most popular young adult novels (YA) during a 1989 survey of YA literature professors, high school teachers, librarians and publishers. A Day No Pigs Would Die well reflects the realism and pervading call of later 20th century, with its use of both elderly and slang languages, and its candid portrayal of life’s harsh realities (Sheridan 111).

Visual Arts: Jackson PollockIn the world of painting, an influential figure is American abstract painter Jackson Pollock. Dubbed by influential critics to be the leader of the American Abstract Expressionism movement, Pollock utilized Action Painting, a dripping process with house paint. He stressed the expressive power of the gestures, tools and materials of the artist. Pollock’s oil on canvas Greyed Rainbow perhaps best represents his movement because its intertwining, expanding and retracting splashes of white and black coil reflect the artist’s unique experimentation and assertion of his own style using tubes and cans of color and swift wrist movements to weave art out of paint drippings (Jackson 2004 and Wan 1999).

Music: Elvis PresleyMusic-wise, Elvis Presley is among the most important and defining personas of the 20th century He is one of the best-selling entertainers in popular music history-in terms of recording and movie sales, TV ratings and concert ticket sales. Presley, became the icon of rockability, an intense, revolutionary, rhythm-driven style that symbolized personal liberation and freedom from inhibition (Presley 2007). The Hound Dog, perhaps his most famous song, symbolizes the rockability Presley ushered in and stood for. Presley’s version of Hound Dog came with his freely expressive “grunt and groin” gyrations and topped the chart for 11 straight weeks to symbolize how America adored the man despite moral criticisms of his style.

Dance: Anna PavlovaIn the world of dance, Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova is one of the most influential and most famous ballet dancer not only of the 20th century but rather, of all time. Pavlova toured with the Ballets Ruses during the first decade of the 1900s but later set up her own company in London after the Russian Revolution. She promoted, and persisted in, classical-style ballet with her performances marked by pathos, daintiness, lyricism and wittiness. Her most important work is her performances of her role in The Dying Swan, which typifies how she brought emotion into her light and delicate dances (Segnbora-t 2001 and Anna Pavlova).

Many different artists with a variety of media formats went on to influence, sculpt and change society in the 20th century. These great artists’ work can be forever studied, debated and appreciated in an effort to let their unique visions live on for future generations.

References

Anna Pavlova. Retrieved 24 Sept. 2007 from About.com Site:http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_anna_pavlova.htm.

Hallstrom, Per. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1923: Presentation Speech.
Availablein Nobel Prize.Org Site. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1923/press.html.

Hound Dog by Elvis Presley. Retrieved 24 Sept. 2007 from Songfacts Site:http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=473.

Jackson Pollock: American, 1912-1956. (Aug. 2004). Retrieved 24 Sept. 2007 from The ArtInstitute of Chicago Site: http://www.artic.edu/artaccess/AA_Modern/pages/MOD_8.shtml.

Presley, Elvis. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 24, 2007, fromEncyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9061293.

Segnbora-t. (10 Jun. 2001). Anna Pavlova. Retrieved 24 Sept. 2007 from Everything2 Site:http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Anna%20Pavlova.

Sheridan, Daniel. Teaching Secondary English: Readings and Applications. NJ:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001.