Modern Progress
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Image by William Iven from Pixabay |
Let's talk more in-depth about the Romanticism period. Every period of time has art pieces that artists make and when we study these periods we are shown famous paintings. If you have studied American history, I'm pretty sure you have seen this painting before. The painting I'm talking about is called "American Progress" by John Gast.
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"American Progress" John Gast; Source |
In this painting, we see a lot. On one side we see dark clouds while on the other we see brightness. We see men going towards the darkness. We see that some are running and others are calmer. We also see the woman in the center. We see that the woman is holding wires and wood and we see "modern technology" also going in that direction. To really understand this painting we have to understand that during this time period, America was expanding their land and that is what the darkness represents. It represents unknown territory and they're bringing their inventions with them. The woman represents the great divine. As I had included in my infographic on my last post, Romanticism rejected the ideas that were presented during the Enlightenment. A refresh on the Enlightenment and religion, during this time period people began to question their faith and start thinking more logically. Since this era rejects those ideas, people began to believe in religion again. The men who are running are Native Americans, they were forced to leave their lands due to the expansions and were forced into Reservations. The men who are calmly walking are Americans who are moving West. This painting mostly shows how Americans relied on religion and how they believed it was their right to expand. Connecting this painting to modern-day is easy. There is barely any land for countries to expand on without relying on deforestation. Even though that is not a connection we can make from this painting, there is one that is more obvious than that. We spread modern technology everywhere. We can easily advertise a new product on the internet and there will be consumers who buy it. Just as Americans were spreading their technology across the nation, we spread technology worldwide. Like I said in my last critical analysis post, we don't rely on religion like we used to. If we were to see paintings done for the same concept in this time period, we would not see a divine figure in all interpretations.
Hello Jsmejia,
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected the Manifest Destiny ideas with believing in their right to expand to the modern view of spreading technology where we expand into new spaces. But there will inevitably be a point in which we extend past the point we should with technology which will likely be a point of security on how much data is being taken on an individual. The description of the painting was very elaborate with a very appreciated quick refresher on the Enlightenment especially later on in the year where some of the details could feel fuzzy.
Best,
Treb (They/Them)
Hi Jsmejia,
ReplyDeleteYou broke down the painting you chose really well and also gave plenty of background on the topics of Romanticism and the Enlightenment you discussed. This is really helpful as it can clarify any confusion or guide the reader who may not be as acquainted with the movements as our class has become. I think the spread of modern technology is a great analysis of western expansion. Often times even today more advanced countries or groups tend to influence less developed areas just as the early Americans did as they pushed deeper into the country.
Hi Jsmejia,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you compared the painting to how technology spreads in the modern day. You helped the reader better understand painting and what the significance was during the time and modern day interpretation. I do agree with you that modern technology is everywhere and now many people depend on it to do simple day to day task.
Sincerely Raj
Jsmejia! I liked how you introduced the topic, specially relating the main situation we are dealing in the world right now with the technology growing to the moon, there are advantages on that, where we are expanding the economy digitally and changing the living of people. However, there were bad consequences since the industrial revolution appeared, where the pollution increased extremely, and now modern businesses are taking that in consideration in order to combat climate change.
ReplyDelete