Greetings Inky Buds! Still delving into history, today I will be writing about the lost generation. No, it's not Gen Z, but we are pretty weird, aren't we? The lost generation is the name for the group of people who reached early adulthood during WWI. They are called the lost generation because that was the spirit for most of the young adults, lost. WWI killed many people that would have been a part of the lost generation, which meant the survivors lived through some of the worst times. However, that didn't mean they couldn't be happy. In fact, many people in creative professions gained their footing, and launched their careers as artists of writers.
I'm sure you've heard of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He wrote the famous novel The Great Gatsby and was a member of the lost generation. He was 18 when WWI broke out due to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Many writers arose from the tragedy of war. Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein were also a part of this generation of "lost" people. Hemingway was 15 when the war began, and Stein was 40. While she was 40 when the war started, she is still considered a member of the lost generation. All these writers and trail-blazing artists really laid down the proverbial foundation for other artists and writers. The artists in this time were influenced by surrealism and cubism. Picasso was 33 at the time the war began, and his work was inspired by cubism around that time as well.
Surrealism is a type of art that began to rise in popularity during and after WWI that depicts unorthodox imagery, that all intertwines together to form one meaning that the viewer may or may not understand. There is a highly likely chance you've seen surrealist influences in art. It may be that one painting that has random items in it with people somehow mixed into it. Here is a fine example of it. You'd have to be an art aficionado to try and fully grasp it. But I feel like these paintings have the viewer take whatever they want from it. The painting below was made by Salvador Dali. It is titled "Playing in the Dark."
The image is quite beautiful, but some viewers may get a little lost trying to grasp the concept and subject of the painting. Many artists helped feed into this genre of paintings. The paintings helped the unconscious mind of the painter to express itself. It came in the form of desire, sadness, happiness, and other intense feelings. Cubism is another art type that developed and became more prominent during WWI. Cubism involved a series of shapes, and they were incorporated in a way that they made images and landscapes.
Here is an example below. This painting is titled "Clarinet and a Bottle of Rum" by George Braque.
I personally don't see it, but I'm not saying it isn't beautiful. It is a very unique style, and it has its own flair. The art during and after WWI is very one-of-a-kind and was a result of trying to break free from the woes of war. These artists took their innermost feelings and put them on a canvas or changed the world around them into something else like Braque. This was how Braque saw the clarinet and rum on the table.
Not only were the artists quite revolutionary, but the writers were also too. They influenced the writers of today greatly. Ernest Hemingway was a writer that wrote about many topics, a majority of them were about wars and battles. In fact, one of his most famous books "A Farewell to Arms" was set during the Italian campaign of WWI. He is also known for writing "For Whom the Bell Tolls," which took place during the Spanish Civil war, "The Oldman and the Sea," which was one of his last fictional works he wrote, and "The Sun Also Rises," which was recognized as his greatest work by his biographer. He unfortunately took his own life in his home on July 2, 1961, after struggling with alcoholism and mental illness. I believe that was a loss, he was such an influential person. He is recognized for his contributions to literary minimalism, which focuses mainly on the description of the topic and avoids adverbs. Sadly, many of the lost generation struggled with alcoholism, and even put F. Scott Fitzgerald in an early grave. He died at the young age of 44 in 1940. His novels depicted the famed Jazz Age, and he also portrayed different lifestyles in America. His most famous book "The Great Gatsby" got adapted into a movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio in 2013.
While these artists and writers are long deceased, they still influence and inspire. After WWI, other artists began to follow in the footsteps of surrealism and cubism art styles. Today, these styles are described as "avant-garde." Many people and aspiring artists have dipped their toes in the world of minimalism and the surrealist influences. Pablo Picasso is one of the most well-known artists of today, because of his unique style. His paintings looked completely different from the model he was painting. Take his painting "The Weeping Woman" as an example. You can hardly see that it was a woman to begin with. The face is distorted and vibrant with vivid colors and shapes. However, this was his artistic vision, this is how he decided this woman would look, so who are we to judge?
Today, minimalism and these other art styles have become the norm. Minimalist influences have become a common way to have a modern aesthetic to your home. These art practices have come a long way from where they stemmed from.
Art and writing became an escape for these people. It gave them a chance to make worlds of their own, far from the reality of war and causalities. That hasn't changed even in today's modern age. People find their calling in art, drawing or writing and can even profit easily from it. Back then it wasn't as easy to even get published or survive off of an art profession. Artists today have everything at their disposal and can easily gain notoriety because of the internet. Even as time goes on and new art styles are developed, I hope that we can look back and find inspiration from the artists and writers before us.
In conclusion, these famous artists and writers used their creative abilities to make new worlds when they weren't content with the lost world, they were in. This was also around the time in which flappers were becoming popular. These energetic women strived for freedom for women. They joined the work force and harnessed their newfound independence by enjoying the night life and having jobs. The roaring 20's is a completely different era than now. People were trying to find themselves and make a place in the world for themselves, despite going through WWI.
Thank you for reading! I hope you've learned something.
Have a good day🏙️/night🌃!
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