The 1920s
The ‘Roaring Twenties’ is
perhaps one of the most talked about decades of the twentieth century. This was
a time for great changes that would pave the way for the years to come.
Attitudes and behaviors changed, art culture reached entirely new boundaries
and on an economical level in Europe and America things started to boom,
despite a brief economic recession at the beginning of the decade with
reference to contextual studies.
The most important impact on the twenties was that the World War
one was now officially over. Naturally this created a more free and excessive
culture to life which can often happen in a time after war and great
unsettlement. For soldiers returning home from the War, it was very difficult
to return to normal life. This is also the same for the many women who had
realised a new found freedom within their working roles to support the War.
People now wanted to now enjoy themselves and so realised ways to create a
faster more enjoyable life style hence the ‘Roaring Twenties’.
Jazz clubs became extremely popular along with new dances such as the
Charleston and the Lindy Hop. In America this was all during the new found
Prohibition which lasted from 1920 to
1933 which lead to illegal speakeasies bars popping up across America where
people would go to drink and enjoy Jazz and music culture.
There became a desire to spend money and so a new level of
consumerism was born. With reference to contextual studies this became the age
of the “Buy now and Pay Later” which
would of course create problems in later years. People would take home new
cars, fridges and radios for example. As a result businesses boomed and so did
society which created even more demand for consumer goods. Despite this new
found youth culture and roaring life style this was not available to everyone
life was extremely difficult for a large amount of society dealing with
poverty, hunger and racism, particularly amongst African American people,
Working women were also extremely poorly paid.
As well as music, film culture blossomed in the twenties. Silent
films especially silent comedies enjoyed by many, featuring stars such as
Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford. Film was popular around Europe and America.
German film studios produced some of the earliest horror movies. France also
produced hits like Les Miserable.
In Fashion culture many changes also occurred in the twenties
that suited the new liberated life style of women especially. Designers such as
Vionnet created loose fitting dresses with a more masculine shape. Her designs
were far from the restricting corsets and fitted edges that women were used to
instead they were slinky and fitted women seamlessly. Other designers such as
Coco Chanel also contributed to the changes in fashion culture that were
necessary for the new active lifestyle during the twenties. Chanel designed
suits for women, jersey dresses, and long line loose skirts for example. There
were many other exotic influences on design in general such as the Ballet
Russes and the discovery of Tutankhamen in Egypt.
Art in the twenties reached new depths. Photography also became
known as a popular art form, many photographers such as Hoyningene and Horst
begun to document fashion culture from behind the lens. Also new art movements
and a range of isms such as Fauvism Cubism, Futurism, Early expressionism and
surrealism explored new ways of creating Avant guard art. They broke with a
lack of perspective as impressionism had previously done, also a new found
knowledge of psychology thanks to psychologist such as Fraud helped to
encourage different subject matters for artists. Particularly in surrealism
where artists such as André Breton started to paint a different
reality to every day life. In Germany many artists looked to release there
emotions after the War through expressionist paintings and sculptures that were
dramatic and emotional and some times distasteful to look at.
Germany was also the birth place for the Bauhaus which had a
dramatic impact on architecture and design. Walter Gropius created a school
were people taught by leading artists such as Klee, Schlemmer and Kandinsky
just to name a few. The school produced cutting edge Avant guard designs and
created architecture that was modern and simple, during a time of much
political unrest in Germany with the uprising of the Nazi regime that under
Hitler’s
control found the Bauhaus designs distasteful and too modern.
The 1920s marked a period of creativity and exploration in the
art world. Along side a booming economy and roaring lifestyle lived by many
young adults creating a new found ‘youth culture’. However it was
also a time of great struggle and difficulty for many living the after effects
of the War facing poverty.
