An Overview of the 1920s

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.