Early Modern Art: Innovations in Science and Technology

The early 20^th Century brought with it a period of intense economic, social, and political turmoil. Industrialization, consumerism, social mobility, and the struggles of the working class brought were at the forefront. Mass production and new scientific innovations were only intensified by the onset of World War I. War has almost always been the ultimate catalyst for invention. The exponential growth in the automobile industry, the invention of electric washing machines, home refrigerators, and even frozen food all boomed during this period. In 1929, the stock market crashed and led to what we now call the Great Depression. Almost 25% of the United States workforce was unemployed at its peak and this number does not include farmers who lost their lands and homes due to foreclosure (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum). During this period, many scientific innovations were seen as only helping the wealthy in an almost surreal way. Some artworks in particular seem to capture this brilliantly. They are the Man and Machine by Ida York Abelman, Catastrophe by Doris Lee, and Land of Plenty by Lucienne Bloch.  

Abelman, Ida York. Man and Machine. 1939. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY.

Ida York Abelman’s Man and Machine is a lithograph currently residing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was created in New York and is one of the public works created through the Works Progress Administration in 1939 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). 

This work in particular seems to express the complexities of the era. A hand pushes the machine that seems ready to crush or decapitate its operator. Another man shovels nearby, unaware of what is going on above him. The power of the machine is represented by the upside-down V, and the lines draw your eye to the center where the victim awaits. Through the use of form, we see the emotionless expression of the machine worker, seemingly oblivious about what he is about to do. Texture is used to show the dirt and grime on the hand of the operator and the clothing of the other worker.   

Abelman is simultaneously displaying the exploitation of humans and machines by each other. Humans here are depicted as both the product and the worker. Ultimately one of the main drivers of the Great Depression was the factories closing and the machines shutting down. It is a strong commentary on how readily humanity can put itself in harm’s way for the sake of progress. Who is benefiting here? It’s certainly not the worker. Is it the machine?  

Lee, Doris. Catastrophe. 1936. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY.

Doris Lee’s Catastrophe is an oil on canvas painting currently residing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was created in New York in 1936, purportedly after watching the Hindenburg flying over and imagining what it would look like if it exploded (The Metropolitan Museum of Art).

This work shows people descending, some in parachutes and some without, from a flame-engulfed dirigible above the Manhattan skyline. The use of form here shows the contrast between some figures waving their arms frantically and others seemingly lifeless. The use of tone draws our eye first to the skyline full of parachuting and plummeting passengers. The use of color around the ship and water suggests doom or even despair. Burning or drowning are only to be avoided by reaching the contrastingly sunnier beach where people wait to pull them out of the water.

The artist here displays the dangers of ambition and scientific pursuit. This painting was finished several months before the actual Hindenburg disaster and a few years after the famous Century of Progress, otherwise known as the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. The Fair put these egotistical ideals on full display and its motto was “Science Finds, Industry Applies, and Man Conforms” (Chicago Architecture Center). this is an ominous turn of phrase knowing what we know now about the coming World War and eventual nuclear and environmental impacts. The mind conjures hundreds of hybrids of Willy Wonka and P.T. Barnham parading their latest and greatest innovations like a smoking robot or real babies in incubators. These were real displays! Perhaps the artist was issuing a little forewarning of the cavalier attitude with which many industrialists of the era seemed to pursue such endeavors.

Bloch, Lucienne. Land of Plenty. 1935. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA.

Lucienne Bloch’s Land of Plenty is a woodcut currently residing in the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia. It was created in the United States in 1935 (The Philadelphia Museum of Art).

The scene depicts a family moving across a corn field with looming electric poles and lines overhead. The use of tone here highlights the abundance of food and power lines against the sky. The darker forms of the family and the fence poles take a more ominous tone. The use of form shows the family slightly hunched and is suggestive of the downtrodden. Another V shape is prominent as the descending power lines and the horizontal fence frame in the food that hangs just out of reach.

This artist’s piece really speaks to the theme of innovations not applying equally to all. At first glance, it might be a depiction of an abundance of food and resources. The closer we look, that doesn’t appear to be the case. The family depicted appears poor and possibly migrating for work or even shelter. Surrounded by an abundance of crops for food and an energy grid supplying power to the masses, the folk here are being kept out by the barbed wire fence. It is a powerful and tragic depiction of the inequality these scientific innovations don’t always resolve. 

Abelman’s Man and Machine is a look at man’s role in the cogs of industrialization, while Lee’s Catastrophe is a warning about the consequences of runaway innovation, and Bloch’s Land of Plenty is a commentary on the inequality of innovation. Each of these pieces are powerful and I certainly appreciate the messaging, I personally might not display any in my home. I prefer inspirational pieces to social, economic, and political warnings.

Works Cited:

1933-1934 Century of Progress Exposition. Chicago Architecture Center. https://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/architecture-dictionary/entry/1933-1934-century-of-progress-exposition/. Accessed: 7/22/2024.

 

‌Catastrophe by Doris Lee. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/487833. Accessed: 7/22/2024.

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. “Great Depression Facts - FDR Presidential Library & Museum.” Fdrlibrary.org, 2016. https://www.fdrlibrary.org/great-depression-facts. Accessed: 7/22/2024.

‌ Land of Plenty by Lucienne Bloch. The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Available at: https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/75293. Accessed: 7/22/2024.

Man and Machine by Ida York Abelman. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/360320. Accessed: 7/22/2024.