Assignment #5 Between World Wars

1. Dada Artwork 

Tableau Rastadada 
Francis Picablia

Dada is an art form that looked into the nonsensical and tried to mock the activities of the bourgeois. Dada occured after World War I with the idea that many artists saw war as an atrocity and gave negative reactions towards the folly of war. Satire and humor were the main ideas that artist's saw in the world around, disturbance in the aspects of society. In Francis Picablia's "Tableau Rastadada", you can understand the way he saw society and how he wanted to make art that looked funny and abnormal. Francis looks to poke fun at the lifestyle of the rich that is shown such as the shoewear and how the man is given those features. Along the leg on the left, you can see the word Christmas, this could be seen as mocking of the what happens during the holiday such as the buying of presents to give to one another. Celebrating a holiday such as this during wartime can be seen as disturbing because of the horrific events that are occuring. You can also see a pipe which appears to be connected to the nose of the man, trying to make the man look silly in nature.

2. What were the influences of Jacob Lawrence

And the migrants kept coming
Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence was influenced by a variety of ideas that can be seen throughout his artwork. Some influences include racial opression, humanism aspects, and the work of some other artists. Jacob used the traditions of humanism and social struggles of African Americans in his art to show the other side. Racial oppression was heavy in his artwork that showed the inequality between different races. With the humanism aspects, Jacob saw that the people in his art we all balanced and were each their own person with different lives. People with individual minds and capabilities that helped build upon the society. Artists such as Goya and Orosco who helped Jacob with his migration series and bring his concepts to that world. In his painting And the migrants kept coming, Jacob incorporated these elements into what he believed people saw at that time.