"Talking of Michelangelo"

 

As I read, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, by T. S. Eliot, I couldn't help but think about how much it relates to our topic of study: Modernism.

The poem is about a man, Prufrock, who is in a sense the 'modern man'. He is "over educated, eloquent, neurotic, and emotionally stilted." (that's what SparkNotes says..) He struggles throughout the poem to approach a potential lover and take their relationship further. While he wants to move forward, he feels restrained by his well-set principles and mannerisms.

*I'll be referring to the societal change in art history terms: Modernism and Realism*

So, Romanticism had taken root as a revolt against the Industrial Revolution era beliefs. (about the latter half of the 18th century going into early 19th)
This is typically what occurred with Modernism, another shift in society's way of thinking. Mostly related to art and architecture, Modernism was basically trying to escape the realism.
When looking at the art of the Realism period and Modernism, there is a very distinct difference.

- Realism

Modernism -

As anyone can see, Realism seemed to focus more upon capturing exactly what the scene is. Modernism is more about the symbolism behind things. Looking past just what the eye sees but also the meaning of it. With the explosion of World War I, the growing tension prompted artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse restructured the art world and, in some ways, societal views. They steered away from traditional art and expanded to art that was in a sense 'ugly' but still contained an aesthetic beauty that tapped more into human emotion than ever before. 

Although WWI took place mostly in Europe, the reactions to the start of the war spread like wildfire and people in America responded. 

At the start of the war, everyone believed that it would be over soon. But the built-up tension only helped the war expand. 

New tactics/styles of war appeared (gas, heavy artillery, and trench warfare) and changed the face of war.

With the growing controversy of war and lots of objections and different views, the modernism movement was certain to come. It transformed society and helped shift the society to the world of today.

Like Prufrock, society resisted at first to the change in norms, but understood that there was a need to embrace the new viewpoints becoming more and more prevalent. 

Modernism, at least my definition, is the expanding of views and looking for the meaning behind everything.