The Influence of WWI on the Arts

The War That Painted the 20th Century

The First World War marked the beginning of industrialized combat, which presented humanity with mass-scale mechanized death through trench warfare, machine guns, gas attacks, and shell shock. The conflict changed artists' perspectives on their environment, state leaders, and human existence. The brutal impact of the war and the breakdown of traditional values gave rise to art movements such as Dada, Expressionism, and Surrealism. Artists embraced abstraction and distortion alongside experimental techniques to express what words could not capture. This exhibit demonstrates WWI's impact by examining three influential artworks.

___________________________________________________________________________________


As a former German soldier and artist Otto Dix created The War Cripples to show viewers the brutal physical consequences of war. Four veterans who suffered mutilations stroll through the public street while grotesque mechanical leg replacements thrust them into a horrific scene as they pass by a shoe store.

Dix's direct experience fighting in the trenches profoundly shaped his artistic creations regarding the WWI connection. The artwork presents a harsh indictment of a society that celebrated military sacrifice but failed to support its veterans. The war is no longer heroic—it is dehumanizing.

The work disturbed me profoundly but demanded my attention. The viewer experiences discomfort from the exaggerated limbs and distorted faces. The color palette is muted, almost corpse-like. The setting of veterans before a shoe store disturbed me as most of them are without feet. This experience compels you to face what society deliberately overlooks.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Automatic Drawing – André Masson (1924, Paris, France)

André Masson developed automatic drawing as a Surrealist technique to access his subconscious mind while avoiding rational thought. The Automatic Drawing technique produces chaotic mixtures of abstract lines and organic shapes that evoke dreamlike imagery and violence.

During wartime service, Masson endured a head wound that left a significant impact on his psychological well-being. Through Surrealism, he found a method to depict his inner wounds without using direct images. His artwork presents the mental injuries from WWI while exploring a rejection of rational thought, which many believed caused the war.

At first glance, I found the piece incomprehensible but later understood this was its deliberate purpose. The randomness presents both liberating aspects and unsettling elements. Intersecting lines generate feelings of unease, similar to a trauma map without any obvious route. This artwork appears to present anxiety through its honest and vulnerable rawness.

___________________________________________________________________________________


Soldiers Playing Cards – Fernand Léger (1917, Verdun, France)


Fernand Léger served in the Battle of Verdun during World War I, one of the deadliest battles. In his downtime, Fernand Léger drew soldiers, eventually developing into his Soldiers Playing Cards work. Cubist geometric styles transform soldiers into mechanical figures within the artwork to symbolize their repetitive routines and industrial features.

Léger's style echoes the mechanization of war. Soldiers function as simple cogs in the extensive machinery of war. The playing cards offer a surprising moment of peacefulness amid chaos.

The artwork provided me with an unusual combination of comforting mystery. Bold colors and structured composition bring visual satisfaction to the artwork while robotic figures appear prominently. The warriors demonstrate a lack of individual identity, which indicates their loss of human essence. The artwork achieves rhythmic harmony through repeating shapes yet appears too perfect, which creates an artificial sense of calm.
___________________________________________________________________________________

The artistic expressions of grotesque realism, subconscious abstraction, and mechanical Cubism demonstrate the transformation of artistic perception brought about by World War I. These artists transformed their experiences of trauma into artwork using confrontation, inner reflection, or symbolic fragmentation. Today, their work serves as a potent reminder that war leaves profound scars on human beings' physical and mental aspects.

References 

“André Masson Paintings, Bio, Ideas.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist/masson-andre.


“Defining Heroism: Otto Dix’s ‘War Cripples.’” The Artist’s Job, theartistsjob.weebly.com/artmusings/defining-heroism-otto-dixs-war-cripples.

Soldiers Playing Cards – Kröller-Müller Museum. krollermuller.nl/en/fernand-leger-soldiers-playing-cards.


Comments

  1. DaylynnApril 7, 2025 at 5:37 AM

    The art you selected displays the brutal impacts of war that can often be glamorized or completely ignored. With the advancements of technology in combat, humanity was sacrificed. We no longer have to look the enemy in the eye, which strips us of our human qualities. Each work showcases the reality of the physical and mental effects of the war that still hold true to this day. Out of the three works, I appreciate Automatic Drawing the most. Due to the sometimes hidden nature of our mental state, seeing the cognitive effects of an event so traumatic can easily be overlooked, especially in a collective group. The soldiers who made it home did not want to discuss the terrors they saw and their reintegration to “regular” life was extremely difficult. Art was used to communicate the complex feelings that so many of them had. Another work from Masson that was influenced by the artist’s military experience is In the Tower of Sleep (1938). It is immensely complex but I think it captures the turmoil that so many faced.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cassidy DolanApril 7, 2025 at 11:05 PM

    For my blog, I also did the influence of World War I on the arts. I’ve always had a minor fascination with both World War I and World War II from my father, who would go on and on about the tanks and play the battlefield games. It makes me so happy to see other people discussing the influence of world wars on art.

    Now to your blog and the art itself, which you presented beautifully. The artworks you presented are a stark difference from the ones I chose, as yours are either more colorful or cartoonish. The War Cripples by Otto Dix was quite disturbing to look at initially, as the choppy and cut-out style was both captivating and cursed to look at. I think the way that the faces and limbs were exaggerated, along with the irony of a shoe store being in the background while somebody is in a wheelchair, with some well-placed dark humor for that time. Dix’s art made me feel uncomfortable in the way the human bodies were contorted and stripped from war, but in the end, that was the point of his art, wasn’t it?

    The thing that all these artworks encapsulate is the theme of trauma and how not only does it reshape a person, but also the people around a person, too. You can see that there was even a shift away from more traditional representation in art, such as Dix using exaggeration to enunciate his art well. Masson left the art to his subconscious mind, truly abandoning all artistic control. Finally, we have Léger, who used abstract art to paint a scene of people in geometric shapes, really symbolizing how, in times of war, people were seen as chess pieces and pawns, cogs in a machine, truly.

    All in all, Bryan, your blog was lovely to read, and I quite enjoyed seeing your perspective and take on each piece of art. Keep up the wonderful work

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Art Admirer’s Journey: Finding Beauty in Creativity and Connection by Bryan Lilly

Image
  My name is Bryan Lilly. I am 25 years old, and I am from Eagle River, Alaska, and I am currently still living here. I am majoring in Applied Management. I am enlisted in the Alaska Air National, working full time with them, and I love my job. I am happily married and a father of an 18-month-old toddler. Some of my hobbies include snowboarding, fishing, and taking walks with my family. Alaskan Summer      I am not close to art, but I am willing to be impacted by it. I am not a professional artist (not to say a painter, sculptor, or the like), but I enjoy the creative process of creating art. Seeing my son color, having his ideas become a reality on paper, and putting his art on our fridge as a tiny but precious museum of his work is my most excellent reward. I do not have much of an art collecting or making habit, but I have some favorite pieces around my house, like our wedding paintings and gorgeously done portraits of beloved family pets. These paintings are sent...
Read more

Grant Wood’s Fall Plowing: A Timeless Tribute to Rural America

Image
Grant Wood's Fall Plowing is an oil on canvas painting created in 1931, depicting the rolling fields near Viola, Iowa. The artwork is part of the John Deere Art Collection.  Fall Plowing by Grant Wood is an outstanding work within the Regionalism style, which finds beauty in rural American landscapes through ordered and harmonious representation. Several art elements contribute to the sense of awe and the emotions it elicits: Fall Plowing by Grant Wood   1. Line The viewer's eye moves through the composition along the curved rhythmic lines of plowed fields and rolling hills, creating movement and continuity. The flowing lines create a serene atmosphere while showing how the land naturally moves through space. The rigid furrows present an organized pattern, while the trees maintain softer, rounded shapes to create a structured and welcoming atmosphere. 2. Color The composition features earthy, warm colors like brown and gold and green tones to represent the bountiful harvest s...
Read more

Preferences and Perspectives - The Romantic Era

Image
The Romantic Era emerged as an artistic vortex where emotions met nature alongside rebellion and innovative movements. Multiple art styles emerged concurrently during this period, providing distinct perspectives for viewing the world. For this blog, I am diving deep into two powerful styles from the era: Romanticism and the Hudson River School. Romanticism uses powerful stories and emotional depth to move your heartstrings, whereas the Hudson River School presents peaceful, almost sacred views of nature. I will examine four art pieces—two from Romanticism and two from the Hudson River School—and analyze their components while understanding their creators' intentions and reflecting on my personal preferences. Style One: Romanticism celebrates emotional power and the sublime concept. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Romanticism emerged as an artistic movement as an alternative to Enlightenment rationalism. Artists adopted dramatic elements and human emotion alongside s...
Read more