2: Name of artist: Stainslaw Ignacy Witkiewicz

3: Year it was created: 1920

4: What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society? What is the artist trying to say?
To me it reflects WWI in a way that the world at that point was a dark and mellow place, and at the center of all of it was a group of select people who could put on a facade for the people and pretending to be good when they were causing all the problems.

5: Why you chose it?: I chose it because it was very colourful and even cartoonish while still being very dark.

2. The name of the artist & where they're from.
The artist was called Gino Severini, an Italian artist born on April 7, 1883.

3. The Year it was created.
The painting was created in 1914.

4. An explanation of the painting. What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society? What is the artist trying to say?
In this peculiar and somewhat abstract painting there is a very good depiction of how the world seemed after the periods of war. We can observe many factories, smoke, other constructions, a flag and even a phrase that says "effort maximum". Even the name says that it is a visual synthesis of the idea of war, and I think that what the artist tried to say in this work was how the world was so influential by mass production and the addition of things like factories. I really do believe that this painting represents the impact WW1 on society since the world was in a new era, countries had to put the maximum effort as the painting says in order to prevail and be superior.

5. Why you chose it. How does it make you feel? What did you like most/least about it and why?
Well, the first reason of why I chose this painting was because of the name itself, but I knew that a name wasn't enough of a valid reason to choose it. I then realized that the painting itself really suited the name and a perspective of the world after WW1. This painting made me feel like I know more aspects of how living in WW1 was like, and how things changed and progressed. Now, getting into why I like this painting I would say the the main aspects is the good representation of the impact of WW1, as I mentioned previously, however, the thing I don't like that much is that the painting is a bit too simplistic, since it could include more elements related to WW1 or a war in general.

"Windows" (Image of the painting at the end of the pad-let).

The name of the artist is Egon Schiele and he is from Austria.

It was painted on 1914.

Visually in the painting I can see what seems to be houses with windows. To me it seems to be located on a busy street and looks relatively poor or middle class. This reflects WWI due to the fact it looks like a household that could have been affected by the war in my opinion. The house looks damaged and old and looks like a middle class household where the male figure had to go to war, yet the family are having to stay in their house, scared of the outside and hungry. In my perception this looks like a household of a family that has been affected by the war and with the male figure out in war they are having trouble eating everyday and are very low on money. The artist is trying to convey the message of the lower class to middle class households in the period of the war.

I chose this painting because it really reminded me of a WWI household and gave me the vibes that many family live inside the house below. To me this makes me feel sad for the millions of people affected by the war and how quickly their lifestyles changed in a matter of months. What I most like about the painting are the tones and color used because it really makes it look like a household of the period. Something that I didn't like that much is the fact that the household looks slightly too zoomed up and I would have rather seen the household more zoomed out maybe to even see the street and the surrounding areas.

2. The name of the artist & where they're from.
Egon Schiele from Austria


3. The Year it was created.
1912


4. An explanation of the painting.
What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society?
What is the artist trying to say?
This is Expressionism.
One of Egon Schiele's many eerie self-depictions — striking here is the reoccurring accentuation of the hands and the thumb: the thumb seems not to fit into Schiele’s design concept, so that he often omits it or renders it severely angled. Schiele’s head is bent, the eyes turned upwards, which makes the white of the eyes appear like crescent moons in an otherwise dark face. The dark head with sunken cheeks shines out from the bright background. Above the blue-red lips sits a little moustache, which Schiele only had in between the late fall of 1911 and beginning of 1912. The series of expressive self-portraits of the year 1912 is continued in 1914, when Schiele had Anton Josef Trčka take photographs of himself.

5. Why you chose it. How does it make you feel? What did you like most/least about it and why?
I chose this piece because I got intrigued by the face of the man in the picture. From his face expression.  I saw a face that looked so evil and intriguing. He is looking straight to the audience however his eyes reveal his angry and interesting look. 

2. Name of artist and where they are from: Jean Metzinger, and he is from Nantes, France
3. Year it was created: from 1904-1905
4. Explanation of painting: I think that this painting was created to show the "safe zone" which is the grass and the fields where there wasn't danger such as explosions, aggression, etc.
5. Why I choose it: I choose this because even though it may seem simple, I find it to be visually soothing and appealing due to the way it looks per say different becasue of the cubes,

2. The name of the artist & where they're from.
The artist was called Fernand Henri Léger, a French artist born on February 4, 1881.

3. The Year it was created.
The painting was created in 1916.

4. An explanation of the painting. What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society? What is the artist trying to say?
This painting is an abstract work that shows a soldier wearing a metal armor apparently smoking. The image painted is very simple, but I feel like that relates a lot to the ways this artwork reflects the impact that WW1 had on society. Something that basically all people relate to a war is a soldier, the people that are fighting in that war, so showing a soldier smoking, which was something extremely common then, really proves how influenced society was. What I think the painter was trying to say or depict was how normal people that do common things in their daily lives could also be part of such a catastrophic event that is a war.

5. Why you chose it. How does it make you feel? What did you like most/least about it and why?
After I tried to understand this painting a little bit better, I now can say that it made me feel kind of sad, because I thought of how war resulted in many, many deaths of normal people that had to be soldiers forced to defend their country. I realized that this simple artwork had a deeper message than expected, and that is exactly what I like the most, the meaning that a mere soldier doing a common action could have. As for what I don't really like is that the soldier itself wasn't as accurate as the ones at the time of WW1. Another reason why I chose it was simply because I found the name quite interesting and stood out to me due to how unexpected it was having the "with a pipe".

3. The Year it was created.
1914


4. An explanation of the painting. What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society? What is the artist trying to say?
Christ and the Storm is a Neoclassical oil on canvas painting created by Giorgio de Chirico in 1914. The image is tagged Jesus christ, storms and boats. We can see Jesus in a boat accompanied by his disciples. They all seem to be worried about the health of Jesus, however they are also taking care of the boat and its direction. The waves seem to be very rough. The impact I think this has on WW1 is that in WW1 many people escaped from their countrys by any method possible, in this case by boat. And if god believer see that god also ecaped from where he was suffering that may give the people courage to leave everything behind for a chance of a better lifestyle.

5. Why you chose it. How does it make you feel? What did you like most/least about it and why?
I like this because it is a picture of God that I hadn't seen before. The genre of the drawing is Futurism and it is a piece of Jesus Christ which is one of the oldest things known to human kind.

2. The name of the artist & where they're from.
The artist was called  James Ensor, a Belgian artist born on April 13, 1860.

3. The Year it was created.
The painting was created in 1917-1918.

4. An explanation of the painting. What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society? What is the artist trying to say?
In this peculiar painting there is a "banquet" in which only one person seems to even have food, but there are two persons behind him as if they were honoring him. The rest of the people are just sitting there doing weird things like shouting or talking, also, in the background there are multiple strange paintings of dead people. I genuinely believe that this painting is a great reflection of WW1's impact on society, since the single man that is eating represents the great powers of the world that have everything under their control, while people serve them by doing anything they ask for, moreover, the rest of the people are just sitting represent having to live life with what they get while those dead people in the painting behind represent the least fortunate that had nothing provided to them by those with power. I would say that the artist was trying to say o share exactly this impact I just mentioned, since the system was unfair to many, but they had few things to do about it, in fact, almost nothing.

5. Why you chose it. How does it make you feel? What did you like most/least about it and why?
I must admit that this one was one of my favorite painting I saw, and not because of how well it was painted but rather what it represented. This was the main reason why I chose it, in addition with the unique and different name it had compared to others. After understanding this painting, I would say that it made me feel pitiful towards the less fortunate people that suffer from not having power compared to others. I now comprehend how unfair things could have been for some. As for the things I like about it, I would say that the thing I liked the most was definitely the meaning this painting had, as I said previously. As for the things I didn't like, well, I am not a huge fan of the style of the painting, since in my consideration, the work should have been painted with a more serious style.

Why can't I stop painting mother?

1882-1916

Regio de Calabria, Italy

In this painting we see a chaos of color and shapes merging in and out of each other. This shows the impact WW1 had on society because the chaos inside of the painting represents the chaos that followed WW1. The artist tries to represent the mess and chaos, the good and the bad in colors and a mess of jumbled up like thoughts.

I chose this painting because of its colors and its cloud like effect. I like how it looks like colored fog blending in and out of itself. I don't quite like the way you have to really imagine an idea behind it. You have to really use your imagination to imagine or apply a significance to the painting. This painting makes me feel like I'm dreaming or like i'm looking through a child's telescope toy with the beads and the colors in it.

Mercel Duchamp

“Giving art a cheerful middle finger”

1887 - 1968

Blainville Crevon France

In this painting we see Leonardo Da Vinci's “La Mona Lisa” but with a mustache and a beard drawn on. I believe that this painting represents how people needed optimism after WW1. It's such a simple thing to apply to a painting however it's something that makes you laugh which is something that was much needed in that time period. 

I like this painting because such a strict monotone face with a mustache on it is kind of like someone drawing a mustache on the principal's yearbook picture. I feel like, in a way, it's kind of disrespectful to the original painting, but I also quite like the idea of mockery within it.

Giorgio De Chirico

“Enchanted space in the city of Nietzche”

1888 - 1978

Volos, Grecia

In this painting we see the center of what looks like an ancient greek city that is abandoned at night. In my mind this video represents the loneliness and the  abandonment after WW1. The streets are empty and only the sound of a train and two mens voices are out in the street. I think it represents how little people trusted each other after the war and how little people went out because of it.

I chose this painting because I like the simplicity behind it. There is so much attention to highlight and shadow and yet so much simplicity in the painting. I like how peaceful it looks and how the shadows are represented. This painting looks like greek architecture but less detailed and it's very pretty.

The painting is called "Industrial Building with Corner Tower" (Image of the painting at the end of the pad-let)

2. The name of the artist & where they're from.
The artist is named Antonio Sant'elia and he is from Italy.

3. The Year it was created.
The painting was created on 1913.

4. An explanation of the painting. What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society? What is the artist trying to say?
In the painting from my perception I see a factory hard at work. This painting reflects WWI because during the time period there were hundreds of factories around Europe mainly, that had to create more items for the wars, such as ammoniation factories, steel factories, firearm factories, etc. Furthermore, the artist in my opinion is trying to portray the difficulties of the war and how millions of people whether it be working in factories or the front lines of the war, everyone in some way was impacted by the war. Furthermore, in my perception I believe he may also be trying to say that people who worked in factories could have been as important as the people fighting physically in the war.

5. Why you chose it. How does it make you feel? What did you like most/least about it and why?
I chose this painting because it looks like a very unique painting with a geometric style that I don't commonly see in paintings. This makes me reflect because it brings me back to the WWI times where factories were so crucial to the countries for the war, and if a country didn't have factories to assist them in the war they most likely wouldn't fend well. The painting helps me understand the impact of factories on the war. The thing I liked most about the painting is the tones and colors of the painting because I believe it very much fits the WWI vibe of everything being smoggy and dark. What I liked least about the painting is the fact that it's not clear what the factory is creating, I wish it could have given us some more information in the aspect of what the factory was used for.

1. Name of the painting: House + Light + Movement of the sky

2. Name of the artist and where they’re from: Luigi Russolo from Italy

3. The year it was created: 1913

4. An explanation of the painting: This is a painting in which there’s like a tunnel with light rays, but the natural light (sun) is being outshined by artificial light. When they intersect, they create a contradiction in the landscape which is ruining its beauty. This painting represents the intersection of nature and humans. He’s basically trying to represent that we came to the world and ruined it’s beauty by killing its animals, polluting it, modifying it’s ecosystems, etc. I think that this painting relates to WW1 because precisely, one of the things that are ruining the world are wars. They cause violence and the citizens are put in a dangerous situation for something that wasn’t their fault. This painting was a way to represent how the world was ruined by humans and their horrible actions.

5. I chose this painting because it caught my attention aesthetically. It has very beautiful and shiny colors and the drawing is interesting. I didn’t choose this painting for the meaning behind it to be honest because I wasn’t sure what was the meaning behind this painting. However, after analyzing it for a bit, I realized what it meant and it became even more interesting in my opinion. 

2. Name of the artist and where they’re from: Pablo Picasso from Spain

3. The year it was created: 1910

4. An explanation of the painting: This painting is a portrait of Fanny Tellier but in cubism. Picasso asked her to sit in front of her with a Mandolin and Picasso drew different geometric shapes over her form. Picasso’s idea was to make something innovative and new to art which was a cubic portrait. Picasso painted the background of the woman with a random set of shapes making a weird effect on the painting. This painting didn’t have any meaning behind it really, he was just experimenting with art and making something new. 

5. I chose this painting because I thought that it was very interesting. I think it’s fascinating how you can draw somebody in such a weird yet very recognizable way. I think that Picasso did an amazing job with this painting.

2. The name of the artist & where they're from:
Käthe Kollwitz was a German artist who was born 1867.

3. The Year it was created:
1893
4. An explanation of the painting:
In this piece artwork the artist is trying to portray how she look at herself whenever she is looking at her. She only shows her face because she probably think that it must be the main thing you need to know or look at in order to understand a person. This is why she only shows nothing but her face, because of the perspective of the world and society in which she used to live in.
5. Why you chose it:
I chose this painting due to the fact that it caught my attention since the first sight because of the way in which the artist chose to portray herself, she is using only one color with different shadow in order to emphasize the main parts and characteristics of her face. I found very interesting the contrast between the background and the main picture. 

2. The name of the artist & where they're from: Edvard Munch, Norway.

3. The Year it was created: 1896

4. An explanation of the painting. What is happening? In what ways does this art reflect WWI's impact on society? What is the artist trying to say? Well I could interprete from this artwork was a hurt man because a woman had left him, the man is touching his heart representing the pain it's causing. I could interprete as well that the woman has maybe passed away since it is represented as a soul, all white, in a long dress, etc.   The WW1 impact this artwork maybe caused in society was that maybe man didn't like to leave their wife to go to war or maybe war was what separated these two. 

5. Why you chose it. How does it make you feel? What did you like most/least about it and why? I chose this artwork because the message is clear in my opinion and also I liked how it is represented because maybe it's easy to "read" but at the same time people can interprete it in so many different ways. I also liked how the people are represented, in Expressionism in general.