首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The crucial years of the Depression, as they are brought into historical focus, increasingly emerge as the decisive decade for A
The crucial years of the Depression, as they are brought into historical focus, increasingly emerge as the decisive decade for A
admin
2013-01-29
81
问题
The crucial years of the Depression, as they are brought into historical focus, increasingly emerge as the decisive decade for American art, if not for American culture in general. For it was during this decade that many of the conflicts which had blocked the progress of American art in the past came to a head and, sometimes boiled over. Janus-faced, the thirties look backward, sometimes as far as the Renaissance; and at the same time forward, as far as the present and beyond. It was the moment when artists, like Thomas Hart Benton, who wished to turn back the clock to regain the virtues of simpler times came into direct conflict with others, like Stuart Davis and Frank Lloyd Wright, who were ready to come to terms with the Machine Age and to deal with its consequences.
America in the thirties was changing rapidly. In many areas the past was giving way to the present, although not without a struggle. A Predominantly rural and small town society was being replaced by the giant complexes of the big cities; power was becoming increasingly centralized in the federal government and in large corporations. As a result, traditional American types such as the independent farmer and the bureaucrat. Many Americans, deeply attached to the old way of life, felt disinherited. At the same time, as immigration decreased and the population became more homogeneous, the need arose in art and literature to commemorate the ethnic and regional differences, that were fast disappearing. Thus, paradoxically, the conviction that art, at least, should serve some purpose or carry some message of moral uplift grew stronger as the Puritan ethos lost its contemporary reality. Often this elevating message was a sermon in favor of just those traditional American virtues, which were now threatened with obsolescence in a changed social and political context.
In this new context, the appeal of the paintings by the Regionalists and the American Scene painters often lay in their ability to recreate an atmosphere that glorified the traditional American values-self-reliance tempered with good-neighborliness, independence modified by a sense of community, hard work rewarded by a sense of order and purpose. Given the actual temper of the times, these themes were strangely anachronistic, just as the rhetoric supporting political isolationism was equally inappropriate in an international situation soon to involve America in a second world war Such themes gained popularity because they filled a genome need for a comfortable collective fantasy of a God-fearing, white-picketfence America, which in retrospect took on the nostalgic appeal of a lost Golden Age.
In this light, an autonomous art-for-art’s sake was viewed as a foreign invader liable to subvert the native American desire for a purposeful art. Abstract art was assigned the role of the villainous alien; realism was to personify the genuine American means of expression. The argument drew favor in many camps: among the artists, because most were realists; among the politically oriented intellectuals, because abstract art was apolitical; and among museum officials, because they were surfeited with mediocre imitations of European modernism and were convinced that American art must develop its own distinct identity. To help along this road to self-definition, the museums were prepared to set up an artificial double standard, one for American art, and another for European art. In 1934, Ralph Flint wrote in Art News, "We have today in our midst a greater array of what may be called second, third, and fourthstring artists than any other country. Our big annuals are marvelous outpourings of intelligence and skill; they have all the diversity and animation of a fine-ring circus."
The second paragraph deals mainly with ______ in America.
选项
A、the rapid growth of urban population
B、The impact of industrialization on rural life
C、The disappearance of traditional values
D、The changing scenes in religion and politics
答案
C
解析
第二段说到:20世纪30年代的美国发生着剧烈变化。乡村和小城镇的社会被复杂的大城市所取代,权力日益集中在联邦政府和大的公司。结果传统的美国独立农民和小商业的社会形态被官僚所取代。许多习惯了过去的美国人感到无所适从……许多人又倡导那些正在这个变化的社会和政治的环境中消退的传统美国式美德。最后一句是本段的主旨句,因此本段主要是说传统美德的消失。所以C是正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Kd1O777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Thereareanumberofformatsforreportingresearch,suchasarticlestoappearinjournals,reportsaddressedtofundingagenc
Themostwidespreadfallacyofallisthatcoldsarecausedbycold.Theyareactuallycausedbyvirusespassingonfromperson
A、efficientB、excellentC、professionalD、proficientDefficient意为“效率高(的),通常作定语”;excellent意为“优秀”,强调成绩突出;professional意为“专业的”profici
ThehistoryofWesternmusicproperlybeginswiththemusicoftheChristian,Church.ButallthroughtheMiddleAgesandevent
ScientistsbelievethatthereisnotenoughoxygenintheMoon’satmosphereto______plantlife.
TestsconductedattheUniversityofPennsylvania’sPsychologicalLaboratoryshowedthatangerisoneofthemostdifficultemot
Scientistsaresearchingfortheoldesttree______becauseitcanteachthemagreatdealaboutmanyissuesrelatedwithclimate
Sciencewritersmust21informationregardingscientificevents.Inthiscapacity,theymaketheinformationclearerandmore
Probablyoneofthemostrevolutionaryinnovationsinscienceduringthiscenturywastherecognitionofthedualityofmatter;【
随机试题
不属于社区病案信息管理环节的是
X线产生效率最高的高压方式是
以下行为,哪些构成不正当竞争行为?()
不可以作为划分资质等级的条件是()。
某县工商局2008年3月从汽车贸易公司购进一辆轿车自用,取得普通发票,注明销售额372400元,另外支付购买工具和零配件价款3600元;汽车贸易公司提供系列服务,代办各种手续并收取一定的费用,该单位支付代收保险费9500元,新车登记费、上牌办证费、手续费等
公安执法监督的主体是十分广泛的。( )
小张、小王二人同时从甲地出发,驾车匀速在甲乙两地之间往返行驶。小张的车速比小王快,两人出发后第一次和第二次相遇都在同一地点,那么小张的车速是小王的多少倍?
下列关于操作系统对文件管理的描述中,正确的是______。
有三个关系R,S和T如下:则由关系R和S得到关系T的操作是
WhenwordgotoutthatDougBeardsleywasintroducinganewcoursethisspring—"Hockey(冰球)LiteratureandtheCanadianPsyche(
最新回复
(
0
)