In Robin Pogrebin article When Applying the Paint Was Spreading the News she discusses how in the past painting was not only a form of art but also a form of recounting history. The painting he was referring to is Return of the 69th (Irish) Regiment, N.Y.S.M. From the Seat of War by Louis Lang. It is a painting that depicts a bunch of men coming back to new york from a fight during the civil war. The painting was found in pieces in 1997 and it was not until 2006 that the decision was made to fix it and put it on display. The painting is finally ready and will be on display at New-York Historical Society’s renovated building, which reopens on Veterans’ Day making it the perfect place to display this painting about men coming back from war.
The issue I want to talk about is that Pogrebin talks about how “paintings were expressive and descriptive, tools not only to evoke emotions, but also to do the very real work of simply documenting and recounting history.” This is a very interesting idea, I think that this may be a reason we don’t have as many famous painters in recent history. I think good painters need inspiration and nothing can serve as better inspiration than the real world. I think that up and coming painters should try and gain there inspiration from real world situations like painters of old did.
I think this is a very interesting subject. I hadn’t thought about it until I read this but it is true that there aren’t as many paintings and other works of art depicting recent historical events as there are depicting much older historical events. This may be because we take pictures and videos of events today and in the past they didn’t have that technology so they painted instead.
I think the reason art isn’t very widespread in recent times. The reason being that we have technology and other things to encapture the beauty that we see. If we go to the grand canyon we can simply take a picture or make a video to reminisce on in the future. However in the past technology wasn’t as much of normal life as it is now.
I feel that art does reflect history though. As we look through paintings we can see the different styles and how society evolved and changed through time. Also through the paintings of war we can see the sense of nationalism that Americans felt at that time.
This is an interesting take on art. Art has always been referred to as something to evoke emotions and feelings but referring to art as a form of recording history is definitely true as well. Artwork can show the trends, styles, changes, and events that occurred during its years. It is a great reflection of history.
I have no choice but to agree with this article. Art is more than just expression it is, on a more simpler level the medium to which history is told. More schools nationwide should begin teaching history through the lens of fine Art wouldn’t you agree?