How did the Dada movement express opposition to World War 1?

 The writers and artists came up with a movement with the title of Dada in Zurich. They formed this group to show their protest and resistance against the WWI. They believed that the world has gone made with these kinds of war, whereas art and artists are the ones, who have been spreading the beauty of paintings and songs in so much variety and color. They had a belief that love and peace should be promoted through art, rather instigating people towards war and hatred. They thought that there were great values of European people, but all of those values have been lost due to this war. Their major weapon to protest against the war was done through spontaneity and play. They came up with a loud and clear voice against the harms of WWI.

2. How did the Surrealists believe that they were working for humanity's benefit?

            After the Dada movement, the next major movement was called Surrealism. This movement was started by a group of painters and writers, and the purpose of this movement was to show protest against the direction, which was adopted by the European culture. It is quite interesting to mention here that this group was against the essence of the modern world based on scientific knowledge and consciousness. They believed that these modern scientific aspects are creating an unbalanced world, which is playing their part in damaging the humans’ consciousness. The knowledge of science was based on the essence of reality and observation, where Surrealism believed in the concept of unconscious aspects of life to interpret fantasies, dreams, and realities of life. So, they believed that they are working for the betterment of humanity by encouraging the beauty of being unconscious.

3. Compare the artistic and social interest of Constructivist and De Stijl, what were the aims of the artist?

            In this particular era, different movements and concepts were being developed to build a new society. In Russia, the concept of Constructivism was being promoted, which had its focus to come up with a new visual language, which can be used in that new industrial age. On the other hand, the concept of De Stijl originated from Holland, and it asserted using the most basic forms such as verticals, horizontals, and rectangles. The fact of the matter is regardless of the difference in their aims, both art forms got a great response in Europe, and that’s the reason to see it spreading across. The aim of constructivism was to come up with an art which is relevant to modern life, whereas the elements of nonrepresentational geometric were focused by the artists, who supported the movement of De Stijl.

4. How can organic abstract sculpture imply a protest against fascism?

            It is a well-known fact that modern art was very well suppressed by fascism. Fascism especially suppressed the essence of abstract art. So, it was important to counter this fascism with the help of organic abstract sculpture. European artists made a great step by forming a group with the name of Abstraction-Creation, and this group came up with the great movement of creating abstract art to show their protests and resistance against fascism.

Part 2: Chapter 23
Political Expressions

            In the period of an ongoing war, the focus of many artists was revolving around political life. These artists turned their focus to show their protest against dictatorship and fascism. This expression can be seen in various artworks such as one given in the text with the title “The Liberation of the Peon.” It shows how revolution is happening for poor people like a peon, who was deprived of his life due to the fascist regime.

Latin American Modernist

            This art movement was renowned for showing the distinctive characteristics of modern art. The artwork influenced by this movement was based on abstraction and cubism. The artwork “Tarsila do Amaral” showing the clear essence of abstraction and cubism at the same time.

American Regionalism

            In the era of 1930s, to counter depression and political upheaval, the American artists came up this movement to so that they can have personal, as well as, national identity. The painting of Edward Hopper titled “Nighthawks” showed how lonely and depressed the American life was in that era, and even a bar was so empty.