[<<] 1910s [>>]
Related: Titanic sinks - 1917 October Revolution, Russia - WWI (1914-18) - radio programming becomes popular - silent film - jazz (origins) - ragtime - Bauhaus founded - Dada - Futurism
By year: 1910 - 1911 - 1912 - 1913 - 1914 - 1915 - 1916 - 1917 - 1918 - 1919
Key work of art: Fountain (1917) [Image link]
Fountain is a 1917 work of art by Marcel Duchamp. It is one of the pieces which he called readymades (also known as found art), because he made use of an already existing object—in this case a urinal, which he titled Fountain and signed R. Mutt. In 2004, Fountain was named the world's most influential piece of modern art in a survey of 500 artists, curators, critics and dealers. (source: Guardian)
Theda Bara in a publicity shot for A Fool There Was (1915) - Frank Powell [Amazon.com]
Timeline
- 1910 First cases of nasal damage from Cocaine snorting are written of in medical literature
- 1911 Mona Lisa Stolen
- 1912 "Handbuch der gesamten Sexualwissenschaft in Einzeldarstellungen" (Handbook of Sexology in its Entirety Presented in Separate Studies) - Iwan Bloch
- 1913 Bicycle Wheel Ready-made (1913) - Marcel Duchamp
- 1914 Start of WWI
- 1915 A Fool There Was (1915) - Frank Powell
- 1916 The First Dada Manifesto
- 1917 Ready-Made (1917) - Marcel Duchamp
- 1918 End of WWI, start of Weimar Republic
- 1919 Bauhaus institute founded
Events and trends
The 1910s represent the culmination of European militarism which had its beginings during the second half of the 19th Century. The conservative lifestyles during the first half of the decade, as well as the legacy of military alliances, would forever be changed by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne, on 28 June 1914. The murder would trigger a chain of events in which, within 30 days, war would break out in Europe, as well as other regions of the world. The long, wide, and protracted conflict would end in November 1918 with the controversial Treaty of Versailles. World War I-- also known as the Great War-- held the reputation of being the widest and most expensive conflict in history (at the time), and would leave a lasting legacy during the subsequent decades. The war would also be remembered for contributing to the collapse of aging empires and monarchies. The Habsburgs as well as Wilhelm II of Germany went into exile after 1918, while czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family would be ruthlessly executed by Russian revolutionaries.
The decade was also described as a period of revolution in a number of countries. Mexico spear-headed the trend in November 1910, which led to the ouster of dictator Porfirio Diaz, leading to a civil war that would drag on until about 1919. Russia also had a similar fate, since the Great War led to collapse in morale as well as economic chaos. This atmosphere encouraged the establishment of Bolshevism, which would be later renamed as Communism. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910s [Mar 2006]
Style of the 1910s
- Decorative Arts 1910s - Charlotte Fiell, Peter Fiell [Amazon.com]
REPRINTS FROM THE HIGHLY PRIZED DECORATIVE ART YEARBOOKS
TASCHEN's Decorative Art series spans the 20th century through the 1970s and carefully reproduces the best of Studio Magazine's Decorative Art yearbooks. Published annually from 1906 until 1980, the yearbook was dedicated to the latest currents in architecture, interiors, furniture, lighting, glassware, textiles, metalware, and ceramics, and remained on the cutting edge throughout its nearly eight-decade run. Since going out of print, the now hard-to-find yearbooks have been highly prized by collectors and dealers. Preserving the yearbooks' original page layouts, TASCHEN's Decorative Art books bring you an authentic experience of each decade's design trends and styles. The now complete ["00s and 10s", 20s, "30s and 40s",50s, 60s, and the 70s] six-volume set is an essential addition to the comprehensive design library and the devoted collector will want them all.
The remark that this book "traces this aesthetic revolution..and is a compleling guide through the founding years of Modernism" rings false after even a cursery examination. Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the great architectural geniuses of the period, is represented by a chair. Grueby Faience is given a reproduction, but Greene & Greene and Bernard Maybeck are not mentioned. Several of Otto Wagner's students are repesented, but he does not appear. Gaudi and Horta cannot be found. Josef Hoffmann, the great genius of Secessionism, is poorly represented and two of his most famous chairs are attributed to Kammerer. Tiffany appears to be a minor window designer. Etc. One suspects that the authors saved photos in a shoebox and threw this series together. This is a great idea that is unfortunately very slovenly assembled and ultimately serves to distort and flatten this inventive and extravegent period of architecture and art. Taschen and his authors should be ashamed of this endeavor. John Arthur for amazon.com [...]
Les Vampires (1915) - Louis Feuillade
A Fool There Was (1915) - Frank Powell
- A Fool There Was (1915) - Frank Powell [Amazon US]
See entry on Theda Bara.