In The American Grain - Paper Example

Introduction

Charles Demuth struggled greatly in new inventions during his time as an artist in America and proved to get a lot from his developments. It is noted that Charles was able to mature during the world war with the assistance of the developing technology and engineering which were the key in the art development. Charles was clear in mind to create a new American art which could be easily identified as American and could be described as the American art over years so as to differentiate between American art and that of Europe. At the time, art had not been popular, and not many would have taken it as a career, but it was in the heart of Demuth. Charles Demuth is the artist who struggled in trying to create an original American art.

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In his struggles to create new art, Charles was not fully recognized, and his efforts were not acknowledged for he did not receive any help to bring the idea into place fully. Through the friendship of William and Demuth, they all fought to advocate for both American art and also medicine. Thus, this was the primary facilitator of their friendship and when Demuth becomes diabetic Williams visited in and was concerned about his welfare. The insulin experimentation on him gave him ten more years of life. Hence, this shows how much Demuth struggled to ensure his art was represented in America and the friendship between the two grew to the extent of each of them referring to each other in their art (Corn, 1991).

Some of Charles's paintings were not appreciated, and that shows how difficult his situation was and how he struggled to prove that painting was a good art which at the time was not entirely accepted. According to Williams, Demuth dedicated a painting explaining the poem he had written and to appreciate his poetic career. He put it in a large billboard with ads in it which was a much creative American art. Billboards were considered modern, and in the twentieth century, they were something entirely new and attractive to viewers and were much appreciated. Through this art, it attracted many people to use it as a medium of advertisement. For instance, the rugby game was presented in it to show the new age and that art had developed and was well represented.

At the time when Charles made a portrait of Williams's poem in a billboard, it was the new American style, and it signified the modern way of America and was much accepted both in Europe and America. It ought to be noted that this was the most successful way of advertisements; entrepreneurs used it more in their business and product advertisements. Demuth tried hard to promote the billboards, and this aspect made commerce to increase in America and art through him was now being accepted even abroad. His struggles never got to waste although not entirely accepted as he hoped for but it left a landmark of American culture until his early death.

Conclusion

Painting and drawing as art were not much taken into consideration before Charles pushed it to mark the entity of a culture. Through promoting the American culture, he was able to get the needed support although it wasn't enough and it represented the whole nation and people recognized. Therefore, he is the artist who tried his best to represent the American culture.

Reference

Corn, W. M. (1991). In the American Grain: The Billboard Poetics of Charles Demuth. Vassar College.