For centuries now, there has been a very strong relationship between social, political, and economic conditions with art (Babe, 2010). Out of this relationship that exists, these factors determine the nature and the meaning of art. This is because the society mainly determines how the art is interpreted and perceived. On the other hand, the economic conditions affects how the works of are produced and also who affords to purchase them when they have been produced. The political conditions mainly affect the works of art in that, they determine if the conditions are conducive enough for art production. These conditions also affect the artist’s orientation and beliefs and in the end, it affects the outcome of the work of art. For example, if an artist is anti-politics, he may seem to produce works of art that depict defiance from the government (Edelman, 1995). In support of this, looking into such eras as Baroque and Romanticism will bring out the perfect examples of how these conditions affect art. Baroque was an era in time in which artists demonstrated movement, emotions and variety in their given works. There were three types of Baroque art which included: A Baroque that was majorly associated with religious tensions that were emerging in the Western Christianity. It demonstrated the division on Protestantism and Catholicism. There was also Baroque that used the revolutionary dramatic techniques with selective explanation of figures emanating from deep shadows. The last form of Baroque is the one that was developed in the countries that were considered Flemish with emphasis of everyday’s life realism. A good example of Baroque art that can be related today is the crucifixion of Saint Andrew. The painting was done by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio who got inspiration from the happenings of that time in the society. Thus his work was influenced by the societal conditions of those times (Glucksmann, 1994). The other era that can be used in contrast to Baroque is the Romanticism. Romanticism majorly dealt with subjectivism, Individualism, emotions, imaginations and nature. The Romantic artists were mainly attracted o things like passion and inner struggle and no the things that were happening at the time. A good example of Romanticism art was the one done by Jean Augustine Dominique Ingres. This was the Odalisque with a slave. This painting portrays freedom and a sense of emotion which can be derived from the nature of the pose and the emotions shown through the eyes of the painting (Day, 1996). It is therefore clear that art is determined by what takes place every single day and the conditions prevailed by political, social issues and the factors of the economy determine which direction art will take. The positions taken by the political leaders affect the policies that are made which in turn affect the economic conditions. All these have a ripple effect that determines the course which art takes (Campbell, 1972).
References
Babe, R. (2010). Cultural studies and political economy: toward a new integration. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Campbell, A. (1972). The human meaning of social change. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Day, A. (1996). Romanticism. New York: Routledge.
Edelman, M. (1995). From art to politics: how artistic creations shape political conceptions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Glucksmann, C. (1994). Baroque reason: the aesthetics of modernity. London Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
