American Art [Part 1]

Artistic creation in America has always experienced a conflict between two opposing sources of inspiration: the internal source of creation and the source of creation from Europe...

From the beginning, Hollywood demonstrated a high level of internationalization and attracted many foreign film talents.

General features of American art

The concept of “American art,” especially in the eyes of European scholars, refers to all the art in America from indigenous cultures that existed before the arrival of European colonists until after World War II, when the trend of globalization became stronger than ever. White immigrants to America destroyed the glorious arts of the Native Americans. When they brought millions of black people as slaves, for hundreds of years black art was despised and stifled, existing secretly in the dark or considered a mere amusement for the masters. But the survival instinct of black music was so strong that black music became a unique element of American music.

America began with immigrants of many ethnicities bringing with them customs and traditions from many regions. However, since independence, at the end of the 18th century, through historical developments, a common independent art has gradually developed beyond the tendencies of each individual ethnic community, in accordance with the aspirations of the politicians who founded America because it proves to be a spiritually mature nation. The unique feature of American art is that although it has the characteristics of many ethnicities, it still retains its own characteristics.

Artistic creation in America has always experienced a conflict between two opposing sources of inspiration: the internal source of inspiration, originating from the internal geographical and historical environment, often wild and innocent, and the source of inspiration from Europe, often carrying the sophistication of an art with a very long tradition.

One characteristic of American art is its strong spontaneity. Despite government subsidies, museums, symphonies, and theaters can only exist thanks to donations from philanthropists, universities, and especially ticket sales. Art in other countries depends on government subsidies, but in the United States it must be linked to commerce (ticket sales).

That is why art is always experimental and creative. This is clearly shown in cinema, folk music, the development in local theater troupes, ballet, symphonies, exhibitions, etc. The government increases subsidies for art while still preserving its independent nature. The government always reminds that it has no intention of directing art. When the National Endowment for the Arts was established (1965); there was still an independent expert committee, whose task was to discover, encourage talent and disseminate works.

Thanks to technical progress, American culture and art were widely popularized among the masses: Television, books, magazines, museums, all developed massively, covering all areas of life such as: music, theater, cinema, sports, tourism, food, medicine, education... even product samples.

Many of my European friends believe that in American culture there are only three areas that are uniquely American and therefore make a real contribution to world culture. They are literature, cinema, and music. I think there is also American architecture.

American cinema was born in the late 19th century and has since then quickly become one of the world's leading cinemas in terms of both quantity and artistic quality. Sometimes people also call American cinema Hollywood (named after the location Hollywood, where the largest film studios and studios in the US are located). The formation and development of Hollywood is closely linked to Jewish businessmen and cinematographers.

They were the ones who recognized the huge benefits of cinema and pioneered the establishment of the first major Hollywood film studios and the construction of dedicated cinemas to show films. From the beginning, Hollywood demonstrated a high level of internationalization and attracted many foreign film talents. This is one of Hollywood's greatest strengths as its high internationalization has created a variety of artistic styles and acting in films and has easily attracted audiences in many regions of the world.

American music: America is a melting pot of musical hybrids due to the meeting of the religious (Puritan) European ethnic music, folk and classical music, and black musical traditions (plus a little bit of Native American music that has gradually faded away); even the learned movements from Europe are often greatly influenced by the forms of black and European folk music in America.

These factors created the independent character of American music with two opposing tendencies: blending the music of different ethnicities and races, while affirming American identity; trying to be deeply rooted in tradition but at the same time finding something new that breaks away from tradition. European classical traditions always conflicted with the strong vitality of local customs and languages ​​in America; therefore, many talented and educated American musicians still cling to local traditions.

American Architecture: When talking about American architecture, many people only think of high-rise buildings and “skyscrapers”. In fact, American architecture also has a 400-year history, quite unique and characterized by three factors: Multi-ethnic and multi-local character; the practical and creative mind of the architects; and still somewhat admiring historical styles and especially European classicism (going through the localities, you can still see traces of national architectures that remain original or change according to the American environment: Spain, Netherlands, England, Northern Europe, France, Japan...)

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nghe-thuat-my-ky-1-283618.html