Art Of A Nation

Initiated by:
• Ceit

Details

There are artists who get elevated to representatives of entire countries and cultures, appropriately or not. I only know a very few names, since I only know a very few countries, and even those not so much. More ideas are welcome. American idealist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37y9svho4tc (5:21) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE9s1SrCYsw (4:56) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pnfrlANyuY (11:16) Slavic brother: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eyn_-Cp59E (4:55) (maybe excessive adulation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cQmuCDPiio (23min) The most Spanish and most Catalan painter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3FAy0teMNo (who was a terrible person, representing a terrible country, and could actually represent many countries in that respect) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiWrfDYtuoc (12:05) -in Spanish, auto-translate is not absolutely awful Questions: 1. Which national vision most appeals to you? Which one best represents your country? 2. Rockwell's most famous works can be called sentimental, playing to the nostalgia of most modern Americans. Does this limit them to commercial art? Could they achieve a "higher" meaning in the future? 3. Mucha believed very much in the idea of Slavic Brotherhood and looked to Russia as an example to follow culturally. Does this affect how you see his works, even outside of the Slav Epic? Given his Czech nationalism, would he be so pro-Russian today? 4. Does Dalí's work represent Spain in a positive way? Does it represent Spain at all? How does his work compare to e.g. Goya or Velázquez as identifiably Spanish? 5. What other visual artists are great transmitters of their nations' identity? Was that their goal, or have their works been adopted/coopted for the purpose?