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How The Other Half Lives
Photojournalist Jack Riis documented the horrible living conditions of the poor in New York City in his 1980 book "How The Other Half Lives." His photographs brought to light the conditions of those persons living and working in the Manhattan slums of the late 1800s--including photos of sweatshops and tenement housing. Riis' book was responsible for legislative reform in 1895 and 1901 to help eradicate poor living and working conditions. -
Period: to
Artistic Endeavors 1890-1920
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The Cleveland Arcade
The Cleveland Arcade opened on May 30, 1890 in downtown Cleveland, Ohio and is a great example of Victorian-style architecture. It is composed of two nine-story buildings that included a five-story glass skylight and was erected at the cost of $867,000. The architects were Eisenmann and Smith of the Detroit Bridge Company. -
Night at Gurzof
The Night at Gurzof was painted by Ivan Aivazovsky in 1891. Born in Russia and educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, he was considered one of the greatest Russian painters of his time and is especially known for his seascapes and was the official painter of the Russian Navy. -
The Scream
The Scream is a work of oil, tempera, pastel chalk, and crayon on a board, created by Edward Munch in 1893. It is housed in the National Gallery and Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway. -
The Sleeping Gypsy
The Sleeping Gypsy is a 1897 oil painting by Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) in the art form known as Art Brut. -
Gare d'Orsay
The Gare d'Orsay was a Paris, France, railway station built between 1898 and 1900 in the Beaux-Arts design. It sits on the Left Bank of the Seine River. It was eventually became the Musée d'Orsay, and houses some of the world's most famous works of art. Today, it is home to one of the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. -
The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James that was first published in two parts in Collier's Weekly (January 27 – April 16, 1898). The story revolves around a governess and two children living in a remote estate that appears to be haunted. -
A Trip To The Moon
A Trip To The Moon was a 13-minute short by French illusionist, actor, and director George Méliès and was produced in 1902. The film was inspired by Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon and was originally named La Voyage dans la Lune. This film made Méliès famous for his theatrical style of filmmaking. -
Casa Batllo
The Casa Batllo was completed in 1904 by architect Antoni Gaudi, in Barcelona, Spain. The house literally means "House of Bones," and is in the Art Nouveau style of design. -
Claire de Lune
Claire de Lune was written by Claude Debussy in 1890, but not published until 1905. It is one of his earliest compositions and indicative of his style of music. -
I and the Village
March Chagall painted I and the Village in 1911, and is oil on canvas, in the artistic mode of Cubism. -
Violon et Raisins
This oil painting on Canvas by Pablo Picasso was originally one of five works when it debuted in Munich at the Gallery Goltz in 1912. It is now house in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. -
Cubist House
Josef Chochol was a Czech architect and sculptor born in Prague in 1880. He is considered to be one of the most influential Cubist architects, and created the Kubistický Trojdům, or "Cubist Threehouse" in 1913-1914 in his hometown. -
Quo Vadis?
Quo Vadis? was a 120-minute Italian film directed by Enrico Guazzoni, based on the 1896 novel of the same name by Henryk Sienkiewicz. It was the standout blockbusters of its time, utilizing more than 5,000 extras, lavish sets, and Italian drama at its finest. -
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring or Le Sacre du printemps was a ballet composed by Igo Stravinsky and first performed in 1913 in Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, with Nijinsky in the title role, as part of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company. Nijinsky was also the choreographer. The music and dancing caused a near riot in Paris and is considered one of Stravinsky's finest and most influential works. -
The Bargain
The Bargain, starring William S. Hart in his first major role, and directed by Reginald Barker, became the standard of which silent westerns were judged. With a running time of 70 minutes, it personified the Wild West and elevated Hart to stardom. -
The Birth Of A Nation
The Birth Of A Nation was an 193-minute epic (12-reels) directed by D. W. Griffith and starred Lillian Gish. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay along with Frank E. Woods, adapting it from the 1905 novel and play by Thomas Dixon Jr., entitled The Clansman. It is considered one of the most controversial films ever made for its portrayal of racism and bigotry in the United States, but nevertheless was a commercial success at the box office. -
The Champion
The Champion is a 33-minute comedy starring Charlie Chaplin in one of his classic roles, along with Edna Purviance and Chicago's Essanay Studios co-owner and star Broncho Billy Anderson. -
Intolerance
Intolerance was a 210-minute epic directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It is regarded as one of the most influential films of the silent era and features four parallel storylines that align through the centuries: Babylonian, Biblical, Renaissance, and Modern. It was one of the first films to be named to the National Film Registry in the United States. -
The Little American
The Little American is an 80-minute, romantic war drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film tells the story of an American woman who is in love with both a German and French soldier during World War I and stars Mary Pickford, who also was the producer of this silent feature, one of the first women in film to do so. -
Cleopatra
Cleopatra is a 147-minute drama (11 reels) directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Theda Bara in one her finest performances. It was one of the most elaborate films ever produced up to that time, costing more than $500,000 (about $7 million in 2021), with more than 2,000 extras, lavish sets, and extraordinary costumes. Bara wore many costumes throughout, some very revealing, -
The Return of the Soldier
The Return of the Soldier is the debut novel of English novelist Rebecca West, and depicts the trauma of Captain Chris Baldry after his return from World War I through the eyes of his cousin Jenny. This was one of the first novels to explore the horrors of war and its effect on soldiers, and their loved ones upon their return home. -
Different From The Others
Different From The Others, originally entitled Anders als die Andern, is considered the first pro-gay film ever made. Directed by Richard Oswald and starring Conrad Veidt and Fritz Shulz, the film follows the story of a violinist who falls in love with one of his students. While initially successful, the film was eventually banned for its homosexual theme and allowed to be shown only in private homes. -
Abraham Lincoln Statue
The Abraham Lincoln Statue is housed in the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C., and was designed by Daniel C. French and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, Italian immigrants who had come to the United States and created numerous monuments here. The also created the Washington Square Arch in New York City in 1895. -
This Side of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel about the lives of Americans after World War I brought literary acclaim to Fitzgerald when published. The first 3,000 copies sold out in three days and eventually went through 12 printings in 1920.