-
Model T Ford - Car
Although Henry Ford started manufacturing the Model T Ford car in 1908, it was not until the roaring twenties that the cars true legacy could be felt. Unlike the current unreliable and luxury cars, the Tin Lizzie as it was affectionately called with its glossy black paint and familiar curved hood became an international symbol of progression and the prospect of a carefree world to explore after the devastation of the WWI all over the world like the U.S, England, Japan, and Brazil. -
The Kid by Charlie Chaplin - Film
The Kid was Chaplin’s first full-length film and his directorial debut and is considered a master piece visually and narratively. Chaplin effortlessly blends drama and comedy in a way that had never been done before; dramatic scenes and slapstick comedy worked together. As a silent film, The Kid moved beyond the traditional reliance on subtitles and over expressive faces to convey the narrative; instead he let the story and emotion in the actions in each frame speak for themselves. -
The Charleston - Dance
Having its origins in the rhythmic movements and music of Black culture, the Charleston didn’t become internationally popular until the musical Runnin' Wild. The Charleston is a visually stunning dance in its energetic fast-pace movements with swinging legs and big arm movements. The dance is significance as a representation of freedom for young people who were seeking an escape from the pressures of moral and gender-based behavior expectations of their parents and society. -
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - Novel
It is an iconic novel, still read by many people today. Fitzgerald captures the complexity of humans through his thrilling, but flawed characters. Although the story takes place in the Jazz Age there are timeless themes that still resonates. From the unwavering quest for the American dream, the glamour of wealth, young love to greed and violent infatuation. He showcases the dangers of fantasy and reality colliding in his lyrical prose and the stunning imagery of his descriptions. -
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes - Poem
The Harlem Renaissance was significant artistic and cultural movement for Black identity and American culture. Hughes’s poem is an elegant representation of that time with all its struggles and triumphs. The Weary Blues in its Blues inspired rhythmic stanzas, encapsulates the musical nature of Black artistic expression and its influence on mainstream American and international culture as a source of both liberation and constraint. -
St. Louis blues by Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong - Music
Dubbed the Empress of the Blues for her hypnotic contralto voice and the decades of experience layered in her voice. Smith’s rendition is beloved by critics for her improvisation and the emotional depth, vulnerability, and believability she infuses in each word. On cornet, Armstrong brings to the piece despite his youth at 24, a profound understanding of the pain and loss felt in the song’s lyrics by his flourishes with notes that seem to float and sink into every line in harmony with Smith. -
Flapper Girl - Clothing Style
The flapper dresses of the era with their drop waist, loose frame, and shortened hemline to go with the new short bobbed hairstyle was the ultimate rejection of gender conformity. Flapper girls and their clothing that found its influences in Jazz and the geometric shapes of Art Deco represented the independence and freedom of women as young women fully embraced their newly minted right to vote and the prosperity of the country. -
Several Circles by Wassily Kandinsky - Painting
In the Guggenheim Museum is one of the leading examples of abstract art. On its dark canvas, the focus is on the singular form of the circle. Sprinkled across the canvas like a burst of glitter and confetti in a seemly random display with some overlapping, are vibrant in its colors of varying shades. The representation of the circle as a form utilizes the strength of subjective expression and thought in the pure abstract nature of the piece; it is fully open to the interpretation of the viewer. -
Lovell Beach House by Rudolf Schindler - Architecture
Is considered one of the greatest representations of modern architecture utilizing a minimalist design that focus on the shape of the building rather than ornamentation. The Lovell’s use of concrete before the German influenced Brutalist style is all sharp angles made from five concrete frames in the shape of figure eights. Also, the large expanse of windows that wraps around the build creates an almost futuristic space age vibe to the structure that gives a sense of weightlessness. -
Potato Head Blues by Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven - Music
It is largely considered a marker of the beginning of jazz music and one of Armstrong’s greatest pieces. In the 32-bar chord structure the band creates a tone that flows in and out of itself. Each musician plays their own tune while the timbre of each instrument strings together to form a cohesive unit. The syncopation, playfulness, and the character in the notes denote the rhythmic personality of jazz which continues to be an important genre of music across the world. -
Negro Head by Nancy Elizabeth Prophet - Sculpture
In the RISD Museum sits Prophet’s Negro Head sculpture. Using her husband, Francis Ford as a model, Prophet’s dark wood carved Negro Head is breathtaking in its realism and expressiveness. She captures resilience in the deep-set eyes and pride in the jut of the strong jawline through the exposed sweeping, waved, and smooth marks of her tools all along the bust. For the time frame the face is a reminder of the strength that can exist within the struggles for life in an oppressive world. -
Metropolis by Fritz Lang - Film Poster
Is thought of as one of the most iconic movie posters for science fiction with its sleek elongated lines spanning the poster, heightened by the shading. As the first feature-length science fiction film with complex special effects, Metropolis has a special place in cinema history has the forerunner of the giant blockbuster sci-fi movies that we see today. The film like its poster is aesthetically stunning having been inspired by the times Bauhaus, Cubist, Futurist, and Gothic design styles. -
Steamboat Willie by Walt Disney - Mickey Mouse Animation
Considered the start of the Golden Age of Animation and the Disney legacy. Not discounting the adoration people have for Mickey Mouse and what he represents as the mascot of Disney, it is the technique advances that propels this short to its aesthetic importance. Following the end of the silent film era, the short is the first animated piece to combine music, dialogue, and sound effects through the post-production process to create something truly unique as every part compliments each other. -
White Iris by Georgia O'Keeffe - Painting
In the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts hangs one of O’Keeffe’s famous flowers.The White Iris is particularly aesthetically appealing for its smooth pastel blend of purples, blues, yellows, greens, and white to create a soft sort of floating glow around the artwork. The iris completely envelops the canvas and the eyes of the viewer as it feels like you are melding into the painting; you and the iris become one with each other to bridge the gap between the perceived beauty of fine art and nature. -
Chrysler Building by William Van Alen - Architecture
The epitome of Art Deco with its stainless-steel spire done in a sunburst-patterned that shows off the intricate elements of Art Deco and the influence of the car the building is named for. While the spire is sleek and elegant, the façade and interior showcases the pride and joy of Art Deco with warm colors and bold geometric shapes. New York is adored partly because of structures like the Chrysler Building that has made the city a location that people all over the world dream of visiting. -
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner - Novel
It is significant for its universal exploration of death, how it effects those left behind, and how society organizes its beliefs around burial rituals. He effectively uses stream of consciousness with 15 narrators, creating a fully formed world in Yoknapatawpha that produces realistic voices for each character. The reader feels like they are witnessing the narrator’s thoughts or as close as they can get to seeing the individual self which is conflicted by the roles people play in their lives. -
Empire State Building by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon - Architecture
A staple of Art Deco style in New York and films like King Kong. It is an outstanding piece of architecture with a spire topped by an observation deck 1,250 ft in the air. The main façade is limestone surrounding an expanse of vertical panel windows going straight up the long modern lines. The interior is done in warm tones with detailed geometric patterns under high gloss. One of the leading attractions of the structure is the LED lights around the spire that are lit in different colors. -
The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalí - Painting
Likely one of the most famous surrealist paintings, Dalí utilizes Freudian ideas of psychoanalysis to explore conscious and unconscious thought interact with each other. In the post stock market crash world, the concept of the dream state is captured in the in between where objects like clocks would be solid, tangible objects in the waking world, but they are now melted, and their existence is questionable. The viewer is left to ponder over the realness of time or humanity’s hold over it. -
Larmes (Glass Tears) by Man Ray - Photography
The closeup shot of a distressed woman with her wiry massacre filled lashes and glass tears is an intriguing photograph. At the start of the Great Depression there is a substantial gap between the glory of the lucrative roaring twenties with its silent film starlets to the desolation and poverty after 1929. The contrast of the subjects destress with the perfect alignment of her massacre and circular tears speaks to a sense of dishonesty that forces the viewer what is real and what is not. -
The Gilded Six-Bits by Zora Neale Hurston - Short Story
It encapsulates the emotional shift of society from prosperity, creative expression, and freedom in the 20s to the subsequent crash and poverty-stricken world of the 30s. The characters in are a happy couple with limited resources, but their longing for material things as perceived wealth causes a rift in their relationship. Hurston sets up the appearance and reality of wealth in relation to happiness as material things are often gilded, beautiful but unsubstantial underneath.
