Starting Out Completely Clueless
Okay, so yesterday I got this itch. I kept hearing names like... oh, what were they? O'Keeffe? Hopper? And something about a Harlem thing? Honestly, I had zero clue who these 1920s artists actually were or why they mattered. Felt kinda dumb. I thought artists were all just Picasso and Van Gogh, you know?
Step 1: The Crappy Google Search (Don't Do This!)
My first move? Bad. I literally typed '1920s art' into Google. Big mistake. Thousands of results. Wikipedia pages crammed with dates and movements I couldn't pronounce. Articles using words like 'Modernism' – sounded like boring history class stuff. Felt overwhelmed instantly. Closed the browser after like 3 minutes. Too much, too fast.
Step 2: Actually Looking Around Me
Felt stuck. Then I remembered there's that small art gallery downtown, the one I always walk past but never go in. Figured, "Eh, worth a shot." Walked in after work. Told the lady at the desk, "Umm, anything here from like the 1920s?" She smiled (!) and pointed me to a corner. There it was! Two paintings. One showed gritty city streets, dark mood. Another showed this big, close-up flower, super detailed. That was the lightbulb moment. The city one? George Bellows. The flower? Georgia O’Keeffe. Suddenly, these weren't just names. I SAW what they actually painted. Made a huge difference.
Step 3: Hitting Up the Library (No, Seriously)
Gallery lady mentioned our local library has a good art section. Went the next morning. Didn't head for the giant art history tombs – too scary still. Wandered the shelves and grabbed a couple of thin books with lots of pictures. Books just focused on 'American Art 1920s'. Flipped through pages right there on the comfy library chair. Saw more Hopper scenes – lonely cafes, quiet streets. Saw paintings exploding with wild patterns and energy – that was Archibald Motley Jr. Saw these sharp, clean paintings of factories and buildings – Charles Sheeler. Much easier looking at pictures than reading dense text!
Step 4: Finding a Free & Easy Online Home
Back home, Googled again, but smarter this time. Added "for beginners". Found a site dedicated just to American art history. Looked plain, simple, felt trustworthy. No selling anything. Just pages and pages on different groups of artists from that time.
- The Ashcan School: Guys like Bellows painting messy, real city life.
- Precisionism: Sheeler and others making factories look weirdly beautiful.
- Stieglitz Circle: O’Keeffe and her flowers/skulls in New Mexico.
- Harlem Renaissance: Wow! Found artists like Aaron Douglas with amazing silhouettes. This was totally new to me!
Clicked on one artist I liked the look of – Edward Hopper. Found a page about him: his life, his common themes (loneliness!), where I could see his stuff locally. Perfect.
Where I Am Now
Took a couple of days messing around, hitting walls, trying different things. Didn't need a fancy course or expensive books. Started by just seeing the art in person (thanks, little gallery!), then grabbing visual books, then landing on a solid, free website to go deeper without getting lost. Made a list in my phone notes of artists I actually like from that site – Hopper, O’Keeffe, Douglas. That’s enough for now! Next step? Maybe actually try finding prints online for my wall. Who knew the 1920s had such cool stuff happening?
