10. Dropping the atomic bomb during World War II (1945)

The explosion of the atomic bomb not only brought World War II to a sudden end but also inaugurated a new era of technological and scientific achievement, social concerns, and political fears. Within three years--from 1942 (when the physicist Enrico Fermi and his co-workers produced the first nuclear chain reaction) to 1945 (when the U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan)--the terror of mass civilian destruction as a political instrument was coupled with the euphoria of nearly incredible scientific achievement.

Many artists became wary of technology, which they chose to satirize in "happenings" and Pop Art. Others turned to ecological concerns, to earth art or earthworks (Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, 1970). The threat of destruction encouraged the activities of socially minded artists. Brutal art of the 1970's or Neoexpressionism in Germany in the 1980's expressed the unease, even malaise, of the era. A combination of pride in achievement and horror at what was and could be done permeated the second half of the century.

 

Marilyn Stokstad is the Judith Harris Murphy Distinguished Professor of Art History at the University of Kansas. For her Top 10 list, Stokstad selects broad cultural movements of global significance seen in the light of the American experience. She generally notes a few specific events that triggered or characterized the larger issue or movement. She also expresses the impact on art either by a general movement or by a specific work of art.

1.

Science and technology get human beings to the moon (July 20, 1969)
2. Medical research produces "miracle" drugs (middle to late 1900's)
3. The breakup of the old social order (early 1900's)
4.

Private versus state patronage of the arts (throughout the 1900's)
5. The consumer society embraces the machine-made object (throughout the 1900's)
6. Advances in communication and transportation create the "global village" (throughout the 1900's)
7. The advance of civil rights and gender issues (middle to late 1900's)
8. The rise of ethnic nationalism (middle to late 1900's)
9. Totalitarian states attempt to control artists (throughout the 1900's)
10. Dropping the atomic bomb during World War II (1945)