Table Of ContentAN ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OP CURRENT TRENDS IN THE ARTS
OP PAINTING AND CINEMATOGRAPHY
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Cinema
U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P a rtia l F ulfillm ent
of the Requirements of the Degree
Master of Arts
by
Pat Richard Shields
June 1950
UMI Number: EP42703
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This thesis, written by
Pat Richard Shields
under the guidance of 19:3..... Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill
ment of the requirements for the degree of
M aster of Arts
.IrJ..peuelrJr.
Dean
Date May....L9_5 a.
Faculty Committee
Chairman
i l
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I . THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OP TERMS USED . . . . 1
The problem.................................................................................. . . 1
Statem ent of the problem . . . . . .......................... 1
Importance of the s t u d y . .......................................................1
D efin ition s of terms used.................................... . . . . 2
Film as an a r t ............................................................2
Selection of tren d s. .> .............................. 2
Range of S t u d y .............................................................. . . . 3
Organization of remainder of th e s is ...................................3
I I . METHODS OP PROCEDURE AND SOURCES............................... 6
Books . . . . . ...................................6
P e rio d ic a ls............................................................................. . . . 6
Films .................................................................................. . 7
E xhibitions ...........................................................................8
I I I . THE TRENDS AND PROBLEMS OP PAINTING . . . . . . . 9
Trends most related to cinematography..............................9
Non-objective and a b strac t p a in tin g ......................... .' 9
Romantic and rep resen tatio n al painting . . . . .15
S o cial consciousness or the message p ainting . .19
S u rre a list p ainting . . . . ...............................................22
Pr o b le m s..................................................................................................25
E x h ib itin g .............................................................................................25
iii
CHAPTER PAGE
S ellin g .................................................... . . . . . . . . 26
IV. THE TRENDS AND PROBLEMS OP CINEMATOGRAPHY . . . . 28
The most recognizable trends ..................................... 29
Non-objective or a b stra c t f i l m s .............................. 29
Romantic film s................................... 31
Documentary film s ................................... 34
S u rre a listic film s. ......................................................... 37
Problems . . . . . . . 39
E xhibitors .............................................................. 39
C e n s o r s h i p .................................................. 40
V. COMPARISONS OP PAINTING AND CINEMATOGRAPHY. . . . 43
Non-objective p ain tin g and non-objective film . 43
R epresentational pain ting and romantic film . . 47
Social consciousness themes and the documentary 50
S u rre a listic painting and s u rre a lis tic film . . 54
General comparisons and an aly sis . . . . . . . . 57
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................... 64
Public Taste ............................................................. 65
Pine a rt and the a rt film ..................... 66
Commercial a rt and the low f i l m ............................... 68
Education of the public .......................... . . . . . . 71
R esp o n sib ilities ........................................ 74
The re s p o n sib ilitie s of the p u b l i c ..................... 75
The re s p o n sib ilitie s of the a r t i s t ..................... 76
iv
CHft. PTER PAGE
The re s p o n sib ilitie s of the c r i t i c .......................... 78
Contemporary in d icatio n s and recommendations . . 79
Emergence of the sp e cia liz ed cinema . . . . . 80
Competition • 82
M iscellaneous recommendsticns .................................... 84
Uni vers ali ty in thea rts ............................................. 86
Freedom of the a r t s ................................................................... 89
Painting freedom ............................................................. 89
Cinematic freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................. 95
CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED
A comparison of the contemporary tren d s, in the
fie ld s of p ain tin g and cinematography, involves not only
th e ir p a ra lle l d ire c tio n s'b u t th e ir problems and m otivations.
A fter the trends have been established they must be analyzed
to determine these m otivations in re la tio n to contemporary
c u ltu re . Only then can so lu tio n s be proposed. Because of
the proxim ity of cu rren t movements, which are extrem ely d i f f i
c u lt to understand in the perspective th a t past cu ltu res are
seen in , these solutions can only be surm ised.
I . THE PROBLEM
*
Statem ent of the problem. The purpose of th is
analysis and comparison was to find (1) A comparison of
trends in the two field s? (2) to show th e ir re la tio n to
each other; (3) to search fo r m otivations common to both;
and (4) to propose a solution to th e ir problem s.
Importance of the stu d y . Very l i t t l e lite ra tu re
has been w ritten th at deals w ith the co rrelatio n of the
a rts w ithin a contemporary culture and to show the mo
tiv a tio n s w ithin, as w ell as eommon to , each f ie ld . Since
2
any a r t is m otivated by i ts culture and current trends,
then p a ra lle l phases can re a d ily be drawn between any fie ld
of a rt providing an understanding of current events and
m otivations of the times is realized also* ^he problems
involved and th e ir re la tio n to each other must have a
common point of departure. When th is point has been
found then the problem in that fie ld or re la te d fie ld s
can be more re a d ily attack ed . A study of th is so rt could
also serve in the fu tu re fo r a reference in understanding
the thoughts and pred ictio n s of cu rren t a r t trends today,
rig h t or wrong.
I I . DEFINITIONS OF TERMS USED
Film as an a r t . Many books have been w ritten on
the subject of film being an a r t media. The only c l a r i f i
cation th a t is needed here is to fu rth er define i t as se
lected elements of visual images edited together with selected
sound im pressions to produce a new tim e-space element th at
has meaning and sig n ific an c e.
S election of tre n d s. This study of n ecessity
se le c ts only those p ainting trends which are comparable
to the film s more predominant phases. Since th is study
is to be w ritte n in the Department of Cinema then the
emphasis and guide to the work should be placed on
3
cinem atic meaning. The fa c ts and conclusions drawn in
the fie ld of painting are based on an evaluation of the
stu d ies made of paintin g w hile an undergraduate in the
school of fine a r ts . C ertain portions of the work, es
p e cially those dealing w ith trends in p ain tin g , w ill only
be b rie fly discussed because these portions present problems
th a t deserve sev eral e n tire stu d ies in them selves. They
must, however, be mentioned even b rie fly in order to make
th is work more complete.
I I I . ORGANIZATION OP REMAINDER OP THE THESIS
An analysis could be h is to r ic a l, tec h n ic al, a e sth e tic ,
or s o c ia l. This study incorporates some of each but con
cen trates mainly on the so cial and a r t i s t i c im p licatio n s.
An e ffo rt is made to understand the connection between the
two creative mediums and th e ir m otivations. Names of p er
sonages, works of a r t, and examples of the media are kept
to a minimum in th is study leaving them to the content of
the books and m aterial lis te d in the B ibliography. To in
clude them would be but re p e titio n .
The second chapter of the study is divided in to
the methods of procedure and sources of m a te ria l. Special
4
sources are, where ap pro p riate, indicated*
The th ird chapter deals w ith trends in a r t most
re la te d to the cinema medium* These trends have been divided
in to four main headings. No attem pt is made to be inclu siv e
in lis tin g a r t tren d s. Very sim ilar d irectio n s in some
cases have been included under one heading. The second por
tio n of the th ird chapter concerns i t s e l f w ith exhibition
problems and s e llin g .
The fo u rth ch apter, lik e the third in context, deals
w ith cinema. The same trends are discussed in th e ir re la tio n
to p ain tin g . The second section of this portion also con
cerns filmdom's problems of exh ibition and censorship.
The f i f t h chapter compares the trends in both media
as n early as such a comparison can be made. In th is section
the m otivations behind these trends are offered fo r considera
tio n and the approximate d irec tio n s they are taking.
In the s ix th chapter the conclusions and recommenda
tio n s of the study are made. The f i r s t portion discusses
public ta s te in b oth fie ld s based upon the fine a rts lev el
as opposed to the lower commercial a r t lev el as such. The
education of the public is considered and recommendations
put fo rth . Mutual re s p o n s ib ilitie s of the public, a r t i s t ,
and the c r itic make up the middle portion of the chapter.
