The Artistry of Martha Graham
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The 20th century has been a period of revolution for virtually all of the arts. The classical standards of artistic expression have been studied, deconstructed and ultimately reinvented through the paintings of Pablo Picasso, Salvadore Dali, and Max Ernst, the sculpture of Constantin Brancusi, the literature of James Joyce and the music of Igor Stravinski, to name a few. With creative insight, passion and sheer artistic potency, Martha Graham earned a place among this pantheon of luminaries through her singular creation of the modern dance. In 1937, Merle Armitage compiled some of the articles written by her friends, colleagues and critics into a single volume titled Martha Graham, The Early Years. The articles, written over the first decade of her career, provide valuable insight into the contemporary perception of the importance and impact of her work.Like many of her contemporaries throughout the art world, she was subject to a wide range of both criticism and praise for her innovative approach to what was then a rigidly defined, classical art form. She was criticized by those who could only interpret the dance through the classical vocabulary of expressive motion for being pretentious, and therefore difficult to understand, and for creating works that were monotonous due to their lack of appreciable motifs. She was accused of abandoning the dance for the theater. She was hailed as a great artistic genius, however, by those who could appreciate her contribution t
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s use of space was similar to the style seen in modern painting and sculpture. It economically eliminated all extemporaneous decoration, leaving only an intense concentration of essentials to suggest meaning. The minimalist approach allowed the members of the audience to respond with their own esthetic sensibilities, to supply their own completion of the experience, perhaps beyond the limitations of any explanation that the artist may have given (Martin, 1931, in Armitage, 1978, p. 13).
This presentation of essence, with no explanation, demands more than mere passive spectatorship from the audience. Those who were willing to make the effort, however, were generously rewarded. Those who wished to be passively entertained were probably left wondering why she was so highly regarded. This demand for participation presents some insight into the nearly fanatic levels of both praise and scorn given by those viewers from whom participation was asked. As the reviewer, John Martin, has stated, ôIt is easy to understand how one might dislike her work intensely; it is considerably easier to understand how one might like it with equal intensity and be stimulated and disturbed by it. The only unimaginable reaction would be indifference
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Approximate Word count = 1365
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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