Art And Propaganda: Public Opinion

Art and Propaganda Student Name Course Instructor Date Since time immemorial, individuals especially those in a position of power have used manipulation to control people. The desire to influence public opinion in a particular direction led to the use of different methods, among them propaganda. At its most basic, propaganda refers to an attempt to manipulate the beliefs and actions of other thorough symbols like music, paintings, and designs among others. In other words, it seeks to influence public opinion to support a certain cause. Propaganda does is not exclusively negative as it may appear. It often entails a heavy emphasis on the benefits of an opinion, while at the same time subduing any form of opposition.[Baines, Paul R., and NICHOLAS J. O'SHAUGHNESSY. "Political marketing and propaganda: Uses, abuses, misuses." (2014): 1-18.] [Walton, Douglas. "What is propaganda, and what exactly is wrong with it." Public Affairs Quarterly 11, no. 4 (1997): 383-413.] Propaganda is a powerful tool for attaining power. For instance, the Nazi party ascended into power by advocating that it could rescue the country from the economic challenges, which it purported was a result of the Jews stealing jobs from the Germans. Since the Nazis advocated that the Jews were to blame for the economic problems facing the country, a majority of the Germans supported the Holocaust. This example demonstrates how propaganda works by promoting a particular thought, while simultaneously downplaying the big picture. For instance, in the U.S., joining the military is celebrated as an act of heroism and a patriotic thing to do. While this is true, such a view ignores the violent realities of war. Propaganda works by tapping into the emotions of the target audience. This can be through images, slogans or the selective utilization of information. Propaganda also thrives through the censorship of facts. When the government controls the media, it can easily dictate the kind of information that should reach out to the public. Propaganda is closely related to rumors, but propaganda has an intent behind it, which is to sway the opinion of the audience towards a particular direction.[Buşu, Oprea-Valentin, Mirela Teodorescu, and Daniela Gîfu. "Communicational positive propaganda in democracy." International Letters of Socialand Humanistic Sciences (ILSHS) 27 (2014): 82-93.] [Funke, Manuel, Moritz Schularick, Christoph Trebesch, Francesco D'Acunto, Marcel Prokopczuk, Michael Weber, Hans-Joachim Voth et al. "How failing banks paved Hitler's path to power: Financial crisis and right-wing extremism in Germany, 1931-33."] [Andersen, Robin. "Act of Valor: Celebrating and Denying the Brutalities of an Endless and Global US War." Democratic Communiqué 26, no. 2 (2014): 22.] [Chen, Yuyu, and David Y. Yang. "The impact of media censorship: Evidence from a field experiment in China." (2018).] Art has been a critical tool in the spread of propaganda. There is no doubt that art is essential to societies. When examining any form of art, individuals might in the first place be attracted to the appearance of the work. Nonetheless, it is important to appreciate that not all art is seeks to display beauty. Art sometimes exists to pass important information and provokes profound meaning of issues. This is especially the case when artists decide to use their works to approve or disapprove something. In this case, art becomes an effective tool for disseminating propaganda. Paintings, in particular, have been used for a long time as a tool for propaganda. In order to indicate the extent to which paintings are used for the purposes of propaganda, two paintings, one old and another relatively new were examined in the Getty Center. The paintings are a representation of both the old and new propaganda.[Marková, Ivana. "Persuasion and propaganda." Diogenes 55, no. 1 (2008): 37-51.] [Wilcott, Jennifer M. "Wartime Art: A Study of Political Propaganda and Individual Expression in American Commercial and Combat Art during World War II." (2013).] [Ibid] The old item on the display was “The Return from War: Mars Disarmed by Venus.” It was created by Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577 - 1640) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (Flemish, 1568 - 1625). In the museum, the availability of the actual painting, rather than its reproduction created more connection with the painting. Given that it was created in the 1600s, seeing it in person was an opportunity to connect with the creators, who were successful painters during their time. It is not every day that one gets an opportunity to see works created during this period. Interacting with the painting facilitates the appreciation of the kind of skill and effort the creators put in making the work.[The J. Paul Getty Museum. 2019. The Return from War: Mars Disarmed by Venus. /art/collection/objects/130326/peter-paul-rubens-and-jan-brueghel-the-elder-the-return-from-war-mars-disarmed-by-venus-flemish-about-1610-1612/.] Establishing the earliest history and the exact date of the creation of the painting is challenging. However, since the project involved two prominent painters, it could have been commissioned by both the Archdukes Albert and Isabella as they celebrated the signing of the Twelve Year’s Truce. As a result, the painting could be dated around 1610-1611. Before the painting came to Los Angeles, it moved from Naples to England where a member of the Pennington-Mellor family purchased it in 1980. Hilda Pennington-Mellor then took it to the U.K. in 1940. Her son, Major Maledun Munthe, inherited then inherited the painting and then took it to the Southside House, Wimbledon, where it remained until its acquisition by the J. Paul Getty Museum in 2000.[Woollett, Anne. "'The return from war: Mars disarmed by Venus by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder ar the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles." Apollo: The international magazine of arts 478 (2001): 18-20.] “The Return from War: Mars Disarmed by Venus” shows Mars captivated by the seductive charm of Venus. The sweet gaze from Venus, together with her tender embrace allow the Cupids to disarm Mars. While the two gods appear to have a good time, the Vulcans are working hard to produce more weapons. In fact, one can easily notice the pile of weapons the busy Vulcans are producing. The forge of the Vulcan appears hot, sweaty and messy while Mars and Venus appear to be at peace and in love.[The J. Paul Getty Museum. 2019.] In the painting, Rubens and Brueghel indicate that love is capable of conquering any individual, no matter how powerful they are. The painting propagates negative propaganda that powerful men can be overcome by charming women. Viewers can see that the charm of Venus causes Mars to lose control over himself, which enables the deceptive Cupids to ...