Why Precisionist artists were rebels?

Why Precisionist artists were rebels?

Precisionist art was reaction against European art and particularly their cynical art movements like Expressionism and Dada. Americans looked inwards with confidence at American industrial success and celebrated it in their art. The pessimist “social commentary” artworks by Europeans had no place in Precisionism. Additionally, European artworks were at times difficult to comprehend, but this Precisionist art was simply akin to holding a mirror what their audience see in their own burgeoning cities. Being American at its core is perhaps the reason, the art movement did not spread beyond the US borders.

The Precisionist rebellion was not only thematic in diverging from the typical subject matter found in imported European art, but also stylistic. They were inspired by photographs like the Impressionists but unlike them, the Precisionist brushstrokes are concealed and the canvas is smooth. They were inspired by the Futurists in their obsession with machines but they never represented them in motion. The geometric forms of Cubism were influential but the Precisionists differed in ensuring their subjects are easily recognizable.

With the onset of WWII, the deadly power of the atomic bomb and other destructive uses of technology, American celebration of industrialization had faded. The Precisionist confidence was undermined by the end of the 1940s. However, Precisionism did not dissipate before leaving a mark on future art movements like Photorealism, Abstract and Minimal art.