NICC ART

[avenariush-blog]

Week 10 Blog

Reading this book is like riding a roller coaster. Sometimes you hit two chapters you like, two chapters you don’t like, and one of each. For me, the continuing theme of boredom comes with the abstract art chapters. With chapter 29, that boredom is back again! However, in 30, we get to go behind the scenes and look at some pop art as well as conceptual art to even the tide. In this blog, I will analyze main points from chapters 29 and 30 of the textbook, while relating them to the experiences of my own life.

When I look at The Gate by Hans Hofmann (p. 518), I see what I describe as “nothingness”, in a negative tone. It is an oil on canvas painting that primarily is made of rectangular painted boxes in green, blue, grey, white, yellow, and red. Before last week and watching the “I Could Do That” video, I would say, I could do that! However, after watching, I see something more than nothing. I see skill as it takes a high skill level to paint straight edges with oil on canvas, I also see Cubism in this as well with the rectangles. It’s still not my favorite, but I can at least appreciate it.

When it comes to abstract art, I actually liked looking and learning about the drip technique that Jackson Pollock used on page 521. This is a relatively new technique as he used it in 1947 and he also was innovative as he, “…engaged his whole body in the act of painting.” This means simply that he, “…controlled the placement of the drips and splatters through the motion of his arm and body.” It looks as you might imagine, like someone took a paint brush and flicked it a ton on a blank sheet of paper. Look at the photograph on page 521 of Jackson Pollock to see what I mean! I also enjoyed Tahkt-i-Sulayman I by Frank Stella (p. 528) as it was a polymer and fluorescent paint on canvas piece which was bright and vibrant in color. It looked like a bunch of protractors in different shapes lined up differently. It reminded me club colors in Miami, bright yellow, green, blue, orange, pink, and red, also like some of the Miami Heat throwback jerseys. For that, I liked it.

Gliding into something newer, we have pop art in chapter 30. Pop art is simply art that becomes popular with the public due to its recognizable image. The biggest example of this that I found happened to be the Campbell’s Soup (Tomato) can from 1968 by Andy Warhol. The design of the label is so basic as the top half is red and the bottom half is white, with inverse colored text on each side reading “Campbell’s condensed tomato soup.” However, that simplicity is what makes it recognizable and able to stick around for over 50 years. When someone tells you to grab the Campbell’s soup, your mind probably knows exactly what it is looking for (because of the simplicity). Brilliant idea for marketing (business major).

The last piece that I enjoyed was Untitled by Dan Flavin. It was a pink, yellow, blue, and green fluorescent light square across a corner (p. 544). The corner behind the checkerboard look-alike fluorescent lights, reminded me of the MGM Grand casino and hotel in Las Vegas. I often see the aerial snapshot of the MGM Grand as I watch UFC events or boxing matches and this image reminded me of the corner shaped building of the MGM grand at night, as the corner was bright in color and it faded out towards the edge. Compare the image to the MGM to see what I mean!

Overall, I would say that I was able to enjoy this art more because of that video last week. I also was able to make connections to stuff from my own life in these minimalist or abstract pieces to further enjoy them.

[codybertram-blog1]

I liked what you had to say about The Gateand the way you described what you saw as “nothingness” because that is identical to what I had to say about this type of art too. I have a hard time liking art without recognizable features in them. This is because like you, I also think to myself “I could do that.” I personally feel like it does not take as much skill or precision because it is harder to criticize something you cannot recognize naturally.

[codybertram-blog1]

Week 10, Ch 29/30

For this week’s assignment we covered Chapter 29: Mid-Century American Abstraction and Chapter 30: Pop Art, Op Art, Minimalism, and Conceptualism. Mid-Century American Abstraction is very different from what I would consider a typical work of art. For this reason, this art can be difficult to understand or in my case hard to like. This type of art often does not have an object in the art pieces. Chapter 30 covers art that would bring back objects in the works of art.

The type of painting that I find hard to understand in Chapter 29 is called Action Painting. Just because I do not understand it or like it though does not mean it is not art, because it clearly is with the time and effort put into these art pieces. Action Painting is where the artist will drip, splatter, spray, roll, and throw paint onto their canvas. While completing Action Painting the artist will need to engage their whole body into the painting to get the paint to go where they want. This is easily seen with the photography of Jackson Pollock working on his piece, Hans Namuth, as he is splattering paint onto the canvas. However, for this reason I personally do not like this style of art as much as others.

For instance, Jackson Pollock’s White Lighthas a lot of bright colors but personally I think it looks like a mess. I think that when artists get rid of recognizable subject matter completely it takes away from the quality of the work. I believe that when there is at least some form of recognizable subject matter the art piece can become more easily criticize. Making this type of art harder to do and therefore making it stand out more when it is an excellent work of art. For example, Willem de Kooning still used Action Painting in her piece Woman and Bicyclebut there were still the recognizable features of the woman. In my opinion I believe this work is harder than say White Lightand I personally like it more.

In Chapter 30 the thing that caught my attention the most was a work of art by Robert Rauschenberg called Retroactive I. Retroactive Iresembles a collage and Pop Art. What I really like about this piece though is how so many people can take a number of different views on this piece. For example, everyone has always had their own opinion on every president there has ever been and there is always controversy. For that reason alone, this piece can be interpreted completely different from one person to the next because President Kennedy takes up a big section of this work right in the middle. Another thing I really like about this piece is what the reading had to say about the astronaut at the top left corner. The reading talked about the resemblance of the falling of the painting, the astronaut, and the “Fall of Man.” I find this interesting because I believe there is always a chance at the fall of man because of all the deadly weapons every country has currently.  

[avenariush-blog]

Week 9 Blog

Driving to Wisconsin Dells, at least once per year, there’s a stretch of land for a couple of miles in which are houses made by Frank Floyd Wright. The most notable probably being the House on the Rock. His style is very distinct as the houses are boxy and often include a red exterior. I was very surprised to see that these houses were made in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. I was also very surprised to see his name mentioned in these chapters! In this blog, I will analyze main points from chapters 27 and 28 of the textbook and the “I Could Do That” video, while relating them to the experiences of my own life.

Earlier this semester, we talked about Afrofuturism, which by default, is a subset of Futurism. It’s interesting to see that Futurism, a form of art in which combines the machinery age with industrial ideas, was made in the early 1900’s in Italy (p. 487). The first cast project of Futurism was Unique Forms of Continuity by Umberto Boccioni in 1913. This piece was a bronze cast of a man walking forward. However, this man’s anatomy was not that of a human, but some sort of robot or cyborg. The legs looked very similar to flare pants at the bottom and part of the head looked like the corner of an engine block. You could make out that it was a robotic-human model, painted in a gold tone. This is a very identifiable piece of art for the Futurism genre, taking very little knowledge of art to put a genre to it.

Next, my favorite part of the chapter, which is architecture with Frank Lloyd Wright. I enjoy his work because I can see it multiple times a year as it is just right over in Wisconsin, and I marble at how he was so ahead of his times with most of his work being done in the early 1900’s, but yet still so distinct and almost modern over a hundred years later. It’s interesting to note that Frank got a good architectural foundation from Louis Sullivan, the famous architect who developed the skyscraper (p. 494). Varying far from a skyscraper, Wright took what he new and developed the Prairie Style. This style included Wright taking architecture and fusing it with the natural landscape of wherever he was. He usually used rectangular shapes, asymmetrical arranged horizontal planes (p. 494), red exterior at parts, and of course, the fusing of nature into his pieces as seen with Fallingwater and House on the Rock in Wisconsin! Frank truly was an organic architect with the way he developed his pieces.

Shifting into chapter 28, we have another personal favorite of mine, Salvador Dali. I first learned about him in Spanish class as we studied culture, and of course, you can’t study culture without art! Dali was a Surrealism artist. I believe that I have mentioned him in a previous blog! His most famous piece of art arguably is The Persistence of Memory. This piece portrays a series of objects in a partly desert landscape that are melting, such as a clock melting over a tree limb. A dead fish, a pile of ants swarming over an orange item. This sort of art perfectly portrays irrational thoughts that artists are having at the time, which is what Surrealism is. Shout out to Grant Wood also making it into chapter 28, another artist that I mentioned in a previous blog (his work is also on display at the Dubuque Art Museum)!

Heading into my least favorite art, we have American Abstraction. This collection of art is essentially modern art which may relate to the social times or political times of the artist. Georgia O’Keeffe, an abstraction artist, made a piece called Black and White. It is a piece with an arrowhead like shape peaking out of the image on the left side in white, while the rest of the image is in black and grey. On the surface, one might think, wow, what is so special, I could make that myself. That’s where the “I Could Do That” video comes in. This piece was oil on canvas, and if you watched the video, you would know that making extremely straight edges with oil on canvas is extremely difficult (such as the arrowhead). So, after all, this piece is much more of an artist’s piece. What I am saying is that if you are an artist, you can appreciate this piece more because you know skill level it takes to produce a piece of this expertise, versus the knowledge of the general public who may not understand. I finally understand this “simplistic art form”, which I guess may not be so simple after all, but more of an artist expertise genre.

[codybertram-blog1]

I also found Futurism interesting especially Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity.I liked this piece because of how much it did look like a person walking but it still had the futuristic view by having the robot edges to it. The fact that it was covered in gold gives it a high quality to it which helps with the Futurism art the piece. I really liked how you said the legs had a flare pant look to it because flare pants did not become a thing until a few decades later.

[codybertram-blog1]

Week 9, Ch 27/28

For this week’s assignment we covered chapter 27 which entailed Cubism, Futurism, and Related Twentieth-Century styles and chapter 28 which entailed Surrealism, Social Realism, Regionalism, and Abstraction. The most influential style of the early twentieth century was Cubism. However, Suprematism is what appealed to me the most rather than Cubism.

Suprematism was a style created by Kazimir Malevich. His first Suprematism work, Black Square, is a piece that I found really interesting. In this piece Malevich was trying to achieve the mystical through pure form. This was clearly done in this piece because it is literally just a black square with a white background. The black square was an expression of the cosmic, of pure feeling and the white background was the void beyond feeling. This to me is completely mystical because this piece could be interpreted in an endless number of ways.

Another really cool thing about this piece is how symbolic and influential it was. It was so influential that when Malevich passed away his coffin was white and was decorated with one black square and one black circle. This was completely fitting because no one knows for sure what, if anything, comes after death. Even if one is religious and believes in a life after death, they are still only believers and cannot know for sure what comes after. It is all a mystery and that is exactly what Suprematism was all about. This was a great way to honor Malevich.

For chapter 28 the section that caught my eye the most was the United States: Regionalism and Social Realism. The reason this section caught my eye so much is because multiple pieces of art from this section were captivating and it was easy for me to feel some emotions that were put into these works of art. For example, in Jacob Lawrence’s Harriet Tubman Series, No. 7, it is easy to see her determination in this piece. Knowing Tubman’s background, it is easy to see how good of a job Lawrence did in capturing the small details that characterized Tubman to make this a great piece of art.

Another example of being able to feel the emotions would be Edward Hopper’s art piece Gas of 1940. In this work of art there is a man standing alone by a gas pump in what seems to be a remote location. This piece gives this feeling of remote location by there only being one man and only one road to travel nearby. On top of there only being one road there are no cars parked or currently getting gas. This gives off the feeling of struggle and helplessness.

Considering the date of 1940, we know that this man is just now ending his time in the Great Depression. Many of us have gone through hard times at some point in our life so it is easy to understand what this man may be feeling. However, many of us have not gone through a struggle quite as bad as the Great Depression so that is why this work of art is so captivating. Because no matter what I feel from looking at this work of art, the emotion is increased because of the setting in the work of art.

[avenariush-blog]

Week 8 Blog

The artist that I know the most about is Vincent van Gogh because of my elementary school art teacher. The Starry Night and van Gogh’s ear always were points of emphasis anytime we started and made new projects. Moving into the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, we will encounter more of the art that often is known today as well as my favorite art from van Gogh. In this blog, I will analyze main points from chapters 25 and 26 of the textbook while relating them to the experiences of my own life.

Vincent van Gogh as I said is my favorite artist for a couple of reasons. Vincent comes across as extremely peculiar for a multitude of reasons. The first reason is because van Gogh only dedicated the last ten years of his life to painting (p. 457). Given that Vincent only lived for 37 years from 1853-1890, that means he spent roughly only a fourth of his life painting. However, in that short amount of time, the accomplishments of van Gogh would live forever. The Starry Night, which is known to be van Gogh’s most touted work, was an Impression painting, oil on canvas. The strokes of the wind through the air blowing across the night sky over a Dutch village are so distinct as well as vibrant for the dark hue of the painting. What strikes me as amazing is that this painting was done in a mental asylum and is said to reflect a disturbed mind. While I can see where people might get the disturbed mind feeling from the dark hue of the painting, I do not think that is how it is perceived today. I think it is just admired for the image’s creativity.

The second work of art that was shown in my elementary school teacher’s classroom was The Scream. I remember it very distinctly as it sat on the right side of the chalkboard in his room. I also tend to remember this because I wore a scream mask for Halloween for like two years in a row as a kid. However, even though I know the painting, I couldn’t remember the artist, Edvard Munch. In contrast to van Gogh, Munch lived for a much longer period, from 1863-1944. In comparison to van Gogh, Munch was said to suffer from mental issues (p. 464). Munch was more of a Symbolist (works often suggest states of mind and ideas), the most notable Symbolist work being The Scream, as I mentioned earlier. This painting is very interesting as it is seemed to be painted in waves and curves. The figure which is doing the “screaming” has its hands covering its ears. The hands are curved around the head and blending along with the pieces terrain which are curved as well. This piece is meant to describe a scream of colors and nature, as Munch felt for inspiration for this piece. I believe this painting could also express a disconnect from society as the character is blocking out the “noise.”

Moving onto the early twentieth century, we have Expressionism and artists such as Franz Marc and Vassily Kandinsky, who were a part of the German Expressionist group, The Blue Rider (p. 472/473). Off the bat, I am going to be honest, I find this genre of art to be similar to looking at a world of nothingness. The bright exhibition of blue, green, orange, and yellow lull me to sleep along with the often-long shapes used in these works. One of these works that tend to lull me to sleep is The Large Blue Horses by Franz Marc. This painting is said to represent red dogs, pink skies, and blue horses. However, the only thing that I can make out from the oil on canvas painting is a few blue horses. I was actually able to make out more from Marc’s other corresponding painting, Small Yellow Horses, which is essentially a template of the horses used in The Large Blue Horses, painted yellow and placed on another piece of canvas, with a different background.

Overall, I was mostly impressed by chapter 25 with the works of van Gogh and Munch. Their works resembled each other with the Impressionist styles. It was also interesting to see that these artists went through mental suffering and still produced legendary works. As for chapter 26, I will hold my silence (or you can just read the second to last paragraph).

[codybertram-blog1]

I think it is amazing that Vincent van Gogh was able to accomplish so much in such a short period of time spent being an artist. His most famous work The Starry Nightwas created as you said in a mental asylum and is believed to reflect a disturbed mind. What is interesting to me though is how famous this work of art became if it is really to reflect a disturbed mind. It’s amazing he could create such a piece if he was truly mentally ill.

[codybertram-blog1]

Week 8, Ch 25 & 26

For this week’s assignment we first covered the Post-Impressionism of the Late Nineteenth Century. For this era a very important theme that stands out was the use of bright vivid colors. Along with the importance of bright colors was the use of a defined edge. The second section we covered was the Early Twentieth Century. Like the Late Nineteenth Century, the Early Twentieth Century was big on bright vivid colors. What makes this era unique though is the advancements in technology and how artists in the future would use these new developments such as plastics.

For the Post-Impressionism era what I found interesting was how Georges Seurat was just a little different but this slight difference in his style made him so unique. Like other artists of this era, bright colors were used in Seurat’s paintings. What made his work so unique though was that instead of using a typical brush strokes, he used dots to form shapes. Seurat called this technique divisionism and this technique is what makes him stand out as an impressive artist in my mind.

The reason this catches my eye so much is because to me there is something beautiful about being different in one’s field of work that separates the good from the great. This can be said about almost anything in my mind to include works of sports, medicine, food, cars, and more. For example, changing one small technique in a sport can allow a good athlete to become a great athlete and adding one small ingredient to a meal can make it become a great tasting meal compared to just an average one. This in my mind is what Seurat was accomplishing in his art work. He was becoming better at his trade by being different and unique.

For the Early Twentieth Century the group of Blue Rider artists was really interesting. For example, Vassily Kandinsky was a member of this group and what made him unique was that he eliminated all recognizable objects from his works of art. For him, art was strictly a matter of rhythmic lines, shapes, and colors. At first when I read this I thought that without recognizable objects these paintings would be disorganized and not something nice to look at. However, his works of art are actually very captivating and in a way relaxing. For instance, his workSeveral Circles, No. 323is a painting of just circles, but the way he uses his colors for each circle and the size comparison and placement of each circle makes me just gaze at it and relax. To have the ability to do this is remarkable considering there are no recognizable objects. This just shows how much knowledge Kandinsky had about the use lines, colors, and shapes.

In conclusion, both sections of this week’s assignment were big on the use of bright colors. A major take away from both sections is how to be unique and perfect your area of work. Seurat was a great artist and was unique because he used dots to form shapes. Then Kandinsky was unique because his work was captivating even without the use of recognizable objects. From this future artist can learn that being unique can be key into succeeding their own unique style of art.

[ellaosterkamp-blog]

Week 7, Ch 23 &24

I find it appropriate that realism is the topic of focus when reading about the nineteenth century because that is a time where people are beginning to point out the realities of life instead of the luxuries. This is a time where artists are connecting people and art with nature and incorporating real life experiences into their own artwork. 

 Gustave Courbet was an artist that stood out to me when reading chapter twenty-three of A History of Western Art because he believed that realism was created best by those who made art based off their own experiences. I connected to this because my personal favorite art to create comes from my own experiences in traveling. In my free time, I enjoy painting things in relation to the ocean. Some of my most enjoyable memories come from spending time by the sea, which inspires me to paint portraits of beach scenery and creatures of the ocean. I connect with these moments so much that all the tattoos I have thus far are of ocean theme. I agree with Courbet when he says that the realest and most authentic artworks in realism come from those who have experienced it themselves (page 418).  

Honore Daumier’s, Louis Philippe as Gargantua, was a great example of the mockery of artists to political figures in the nineteenth century. This print of the prince carelessly eating all the people in poverty’s goods showed what was happening in political society and how it was affecting people. Although this was an exaggeration, Daumier was sent to jail for this print and a new law was proposed so that no illustrations were allowed in the press, only words instead. I like this story because it shows the power of corrupt politicians and how artists were standing up for civilians with no voice even though there would be consequences in the end.  

Chapter twenty-three also discusses the development of photography. When noticing some of the first stages of photography, it is so cool to see the monumental improvement to where we are today with capturing photos. Photography is something I have grown to enjoy as a personal hobby, and I almost always take my DSLR camera wherever I go. I am grateful for the development of photography and appreciate the process and knowledge it took to get to where cameras are today.  

In chapter twenty-four, it states that unlike realism in the 19th century, impressionism rarely gave a focus to political views. This is interesting in the fact that based off different styles of artwork, the artists seemed to have very different standpoints. Before reading chapter 24, I felt I could relate to realism artists more, but afterwards I have noticed that impressionism art focused on the effects of light in nature and weather occurrences, which is what I prefer as a better viewpoint myself.  

Claude Monet’s, Bassin des Nympheas, stood out to me on page 440 because it has so much detail in every brushstroke. The way the vibrant colors reflect a deep green onto the water to show the stillness of the water is not only clever, but visually appealing as well. I like that this painting was inspired by his own water garden, similar to how Gustave Courbet used his own experiences to create realism artwork in chapter 23.  

Chapters 23 and 24 discussed realism and impressionism in the nineteenth century and how the development of art and photography in real world situations were affective in the portrayal of politicians versus society. Nature and lighting were also a major part in the creation of realism and impressionism artworks.  

*All references to artwork and artists come from chapters 23 and 24 of Laurie Schneider Adams, A History of Western Art, 5th edition.  

[kaleibiehl-arthistory-blog]

I have very similar ideas to yours regarding the meaning of Realism and Impressionist style. In Paris, society was beginning to stray away from the perfect image of what life should be like and exploring the true reality of the world. I believe these ideals sprouted from it’s recent political and social changes. Similar to your beliefs in Courbet’s mindset, I also think that art should be specific to the artist’s interpretation of their media. I think it’s really cool you use your own interests like the ocean to paint. It reminds to of Impressionist style, as a lot of artwork uses the outdoors and specific experiences to make a piece. 

[codybertram-blog1]

I would also have to agree about what Gustave Courbet said about realism when saying realism was created best by those who made art based off their own experiences. Like you I too have tattoos that are related to realism because they come from my own personal experiences. However, all my tattoos deal with my time in the military and they symbolize the situations I have been in which is the definition of realism to Courbet.

[codybertram-blog1]

Realism / Impressionism

For this week’s assignment we covered both Nineteenth-Century Realism and Impressionism. I really liked learning about these two sections of art history because they resemble a lot of today’s art styles and it is fun seeing how similar past art can be to today’s art. Realism is interesting because it is often trying to respond to the issues of political events, as we see often in todays culture. Impressionism on the other hand often will deal with issues of more relaxed activities such as entertainment or landscape.

One thing that really caught my attention about Nineteenth-Century Realism is how the artist of this era would use their art to speak about issues, much like artist of today do. The painter Honoré Daumier was very good at drawing cartoons and satirical drawings and had them published in the Paris press. However, his work was so good at showing the corruptness of situations such as politics that in 1835 the government passed a law limiting freedom of the press to verbal rather than pictorial expression.

Learning about that made me instantly think of the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Learning about Honoré Daumier’s situation with the government made me think about the current political situation and how artist still employ this satirical drawing tactic. In today’s world if we pay close attention we can see how this is not only used in papers with cartoon drawings but with politician campaigns, tv shows, movies, and more.

With Nineteenth-Century Impressionism I liked learning about Claude Monet’s work, especially his work Sunrise.The reason I like Sunrise so much is because at first glance to someone who does not understand art very well, like myself, it may not look like such a great work of art. This may be because of the “scribble” look it can give off. However, it was fun to learn that Monet did this on purpose in order to show the effects of shifts in nature. Just learning that little bit makes me think of how other works of art that may not be appealing to myself at first but may actually be very intriguing to me once I understand the background of it better and understand what the work of art is all about.

Other pieces of Monet’s work I really like because his work often deals with nature. In these works of art from Monet, like Terrace at Sainte-Adresse, he is often trying to show the beauty of nature and the effect humans have had on it. Art pieces like this I really like because nature is extremely beautiful, especially when humans have not interfered with it and I often wonder how much our Earth can take from humans slowly destroying it. To me that is what Monet is often showing and that is why it catches my eye.

In conclusion, Nineteenth-Century Realism and Impressionism show a lot of resemblance to artist work today. Realism often deals with political issues, which the world sees almost everyday today. Impressionism often deals with things such as paintings of nature, which many artist still love to work with today.  

[bigyellowclock-blog]

Chapters 19-20

           The power of current events has on everything ranging from political movements to art can be seen throughout history, and I find it interesting how today’s events has the same kind of effects and influences over today’s society. Back during the last moments of the sixteenth century, the presence of politics and science were everywhere, dominating most people’s time. Several innovations were made then, like the discovery of gravity by Isaac Newton. Before this, Mannerism was one of the most prevalent art styles, but this started to have competition from the Baroque style which focused on more realistic colors, shapes, and textures. It would influence several different works across multiple countries including France, Spain, and Italy, each area having its own take on the style.

           I think that all the work done in the sciences led to people wanting to try for more realistic looking results in their artwork. Instead of going for the more stylized methods of Mannerism, artists began to work towards more expressive products. One of the pieces that come to mind first is Boy with a basket of Fruit by Caravaggio. Caravaggio painted everything very carefully and meticulously. The fruit in the basket are all very detailed, showing the reflections of light in their corners. The boy too is painted realistically. He stands out from the background, becoming more pronounced than he would in the traditional Mannerism style. I think that the influences brought on by the new discoveries and changing times were in part responsible for these changes in how art was produced. It’s interesting to see how the events of the time period affect everything around it, both in artwork from that time and in the general community. They are pushed by the current events into new things they would not have had considered before or have not had the motivation to peruse.

           I also think that the way in which people respond to the changes going on around them can affect what it is they put out into the world. Artwork from a person who worked within the Baroque style and appreciated it would have a different result from someone who worked in the same style but did not totally agree or welcome it. Those who continued to work in the Mannerism style would try their hardest to overshadow the Baroque works being made.

           In today’s society, the effects of current events on art are still very persistent. Works of art cover a whole range of political topics, ranging from racial issues to displease with treatments to religious ideals. All artwork like paintings, sculptures, architecture tend to have a specific message about a certain issue. I think that political cartoons are the most obvious when it comes discussing the effects of current events on society. They clearly state what they are talking about and make their message on the topic very clear. I believe art lets us express our personal believes about a subject while making it look a certain way to draw people in.

[codybertram-blog1]

I like how you talked about how the events of a specific time period can affect everything around it and not just the art. With discoveries as significant as gravity it is no wonder people started to question things and wanted a more realistic approach in artwork. It makes me wonder what type of art we will have or want in the future as things continue to be discovered as I believe we know so little compared to all that there is to know.

[codybertram-blog1]

Week 5 Baroque/Rococo

For this week’s assignment we covered two sections, the Baroque Style in Western Europe and Rococo movements in art. These art styles are very different as Baroque is a style that shows a lot of seriousness and action in the works of art while Rococo is a more relaxed style of art and does not show the same amount of seriousness. However, even though the styles are very different, some scholars still believe that Rococo was a refinement of the Baroque style.

It was very interesting learning about the Baroque art style in Western Europe because it was very easy to see the seriousness taking place in multiple works of art. For instance, Gianlorenzo Bernini’s sculpture of Davidis very captivating. When looking at this work of art just looking at the facial expression one can see how serious of a situating David is in. Just his face shows focus, determination, and will. I personally like this style of David more compared to say Donatello’s Davidbecause it was a very serious situation. Another good example of the Baroque style is Jacob van Ruisdael’s Extensive Landscape with Ruins. I like this example because even though there are no people in this work of art, the seriousness can still be identified without human expression. That to me takes a lot of skill and represents a great work of art. In this piece we can see the intensity through nature. The skies are very dark and are showing signs of a powerful storm that is about to hit a lone church tower. The power of mother nature can cause destruction and in this case the seriousness all falls on the lone church tower.

For the Rococo style I liked learning about how relaxed the setting of the art work generally was. For example, Antoine Watteau’s Pilgrimage to Cythera shows bright colors of a beautiful day and shows multiple couples enjoying the day. This to me is relatable for many as most of us have been on a great date where everything seemed perfect and that to me is what is happening in this work of art. Even the clothes the people are wearing in this painting signify a relaxing state as they are wearing silk clothes. Another good example of Rococo is done by Dominikus Zimmermann and his work through Wieskirche. In this work there are many bright colors to include pink which is often used in Rococo style. With this work it shows the positives of faith and heaven. I like to compare this work to Giovanni Battista Gaulli’s Triumph of the Name of Jesus, which is the Baroque style. I like to compare these two because they both show heaven, but the Baroque style still has a seriousness side to it by showing the damned near the bottom whereas the Rococo style does not. This to me shows how the style are different as stated earlier.

In conclusion, both the Baroque style and Rococo style are very interesting. Baroque style has a very serious aspect to it which is unique and captivating, while the Rococo style is a relaxing one in my opinion with bright colors. For this reason, I would agree with the scholars who believe that these styles are different completely and that Rococo is not a refinement of the Baroque style.

[rhoadsj-blog]

Week 3 - Early/High Renaissance

This week’s reading covered both the early Renaissance and the high renaissance. Both of these time periods are an important time for art. The early renaissance contained a large change in style by incorporating oil paints as media and the high renaissance brought us many very well-known and highly valued pieces of art.

In the early Renaissance, I found it to be really interesting how big of a difference in detail there is between the work of the artists from the Netherlands and the artists of Italy. According to the textbook, the Italians tended to use tempera paints whereas those in the Netherlands leaned more toward oil paints. The use of oil paints allowed the artists from the Netherlands to create more precise details in their art than the Italians could with their tempera paints. I really enjoy the intensity of the colors the artists from The Netherlands were able to produce in their paintings. It’s such a huge difference to turn between pages 267 and 268 in the textbook. If one were to focus on Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus tempera painting on canvas, which is an absolutely stunning work of art, in my opinion, on page 266 and then flip to pages 268 and 269 that contain paintings that incorporate oil paints, like Robert Campin’s Merode Altarpiece and Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, it’s almost like going from low definition to high definition resolution on a television. The intricate details can be seen in figure 15.32 on page 268 that zooms in on a very small image of Christ carrying a cross near the windows from Robert Campin’s Merode Altarpiece and figure 15.34 on page 270 that zooms in on God’s crown from Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece that shows the fine details in the gems of the crown.

The high renaissance is when many easily recognizable paintings were created, like Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. According to the textbook, the high renaissance uses the word “high” to mean that the work from this time had very high approval. One artist’s work, in particular, stood out to me very strongly in this chapter and that was Giorgio da Castelfranco, as known as “Giorgione”. His work can be seen from page 300 of the textbook to page 302. What drew me to his work is the absolute beauty in the way he painted women’s bodies. He chose to use realistic body types for the women he painted, making their bodies more pear-shaped, which is a very common body type for women today, and it seems as though it may have been common in the 1500s as well. Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus on page 301 is a very beautiful example of the way he painted women’s body types.

In conclusion, the early renaissance contained a large change in style by incorporating oil paints as media and the high renaissance brought us many very well-known and highly valued pieces of art. Both of these time periods from this week’s reading are an important time for art.

[codybertram-blog1]

I really like how you compared the differences from Italian artist to Netherland artist. The only thing I would add to the conversation about the Netherlands being able to create more precise detail because of their use with oil paints is what would be considered a more notable piece of art work, the artist with the access to oil paints or the artist whose work was done amazingly without the use of oil paints. Even though it might be more appealing to the eye with an art piece with oil paints, I believe the artist may still not be as talented as an artist who just did not have the means to oil paints.

[codybertram-blog1]

Week 3 early/high renaissance

For this week’s assignment we covered two different sections. The first being the early Renaissance and the second being the high Renaissance. The early Renaissance talked about a couple of bronze sculptures and the introduction of a new art style that used oil paintings that allowed for bright colors, as in the portrait of “Man in a Red Turban” on page 272. The high Renaissance talked about well-known artists and the high number of famous pieces of art work that came from these artist.

For the early Renaissance I found it interesting on how two different artist, Donatello and Andrea del Verrocchio, had the same bronze sculpture of Davidbut showed him in different ways.  Donatello is considered the most important sculptor of the early-fifteenth-century, but Donatello’s David is different to Verrocchio’s in only minor detail. Donatello’sDavidis shown to have more of an erotic interplay compared to Verrocchio’s David.This is seen by the way the sculpture is peering down at the head of Goliath and the beard of Goliath is intertwined with the foot of David. This is showing the homosexual quality of the sculpture and this is also shown by the feminine pose that the sculpture has. Donatello’s Davidis probably reflecting the Platonic version for the ideal warrior. Instead of this Platonic version, Verrocchio’s Davidis shown to be that of an energetic and outgoing boy without the homosexual quality. This is clearly shown with the way Davidappears to be standing over the head of Goliath and looking away in the distance, almost proud.

During the high Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci had a lot of famous art pieces. One thing that I found interesting with his work for the churches is that he followed a certain set of principles to complete his work. On page 279 we can see the principles that he followed were that of Vitruvius when he stated, “Temples required symmetry and proportion in order to achieve the proper relation between parts that is found in a well-shaped man.” I believe this is still something people desire in art. For example, when people design a new house they want it to be pleasing to the eye and that is often done by having things proportion in design.  Another important notion made on page 279 is that the circle was considered the ideal shape. This was easily seen in the designs of the churches with the domes trying to resemble a circle shape or at the least be symmetrical. All of these key principles for art work are also seen on page 281 with the painting of an Ideal City.In the center of this painting is a circular building that is surrounding by rectangular buildings that are all symmetrical. This quality of symmetry is the feature of Renaissance architecture.

Another great artist of this period was Michelangelo. One of his greatest works was the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo painted the ceiling to tell the stories of the Old Testament in reverse chronological order. With this great piece of art, we can still see the symmetry that was used on page 290 and 291. The center is a larger rectangle surrounded by triangular pictures on both sides that are proportionate. What I found interesting though is what followed after Michelangelo’s work with the Sistine Chapel and that is, his style began to change. With his style change it marks the end of the Renaissance and to me that is very interesting because I generally think that it would be hard to change styles, especially when one is already famous for their current style and work.  

[rhoadsj-blog]

Week 2 - Pre-Renaissance

This week we read about the precursors of the Renaissance. This chapter covered a lot of religious works of art that were similar in their designs, although they were completed by different artists. The paintings that stood out most to be in this chapter are Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned, Giotto’s Madonna enthroned, and Duccio’s Rucellai and Maesta.

Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned on page 224 of the textbook contains heavy Byzantine style characteristics with the use of gold in the background, the gold in Mary’s clothing, and the slender bodies of everyone in the painting. Jesus, although the size of a baby being held by Mary, has the characteristics of an adult, which is also part of the Byzantine style. The figures in this painting are flatter and less natural looking.

Giotto’s Madonna Enthroned on page 225 of the textbook keeps the gold, Byzantine-inspired background Giotto uses shading rather than gold to create the folds in clothing material, and Jesus has a more childlike form. The figures in this painting are more three dimensional and natural looking.

Duccio’s Rucellai Madonna on page 232 also has a gold background, like that of the Byzantine. This painting is like a mixture between the two Madonna Enthroned paintings when it comes to looking natural. Duccio also did a very large altarpiece, called Maesta, that included an image of Mary sitting on a throne holding Jesus in the center, which is very similar to the other three paintings.

I think it’s interesting that this image of Mary and Jesus was reproduced over and over to be used for altarpieces. It looks as though Cimabue may have been creating his Madonna Enthroned at the same, or near the same, time as Duccio was creating his Rucellai Madonna because Cimabue’s creation was in progress from 1280-1290, while Duccio’s was made in 1285. It shows that Mary and Jesus are very important figures in this religion. The version of this scene that I like most is Giotto’s Madonna Enthroned because it looks more natural, and he chose to use a Gothic style throne, which I have been very drawn to the Gothic style of architecture lately. In trying to relate these paintings to my life, it makes me think of styles of band tee shirts. These are three different artists who painted this image of Mary and Jesus in a very similar way (Mary sitting on a throne, holding Jesus, and surrounded by others). With band tee shirts, the designers put together similar layouts for their designs. For example, I have several band tee shirts that have a small logo on the left side chest area, and a larger design on the back. These band tee shirts were all designed by different artists, but they are still similar in how they are set up.

In conclusion, the paintings that stood out most to be in this chapter are Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned, Giotto’s Madonna Enthroned, and Duccio’s Rucellai and Maesta. This week’s chapter about the precursors of the Renaissance covered a lot of religious works of art that were similar in their designs, although they were completed by different artists.

[codybertram-blog1]

I really liked how you related art in Pre Renaissance era to art in the present. It makes it easy to see that a lot of art, no matter what era, there are often similarities. However, the small differences from artist to artist can appeal differently for individuals. Just like some like the more adult looking child Jesus compared to the more natural appearing child Jesus. The same small differences can be seen with a lot of things today, like t-shirts as you said or even something like tattoo designs of a cross. The cross can look completely different but still represent the same thing. This is the same as what they did with the way Jesus appeared as a child.

[codybertram-blog1]

Pre-Renaissance

For this week’s assignment, the Pre-Renaissance, there was a lot of description of art dealing with religion. The main section of this reading I will cover is how art at this time often depicted differences in heaven and hell. One of the great art pieces of this time, Last Judgment by Giotto, shows the differences very well. This art piece shows how on one side the saved souls are rising up towards heaven showing how the saved are righteous. However, on the other side it shows hell with individuals who were considered disordered, violent, and they are located in the lowest  domain of the universe. In this same painting we can see there is a bishop that is approached by a damned soul who is carrying a bag of money. This is indicating that the damned soul is trying to buy their way into the saved souls. This specific part of the painting is believed to represent the financial sin.

This specific painting and meaning behind it is interesting to me because I can see how it relates to my own life currently. For those individuals that are religious, heaven is the place everyone is trying to end up and hell is viewed as the place no one wants to end up, the same as in the painting. The painting also has someone trying to “buy their way in” and people still believe they can do that today. I personally have had conversations with people in the military about their views and some believe they can do whatever they want and at the end they just plan to give everything away and all will be forgiven. This to me is the same as what the damned soul in the painting was trying to do by buying their way into heaven.

Another section covered in this reading was the art styles around the time of a series of disasters in Western Europe. In 1329 there was a famine, in 1333 a flood, in 1335 the smallpox epidemic that killed thousands of children, in the 1340’s the Bardi and Peruzzi banks failed, and in 1348 the bubonic plague. The bubonic plague killed millions of people, in Florence and Siena, it was estimated that 50 and 70 percent of the residents died. Following the loss of so many people there were population shifts, economic depression, and this in return lead to a change in artistic style.

This change in style following loss of individuals and such disasters is something I can relate to easy. In the beginning of my time spent in the military a big style of art a lot of us were getting into were tattoos. Before being deployed the tattoos a lot of us were getting were more positive, upbeat, and motivational tattoos. Things we were proud to show off and talk about. After losing friends and brothers however that style changed for many of us, just like the style changed for the artist in the 1300’s following the disasters such as the bubonic plague. After losing people we were so close with the art style of the tattoos as a whole became darker and had a lot more meaning behind them. The style went from proud and motivated to a remembrance and darker style.

[thelavenderllama-blog]

Introduction

I think that art is very special and each artist is unique. It’s fascinating to see the different types of styles and creations made!

I personally love to write. I also enjoy playing video games and spending time with friends/family. I actually just graduated with my Associate of Arts, though I still need to take a few more classes to fulfill the degree. I will then be going for a Communications degree at UD!

There isn’t anything specific I hope to cover in this course, but I am excited to learn about art!

I don’t have a favorite art piece, but I do like Monet’s style:

[codybertram-blog1]

I would have to agree that each artist is unique and that is a big part of what makes art so interesting. I looked up some of Monet’s art pieces to see if I too would like his style. I would have to say his pieces definitely seem colorful and peaceful and that is a style I like.

[codybertram-blog1]

One thing that interest me with art is how expensive pieces of art can be when some of these pieces look like scribbles. When it comes to art history it would be interesting to better understand the importance of certain art pieces like the Mona Lisa. Outside of art my main interests deal with anything outside to include riding my dirt bike, shooting guns, etc. I am currently pursuing a degree in Athletic Training and I am hoping to be accepted into the Physical Therapy program this fall. I look forward to understanding art better throughout this course.