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Week 10: Chapters 29 & 30

In Chapter 29 and 30, Adams covers new eras of artwork including minimalism, pop art, and abstract. According to Adams on page 518, abstract artwork emerged from a combination of Regionalism, Social Realism, and a large quantity of talented European artists moving to New York (Adams 518). I noticed that a lot of abstract artwork is defined with nameless shapes and seemingly “unfinished work.” I saw this most clearly in Ablers’s series of paintings called “Homage to the Square.” As described by Adams, Ablers uses texture and medium to create his work, rather than detail and characters (519). Despite the simplicity of his piece, “Study for Homage to the Square,” Albers contrasts lines with different textures in the red square he painted. It should also be noted that his main goal for this project was to investigate light and color perception. As quoted by the artist himself, “Art should not represent, but present” (519). I think Albers speaks for many of the abstract artists of this time with the belief that there artwork was not created to mirror items and describe their thoughts, but rather to explore simplicities and leave details ominous.

The second painting that caught my eye in this chapter was Willem de Kooning’s “Woman and Bicycle.” Kooning’s painting showed a crazed woman in the midst of rough and violent brushstrokes. Adams described the painting as, “an attack on the idealized Classical image of female beauty,” and comments that the woman’s body is massive and overtaking before it melts into uninformed brushstrokes (525). I think Adams is trying to tell readers that the artwork not only provokes viewers through it’s physical appearance, but it also dismantles the idealized woman in previous techniques seen in the Renaissance period. I like this piece because of it’s demand to be looked at, and it’s ability to normalize imperfection. It left a vague disturbance and interested from the expression of the woman depicted. To me, this painting has so much character and emotion that it draws the viewer to it even if it is frightening.

Moving in to the late 1950s and 60s, many artists began to reject abstract artwork using real objects and items found in everyday life. I found this interesting because of how quickly the techniques changed from drastic downplay to American objects. My favorite Pop-Art piece was created by Wayne Thiebaud entitled, “Thirteen Books.” In this oil on panel painting, Thiebaud painted a stack thirteen colorful books with blurred title names. I liked this painting because the meaning behind it was really interesting, and I would not have noticed it at first glance. According to Adams, the books are closed and blurred because they are meant to suggest “hidden, secret content.” She also describes the books as floating on a white plane, and his use of shadow to create sources of light and absorption (Adams 539). At first glance, the books look inviting due to their colors, but I can now also see the mystery incorporated into the painting and it connects me to the feeling of reading a book. I really enjoy reading, and I think Thiebaud captured how reading can be an adventure for anyone, but one must first open the book or it will forever hold it’s mysteries.

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The artwork I found most interesting was the Pop Art, because it is still around for us today. After you read did you know that is where the Campbell’s Soup, Coca-Cola bottle, and Dollar bill Pop Art (to name a few) came from? I think it’s amazing to actually now be able to relate the artwork to our own lives and what we have experienced. I haven’t really been able to do that, since I am not overly interested in artwork before our time. It is nice being able to relate it, as it makes the chapters much easier to read and understand in my opinion!

Chapters 29 and 30

After reading this weeks reading assignments I will be covering the topics that I find most interesting. In chapter 29, I will further talk about the artists that had popular artwork, and the styles of art during that time. In chapter 30 I will talk about pop art in different countries as well as the other styles of art such as: minimalism, op art, and conceptualism.

In chapter 29 the subject that caught my attention first as the abstract expressionism. This style had the purpose of putting the United States in the middle of the international art world. The artist who was most known for transitioning to American expressionism from European abstract realism is Arshile Gorky. His famous work was called The Artist and His Mother. Gorky has both Fauvism and Expressionism in this piece of art by the visible brushstrokes he did in this art.

Another form of art I came across in chapter 29 that I found interesting was Action Painting. This style of art was from Post-Impressionism and Impressionism. Applying paint was the dominance of this art. The artists dripped, splattered, sprayed, rolled, and threw their paint onto their canvas. The ending result of these artworks was the idea that it was the artist’s activity in their process of creativity. Out of the four artists of Action Painting that were in the book, Jackson Pollock was the one I found most interest in. His most famous form of this art was called the drip technique. He used his whole body and dipped his brush in cans of paint and dripped the paint right onto the canvas. Pollock describes that with this sense of art he feels he is more in the art and when he is the painting has a life of its own.

Color Field Painting is the last thing in chapter 29 I will talk about. This style of art is more to do with reflecting calmness and evoking a meditative and spiritual response. The artist that struck my interest the most was Helen Frankenthaler who visited Pollock (whom I mentioned earlier). She was known for pouring the paint directly onto her canvas. One of her famous works was called The Bay of 1963. This was paint that was thinned and then poured onto the canvas in different layers of color that ended up taking over the whole canvas. The colors take over a calm feeling.

In chapter 30, pop art grabbed my attention. The book talks about both in England and in America, but I will be talking about the pop art in America since I relate to it more. Pop art may not have started in America but it reached its full potential in New York. Andy Warhol is the artist that I liked when reading about the Pop Art. I have always seen the Campbell’s Soup Pop Art but never knew where it came from, and it turns out Andy Warhol did this work of art. He wants to be known as a “machine” so he can mass produce his work. He also did work such as creating the Coca-Cola bottles. It’s amazing to me how that work is still around today!

I have always been a fan of Minimalism, so I thought talking about this only suited my preferences. I like this form of art because it states in the book that the artist tries to leave their role in the work out. Instead, it is just the geometric form of the artwork and is meant for the viewer to take it how they want to. The artist I admired was Eva Hesse. Her popular artwork was called Metronomic Irregularity. It is two rectangles that has white cotton-covered wires connecting them. People could take this as the threads attaching two different things and connecting them.

After reading both of these chapters I didn’t realize how much of the artwork is still around today, and even artwork that I have heard of. That is cool to me connecting our school to actual life that I have been apart of!

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Chapter 27, 28, and “I Could Do That” Video

For this week I decided to focus on artwork from this chapter that goes along with the video. So, I decided to focus on art that “looks” like “I Could Do That” type work. I am going to look deeper into the artwork that looks seemingly easier or like anyone could do it. This video has a very important message that I have said before. Artwork has a deeper meaning and often has a story behind the artwork and the meaning or story isn’t always obvious.

Some of the artworks I chose to focus on are; Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso, Girl before a Mirror by Pablo Picasso, Black Square by Kazimir Malevich, and Collage Arranged Accordingly by Jean (Hans) Arp.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso is a piece that looks like a bunch of easy lines and figures to draw. However, this piece has details that create a moving or shifting effect in the figures. This piece was well thought out and the details are find lines allowing that movement effect. Sometimes it’s important to focus on the movement and feeling of the artwork rather than the fine details and realistic looks of a piece.

Girl before a Mirror by Pablo Picasso looks like a bunch of shapes and a fairly childish looking girl figure. However, this piece embodies a girl and her reflection, the distortion and contrast in the reflection has a deeper meaning. The reflection is the embodiment of her soul and it’s not a light thing to think about. This piece captures the distortion between her reflection and her true self, it could also be taken as a view on body dysmorphia.

Black Square by Kazimir Malevich is just a black square on a white background. It looks like nothing, but that’s the purpose because the artists point was to make us feel how nothing we are compared to the universe and the white is the beyond. This piece may look like nothing but he had a point and a deeper meaning behind his artwork. It is crazy how small we are in comparison to the rest of the universe and universes beyond us. This black represents everything we don’t know but know is out there and the white represents everything we may never understand or even know is out there.

Collage Arranged Accordingly by Jean (Hans) Arp looks like a bunch of blue and white curved squares on a grey background. This piece is interesting because she let the art decide itself, she let the squares fall onto the background and pasted them where they landed, with the exception of not allowing them to overlap. This is important because this piece represents chance and how sometimes the art can create itself.

All of these pieces look like a child or an adult who isn’t creative could make these pieces. But each and every one has a meaning and a story. Each of these works of art have a story to tell and have a lesson to teach. I think that sometimes these pieces don’t make sense, but sometimes we need context, we need background to tell us why the artists created the art. Art isn’t always meant to be observed in the sense that it is easy to identify what is going on. Art is meant to make us think and wonder what was going through the artists mind when they were creating this art.

yauslinm-blog

In your last paragraph, that’s how I viewed the art as well. When I went to the Chicago Museum of Art, I constantly thought to myself why are these so valuable I feel like anybody could do them. After watching the video that the teacher provided I understand how much time, work, and dedication goes into making these. To me, the artwork still isn’t of my most fancy, but I respect the hardworking that goes into the artwork because I could never do it. Your last couple sentences really got me thinking that this style of art does make us wonder and jump to conclusions and lets our mind just wander. An interesting perspective on it that really got me thinking!

Chapter 27 and 28

When I first started this class, I remember we had to share our experience with art. The only time I had ever been in an area with artwork was when I went to the Chicago Art Museum for my senior class trip. After reading chapters 27 and 28, I can relate the pictures and art I see in these chapters to what I saw in Chicago. It’s modern art that I am more aware of than the previous chapters. I will be talking about the styles of art and some of the artists that spark my interest.

In chapter 27, Cubism was known for its built-up images from constructions of color. Cubism gave European artists, non-Classical ways to represent the human figure. The first type of Cubism artwork that I came across was Picasso’s portrait of Gertrude Stein. He uses an emphasis on color that is consistent with contemporary Fauve interests. In this piece of art, Cubism comes into play when there are new spatial and planar shifts. Picasso also started nude artworks. The faces of this artwork disrupts nature and defies the Classical ideal and it is influenced by the contemporary vogue for primitivism.

Collage is another style talked about in chapter 27. It is a “logical outgrowth of Analytic Cubism and marked the beginning of the shift to Synthetic Cubism.” (p.483) An example of this type of art is Picasso’s Man with a Hat which is pieces of colored paper and newspaper that are on a paper forming a geometric representation of a head and neck. Collage deals with disassembling aspects, and this artwork describes that perfectly. It is made up of pieces of paper that can also be disassembled.

Futurism is inspired by “the dynamic energy of industry and the machine age.” (p.487) This style of art, in 1913, came in plastic form. It was done by Umberto Boccioni and was called Unique Forms of Community in Space. This piece of art represents a man that is striding as if he is reaching a definitely goal he has. Boccioni states that the artwork must “make objects live by showing their extensions in space.” (p.487) So, this piece of art has multiple layers of surface plane that portray a flapping material.

Architecture was becoming popular in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It was popular in the United States, because that’s where it was taking the most developmental strides. Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright were two big architects during this time. Frank Lloyd Wright was known for his style of Prairie. An artwork that demonstrates this is the Robie House of 1909 in South Chicago. He represents the flat prairie landscape of America by creating low-pitched roofs with large overhang, and low boundary walls.

There was a new style of art that got produced by the end of World War I. It is called the International Style. It was brought to the United States by Bauhaus artists that were forced to leave Germany in the 1930s. These styles of art in the United States inspired many similar skyscrapers all across America’s large cities.

In chapter 28, Surrealism got my attention. This style of art is representing a higher reality that is higher than the average appearance. The artists that did Surrealism work were interested in the unconscious phenomena. This phenomena led to images that were portrayed as unreal or unlikely.

American Abstraction is an interesting topic, because it was the start of “modern” art in that time era. The first artist that dealt with this was Alfred Stieglitz and he was a photographer who manipulated his photos with negatives and chemicals and didn’t enjoy unusual visual effects. Another artist is Georgia O’Keeffe, who is also a photographer. She was influenced by the landscape of America, so her artwork uses black and white to accentuate on that.

After reading these two chapters, and looking at the artwork from someone who doesn’t take a fancy on this topic (like me), I would think to myself that it doesn’t even seem that hard to do. After watching the video, I’m not familiar with styles of colors and everything that goes into the works of art. My understanding that these artworks are a lot harder than they look is more aware now.

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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).

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I believe that the expressionism art can be interesting although the piece, Panel for Edwin R. Campbell No. 4 by Vassily Kandinsky had me confused. It was a piece representing the winter season although it is full of color. As a midwesterner all I see in the winter is typically whites and maybe some browns in the grass. I get what you mean when you say it’s similar to looking at a world of nothingness, it makes me wonder what they were looking at or thinking of when they created these works of art.

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Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” has always been one of my favorite paintings. Van Gogh often used the technique of impasto, which is when the artist lays the paint on the canvas very thick and even sometimes applies the paint directly to the canvas rather than using a brush to transfer the paint from a palette to the canvas. Van Gogh used the impasto technique in “The Starry Night”, which adds more texture to his swirling sky and wavy cypress trees.

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I was more interested in both of these chapters more than the previous ones we have read about because I really get intrigued by the bright and colorful artwork more than the artwork that isn’t right way attention grabbing. I also wrote about Vincent because I heard about him a lot from my art teacher in school as a kid! And learning about his paintings that he did was surprising especially Starry Night. It’s crazy to me that he was in a mental asylum when he painted it, while the painting has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was there.

Chapter 25+26

After reading these two chapters, this is the type of artwork that sparks my interest over what we’ve learned so far. I love the artwork that is bright, colorful, and tells a story. In the first chapter I will talk about at least one artist that sparks my interest on each topic of artwork in that chapter. In chapter 25 I will be talking about Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Gustave Moreau, and Henri Rousseau. From chapter 26 I will be talking about the top two topics that spark my interest. Those two will be fauvism and expressionism.

Paul Cezanne was known “to have the most powerful impact on the development of Western painting” (p.453). He was known for turning painting into a structure that was visible to the viewer. In the beginning, his artwork was mainly black and always had something to do with violent themes in them. Cezanne is known for his self portrait. The main colors of himself are dark colors, but the background is more impressionist style. He applied his paint thick in this artwork so that the viewer could see each brushstroke. Cezanne was under the influence of Pissarro when his artwork started to become brighter. The first artwork he did with these bright colors was Still Life with Apples. He used black spheres for the beginning of the apples and built onto that with brushstrokes of reds, greens, yellows, and oranges. My favorite artwork that Cezanne did was Mont Sainte-Victoire. This is an artwork of rich green trees in the foreground and a mountain in the background. The brushstrokes of the trees and the mountain are thick and detailed. Cezanne was drawn to this artwork for personal identification.

Vincent van Gogh was an artist that I heard much about in art during school, but never really knew a lot about his art or him in general. Reading about him in chapter 25 gave me a better understanding of his history and his artwork. Vincent only spent the last 10 years of his life painting, but he made a big impact. He, like Cezanne, started his artwork with dark colors. Later, after he started working with Impressionists, he expanded his range of colors to lighter and brighter colors as well. His artwork The Starry Night is the one I am most familiar with. It is described as “intense, expressive color, his powerful imagery, and his strong sense of line” (p.456). It is hills underneath the sky and in the foreground of that its a city in the night time under the stars. I found it very interesting he painted this piece of art while he was in a mental asylum.

Gustave Moreau led the Symbolist movement. His artwork that I am most familiar with is Galatea. It has to do with the Cyclops Polyphemos looking at a nude figure. He is holding the stone he used to kill the nude’s lover. This artwork is meant to symbolize love and passion that ended in murder. The art comes off as eerie and mysterious. Moreau put the nude female in a reclining position so that she looks vulnerable.

Henri Rousseau was an artist who really had no formal training. This made him mocked by a lot of the art critics, but he was soon later praised for his work. His great work that I want to touch on is called The Dream. This painting has a nude in the reclining position as well. She is laying on a couch, and the couch is in the jungle. Rousseau gave two reasonings as to why the nude lady was on the couch in the jungle. The first one being that the female is dreaming and her dream took her there. The other one being just because of the couch’s red color. This painting was famous for combining “the visionary world of dream and imagination with a detailed depiction of reality” (p.466).

In chapter 26 Fauvism sparked my interest because it had to do with bright, vivid colors that exploded from the canvas. The art was made purely from the color combinations used to create startling effects. This type of painting was known for its “brilliant, non naturalistic color and emotional exuberance that struck viewers” (p.470).

Expressionism also used color in its artwork. It was different from fauvism in the sense that it had a “greater concern for the emotional and spiritual properties of color and form” (p.471).

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Chapters 23 & 24

I was very intrigued when reading this week’s chapters. Chapter 23 talked about realism in the 19th century. One thing I found fascinating was that this was the start of cartoons and caricatures. I didn’t realize they were made so far back. I love watching animated cartoons, so it is interesting to see the origins of where it all started.

Another amusing thing to learn was the introduction of photography. I knew it started sometime in the 19th century, so reading about it in this chapter was cool. Looking back at the beginnings of photographs to today’s, I find it intriguing to see the progression of cameras as well as styles. It seems that back then mainly portraits were taken of people, such as Nadar’s photo of Sarah Bernhardt. Nowadays, people take photos of everything, saving memories.

The Eiffel Tower was mentioned in Chapter 23 as well. I was surprised it only took 2 years to complete and that it was only meant to be a “temporary structure.” Its beauty is truly fascinating.

Overall, Chapter 23 talked about the beginnings of many things. These include: photographs, cartoons and caricatures, and even skyscrapers. Learning the origins of these things that are in today’s daily life was really interesting to read about.

Chapter 24 stood out to me the most. It talked about impressionism. What I like about these paintings is that it shows people’s daily lives rather than portraits. In Claude Monet’s “Terrace at Sainte-Adresse”, it shows two couples relaxing by a river. Not only is the style of painting beautiful, but I like how it looks like a photograph. Many of the paintings I saw in this chapter looked like pictures to me, and I like how the artists wanted to show how life looked like back then. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s “The Pont-Neuf” also shows this realistic image of the people walking around town in the early 1870s.

Another piece of art that stood out to me in this chapter was Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker.” I have seen this sculpture before, but had no knowledge of who made it and when it was created.

As mentioned before, the paintings in this chapter showed more of a daily life perspective rather than a portrait. One of these paintings, “The Daughters of Edward Darley” by John Singer Sargent, reminded me of the painting “Las Meninas” by Diego Velazquez. The girls in the paintings appear to be around the same age, but it’s interesting to see how the styles have changed, both in painting and in fashion.

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I talked about the Eiffel Tower in my post as well. Upon reading, I had no idea a structure like that (that is still iconic even today) was only meant to be temporary. Photography was also interesting to me over both of the chapters. It seemed like it really boomed during this time. The effects of art is what interested me the most. Artists could change and manipulate their pictures to look a certain way to the viewer. In chapter 24, the art told a story which I enjoyed to read about.

Chapters 23 and 24

Chapters 23 and 24 are about the revolution and change of the times. In the nineteenth century the art that was being made reflected what was going on politically during that time. While in chapter 24, impressionism started to emerge. This style of art did not deal with the political things happening in the world. Instead, it focused on the entertainment, landscape, and leisure activities to do artwork on. I will be writing about female artists over these two chapters, American Realist Painting, and covering the building and sculptures that I have heard of before reading these chapters.

The first female artist in chapter 23 was Rosa Bonheur. She combined realism and romanticism in her artwork. She was from France, and one of her more popular works of art was called The Horse Fair. This painting crossed both realism and romanticism. It had realism in it by the details of the horses and the scientific observations she did on horses before this piece of art she created. It crossed romanticism by the grooms of the horses trying to keep them under control, and the sky in the background of the artwork that is dramatic. Romanticism is also involved by the difference of humanity and “untamed forced of nature” p.23.

Julia Margaret Cameron was from England and she was known for her photography skills. She mainly focused on portrait photography. The qualities and techniques she used are still used today. She manipulated her photos with effects, blurring edges, and the atmosphere to go with her outlines. Doing portraits was something she loved doing, because she could change the picture to however she wanted.

In chapter 23, American Realist Painting was becoming popular. Thomas Eakin was one of the landmarks in this time. He made a painting called Gross Clinic. This was doctors performing surgery in their street clothes. This painting demonstrated the enlightened mind, which the enlightenment period was happening in this time. Henry Ossawa Tanner was a student of Eakin. He painted realist scenes in the United States of African American life. Much of his work was centered around biblical stories.

The Eiffel Tower is talked about in chapter 23. It was built as a temporary structure in Paris. Its original purpose was to be a landmark for the Universal Exposition of 1889. The tower was designed out of metal truss which sat on a bed of concrete. Gustave Eiffel, the designed, turned a engineering feat into an elegant architectural monument.

In chapter 24, Mary Cassatt is a female artist that uses "close-up” for her style of art. She was known for her artwork of The Boating Party. It is a picture of a mom holding her baby while on a boat on a body of water, and a rower is rowing them on the body of water. Cassatt shows the intimacy between the mom and baby by making the viewpoint of the artwork slanted. She also makes the rower in black clothes to show he is strong and dominant. To intensify between the three people in the photo she foreshortened the child and the rower.

Berthe Morisot is another artist in the impressionism time period. She did artwork much like Cassatt, showing the intimacy between mother and child. Unlike Cassatt, Morisot doesn’t use special shifts in her artwork. She utilizes shapes for her paintings. Most of her artwork is her figures on a horizontal surface that is inside a rectangular composition. She also contrasts between the light and the darks of her paintings. Using loose brushwork is something she got criticized for, but she used it on her paintings anyways.

American painting at the Turn of the Century is the last thing in chapter 24 that sparked my interest. It talks about the artist I described earlier, Cassatt, and that she lived in Europe but worked in the Impressionist style. There were other artists that stayed in the United States, and they worked on the Realist side of art.

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Women Artists

For these two chapters, chapter 19 and chapter 20, I decided to focus on women artists, I relate to this because I am a women, even though I am not an artist. I found it interesting and could relate to in a sense. The women artists included in these chapters are:

Judith Leyster. Her painting The Last Drop is a very contrasted painting and in the text book it talks about the meaning of the painting and how it portrays drinking and smoking as time paces and death occurs. I found this painting interesting, especially after reading the meaning behind it. This painting is an eye opener because to me, I took it as how precious life is and the carelessness in the two that were drinking and smoking. I think it speaks on the issues of heavy drinking and smoking during the period.

Maria van Oosterwyck. Her painting Vanities Still Life also has an hourglass insinuating the passing of time. It also has the decay of the corn insinuating death, similar to Judith Leyster’s painting. This painting is dark and detailed, my reflection of this painting is that it has such a deep meaning to every detail in this painting. I personally was intrigued by, not only the details, but the reds which I often connect with love or passion.

Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. Her painting Self-Portrait with Two Pupils interested me because in the painting on an easel which is assumed to be her self portrait. To me, is intriguing because it is a self portrait of her painting a self portrait. This painting has a deeper meaning to which she is teaching the two women behind her. My reflection of this painting is that it has so much meaning and is important for women artists.

Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. Her painting Marie Antoinette and Her Children is a painting of a queen with her three children, and one empty crib. The textbook talks about how the queen is oblivious of the world around her and this makes me realize the issues of the period regarding women. This queen’s only purpose was to raise her children and she had no understanding of the world around her. I find it interesting the issues regarding this painting and the issues surrounding it.

Angelica Kauffmann. Her painting Cornelia Pointing to Her Children as Her Treasures also involves a mother with her children. This painting depicts her children as her jewels and how precious they are. I think that this is similar to the previous painting, but with more of a loving tone.

These women portrayed social issues and other things regarding women’s issues during this time. I didn’t realize the meaning behind these paintings but now I realize how important these paintings are. These women portrayed some controversial and important things through their art, along with making their voice be heard in a prominently male career.

I know how women are still fighting for rights today, but then it must’ve been even harder for women. In the textbook it stated in many ways that women were supposed to have children and that’s all. I think that these women made a voice for these women, oblivious or stuck. I think that this issue isn’t as prominent today, although there are still prominent issues today, but these paintings and these artists paved the way from women today. Without women artists breaking glass ceilings and making statements we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we have today.

yauslinm-blog

I like your idea of choosing women artists as your topic of discussion. It is important that the women in this time portrayed social issues and and the other problems they faced, because during this time it was unheard of for women to stand up for what they believe in. Women today are still the minority compared to men. It goes well with how it related to the readings in this chapter as women’s rights are still trying to get heard. The artwork that these women did hold a special place in the way how women got their voices heard.

Chapters 19 and 20

In this blog post, I will be talking about each of the countries discussed and a little bit about each (the paintings in each country). The difference in the countries is what interested me throughout reading chapter 19. I also want to talk about each country mentioned, as I would love to travel to these countries in my lifetime. In chapter 20, I will be talking about the cultural changes and American paintings as living in the United States I don’t know about many different cultures

Italy: In Italy, Saint Peters was being rebuilt and completed. Bernini was the architecture of this building the whole time up until he died. The style of this building was twisted columns that had scrolls on them and angels around them. This building had baroque characteristics because it had contrasts of light and dark. Dark bronze against the lighter marble made that possible. Bernini also designed the Piazza San Pietro. There is columns in the designing of this as well. Bernini designed this structure to fit Baroque by involving audiences in a created space, in particular a processional space leading to a high altar. There are also Italian Baroque Painters such as: Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, and Giovanni Battista Gaulli. Caraviggo is known for just drawing on canvas and not making any preliminary drawings. Gentileschi was one of the first women artists to emerge. Her art exhibited the Baroque taste for violence. Gaulli was known for his design of church ceilings. He was known for painting IHS on the ceilings which was the first three letters of “Jesus” in Greek.

France: The architecture in France differed from architecture in Italy because it was elegant, ordered, rational, and restrained. France did not want the Italian Baroque. Louis got the throne then started the rebuild of Louvre. Bernini proposed ideas for this structure, but got denied because it didn’t line up with what Louis wanted. Instead of Bernini’s idea of a curved wall, they ended up doing a classicizing symmetry of the facade. A popular French Baroque Painter was Nicolas Poussin. He was drawn towards the Classical style, which he later designed the most Classical phase of Baroque. Antoine Watteau was also another French painter, but he was Rococo instead of Baroque. His best known work was when he did a group of couples who have gone through a journey. It’s bright when they are on their journey, but gets dull when they go back to reality. Another French painter was Jean-Honore Fragonard. The work of “Swing” that was done by Fragonard was about a girl swinging and an older guy pushing her and other guy in the bushes peeking up her skirt.

England: Baroque was a style that England preferred. Wren redesigned 51 of the churches that got destroyed in the Great Fire. His top priority was St. Paul’s, which was the first cathedral to be built for the Protestant Church. In the church there were columns, towers, and curved walls. There was a dome on top of the church that spans both nave and aisles. This church was a combination of French and Italian Baroque. A few England painters were Thomas Gainsborough and William Hogarth. Gainsborough did full-length portraits that took place in landscapes, while Hogarth did work on contemporary matters and social conventions.

In chapter 20, The cultural development was taking leaps with music, art, politics, science, and more. North American cultural shifts were mirrored by the European power. There was also information on American painters such as: John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West. Copley did work that had some Baroque and Rococo style. While West did work on classical and historical subjects.

While reading through both of these chapters I learned a lot. In chapter 19 I learned the different styles that each country preferred. In chapter 20, I also learned the different painters of each country, but tied it into American life that I experience such as the cultural changes.

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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.

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I stated in my week 3 blog post that it is more on religion as well. In my reading on chapter 16, I also wrote about Leonardo de Vinci. His name was one that I was familiar with, but I never really knew what he did or what he was known for. I kept reading in the chapter to find out he was the one who was the main creator behind The Last Supper mural. Did you know that it used to be a vibrant and colorful picture and it is now bland and dull because they took out all of the art in the picture that wasn’t done by Vinci? That is a very interesting fact to me that I was unaware of. Symmetry was also talked about a lot in these two chapters, and I think that part still holds very true today. When carpenters are designing houses and floor plans symmetry is a very important aspect of the building and planning process.

Week 3 Blog Post

In chapter 15 the two topics I am going to elaborate on are: Brunelleschi’s Architecture and State Portraits. For the Dome of Florence Cathedral, I have always had topics on this in school. After reading about it, I was not aware that Brunelleschi died during the building of the Lantern, which is another structure he was in the process of building. He did get the Dome of Florence Cathedral completed, though. He started constructing this dome in 1410 when he returned to Florence. He started this designing of the new dome, because he wanted to rebuild the old dome. There was a lot of run-ins with sizing of building this dome. The first obstacle Brunelleschi went through was enlarging the original design, and then next the constructors decided the “cathedral required a dome to surmount an octagon drum measuring 138 feet across,” p.246). While Brunelleschi was in Rome he figured out that it is possible to have the octagon drum measuring this wide. He had to figure out to do it, though because it Roman building techniques did not work with the cathedral’s building. Brunelleschi ended up making the dome fit and built it. Another interesting thing I read about Brunelleschi is that he denied Gothic style. In my last week’s blog post, I talked about how I enjoyed the Gothic style. So, when I read this about Brunelleschi I knew I wanted to go further in depth on him to see a different viewpoint than what I had last week. Instead of Gothic style, Brunelleschi preferred the design of the Early Christian basilica. “The church of Santo Spirito, planned in 1434, one year before Brunelleschi’s death, illustrates the basic principles of his architecture: simplicity, harmonious proportion, and symmetry,” p.247. This statement to me makes me reflect on the work I have read about so far in this chapter that Brunelleschi has done. The dome at the cathedral was symmetrical and very big in size compared to what was around at that time. Another thing I read about Brunelleschi that I found interesting was that he is credited for the creation of the linear or one-point perspective. This is idea when objects farther away seem smaller than those closer. In my opinion, this helped him with all of his architecture and designing work. The next topic that I enjoyed reading about and wanted to reflect on was the State Portraits. These were portraits of a ruler and their side image. The portraits were done by Pierro della Francesca. He did the side profiles of Battista Sforza and Federico de Montefeltro of Urbino. After I kept reading this chapter I came across Leon Battista Alberti, and he summed up contributions of Brunelleschi’s work, whom I mentioned earlier in my post. Alberti went off of Brunelleschi’s harmonious designs and designed the Rucellai Palace. While reading chapter 15, I found a lot of things having to do with religion. In chapter 16, the person I was most interested to read about was Leonardo de Vinci. He was very into scientific drawings which is intriguing to me, because talking about science in this chapter to religion in the last chapter are two very different styles of art. “Leonardo’s artistic nature may thus be characterized as investigative, preliminary, and experimental,” p.283. Leonardo’s most popular piece of work is The Last Supper. I also read in this part of the chapter that this piece of work is now more bland than it used to be, because they took out all of the art in it that wasn’t Leonardo’s work. Reading these two chapters was more interesting than the last for me, because I was more familiar with the names and learning about The Last Supper was interesting to me as I didn’t know the meaning behind any of it.

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Week 2

Nicola Pisano is a sculpture who made the figure of Mary in Pisano’s Nativity. It shows the Roman heritage in Italian medieval art. This figure shows her connections with the earth. Nicola Pisano was exposed to Classical art at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. This relates to me because I am Catholic and when I look at this sculpture it shows me the importance of Mary and how she was loved by many. I like how everyone is doing their own thing but Mary is at the center of it all which shows her importance. This also shows me how important their religion was to them in this time period.

Tempera is a method of painting with pigments dispersed in an emulsion miscible with water, typically egg yolk. Examples of this type of painting are found as early as ancient Egypt. For large paintings, elaborate preparations were required before they could begin. A carpenter made the panel from poplar, which is a type of tree, they would glue and brace on the back with stripes of wood. The carpenter would also make and attach the frame. They would then prepare the panel by sanding the wood until it was smooth. They sealed it with several layers of a glutinous material used to fill in the pores of the panel and to make a stable surface for later layers. Strips of linen reinforced the wood to prevent warping. Finally, the last step was the addition of several layers of gesso, a water-based ground thickened size to help smooth the surface. Once each layer had dried, the surface was again sanded, smoothed, and scraped. To me, this just shows how much time and effort went into every part of the artwork.

Another part of the reading I found interesting was the paragraph about the altarpieces. An altarpiece is an image that was originally located where it was only visible to the clergy. After 1215, the priest was moved to the front of the altar, with his back to the congregation. Altarpieces typically had a fixed base called the predella, mounted be one or more large panel paintings. In most cases, the large panels contain images such as an enthroned Virgin and Christ, or saints and the predellas contain smaller scenes related to the larger figures. I can relate to this because I am a Catholic. All of the things this reading talks about I see in some way in my life.

The Maesta is very interesting to me. In this painting, I see the Virgin Mary on a throne and Jesus sitting on her lap. Maesta covers the full range of the Virgin’s majesty and of her maternity. She is both the mother of Jesus and the patron of the citizens of Siena. In the crowd of people behind Mary, we see the apostles, John the Evangelist, and Peter. But Mary is at the center and is larger than the rest to show her importance. Most of the people are shown with a gold halo around their head. I think this signifies their religion and them being disciples to the Virgin.

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I found the Tempera to be an interesting way of art! I have never heard of anything like that, so reading about it was a learning experience for me! Reading about alterpieces was another thing I found interesting. I never knew they had much meaning behind them. Being a Christian, we see alterpieces in church. Knowing a little bit of the history now is interesting! It’s interesting to me that only the clergy used to be able to see it, but now it’s meant to seen by everybody in the congregation.

Week 2 Blog Post

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Introduction for Art History

I am interested in Art because it is an engaging way for people to be able to express themselves. Art can also be representative of something more than just a piece of artwork. Likewise, I am interested in history too, so I believe art history will just be interesting to learn about.

Outside of school, I enjoy baking, running, hiking, and hanging out with my friends & dogs. I’m going to be a junior in the Fall at Luther College and am majoring in Nursing.

There is not anything specific that I am hoping to cover in this course. I am just excited to learn more about art history because it has been since high school that I took an art class.

Below is one of my favorite paintings. This is at the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa. It’s painted by a Norweigan artist.

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We seem to have a lot in common. I am also going for nursing! Being outdoors is a huge part of my happiness and life. It seems to be that way for you, too! Art is a new subject for me as I don’t know much about it, but I am excited to learn about not only the art but also the history behind it. This is an interesting piece of art, and it’s even more interesting that it’s hanging up so close in Decorah!

Week One

Art and art history is hard for me to understand. My imagination gets complicated when I work artwork. The most interesting thing to me is when my mind does go places when I’m thinking about a piece of art, because it doesn’t happen very often. I think this is because I have never really been exposed to artwork that makes me think.

I am excited to look at artwork and also how the other people in this class respond to it. It’s easier for my mind to go places with artwork when I see other people’s opinions on it. I hope in this class we cover the artists message in each piece of artwork we talk about, because that is the area I struggle with the most.

Outside of school, I am very much an outdoors enthusiast. I love being outdoors and doing all of the activities in the outdoors. Summer is my favorite season in Iowa as I can get outside and do a lot more activities than in the winter. I am currently pursuing a nursing degree at NICC.

This painting is by one of my favorite artists Claude Monet. He is very well known for his nature artworks. Any of his paintings and artworks interests me, because of my interests in the outdoors. This painting is called Water Lilies.

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McKenzie Yauslin