20th and 21st Century Art

        I have learned so much about the different artistic styles that evolved throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. I really enjoyed learning about each one of the artistic periods, but some artworks stood out to me more than others. The avant-garde art is one of the most interesting art styles which I have learned about. It was fascinating to learn about the artworks of great Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Avant-Garde artists such as Gustave Caillebotte, Vincent van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso.

        Impressionist paintings were probably my favorite of all the other styles which we have learned about. A great example of an impressionist painting that I loved the most is "Sunrise", which was done by Claude Monet in 1872. I was mainly intrigued by the visual detail of this painting. "Sunrise" is one of those paintings that looks very monochromatic at first, with mainly blue and a dot of orange for its colors. But as you come closer to it and study it for a while, you will start to notice the different shades and tints of blue that are in the painting. There are at least ten different "blues" ranging from almost black to almost white. The colors and the strange lines in the background, which represent the ghostly outlines of ships, are the two things that made me really like this painting. It is very calming, and yet, it gives you an eerie feel of war or a storm that just passed through that area. I also like that Monet created this painting by painting colors and shapes on the canvas to create a whole picture, rather than by trying to paint the actual forms of the objects before him.


        Another great artistic style which I have enjoyed a lot is the Abstract Expressionist style. I have always admired abstracted paintings whenever I saw them, but after learning about the history of how abstract art was first introduced to the artistic world, I started to enjoy it even more. World War II has caused a lot of trauma on people who were touched by it. During that time, a group of artists who moved to New York during the war, started to create art to "express their social alienation after WWII and to make new art that was both moral and universal." (Stockstad, p. 1073) However, these artworks had no relation to the outside world, but each one had its own internal story behind it.

        The artists that created abstract art did it so expressively, that the art making process, such as the action of painting on canvas, was also considered as part of the artwork. They expressed themselves in different ways with different gestures, and the paint that landed on the canvas, was rarely saved and recorded as art. Once photography was invented, people were able to record this art making process and then the photograph would be displayed as the artwork. I really enjoyed learning about the art making process of Jackson Pollock and Shozo Shimamoto. To them, it was the performance of painting that counted more than the artwork itself.

        As an artist myself, I love experimenting with different painting styles. Of all my paintings which I created, I think my favorite one was a collage of different scenes that occur during winter, which I named the "Winter Song". As much as I enjoy learning about different artistic styles from hundreds of years ago, I think the art that inspires me most is from the 20th and 21st centuries. I would love to try making more paintings that are in the Impressionist or Expressionist style.

Shozo Shimamoto "Holes"

        Some of the earliest postwar performances took place in Japan. In 1954, an embodiment group was formed consisting of several Japanese artists who called themselves the Gutai. The name of this artistic group means to "pursue the possibilities of pure and creative activity with great energy." (Stockstad p.1087) Gutai held many performances and outdoor installations in front of the public where everyone could see how the group members created art. In these performances, it was the process of creating an artwork that was considered art, instead of calling the actual subject that was being created an "artwork".  One artist from the Gutai group whose artistic style stood out to me most was Shozo Shimamoto. "Shimamoto was one of fifteen young painters who were the original members of the Gutai Bijutsu Kyokai (Gutai Art Association), founded in 1954 under the leadership of the established painter Jirō Yoshihara" (Tate)

       "Gutai focused on materials – both traditional art materials and more unorthodox ones, such as water, mud and chemicals – in a way that blurred the distinction between creative and destructive action. Artists sometimes performed ‘actions’ of an often very physical and violent nature." (Tate) During the second Gutai exhibition in 1956, Shimamoto performed Hurling Colors by smashing bottles of paint against a canvas that was suspended from a tree on the banks of the Ashiya River. To him, it was the performance of painting that was the artwork, rather than the subject produced. In a letter to Tate, the artist says what he feels, that his work transcends the violent nature of his techniques: ‘Even if my method seems shocking and violent – crushing bottles and shooting cannons at the canvas – because I am an artist my purpose is to make the work beautiful, to show the beauty of everything. I’m just working on creating beauty.’ (‘Breakthrough Performance’, p.42.)" Shimamoto has created many interesting paintings trough out his career as a Gutai artist. Another strange but interesting series of artworks of his is called Holes.



        The series Holes were created in the 1950s. Most of them were made about a year before the Gutai group was formed. "These works, like the various other experiments of the early Gutai, were not the result of a careful study, they were conceived almost by chance. At the time, in order to save money on materials, Shimamoto was using a screen of newspapers glued together instead of canvas, but one day he broke the surface by mistake.Instead of throwing away the work, he decided to show it to Jiro Yoshihara, who greatly appreciated it." (Shozo.net) Shimamoto added to these series of artwork by getting some silver paper and playing around with a hole punch in his studio in Japan. Then he decided to turn it into an artwork. "To make this work, foil sweet wrappers were perforated with a hole punch and pasted on a sheet of plywood painted black; a wash of black ink was then thinly wiped over the surface." (Tate) He has created many other artworks by piercing the surface of a canvas and adding different objects to them, such as paper and paint, to give the artwork a final look.

        Shozo Shimamoto's artworks takes avant-gardism to a whole new level. The results were often from the violent gestures and throwing of paint onto the canvas. This artist did artworks that were usually thrown away after the performance, because he believed that the performance and the process was the actual artwork. I really enjoyed reading about the Gutai group and the art of  Shozo Shimamoto.

http://www.shozo.net/works/indexe.html
http://articide.com.pagesperso-orange.fr/gutai/fr/ss.htm
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/shimamoto-holes-t07897

Dada and Surrealism Art

        Both, Dada and Surrealism artistic movements have changed the form, content, and concept of art. These "art movements sought both, to criticize artistic modernism and to realign avant-garde art with the practice of social life." (Challenge of A-G, p. 227) Dada artworks represented a collapse of the bourgeois cultural values and art that were called avant-garde up until 1915.  "Surrealism represents dissent from the restabilized bourgeois order in the 1920's and 1930's." (Challenge of A-G, p. 247) Both, Dada and Surrealism no longer concentrated on artistic form, aesthetics, and completion of expression.

        Surrealists studied acts of "Criminal Madness" and the "female mind" in particular, believing the later to be weaker and more irrational than the male mind." (Stockstad, p. 1057) They wanted to free the conscious mind from rational thinking and reason. That is why in their artworks we can see many techniques, such as automatism, which releases the mind from conscious control and produces a new juxtaposition of imagery and forms. One surrealist artist did this by placing paint on a canvas that has a rough surface beneath it. Then he would let the mind look at the result and imagine or fantasize the form on the canvas and then add more paint to turn those forms into an image and make it become more realistic. Surrealism artworks require the brain to wander off in order to complete what the eye sees, because just by looking at it, one will not be able to make sense of the painting.

        Dada mocked the senselessness of rational thought and even the foundations of modern society." (Stockstad, p. 1037) Marcel Duchamp created some of Dada's most complex works. He came up with the "readymate" Dada concept in which he transforms ordinary objects into works of art. Duchamp had argued with other artists that art objects are not only ones crafted by individuals, but that they could actually be objects that are mass-produced around the world. And he had proved this by creating many weird art works from ordinary, everyday objects, such as a porcelain urinal which he had named Fountain.  The Fountain is one of the most offensive artworks in Western History. It openly refers to the activities of the bathroom which include one of humanity's most humiliating functions and vulnerable states. Of course, just as Duchamp had anticipated, the Fountain was rejected from an art exhibition in New York. The artist had placed the object in a different position so that people will look at it from a different point of view and see a new artwork, which he had given a new name, but the people still saw an urinal and nothing else. They did not see it as an artwork that deserved to be shown in the gallery.

        I personally don't like how Marcel Duchamp had used the Fountain to show that art can be created from everyday objects. I can see how that particular object was offensive to the viewers and was rejected from being displayed in the gallery. But I do agree with the whole idea of Dada art in creating art from other ordinary objects that we can be found almost everywhere around the world. Even though they don't look appealing to me at all, I do think that Duchamp’s “readymades” should be called works of art at least because they were made by the hands of an artist. The person took time to recreate each ordinary object into something else with a new meaning so that people will look at it as something else and wander what else it could be used for besides it's original purpose.

The Yellow Christ

Paul Gauguin’s painting, "The Yellow Christ"  can be considered an “avant-garde” work of art. There are a few ways how this can be proven. I will use Griselda Pollock’s formula of reference, deference, and difference to prove my point. "Reference in an artwork shows an awareness of what was already going on. Deference is what defers to the latest and most radical developments. Finally, to be considered an avant-garde artist, one must establish a difference in their artworks that is legible in terms of current aesthetics and criticism and a definite advance on the current position. (Challenge of A-G, p 167)

             "The Yellow Christ" was painted in 1889 by Paul Gauguin. Some believe that the artist made this painting of Christ on the cross as a self-portrait.  This depiction of the male artist as a superior being is a way of showing that he is an independent and courageous artist, and yet, he is still struggling against the public that is not very accepting of the avant-garde art. This has been seen as a work of a modern male artist which critics and other artists have called avant-garde.                          

                                           

      

            "The Yellow Christ" painting is a "reference" to the Impressionist style. We can see how the artist ties in Impressionism in his painting to make it Post-Impressionist though the use of bright colorful figures with thick black outlines and  small, thin, brushstrokes. Also, the man running in the background is caught in the act of getting away, which represents the late 19th century desire to "get away" from the city life and get back to the "primitive", and much simpler life that was before. This depicted desire to "get away" is one of the big factors that makes a painting avant-garde.

           We can see how "deference" was used in "The Yellow Christ". It defers to the latest and most radical developments, in this case the artist defers to the use of symbolism and abstraction. First of all, the color of the Christ is obviously not natural, it is way too yellow. Also, the trees in the background have a form which is more geometric than it is natural. The people's faces are made with very little detail, and are also not realistic, which ads to the distortion of this whole piece. Even though the artist "derived this abstraction from nature, he dreamed before it and thought of the creation that will result." (Stockstad p.996) Another thing in "The Yellow Christ" that makes it avant-garde is how it represents the simple and primitive life of the peasants instead of the other paintings that depicted urban life and life of the upper class, and still makes it a "modern" art by showing the purity of the peasant style through the devotional poses of the women in the painting.

           The "difference" in the painting is the aesthetics of "Synthetic" and Subjective" art, and in this case, it is achieved through the use of "decorative" concept. The artist of the painting either exaggerated, distorted, or simplified the lines, colours, and forms to show a deeper meaning behind the painting. The people's faces are made with very little detail, are elongated, and are not realistic, which adds to the distortion of this whole piece. The form of the trees and the people is not natural and is very simplified. The lines are also very obvious and simplified through out the whole painting.

Gustave Caillebotte

Gustave Caillebotte was one of the Impressionist artists of the late 1800. His wealth allowed him to become one of the main financial backers of the Impressionists' in addition to participating in their exhibits. His style of painting, however, did not quite fit with the Impressionist style. Rather than painting in the formal Impressionist style of focusing on the effects of pigment and brushstroke, Caillebottes style included more of the modernity and new social forms of life in Paris. "The increased focus in subject matter and the conditions of modernity have enabled Caillebotte's work to become an area of critical attention once more." (Challenge of A-G p.138)

Caillebotte's style is both a celebration and a critique of modern life. It is a celebration because Caillebotte's family had an investment in rebuilding Paris during the reconstruction, and the artist had depicted this process in many of his paintings. By doing so, he shows celebration of the end of the siege and the beginning of a new modern city being rebuilt in the place of the old Paris. In his paintings he focuses mainly on depicting the streets of Paris, that have greater spaces but look isolated with few people in them, and paints them from interesting perspectives which create a modern look to them. He also seems to critique this new modern life that came to Paris which can be seen in the paintings that he made, depicting men doing women's work or chores around the house, and just being located in domestic places which are usually associated with females.

Some of Caillebotte's paintings are images of gender roles during the late nineteenth century. The
Luncheon, 1876, is one such painting in which we can see how Caillebotte showed this role play at his own home. This painting is set in a dining room. There is a table standing in the middle and it is covered with drinks and silverware. On one side of the table, Caillebotte's brother is starting to eat his meal. The interesting thing is that the mother is seated at the farthest end of the table, which looks even farther because of the elongated shape of the table, as a servant is holding a tray of food out to her. This distance between the sons and their mother shows how women were not treated equal as men and could not even sit near them in their own households. There is also an empty plate at the very front of the table, which represents the spot where Caillebotte himself is to be seated. "The representation of men within a domain more usually associated with women was clearly of interest for Caillebotte." (Challenge of A-G p.142) Along with other works by Caillebotte, this painting raised questions about the relationship between gender and domestic space.

Another thing that we can see in Caillebottes paintings that are associated with modernity is his depiction of the male nude. The interesting thing about it is the fact that not only is the setting of these figures contemporary, but also that it is a setting that is typically associated with the females, rather than the males. One such example of modernity can be seen in Caillebotte's painting Man at his Bath, 1884.(see image on the left) This painting depicts a male figure that is mostly nude, aside from the towel with which he is wiping his back. In one corner of the room we see part of a bathtub showing and a chair in another corner with some clothes on it. There is a light coming through the curtains which are covering the window in front of the man. The man is depicted from a rear view with his legs slightly apart, his feet planted squarely on the floor, and his head bent forward. The man is caught in action and the painting has a vigorous feeling to it rather than just a depiction of a passive bather. "Both, the pose and technique emphasize musculature, contained within a tightly structured composition." (Challenge of A-G p.150)  The stance of the figure and the method of painting make the painting distance itself from any reading of classicism.

"The Rue Montorgueil" vs "The Rue Mosnier with Flags"

"The Rue Montorgueil" and "The Rue Mosnier with Flags" are two very beautiful paintings that depict the French festival of June 30th, 1878. The Rue Montorgueil was painted by Claude Monet while The Rue Mosnier with Flags is an artwork created by Edouard Manet. Both of the paintings are made in the Impressionist style, which makes them similar to one another, but at the same time, we can see many differences between these two paintings that make them unique in their own way.

Claude Monet painted The Rue Montorgueil using oil on a 81 x 50.5cm canvas, in Paris, 1878. "The Rue Montorgueil unquestionably produces an effect of celebration and vitality; it asserts an equivalence between its own colouristic brightness and another kind of brightness it claims for the future." (Challenge of the A-G, p. 124) At first glance, the painting looks just like a blur of motion, which is very true to the Impressionist style of painting. But as we look at the painting for a longer period of time, we start to distinguish the buildings and the small figures of people in the streets below. The streets, he painted filled with people celebrating with raised hands. We can feel the motion and the business in this painting right away. The whole painting seems to be made up of the colors red, white and blue, which seem to be dancing across the canvas as Monet painted hundreds of flags being displayed and waved out of the buildings on each side of the street. Monet's painting is depicting not just any French festival, but an event that was organized to forget about what the Civil war had done to them and to rejoice with relief and pride for the prosperous future filled with stability. The scene in the painting is of people that don't want to remember the past, but are rather looking forward to a great life ahead.

The Rue Mosnier with Flags, was also made in 1878, but this one was painted by an avant-gardist artist Edouard Manet. The Rue Mosnier with Flags is a painting of the same French festival as Monet's The Rue Montorgueil, and it is also made in the Impressionist style. The same colors are used in this painting as in Monet's painting, but in Manet's painting, they are not as repetitive and are mostly in the background instead of covering the whole painting. Unlike Monet's painting, which introduces the festival from an aerial point of view, Manet's The Rue Mosnier with Flags gives us a view from the ground, and therefore focuses more on the people down below than on the flags and waving hands above. The fact that Edouard Manet was in Paris during the Prussian siege serving in the National Guard alongside Degas, played a huge role in the way in which he had depicted the celebration after the war ended. In The Rue Mosnier with Flags, we see the street as a large and empty space, "a blinding slice of light rather than a fluttering atmosphere". (Challenge of the A-G, p. 128) We can see some of the reconstruction going on as the roads are being rebuilt by working class men. The main thing in the painting though, is the back view of a crippled veteran walking towards the sunlit streets. This image creates tension and Manet leaves it to the viewer to decide what is at stake in this artwork.

While Monet was used to painting the triumphs of reconstruction in his country, Manet was more focused on capturing the event that lead the nation to this point in history. Monet painted a painting in which it is obvious that there is a celebrating event going on and the whole nation is rejoicing the end of the war. It is hard to see that in Manet'e painting of the same festival. He leaves a lot of detail out of his painting that tells us about what is going on. Instead, he just puts one very obvious figure in the painting, that tells us that there was a war somewhere, and the rest is unfinished as the viewer is forced to draw their own conclusion as to how this painting could be completed. It was very interesting to learn about how two artists of the same artistic period had captured the same event at the same time, but from a very different perspective.

Formal Analysis - "Sunrise"

Towards the end of the 19th century in France, many artists gathered together to create a new style of painting, the Impressionism style. Impressionist artists mainly focused on making their art based on the members of the upper middle class and their lives as they relaxed in the countryside. After having many successful exhibitions, the Impressionist were able to organize their own alternatives of the Salon and the Academics no longer had control over the artistic standards in France. Claude Monet is one of my favorite Impressionist artists. He was also a leading exponent in Impressionism. His artworks were of modern style that celebrated the pleasure of going out and enjoying the life in the suburbs. Most of Monet's early work included some kind of expanse of water. One such painting is called the "Sunrise". At first, the entire painting seems to be of one color, but at our eye adjust to it after a while, we can distinguish the details which are very distinct and beautiful.

My first reaction to the painting was peace and calmness. It made me a little bit lazy and I just wanted to go lay down and enjoy the "Sunrise". After looking at it for a while, I realized that the scene is not as calm as it appeared to me at first. Yes, the water has almost no movement, except in the proximate area of the painting, that is why the painting seemed calm at first. In some areas it is so still that we can see the sun and the trees reflecting in the water as if it were a mirror. But at the same time, when my eye went from the sun to the clouds and the rest of the sky, I noticed a lot more movement. The strokes that painted the clouds tend to be going in a circular motion causing them to look like they are in action. It also looks like there might be a storm brewing up somewhere out in the sea as the sun rises.

When he had finished his painting, Claude Monet's rough strokes and shifting forms looked like an unfinished product, which did not appeal to many critics and caused them to level against his painting. To a friend, Monet had said that "when you paint, you need to try and forget what objects you are painting, but instead focus on the colors and shapes that are before you." (Stockstad p. 986) The colors that were used to make the "Sunrise" are complementary and work really good in this painting. Since it is a water scene, there is a lot of blue in the paining. The sunset adds orange and yellow to the scene that makes it look very beautiful.

In the "Sunrise" we can see that instead of painting a bay area full of boats and a sunrise, Monet painted blue, orange, yellow, green and pink colors onto a canvas which resulted in a beautiful scene that we see in the final product. A circle of orange is what turned out to be the sun. Streaks of white, yellow, blue and orange, turned out to be the sky and clouds with color reflecting onto them from the rising sun. The vertical and horizontal lines of a deeper blue turned out to be the silhouettes of the boats and ships that are either docked or are out in the bay area. As we look down at the lower part of the painting, we see some splashes of green and sage that at first, look like lily pads on a pond, but in the end they actually turn out to be relatively smaller boats with people in them. There is also a glistening blue color that makes up the water and the dashes of green represent the waves that are making their way to a tan colored dock, which also seems to be dissolving in the blue water scene. The water has other colors that reflect in it from the clouds and the sun, the most evident one is the reflection of the sun which stretches out vertically across a large portion of the painting.

The "Sunrise" gives you a sense of calmness after a storm had passed through, or even the kind of calm that is right before the storm hits. The whole composition, aside from the sun and the bold figures on the boats that are in the center of the painting, looks ghostly and washed out. It takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the painting and be able to make out what is actually going on in this painting. When you paint all of the mentioned above colors, shapes, and lines in the places that your eye sees them, you get a whole new impression on what is in front of you. Rather than looking at the scene as one whole, you will now see it as many colors, shapes and lines arranged in a particular order to make up a beautiful composition.

A Burial at Ornans

19th-century France had many political and social issues going on that were contradicting with the artists works at that time. Realism was the new style that had emerged into the French art world. One artists paintings were especially offensive to the bourgeoisie. Gustave Courbet's paintings embodied historic events that were captured in vivid realism. One of his paintings, which had made him one of the most famous 19th century artists in France, is called A Burial at Ornans. The harsh realism of this artwork is what offended the bourgeoisie.

A Burial at Ornans was made around 1850, in France. This painting is like a memorial the funeral of Gustave Courbet's great-uncle which was held in September of 1848 in a small town of Ornansin, the birth place of the artist. An ordinary rural funeral had been captured in this painting with unbelievable realism. During those times, making a painting of a funeral or a similar event was traditionally reserved for heroes or religious people from the history. That is why many people were offended that an unheard-of-before great-uncle was given such honor and fame to his death through Courbet's painting. 

I don't agree with the viewpoints that the bourgeoisie had on artworks during the 19th century. A Burial at Ornans is a very beautifully composed painting that acknowledges the importance of dignity in the life and death of an ordinary person. Grievers surround the open grave, which is at the center front of the painting, alongside a priest, a gravedigger, friends and family who are mourning the deceased. The grouping of mourners and attendants is not random, but rather stays in line with the horizon, forming an "S" shape, so that not one persons head draws up into the sky. In the background, the only thing, aside from the landscape and nature, that extends into the sky is a cross with the crucified body of Christ that is held by a religious attendant. The colors of the painting are very dim and monochromatic, which match the mood of the event and the faces of the grievers, who are captured in great detail. The only bright color in the painting could be seen in the white dog that is standing above the grave, looking back at the grieving women, and in the clothes of the holy men standing behind the priest. There are two men dressed in red, which I assume are guards, that also stand out from the monochromatic setting of the funeral and crowd of mourners. Also, the earthbound nature of life is indicated by framing the figures in the painting with dirt and rocks. Everything in this painting is arranged perfectly to match the mood of the event and to honor the life of an ordinary man.

I really enjoyed the Realism that can be seen in Gustave Courbet’s painting, A Burial at Ornans. The painting honors a life of an ordinary human being that was not of royal blood or a religious figure. He was a simple every day man, just like most of us. I am glad that finally some artists came up and decided to change up the rules a little bit about painting only prestige life and famous historical events, and added Realism to their paintings.

Avant-Garde

I never knew what it meant for something to be “avant-garde.” After reading about it, I realized that avant-garde art refers to artists or artworks that are made beyond what was known as a norm. Artists that want to express themselves in unique ways, came up with the most amazing artworks known. Unlike those artists that only followed the norms of the artistic world to do their artworks. 

I really enjoy art that is extreme in appearance and makes one stop and look at it for a while to try to figure out what exactly is going on in that painting or sculpture, which had captured their attention. Many artist that we have learned about in previous art history classes, have made artworks that I would call avant-garde. Those artworks are so unique in appearance that you cannot help but be amazed at their appearance and structure. Abstract art is a great example of avant-garde. Also, I think that Mannerism artworks could be avant-garde because of disproportional their humans were in their paintings and how unrealistic the colors were, but at the same time, I think that this is what made art so interesting and unique. Baroque art was overly dramatic, which is also something that I think could be categorized as avant-garde art.

Avant-garde art is very beautiful to me. I would love to learn about more artworks that are strange in appearance and cause the viewer to stop in their tracks and get a little puzzled over what they see. It is very cool when art is made outside the safe boundaries and norms that are in set in some societies. Bold and extreme art is something that every artist should strive for in making. 

Unique Mannerism and Beautiful Rococo Art

This quarter, I really enjoyed learning about the artworks from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. My favorite Baroque art was in the Rococo style. Some artworks during the Renaissance period did not interest me as much as others. For example, I was more drawn to the Mannerism style of art in Florence in Rome than I was to the High Renaissance art in southern Italy. I enjoyed the Mannerism art because of it's unique style to distort and manipulate accepted formal conventions, unlike High Renaissance artworks which depicted balance, idealism and lifelike references. Some of the Mannerist style paintings which I have enjoyed learning about are; Pontormo's Entombment and Parmigianino's  Madonna With The Long Neck.

Entombment is made of oil and tempera paint on wood. The composition of Entombment is random and scattered, with no definite shape. It seems like all of the figures in this painting, especially the man in the front, are set in very complex and uncomfortable positions that don't seem humanly possible, and look like they're about to fall out of the painting. The the expressions on the faces of every person depicted in this painting are sad, but dreamy, as if those people are waiting for something big to happen. I also liked this painting because of the brightly contrasting colors that were used to create it. It is very interesting to see people depicted in such an interesting style which catches the viewers eye and makes the viewer take a step backwards, away from the painting, so the figures in the painting don't land on him.


Madonna With The Long Neck was also made with oil on wood. Since it was the style of Mannerism, this painting is also very unrealistic and the figures of the figures are disproportional. When I looked at this painting for the first time, the first thing that I noticed is the sleeping baby in  Madonnas arms, which is way too big to be a baby when compared to the other figures also in the painting. Madonnas huge thighs were the next thing that I noticed and the fact that they don't look like they belong to the same person with a relatively small head, skinny fingers, and a long neck. Madonnas "sitting" position, with no chair underneath her, adds to the weirdness and unrealistic feel of the whole composition. 

Both of the paintings are perfect examples of the Mannerist style, which I enjoyed mostly because of the visual detail in them. They are very unrealistic, and contain figures in humanly impossible poses with disproportional bodies. These paintings are so far from realism and idealism that they make a viewer stop, look at them, and try to figure out what about the paintings is different and what is wrong with the way these people are painted.


The Baroque period introduced us to its own beautiful artworks which we haven't come across during the Renaissance period. I specifically liked the Rococo style and the artworks of Jean-Honore Fragonard. Fragonard's The Swing was intended to be sensually explicit. The subject of The Swing is a pretty young girl on a swing. Behind the girl, obscured by the shadow of the bushes, is an elderly bishop who is pushing her swing. In front of the girl is her lover, who is waiting in anticipation as the swing will be above him so that he may catch a glimpse beneath the girls skirts. The girl does not look shy at all. She even tosses one foot a little higher, which caused the shoe to fly off and at the same time, offering a better view to her lover, as the swing approaches him. The whole scene is somewhat humorous because it is obvious that the young man is enjoying the view, and yet he mockingly raises his hat in front of his face as if trying to shield his eyes from the view ahead. I enjoyed the Rococo artwork made by Fragonard because of the way everything in the image ties together to make one big scene filled with "anticipation and desire, as well as it maintains a sense of humor".

Jean-Honore Fragonard: The Musical Contest

Jean-Honore Fragonard, (1732-1806), was a noteworthy master of French Rococo painting. In 1752, Fragonard won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy. His clients were mainly of aristocratic background and Fragonard painted and decorated interiors to suite their taste. The Swing is one of my favorite paintings that he has made in 1767. Another beautiful painting that Fragonard made earlier, in 1754 is called The Musical Contest. The Musical Contest is depicted in oil on a 62 x 74 cm canvas.

The Musical Contest takes place in a garden with a stone urn and a decoratively carved fountain on one side. The garden is filled with lush foliage that can be seen throughout the painting. In the center of the painting, we can see "a beautiful and elegantly dressed young girl, holding a parasol, who is depicted at the moment of choice between two prospective suitors." Both of the suitors are attempting to win the girls affection through their skills as musicians. The young man on her left, holding a flute in his hand, tries to get the girls attention by grasping her around the waist. To the girl’s right, another suitor gazes adoringly at her, while playing on his musette. The musette was popular between the patrons at the time the painting was made and Fragonard chose it to be the musical instrument in this narrative. The girls' right hand is stretched out above the young man below her and it appears that she is about to place the garland of pink flowers on his head. Her expression is that of a person that is confused before making a very important decision in her life. She looks like she is debating and weighing each suitor in her mind to see which one she likes most.

In The Musical Contest the light, falling from the top left corner of the painting, illuminates the white flesh of the girls breasts, propositioning an image of unrestrained sensuality. "In his almost prying representation of young lovers, Fragonard follows the precedent set by Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), who established the Rococo genre of the fête galante, a theatrical depiction of love in an arcadian setting." The theatricality of Fragonard’s subject is evident in the sweeping gestures of the female figure and the carefully arranged composition which draws our eye towards her. 


Works Cited:
http://www.wallacecollection.org/whatson/treasure/11

David v. David

The Baroque period of the seventeenth century had both, incorporated as well as rejected Renaissance ideals into their art. Although it still focused on making idealized, natural, and humanistic artworks, Baroque art was also made in a way to deliberately bring out intense emotional responses from the viewers. The lighting, rich visual colors, composition and diagonal movement in space, are some of the most evident details telling us about the intent of the artwork. The art was more dramatic and moving than Classical art. We can see the difference of art from two different eras in the difference between two statues of David. One of the statues was made in 1501 by Michelangelo, and the other David statue was made in 1623 by Gianlorenzo Bernini.

Michelangelo's David statue is that of a strong, confident young man. In its muscular nudity, this David embodies the antique ideal of the athletic male nude. Being in a relaxed pose with a slingshot over his shoulder, the concentrated gaze of David tells us of the emotional part of the figure. Michelangelo's David knits his brow and is staring into space, seemingly preparing himself psychologically for the battle ahead of him. This David statue is very peaceful to look at and it feels like the strongest emotion that it can bring out in a viewer is curiosity.

Gianlorenzo Bernini's David was made with a different type of three-dimensional composition that seems to be forcefully thrust into a viewers space. This young hero is bent at the waist and twists far to one side ready to throw the rock at Goliath. Unlike Michelangelo's preoccupied young man contemplating the task ahead of him, Bernini's more mature David, with his lean, athletic body, tightly clenched mouth, and straining muscles, is all about tension, action and determination." (Stockstad p.716) By creating a twisting figure caught in movement, Bernini incorporates the surrounding space within his composition, making the viewer almost feel the presence of an unseen attacker behind them.  This makes the viewer become part of the action scene rather than just an observer and can bring out the emotion of fear.

By comparing the two figures of David, we can see the difference of the Classical art and Baroque art. Both statues are the ideal of male form in a natural setting rather than posed, but at the same time, each statue shows us a very different approach to the situation. Michelangelo's David is all about confidence, focus and controlled emotion. In contrast, Bernini's David is all about dramatic action and determination. These are just some of the differences in the statues that enables us to tell that they are both from different artistic periods.

Art of Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer's artworks are known for having some kind of religious scene depicted in them. A lot of the style in his works was impacted by Italian art from the Renaissance Period. One of Dürer's art works that I wanted to discuss is called  Self-Portrait, painted oil on wood panel in 1500. The portrait is of Dürer himself at age 28.

The first thing that I noticed when looking at this portrait, is the striking resemblance that it has to earlier paintings of Christ. It was popular for artists at that time to paint images of themselves, exactly as they were. Dürer on the other hand, made some alterations to this image so that it would more closely resemble the stories of Christ's physical appearance. He had changed the hair color and painted himself in a straightforward frontal pose, a pose that was popular for depicting the image of Christ in Northern Europe. This Self-Portrait and it's resemblance to the Christ paintings is a way in which Dürer shows the viewer that artists are also "learned and creative geniuses, perhaps God-like, not laboring craftsman." (p. 677 Stockstad)

Before the completion of Self-Portrait, Dürer had traveled to Italy and encountered many new artists. Perhaps that is why his painting has that feel of Italian art. First of all, we notice that the painting is made in a triangular composition, which was popular with High Renaissance art. We can also see the Northern European style in the many different textures of the painting. The soft finish of the human flesh seems like it was the focal point of the painting. The wetness of the eyes, glistening in the light, look like it can be felt when touching the painting. The dismal softness of the clothes, look very rich and royal, which I assume is very soft. Lastly, the tangible quality of his hair is very defined and encourages the viewer to "feel" it. In fact, all of the textures in this painting could be felt at the same time as they are being looked at. Everything looks so realistic.

The two main parts of the portrait that seem to stand out the most, are the artists hand, and the face because of the soft glow of light on them. The reason why the artist might have emphasized these two body parts could be because they were the two things that gave him fame and he was most proud of. The craftiness of his hands to do such amazing artworks, working together with the brilliance of his mind to come up with such ideas and to make them become visual and realistic.

Late Renaissance Art

The Mannerist paitings are unique in their style, they are "distortions of accepted formal convention." (p. 660) Its a style of art that is made to look artificial, not realistic. With the passing of Rafael, many new artists emerged into the light. I will talk about one artwork of Jacopo da Pontormo and compare it to a painting made by Parmigianino.
Pontoromo's "Entombment" was completed in 1528. It is made of oil and tempera paint on wood. "The image, with its dark ground and gray sky, gives us no sense of location, and barely any grounding for the figures that it holds." (p. 662) The earlier Renaissance paintings were made according to the pyramid or triangular shape, which gave them a type of balance and order. On the contrary, the composition of "Entombment", is rather random and scattered, with no definite shape. Some of the figures, especially the man in the front, are set in very complex positions that don't seem humanly possible, and look like they're about to fall out of the painting. There are other people through out the painting that also have these weird poses that look very uncomfortable, like standing on their tiptoes. Another thing about this painting that makes it very much Mannerist, is the the expressions on the peoples faces. Every person depicted in this painting has a somewhat sad, but dreamy, look on their face, as if they're waiting for something big to happen. The colors used to make this painting are very unnatural as well. For example, the man in the front that is holding Christ, has a very pink back, but, at the same time, he has a bright blue stomach. These are not realistic colors of human skin.
Another painting made in the Mannerist style is "Madonna with the Long Neck". It is also oil on wood, made in 1540 by Parmigianino. This painting is also very unrealistic. The figure of the virgin Mary is very disproportional. Her huge thighs and lower body don't match with the small head, skinny fingers, and a long neck. This figure seems to be in a sitting position, but the viewer can see no chair underneath her, which makes her pose look unrealistic and impossible. The sleeping baby in her arms, looks too big too be a baby when compared to the other figures also in the painting. In the right corner of the painting, there is a unrealistically small figure of a man holding a scroll. His size does not go with the scale of proportions that was used in the earlier Renaissance times to make a painting look more proportional, in relationship to the other figures in the painting.
Unlike "Entombment", the "Madonna with the Long Neck" painting is made of a bigger variety of colors and the expressions on the peoples faces look happy. Another thing different about this painting from the first one, is that it has a background scene. There are curtains, stairs and a white column. Even though this column is not holding up anything, the viewer can imagine that this strange composition is located inside a building, perhaps in a temple of some sort. One last thing that I noticed in "Madonna with the Long Neck" that is different from "Entombment" is the composition of the figures. All of the people, besides the little man in the background, have been painted bunched up together on the right side of Madonna looking at the baby. Madonna, who is in the center of the painting, is also looking down, making the child be the focal point. The other side of the painting just shows us the background and not much human activity. This is different from the busy looking scattered composition of the "Entombment", which has no focal point because everyone seems to be looking into different directions.
Both of the paintings have similarities and differences between them, but they are perfect examples of the Mannerist style. They are very unrealistic, and contain figures in humanly impossible poses with disproportional bodies. I think that this style of painting is very interesting. It makes the viewer stop, look at it, and try to figure out what about the painting is different and what is wrong with the way these people are painted.

Art of the Early and High Renaissance Periods

When comparing artworks from the Early Renaissance period with the High Renaissance period, we can see many similarities and differences in the works done by artists of each of these time periods. The two works of art that I will compare and analyze are, the portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza, c. 1474, and the portraits of Agnelo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi, c. 1506. Both of the paintings were done in oil on wood panels. 

The portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza were made by an Italian artist, Piero della Francesca. "The small panels resemble Flemish painting in their detail and luminosity, their record of surfaces and textures,  and their vast landscapes." (p. 218 Stockstad) We can see that, because of the traditional Italian fashion lasting during the Early Renaissance period, the figures are portrayed in a strict profile view. This makes the figures look emotionless and be psychologically disengaging with the viewer. Another reason for the profile view, was to show the accurate recording of Federico's likeness without emphasizing the two scars which were located on the right side of his face.  Piero emphasized the basic geometry of the forms. This makes the people in the portraits look very flat and not very realistic. Dressed in their most elegant fashion, the forms are silhouetted against a scenic  landscape of hills around Urbino.  
The portraits of Agnelo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi, painted by Rafael, were done during the High Renaissance period. They are painted in a 3/4 view instead of a strict profile view of the face and body. This enables the viewer to almost "see" into the souls of the two subjects.  You can tell that these people have authority and come from very powerful families, but at the same time, there are calm emotions across their faces that look like sadness. Rafael, unlike Piero, had made his portraits look more natural and realistic due to the great impact on realism during the High Italian Renaissance period. You can see how his painting is more 3 dimensional in the way Agnelo's and Maddalena's arms are painted at an angle rather than strictly up and down like that of  Federico and Battista.
Despite their many differences, there are also some similarities between the portraits made by two artists from different time periods. In both works, the portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, and the portraits of Agnelo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi, the hills and other background scenery seem to be dissolving into the distance. This illusion has been achieved through the use of an atmospheric perspective in the painting of the two portraits. The people in both artworks look like they are found higher in the sky than the hills behind them. Another similarity between the two artworks is the clothing. Both artist had made an emphasis on the fashionable clothing of their subjects adding jewelry on the ladies and hats on the men. 
I think that you can see dynamic unity in both of the artworks. From the many hills in Piero's paintings, to the clouds and angular arm positions in Raphael's paintings, each image feel unified and complete by itself. 

Early Italian Renaissance Art

The artworks of the Renaissance period are some of the most known pieces today. Early Italian Renaissance art might not be as popular as the Northern Renaissance art, but it is still well known around the world. "Like the Flemish artists, Italian painters and sculptors increasingly focused their attention on rendering the illusion of physical reality." (p. 594, Stockstad) They used liner perspective to make lifelike but idealized artworks. I really enjoyed learning about the different works of art, but I was very surprised at the large amount of nude art that was made during this time period, and it was repeated in excessive artworks. 

One of the most successful and admired sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, Donatello, worked with several different media to create beautiful artworks. He worked with stone, wood, as well as with bronze. Donatello mainly focused on the human emotions and expressions to capture them in his sculptures. 

One particular statue made by Donatello which stood out to me was the statue of David, c. 1446-1460. (right) This sculpture is made of bronze and stands 5 feet and 4 1/4 inches tall. David was the first life-size male nude that Donatello produced. I was very surprised that the young shepherd was portrayed in a nude form.  "Although the statue draws on the Classical tradition of heroic nudity, the meaning of this attractive, young boy in a shepherds hat and boots had long stimulated curiosity." (p. 604, Stockstad) From everything that I have learned about young David from the Bible, what stood out to me most were his strength and heroic actions. They started from the killing of the lion that tried to attack Davids fathers herd of sheep, to the killing of Goliath during his adolescent life, before he became king. In Davids left hand, which is resting on the boys hip, there is a round stone, one of the five stones that he had picked to kill Goliath. In his right hand the boy holds a sword with which he had beheaded Goliath, whose head can be seen in front of Davids left foot. The helmet on the head of the giant has wings, one of which is resting against Davids right inner thigh. I don't understand why, upon seeing this, some art historians "stressed an overt homo-eroticism." Just because this sculpture portrays one mans helmets wings being too close to the boys nudity does not mean that David was homosexual. All I see in the statue is a victorious young boy, who looks a little surprised and maybe even intimidated by what he sees lying at his feet. After all, this was a battle against a mighty army that was unbeatable by any other nation, and yet, here comes this young boy and takes out one of the fiercest soldiers of their army with just one round stone. Without looking at too much detail in this sculpture, other viewers might have gotten a similar feeling that, between Davids angular pose and boyish torso, the boy seems to be stuck between his childish interests and the adult responsibility that now fell on his shoulders. I have to agree with the other viewers. David is the perfect image of young heroism.

"David was a political image in Florence, symbolizing the citizens resolve to oppose tyrants, regardless of their superior power, since virtue brings divine support and preternatural strength." (p. 604, Stockstad) Even though nothing is known about the circumstances of its creation, I think that Donatellos purpose behind this sculpture of David  was to show others that everything is possible for those who try and believe in a positive outcome of their actions. Just like it became possible for young David to kill a giant with a stone. 

Northern Renaissance: The Supreme Art

In the early 15th century, and epidemic spread out across Europe and the Church stood divided with its popes and there was not much artistic advancement going on throughout Europe. Only in Flanders, present day Belgium, Holland, did the artistic revolution begun and had quickly spread out throughout the continent. With the help of the printing press that was invented, "the remarkable oil paintings of Flemish artist Jan van Eyck transformed a lowly craft into the supreme art and began an image revolution that would change art forever." (Northern Renaissance Article) One of the cathedrals still holds the original paintings which had started that revolution. Some of the paintings consist of images of the long dead historical figures that, once again, seem to be living again among us. They are painted in such a way, that one could almost feel their presence in the room. 

Many other artists started making art which reflected their royal or noble status among others. Their paintings included the objects of the expensive lifestyle of the court. The finest tapestries were made of silk thread of gold that told stories of victories or different religious scenes. The dynasty of Duke of Burgundy had wine yards that expanded all the way to Flanders. The more land they owned, the more power they had. The artwork of the dukes was in expansive tapestries, enough to cover their many households, and in gold objects that were of no use, but were there to increase the wealthy look and then later be melted down to make new objects for display. 

Although painting was very important in art, sculptures were becoming more and more popular during the Renaissance era. Claus Sluter, a very successful sculptor, had made the "Well of Moses" sculpture which included Christ on the cross, Virgin Mary, John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene at His feet, and below the cross were the sculptures of six different men from the Old Testament of the Bible which had prophesied the birth of Christ. The churches, instead of just having painting and writings on their walls, were now made with many more windows to show the view of different 3-D spaces. 

Jan van Eycks paintings and other works are all portraying the artists deeds, signatures and even self portraits, which celebrate the life of the artist. One of his self portraits, tells us a lot more about the artist than any recorded documents can tell us. Because he had such an amazing talent of a painter, Jan van Eyck was hired as an ambassador for one of the Dukes of Burgundy and was traveling all over Europe making paintings for the duke, for which he was compensated. Jan van Eyck had made painting into the ultimate art.

Art of the Renaissance

The Renaissance Period is one of the most well known periods in our culture. Many people believe that art made during the 15th and 16th century is better than art done during other time periods. I think this is due to the fact that that art was unique and very different from other art works. It was a time when some of the  most famous art pieces were created. One such famous piece is the painting of Mona Lisa, which was made by Leonardo da Vinci. Another work of art that was made during the Renaissance period is the statue of David, which was done by a well known artist and sculptor Michelangelo. These are some of the most famous artists of that time period and their paintings are some of those known all over the world, even to the people who have little or no knowledge about art. I think that the reason that everyone always refers to these artists is because of their unique art that was made and glorified across the whole world. I personally remember when my elementary and middle school teachers taught us about art, da Vinci and Michelangelo were the first artist that were mentioned. I really enjoyed learning about the art of the Renaissance period and I am looking forward to finding out more about the artworks made during those centuries.