Assignment #7: Dada Collage

Assignment #6: Early 20th Century

1.     Describe a dada artwork.     

The dada movement began in protest of World War I. The two syllable word dada was used to describe this movement because it was well suited for expressing the essence of attitude, not a style. Dada was a rebellious attitude rather than a cohesive style. It was a way of criticizing society through art. Dadaist who experienced the horror of WWI believed that the world no longer made sense therefore they rejected all accepted moral, social, political and aesthetic values.  Dada artwork was made with cheap noncollectable materials.

                                   

The art work above named ABCD by Raoul Hausmann is a self portrait. Below Hausmann’s face is an announcement of his performance of a phonetic poem. The letters VOCE (Italian for “voice”) appear inside an earlike ellipse. The letters ABCD, a prototypical poem, are clinched to his teeth. The tickets to the Kaiserjubilee in his hat indicate the empty formalities of the social milieu in which he functioned, while the intentionally provocative gynecological diagram alludes to the organic necessity of his art.

2.     What were the influences of Jacob Lawrence?

Jacob Lawrence was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance, African American history and European modernist. Lawrence’s art incorporated brilliant use of color, flat space and the use of pattern. Lawrence referred to his style as “dynamic cubism”.

                               

The art work above Pool Parlor by Jacob Lawrence portrays flat geometric shapes. There is exaggeration of the limbs and gestures. The Shoemaker also by Lawrence shows flatness of geometric shapes and incorporates cubism and vibrant colors.  

Assignment #5: Impressionism and Post Impressionism

Impressionism      

       

Impressionist opposed romantic ideals and instead portrayed contemporary life. They would paint outdoor to portray what the eye sees rather than what the mind knows. Impressionists painted landscapes and ordinary scenes. The canvases were painted quickly under shifting conditions, seasons and times of the day. Impressionist art was painted as what traditional painters might have made sketches.

The canvases By the Seashore and Girl with a Watering Can by Pierre-Auguste Renoir are great examples of impressionist art. Both paintings seem to be painted during the day and include a landscape. By the Seashore includes of landscape behind the girl of what appears to be a garden. A Girl with a Watering Can includes a landscape of the sea. Both paintings also seem to be painted by strokes. This means that close up the painting appears as separate strokes of paint but when seen from a distance the object becomes visible.

Post Impressionism

Post impressionist believed in the interpretation of nature. They wanted to incorporate not to see things, but to see through them at a point where it became significant and reality deeper than what superficial appearance gave. Characteristics of this kind of paintings are: bold simplified shapes, flat color areas, the strong use of line and color, linear rhythm, avoiding distraction cause by implied deep space, and flattening out depth of space.

In the canvas Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh we see rhythmical linear strokes and a strong use of line and color.

Assignment #4: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Baroque Art

Baroque Art shows great energy and feeling. There is a dramatic use of light, scale and balance. The baroque period includes the seventeenth century and most of the eighteenth century. In Italy Baroque was used to refer to art that arose around the 1600 and spread throughout Europe during the next two hundred years. An example of Baroque art is the painting to the left named The Denial of Saint Peter by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio from Milan, Italy. The painting was painted around the year 1610. In the painting we see Peter being pointed at by one finger of the Roman soldier and two fingers of the woman. The woman is accusing Peter of being a follower of Jesus and Peter denies it three times. The three fingers can represent the number of times Peter denied Jesus. The dramatic use of light and darkness was Caravaggio’s formal element in this painting. He used the focus of light to show the subject of the painting which in this case is Peter. The light is focused on Peter mainly to show that he is guilty of what he is being accused of.

The Renaissance

The Renaissance was a time of discovery and rediscovery of the world and of human beings. The period began to take shape in the fourteenth century but reached its clear beginning in the early fifteenth century and came to an end in the early seventeenth century. During the Renaissance a new philosophical, literary and artistic movement called humanism began. Humanism is the philosophy or attitude concerned with the interests, achievements and capabilities of human beings rather than with the abstract concepts and problems of theology or science. It was a shift from religious to humankind. Humanism portrays feelings and human nature of human beings in humanistic art. An example of Renaissance art is the painting to the right named Madonna and Child by Filippino Lippi from Florence, Italy. This artwork was painted about 1483-84 for the wealthy Florentine banker Filippo Strozzi. Madonna can be said to represent Mary and the Child to represent baby Jesus. The artwork shows Madonna’s adoration and love for the child. In addition to the feelings portrayed a formal element would be the use of color, the richness of color brings out the emotion and refines the beauty of Madonna and the Child. In the artwork we also see depth of space, we are able to see a landscape of which is suggested to be the countryside around the Strozzi villa near Florence. 

Renaissance & Baroque Art

1.  What is humanism?

Humanism is the philosophy or attitude concerned with the interests, achievements and capabilities of human beings rather than with the abstract concepts and problems of theology or science. It was a shift from religious to humankind. Humanism portrays feelings and human nature of human beings in humanistic art.  

In the portrait above called The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens, Rubens draws three plus sized woman who portray the emotion of happiness. In addition he creates a sense of comfort amongst the three women while being naked. He portrays human nature by drawing all three women naked which defines their beauty physically.

2.  What are some of the qualities of Jan Van Eyck’s paintings?

Jan Van Eyck was the first Netherlandish painter to achieve international fame

He was a big user of visual symbolism.

In his portrait Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride the use of color is used to highlight realism. The objects and things surrounding the couple are used for symbolism. The single lighted candle in the chandelier symbolizes the presence of Christ, the amber beads and the sunlight shining through them are symbols of purity, the dog symbolizes marital fidelity, the puffiness of her dress symbolizes her willingness for children and the color green symbolizes fertility.

3.  Describe the qualities of Baroque art in an artwork of your choice.

Baroque art shows great energy and feeling, a dramatic use of light, scale and balance.

In the portrait above called The Raising of the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens we see a dramatic use of light being used on Jesus. The light creates a focus on his pain and his willingness to give up his life. Realism is brought to the picture through dog on the bottom left of the portrait and the muscular men lifting the cross. There is balance in the picture with the use of color. The bright red is balanced out with the dark blue green and purple.

Assignment #2: Design Principles

1.   How does an artist create asymmetrical balance?

An asymmetrical piece of art has distinctive art on both the right and left sides of the artwork. Asymmetrical balance can be created with their visual weights. A large form also known as the concentration of the art is balanced with two smaller forms. This causes the large form in the center to become balanced with the smaller forms surrounding it on the left and right.

In this picture we can see asymmetrical balance through the contrasting of the dark colors (black and blue) and the lighter color (white). The large form in this picture is the Yin Yang. Both the left and right sides of the picture are balanced out with the curvy worm like lines surrounding the Yin Yang. Therefore the curvy worm like figures become the small forms.

2.  Describe several ways used to unify an artwork?

Unification in artwork can be created through the repetition of similar shapes, the repetition in the ordering of elements, as well as the repetition of warm colors and geometric shapes.

In the picture above we see unification with the repetition in the ordering of elements which in this case are the green figures holding a head above their head. There is repetition with the colors orange, green and white. There is also a repetition with the letter “X” located on their shirts.

3.   How does scale change the meaning of artwork?

Small figures under a larger figure can make the smaller figure seem heroic. An artwork larger than the viewer creates a sense of wonder by the realism in which the artwork is made. An artwork smaller than the viewer makes the viewer feel more powerful than the figures in the sculpture and creates a sense of empathy.

The picture above is a sculpture of a human head. Although the head is larger than the viewers there is still some sense of realism because of how realistically the sculpture has been sculpted. The human facial features are beautifully displayed. 

Assignment #1

Sphinx of Hatshepsut

This sculpture is called the Sphinx of Hatshepsut. It was made of granite. It is said to be from the time 1479–1458 B.C. It has a height of 64 9/16 inches, a length of 135 1/16 inches and weighs approximately 14,900 pounds (more than seven tons). The Sphinx of Hatshepsut has the body of a lion and the head of a human wearing a nemes headcloth and a royal beard therefore it is an anthropomorphic figure. The sculpture can be described as muscular figure becaused of the defined muscles of the lion.The sculpture is one of at least six sphinxes that were located at Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri.

 

Marble Statue of a Youthful Hercules

The Marble Statue of a Youthful Hercules is from the time 69-96 A.D. The sculpture is made of marble. It is 97 3/16 inches tall. This statue is from Greek culture. It displays Hercules at a youthful age, if the statue were non youthful a beard would have been incorporated. The non-bearded sculpture portrays his youth. The statue was sculpted in a much defined way because we are able to see his muscles throught all his body.

Compare & Contrast 

If we compare the Egyptian sculpture to the Greek culture we can conclude that both are not very similar. The egytian sculpture is much more symmetrical and less defined. Whereas the Greek sculpture is mush more defined but is not symmetrical. The Egytian sculptures have more posture and the Greek sculptures are more freely sculpted. Though both portray beauty, the Greek statue portrays more beauty of the body and the Egyptian portrays more beauty and strength of the human face.