Blog 8- Mexico- Gods of the Modern World

This mural certainly has a complex background of beliefs.   The most important aspect is the idea of knowledge that was gained from the god Quetzalcoatl, who had freed the ancient Americans of their old knowledge and superstitions.  This mural is showing stillborn knowledge being delivered from a skeleton mother, showing the knowledge that had previously died, and falling into the hands of another skeleton in an academic gown, while other relics of knowlege lay on either side.  In the background there is a mixture of witnesses.  This mural shows obsolete knowledge is only giving way to more obsolete knowledge.  It is a call for new knowledge and creativity and to escape the current bonds that doesn’t allow this!  The subject matter is not particularly gruesome but makes a powerful statement.  This is what I appreciate most about Orozco’s artwork.  This was certainly an interesting piece!- Jose Clemente Orozco was born November 13, 1883 in Jalisco, Mexico.  He studied at Carlos Academy for Fine Arts, in Mexico City.  Orozco’s paintings were detailed and he was greatly influence by the symbolism style and he was one of the most complex of Mexican muralists.  His Murals often depict violent displays of misery and chaos!  Thsi shocking and emotional depiction is what attracted my attention to his artwork, especially this particular piece, Gods of the Modern World.  Orozco was very politically active during the revelotion and had seen the misery firsthand.  He realized the gap between “social ideals and social realities.  

I have not found out where this painting is located or its size but will continue to search for that information.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/Orozco/part2.html

http://www.wfu.edu/history/StudentWork/fysprojects/kmason/Orozco.htm

Blog 7- Ming Dynasty- Planting Chrysanthemums

This piece is a hanging scroll called Planting Chrysanthemums.  It was painted by Chinese artist, Lu Zhi (1496- 1576), who lived during the Ming Dynasty. It was inscribed by both the artist and the Qianlong emperor.  This scroll was orginally given to a friend Lu Zhi and the poem on it, meant to express a peaceful reclusion, read as follows:

I hear you have opened up a “Dao path” near the ocean,
Where clouds of leaves and frost-covered flowers vie in wondrous splendor.
I too have built a new residence at Zhixing Mountain,
May I share some of your autumn colors on my eastern hedge.

This poem is connected so closely with his friendship with Tao.  The first lines of the poem are closely compareable with “Peach Blossom Spring” which was a poem writen by Tao’s namesake Tao Qian (365–427) in relation to the hidden utopia that this poem exemplifies.  This is connected by the way Lu lived later in his life and there is the mention of the “growing of chrysanthemums, a passion he shared with Tao Qian”.

Understanding Lu Zhi’s life is key to understanding this scroll.  Lu Zhi  is the son of a school teacher and was taught by Wen Zhenging.  Later, after his father passed away, Lu supported his family from the profits of his paintings.  When Lu was 61 he retired to the moutains near Suzhou, where he lived in a  reclusive life cultivating rare flowers, painting and writing poetry.

Personally I have always had an appreciation for chinese art especially Chinese scrolls.  The subject matter is light as well as the use of colors and this scroll appears ancient. This is truely a peaceful piece or art representing seclusion as finding serenity rather than lonliness.  I appreciated the translation of the writing.  It helped me to understand this work of art so much better.  I wasn’t sure what year this scroll was painted but the poem alludes to the fact the it coud have been a longing to be in this place or he could have already built a home here.

Hanging scroll; ink and pale color on paper:  42 x 10 3/4 in. (106.7 x 27.3 cm)

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ming/ho_1986.266.3.htm

Modern Landscape Art

Landscape art  is a large genre of art dealing with the depiction of natural scenery.  This depiction of the landscape depends on the artists personal preference.  Subject matter of landscape art includes mountains, valleys, rivers and forests. Sky is often an important feature included in the piece, and weather is usually a component.

This gallery shows a variety of paintings of three different artists: Norman Lowell, Catherine Pier and Wu Changan.  The diversity of their backgrounds and the styles of art between these three artists painters is very apparent when viewing these works, as well as as the use of various mediums but they all are inspired by the outdoors.  Each of these artists has as immense appreciation and love for the natural world and this love is reflected in each of their landscape pieces.   The natural world has sparked their imagination to create these breath taking pieces.  Take  a tour through the biographies and famous works by these artists. Enjoy!

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Norman Lowell is an artist who came up to Alaska over 50 years ago to live and paint.  He wanted to gain inspiration from Alaska and he found an abundance of it!  Normal Lowell lived and painted in a  small, one bedroom cabin and raised a family with his wife Libby.  He paints with a variety of mediums, mainly oil and acrylic.  Now Norman Lowell and his wife enjoy giving personal tours in their gallery which is located near their original homestead (Along the Sterling Highway, a few miles north of Anchor Point).

“Fifty years ago I came to Alaska to paint the ‘Wild North Country’. Alaska captured me and has inspired me all these years. The beauty and wonder of Alaska have carried my imagination to its heights and moved me to express my impressions in the art of painting.” – Normal Lowell

Normal and Libby Lowell next to their original homestead in Alaska

Spirit of the North~ Oil ~ 2000 ~ Size: 84″ x 168″ ~ Painted in Alaska

This painting is perhaps one of Norman Lowell’s most admired pieces.  It is a large painting that hung on a large wall at the end of his gallery.  It shows beauty but rather than being peaceful, the northern lights seem to be rushing across the sky shedding light upon this frigid and unforgiving landscape.  As I mentioned earlier this is a large painting, yet it contains a great amount of detail with the northern lights and the frozen river seemingly disappear at the same point.  Whether a person has seen the northern lights are not, this painting is sure to impress!

The Glacier Wall- Child’s Glacier ~ Oil ~ 1995-1996 ~ Size: 108″ x 72″

The Glacier Wall- Child’s Glacier is a powerful landscape painting .  This painting depicts movement as a sheer force of tons of ice come crashing down.  It is a reminder of how small humans are in comparison to nature.  I appreciate this landscape painting most for its powerful subject matter and accurate detail.

Place of Rest ~ Oil, Rendered with brush ~ 1993 ~ Size: 90″ x 78″

Place of Rest is a serene landscape painting depicting a glade, a stream, and a waterfall.  This painting is certainly an Alaskan ideal.  Lowell was inspired to depict a peaceful place showing a such an ideal that I wonder if this is a real place.  I really like how the foreground is enclosed in this painting offering a place of protection and rest.  The water is clear and cold, fed by a small waterfall.

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Catherine Pier is a well known artist and has painted professionally for 20 years.  She is a self taught artists and paints with a variety of mediums but pastels and sandpaper are what she prefers and the results of her art contain a lively, refractive, textual quality rarely seen.  Piers art is very sought after and she is currently working on paintings for Oman Royal Estates.   Pier is currently a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Guild of Wiltshire Artists.  She has been inspired by her home, the peace country sides of Cotsolds and Wiltshire are her main inpiration.

Pier’s prefered medium, pastels

“I have had a love of nature all my life and walking in the surrounding countryside, with a dog at my side, is one of my greatest pleasures. I have always been creative and I started painting because I wanted to bring the magical tranquil feeling I felt on my walks, back into my home. I paint instinctively and my hands follow my heart. When I look at a finished painting I want to feel as if I could step into it and feel the sun on my face and the rustle of the trees, the pure magic of the landscape. I paint for myself and I am extremely lucky that my work is so sought after”.~ Catherine Pier

View towards the Marlborough Downs ~pastel~ Size:(framed) 14″x 25″~ Great Britain

The colors are wonderful blended, just enough to soften the image but not enough to remove the minute details put into this painting.  Like Norman Lowell, Pier has been inspired by these places of beauty. She paints places of tranquility more often then Lowell.  She brings an interesting perceptive to this painting with her style and use of pastels.  Not only do the pastels bring a softeness to the painting but they provide a cheerful aspect as well.

View from Buscot Lock ~ pastel ~ Size 13″ x 21″

View from Buscot Lock is another great landscape painting of Pier’s!  This is  a wide open scene composed of mostly water and sky.  I appreciate this painting most for the reflective quality of the water.   This painting is also very light because pastels are used.  Normally I do not appreciate pastels because I feel they are too light but Pier works very effectively with the pastels, focusing on the lightness of the sky and water and blending the colors slightly with sandpaper.  As in most of Pier’s artwork, the weather plays a large part in the mood of the painting and the weather is simply blissful!

View more of Pier’s work at http://www.birdbrookarts.co.uk/landscape-paintings/original-landscape-paintings.htm

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Wu Changan is a retired art professor who taught Chinese painting for 25 years.  Some of his works illustrate the “splashed ink” technique whereby details are added after ink has been randomly splashed on paper, thus transforming the work into an evocative landscape.  Changan adopts a completely new style compared to the artist we have viewed previously because the technique he starts out with is a little more of an abstract style with the “spashed ink” technique, whereas the previous two artists were trying to develope a realistic looking piece of art.

Untitled: Landscape ~ 2004 ~ Ink ~ Watercolors–Chinese Description: hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; signed by the artist; two artist’s seals.

I do not know what Changun’s intent for this painting was but it appears to be chaotic and it is still very much a lanscape painting.  In the forground there is a house sounded by trees.  The background is something else to reconcile with.  If anyone has any ideas about what is happening in the background let me know what you think!  The background has cliff like landscape qualities.  Blue fire appears to be emanating from the cliff side and the entire painting appears to be caught in some sort of storm, perhaps a hurricane.  This is truely an evocative image!

Living by the waterfall ~ 2004 ~ Ink ~ Watercolors–Chinese
Description: hanging scroll; ink and color on paper; signed by the artist; two artist’s seals.

Water plummets into an abyss.  A white haze rises from the depths.   Sheer cliffs stand as a back drop against the landscape.  This painting is another reason why I like Changan’s work so much.  I like this painting mostly for its landscape qualities and the lighting!  Landscapes create an evocative image for a person to view, because nature is such a powerful object to behold.  The lighting and other elements make it appear to be some type of stress or storm.  Light appears from a source among the cliff side, as well as in the background and the ground seems alight with some azure flame!

Blog 5-Early Modern- The Great Depression

Migrant Mother is a photograph taken in 1936 by Dorothea Lange. This photograph is a vivid reflection of the hardship of The Great Depression. This hardship appears to be carved into the face of the woman who is the subject in this photograph.

“Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an influential American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange’s photographs humanized the tragic consequences of the Great Depression and profoundly influenced the development of documentary photography” (Dorothea Lange).

What I found so appealing about this work is the intensity of the hardship that this image carries. The woman appears so tired and troubled as enduring long term stress. She is frowning, supporting her head with her hand and there are deep lines in her forehead. Here children lean against her wearily. Their clothes are drab and she is wrapped in blankets. Perhaps the most what brings the most suffering across, as captured in this photograph by Lange, is this woman’s haunting gaze. This photograph truly represents the destitution of the Great Depression.

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/f/feminism.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lange

Blog 4- Impressionism

When I first heard about impressionism and read about it, I was very intrigued about this type of art work. Needless to say I have been amazed (as others in the class may have been as well) by the extreme details and realism of the other eras we have previously studied.  Impressionism however is completely opposite of this.  Impressionists tended to paint outside more often than painting in the studio.  Their brush strokes are short and thick giving a rather vague image and often the color is unmixed giving a bolder appearance. This style of painting gives a feeling of peacefulness but in a more abstract format.  One impressionist painting that caught my eye was a painting by Claude Monet called Impression-Sunrise which he painted in France.  This painting is very soft in appearance but the painting certainly reflects the bold impressionists’ style.  The colors used in this painting create a feeling of serenity.

“The term impressionism was first used in 1874 when a journalist ridiculed a painting by Claude Monet called: Impression – Sunrise (above).  That very famous painting now hangs in the Musee Mormottan Paris.”

http://www.toffsworld.com/art_artists_painters/impressionist_impressionism_art_movement.htm

Blog 3- Classical Era- William Hogarth

William Hogarth was well known for his Marriage à la mode, a series of satirical paintings depicting marriage. “In this series, elegantly engraved by French craftsmen and published in 1745, Hogarth’s main purpose was to attack the marriage of convenience and the greed and tastelessness of fashionable life, whereas his earlier series, The Harlot’s Progress and The Rake’s Progress, were aimed at a lower level of society” (William Hogarth). I will be focusing on the first scene of this series of scenes.  The Contract (also called The Marriage Settlement) depicts the tasteless contract being formed between a couple where the existence of their marriage is formed solely on money and the bride and groom are indifferent to one another. The painting explores the frivolity of the rich by showing the following: the event takes place in a large decorated room, the bride and groom are surrounded by servants, and their mansion is being constructed in the background. This painting and the others in the series were not as successful; due to prospective buyers of these paintings were mainly the rich (these paintings may have hit too close to home). Nevertheless Marriage à la mode later became Hogarth’s most popular series.

There are several aspects of The Contract that were interesting to me. This satirical painting shows the rise of the middle class during the classical area because it scorns the rich for their extravagant and foolish lifestyle. I imagine two particular scenarios of marriage at this time, one of a rich couple and one of a middle class couple. The Contract depicts the rich marriage. The bride and the groom are completely indifferent to one another and their future mansion will give them space to be separate within large, cold, empty rooms. In the other scenario, a couple of the middle class could gain happiness from building their life together, as the lavish lifestyle apparently has formed a rift between the two people who will never have enough riches.  It is interesting to view this way of living from an outside prospective as few people will live this way.

A better  view of The Contract @ http://www.jerryandmartha.com/yourdailyart/uploaded_images/hogarth2-784243.jpg

More on the story of this painting @ http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/h/hogarth/marriag1.html

Work Cited:

http://humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=c&a=e&ID=515

http://humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=c&a=p&ID=5347&c=515

BLOG 2- Peter Paul Rubens-Fall of Phaeton

Peter Paul Rubens’s Fall of Phaeton is a powerful painting evoking a powerful emotional response.  Peter Paul Rubens was the leading counter reformist.  His paintings represented ideas that conflicted with the reformist views and he was a leading advocator for the Council of Trent.  Rubens, being a Calvinist, devoted much of his art to conflict these views (Peter Paul Rubens).  Religion was a major subject of his and even though this painting is mythology, the style of art represents a counter reformist view.

Fall of Phaeton thoroughly describes the panic and terror in which something in this of this disastrous mythological magnitude could occur.  This piece tells the story of Helios, a Greek god who is tricked by his son, Phaeton, into letting such a careless youth to drive the god’s chariot into the sun.  I am drawn to this painting because of its tremendous power, vibrant colors and the apparent disaster that is taking place.  The light represents the disrupted heavens and lightening bolts being thrown by Zeus to save the destruction of that Phaeton caused.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Paul_Rubens

BLOG 1- Masaccio-The Tribute Money

The Tribute Money, painted by Masaccio, is a fine example of his most mature art.  It is a fresco painted in 1427 and is located in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence, Italy.

Masaccio was truly skilled painter whose work illustrates humanism (Masaccio).  This religious painting is a wonderful reflection of humanism, a common philosophy of this time, but this artist combines both religion and humanism in this painting.

Three major aspects of this painting stand out: humanism, how three different scenes are combined into one scene as well as the overall beauty of the painting.  Humanism is this focus on the individual people, and this painting depicts the emotion in the expressions of the apostles and Jesus very well.  It shows the frustration and anger in dealing with the tax collector with Jesus appearing very calm and serene.  The twelve apostles are painted in such detail that it reflects a mixture of such emotions.  The face of Peter especially reflects his frustration when he is told by Jesus that he needs to go fishing right now, and he and Jesus both are pointing at the water.  The next major aspect that makes this painting so wonderful is how three different scenes are flawlessly painted together in one seamless scene.  The first scene is in the middle with Jesus telling Peter to fish, the second Peter catching the fish off to the far left and in the third Peter is handing the coin from the fish to the tax collector.  This painting is also very aesthetically pleasing in appearance with colors combined nicely and an extensive background of mountains.  The people also appear realistic in both their appearance and stance.

Here are some links to view The Tribute Money

http://history.hanover.edu/courses/art/mastrib.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamtart/34689768/

Work Cited:

“Masaccio.” <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masaccio&gt;

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