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I really enjoyed the paintings that were very colorful in the chapters that we read this week. It is interesting to think about how colors have an effect on our emotions. Colors can also be symbolic, like how red can be symbolic of anger or heat, blue can be symbolic of cold, yellow can be symbolic of slowing down, and green can be symbolic of envy. It is fun to think about how artists choose the colors they want to use in their work.

Chapter 29 & 30

For these chapters, I chose to focus on artwork full of color. I know that color is a big part of our lives and the appreciation of color is often portrayed in art. I appreciate artwork that lacks color or is full of color. Color can add to a piece of art and there is often a symbolic meaning behind color. Things like red meaning bold, blood, or fierce. I chose to focus on color in these chapters because of how symbolic a single color can be or how color is associated with different things.

Frank Stella created Tahkt-i-Sulayman I, this piece uses bright colors to contrast each other and make definite lines and curves of the shapes. This piece uses color to bolden the shapes and the black background makes them stand out more. The way color can attract or make you feel a certain way, this piece was meant to be intense with color. The artist chose to use this these colors and shapes to create a hard-edge painting. 

Ellsworth Kelly created Spectrum III and Red, Yellow, Blue both focus on bright colors and primary colors. Spectrum III shows the spectrum of colors from yellow to yellow. It comes back around to the beginning and brings the power of color and how they bring different emotions and feelings for each color. Red, Yellow, Blue is the three primary colors, this piece is important to go along with another piece by Piet Mondrian, Trafalgar Square. This piece uses the primary colors along with black lines to capture the connection between the two pieces. The book states they connect “Cubism and Color Field painting”. 

I believe that these pieces of work focus more on the styles of art and how colors can effect the styles. I believe that color is often used in art as a symbol for something deeper. Take the American flag for example, there is a reason each of those colors were chosen and it’s symbolic for something more than just a color. The piece, Three Flags by Jasper Johns. The colors each symbolize something that brings it all together as one and overall stands for America. These artist not only chose to focus on these colors to bring out their styles, an exhibit was created by someone else to feature these pieces together. Artwork isn’t always about the artwork itself but the exhibit and the paintings bringing out the other works of art.

The impact color has on me personally is that I symbolize red with confidence. Put some red lipstick on and I feel more confident than usual. I believe that color has such deep impact on our lives and we associate each color with something. We see it in every day life and art, in movies, in ads, and in everything. Colors are associated with specific feelings, emotions, or even just eye catching. 

Artists are very specific about what colors they choose in their artwork. Each color represents something and they thought about how important the colors together are or where the color is used. Art is very specific and meaningful, the artists may have been creating art for a style or for a feeling, either way it is always well thought out.

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Week 10 - American Abstraction/Pop Art, Op Art, Minimalism, and Conceptualism

This week we learned about American abstraction in chapter twenty-nine and pop art, op art, minimalism, and conceptualism in chapter thirty. In this post, I will first discuss what stood out to me in the chapter about American abstraction, then I will touch on what stood out to me on the chapter about pop art, op art, minimalism, and conceptualism.

While reading through the materials this week, action painting in chapter twenty-nine stood out to me. Reading about Jackson Pollock on page 521 was very interesting. According to the textbook, Jackson Pollock would use his entire body to create a painting. He would lay his canvas out on the floor and drip paint onto it from above. He became one with the painting. I think this method of painting is interesting because the artist would have to have complete faith in their own movements to create the effect they are looking for. These types of paintings make me think of last week’s video about how a lot of people look at art and think they could have done the same thing, but Pollock, for example, had to come up with the idea first and then he had to actually follow through with it. Something else that stood out to me in this chapter was Louise Nevelson’s “Black Wall” on page 532. “Black Wall” is a sculpture of everyday objects stacked in boxes so it looks like a sort of bookcase. I think it is very creative to take different objects and place them in such a way that they become art. I also like that it was all painted one color because the objects now stand out based on their forms rather than their color.

Chapter thirty was about pop art, op art, minimalism, and conceptualism. According to the textbook, this is where the style of comic book images come from. I have noticed in my life that comic book images tend to follow a similar style, so I found it interesting that it was brought up in the textbook. Roy Lichtenstein’s “Torpedo…Los!” on page 538 is an example of this style. In this chapter, I really enjoyed the parts about minimalism and conceptualism. According to the textbook, minimalism tries to take away the artist’s role in the work and leaves the viewer to their own interpretations. I think it is fun to observe art and try to decipher what the meaning behind it is. Conceptualism is art that is all about the meaning and less about the object. Like minimalism, I like to think about the meaning behind art. This is different, though, because the meaning is not left up to the viewer to decipher, and some of the time the meaning is written on the piece, itself, clear as day.

Therefore, I first discussed what stood out to me in the chapter about American abstraction, then I touched on what stood out to me on the chapter about pop art, op art, minimalism, and conceptualism. This week we learned about American abstraction in chapter twenty-nine and pop art, op art, minimalism, and conceptualism in chapter thirty.

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I had also never heard of Dada before reading chapter 28 of the textbook. It kind of reminded me of memes that people post on Facebook. The fact that they used “ready-made” pieces of art and then they added their own creative flair, often involving puns, is a lot like a meme you would see online. Memes have many different versions of the same “ready-made” piece of art with different creative messages added to it.

Chapters 27 & 28 + Video

This week’s chapters talked about a lot of important art movements. The video, “I Could Do That”, was also eye-popping. I felt that this week’s media stood out more to me and I could relate pieces to my life.

In Chapter 27, there were a lot of different works of art as well as movements. The book talked about cubism and futurism. Pablo Picasso was the artist that caught my eye the most. I have seen his work many times before, mostly the pieces that connect with cubism.  Looking back at his painting, “The Old Guitarist”, and “Man with a Hat”, these two are completely different styles. It is interesting to know that the same artist painted the two. I personally like Picasso’s cubism style more. It makes me think harder about what the pieces represent and what they look like. For example, when I looked at “Man with a Hat”, I was first puzzled as to what it was. The title gives it away, but looking back it at I can see it clearly. 

Picasso’s painting, “Three Musicians”, reminded me of back when I was in band. I felt connected with this piece. The three figures in the painting made me think of my friends and I together during band practice. Although the figures in the painting are not high schoolers in band practice, I like how I can make that connection possible. 

Overall, Chapter 27 reminded me of a puzzle. The styles were more wild, but they fit together. Each piece of work in this chapter connected with each other’s style. Whether it was a painting or a house, I can tell that the styles fit with each other.

Chapter 28 talked about lots of art movements. I had never heard of the term “Dada”, so this chapter was definitely interesting to read about. The artwork is this chapter seemed more puzzling; I had to think harder about the meanings in pieces. However, that’s one thing I like about art; it’s more satisfying to figure out the meaning yourself rather than knowing it with the title or description. 

There were a few artists whose names I’ve seen before, but didn’t know much about them. One of these artists was Grant Wood. I have seen his painting, “American Gothic”, many times in my city. One time I believe it was displayed at the art museum. I like how “American Gothic” represents Iowa. I feel connected with this piece because of that.

I believe the overall theme of Chapter 28 is that artists should create whatever they’d like; they don’t have to follow a certain art movement. When I was looking through the artwork, there are some that are the same but some are different. There’s a variety of styles and media. 

The video, “I Could Do That”, was very eye-catching. I’ve had friends and family look at works of art and say that they could easily create that. I liked how this video talked about looking into details and meaning rather than glancing at a piece. When the narrator was talking about “Tableau I”, I was fascinated to know that it was done with oil painting. Although it looks easy to recreate, I know I could never do it. Overall, the video was very informative on how each piece of art means something beyond the piece itself. 

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Week 9 - Cubism + Futurism/Dada, Surrealism, Social Realism, Regionalism

This week’s reading was about Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Social Realism, and Regionalism. We also watched a video about art pieces that look like they didn’t take much work to do. In this post, I will write about a painting from chapter twenty-seven, a painting from chapter twenty-eight, and my thoughts on the video that we watched.

Chapter twenty-seven covered the topics of Cubism and Futurism. This chapter contained one of my favorite pieces of art. According to the textbook, “Black Square” by Kazimir Malevich on page 492 of the textbook is an example of Suprematism. Suprematism was created by Kazimir Malevich. This painting seems very simple because it is only of a black square, but it actually holds a lot of meaning. According to the textbook, Malevich had said that the black square part of the painting represented pure feeling while the white part of the painting that surrounded the black square represented a void. During an art appreciation class that I took at NICC, I learned that this painting caused quite a bit of controversy. Part of the controversy was due to the painting being only a back square, while the other part had to do with how it was displayed. Malevich chose to display this piece in the corner of the room where a painting of a religious idol or another type of very important person would traditionally be displayed.

Chapter twenty-eight was about topics such as Dada, Surrealism, Social Realism, and Regionalism. This chapter also contained one of my favorite paintings. According to the textbook, Salvador Dali’s, “The Persistence of Memory”, is a surrealist painting. It fits into Surrealism because it combines items and scenery that can be real with items and scenery that cannot. It is more of a dreamlike image. The painting contains clocks, a tree, a body of water, a cliff, and other items that can be real. The clocks, though, are warped. The tree is growing out of an unnatural platform, which is impossible. The body of water and the cliff are unnaturally illuminated. I’ve always liked this painting because of how creepy it is. According to the textbook, there are many elements in the painting that represent the passage of time, like the clocks, a dead fish, and the fact that the tree is dead. It makes me think that the painting could have to do with how memories are kept over long periods of time, but the details of the memories often become skewed as time goes on.

The video we watched talked about how sometimes people will look at a piece of art and it will look very simple or messy, and they think they could have easily done that. This makes me think of Kazimir Malevich’s “Black Square” because it looks like it would be a very simple design. Someone who is not a painter, though, would have a difficult time trying to recreate his work since they would not have the expertise needed to create a perfectly placed square with perfectly straight lines. They also don’t realize that the artist had to come up with the idea in the first place to create the piece that looks very simple or messy. For example, if Kazimir Malevich didn’t create his “Black Square”, would anyone have had that same idea?

In conclusion, in this post, I wrote about a painting from chapter twenty-seven, a painting from chapter twenty-eight, and my thoughts on the video that we watched. This week’s reading was about Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Social Realism, and Regionalism. We also watched a video about art pieces that look like they didn’t take much work to do.

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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.

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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Week 8 - Post-Impressionism/Early 20th Century

This week’s reading was on post-impressionism and the early 20th century. These two chapters featured some very well-known artists. Post-impressionism brought us the works of Vincent van Gogh, while the early 20th century introduced us to Pablo Picasso.

Post-impressionism, as the term states, came after impressionism. According to the chapter in the textbook, artists at this time were inspired by impressionism and tend to use bright colors and brush strokes in their work. Post-impressionist artists created clear edges in their work, though, while impressionist artists did not. Vincent van Gogh is a very well-known artist from this time. I’ve always found his work to be interesting. From past art classes, I learned that he had a tendency to use a technique of laying the paint onto the canvas very thick, called impasto, which created actual texture to his work. In impasto, the paint was sometimes applied directly to the canvas and moved with the brush, rather than being applied to a palette and then moved from the palette to the canvas with a brush. The painting, “The Starry Night” on page 458 of the textbook is an example of the impasto technique. I’ve always been drawn to this painting, even when I was a child. The swirling in the sky creates movement, while the moon in the upper right corner and the cypress trees on the left create balance. The cypress trees seem very ominous to me because of their darkness and size while looking over the village as it sleeps.

The early 20th century, according to the textbook, brought on many quick changes in the art world. Art styles during this time came, went, and even merged into one another. An artist who painted in many different styles was the well-known artist, Pablo Picasso. One intriguing time during Picasso’s career was his blue period. Picasso’s blue period had a tendency to depict sad or low individuals and activities painted in a hue of blue. This, according to the textbook, was a time when Picasso was painting in the style of symbolism. In his painting, “The Old Guitarist”, a very thin man in torn clothing is playing a guitar. The blue color is symbolistic of sadness, which could be from hard times. According to the textbook, the fact that the guitarist is focused inward could mean that he is very concentrated on his music and that he could also be blind. I, personally, see the fact that the guitarist is focused inward, and also looking down, as meaning he is feeling down on his luck and things are not going well for him. Music is a method many people use to express their feelings, so the fact that he is playing the guitar could mean, in my opinion, that he is trying to express his low feelings.

In conclusion, post-impressionism brought us the works of Vincent van Gogh, while the early 20th century introduced us to Pablo Picasso. These are two very well-known artists from this week’s reading on post-impressionism and the early 20th century.

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I absolutely love the ocean, so I can relate to your tendency to lean toward art that comes from personal experiences. It's difficult to imagine someone being able to accurately produce an image of something as unique and as beautiful as the ocean without ever having the chance to observe it. The sunsets at the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States are some of the most beautiful and unforgettable sights I have ever seen, and I don’t think they could be recreated through art without seeing them.

Week 7, Ch 23 &24

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Week 7 - Realism/Impressionism

This week’s reading was about realism and impressionism. Realism tended to be more realistic, while impressionism tended to be more abstract. This blog post will touch on realism paintings and photography and also on impressionism.

The realism style of painting had a tendency to convey realistic situations, no matter how mundane. An example of this is Jean-Francois Millet’s “The Gleaners” on page 417 of the textbook. This painting is of three people performing laborious tasks on a farm. According to the textbook, the farm is shown in bright light to highlight its importance while the laborers are in a shaded area because they are considered to be lesser. This chapter also talked about photography, which is a form of art that I really enjoy. There has been an argument for as long as photography has existed whether it is art or not. In my opinion, it definitely is art. One of my favorite photographs from the textbook is Julia Margaret Cameron’s “Mrs. Herbert Duckworth” on page 424. I love how soft and delicate the subject of the photograph looks. I think it makes the subject look very feminine and beautiful. I also like that it is a side view of the subject’s face rather than straight on. This angle is different from those of other early photographs, like the one of Abraham Lincoln on the same page.

The impressionism style of painting differs from realism as it moves away from a perfect, realistic form and creates a more abstract image. One painting that stood out to me was Edouard Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” on page 434. In this painting, the bartender is the center of attention. She looks bored or displeased. Reflected in the mirror behind her is a room full of people enjoying themselves. According to the textbook, the bartender’s expression could be caused by the repetitiveness of the job of bartending, or it could be a reaction to the customer who is at the bar. I think the latter is an interesting thing to think about. In the mirror behind the bartender, we can see her back and it looks like she is engaging in conversation with the male customer. From the front, though, she is displeased. According to the book, it could be that the customer said something to displease her, and we are seeing her reaction. According to me, it could also be that everything reflected in the mirror is from an earlier time, maybe an hour ago or maybe six months ago, we don’t know. The bartender that is at the bar is remembering that moment in time. It could be that the man had said or done something to traumatize her. It could also be that the man was someone who was important to her, like a relative or even a lover, who is no longer there. That’s just something I’ve found myself thinking about since reading about and viewing that painting.

In conclusion, this blog post touched on realism paintings and photography, as we as impressionism. This week’s reading was about realism, which had a tendency to be more realistic, and impressionism, which had a tendency to be more abstract.

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I also enjoy Gianlorenzo Bernini’s sculpture of David. The action involved in it makes it very intense, and since we can’t see Goliath, that brings the action beyond the sculpture and makes it feel like Goliath could be anywhere.

I would have to disagree about the Rococo style lacking seriousness as the seriousness is often deeper within the work. The first glance makes it seem as though the content of the piece is lighthearted, but a closer look will reveal the seriousness. An example of this is Jean-Honore Fragonard’s The Swing on page 371 depicting a woman on a swing, but hidden in the bushes is Baron de Saint-Julien, and the woman is his mistress.

Week 5 Baroque/Rococo

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

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

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

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

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Week 5 - Baroque and Rococo

This week’s readings covered the Baroque style of art as well as the Rococo style of art. Both of these styles occurred around a similar time. This post will address the Baroque style of art and pieces that I found to be significant and the Rococo style of art and a piece that I really enjoyed from that period.

The Baroque style of art, according to chapter 19 of our textbook, is characterized by extreme contrasts between light and dark, strong emotions and actions, and the involvement of the viewer in the piece of art. While reading about the Baroque style, I found that I really enjoy the contrast between light and dark that was used and also the extremes that the content of the pieces are able to go to. An example of a piece that really caught my attention is Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes on page 349 of the textbook. This piece has a very dark background. The subjects in the painting are wearing bright colors and they are highlighted in a way that makes them look like they are on a stage acting out a play. I enjoy this piece because of the large contrast between dark and light and also because of the graphic imagery depicted in it. It seems to me like artists during this time had a lot more freedom than artists that came before them. I also enjoyed the works done by Diego Velazquez at this time. His works, Venus with a Mirror on page 364 and Las Meninas on page 365 stood out to me because of his use of mirrors in the paintings. It’s especially interesting to try and figure out if the image of the girl’s parents in the mirror in Las Meninas is the reflection of her actual parents standing in the room or if it is a reflection of what is being painted on the canvas.

The Rococo style of art, according to chapter 20 of our textbook, is characterized by works of art that are less serious at the first glance but has a more serious or even a dark meaning as you look deeper. One piece that really caught my eye is Jean-Honore Fragonard’s The Swing on page 371. From a distance, this piece looks like an innocent image of a woman in a pink dress enjoying some leisure time on a swing. Upon closer evaluation, there is a man in the shadows pushing the swing, another man hiding in the bushes, a cupid overlooking the scene, and two more cupids huddled beneath the swing with a dolphin. According to the textbook, the shoe that has slipped off of the woman’s foot and the man in the bush’s hat represent a more sexual scene. The hat represents a male’s body part whereas the shoe represents a female’s body part. This painting was commissioned by Baron de Saint-Julien, and the man in the bushes is him while the woman on the swing is his mistress.

Therefore, this post addressed the Baroque style of art and pieces that I found to be significant and the Rococo style of art and a piece that I really enjoyed from that period. This week’s readings covered the Baroque style of art as well as the Rococo style of art, which both occurred around a similar time.

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Chapter 16 also stood out to me more than chapter 15. Chapter 16 was about the high renaissance, which was the most notable part of the renaissance. It was when works such as the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Statue of David were created, which are very well-known pieces of art. I really enjoy the work from this period, especially the works by Giorgione at the end of the chapter of the Tempest, Sleeping Venus, and Fete Champetre. The way he painted the women in these pieces is so realistic and absolutely beautiful.

Chapters 15 & 16

This week’s readings discussed lots of things. I would like to talk about the points that stood out to me the most. In Chapter 15, it mentioned a few artists, such as Filippo Brunellschi, Masaccio, and Donatello. All of these artists’ work caught my eye because I have seen them before, but didn’t know who created them. Brunellschi worked on the Florence Cathedral Dome and the Santo Spirito. Masaccio made the popular “Holy Trinity”, and Donatello sculpted “David”. This chapter also talked about how state portraits became increasingly popular in Italy. It’s fascinating to see the difference between those portraits and the ones today.

Chapter 16 stood out to me more than the previous chapter. It discussed artists whose names I already knew. These included: Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Raphael. Looking at these artists’ works, especially Leonardo da Vinci’s, in the chapter reminded me back when I was in high school. In art class I would see a handful of the paintings, but didn’t know much about the artists. I also found it interesting how Raphael painted himself in his work called “School of Athens”. 

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Week 3 - Early/High Renaissance

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

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

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

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

[rhoadsj-blog]

I enjoy pieces that show contrast and comparison between two scenes, like that of Giotto’s Last Judgement. I really like to look closely at each individual part of each scene because it is interesting to see the little things that each character is doing, like the damned soul you mentioned that was trying to buy its way into heaven.

Your tattoo example is a good way to show how art, and people in general, can change over time. As we experience new things, good or bad, we can view the world differently and want to express ourselves in different ways and different styles.

Pre-Renaissance

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

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

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

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

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Week 2 - Pre-Renaissance

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

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

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

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

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

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

[rhoadsj-blog]

I also believe art is an excellent way for people to express themselves. The picture of the painting you included in your post is very beautiful! I hope you enjoy the class, and I wish you the best on your journey toward your nursing degree!

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. 

[rhoadsj-blog]

Week 1 - Introduction

The image that I chose to include is of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany. Since learning about the Gothic style of architecture during the last week of Art History I, I have found myself thinking about this style a lot.

I’ve been interested in art since high school when I took art classes in my junior and senior years. After that, I never really thought about learning more about art until this year at NICC. In the fall, I took Art Appreciation because I remembered from high school that I had enjoyed learning about art, and that class would count toward my degree. After taking that class, I consciously chose to take Art History I in the spring because I wanted to learn more. I really enjoyed taking that class, and I’m glad Art History II was available for the summer so I can learn even more.

Outside of art, my main interests are music, traveling, and exercise. I enjoy listening to music and attending concerts, and I am also learning to play the guitar. I enjoy traveling a lot. I’ve mostly visited the western United States, but I am currently planning a trip out east to Geneva, NY. I also enjoy going on walks and hikes for exercise and to take in the scenery. I am pursuing my Associate of Arts degree at NICC, and then I plan to get a bachelor’s degree in business.

There is nothing specific that I hope we cover in this course. I am open to and happy to be learning about all things art related.

Image Link:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/344103227748753360/