Activity #11: Write About It!! Period and Culture

In 1655, Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn created “Abraham’s Sacrifice,” an etching and drypoint on paper. All artworks come from a period and culture. The period of an artwork is defined by the time in history when the work was made. Culture refers to the behavior and belief characteristics of a particular social or ethnic group. “Abraham’s Sacrifice” was made in 1655 which places it in the Baroque Era (1600s-1700s) (Getlein, 421). Unlike the Renaissance period which stressed calm and reason, Baroque art contains vivid emotion, energy, and movement as well as vibrant colors that differ drastically between colors and value (421). As Rembrandt is Dutch, the piece to, comes from the Dutch culture.

In 1943, M.C. Escher created an interesting lithograph on paper known as “Reptiles.” The period of an artwork is defined by the time in history when the work was made while culture refers to the behavior and belief characteristics of a particular social or ethnic group. “Reptiles” falls into the Modern Period. The Modern Period is characterized by rapid change and ranges from early 19th century to the middle of the 20th century (1800-1945). Like Rembrandt’s “Abraham’s Sacrifice,” “Reptiles” comes from the Dutch culture. During the 20th century, Dutch painting was strongly influenced by expressionism, characterized by the distortion of visual appearances in order to express psychological or emotional states (583). As you can see in the work, the lizards seem break away form their captivity only to return to it which could reflect an emotion that Escher was feeling at the time of its creation.

Critical Thinking Essay

Jacob Lawrence
Cabinet Makers, 1946
American
Gouache with pencil under-drawing on paper.

Nam June PaikVideo Flag, (1985-1996)
American70 video monitors, 4 laser disc players, computer, timers, electrical devices, wood and metal housing on rubber wheels

If a meteorite were to come racing toward earth and just happen to threaten the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Renee and I would choose to save Jacob Lawrence’s “Cabinet Makers” and Nam June Paik’s “Video Flag.” First, I will discuss my reasoning for rescuing “Cabinet Makers” and then Renee will discuss her ideas towards the “Video Flag.”

There are many reasons why I would save this piece. First, it is simply appealing to the eye. The colors used are red, blue, and orange with black and white. The use of only 5 colors gives the piece unity and variety. The reason it is appeasing is because of the contrast in the complementary colors blue and orange, as well as the contrast between the black and white. Besides the colors though, the strongest reason for my choosing this piece doesn’t come from the piece itself; but from the history of the artist and his representation of America as viewers would want to see it. Lawrence came from the poverty of Harlem. Though his life was not advantaged, he managed to become one of the greatest artists from the Harlem Renaissance and in American history. His works portrayed his struggle and his subject matter came from his personal experiences, the black experience, and from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s and always contained narrative (Getlein, 174). His life exemplifies that America is the “land of opportunity” where anyone can become what they want to be and I think that that is important to American history and culture.

I chose Nam June Paik’s “Video Flag” to save. I chose this piece because of the visual and historical impact it would have on the future. This modern piece consists of the latest advances in technology and art. It utilizes laser disks, automatic switchers, thirteen-inch monitors, and other devices. It has 70 television monitors that make it important and individual. Each T.V. displays an integral part of American society. The screens display split-second news stills, rotating statues of Liberty, endless runs of the binary language of ones and zeros, and a face that morphs through every U.S. president (Hirshhorn). This piece is creative and explains the current state of American Society. The American flag is recognizable throughout the world. To use this image and to creatively add other aspects of American culture on the screens is unlike any previous artwork I have seen. I found its impact to be moving and informative. I believe if I saved this piece, many years down the road, people would recognize what America was. The Flag represents the pride and independence of American people, the new stills will represent the mass media’s influence on our nation, and the use of the flashing binary system will explain the historical creation of computers and digital technology, while the former presidents of the United States faces will represent the American government throughout history. It would be a shame to ever see this piece of work destroyed and that is why I would choose this piece to save above all others at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

In conclusion, we both chose to save pieces that reign from American culture. We both find that preserving art from American history would best benefit those who survived and lived to see these wonderful pieces of art.

Sources:
Getlein, Mark. Living with Art, 8th Edition. McGraw-Hill. 2008
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/record.asp?Artist=Paik&OnView=1&ViewMode=&Record=1

Activity #10: Write About It!! Mediums and Techniques

In 1943 M.C. Escher created a lithograph known as “Reptiles.” The medium in his work, lithograph on paper, is a planographic process which means that the printing surface is flat, not raised or depressed (Getlein, 200). Instead it relies on the principle that oil and water do not mix (200). To make a lithograph, artists draw the images on the stone usually with a lithographic crayon or a greasy ink then the stone is treated with an acid solution to fix the drawing to the stone then the non-greasy areas are dampened with water (200). Once that is completed, the stone is inked and the ink sticks to the greasy image areas and is repelled by the water-soaked background areas (200). By identifying the process by which a lithograph is created, the difficulty in creating the range of values, relative lightness or darkness (96), found in the work is apparent. For artists, lithography is the most direct and effortless of the print media (200). However, to achieve the shading effect with a grease pencil or other material, in the detail that is present in this lithograph must have been tedious. Nonetheless, the work represents both imagination and raw talent.

In 1655 Rembrandt van Rijn created a print on paper called “Abraham’s Sacrifice,” which is a work that utilizes etching and drypoint. Drypoint is a similar technique to engraving except that instead of cutting away the material from the plate drypoint uses a needle to scratch the plate creating a raised burr, or thin ridge of metal that holds the ink (196). Etching is done with acids, which “eat” lines and depressions into a metal plate where the ground, an acid resistant material made from beeswax, asphalt and other materials, has been etched away by a needle (197). The ink is not the most important aspect; rather, the image created by the etching and the drypoint techniques remains the most important. The etching technique seems to have created the contour lines, lines drawn to record boundaries (83) of the middle ground where the scene takes place. By making lower value areas of the work with etching, the acid solution would “eat” these areas into depressions that would create the light appearance. In the work, the drypoint technique seems to be used to create the hatching and crosshatching, closely spaced and parallel lines or a set of closely spaced parallel lines laid on top of one another (93), used to provide the illusion of shadow and implied light. The easiest element to use with drypoint and etching is obviously line which Rembrandt uses very effectively to create this historical scene from a religious background. Even so, Rembrandt illustrates masterful technique in the creation of “Abraham’s Sacrifice.”

Activity #9: Write About it!! Camera Essay

To those who study art professionally, the camera represents a turning point in art history. From arts beginnings until the early 19th century, artists were kept busy with portraits of wealthy aristocracy and middle class and painting important events for commemoration. The creation of the camera in 1839 (Getlein, 211) freed painting and sculptures from practical tasks such as recording appearances and events and allowed for the exploration of abstract and nonrepresentational art (219). With this invention, the appearance of visual art morphed into what we enjoy today.

Along with the industrial revolution of the 19th century, modernism in art was one of the movements that resulted from the use of the camera. Modernism is a deliberate philosophical and practical estrangement or divergence from the past in the arts and literature taking form in any of various innovative movements and styles (Dictionary.com). One of these styles that emerged from the modernism movement was impressionism. Impressionism is a style of painting characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects (Dictionary.com). In opposition to the normal painting of the time, impressionists’ portrayed daily life especially that of the middle class, along with painting landscapes outdoors (Getlein, 584). One of the first impressionists of the time was Claude Monet who was interested in the effects of color and light on objects. He created design harmonies of shape, color, and light that would revolutionize the art world and inspire future artists.

Late in the 19th century, after further exploration and a need to break away from impressionism, some artists began the post-impressionism movement with expressionism. Expressionism is a movement of the late 19th early 20th century which claimed the right to distort visual appearances in order to express psychological or emotional states (Getlein, 583). Vincent Van Gogh was an intricate member of the post-impressionism movement who focused on color as an expressive tool.

The camera is responsible for the exploration and conceptualization of the concepts of art that we see today. Because of the camera, artists were able to focus on the art form itself; rather, the effects of colors and light on an object and many of the other design elements we observe in modern art instead of simple portraits and events. No doubt the camera has changed the appearance of visual art in an immeasurable way.

Activity #8: Blog It!! Collage

For my collage I chose to go with the ransom letter theme using letters from everyday items found within a household that, if need, could actually serve to create a ransom letter. I designed the letter to read in a way that the letters created a sort of cell with bars that I would theoretically be trapped behind. I noticed that in one of the collage examples made the shape of a head and that's where I got the idea. As for design elements and principles; there is unity and variety, implied shapes and implied lines to name a few.

Activity #7: Write About It!! MIDTERM Exhibition

The 19th century brought forth many noteworthy paintings. Joseph Mallord William Turner’s 1827 work, “Mortlake Terrace,” Berthe Morisot’s 1869 work, “The Harbor at Lorient,” and Eugène Boudin’s two works “Coast of Brittany,” 1870, and “Entrance to the Harbor,” 1883, all beautifully portray ships in their oil on canvas. On the other hand, the two 1872 oil on canvas paintings by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Alfred Sisley, “The Forest of Coubron, Le Havre” and “Boulevard Héloïse, Argenteuil,” depict alternate modes of transportation. Though they differ simply by what they illustrate, the paintings all share a common purpose and theme: looking outward, simply observing and expressing the on goings of their time. To convey this theme the artists make use of similar design elements.

One design element that all of the artists use to portray their theme is line. Line is a path traced by a moving point (Getlein, 82). In the works by Turner, Morisot, and Boudin, strong horizontal lines are present. In contrast to these horizontal lines, the masts of ships and trees in the paintings present vertical lines that intersect the horizontal lines. The two pieces by Corot and Sisley, however, are dominated by vertical lines as can be seen in the presence of trees and houses that line the street in Sisley’s painting and the trees in Corot’s. Line is not the only element that all the artists make use of though.

Another element of design that is common to all the paintings is implied light. Implied light is a type of radiant energy present in the painting that gives a three dimensional aspect to figures in a work (90-91). In Turner’s work, we understand that the light is coming straight at us. We know this because of the shimmer reflected off the water and the shadows cast by the trees fall toward us. Like Turner, Corot’s “The Forest of Coubron” and Boudin’s “Entrance to the Harbor, Le Havre” depict implied light that comes at us from the horizon. The bright upper left corner of Corot’s work shows the light direction and the bright sphere on the horizon in Boudin’s piece confirms the implied light. Morisot’s “The Harbor at Lorient” and Sisley’s “Boulevard Héloïse, Argenteuil” both have implied light that comes from the right of the paintings. In Sisley’s work, the contrast in value on the sides of the buildings reflect shadows. Value is shades of light and dark or the relative lightness and darkness (92, 96). In Morisot’s work, contrast in value also portrays shadow as seen on the darkened face of the woman resting on the wall. In Boudin’s earlier work, “Coast of Brittany,” the implied light is much more difficult to recognize. The far coast in the painting is light while the coastline in the foreground is darkened. The overcast sky suggests that the light source is from above and the coastline in the foreground is under cloud cover, while the distance coast is exposed.

Finally, all the works present the element of space called linear perspective. Linear perspective is based in the systematic application of two observations; that form seem to diminish in size as they recede away from us, and parallel lines receding into the distance seem to converge, until they meet at a point on the horizon line where they disappear (108-109). Common to all the masterpieces is the diminishing pathways to some point in the distance. With this the artists are able to depict purpose, because it seems that the objects in the paintings have some destination to achieve.

Turner, Morisot, Boudin, Corot and Sisley all create similar, yet distinctly different pieces using many of the same elements. The underlying theme present in all is one concerned with the activities taking place not the objects themselves. Looking outward, the artists observed their surroundings and were able to capture and preserve the simplicity of life in the 19th century which made these works timeless.

Sources:
Getlein, Mark. Living With Art. 8th Edition. McGraw-Hill. 2008
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. http://www.nga.gov/

Activity #6: MIDTERM Exhibition

All the following artworks were taken from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.


Joseph Mallord William Turner
British, 1775 - 1851
Mortlake Terrace, 1827
oil on canvas

Berthe Morisot
French, 1841 - 1895
The Harbor at Lorient, 1869
oil on canvas

Eugène Boudin
French, 1824 - 1898
Coast of Brittany, 1870
oil on canvas

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot
French, 1796 - 1875
The Forest of Coubron, 1872
oil on canvas

Alfred Sisley
French, 1839 - 1899
Boulevard Héloïse, Argenteuil, 1872
oil on canvas

Eugène Boudin
French, 1824 - 1898
Entrance to the Harbor, Le Havre, 1883
oil on canvas