Blog 8 Non-Western #2
Mother and Son. 1965
This piece is so confusing but I was attracted to this painter’s works when I was looking through our lesson. This work almost look cartoonish and that drew my attention to it, remember I’m not a professional art critic. 🙂 This piece here was done by Wilfredo Lam who was a Cuban artist. Lam spent a good time in Europe and went back to Cuba only to return back to Europe. He came from a mix of cultural backgrounds. His mother was born to a Congolese former slave and a Cuban Mulatto father, his father was a Chinese immigrant. Lam practiced his African decent tradition along with his Catholic religion. His African decent was an influence in his works, and the reason why he doesn’t really fit into a specific art movement. A lot of his work is connected to his cultural background in some way.
While Lam was in Europe he got to meet Picasso and he became a huge influence in his works. He introduced him to more artists in the art world. Lam sought to show humanity as a whole and thought that the world focused on the individual too much. This is why he incorporated masks on the human subjects he painted. Lam lost his first wife and infant son to tuberculosis in the 30’s after that his work became more dark. When I saw the above painting that’s the first thing that I thought of after reading the title. With this piece of work it looks like it would be pretty easy to recreated then I got thinking about how I would do the lightning of the mother’s face and her hands. His artwork in my opinion was very bold and different.
Wilfredo Lam
References:
Blog 7 Non Western 1
Dish with Gardenia
I’ve always held an interest in pottery since I was first introduced to pottery in a Junior High School art class. I spent so many hours trying to get my vase I was making just perfect. Though I could not remember the entire process on how to go about making another one, that is one memory that I will always cherish and to this day you can find my lopsided vase at my dad’s house holding pens, coins or whatever else that made my little vase a home. So when I came upon this piece of art it reminded me of something that I did a long time ago. I know it is not pottery but it is pretty similar.
Of course I had to find a piece that really don’t have much information on it. This piece was created during the Ming dynasty (1366-1644), the later half of the 16th century. Today you can find it in Gallery 204 in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts in Manhattan.
At first glance it looks like the designs on this piece was painted on to a yellow background, however that is not the case. The yellow enamel was done on an already painted and glazed piece. This procedure of adding yellow enamel was started around 1426 to 1435 in the Xuande period. It is assumed that dishes made in this era were for general use and replacements were made frequently do to broken dishes.
I love how the two colors look together and the different shades of blue that were used to make up the flowers and the leaves. You know a lot of time were put into these dishes because they didn’t have a big factory going like they do now. I love how the lighter shade of the blues bring out the flowers and makes it “pop”.
I can’t wait for the day I get to own something so authentic and original, for now the cheap set I got will have to do. One day when I’m done chasing after two young boys I will invest in some nice China.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/19.28.10
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/60009999
Blog 6
Street Art and Murals- Freedom from the Canvas
I really don’t know why I like Street Art so much, maybe it’s because of the freedom that comes from it. There are no lines, no confinements, no category or no one to please. I was always interested in Street art ever since I was a kid. Growing up in rural Alaska it just wasn’t something I ever saw growing up. In 1997 on a field trip to the east coast along with my classmates we were in for a cultural shock. New York was an interesting place for a sheltered young adult, filled with art from all different angles. The one that impressed me the most was the Street art, the graffiti font on the sides of the buildings mixed with the pictures that didn’t have a subject matter screamed one thing to me-free! Two of the street artists that I will showcase in my blog made a great impact in the Street Art world (or my world). Jean-Michel Basquat a African-American from New York and Judith Baca a Mexican American, both successful, artistic artists.
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an African-American artist specializing in Street Art. Born in Brooklyn, New York on December 22, 1960 Basquiat was around when modern art was just kicking off. Basquiat was a gifted artist who showed artistic talent at a very young age. He was born into dual cultures as his mother Matilda Andrades, was of Puerto Rican decent and his father Gerard was of Haitian decent. He experienced a lot at a young age he was only eight years old when he was hit by a car and had to undergo surgery to remove his spleen, that same year his parents divorced. After the divorce him and his siblings were living with their dad. His mother was later committed to a mental institution. Things didn’t get any better for Basquait when he was 15 he ran away from home only to be returned by the cops. Later on in the 10th grade he dropped out of Highschool and was kicked out of his dad’s home. He lived with a friend and made his money by selling t-shirts and postcards. Sadly Basquiat’s career ending on August 12, 1988 when he died of a heroin overdose. Basquait was discovered from his street art and later turned to studio art. Though I couldn’t find a whole lot of information on his pieces I decided to show them anyways.
Ariel view of The World Wall: A Vision of the Future without Fear
Baca also created this traveling mural that consists of 8 different panels. Her vision for this piece was to explore the material and spiritual transformation of an international society seeking peace. For more details on this piece go to http://www.judybaca.com/now/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=154&Itemid=95
El Salvador Mural Project. 2010
Baca and her SPARC team were asked to assist in the mural’s production by the Mayor of Concepcion de Ataco and the Campos Art Group and the Embassy of the United States in El Salvador. They were to spread the word of global warming and how to take care of the enviornment.
Danza de La Tierra
Mural in the Dallas Latino Cultural Center lobby. Painted by Judith Baca. 2008
Baca painted this piece with the vision of movement in mind. It hangs in the Dallas Latino Cultural Center which celebrates Latino culture and arts.
Miguel Contreras Mural. 2011
This piece here is a dedication to a labor leader Miguel Contreras it also represents the issues that face the people living in this area. It hangs in the cafeteria of the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex.
Seeing Through Other’s Eyes. 2010
Tiny Ripples of Hope 2010
These last two murals are in the RFK Learning Center. The Seeing Through Other’s Eyes painting is showing what Robert F. Kennedy deamed important, Environment, Intolerance, Poverty, Education, Health, and War. These are represented in the petal leaves and the ones seeing this are all the different people in the painting. Again for more info on Baca’s work check it out at http://www.judybaca.com/now/
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat
http://poulwebb.blogspot.com/2011/02/jean-michel-basquiat.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/feb/12/life-art-jean-michel-basquiat
Blog #5 Early Modern
Walker Evans was an American Photographer who captured a wide range of photo’s from people alongside the road to advertisements. He specialized in vernacular shots, his pictures were mainly of every day life capturing common things as a subject was his passion. Evans captured moments in time when the U.S. was just becoming modernized, he also captured striking moments of The Great Depression.
“Tenant Farmer Child”
Laura Minnie Lee Tingle taken by Walker Evans
Evans was born in 1903 in St. Louis, Missouri to Walker and Jessie Evans, his father was an advertising director. In 1922 he graduated from Phillips academy in Massachusetts, he later went to Williams College for a year before dropping out. In 1926 he returned to the U.S. after spending a year in Paris, he came back to join his friends who were in the edgy literary art crowd. Between the years of 1927 and 1929 he was a clerk for a stockbroker firm on Wall Street. Evans didn’t pick up photography until 1929 when he was living in New York.
He was employed by the Farms Security Administration. The FSA was created by the government in an effort to stabilize the country and to put unemployed artists back to work. In the summer of 1936 he was sent to Hale County Alabama with writer James Agee by Forbes magazine (he took a leave from the FSA to do this). The piece they did was on three farming families during The Great Depression. Although what they documented did not get published until 1941 in a book called Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.
The photos Evans took of the farming families became icons of The Great Depression Era. The families included Bud Fields, Floyd Burroughs and Frank Tingle and their families. In 2005 Fortune Magazine ran a 75th anniversary special and went to visit the descendants of the three families. One member, Charles Burroughs who was four years old when his family was documented was still angry because his family did not receive a published book.
I really enjoyed these photo’s that Evans took, the black and white contrast of his prints are what make them stand out. The one above with the little girl sitting on her chair barefoot with her pajama’s is so moving. He really captures her innocence on camera in a time when there was so much struggle and uncertainty. Below the picture of Allie you can see the wrinkles on her face so clearly he really took some amazing pictures in a time when camera film was expensive and they didn’t have the option to hit the delete button, they only had so many retakes. These photographers of this era were truly great artist and for that I am thankful for the modern technology that we have today.
“Alabama Tenant Farmer’s Wife”
Picture of Allie Mae Bouroughs taken by Walker Evans
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_Evans
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/evan/hd_evan.htm
Blog 4 love it or hate it?
I love the impressionist art! I really love how the color’s blended together and how they used the color and light in the paintings. What I really love about it is the fact that they have no lines, they are not confined. The Impressionistic painters of this era were very creative in my opinion. There are so many paintings that I just loved looking at during this era that it was hard to come up with just one that I liked. The one that I particularly enjoyed is a painting by Claude Monet a French Impressionist artist. Now Monet had many different paintings that were more famous and well-known then the one I picked out. The reason I picked this particular painting is because irises will forever remind me of two special people who were in my life, my grandparents. 🙂 The piece below is called Lilac Irises 2 by Claude Monet 1914-1917. This painting was most likely painted when he was living in Giverny but I can’t find a solid information on where exactly he painted this piece.
The impressionistic art first made its appearance in the art world on April 15 1874 at 35 Boulevard des Capucines, Paris; In a photographer’s studio 35 artists displayed 165 works of art in their month-long art show. There Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise was showcased and a critic exclaimed that it looked like an “impression”. He was not complimenting Monet’s painting he said it in more of a sarcastic tone. The name stuck and by the third exhibition the artists were knows as the Impressionists. Impressionist art differed from the main stream art of its day. Impressionist paintings were characterized by their loose brush strokes, the way they captured movements, and dabs of color that ran together are just a few examples of what makes up an impressionist painting.
The Impressionistic style is very different compared to the Baroque era style of paintings. In the Baroque era the artist concentrated on the details. In my previous posts I did a piece on Georges de La Tour’s painting St. Joseph the carpenter. He was a very detailed artist, in his paintings he paid special attention to minor details. See how he illuminates the child’s hand by the candle light and how he paid special attention to what the candle illuminated?
Although I prefer the impressionistic style painting I really can’t limit myself to just that style, doing so will cause me to miss out on some amazing art in different styles. I just really enjoying looking at the impressionist art, for me impressionistic art is more of a challenge to view than a painting like La Tour’s piece above. His work is clear-cut, straight to the point, but with impressionist art you got to use your imagination a little more, but what do I know I’m just an amateur critic 🙂
References:
http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/110002463
http://www.drloriv.com/lectures/impressionism.htm
http://arthistory.about.com/od/first_eight_exhibitions/a/first_Impressionism_exhibition.htm
http://artchive.com/74nadar.htm
http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/claude-monet/lilac-irises-1917
Blog #3 Classical
Voltaire was a great French play writer in the Classical Era, Voltaire had flair and voiced his opinion on certain things, he was even exiled! He reminds me a rebel and I, just like anybody else is attracted to rebels. Now who wouldn’t want to read some of his work just to see why he was kicked out of his own country. Voltaire wrote many plays, letters, novels and even some scientific writings. He was known to criticize the government, religious dogma and French institutions. He basically put the government on edge in a day when they were censoring just about anything that opposed their ways. He was around in a time when the theatre became more accessible to the middle class. French Politic’s played a part in the rise of the middle classes access to the arts, Voltaire’s wittiness attracted people of all sorts. The middle class people enjoyed Voltaires work because he was outspoken and was very sarcastic towards the government. The more the government banned his work the more popular with the people he became. People in the Classical Era had more money than previous generations, thus giving them access to things that can only be attained by the aristocrats. Voltaire flourished in this era.
Francois-Marie Arouet known to us as Voltaire was born in Paris on February 20th 1694 to Francois and Marie Marguerite d’Aumart. Though there are some speculations about his birthday day Voltaire claimed this day as his. His father Francois was a lawyer and they were of a noble family in the province of Poitou. His father wanted his son to take after him and be a lawyer but that obviously didn’t turn out the way he wanted to. Here you can tell just what kind of man Voltaire was, first rebelling against his own father then later on in life criticizing the government, now that’s a man who’s name will live on.
One of Voltaire’s famous plays was called Zaire. Now Zaire was a Christian slave that was kidnapped as a baby and grew up in the palace of Osman, Sultan of Turkey. There were many Christian slaves and one in particular was a boy Nerestan. Nerestan was older when he was first kidnapped so it was no surprise when he took on the Christian religion. Zaire was just a baby so she grew up in the Muslim faith. To make a long story short, Zaire fell in love with the Sultan and planned to marry him. In an amazing twist of events she later found out that Nerestan was her brother and another older Christian slave was her father. Her family didn’t want to lose her in the Muslim religion so they planned a baptismal, but decided to keep it a secret from her soon to be husband. Well her fiancé found out that something secret was going on and he thought that she was sneaking off to be with Nerestan he intercepted the meeting killing her on the spot and capturing Nerestan. When he was told the truth on what he was really going on the Sultan than killed himself with the same dagger he used on Zaire. This play sounds really tragic and I love watching drama filled shows so I’m sure I would highly enjoy this play. The fact that she was marrying a Muslim and being a Christian herself surely stirred some upheaval with the Christians of Voltaire’s day.
(excerpt taken from the Online Library of Liberty)
References:
http://www.theatrehistory.com/french/voltaire002.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za%C3%AFre_(play)
Blog #2 Baroque
This piece is called St. Joseph the carpenter it was painted by Georges de La Tour in the 1640s. De La Tour was a French painter during the Baroque Era, most of his paintings were religious pieces. He was known for his Chiaroscuro style of painting. He was born on March 13, 1593 in Vic-sur-sille France to a baker Jean de La Tour and his wife Sybille de La Tour. His educational background is a bit foggy and some say he may have trained under Jacques Bellange.
What drew me to this painting is the way he painted the candle light. I love the way it lights up the little boys face. He went into lot of detail when he painted this. If you zoom in you can also see the dirt underneath his fingertips! 
Now that is just amazing. I love that he captured such a moment that you just don’t visualize when your read the bible. In this piece you see Joseph the carpenter working and his step-son Jesus helping him. Joseph is from the line of David and also married to Mary the mother of Jesus. Joseph taught the trade of carpentry to his step son Jesus. La Tour captured a moment on what he thought the teachings looked like. This is interesting to me because I’ve read the whole bible and never once visualized Joseph teaching Jesus the carpentry trade.
La Tour was in contact with royalty, in 1639 the King paid him 1000 france for an unknown service, from then on he was knows as “Sir George de La Tour, painter of his majesty”. Six years later in 1645 the king appointed a new governor of Lorraine, Henri de La Ferte-Senneterre. This governor enjoyed the arts and he became a patron to La Tour. He bought many paintings from this small town painter.
La Tour died in 1652 and after his death a lot of his work was forgotten. Then in 1915 a German scholar by the name of Herman Voss rediscovered La Tour’s work. Today this painting hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris, France.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_de_La_Tour
Blog #1 Renaissance
I found this piece of work extremely interesting because of the sole fact that it is carved out of wood. Though it looked frightening at first I came to appreciate this piece of art because of the complexity and details that are found in the work.
The artist Donatello also known as Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi was an Italian sculptor. Born around 1386 to a wool merchant in Florence, he spent his early years in a goldsmith shop. He later worked with Lorenzo Ghiberti who was also his mentor. Donatello was also lifelong friends with the Medici family who provided him with an allowance for the rest of his life when he retired.
Donatello created the “Mary Magdalen” statue between 1454 and 1455. The statue is six-foot two inches tall and was sculpted out of white poplar wood. Donatello was a great sculptor, he was the most sought after artist in Italy. He was well know for his life-like sculptures.
Mary Magdalen is a woman in the bible who is known to us as a prostitute that sought forgiveness from Jesus. She received that forgiveness and became one of Jesus’ followers. Here in the statue Donatello show’s her standing with her hands put together like one in prayer. He carved her with hallowed eyes and some say it’s because he captured a look from when she was fasting. The bible tells us that she went without food living in a cave, fasting to cleanse herself from sins. 
REFERENCES:
http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/donatello.htm
http://www.artble.com/artists/donatello
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/florence/duomomuseo/magdalene.html
Hello world!
Hi! this is my very first blog, I’m looking forward to what I will learn in this class. I’m not really into the Arts so this should be interesting. Looking forward to a great semester and excited to learn how to blog and appreciate the Arts 🙂
staceyart2012 
