Online assignment- Week 6

Impressionism
A new style of art that focused on the beauty of the world, what the eye saw. In contrast to the past where the focus was on emotions or the divine. Landscapes and outdoors became the focus of impressionism. Artists painted quickly, under changing conditions outdoors.

Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism was a free interpretation of nature, to see things deeper that just the appearance. Post-Impressionism was heavily influenced by Japanese art, and is cropped on the edges.

European colonization and Industrialization caused large changes in art styles. The dawn of industrialization created the middle class. Art was no longer just for the wealthy. A change of attention turned to the middle class. Colonization also saw the extermination of native american art and culture

Homework: Assignment #4

Renaissance Art

At the end of the middle ages came the Renaissance, a period where a shift occurred as religious power was challenged by critical thinking. Lost knowledge was discovered and yearned, the classical ideals of the past begin to resurface. The focus in art changed from the flat and emotionless, to the return of one point perspective and sensuality.

Mars and Venus United by Love

Here we see an example of Renaissance art by Paolo Veronese. He was an Italian painter who lived in Venice. Venus and Cupid are both naked, representing the sensuality of the Renaissance. The painting serves as a allegory and celebrates love and nurturing. In the painting Cupid binds Mars to Venus with a love knot. Mar's horse, a symbol of war is being restrained in the background, while milk a symbol of nurturing, flows from Venus's breast.

Baroque Art

After the Renaissance period came the Baroque period. Artists in the Baroque period used the same techniques in the Renaissance period. Art moved from the divine and religious to being more dramatic and splendor with motion and color. Baroque art gives more of a feel of great energy and feeling.

 Wolf and Fox Hunt

This is an example of early Baroque art by Peter Paul Rubens. One of the first things an observer will notice is the sheer scale of this painting. It is a very large canvas measuring ninety six inches by one hundred forty eight inches. This painting appears to have lots of motion between the animals and hunters. The gesture of the hunters and is animals is much more dramatic. As well as the observer will notice there is no mention of the divine.

Online assignment- Week 5

1. Describe the portrait of the fur merchant. Why is he “the business man’s hero”?

It is a portrait of Nicolaes Ruts, a business man in the trade of fur. His right hand lends on a counter top while in his left hand he holds a piece of paper out, almost if he is making a deal with the observer. In the portrait he is wearing the fur, which is a stroke of genius. The fur captivates the eye of the observer, it appears that a hand has just passed though it. The eye of Nicolaes is very sharp and gives a vibe of a impatient intelligence, almost like the observer is being graced by his very presence. The pink eyelids along with the bags under his eyes combine to give Nicolaes the sense of loss of sleep.

I believe he is the business man's hero because he is an idle. He is what all business men wish they could be. Wearing the most luxurious clothes of the period, in this case fur, a successful trader, hardworking and honest.


2. What is the mood of the portrait of the 83 yr old woman?

The mood that Rembrant creates with this old woman is a mood of resignation. To me this portrait does not appear sad or sympathetic. It appears that this woman has come to terms with her age and has resigned to her fate. Her mouth creates not a smile or a frown, the eye staring at ground, creates this sense.

3. What is Rembrandt communicating in his painting of Sampson & Delilah?

Rembrant is creating a message of vulnerability. Tying the inseparable lovers together in their final moments. While also creating the sense of betrayal, the men in the background approaching the helpless couple with weapons drawn.

Online Assignment- Week 4

1. Why was the Medici family so important in the development of the Renaissance?
Cosimo Medici dug up old lost classical knowledge from the church and brought back these classical ideas. Cosimo Medici partnered with Filippo Brunelleschi to bring back classical architectural designs. Brunelleschi even took on the challenge of engineering the dome of the Florence Cathedral. For a time the Medici family was exiled from Florence along with their business, the Medici bank. The Medici bank helped fund Florence's business and soon all business grounded to a halt, thus the people of Florence demanded his return. Cosimo's return saw him great power and wealth. Thought this wealth he commissioned new types of art never seen by the medieval era.

2. Why was Donatello's David so revolutionary?
This sculpture was very sensual, and was frowned upon. Florence was associated with homosexuality, and was a crime. A freestanding naked sculpture was never created since the classical Roman time.

3. Describe this sculpture in detail.
Donatello's David is a freestanding bronze sculpture standing at 62 inches tall. He is standing on top of the head of Goliath. David is naked apart from boots and a hat. From the boots there is a feather from the right boot running up to David's thigh.

Homework Assignment #3: Color Theory

Online Assignment- Week 3

Asymmetrical Balance in art means the the left side of an artwork is not the same as the right side in terms of color and form. An artist can create asymmetrical balance in terms of form by balancing a heavy form with two smaller forms. In terms of color, warm color's such as red, orange and yellow are heavier than cooler colors such as blue, purple and violet.

Let us look at Thomas Cole's "The Oxbow"

Cole uses color to balance the painting. On the right half of the painting, in the distance we are drawn to the bright colors of the valley. On the left half we see the vivid green colors of the forest. We also see the bright reflection in the river on the bottom right contrasting to the dark sky opposite from it.

Unity is the appearance or condition where an artwork feels coherent. That there is some motif or symbol that reoccurs in the artwork. One way an Artist can create unity is by repetition, by using the same image over and over again. Another way of unifying an artwork is through color, using similar colors as a motif to express a feeling.

Scale is how one object relates to another in terms of its size, we are often used to objects scaled to ourselves, such as doors, cars, and stairs. Imagine an enormous doorway such as the Jordanian ancient city of Petra.

If you were standing in that 30ft tall doorway, how would you feel? Small, right? An artist can manipulate scale in order for the viewer to experience different emotions changing the meaning of an artwork.

HW #2

Looking at the artwork of a specific civilization can tell us alot about the culture and values of that civilization.
For example Egyptian art, contains Animism, they valued the natural world. Many of their gods were modeled after animals, such as the Egyptian god Horus, modeled after a Falcon. While Greek art, focused on prefect scale and proportion. They regarded mankind as the highest creation of nature.

Let us look at this example of Egyptian art.

This colossal sphinx stands 5 feet tall, 11 feet in length, and weights 14900 lb. This sheer scale of the sphinx projects a figure of power. This sculpture portrays the female pharaoh Hatshepsut with the body of a lion and a human head wearing a head cloth and royal beard. Here we can see some of the animism in Egyptian art, the powerful muscles of the lion as contrasted to the handsome, idealized face of the pharaoh.

Compare it to this example of Greek Art

This sculpture stand 5 feet tall and represents the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. Originally, her arms reached forward to shield her breasts and pubis in a gesture that both concealed and accentuated her sexuality. Here we see the prefect scale and proportion in Greek Art.