Assignment #5 Between World Wars

1. Dada Artwork 

Tableau Rastadada 
Francis Picablia

Dada is an art form that looked into the nonsensical and tried to mock the activities of the bourgeois. Dada occured after World War I with the idea that many artists saw war as an atrocity and gave negative reactions towards the folly of war. Satire and humor were the main ideas that artist's saw in the world around, disturbance in the aspects of society. In Francis Picablia's "Tableau Rastadada", you can understand the way he saw society and how he wanted to make art that looked funny and abnormal. Francis looks to poke fun at the lifestyle of the rich that is shown such as the shoewear and how the man is given those features. Along the leg on the left, you can see the word Christmas, this could be seen as mocking of the what happens during the holiday such as the buying of presents to give to one another. Celebrating a holiday such as this during wartime can be seen as disturbing because of the horrific events that are occuring. You can also see a pipe which appears to be connected to the nose of the man, trying to make the man look silly in nature.

2. What were the influences of Jacob Lawrence

And the migrants kept coming
Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence was influenced by a variety of ideas that can be seen throughout his artwork. Some influences include racial opression, humanism aspects, and the work of some other artists. Jacob used the traditions of humanism and social struggles of African Americans in his art to show the other side. Racial oppression was heavy in his artwork that showed the inequality between different races. With the humanism aspects, Jacob saw that the people in his art we all balanced and were each their own person with different lives. People with individual minds and capabilities that helped build upon the society. Artists such as Goya and Orosco who helped Jacob with his migration series and bring his concepts to that world. In his painting And the migrants kept coming, Jacob incorporated these elements into what he believed people saw at that time.

Assignment #4 Late 18th and 19th Century Art- Romanticism- Post Impressionism

Impressionism 

Impressionism had artists leave their homes or workplaces and discovering that they could draw art from the environment around them. Artists were able to go outside their homes and find beautiful, scenic locations that the artist would then use their skills to create such images. Artists used various weather conditions to help display the scenic location in their own eyes that would help others see the artist's perspective. Claude Monet's Coquelicots, La promenade helps display how some of the art was done and how they used different elements to put more emphasis on the environment around them. In this work of art, you can see that not much detail was put into the people in the scene but more on the landscape that surrounds them. There is a divide between the two zones of grass, one with poppies and on the left with bluish green that seems to resemble morning dew. The trees along the outside level of the grass help divide the greenery and the skies of blue. The image also creates this diagonal shift coming the people on the bottom right that stretches through the poppies and into the other family.

Coquelicots, La promenade, 1873
Claude Monet

Post-Impressionism 

Post-impressionism was the aftermath of what impressionism brought to the aspects of painting. Artists of the post-impressionist period worked off and or built off the ideas that period before had used and incorporated elements that they saw were missing in the artwork before them. These artists wanted to look beyond what their in nature and see the spiritual and inner aspect of what they thought was there. Vincent Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Crows brings about a different way of interpreting the surrounding landscape. Movement can be seen when the wheat fields have been rustled after the departure of the crows for their nightly feast. You can see this symmetrical view of the left and right side that join together at the green and brown trail. The dark tone of the night sky is balanced by the bright, golden color of the wheat fields.Along the wheat fields, you sense this feeling of loneliness that is shrouded by the emptiness of the landscape.

Wheat Field with Crow , 1890
Vincent Van Gogh

Assignment #3 Renaissance & Baroque

Renaissance Art 

 

The Crucifixion, 1495
Gerard David

     The title of this artwork is called The Crucifixion and it was created by Gerard David in the year 1495. Gerard Davis is an early Netherlandish painter using the inspiration of the crucifixion of Jesus to establish a story about that particular moment. As you can see from the image above, Jesus Christ has been crucified while the surrounding mourn and watch as he suffers in pain. On the left, the person in red has this intense expression while looking at Jesus, this expression helps express the pain and anger that the person conveys. The women seem to be praying for forgiveness for what Jesus has done, displaying a message of sorrow and regret. The person on the far left and the woman in green are both looking in the direction of Jesus which when you view the image, helps your eyes maneuver toward the center. The man on the right seems to be blessing Jesus because after the torture of crucifixion, the body will be laid to rest. The sky has this dark tone with clouds that are forming because of sorrow and discomfort being felt by those in the painting. 

     This artwork is a good example of its style because it reflects that of the art of the Renaissance. Symmetry can be seen in this painting as the two halfs are in balance, one side seeking pain and sorrow, but the other side seeking forgiveness. The balance is within Jesus as he is put upon the middle, being a part of both sides. Although the painting seems to want to put emphasis on Jesus, there is humanism amongst the people around. The people are given expressions that help bring importance to the image. Individualism helps to bring potential to the expressions that are shown. 

Baroque Art

Samson Captured by the Philistines, 1619
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri

     The title of the artwork is called Samson Captured by the Philistines created by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, also known as Geurcino, in the year 1619. Guercino was an Italian painter during the period of Baroque. Such painting was constructed during the early years of the Baroque period but shows off many distinct elements of that time. The painting depicts Samson, a judge who is given supernatural abilities by god contained in the locks of his hair. Delilah, seen as the woman on the bottom left, has just betrayed Samson by cutting of his hair causing him to lose his powers.The men in the photo, the Philistines, are restraining and overpowering Samson after the loss of his powers. You can see from the art that there is implied movement throughout, as if you had paused an action scene in a movie. The restraining of Samson is captured in this one moment that shows muscle movement and determination in the eyes of the men trying to subdue Samson. The scene packs realism and a dramatic scene that works of the Baroque period seems to display. The lighting of Samson followed by the dark background bring this overall balance within the picture.