ELAC Genre Paintings Journal Entry Paper

Please choose a related topic to the chapters covered recently, ch.3 and 4, 5, and write your entry here. I have highlighted selected topics.  These are only suggestions, refer to the announcement on Journal entries for full detailed instructions. Below I am attaching the pictures that are highlighted from the chapters and other important information. 3.2 Chapter 3 review: the Themes of Art–Realism, Surrealism, Impressionism, Pop Artaesthetic                                              Surrealism                                 kapagenre painting                                     Impressionism                          heiauvanitas                                                 Pop Art                                     tapuA work of art can be a representation of nature, everyday life, the spiritual, the mind, the beautiful.  It can also make things and create space.Objectives:There are varied themes in art, from genre to fantasyHuman beings desire to find pleasure in the representation of everything from the mundane scenes of everyday life, to images that attempt to capture the spiritual and the sublimeNote: this image is not in your text book but you can read on Pop Art in your text, page 518.For those of you who would like to explore this painting in more details, here is an enjoyable link to watch: Other artists choose to represent different themes in visual form.Representing the Mind:  Realism and RealityClaude Monet’s The Regatta at Argenteuil (fig. 41) is a classic example of the Impressionist style.  This art movement is considered as both the psychological and physical states of interpretation of reality.  Impressionist artists were concerned with capturing their personal interpretations of a scene and with illusions created by color.This personal interpretation leads to the concept of subjectivity in perception and the understanding of reality.The Reality of ImitationThe analysis of realism includes the human desire to understand the world we live in.  Look at Thomas Cole’s The Course of the Empire (figs. 42-46) and think about how the artist is representing the power of nature and the human condition and processes to overcome, tame and understand the nature’s tensions, forces, conflicts, harmonies, balances and fleeting characteristics.Representing NatureThe desire to represent nature may derive from the tension between the natural world’s transience and the relative permanence of the work of art.  For example Durer’s The Great Piece of Turf (fig. 49)documents the fertile density of a summer pasture in a manner that is more scientifically objective than subjective.  We are not only able to identify the types of floras here, the daisy, dandelion, pantain, cock’s foot, speedwell, but also the time and place in which the artist painted it.  In a way this seemingly mundane patch of weeds and grass is a document recording specific species.Representing Everyday LifeIf life is fleeting, daily experiences in life are even more so.  A form of painting called genre painting focuses on capturing moments, especially the pleasant ones.  Renoir’s The Luncheon of the Boating Party (fig. 55) depicts an afternoon gathering on a restaurant terrace. Journal Entry:  Think about how you would document such moments in life with photographs, you may well talk about your instagram feeds or other social media.  But make sure you take an informed stance while you look for value in the images you select and analyze one or two of your images after you have read the next chapters on line, and space.Representing the SpiritualSpiritual understanding is a realm of comprehension that is unique to each individual. Using visual imagery to educate and recruit parishioners has been a historical practice as seen in the works of Matthias Grunewald, Crucifixion from the Isenheim Altarpiece (fig. 67) and Jan van Eyck, God, panel from the Ghent Altarpiece (fig. 50). The use of Christian iconography represented in these examples can show us how art can function as a tool to reinforce belief systems.  Historical images of God, or the Christ sustain a Christian’s spiritual belief system.  In non-Western cultures, such as those in Hawaii, the spiritual is often represented by abstract human figures emphasizing important elements such as the sit of Mana (spiritual substance).Representing the Beautiful: Beauty Is SubjectivePablo Picasso’s Gertrude Stein (fig. 52) is the artist’s personal interpretation of his patron G. Stein.  We as a viewer may or may not consider his interpretation ‘beautiful’.  Seated Bather by the Sea, (fig. 62) is another subjective representation of a woman by Picasso, one that represents how deeply Picasso was affected by imagery he had seen of ancient Iberian sculptural reliefs.  You see this again in Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, where the artist is inspired by such imagery (fig. 66).  Do you think one is more aesthetically pleasing? This may very well be that our culturally determined notions of beauty are shaped by looking at fashion blogs, feeds, ads and etc.The Vanitas Tradition of PaintingVanitas is a Latin word used since the Renaissance to describe the transitory nature of life.  A reference to the theme may be found as far back as Biblical times: “Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.  What do people gain form all the toil at which they toil under the sun?  A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remain s forever.” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2-4, New Revised Standard Version). The  term characterizes the appreciation of life’s pleasures and accomplishments joined with the awareness of their inevitable loss. The theme has long been the inspiration for some of Western civilization’s most significant works of art, such as Philippe de Champaigne’s Still Life of Vanitas (fig. 63).This 17th. century Dutch still life, with its iconographic inventory of flowers, skull, and timepiece is exemplary of the tradition of vanitas painting with reference to the passing of time and the fleeting nature of beauty.  Seemingly morbid at first, vanitas paintings play an important role in human spirituality and understanding.  Later on in the Baroque time, and even in the 19th. century, this representation of time take some new directions as artists look into greco-roman mythology and classicism to portray the passage of time.Well, there’s Nicholas Poussin’s “A Dance to the Music of Time.” The theme “Truth Revealed by Time” was also popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo did one. (And Bernini did a sculpture.) You might also consider the fact that Monet did series of paintings depicting the same subject at different times of the day. And there’s Giorgio di Chirico’s “Enigma of the Hour,” on which there is a Wiki site.(The examples above are not in your text but you can definitely search them online and use them to write your first journal entry.)Nicolas Poussin, A Dance to the Music of Time3.3 Chapter 4 review –Seeing the Value in Art: Public Art, Activist Art, FauvismCHAPTER OVERVIEWArt and Its ReceptionArt, Politics, and Public SpaceThree Public SculpturesThe “Other” Public Art           CHAPTER OBJECTIVESwhat is value relative to the study of art by identifying the monetary, cultural, and historical valuation of artworksthe reception of artworks, art movements, and art exhibitions that challenged tradition and subsequently broadened the definition of artcontemporary visual artworks with multiple functions and motives, such as activist, political, public, and performanceoutline the objectives and roles of public agencies involved in supporting the creation of artKEY TERMSPutti                                         public art                                        Fauvism: the Fauves (wild beasts)arringhiera                               activist art                                      monumentArmory Show                         four roles of the artist: reporter, analyst, activist, experiencer1. Defining the Value of Art In the previous chapters you learned that art can have many complex meanings and functions.  This chapter looks at the ways art is of value aesthetically, monetarily, historically, and specifically, as cultural representation.   The chapter reveals that as artists challenged existing constructs of art, they created works that were not always received favorably by the public.  When we discuss these “radical” works,  we should always identify their cultural influence, and vice versa. What cultural constructs influenced their creation?  In addition, we consider influences, such as scientific discoveries, social morals, or heritage on other art forms, such as music and literature.   2.  Art and CensorshipSometimes the public’s perception of art is so strong that it results in controversy.  Read the related section in your text (p. 57) and look at the work of Chris Ofili, (fig. 69):For those of you interested to read more on this piece, here is a link from BBC: In a bold political move, Napoleon III created a Salon des Refuses, an exhibition of rejected works with an underlying premise of letting the public decide the merits of the works.  Reception by the public and Manet’s peers of Luncheon on the Grass was mixed, as dramatized in the writing by Emile Zola on page 58 of this chapter.   Do you think Manet and Ofili share the same attitude toward challenging the traditions?  How about those of Napoleon’s and Cardinal O’Connor?The Armory ShowLook closely at the photographic experiments undertaken by Eadward Muybridge and Marey (Man Walking in Black Suit with White Stripe Down Sides, fig.76). Leland Stanford, then-Governor of California, hired Muybridge to photograph his famous horse, Occident, to settle a bet about whether or not a horse’s legs are ever all off the ground at the same time.   Muybridge’s Horse in Motion series, (fig. 74) revealed that indeed the horse has all four legs off the ground while galloping.  Muybridge’s subsequent photographic inventions influenced the conceptual and compositional ideas of artists. A physiologist, Marey was investigating external motion and movement using non-photographic recording devices, but quickly moved into making chrono-photographs after seeing Muybridge’s accomplishments.   Marey’s man in black velvet became the inspiration for Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase. Now think about how contemporary media enable artists to represent time and manipulate our understanding of time.  This can be done by digital manipulation, Photoshop, and even social media. 7.  MonumentsDesigning a Memorial:  The Creative Process of Maya LinIn 1979, Congress granted a Vietnam War veterans’ committee the right to build a memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. dedicated to American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.  The committee announced the design competition, and solicited proposals that were evaluated by a panel of esteemed architects, sculptors, and landscape architects.  More than 1,400 design proposals were submitted.  When the winner was announced, no one was more surprised than the student architect herself, Maya Lin, a 20-year-old Yale undergraduate.  The selection panel was moved by the simplicity, honesty, and power of Lin’s design: a V-shaped, sunken wall of black stone, with the names of those killed in action engraved in chronological order (fig. 77). To search out a loved one, a mourner walks along the monument and finds the name among the 57,661 listed. Lin describes the Memorial thus: “I went to see the site.  I had a general idea that I wanted to describe a journey…a journey that would make you experience death and where you’d have to be an observer, where you could never really fully be with the dead.  It wasn’t going to be something that was going to say, ‘It’s all right, it’s all over,’ because it’s not.”  8.  The Controversy of Maya Lin’s Vietnam MemorialMaya Lin’s memorial was shrouded in controversy from the moment her winning design was announced. Opponents felt Lin’s defiance of all traditional memorial sculpture; her design lacked the realism of most war memorials.  A small group within the Vietnam Veterans’ community felt Lin’s statement was an affront.  One commented, “One needs no artistic education to see this memorial design for what it is: a black scar, in a hole, hidden as if out of shame.”  The protesters wanted to change the color of the wall to white and to add an eight-foot-high sculpture of wounded soldiers and a flag in a central position at the wall.  While Lin and the committee counted the American Legion among their supporters, the protesters secured the attention of then-radio broadcaster Patrick Buchanan and Congressman Henry Hyde.  Hyde persuaded  Secretary of the Interior James Watt to issue an ultimatum: “Lin’s wall must be redesigned to include the suggested changes, or it will never be built.”   The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which has final say over the design, found a compromise: “the wall will remain black, but it will include the statue and flag—not at the center, but off to the side.”Lin continues to work successfully as a sculptor and designer in the United States, creating other powerful public monuments, such as the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama (www.splcenter.orgLinks to an external site.) and the Storm King Center in New York (www.stormking.orgLinks to an external site.)On site, Tilted Arc was a curving wall of raw steel, 120 feet long and 12 feet high, which carved the space of the Federal Plaza in half.  Those working in surrounding buildings had to circumvent its enormous bulk as they walked through the plaza.  According to Serra, the sculpture as obstacle was integral to the conceptual component of the work: “The viewer becomes aware of himself and of his movement through the plaza.  As he moves, the sculpture changes.  Contraction and expansion of the sculpture resulted from the viewer’s movement.  Step-by-step the perception not only of the sculpture but of the entire environment changes.”Tilted Arc was disliked by employees working in the building as soon as it was erected, and Judge Edward Re began a letter-writing campaign to have the $175,000 work removed.  Four years later, William Diamond, regional administrator for the GSA, decided to hold a public hearing to determine whether Tilted Arc should be relocated.  The estimated cost of dismantling the work was $35,000, with an additional $50,000 estimated to have it erected in another location.  Richard Serra testified that the sculpture was site-specific, and that to remove it from its site would be the equivalent of destroying it.  He declared that if the sculpture were relocated, he would remove his name from it.  At a public hearing held in 1985, 122 people testified in favor of retaining the sculpture, and 58 testified in favor of removing it.  The art establishment—artists, museum curators, and art critics—testified that Tilted Arc was a great work of art.  Those against the sculpture, for the most part people who work at Federal Plaza, said that the sculpture interfered with public use of the plaza.  They also accused it of attracting graffiti, rats, and terrorists who might use it as a blasting wall for bombs.  The jury of five voted 4 to 1 in favor of removing the sculpture.  Serra’s appeal of the ruling failed.  On March 15, 1989, during the night, federal workers cut Tilted Arc into three pieces, removed it from Federal Plaza, and carted it off to a scrap-metal yard. How do you feel about the removal of Serra’s work from various standpoints: the artist, the employees working in the building, the selection committee that chose the design, and the director of the Arts-in-Architecture program?Serra’s undulating steel work continues to appear in museums, and some are actually close to home here in Los Angeles. The PBS series Art 21: Art in the 21st Century Vol. 1 (available on DVD) profiles the work of Richard Serra in an interviewed segment.More rebels! 10. Michelangelo’s DavidIn 1501, 25-year-old Michelangelo Buonarotti began working on his colossal masterpiece, the 17-foot-tall, marble, David (fig. 54).   From a huge block of marble that had been abandoned decades earlier by another sculptor, Michelangelo took on the challenge of living up to Donatello and other artists who had sculpted the same heroic figure.  Michelangelo believed that David, portrayed in the Bible as a young shepherd who slew the giant Goliath and went on to become a valiant and just Hebrew king, was a fit symbol of courage and civic duty to guard the city of Florence.  David was erected in 1504 in the public plaza of Florence, the Piazza della Signoria, where the genitals and pubic hair on the statue caused immediate consternation.  Read pages 66-7. However, keep in mind that he actually was supposed to be on Florence’s cathedral (the Duomo), way up high where he would have seemed much smaller.This of course explains the emphasize Michelangelo placed on the size of his hands, feet and buttocks.David’s “private parts” continued to cause controversy when the work was reproduced and displayed at other locations years later.  For example, in 1939, a copy of Michelangelo’s masterpiece was installed at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA, with one addition: a fig leaf was added to cover the genitals and pubic hair of the statue.  The leaf was finally removed thirty years later in 1969, and the statue remained a true replica of Michelangelo’s until an earthquake toppled it in 1987.  In 2000, when a small town in Japan received a replica of David,  he was ordered to have pants on. On the Internet, you can purchase a fig leaf at no extra cost when ordering a marble reproduction of the statue.  The image is also available in popular reproductions on T-shirts, refrigerator magnets, and in advertising, and pretty soon, I am sure as an Emoji!However, debates about the appropriateness of displaying reproductions or photographs of the David in public places as schools and churches continue today.   Would you be offended if a replica of David was present in one of your classrooms on campus?11. Activists and Performance ArtA collaborative group of activist and performance artists who address women’s issues is the Guerilla Girls.  Their effective tactics of impromptu appearances in guerilla masks at museum openings and theater performances to protest the inequities of race and gender make an impression on unsuspecting viewers.  Their mass-produced stickers utilize humor and sarcasm to reach a wide audience as does their Internet site.  Google the Guerilla Girls on the web and see what you find.  You will be amazed!3.4 Chapter 5 review– Line: Romanticism, Cubism, Classicism/NeoclassicimCHAPTER OVERVIEW Outline and Contour LineQualities of LineImplied LineExpressive LineLine Orientation                       CHAPTER OBJECTIVESLine as a visual elementactual lines vs.  implied lines and the usage of each various types of line, such as contour or hatchedline quality in art works and how they can affect the dynamic or static nature of a compositionthe expressive possibilities of the line and how an artist can utilize line to portray their idea or evoke a feelingcultural associations of specific line usageline                                   nature morte                        composition                        auto-graphic lineline of sight                      outline                                 analytic line                        kinetic            contour line                      classical line                       expressive line                    romantic lineimplied line                      Cubism                                romanticism                       classicism/neoclassicismBefore staring the discussion, I am asking you to watch this short video to become familiar with the qualities of Line:1.  Introducing the Elements of ArtTo start, we look at Paul Cézanne’s The Basket of Apples (fig. 89). Here we see how the artist consciously employ design strategies learned in his professional training to create effective compositions.  That is the implication of perspective, scale, and elements of space to create this composition.  Also we need to keep in mind how artists and art movements have radically altered traditional methods of manipulating elements of art.  This was one of our main topics of the Discussion last week and you all remember Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass.  For example, the work of Cézanne, Picasso, and Braque revolutionized shape in Cubism.  Cubists dissected objects into two-dimensional shapes, which resulted in the representation of multiple points of view of an object on a single surface.  Cubists liberated the traditional static method of depicting form to an active, more dimensional method.  In a similar manner, by using color arbitrarily, Matisse and the Fauves liberated color from its traditional role of objective description to that of expressive stimulus.  Lastly, we discuss the intuitive or subconscious use of the elements and principles employed by untrained, or folk, artists.2.  Lines in LifeNow, I want you to reflect on your own daily life and look around yourself, where do you see lines in your everyday life.   Do you see the variation in line quality by comparing the horizon line, a waiting line at a store, a city skyline, a road, and so on?  Think about these while you are reading the next sections.3.  Lines Are StyleEach artist uses a certain line that are indicative of their style.  An artist’s line is unique, like a signature.  Everyone has a ‘signature’, some use alphabet letters, which are linear and some draw cursive lines, but we all haveour personal signature which may have the potential of describing our personality.Look at Pat Steir’s Drawing Lesson Part 1, Line # 1 and Line # 5 (figs. 98 & 100), and see how line can possess specific intellectual, emotional, and/or expressive qualities.  Here, you see how the artist employed the mark making “autographs” of Rembrandt in the Three Crosses (fig. 99) and of Van Gogh, the Starry Night, (fig. 101) in these works.  Each mark making is emotionally charged and evokes Steir’s feelings conveyed by the presence of her bush work’s on the canvas.  What would be the line quality you choose, if I were to ask you to create you own “drawing lesson” based on the artwork of another artist represented in the chapter?   How would the line quality express the autograph of your chosen artist?4.  Actual and Implied LinesFocus on the work of Keith Haring (fig. 94) and that of Jaune Quic-to-See Smith.Here Haring is outlining the figures in the same manner as Juan Quick-to-See Smith’s House (fig. 92). See how they both contour, outline, and use implied types of lines to establish form and shape.  Compare these two images with Alexander Calder’s actual motion in such kinetic works as Untitled (fig. 95). What is the significance of motion in kinetic works of art is the movement of this type of sculpture as if the lines suggest the movements of a dancer moving through space.  Remember that a line is defined as the “path left by a moving point through space.”  Read pages 76-78.5.  Line of SightMany artists activate their compositions by directing the viewer’s attention to various focal points.  We do the same in our daily life when we point our finger at something and say “look at that” to show how attention is drawn to a particular area using an invisible line of sight from the end of our finger to the “that” in question.Same principles are incorporated in Titian’s Assumption and Consecration of the Virgin (fig. 96-7).  Here he is bringing together three horizontal registers and draws our attention to the upper register, the God, by pointing interlocking, symmetrical triangles.   Same activation of composition is happening in Leonardo DaVinci’s, The Last Supper, where the perspective lines draw attention to the focal point, the image of the Christ, hence creating a spatial arrangement.  We will look at this image again in the next chapter.6.  Qualities of Line: Analytical and Expressive LinesThere are distinctions between analytical and expressive line qualities.    Compare the works of Vincent van Gogh (figs. 102-104) and Sol LeWitt (fig. 105).  What seems to be the major difference in these two works are the qualities that we can attribute to the lines.  van Gogh’s lines lack clearness, order.   They are emotionally charged, some are narrow, some are wide, some are curved some are long. They are bundled to take us to a new direction in order to represent that longing for the infinite, that moment of life being conceived under the sun on this irregular field.  Whereas LeWitt’s lines are precise, logically organized. They have a beginning and an end, they are controlled, calculated, mathematical and geometrical.  You feel and sense the warm presence of the artist in the Sower.  This is not the case with The Wall Drawing.Below are two additional images by the same artists to look at and think about the expressive and analytical qualities of line.7.  Neoclassic and Romantic Line ComparisonHow about cultural conventions and line?  How do different cultures advocate certain qualities of line?   Compare The Death of Socrates (figs. 108 & 109) by Jacques-Louis David to that of The Death of Sardanapalus (figs. 110 & 111) by Eugéne Delacroix.Here you see how classical line are closely related to classical line.  Look up the meaning of classic line in this chapter.  These two artists demonstrate two different utilization of line quality.  Neoclassic artists, such as David, focused on linear qualities since they felt the controlled precision lines exemplified intellect, reason, and logic.  On the other hand, Romantic artists, such as Delacroix, were more interested in the emotional quality of line, and used expressive painterly strokes to emphasize the hierarchy of emotion over reason.  Delacroix’s drawing is highly expressive in line quality: curved, fluid, and imprecise. His composition is emotional, almost violent.  Why do you think that is the case?  Is it because the process of creating preliminary studies is similar to the excitement of executing a new discovery or trying out a new idea?Same principles can be applied to another work by David, The Death of Marat.  Both these works are calm and in exactly the spirits of Socrates and Marat.8.  Contemporary LinesContemporary artists use both expressive and analytical lines in their works.  Pay close attention on how Matthew Ritchie’s seemingly unorganized scribbles in No Sign of the World (fig. 112) refer to structures of knowledge and our understanding of the world. If you have any questions make sure to access canvas .