Hey everyone,
As great as Blogspot is I’ve decided to move back to Tumblr
So if you wish to keep following me my new URL is http://artworkadayatatime.tumblr.com/
Thank you again for your continued support,
Kristine
So along with checking out the first Harry Potter book from the library, I also checked out a couple of art history book. isms: Understanding Art by Stephen Little and Instant Art History: From Cave Art to Pop Art by Walter Robinson. Using these books as a bit of a refresher and light reading I came across a few paintings that I've enjoyed learning about. One of them being The Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau painted during the Rococo period.
The Pilgrimage to Cythera. 1717. Jean-Antoine Watteau.
The Rococo Era took place during the reign of Louis XV in France but spread to other countries, such as Austria and Germany. Paintings done in the Rococo period are often of a decorative style, not used for worship or sending messages. The subject matter is usually pleasing to the eye and gives a sense of grace. When Rococo art first appeared it was giving negative judgment. Neo-classical artist Jacques-Louis David came up with them name 'rococo' to be an insult towards the style. It was said to be "synonymous with feminised, corrupt, incompetent government and facile, erotic titillation" for the time. The word or art of 'rococo' is no longer viewed as negative.
Jean-Antoine Watteau was one of the best Rococo painters. He knew how to let go of the high seriousness in Baroque art and hold onto the eroticism and pleasure that Rococo allowed. He is well known for his techniques of divisionism, a processes in which pure colors are juxtaposed on the picture and blended by the eye rather than on the palette. This technique was picked up quickly by other artist and is still used today.
In The Pilgrimage to Cythera, a world that took Watteau five years to create, the upper class come to worship a statue of Venus, the goddess of love. It looks as though many of the people are heading away from the statue as if the ceremony of offerings is over. The people closest to the statue are in process of getting up and leaving. There are many cupids fly over the people to lead the way. The painting is an allegory of courtship and falling in love. Just in the way the paint is laid on the canvas gives a flowy, ghostly feeling. As if everything is very 'come as it may.' The people are free, in love, and happy to do as they please.
Photo and Information gathered from http://home.vs.moe.edu.sg/whitenoise/Images/Baroque/Rococo/cythera1717.jpg http://www.louvre.fr Little, Stephen. isms: Understanding Art. New York: Universe, 2004. Print. Robinson, Walter. Instant Art History: from Cave Art to Pop Art. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1995. Print.
For my sister, Karen. She recommended this artist, "the one that paints vaginas." I did not choose a "vagina" painting by O'Keeffe instead I went with one of her bone paintings, Pelvis with the Distance. Georgia O'Keeffe, an American artist, has a very distinct style of art. She tends to take objects such as flowers or bones and do very detailed, close up paintings of them. She often uses rich colors such as brilliant blues, reds, and oranges along with pure whites. She really knows how to make colors compliment and work together in her paintings.
Pelvis with the Distance. Georgia O'Keeffe. 1943. Oil on Canvas.
Around the 1930's she began to paint sun-bleached animal bones. She started off with cow skulls and then led into a series of pelvis paintings between 1943 and 1945. She focused on the contrast between convex and concave surfaces and open and solid spaces. O'Keeffe was able to take great advantage of shape and space that a pelvis bone creates.
Photo and Information gathered from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/geok/hd_geok.htm, http://www.kidsart.com/IS/438.html, http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/okee-geo.htm
My mother sent me an e-mail a few days ago about a valuable painting that had recently been found. It is by Giovanni Boldini a 19th century portrait artist. The painting had been locked away in a Paris apartment for 70 years. The apartment had belonged to Marthe de Florian a "muse" of Boldini's. It is believed that the painting is of Mme. de Florian and was given to her as a gift. The apartment was paid for by Marthe de Florian's granddaughter and was unlocked when she recently died at age 91. At first they could find no record that Boldini painted such a piece. It was never mentioned in any reference books dedicated to Boldini. Until the man who found the painting also found a love letter from Boldini to Marthe de Florian. "We had the link and I was sure at that moment that it was indeed a very fine Boldini" stated Olivier Choppin-Janvry. The painting sold for about $2.9 million dollars at an auction. It is wonderful to find "new" art in such a way. In 2008 a short piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was found locked in a unknown room in French Library (Read more here). These treasures are hidden around the world, waiting to surprise us.
Marthe de Florian. Giovanni Boldini.1898.
Boldini has a lot of other wonderful and whimsical paintings. One of my favorites is the Spanish Dancer at the Moulin Rouge. 1905. Oil on Canvas.
Photo and Information garthered from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8042281/Parisian-flat-containing-2.1-million-painting-lay-untouched-for-70-years.html, http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/94058?fp=1, http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//101006/photos_lf_afp/085d026a43d99e63cae6711e86a0086f/, http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/43821/, http://www.artsunlight.com/NN/N-B0006/N-B0006-071-spanish-dancer-at-the-moulin-rouge.jpg, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,424465,00.html
Sorry guys! I've been really busy with trying to get my Letter of Intent ready for UF. Its finally finished, posted, and sent. *Crossing fingers and Saying prayers* Anyway, recently Hieronymus Bosch has been on my mind. An artist with truly symbolic religious art. I love art that has a lot going on and Bosch definitely falls under that category. One of my favorite paintings by him is a triptych (a panel painting divided into 3 sections) titled The Garden of Earthly Delights.
The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. 1503-1504. Oil on wood.
This is a painting that has to be broken down and studied in small sections to get the most out of the work. Every inch shows another symbolic image. It is believed that Bosch painted himself into the work as the "tree man" in Hell.
When the triptych is closed Bosch painted an image of Earth showing Creation. Opened and the panel shows three religious beliefs. Overall, the left panel shows God's creation of man with Adam and Eve. The middle shows man creating sin in different ways (mostly in sexual desire) and the right panel shows man damned in Hell.
With art historians, over time there have been two beliefs that have been highly debated on what the middle panel represents. Whether or not it's a moral warning or a paradise lost. I believe it's a moral warning. The triptych obviously shows God's creation of Earth and man from beginning to end. Where ever this is displayed people are going to read it as directions. "Oh those people are sinning and now they're in hell. I don't want to be in hell, I'll take this as a warning."
The painting was completed in the early 1500's, a time when the Protestant Reformation was happening. Martin Luther will nail his 95 theses to the church doors within the next ten years. Religion is strong and debatable at this time. People are starting to wonder whether or not the right way is with Catholicism? Whether or not there is a better understanding somewhere else. People are looking deeper into their faiths, asking questions, and making choices. In that time, this middle panel would easily be taken as a "moral warning." Here is a Protestant artist (so believed) with the skill to relay a vivid message. Bosch succeeded.
Photos and Information gathered from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A944453, http://www.historycentral.com/WH1400-1900/Europe/Europe/LutherNailstoChurch.html, http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/religion-elizabethan-england.htm, http://www.computus.org/journal/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/the-garden-of-earthly-delights.jpg, http://pfreundlich.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/mr763the-garden-of-earthly-delights-hell-right-wing-of-triptych-c-1500-posters.jpg, http://canary-project.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/hieronymus_bosch_-_the_garden_of_earthly_delights_-_the_exterior_shutters.jpg
Another Baroque artist... I'm starting to think I put my foot in my mouth in the last post by saying I don't like Baroque art. Diego Velázquez, a Spanish painter well known for realism and portrait art. At 24 he became head artist in the court of King Philip IV. Even though Velázquez is most known for his painting Les Meninas, a snapshot of a moment in the palace of King Philip IV, I've decided to write about my favorite painting by him, The Surrender of Breda.
Diego Velázquez. 1934. Oil on Canvas.
In all honesty this is my favorite painting by Velázquez because of the name of the artwork. One of the worst reasons to like a painting, but I can't help loving the name "Breda."
The history behind The Surrender of Breda is that Ambrosio Spinola (man in black on the right) captured the city of Breda in 1625 from the Dutch republic, which was a great success for the Spanish arms. Velázquez was very good friends with Spinola and after his death in 1630 he wanted to paint The Surrender of Breda as a a tribute to the great general. There is a great respect shown towards the Dutch as they hand over the city of Breda. Velázquez over exaggerates the dignity Spinola gives to the Dutch army. It is said that Spinola “had forbidden his troops to jeer at, or otherwise abuse, the vanquished Dutch." But the fact that Spinola so peacefully conquered Breda the same way shown in the painting is unsure.
Photo and Information gathered from http://www.canvasreplicas.com/images/Surrender%20of%20Breda%20Diego%20Velazquez.jpg, http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/velazquez/, http://www.carolsutton.net/breda/velazquez.html
Since I've been studying Art History, I have never found myself to be a big fan of the Baroque era. But I fell in love with the artwork by Peter Paul Rubens. The Baroque era was all about movement, color, and sensuality, and the female body. Rubens loved to paint mythological subjects, something I always found fascinating. I remember learning about mythology in high school by one of my more favorite teachers. The subject captivated me for many years. One of the paintings I was introduced to while studying Rubens was The Three Graces. The 15th century painting is capturing the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology.
Rubens has a wonderful way of depicting these three women. He has them all standing in very sensual position. They're bodies curving from head to toe, showing a sense of movement. These are key focuses for the Baroque style. The death of his first wife, Helene Fourment, was his influnce for his Rubenesque style of painting. Rubens created a series of paintings with "plus-sized" women such as The Feast of Venus, The Judgment of Paris and of course The Three Graces.
At age 14, Peter Paul Rubens started his artistic apprenticeship with Thobias Verhaeght. Nine years later he traveled to Italy to start studying famous works in museums. He was greatly influenced by the work of Titian and the influence can easily be seen in his artwork.
Photos and Information gathered from http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rubens/rubens49.html, http://www.peterpaulrubens.org/
