Sunday, November 21, 2010

Roman and Christian Art

Arch of Constantine-
The Arch of Constantine is located next to the Colosseum. This was built to commemorate Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge. The arch is 21 meters high and 25.9 meters wide with three archways.  It is said that parts have been reused. These reused items visually transferred the old Roman virtues of strength, courage, and piety. Four Corinthian style pillars divide the layout of this arch.  There are many reliefs across this entire arch. Some represent victory and others represent hunting and sacrificing. One of the main parts of this arch is the frieze running around the monument under the round panel, which depicts scenes from the campaign of Constantine against Maxentius. 
 
Church of Santa Costanza- 
Central plan is the Roman building with vertical axes served as models for Christian tombs, martyrs’ churches, and baptizers.  It was a church built in Rome under Constantine I. It was a place of burial for his daughters Constantina and Helena.  This building is of a circular structure measuring 29 meters in diameter with twelve pairs of columns.  It is decorated in marble and mosaics. The mosaics represent both pagan and early Christian origin.



The Early Roman style reflected elements by the Etruscan and the Greeks. The development of proportional human figures became the new way of painting. A lot of Roman art was through their architecture while Christian art was through religious paintings. Many Christian painting included images of Jesus and narrative scenes of Christ's life. This religious hierarchy came about when the Western Roman Empire's political structure collapsed after the Fall of Rome. Like Roman Art, Christian art styles of representation was entirely drawn form wealthier Pagans. Before the edict of Milan, Christian art was restricted to the decoration of hidden places of worship.  Most of the early religious artist derived from Roman art but chose to reject the ideals of perfection in form and technique.




Thursday, November 4, 2010

Parthenon Project


The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena. She was the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill. She is the protector of civilized like artesian activities and agriculture. She brought to mankind grace and beauty, desire, art but toil, intellect but guile, and deceit. Pollitt states “ Athena was the embodiment of Athenian intellectual and cultural attainment.” (98) Once Athena became protector of Athens, temples were dedicated to he at Acropolis as well as Argus, Megara, Sparta and others. Her temples were places of refuge  as well as worship for her citizens and were considered major political centers.
The vividly painted frieze on the Parthenon has no figures alike. The relief itself is carved deeper on the top because it is viewed from a very steep angle.  The Procession of the frieze is generally thought to be a religious procession in honor of Athena. Pollitt ‘s states that the frieze is thought to represent the great procession, which formed part of the Panathenaea, the Athenian festival in honor of Athena (85). The West Frieze is the organization of the procession near the Dipylon Gate, the North and South friezes are the procession toward Acropolis and the East frieze is the final stages of the celebration of the gods. The Frieze begins on the west side of the temple. It runs eastward parallel on both north and south sides. The two sides merge together to a religious ceremony witnessed by a group of deities.
At the beginning of the West frieze, it begins with a group of horsemen mounting up on their horse.  It continues to the men riding their horses with control. Ahead of the riders are the chariots rode by the drivers and men in armor. There are then a group of older men and musicians. At the head of the procession there are the people who are of sacrificial rites such as the pitcher bearers, tray bearers, and care takers for the sacrificial victims.
On the East frieze is a sacred rite that is taking place in the center.  There is a man and his assistant folding a large cloth along with a woman who is receiving two folding chairs from assistants. Twelve seated deities, who were thought to be the twelve Olympian gods, surround them.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Athenian Vase Painting

The Psykter was used to cool wine. This red-figure vase depicts athletes training in a gym. The men are naked and the trainers are wearing mantles. this vase was attributed to Oltos who was the master of relief line.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Funerary Krater

  The funerary krater offers pictorial records of the funerary rituals in Greece.  It was created during the geometric period. One can see the geometric stylizations all over this krater. There are lots of patterns especially at the top and bottom.  They used a lot of stylization during this time period and it is not meant to look realistic. The reason why this funerary vessel was created was for the use of a grave marker. One of the important images on this vessel in particular the Greek practice of cremation. On this krater, there are men and women with there arms crossed representing anguish. The horses represent procession. 
   Funerary art reflected that the ancient Greeks had a strong belief that after death, people continued to engage in activities they participated in while they were alive.  This really stood out to me because I really liked all the geometric shapes as well as the colors.  I really enjoyed the light background with the red and black accents.

Henry Barnes- Favorite Painting




In this article, Anita Bailey describes her love for a painting by Henry Barnes.  She describes that the reason why she loves this painting so much is because it reminds her of he family background and where they came from. She also loves this area of the world and how this painting captures the scene especially the way the light is hitting the building. I can really tell that she is extremely passionate about this painting and it means a lot to her especially when it relates to her family.  This painting can be related to class in the sense of looking at the painting itself; there is a lot of texture through the use of brush stroke. 
http://nashvillearts.com/2010/06/28/my-favorite-painting-henry-barnes/

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Downtown Presbyterian Church





Site: The church is located on a corner of two streets downtown where the outside fits in to its surroundings. Walking into the church, the surroundings are totally different. I didn’t expect to see all the different colors on the walls. It is a totally different feel than the exterior.
Space:When you walk into the church, the building appears huge because of the pillars on the walls which draw your eyes up. They sky painted on the ceiling gives a feeling of openness. The building has a sense of heaviness from all the colors on the wall.
Light: the light in the church was dimmed creating a warm and soothing environment, which is good for a church. The stained glass windows brought in much of the light which was a soft natural light.
Decoration: the church was extremely decorated, mainly from the paintings on the walls. The paintings strongly represent ancient Egypt’s style. It makes you feel like you really are in a ancient Egyptian temple. 
Materials: the materials in the church were mainly wood from the benches and alter. The wood brought a sense of warmth into the church. The wall’s material was smooth and elegant.
Color: the walls were very colorful.  They stand out from the rest of the environment because of the distinct colors. I learned that the blue represents the Nile River and the yellow represents the sand. Color was also brought into the room with the colorful stained glass windows.
Rhythm:rhythm is created from the repeated pillars, windows and benches. It is also created from the repeated colors on the walls.
Distinctive Features: The things that I noticed and liked was the modernization creating a new version of Egypt in this church. I thought it was an interesting combination of elements with the walls and the wooden elements. I really liked the old chairs located on the balcony. They had this great texture and old time feel. The heart of the church was the alter. It had great detail mimicking the pillars on the walls. The focal point for me was the front pillars. They immediately grab your attention from the bright colors then pull your eyes up and around the room.




Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Link to Degas

This article is about recently finding Degas sculptures that are nearly a century old.  No one knows where they came from. There were 74 Degas plasters found in the found in a warehouse. I completely agree with the author when he states, “it was the equivalent of opening King Tut’s tomb in Egypt or uncovering the terracotta warriors in China.”  The artist’s close friend Paul-Albert Bartholomé is assumed to have made these plasters but they are not completely sure. Examination will tell the authentication of these sculptures.  It kind of relates back to we  don’t know who the artist are of some of the works in back in ancient times just like we think that these are Degas Sculptures but there is not 100 percent proof that it is.


Man and Woman


This image really stuck out to me because I really enjoy the geometric shapes that create these figures.  These were created around 4500 BCE.  They are in good condition for how old the figures are. Because the artist used cylinders to create the body, it really adds a lot of volume to the sculpture. It has a lot of depth and form.
There is a level of sophistication in the tools they use to carve these figures.  They positions that these figures are in are sitting which could maybe show what they were sitting on during that time. There is also a sort of thoughtfulness or weariness look on their faces which could represent the mood of the artist.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Collage!



When thinking about a collage that represents me, I thought of a tree representing my life.  The roots symbolize my foundation. It represents my family and friends and things that ground me. The branches represent my experiences and everything else that makes up who I am. They symbolize the places I have traveled and the hobbies that I enjoy.

Decisions:  I chose to use a tree in the center to represent my life. Every picture that I chose has some sort of meaning behind it. None of them are there to just take up space. I tried to pick elements that represent all of who I am.
Color: The main color I tried to use is green because it is one of my favorite colors.
Light:  The tree is very saturated and opaque because I wanted that to be the first thing you saw. Then the colors of the images in the front are dark and as you move up the colors are lighter. I tried to create a horizon line with the lighter images against the darker ones.
Texture: There is implied texture in the big tree’s leaves and branches. The images themselves also create a smooth texture.  There is a bumpy texture created with the images layered on top of each other.
Volume: The anchor has volume because of the shading.
Line: There is a horizontal axis created by the implied horizon lines. There are also vertical lines from the images lined next to each other. The horizontal line draws your eye to the middle then down to the images of people, which then directs you back up to the top of the collage.
Space:  The tree creates the foreground as well as some of the major images in the front. The light images and the images behind the tree create the background.  There is depth in the one picture of the street.
Scale: The tree is large to symbolize my life. The next largest picture is of my parents representing they are the most important people in my life.  My grandparents and brother are the next largest showing their importance and then my friends come next.
Symbolism: The tree symbolizing my life. The anchor symbolizes the sorority that I am in. The Memphis skyline and bridge represent the place I was born and grew up.
The life sign represents one of my favorite quotes, “Live the life you love, love the life you live.”
You: There are pictures of my art that I have created. The bike represents my passion for bike riding. The tree also represents the love I have for being outdoors. There are picture of the beach which my family and I go every year. There are pictures of New Orleans and Jamaica, where I attended mission trips because I have a passion for helping others.
Friends and Family: I included images of my parents, my brother, and my grandparents. They are grouped together to the left of the collage.  In the right corner I have my friends.  I carefully selected people that I felt were the closet and meant the most to me.
Your Town, community, school:  The Memphis bridge and skyline represent my hometown.  The images of my friends from college remind me of being in Nashville and the experiences I have had in school.
Your Country:  I tried selecting images of art that was created in America
The World Today: I looked at this as my world today, which basically means to me all the images put together equals my world
Art: Art means to me as sometimes an escape from reality and a way to express you in a creative way.  I think art fits into the world today as a way to tell how and what happened in the past.
History: Without history, I would not know my background of where I came from.  History broadens my view of the why things are the way they are.  With learning history, it allows us to correct history’s mistakes and prevent them from happening again.  Art relates to history in the sense that it explains what happened in the past using images instead of words.  In my collage the way I showed history was through the famous artwork that I selected. There is a photo by Dorothea Lange, which was during the great depression. Another photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt shows the celebration after the war. There are images by Kandinsky, Sonia Delaunay, Andy Warhol, and Van Gogh.  I also put images of local artist. There is Danielle Duer from Nashville and Frank D. Robinson Jr. from Memphis.  All these pictures represent different styles and time of art from the past.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Every Picture Tells a Story


Every Picture Tells a Story is a about the family who love to collect and display art. Beverly Keel and Ronnie Steine have collected many pieces of art that has filled house.  Because the family had collected and displayed so much art that their house started to appear as an art museum. They have art hanging in every room and hallways. The article shares the family’s passion for art. They both very much enjoy folk art even supporting local Nashville artist.  The article also shares many of the other artists whose work they have collected overtime. There gatherings of art can not be called just a collection. I agree with Steine when he states, “clearly, ‘collection’ may not be the right word because it implies a cohesion or theme that doesn’t exist. It’s all very eclectic and a tad odd.” He describes their compilation of art perfectly.  Relating this back to the class, from looking in the pictures that were with the article, bold colors were active in a lot of their painting. The family really enjoyed folk art.   This article can be related to the Van Gogh’s painting of Starry Night in the sense that he painted because he loved to do it.  Keel and Steine both collect art because they love to do so. They both also like collecting art because different pieces of art bring out different emotions. This can be related to the Parthenon in that looking at different pictures of the same building can bring out different emotions.

Starry Night


This painting can be viewed in two different ways. One way the viewers may see this is as a nice night with the town underneath the sky. The other way is the tree represents some sort of flame and the mountains in the background can represent a tidal wave that is going to come over the town.  The two different views offer a positive and a negative view of the painting. Starry Night has lots of texture because of the thick application of paint. It also has lots of movement as seen through the curved lines especially in the sky.  Van Gogh also took time in choosing the blue, green and yellow colors when he decided to paint this picture.  The colors he uses are very saturated but overall the colors have a dull affect.
The way that Van Gogh paints, using thick layers of paint, shows that he really did not have any form of academic training compared to others artist during his time period.  Although he had no academic training, he had a level of expertise.  This style of painting shows us a beginning to a new age.  Looking at the lines and marks in the painting, they appear to be vibrating and agitated.  From this, we can think that the painter may have had an agitated mental state. Van Gogh was agitated state because he was so poor that he could barely afford to buy food. Another thing to look at is why he painted Starry Night. He painted this for himself and no one commissioned him to do so.  During this time period art started to become a calling and that was what it was for Van Gogh. 

Thursday, August 26, 2010

My Favorite Painting


My favorite painting is Scharfruhiges Rosa by Kandinsky. The colors in this piece really caught my eye. I really just enjoy the feel of this painting and the mood it brings. It reminds me of just being outside and what nature has to offer.  I discovered it by asking my roommate what her favorite artist was. From there I researched Kandinsky and fell in love with this piece in particular. Unfortunately, I have not seen this painting in person nor have I ever seen any of Kandinsky’s work in person. This painting is special to me because one of my favorite things to do is be outside.  To connect this back to the Horowitz reading, there are many essential elements.  The colors are warm with accents of cool colors. There is a basic beige undertone throughout this painting with many layers of paint on top. The top layers are more transparent allowing the colors underneath to show through. Kandinsky achieves texture through the different ways he layers the paint. The painting appears flat but way the colors work together creates a visual texture. There are many shapes in this piece. There are geometric shapes with curved and straight edges. There are also fuzzy as well as sharp edges. Shapes are also being created by the negative space. There are lines going in many different directions. He uses diagonal lines to draw your eye around the painting and to create a more balanced piece. There are curved and straight lines. The composition is asymmetrical. The objects are scattered and there is no real order to the objects. It is balanced and many of the objects are repeated throughout.   The focal point is the center of the red triangle in the middle that then points you to the bottom then the diagonal line draws your eye back up and throughout the painting.  If you want to look at more of his work check out this website: http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/