Abstract This paper compares engraver Albrecht Durer's 16th-century visual representation of Adam and Eve as an example of of gender roles in the Bible with the text of the creation story as told in Genesis.
From the Paper "Through its dual account of the creation of Eve, the Bible reflects the conflicting nature of society's perception of woman. On one hand, she is man's equal partner, his wife and the mother of his children. On the other, she is secondary to him, inferior in both mind and body. In addition to its occurrence in Biblical literature, evidence of this dual nature of womanhood can be found in our culture's visual history. By studying various artists? renditions of scenes from Genesis, it is apparent that there are two perceptions of Eve that correspond to the double nature of women: equal and non-equal. D"rer's Adam and Eve is rife with these examples of dichotomy. In his engraving, D"rer depicts the couple in the Garden of Eden the moment before Eve accepts the apple from the serpent. Whereas certain aspects of the composition point out the physical similarities between Adam and Eve, there are also hints at an implicit hierarchy between the genders. This mixture of equality and inequality underlines the conflict in Genesis: while the likeness between Adam and Eve is reminiscent of the first, simultaneous creation story, their differences reflect the gender asymmetry that characterizes the second creation myth."
Abstract This is a 6 page paper that analyzes the painting La Berceuse by Vincent Van Gogh using 5 sources in MLA format.
From the Paper " Vincent Van Gogh was the son of a Dutch Protestant pastor and was born in 1853 at Zundert. He worked as an art dealer, a teacher in England and a missionary among the coal miners before taking up art in about 1880. His early works were chiefly drawings of peasants. After limited training in Hague and Antwerp where he studied the works of Rubens and Japanese prints, he moved to Paris in 1886. Here he briefly adopted the style of impressionism and then of pointillism. In Arles , 1888 he painted his best-known works ? orchards, sunflowers and the local postman and his family ? but only one painting was sold during his lifetime. The visit of his friend Gauguin ended in a quarrel during which Van Gogh cut off part of his own left ear. In 1889 he entered a mental asylum at Saint-Remy. The ominous Wheatfield with Crows was painted shortly before his suicide in Auvers. "
Abstract In this paper the author looks at the painting, "Composition with Red Yellow and Blue" c. 1922 by Piet Mondrian and attempts to bring a sense of purpose to the painting and instill the reader with a sense of appreciation for the message that Mondrian imparts through his art. He concludes by examining the September 11th attacks in relation to Mondrain's art and contends that Mondrain would have regarded it as surreal.
From the paper:
"Mondrian believed that artistic expression should be found in the abstraction of form and color and that his use of vertical and horizontal lines would express the perfect harmony between these two extremes".
Tags: artists, painters, Piet, Mondrian, Composition, Red, Yellow, Blue, Amsterdam, Theosophical, Neoplatonic, Panthelistic, Paris, De, Stijl, Le, Neo, Plasticisme
Abstract This paper looks at the effect that the printing press had in the spread of art and culture through the eyes of Walter Benjamin in Samuel Weber's essay, "Art, Aura and the Work of Walter Benjamin." Whereas Benjamin felt that mass reproduction was bad for the art world, he argues that the invention of the printing press allowed books to be read all over the world thereby changing the uniqueness of each painting. This paper also takes a look at the Mona Lisa, and explains that the ability to reproduce it is a positive thing, that, even though it's "aura," is no longer unique, many more people are now able to experience art.
From the Paper "With the invention of the printing press, however, books could be manufactured quickly and cheaply, and were available to great number of people. Two people living hundreds of miles apart could read the same book and find the same words, the same illustrations on the same page. However, the printing press also took something away from books - the originality and artistry that the monks had poured into each unique volume. Walter Benjamin would say that the aura of the monks' volumes was withering away, while the aura of the mass reproduced books was flourishing."
The following paper looks at Michelangelo's contributions to art and architecture and shows how he has exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art.
Abstract This paper examines Michelangelo's contributions as a sculptor and painter as well as his work as an architect -- which remains well known -- and as a poet, which is much less well known today.
From the Paper "Unlike many artists who are not recognized until the very end of their careers -- or perhaps decades or centuries after their deaths -- Michelangelo was considered by his contemporaries to be the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and his reputation has been maintained ever since. There has never been a time when he was not held to be one of the greatest artists of all times and a number of his works in painting, sculpture, and architecture rank among the most famous in existence (Paoletti, 1997, p. 38). "
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts the ideas of the 1950s of three separate architects by looking at their different views of modernism. The architects are Robert Venturi, Peter Eisenman, and Rem Koolhaas. Modernist, Post-Modernist, and Pre-Modernist concepts are examined, and the works and ideas of the architects are described in depth.
From the Paper "In the 1950's many architects were struggling for expression of Modern Architecture. Robert Venturi, Peter Eisenman, and Rem Koolhaas are three architects who each had different views in regards to Modern Architecture. Robert Venturi had a post-modern approach and believed in complexity and contradiction to create a new architecture. Peter Eisenman had a modern approach and used axonometric drawings and models to better represent architecture. Rem Koolhaas had a modern, pre-modern, and post-modern approach and looked at the problem of large. These three architects expressed their relationship to Modern Architecture differently."
Abstract This paper is an in-depth look at the history of art in the Italian and Northern Renaissances, and Italian Baroque. The author discusses how art reflected the social and cultural changes, and compares the styles of the three periods.
From the Paper "A glance back into the history of art genre and style is much like a glance back into a globalized mirror of cultural and societal change. Art is a traditional form of expression common to all civilizations and cultures, a form of expression that has conventionally been shaped by a shifting society and dictated by the diversities that shift that society. A look at the history of the evolution of art genre and style, therefore, offers also a reflective look at the centuries of change and decades of dissemination that shaped not only the evolution of art, but also the evolution of human civilization at large. Three artistic periods in particular present a clear and comprehensive reflection of the societies and eras that shaped them. These periods are known as the Italian Renaissance, the Northern Renaissance and the era of the Italian Baroque."
Abstract This paper analyzes this famous painting. It takes the reader on an historic journey through Van Gogh's life and how this painting reflects something personal as it is a portrait of his good friend's wife. Points analyzed about the painting include color, texture, light, technique, figure style, artistic composition and symbolism.
From the Paper "La Berceuse is a portrait of Van Gogh postman's wife Augustine Roulin in 1889. It is one of the seventeen series of portraits that included his postman, Joseph Roulin and his three children. Van Gogh struck up a friendship with the Roulins while his stay in Arles and painted them more often than anyone other than himself thus revealing that Van Gogh had a soft corner for the Roulin family and more so for Joesph Roulin himself given the fact that Joesph had a certain tenderness for him as evident from one of Van's letters to his brother Theo. Van Gogh was indebted to the Roulins in more ways than one as they readily welcomed him into their home and took care of him when he was hospitalized for cutting off his earlobe during a quarrel with another artist, Paul Gaugin. Van Gogh repaid them for their kindness by doing numerous portraits of the Roulin family."
This essay looks at how Cubist art in general and "The Portuguese" by George Braque specifically drew from and expanded on the consciousness and experiences of the modern age of technology.
Abstract The writer examines the works of George Braque and shows how he was the lesser known of the two founders of Cubism, always in the shadow of Pablo Picasso. This essay examines the artistic foundations behind one of the earliest Cubist works of Braque, "The Portuguese", and explains the unique importance of this painting in its day and even now.
From the Paper "An examination of Georges Braque's The Portuguese, painted in 1911, and the Cubist movement created by Braque and Picasso, helps show how technology was first widely used both instinctively and deliberately by artists. The Portuguese is an oil on canvas work approximately four feet by three feet in size; the colors are monochromatic in tone, thus emphasizing structure over the gently shaded colors. The subject matter of the painting is not the external world or nature; the painting exists within a reality and world of its own. This alone was revolutionary. Like most Cubist art, it has a restricted setting and manmade objects predominate over natural ones (Hughes 16). In this phase of what was known as analytical cubism objects were taken apart (dissected) and reshaped with the use of flat intersecting planes; perspective is two-dimensional and depth is limited. Four hundred years of Renaissance traditions (form, color, and space) were thrown out by The Portuguese and other Cubist works. Instead of a single vantage point at a single moment in time, the viewer sees the painting from many angles and at many different moments; the fixed point of view is gone. The painting also includes stenciled letters and numbers. Braque wrote, ?...as part of a desire to to come as close as possible to a certain kind of reality, in 1911 I introduced letters into my paintings.? In summary then, the elements above make The Portuguese one of the first examples of a painting as a unique object set in a revolutionary form. The degree of abstraction in Cubist art was also revolutionary. This new perception of the world came at a time of great transformation in society, and this work of Braque, seen within the larger context of Cubism, borrows much from the elements of the new world. "
A comparison of Claude Debussy's "Prelude a l"apres-midi d"un faune" (1894) (Prelude to the afternoon of a faun) and the impressionist poem upon which it was based, Stephane Mallarme's "L"apres-midi d"un faune."
Abstract This paper compares Claude Debussy's music "Prelude a l"apres-midi d"un faune" (1894) (Prelude to the afternoon of a faun) and the impressionist poem upon which it was based, Stephane Mallarme's "L"apres-midi d"un faune." It discusses the role impressionism played in the visual arts in the development of impression in French music at the end of the nineteenth century. A discussion of the movement away from Wagnerian and Romantic ideals is also included.
From the Paper "By the late nineteenth century, Romantic music in Europe had reached the pinnacle of its success, in terms of both mastery of the art form and popularity among the public. Epitomized by the musical accomplishments of the Germans (Wagner and Brahms) and those of the Russians (Tchaikovosky), music composed in the Romantic style was markedly sentimental and quite non-evasive in its presentation of ideas, particularly those of "true passion" (Wright, 320). It was in direct opposition to these norms of expression of true passion through sentimentality and overt symbolism that the Impressionist movement in music began. Beginning in France and drawing its ideals from the rebellions against Romantic and Classical styles in such other artistic mediums as painting and literature (particularly poetry), Impressionist music attempted to express true emotion in more subtle ways, in ways other than "sheer volume of sound and epic length" (Ibid). A principal example of this new fin-de-si"cle style can be found in Claude Debussy's Pr"lude ? l"apr"s-midi d"un faune (1894) (Prelude to the afternoon of a faun). Based loosely on St"phane Mallarm?'s 1876 poetic work, L"apr"s-midi d"un faune, the Pr"lude exemplifies the Impressionist tendency to suggest ideas rather than explicitly set them forth. Debussy, in working in close conjunction with Impressionists representing alternate artistic mediums, extracts many of the Pr?lude's compositional strategies from ideals prevalent in Impressionist art and Symbolist poetry. The resulting composition exhibits all the ideals of the Impressionist movement, and it served to bring the Impressionist movement to the general public, quickly preparing the way for the genesis of modern music."
Abstract After providing a brief overview of his life, this paper examines five works that demonstrate something of the range of his extraordinary talent and illuminate his almost preternatural ability to depict the condition of the human heart and soul ? whether his own in the many self-portraits he created or in other in the series of studies that made him one of the most popular portrait artists of Amsterdam in his own time.
From the Paper "Rembrandt himself would no doubt have been very pleased to have found out how dominant his own reputation has remained, for he was not an overly shy or modest artist. His life was in fact (especially when he was younger) defined in large measure by his ambition. He wished to be an artist whose work would in time come to rival that of other great Dutch artists such as Peter Paul Rubens. He wished not only to be a fine artist but also a famous one, and while he of course succeeded in achieving the first during his lifetime he in many ways failed to achieve the second. For while he was in demand for many years as a portrait-painter, by the end of his life he had lost many of his former patrons."
Abstract This is a brief analysis of Picasso work in the first half of the 20th Century. It looks at the progress of his work and what influenced them. From his time in Paris to his stint in Barcelona, this paper offers insight to the first half of Picasso's incredible career.
From the Paper "Pablo Picasso's literary friends, Guillaume Apollinaire and Alfred Jarry, influenced his work. These new acquaintances, whom he met in Paris after his return in 1904, influenced three, if not more, paints: Women in a Chemise (1905), Self-portrait (1906), and Ubu (1937). The Women in a Chemise and Ubu were attributed to the artistically written piece of both men, but Self-portrait might have been a response to a review, of Picasso, by Apollinaire. Picasso's association with these two gentlemen can be seen in some of his work."
Abstract This paper examines the contributions of Gerhard Richter detailing with the different stages of his life, beginning with his involvement in Hitler Youth during WWII, his involvement in East German politics which enabled him to move to West Berlin before the Berlin Wall went up. Richter painted, but he used photographs as the basis for many of his works which are abstract in nature. The writer uses several examples of Richter's works to illustrate how he was constantly questioning the role of modernity in art and life.
From the Paper "Richter asks us again and again in his work to question these ideas, to ask if modernity in either art or life is precisely what it makes itself out to be. Modernity is a trope, an idea that a group of thinkers made up to try to understand what life meant in an age in which the machines had finally won, in which not only the heavy lifting would be done by mechanical devices but also the thinking would be done by computers and the art would be made by machines with no eyes. Work and freedom mean very different things in a world of machines, and modernity is above all else an attempt to come to an understanding of the relationship between the human body and the machine."
Abstract This paper provides a discussion of the careers of Malevich and Popova. The development of Malevich's style, through abstract art and Suprematism, is outlined. Popova's artist development, during which she joined Malevich's Suprematic movement, is reviewed. The Cubist influences on their work, their architectonic painting and figure sketches are examined.
From the Paper "Until the start of the twentieth century, drawings, paintings, monuments and all other forms of artistic creations were based on the subjects and compositions of real world thoughts and dreams. This representation was always pictorial based reflecting clearly the real world ideas. However, with the emergence of science and technology and increasing use of machineries in the life of a common man, artists began to interpret the new emerging world in a different manner. The earlier decades of the twentieth century can be termed as an era of extraordinary development in the artistic world. Several movements lead the modern art to particular new directions. Movements like Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism guided the artists of twenty first century to explore new avenues and to reassess the role of art. Movements like Suprematism and Constructivism stemmed from the materialism of the machine age. Although, these movements were comparatively short lived, they had a deep impact on the development of art in the coming days."
Abstract This paper discusses the work, from the Baroque Era, of Peter Paul Rubens, whose "Prometheus Bound" is seen as one of the finest examples of a myth being used to tell a contemporary story. The meaning of the myth is examined through an analysis of the painting's light, form, style and images.
From the Paper "Myths are the stories that lend meaning to the unexplained. Why does season follow season? How did humanity come to be? What is the origin of fire? These are but some of the mysteries explained in countless tales, plays, and works of art. Medieval man sought meaning in the Bible. The cathedrals of Europe glistened with windows of stained glass, each jewel-like work telling a different instructional tale. In the Renaissance, Europe rediscovered the world of Greece and Rome, and the learned found new meanings in classical myth and legend. Kings and princes likened themselves to gods and heroes, and artists explored the interplay of fantasy and reality. Mythic stories were used as illustrations of the human condition. In brilliant color and bold form, painters captured the heart and soul of their world, the figures of myth and fantasy serving as representations of popular belief. This age of allegory reached its height in the Baroque Era, the era of Peter Paul Rubens, whose Prometheus Bound is one of the finest examples of a myth being used to tell a contemporary story. It is also an image of the entire Baroque world."
