A discussion of the factors that shape talent in an individual and suggestions on how to design a research study/questionnaire that can determine how talent is best developed.
1,200 words (approx. 4.8 pages), 4 sources, 2001, $ 41.95
From the Paper "The scope of talent and ability is great and far ranging, as are the various environments in which they develop. In order to produce a complete study, the different areas of talent and the environments must be looked at: intellectual and academic aptitude, potential in the arts, psychomotor abilities, and spiritual abilities. The overall cultural environment must be taken into account, but special attention should be given to the personal and intimate environment in which the talented individual developed. It is in this personal area that similarities may be discovered and in turn applied to the abilities in the general population."
Abstract An analysis of the role psychological disorders play in the creative process and the toll it takes on an individual's creativity.
From the Paper "...Psychological disorders have long been seen as an affecting factor in the use and development of creativity. Much research has been done and numerous tests administered, but since there are no tried and true methods of testing creativity, the exact correlations may be unclear. Throughout history there are many examples of the role psychological disorders have played in the creative process including Vincent Van Gogh and Sir Isaac Newton. Many have resorted to measures to try and "cure" their psychological disorder, which may have been a factor that enhanced their creativity.... "
Abstract This paper stems from viewing two pieces of art: Arthur G. Dove's "Gale" and Marsden Hartley's "Landscape, Vence" and then presents them in a comparison/contrast. Points of discussion include colors used, emotions expressed, style of painting, etc.
From the Paper "Dove painted Gale in 1932, during a period of art known as the Expressionist period. Expressionism describes a style of art that enfolds its viewers and causes them to feel as though they are a part of the painting instead of an uninvolved onlooker. As Dove's painting demonstrates, all senses are utilized when viewing an Expressionist painting. The purpose of the Expressionist artist is not so much to paint a realistic portrait, but one that is representative of all senses experienced in the scene depicted.?
Abstract This paper looks at Praxitiles' sculpture, "Venus of Doidalsas", the mythological figure of love and beauty. The author describes the artist's use of technique and symbolism to portray her importance and human qualities.
From the Paper "The statue of the Roman goddess, Venus, is a marble copy of an earlier work by Praxitiles. It is based on the famous Aphrodite of Praxitiles, which was made for the goddess's shrine at Knidos. This fourth century BCE masterpiece is currently displayed at the Walter's Art Gallery in Baltimore. The sculpture Venus shows the audience that viewers her, a perfect body, beauty, and sex. We will observe this sculpture to find inward and outward sensations, form, and awareness to shape."
Abstract An analysis of the artist Caspar David Friedrich's painting "The Great Preserve" including a discussion of light, angles, perspective, contrast, symmetry and lines.
From the Paper "Caspar David Friedrich's "The Great Preserve" is a piece of art that inspires unusual, perhaps unexpected emotions in the viewer. At first glance it seems to evoke an attitude of peace, but upon more careful examination one notices that Friedrich's extraordinary use of symmetry and the peculiarities in composition provide more for a mood of unrest, as though the painting and the viewer, or perhaps even the painting and the artist, are at odds with each other. Yet at the same time the original feeling of peacefulness is still present in the depth and spaciousness of the scene. His incredible use of curves, color, motion, and two-dimensional and three-dimensional placement are all contributors in making this painting both fascinating and mysterious."
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 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."
