Abstract This paper takes a look at the notable masterpieces of the artistic Renaissance in Northern Europe. The author pays close attention to the new styles of the times, the use of oils, light and shadow, and how expressing inner emotions became more prevalent than outer appearances on the canvas. The author looks in particular at the portraits " The Arnolfini Portrait" by Jan van Eyck, and "The Ambassadors" by Holbein the Younger.
From the Paper "While the Southern renaissance is better known, the countries of the north" Germany, The Netherlands, France, and England? also enjoyed a rich artistic renaissance, though slightly delayed. Historians dispute reasons as to why this so. Some argue that for reasons such as the bubonic plague and economic depression, it took the Northern countries a longer time to emerge from the dark ages. Another argument is that Northern artists were simply more reluctant to switch from the Gothic style they used in the past. In any case, European patrons and artists prized their work and they were praised for their talents in working with oils and their mastery of detail. Northern art managed to progress at a surprising pace despite it's delays. The two paintings used as references in this portfolio, "The Arnolfini Portrait" by Jan van Eyck and "The Ambassadors" by Hans Holbein the Younger, stand as examples of this. With only 100 years difference between them, it is important to examine what accounts for the changes by comparing the paintings in areas of characterization, chiaroscuro, medium, and artistic symbolism. In this way, the differences between Early and Late Northern renaissance art can be clearly defined.
Tags: arnolfini, eyck, van, holbein, ambassadors, chiaroscuro, gothic, oil, canvas
Abstract The documentary photography of photographer Walker Evans is critically examined referring specifically to at least four images, in relation to the humanist approach to photography. The paper also includes a discussion of arguments for and against such an approach. Photos analyzed are "Women Stooped Over in Field", "St Mathew's School, Alabama"; "Vicksburg, Mississippi" and "Hitch Hikers".
From the Paper "Evans was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1903. His parents were well off, and very conservative. He first studied literature, and lived in Paris for a year studying to be a writer. He first began taking photographs in 1928, with a small hand held, roll film camera. He worked as a broker on Wall Street until the Crash of 1929, then "came to prominence during the Great Depression photographing for the Farm Security Administration, where in three years he produced his best known and most enduring work" (Kingston). Evans died in 1975 in New Haven, Connecticut."
Abstract The artistic process is one that has often mystified therapists by its very nature. Therapists have attempted to channel the artistic impulses of individuals and the processes of artistic creation in a way to better facilitate the therapeutic process. This paper provides a brief review of the scholarly literature and debate on the subject, analyzing how different therapists have made various uses of art in their clinical and academic work.
From the Paper "The uses of art in the theraputic process are manifold. One use is simply to better enable individuals to express themselves in terms of meaning. For some individuals, speaking or "talk therapy" is not always a feasible or available means for communication. Sometimes this is because they are so blocked by past events they cannot express themselves. Other times it is because speaking about one's feelings was so discouraged in their past or in their present environment, that this is not a comforable means of expression for them. On the most practical level of all, some individuals, such as autistic children and adolescents, do not necessarily have the verbal skills to convey their inner thoughts and feelings in a theraputic environment. Very young children, even those who are quite verbal in the sense of being talkative, do not necesssarily have the cognitive or intellecutal maturity to engage in talk therapy. Thus, making use of art, of movement or dance therapy, of vocal or theatre therapy, or even of creative play therapy can prove useful in all of these cases."
Tags: music, art, movement, treatment, psychology, therapy, patient, disorder, communication
Abstract This paper is an examination of the artwork of ancient Egypt. It looks at the paintings of ancient Egypt and explores the different messages that they hold within. Some of the themes found in these paintings include god, life after death and the actual process of dying. In many cases, the paintings are a personal history of the individual that is now preserved for future generations. The author shows how animals played an important role in their life and how many animals hold special meaning for these ancient Egyptians. The author goes into great detail about the materials used in these paintings, including the type of paints, brushes, colors, canvases and surfaces used by the Egyptians to paint these magnificent pieces of art.
From the Paper "The artwork of ancient Egypt remains a never-ending source of fascination for many living in the modern world. Painting is perhaps the most intriguing and perceptive medium of expression used by the Egyptian artisans. The subject matter, materials used, techniques, and style reflected in the paintings mirror the time period in which they are painted. The paintings produced in Egyptian antiquity are insightful windows into the culture, beliefs, and ideals of the dynamic ancient civilization."
Abstract This paper examines a few art forms and details the influence of religion and the Bible on them. Dante and Chaucer's literature is mentioned, and examined for its use of deity and religion. Many Italian artists are mentioned regarding the way they used the Church as a showroom for their talent.
From the Paper "Around 500 AD, western civilization began to emerge from the period generally known as "The Dark Ages", the time when invading hordes of Vandals, Huns, and Visigoths overran Europe and brought an end to the Roman Empire. For the next centuries, the newly emerging Christian Church would dominate Europe, administrating Justice, instigating Holy Crusades against the east, establishing Universities and generally dictated the destiny of music, art and literature. From the Crusades and other sources the Europeans came in contact with the Arab culture, which has preserved the works of Greek authors, whose writings did not survived in the Europe. Philosophy, science and mathematics from the Hellenistic period were assimilated into the tenets of the Christian faith and the prevailing philosophy of Scholasticism. St. Thomas Aquinas to the Christian doctrine adopted Aristotle, who was long considered to be a heretic. Christian values dominated the scholarship and literature, especially the Medieval Latin literature, the influence of Christian faith was also dominated in the German literature and Middle English literature ."
Abstract An examination of the art of Andy Warhol and the reasons his work is so well-known. The paper explores his methods of production - mostly silk screen printing - and his 'series' - producing several images of a certain subject. The paper discusses how Warhol, in his various struggles to create art, was attempting to redefine and popularize American art by making it commercial and also by making the focus upon commercialism in his art a comment upon society.
From the Paper "Warhol's art blurs the relationship between what comes first, the reality or the image. More and more people construct their lives around what they see on television. Warhol, in his own work, From a to b and Back Again, that: ?A whole day of life is like a whole day of TV.? (Warhol 5) Both, he says, are never ending and never shut off. The never-ending nature of life, Warhol also made use of in his epic, virtually unwatchable films. The intention by making such long films as Warhol did was to suggest that rather than art trying to change and reinterpret life, art should reflect life and be as much like life as possible. As life is no longer interior and private and personal, art should also be exterior public and impersonal."
Tags: contemporary, commercialism, Reality, Television, Pop, art
Abstract This paper examines the sublime quality of Botticelli's painting "Birth of Venus". The paper provides a summary of the artist's life in 16th century Italy. The author writes that the theme of the painting is the goddess of love, which is universally understood for all humanity throughout time. The paper continues to describe the imperfects of the masterpiece, which creates an elevated design of Venus's figure.
From the Paper "Botticelli's works are some of the most enduring masterpieces today. While many of the old masters? works struggle for relevance into today's changed times, Botticelli's works have actually gained understanding and critical acclaim as the centuries progressed.
"Sandro Botticelli was born Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi in either 1444 or 1445."
Abstract The paper provides a brief biography of the life of Vincent Van Gogh, famous Dutch painter. Thereafter, it reviews four of his most famous paintings, "Self Portrait, 1886", "The Potato Eaters", "Starry Night" and "Wheat Field with Crows".
From the Paper "This final painting is arguably one of van Gogh's most disturbing. He shows three roads moving into a wheat field. It isn?t clear where any of them go. The roads may represent the different directions in which his mind was torn: sanity, insanity, and religion. The sky is active and stormy, and black crows swoop along close to the ground. Many would interpret the crows as symbols of death. There seems no sense of hope in the three opportunities the roads give, and no indication that traveling one would be more satisfying than another. This seems to be true of van Gogh's life: during his periods of sanity he was not successful at most things he attempted, including multiple attempts to develop a satisfying religious career. His religious beliefs seem to have brought him no lasting peace because of the bouts of insanity when his behavior became irrational and even bizarre."
This paper explores the portrayal of female figures in art and myth, focusing on the Medusa myth and the castrating power of the female gaze and their effect of the female self-image.
Abstract The paper reviews in detail the image of Medusa that pits femininity and masculinity against each other and allowing masculinity to triumph. The paper continues by stating that the gaze of the painted female subject often is depicted with her eyes either diverted from the viewer, or coyly regarding him. The author states that myths like the Medusa myth and the female gaze instruct women that their sexuality is something to be suppressed, that a powerful woman is a dangerous woman, and that the male will triumph in the end.
From the Paper "Though the familiar image of Medusa as a serpent-haired monster is attributed to the Greeks, the myth of Medusa actually has its roots in pre-classical Mediterranean culture. In the matriarchal societies that existed before Greek civilization, Medusa was far from reviled as she was by the Greeks; instead, she was worshipped as a beautiful mother deity who symbolized wisdom, fertility, and female power. With the advent of Greek civilization, the existing gynocentric religion and mythology were compelled to adapt to the new patriarchal value system."
From the Paper "All core subjects have the potential to form feasible partnerships between the arts and core curricula. Thus, arts instruction can aid in overall learning for the student (Tunks, 21). However, active teaching for transfer is important because students do not necessarily recognize the connection between concepts presented in arts and the same concepts in other settings. Thus, it is incumbent on the arts teacher to find these connections and include them in regular instruction (Tunks, 21). For example, an educator can point out the relationship between fractions and divided and subdivided beats in music to help students integrate other learning while maintaining the integrity of the music learning. Also, concepts such as space, time, and energy are key ..."
From the Paper "Benjamin West's "Death on the Pale Horse"
This paper will analyze the context in which the work of art, "Death on the Pale Horse" was created. The discussion will also identify the medium which the artist chose as well as highlight some of the more interesting aspects of this Benjamin West painting.
Two copies of the painting, both of which have been exhibited and reproduced as authentic works by Benjamin West, are in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. However, in articles written by a former director for that museum, Fiske Kimball, the old director questions whether these two paintings are actually copies. The articles were published in 1931 and 1932, and art historians now believe that the two originals now hang elsewhere (Von Erffa ..."
From the Paper "Vincent Van Gogh's Entrance to the Public Gardens at Arles was painted in September, 1888. The painting, which is owned by the Phillips Collection in Washington, D. C., measures 28 1/2" x 35 5/8". The work is oil paint on canvas.
The painter has represented a portion of a street passing in front of a walkway that leads into a public garden. At the entrance to the garden a man dressed in bright blue-green and wearing a yellow (straw?) hat stands, with his legs spread, reading a newspaper. Along the walk four people sit on benches, two on either side of the path. They, and a man at the end of the path are painted principally in black, with blue highlights. A rather rotund woman strolls away from the viewer, about two-thirds of the way down the walk. She is painted in blue and gray. None of the figures has distinguishable features and the ..."
From the Paper "David was one of the most popular Old Testament figures represented in the art of Christian Europe. His well-known life included many events that were easily recognized and took on a variety of symbolic meanings. One of the most common ways of presenting David was in his role as the young killer of the giant Goliath. But even this one portion of David's story could have different forms and meanings. A comparison of four Italian Renaissance sculptures of David demonstrates four very different approaches to the subject. The sculptures are Michelangelo's marble David (1504), Donatello's bronze David (c. 1430), another bronze by Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1470), and Gianlorenzo Bernini's marble version (1624). Over the span of two centuries it is possible to see the evolution of stylistic approaches in these four statues along with the variations in the artists' use ..."
From the Paper "Sofonisba Anguissola's painting titled The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist (1592) is an unusual example of a narrative religious painting by a master who usually painted portraits. The work, which is oil on canvas and measures 49.5" x 43.5", is in the collection of the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami. The painting, which is signed and dated, reflects Counter-Reformation painters' interest in devotional images that made a very direct emotional appeal to the viewer. Anguissola adapted the composition from the work of another painter, her friend Luca Cambiaso, but her version shows an interest in sfumato and warmth of presentation that recalls the earlier Renaissance painters rather than the harsher realism that appealed to many Counter-Reformation artists, such as Cambiaso.
Anguissola (c. 1535-1625) lived in an age when very few ..."
From the Paper "Both modernism and postmodernism are reactions to change, with modernism reacting to the rapidity of technological and social change at the end of the nineteenth century, while postmodernism is a reaction to the social uniformity of modernism. Again, each makes a statement in a certain way because it has been made possible to make statements in just that way. Postmodernism is a restatement of the private and personal after the modernist era of the social and public. When Harvey cites the technological changes contributing to the development of postmodernism, he is citing the changes that permitted the artist to shape material for personal tastes and individual needs (Harvey 66). In this sense, and with reference to architecture, the postmodernist shapes public space in a certain way because he or she can so shape it."
