Author: Joseph Grippi

Annotated Bibliography

Cartwright, Mark. “Ancient Greek Sculpture.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 15 Mar 2018. Web. 11 Dec 2018.

In this source, it describes the history and background for the progression of Greek society that consequently created some of the most advanced and confiscated sculptures known to the ancient world. As well as describing and observing the progress Greek sculptures have made over the span of the civilizations experience.

“Early Classical Greek Sculpture.”accessed December 9, 2018, http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/antiquity/greek-sculpture-early-classical-period.htm

This source goes in depth with famous sculptures in what variety each posses as time passes on. To the material used as well as the particular style the artist had used to create the sculpture.

“British Museum.” accessed December 9, 2018,https://britishmuseum.tumblr.com/post/116634785287/most-greek-sculpture-that-survives-from-antiquity

This source shows posts of multiple sculptures from the Greek civilization in the ancient era in museums around in Britain. Having knowledge of other type of sculptures found in other locations can help solidify the similarities between the sculptures.

Margaret Talbot, “The Myth of Whiteness in Classical Sculpture.” The New Yorker.” October 29th, 2018. Accessed December 9, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/29/the-myth-of-whiteness-in-classical-sculpture

This article shows how the original sculptures of ancient Rome and Greece used colors to show a more somewhat realistic depiction. Scholars show in this article how the marble statues would have looked like if the the color/ paintings were still in the original.

 

 

Final Project Outline

Thesis Statement: Humanism over the span of the Mediterranean culture had varied and changed with every new empire that rose. The first to create this display were the Sumerians although unnatural at first provided the steps into the sculptures later to be used by the Greeks and Romans and later in the Renaissance.

Artworks:

 

Title: Perseus with the Head of Medusa

Artist: Antonio Canova

Date: 1804–1806

Location: Metropolitan Museum

 

Title: Marble statue of the Diadoumenos

Artist: Attributed to Polykleitos

Date: 69–96 AD

Location: Metropolitan Museum

 

Title: Bronze statue of the emperor Trebonianus Gallus

Artist: Unknown

Date: 251–253 A.D

Location: Metropolitan Museum

Title: Marble statue of a Kouros (youth)

Artist: Unknown

Date: 590–580 B.C.

Location Metropolitan Museum

Title: Standing Statue of Merti with flaring wig

Artist: Unknown

Date: 2381–2323 B.C

Location: Metropolitan Museum

The statues above can help describe the progression of the concept of humanism in art. From a unrefined figure that represents a human, towards a more realistic depiction and detailed appearance on how a person would normally look like.

Unit 2 Summary

Art in the ancient world varied from nation to nation. The Mesopotamian’s had sculptures of people that would pose but lacked in depth features and characteristic’s. For example, Kouros from six hundred  BC, depicts a person standing with their left foot out and their right foot back to keep some form of balance for the sculpture.  This is also seen in the sculpture also named Kouros but was found in Anavysos and was made approximately 530 BCE. At first glance the two are almost copy’s of each other however have slight differences. Such as the toning and definition given to the second Kouros’s torso. The head isn’t elongated as the first sculpture and feels more expanded. The arms are larger as well as all other parts of the body in the second sculpture.

    One thing that may stand out is how or why would different nations construct the same sculptures with only minor differences? In the Ancient Era when nations pillaged the other they would claim not only the city and population, but also absorb a piece of their culture and art pieces. If not by war were the sculptures plundered it was simply through cultural diffusion and trade of knowledge. Later on the ancient Greeks made their own version of Kouros; It is named Polykleitos, Doryphoros made around 450-440 BCE. In this version of the Kouros, the sculpture is more muscular and more defined than previous versions. It resembles a more realistic depiction of a Greek athlete male in his youth. The foot work is similar in that the right foot is forward but the left leg is back with a bend to give a sort of balance to the sculpture. The right arm is not put down and side to side but are active, which symbolizes he could be holding either a spear or flag further creating the assumption he is a solider of some kind.

Much after the Greeks had their rise to prominence, another nation rose from it’s luster. The Roman Republic which later became the Roman Empire adopted much of the culture form the Greeks, this includes a basic democratic system as well as sculpture and art. One Roman sculpture has similarities to the previously mentioned  Polykleitos, Doryphoros, it is Augustus of Prima. The Roman Republic at the time turned into the Roman Empire due to its civil war between Augustus Caesar and Pompey. It concluded in Pompey’s defeat when he was found executed by the Alexandrian’s to present to Julius as a extension of faith. The resulting civil war caused the the public to be uncertain of what would come next. Augustus knew how important self image was, and that being the legitimate ruler of Rome was a important to not only show but enforce unto himself. To show the strength and the military ferocity of their new leader he erected many statues such as the Augustus of Prima. The statue is very much similar to the  Polykleitos, Doryphoros; for example the footwork is the exact same style as the Greek version. As well as the left side of the body positioned to hold a spear. The notable differences is only the features on the head and hair which depict Augustus Caesar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      

Unit 1 Summary

A lot was learned from Unit 1; but the one that stood out the most was the Banking Model. It simply can be described as “depositing” knowledge into the student so they could understand the subject matter. Throughout a persons life, as a kid they underwent such a process in order to grasp subjects and topics. The process is centered around an authoritative figure giving out information for the students to study and prepare when they are going to be tested on what they remember. It hinders the individual who seeks alternative methods of solving problems, but helps the students who follow the rules strictly and remembers very well.

Another thing that I learned in this Unit that always fascinated was how people could examine a painting and can analyze multiple aspects that contribute to it just by using Formal Analysis. Spacing within a painting can give depth and a sense of where the figures. Also the coloring of certain figures taking a specific action. Usually insidious figures are painted with much darker colors, and innocent figures painted with bright colors. These are just a few examples of many other methods of analyzing paintings, to better grasp the general idea and the message it conveys.

Blog Post 4: Formal Analysis

Formal Analysis is a form of understanding and deciphering an artistic piece by looking at certain artistic properties. This form of interpretation only relies on what is available in the artistic piece. This includes but not limited to, the formation of the figures, lighting of object, positioning of objects, as well as shading. By looking for specific details in paintings or sculptures it gives a general idea of the techniques and processes the artists of the time created such pieces.  The main components of Formal Analysis is the lines that composes the piece, the space which it takes up, as well as texture. The line part of the piece is that the objects in the piece move your eyes to see specific part of objects. Although it is invisible the artist leaves a invisible bread crumbs trail that is somehow picked up by the viewer. Space can be split into either positive or negative space. The third dimensional spacing gives objects depth which can be used to to depict a certain message of vastness or compactness in a painting. Texture is how rough or soft an object appears when looking at it in a painting. For example a marble table with a smooth surface would be hard and smooth to touch as if we were touching it in reality. Understanding what they did to create their works, is the exact same thing we do to understand other works such as philosophical works and literary pieces.

 

My Art Story

When art comes to my mind it draws either a blank image or a classical drawing iv’e seen before but never bothered to learn its deeper meaning. Art was never an active or even passive role in my life . It was just a reminder for one of those activities that I just wasent good at for I didn’t see any use of it at the time. It only took one year to completely change my view on art. Just randomly I had a picture in my mind of the most beautiful image I ever thought of. Without thought, I took a pencil and attempted to draw the most ugliest image known to mankind. Constantly over and over I would draw it not out pride or wanted to accomplish something, but to simply draw. I failed miserably of course but I learned a valuable lesson about art and its mysterious ways.

The pencil is a ruthless teacher and you can only learn not by what it says but by what monstrosity it created. It gave me a new perspective in life looking at images and pieces of artwork and working out, how they get from Step one to Step one hundred. Just like anything in life art for example can mean nothing, but one day whether by coincidence or not suddenly it appears as a substance that yearns to be used and expressed. Hopefully in this class ill learn what history was like for people living many decades or even centuries ago and what they depicted in their perceptive lenses. Also this is the first class of art I’ve taken since elementary school, so everyone needs to start somewhere!

 

Blog 1: How to Post

To be very honest with everyone who is sadly reading this I just learned how to do this in ten minutes out of anger and sheer determination. If you find this to be the most difficult thing to do last minute you may be right… But that’s why I’m here! To make the process as painless as can be.( Or if you just explored endlessly like i did and just randomly found this you can just skip this and do it yourself already.)

Step 1: Try and remember the account you made at the beginning of school that you would easily forget on the website on CUNY Academic Commons.

Step 2: Finally remember your information and type it in successfully to login to your CUNY Academic Commons account.

Step 2.5: (Just found out you need to join a group to do some stuff but no one wants me so its ok i guess ;-;.)

Step 3: Skip Step 2.5 if you are an unlucky boy.

Step 4: Look on the the black bar and try to find the white plus sign and click in the subsection post to begin your post of insanity.

Step 5: Make a funny title or the same title as everyone else in the class if you want… No pressure.

Step 6: Write whatever you want to share publicly into the description like Microsoft. Or instead just do your assigned homework..

Step 7: Now comes the hard part… Look to the black task bar on the left side and look intensively at Dashboard. Once your done being creepy look right of that and click media to add either music or pictures.

Step 8: Once you have put whatever song or picture in this post you have wanted select on the right side whichever category you belong to and create a tag relevant to the post you are publishing.

Step 9: You can finally publish your post and probably go to sleep because you did this last minute…