Author: Naomi Rosales

Themed Museum Tour – Final Project.

Good morning Ladies & Gentleman, I am Naomi and I will be your tour guide for today. If you are apart of this tour today it is because you have taken a special interest in emotions depicted in different forms of art. Throughout history, forms of art have successfully represented emotions and stories in different ways. We see emotions and stories further deepened in details like body language, facial expressions and symbolism. The MET is filled with so much history and beauty. I hope you all enjoy and appreciate the pieces I have selected for you. This tour will be about thirty to forty-five minutes long with an included bathroom break. The MET is a huge building, and it can also be crowded, be sure to stay close to not miss a thing. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

For our first artwork, I want to introduce you to Giuseppe Gricci‘s, The Mourning Virgin and Saint John The Evangelist. This beauty is made of soft-paste porcelain and was made in Naples, Italy in 1744. They’re very small so I want you all to get close to closely see it. As you can tell from the name of this piece, this depicts the Virgin Mary after the death of her son, Christ, and Saint John right next to her. The way Giuseppe portrayed them in their mourning is just impressive and it’s almost like the material that they were made out of captures the mourning even better. We should first focus on the Virgin Mary’s face. Her head is tilted up with her mouth open and her eyes. Then, we also see her body language, she is then propped up on one knee as if her grief has taken over her. When we look over at Saint John, his body is turned away from the Virgin but his head is facing her. Almost as if he is in shock at what had happened and also feels shame. The drapery that is shown almost makes it look like as if they are in movement. The white porcelain makes them look so fragile from their grief. From the emotion on their face to the material that they are done out of, Giuseppe successfully shows the aftermath of Christ’s death that is filled with horror and sorrow from the ones who followed him. In this case, Giuseppe used his material to emphasize the pain St. John and the Virgin Mary felt. This is a perfect first demonstration of emotion and the emotion of a story being shown in art. The sadness is already apparent before you even know any context behind it, and that ladies and gentlemen is very powerful in itself.

This next masterpiece, is called “Ugolino and His Sons” created by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. It is made of Saint-beat Marble and was made in 1865-67, Paris. The name of this artwork is not as revealing as the first work of art that we looked at, so I want you analyze this statue deeply and try your best to look at every single detail. It is very obvious that the man in the front, Ugolino, is in extreme anguish. You can see his knotted body and the way he has his fingers in his mouth. On top of his anguish, it’s almost as if he is indecisive about something. If you focus on the kids around him, his sons, they all are around him either laying on him, hiding in his body, or clinging to him. We see three of them either asleep or maybe even dead and the one who seems to be the older one is the only one looking up at him in some sort of desperation. We see that they are suffering and it comes across very loud and clear. The story behind this statue comes from the epic poem, Dante’s Inferno.Dante encounters Ugolino and his sons locked in a tower after Count Ugolino betrayed his city, Pisa, by giving away fortresses to other towns. When locked away, his sons were complaining about being hungry. When mealtime came, he noticed the door was being nailed. That is when he realized that he would starve in that tower with his sons and other sinners. Driven insane from starvation and seeing his sons slowly die, Count Ugolino was faced with no other choice but to become a cannibal. In some stories, it is said he ate the bodies of his sons and in others it is said he continued to starve. I chose this to be apart of the tour because it is a piece of art that only intensifies the emotions you feel after you hear the story. You experience their emotions before knowing anything about it and pick up on their horror. You notice their facial expressions and their body language but do not know why. Once you find out, you can’t help but feel even more horrified. Carpeaux is just another artist that has managed to envelop you before and after you hear about his inspiration.

 

The last statue we will be looking at today is called “The Martyr.“This bronze piece was made by Auguste Rodin in 1898, France. This is another work of art that’s name really gives away the story behind it. However, I want you all to look at her body language and forget about her facial expression. Her body language really gives away her suffering. Whenever we see an artwork of death, we typically see them lied down flat, but here we have something different. We see her arms spread wide, her legs are at a weird angle, and her is almost hanging off the altar she is put on. We can safely conclude that she suffered a great deal of pain before her death. A martyr is someone who is killed for their religious believes and the deaths of the Apostles serve as a testimony that these deaths are very morbid and gruesome. Rodins, “The Martyr” shows that she comes a “symbolic martyr to humanity‘s shard fate. Her youth evokes death‘s universality, her nakedness its indifference, and her isolation the loneliness of the final struggle.“This artwork can compare to Carpeaux‘s “Ugolino and his Sons” because of the decision to express emotion through body language. We hear her tragic ending being told by the way she is positioned on this alter. Although her face does give off a lot of emotion, her body is the statement. The title of this work, her body language, and her bodies symbolism all come into one to tell her tragic tale. 

This painting is called “The Penitent Magdalen.” This oil on canvas was made by George de La Tour in 1593-1633, France. Mary Magdalene is known for being the personification of christian fidelity. It is said that Mary Magdalene was a Jewish women who followed Jesus to the death. When Jesus was set to die on the cross and his men abandoned him, Magdalene stayed by his side. She is said to be around him at his tomb and to be the first to announce his resurrection. As you can see, this is the first work of art that does not show a face. Her head is turned away, and we are left to only work with her body and the objects around her. We see a skull on her lap, her hands crossed, a mirror and a candlelight. It is said that Mary Magdalen “renounced the pleasures of the flesh for a life of penance and contemplation.“The mirror is a symbol of”vanity“, the skull on her lap is an “emblem of mortality“, and the candle light most likely stands for her “spiritual enlightenment.” If we moved on to focus on the colors of this painting, the only thing that is lighted from the candle light is the top of her robe. The rest of the painting is filled with shadows and dark colors. We look at this painting and keeping all in the information in mind, we pick up that this an hour of solemnity. This is contrasts from all the statue work we have seen today, but still falls in line, because although we don’t see a face, we are still giving enough objects to grasp the emotion of this painting. Her hands, the skull, the mirror, and the candlelight are enough to give us what we need to understand the sentiment of this painting. 

For the last artwork of this tour, This painting is called “The Rape of Tamar.“This oil on canvas was made by Eusatche Le Seur in 1614. This graphic scene tells the story of Tamar being raped by her half-brother Amnon. In the bible, II Samuel 13:1-22, Amnon was a son of David and fell inlove with Tamar. He convinced his friend to help set up a plan which consisted of Amnon faking a sickness and ordering that Tamar attend to him. When they were alone, he turned on her and raped her. After realizing what he had done, he sent her out of his chamber.When Tamar‘s brother, Absalom, realized what had happened, he had Amnon killed. Of course, the face of Tamar and Amnon really gives away the horror and chaos of the scene, but I want you to focus on what is going on in the rest of the painting. From behind them, we see a figure walking away, which we can guess is the friend. He could depict the betrayal that happened here. On the floor, we see objects fallen over. Notice also the movement that is in this picture. The robes of the man in the back are behind him. The white drape of Amnon is also all behind him, only covering his privates, the top of Tamar‘s dress has the same type of movement. Her hair is also in mid-air. Le Seur literally paints this scene in mid-moment right before the rape happens. By doing this, Le Seur accurately shows the chaos of this scene, and he does it in more than one way. He uses all of his canvas to his advantage to set this violent act in motion. The little things do matter in this painting. In taking in all of these things, we feel for Tamar because of the betrayal and the impulsiveness that comes from Amnon. With a painting like this, knowing the story is only the beginning in experiencing the horror of this act.  

Well ladies and gentleman, I really hoped you all enjoyed this short tour. It has been a pleasure taking you around the MET and showing you some of my favorites statues and paintings. I hope you were enammored by the different stories and emotions shown just as I was when I first learned of them. Feel free to roam around the rest of the museum and see what other stories you may find. Have a great day and enjoy the rest of your stay.

Unit 2 Summary: Greeks & Romans

In ancient Greece, humanism was a central focus in their art. Their focal point was creating statues that represent either human life or the human body. The Greeks did have a lot of their own gods portrayed in their statues, but they contrasted with Egyptians because when Egyptians would create their gods we saw a lot of unearthly features on them. With Greeks, they gave their gods human beauty and human bodies. It’s also noteworthy to point out that the stories of their gods contained many conflicts and woes, most of these problems resembled human problems, further deepening the similarities between them and humans physically, we would see reoccuring features of muscular tone bodies in men and a softness to the women. This type of time period in art was known as the Classical past. It is very distinguishable because of how many details were repeated. Essentially, this is the time period where the gap between the divine and humans start to close. 

We come into a new time in ancient Greek art when Hellenism begins. Unlike classical art, Hellenism prioritized different things. There was a bigger scope and they no longer focused on the youthful male or the beautiful soft woman. Instead, we see a focus on everyday life, ethnicity, and genders. For example, we have the “Seated Boxer” that was made in 100-50 BCE and is made out of bronze and this is a perfect example of hellenistic art. He is an older man and wasn’t as beautiful as a Classical past statue would be. We see a sense of humility. We see wounds carved into his face, and we see this statue stray away from the heroism we saw in the classical age. What made him apart of the Hellenism era was his imperfectness. 

We see another different era start when the Romans invade Greece. This is known as Verism. The republican Romans introduced this, and we started to see a more accurate representation of humans. Their features were very distinguishable, and this meant that along with straying away from legendary and heroic art we were also straying away from beauty. These types of statues were no longer flattering and were just ten times more realistic. There is also a shift in poses that we can see a huge difference in if you look at classical art and verism. We saw a lot on contrapposto in classical art and it looked very fragile and soft but going into Republican Rome we see the body lanaguage of speechmaking become popular. The figure would look as if he would be walking forwards with his arm in the air. These three eras have such sharp dichotomies, and it’s very impressive. 

 

Out of all three of these eras I feel as though classical past was the most beautiful. Of course, it was most the animated of the three but I think the details and the beauty is just unmatched. These eras are also extremely impressive. Although this is ancient times, it is incredible how advanced the greeks and Romans were. As time passed, so did their values and those changing values were reflected in their art. I look at as their own form of record keeping. Looking at their art is interesting but learning about it all is extremely impressive.

Bibliography for Final Project.

  1. Aciman, Alexander.“Recapping Dante: Canto 33, or History’s Vaguest Cannibal.”

    The Paris Review, Alexander Aciman ,

    23 June 2014,

    www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/06/23/recapping-dante-canto-33-or-historys-vaguest-cannibal/.

    When you first look at “Ugolino and His Sons” you can already notice that agony is the emotion expressed in this statue.You see it by the facial features and the body language. Reading the story behind it, made me even more impressed with the way Jean-Baptise Carpeaux captured the emotions of Ugolino and his sons according to their story accurately. Count Ugolino was punished for betraying his city, Pisa, by giving away fortresses to another town. He was locked up in a tower with his sons, when mealtime came, he realized that the doors were being nailed shut, and he also realized him and his sons were going to starve to death. He saw his children suffer from starvation and started to chew on his own fingers. By the time his children were dead, Ugolino was already driven by madness from starvation and started to eat the prisoner that was also there. The story told in this article, for me, further emphasizes how a story with so much tragedy can be depicted in a single work of art. It carries the emotion of it all and that’s why I chose the statue for my project.

  2. Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris,

    “Giotto, Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel (part 3 of 4),”

    in Smarthistory, December 10, 2015, accessed December 6, 2018,

    In this video, Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris are in the Arena Chapel in Italy, and one of the paintings that they talk about is the Lamentation painted by Giotto. At first glance, without knowing any context, we see there is a lot of sadness because of the death christ. We see the expressions everyone is wearing and there is a lot of dark and dull colors which adds on to the mood that the painting is giving off. As Dr. Zucker and Dr. Harris begin to talk about the symbolism and the meanings in this painting, the emotion one sees and feels begins to intensify because of the powerful meaning behind the symbolism. One of the things that I felt was extremely powerful was the mention of the tree on the top right. The doctors explain that it might look dead but bring up the fact that it also maybe winters, and it will come to life again when spring comes. They mention that this may also be an analogy to Christ and his eventual resurrection. Another thing that I thought was powerful was the mention of the position Mary, was in. Her knee is propped up holding her deads sons body, she is bending forward, her body is twisted, her arms are also holding him up, and her face expression is of pure sorrow. The doctors conclude that it‘s almost like she is trying to wake him up and is in complete shock of his death and of the way it happened. Once you get context of these things, it brings on a whole new wave of emotion. It‘s very effective.

  3. Farago, Jason.“The African Toll of the Great War, in Song and Shadows.”

    The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Dec. 2018,

    www.nytimes.com/2018/12/06/arts/design/william-kentridge-park-avenue-armory.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FArt∾tion=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=collection.

    I wanted to include this because my project has a lot of statue work and paintings. “The Head and the Load,” is a play all about the fallen African soldiers that aren’t commemorated the way European soldier are commemorated. Farago writes, “The Head and the Load,” evokes these porters’ crushing, fatal labor in a long grief-stricken procession, backed by a plangent elegy from the marvelous Guinean singer and kora player N’Faly Kouyaté. The troupe marches one by one in front of Mr. Kentridge’s mucky charcoal animations, carrying cutout placards of flags, boats, gramophones and planes, as well as portrait busts of African intellectuals and an effigy of Raoul Hausmann’s “Mechanical Head,” a Dada artifact of 1919. Their real shadows intermingle with projected ones, creating an infinite funerary march of porters and matériel,” I chose this article because it shows another form of art that is useful in portraying emotion in the story it is telling. It doesn’t all have to a still-life work of art to be empathetic. Dialogue, costumes, and music can also be effective. 

  4. Hyman, Erin Williams.

    “Crouching Woman, Hidden Story: Erin Hyman on Kiki Smith’s Lilith.” 

    Open Space, 18 Sept. 2013,

    openspace.sfmoma.org/2013/09/beyond-belief-erin-hyman/.

    “Lilith” is one of my favorite sculptures of all time. She breaks boundaries, and I just love her unique story. Upon looking at this, someone can easily get spooked out. Everything about her is just weird and eerie, the position she is in, the roughness of her body, and lastly, the most terrifying thing about her, is her eyes. Her eyes are the only light colored part of her body and they are made of glass which makes her even more scarier because it’s almost as if she is staring right at you. Although you are creeped out, you also can’t help but feel curiosity. Before Eve was created from Adam’s rib, God had created man and women from dust. That women being Lilith, because both of them were made from dust, Lilith saw herself as Adam’s equal and did not want to be submissive to him. She fled Eden and wandered the earth punishing men and stealing babies. This is impressive because we see a break from the type of woman we usually see in art. We usually see some sort of fragility and softness in their face or in their pose in but here we the exact opposite. We see her body parts covered by her pose, we see the unevenness on her, and we she is just unearthly in every way. Hyman writes, “The sculpture of Lilith, like the morphing stories that have evolved around her name, remains wild, suspended, resisting any attempt to pin her down,” This fits to my theme because it is representing emotion and a story, but in a different way. It represents femininity in its genesis and firmness. Everything about “Lilith” is amazing. 

  5. Olere, David.

“Gassing.”

A Teachers Guide to the Holocaust,

fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/gallery2/D54.htm.

This painting is very hard to look at and to take in. Unfortunately, this painting does depict a reality. This shows Jews in a gas chamber in their final moments. Art is filled with a lot of mythology, but it is also filled with a lot of heartbreaking truths. Art is unfiltered and unapologetic and although it is horrifying, it is important for pieces like this to exist, because things like this cannot be forgotten. The extermination of six-million Jews was one of the most atrocious things that has happened in history and one of the most disturbing things about the Holocaust was the fact that many people were aware about these killings but nothing was done for a while. In the painting, we see the ghostly figures of Jews who actually looked like that because of the extreme starvation they were put through, we see them all crammed up, we see woman and babies included, and their faces of absolute agony. In the bottom right corner, we also see a can that says Zyklon B with the Star of David right next to it as if it was carved on the floor. Nazi’s would cram so many Jews in a small chamber and poor the murderous gas inside. This is another perfect example of a painting that creates such heartbreaking emotion and makes you empathize along with it. 

The Met Visit – Renaissance Painting

I have been to the MET countless of times, and I am still always so encaptured by the beauty of the art. I was lucky enough to have to look at Renaissance paintings because those are my favorite paintings in particular. On top with being fascinated with the history behind it, I think these paintings are extremely beautiful. I also deeply admire them because I feel as though these paintings were breaking free from tradition and were more daring. Renaissance painting where a changing point in our history and they should always be given a lot of significance because of that.

When learning about The Renaissance in highschool it was impossible to not mention the art. It is a staple piece of that time. The Renaissance period went from the 1300s to the 1600s, and it was all about the rebirth/reawakening of Europe. During The Renaissance, literature and art were obviously a significant thing. Ideologies and different types of art were embraced and accepted during this time. 

The Renaissance was a time of beauty in Europe. Before this era, Europe was going through the “dark ages” era. Europe was going through extreme hardships like a plague, religious persecution, famine, and extreme poverty due to social class. All of a sudden, the plague ended and the economic business was better as a result, the rich could no longer dictate how the people under them lived, and there was no war. The Renaissance had pioneers like Queen Elizabeth, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, William Shakespeare, The Medici’s, and many others. 

The art during The Renaissance was very hard to miss. Many had very similar colors and themes running in them. One piece that I saw at the MET that screamed “classic renaissance” was Pietro Di Domenico da Montepulciando‘s Madonna and Child with Angels. Although it is very similar to most renaissance paintings. It has the blues, pinks, and gold all present. However, the beauty of the gold just strikes out at you. It‘s everywhere but it is not overwhelming. Something else that made me know that it was a Renaissance painting was the halos around the madonna, the baby and the angels. Halo’s are a staple piece for Renaissance art. They are showed in bright gold hues or even be dimmed but nonetheless, they are still present in these paintings. It’s a thing of unique beauty and that is exactly what The Renaissance represented. 

Project Outline – Thesis

Topic – Emotions depicted in different forms of art

Thesis statement : Throughout history, forms of art have successfully represented emotions and stories in different ways. We see emotions and stories further deepened in details like body language, facial expressions, and symbolism.

The mourning Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist

Soft paste porcelain 

Giuseppe Gricci (ca. 1700- 1770)

Italian (Naples), ca. 1744 

This artwork can support and relate to my thesis statement because of not only the facial expression that we see on The Virgin Mary and Saint John but also their poses. Both of these figures seem to be in a position where their own grief and shock has taken over and affected their bodies. I also feel as though that the porcelain and drapery gives them a movement and fragileness that makes the emotions and the story be much more affective to audiences

Ugolino and His Sons

Saint-beane Marble

Jean-Baptitse Carpeaux (1827-1875)

French (Paris), 1865-67

When you first see this artwork, you are immediate capture by what you see. I think this supports my theme and topic because we see the emotion all over. Analazying this can make you notice the obvious which is Ugolino (front) and his sons (around him) tortured and sad facial expressions. However, there is so many other details that add to the intensity of their torture. When we find out the story behind it, the intensity of the situation is deepened.

Georges de La Tour

French, Vic-sur Seille 1593-1653 Luneville 

The Penitent Magdalen 

ca. 1640 

Oil on Canvas

Along with Ugolino and His Sons, The Penitent Magdalen is one of my favorites. When first looking upon this painting, the first thing that is obvious is that we do not see the womans face. But, there is a lot of symbolism and the colors used that make it obvious that this is a solemn moment. It brings about a sense of wonder. It differs from so many because we do not see emotion in the face but we receive it from the symbols around her.

Eustache Le Seur 

French, Paris 1616-1655 Paris

The Rape of Tamar 

probably ca. 1640

Oil on canvas

The Rape of Tamar holds a lot of emotion. The name of this title gives away a lot and it shows a lot of fear and a spectator can sense that and also feel angers towards the situation and sadness because of the horrible thing happening to Tamar. The smallest details can add more to the story and the emotion generated from the painting and the emotion in it. Its another effective way in telling a story and invoking emotions. It’s a great piece of art for my thesis

 

Greek Humanism Blog #8

Humanism in art is all about having the human body as the central focus. Humanism can be represented in whatever painting, sculpture, or work of literature. This concept focuses more on realistic artwork rather than focusing on the opposite. During ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, the art was filled with gods and supernatural creatures and it represented a lot of what the people at that time were focused on. Image result for lamassuWe can always refer to the Lammasu that came from ancient Sumeria. The Lammasu was known as a protective deity, and it consisted of a combination between a human and animal. This deity had a human head with a lion body and the wings of a bird. People would put this symbol of protection outside their homes. 

Image result for hunefer papyrus

Hunefer “Book of the Dead” papyrus scroll can all be looked at to show how supernatural was heavily shown in ancient Egyptian. This scroll depicts Hunefer, who was a royal scribe, in the afterlife going through a process to see if he is fit to live in the underworld. We first see him in front of these deities with some type of ritual words or prayers underneath, as if he needed to perform these to them to pass. Later on, we see him with Anubis, God of the underworld, who is looking at these scales that determine whether Hunefer has lived a good moral life. In between the scales we this monster, Ammitt, who would devour Hunefer if he did not live a good life. We also see Toth who was in charge of recording everything. When the scales showed that Hunefer lived an ethical life, he was introduced to Osiris, Horus (Osiris‘s son), Isis (Osiris‘s wife), and Nephthys (sister). In essence, we can obviously see just how animated and how divine art was for Egyptians as well as Sumerians. 

Image result for kouros 600 bce

In contrast we see humanism start to arise in ancient Greece. We first start to see it in the sculpture of Kouros, 600 BCE. Kouros slightly resembled Egyptian statues, like the statues of Menkaure and Queen. But he contradicted them by being a bit more realistic in the body and in the details. Kouros was the representation of manhood and perfection at the time. He was also different in his pose and in the way he was created. He is positioned with one foot in front of the other and the only thing holding him up is his two feet which differ from Egyptian sculptures that would have something behind them holding them up. This statue had transcendence and it was made to trespass lifetimes. 

Image result for polykleitos doryphoros

Fast forwarding to 450-440 BCE, we see a completely revolutionized type of statue in Polykleitos Doryphoros. This statue, in particular, had such a focus on the human body. He had details that just were not seen in the past statues. We see more details in his abdomen, his pose, and in his arms that even show detail of veins. With his pose we even see movement (contrapasto), this figure has some kind of fragileness that was just not seen in the rest of the statues before him. It is much more precise in representing humans. 

Overall, we see how much art has evolved during the centuries. It went through different stages and this classical past was very much emphasized on humanism. It was a such a significant thing that we even saw it present in their myths of gods. The Greek gods and their stories sounded a lot like human problems. These deities had human features and human woes. It’s very interesting seeing just how much impact humanism had on artwork. 

Brooklyn Museum Visit: Ancient World

The Ancient World exhibit was very eye catching and very interesting. The one piece of artwork that I found so pretty and brilliant was Fred Wilson’s “Grey Area (Brown Version).“This artwork was made of paint, plaster, and wood. It consists of five medium portrait heads of Nerfertiti. All of these heads goes from light to dark shades of brown. Theres not much to say to these portraits but describe how beautiful they are. Nerferitit‘s face is very smooth and all her features are just as smooth and round. The head peace she has on in all five portraits is the only thing that has some sort of grainy texture. The eye immediately goes left to right, and the shades are very admirable. It stands out in the hall that it is in. They’re many elements that add to the artwork. The shadows that that these portraits cast is something that I am not sure was meant to be on purpose but it adds an extra dimension to the already three dimensional artwork. It makes it look more statuesque. The fact that it was put positioned higher than the rest of the artwork also is very admirable.

When I first saw this artwork I already knew what the message it was trying to send. On social media in particular, I remember there was a huge debate of Nerfertiti‘s skin color. People were saying she was of a very dark skin complexion and some were saying she was very light. Wilson deepens that ambiguity of her complexion by creating these portraits. 

In making these portraits, Wilson has said “I use beauty as a way of helping people receive difficult or upsetting ideas. The topical issues are merely a vehicle for making one aware of one’s own perceptual shift – which is the real thrill.” What he said captured what this artwork was trying to say. No matterwhat shadeshe was, she was beautiful either way. 

Brooklyn Museum Visit: Soul of a Nation

Soul of a nation is a very breathtaking exhibit. It takes up two floors on one side of the museum, and it is filled with artwork that sends a strong message about african american lives in America. One painting that really struck out to me in the exhibit had to be Archibald Motley’s “The First One Hundred Years: He amongst You Who Is without Sin Shall Cast the First stone; forgive Them Father for They Know Not What They Do, circa 1963-72.“My first reaction when I saw this painting was complete horror but as I started to really analyze it deeper I realized that as horryfing as this is, it really is a representation of the reality of America in years of 1963-1972.

From the start, I felt as though my eye didn’t know where to start because of the fact that there is just so much going on in the painting. This painting is a medium sized oil paint on canvas and the painting has very dark hues of blue but the blue also makes the small hints of red really pop out. My eye immedietly goes to the only part that is light blue, in the painting which is where the tree is. When the eye follows the branches, it can immediately find the haunting faces of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King that are hung on the train. Right under the face of John F I see something that reminds me of stained glass that usually belongs in a church. However, a part of the glass has been shattered right where a figures head is at. My guess is that the figure is Jesus. As the eye follows the branches downwards, we also see a disturbing image of a lynched body next to the statue of liberty. The eye keeps on being guided towards the bottom and this is where we see the blue color becomes darker. The red color becomes more striking when we see the red in the KKK member, in the burning cross, the fireman hat, and as our eye moves to the right we see striking red confederate flag, the blood coming out of the pipe of the house, and the devil that is standing next to the dove. The lines of this painting are fairly straight when we focus on the tree and the house but they become rounder once we focus on the figures ofthe painting and faces that are shown. It’s interesting to see how the darker colors on the left are brought forward with the light color in the background and on the right we see the darker color in the background with aspects of light color in the forefront. Something that I also noticed was the brushwork. The brushwork is precise in the tree and house but it becomes the opposite in the rest of the painting making me feel like everything is in motion and happening simultaneously.

The subject matter seems to be pretty obvious. It shows the vicious crimes that were done in the name of racism. We have the subject of murder come about in just the tree by itself. The faces of two significant figures who were brutally murdered because of the positive impact they had on race issues during the 60’s. We also see the KKK being represented by a member being in the front of the painting and the burning of the cross. The painting also has the representation of the marches that were done. The signs that are shown say “we want to vote,” “we shall overcome,” “freedom,” “we want to vote,”and “black power.” In contrast, we have messages that many white people had for  black people which were “go home niggers and get yourrelief check,” “America for whites. Africa for blacks.” On the right, we see a lot more symbolism. We see a skull which can represent all the death along with the blood coming out of the house, we see the devil next to a dove which can represent how evil was always alongside the peace that African Americans wanted, and we also see slavery being represented by having the women on the far right picking cotton. All these things represent what hundred years of racism looked like. 

This was Archibald Motley’s last painting after five decades of being an artist. Motley was known for painting pictures of black social life. With this painting in particular, it’s almost as if he went out with a bang. This painting is so chaotic and has so much going on and it really does capture the horrors of American history. 

Unit 1 Summary

In class, one of the first things we learned was pedagogy and the banking model. Paolo Fiere was an advocate of pedagogy and created the Bank Model of Education. Pedagogy is the practice of teaching in a theoretical way instead of a practical way. It also focuses on the effects that it can have on students. Out of this, Friere created the Banking Model of Education that critiques the traditional way most teacher. Just like pedagogy, the banking model also pays attention at how the traditional way can effect students. In this case, it effects students negatively. The traditional way treats students as if they are something robotic, just filling them with information without any context. Teaching should mold kids into being critical thinkers and be divergent thinkers. We shouldn‘t just process things the way they are told to us. We should be taught to question everything. I personally was really intrigued with this topic. I loved reading and learning about. Teaching is something I take very seriously because it is something I am planning to major in. I believe that teachers have a duty and this huge responsibility in their hands because they are the ones that are teaching the future. It isn’t a job to be taken lightly and creating robots out of students is such a waste because teachers have the ability to create students who are independent and critical thinkers. Enforcing habits like questioning everything, in class discussions, and including them in lessons can shape them into these amazing adults who succeed in the adult world. It was very admirable learning about pedagogy and the Banking Model because it shows that I am not the only one who thinks that there is something seriously wrong in the education system, and the students are not the one to blame. 

Formal Analysis is a visual description of art. In class we had an in-depth class discussion about formally analyzing a piece of art. We said that analyzing art can provoke us to ask question and when we analyze artwork we usually look for the meaning of the piece, we evaluate it, and look at the central focus, Afterwards, we looked at a video of how to correctly analyze art, When looking at something like a painting, we describe it, look at the formal properties, at the subject matter and the historical context. Formal properties include, scale, medium, composition, illusion of depth, chiaroscuro, foreshortening, line color and material. Something that I really took away from learning about formal analysis was when we were shown the video of Goya 1808 being formally analyzed. I think this video was memorable because I was impressed with how much content was taken out of a single painting. I have always loved art and have always loved admiring it. However, for me admiring art would just be a five minute look at the work, reading the description and moving on to the next artwork. Watching that video made me realize that is an in-depth way of looking at art and by doing so, you can benefit so much more. The two voices that were speaking, would point out things that I would have never even noticed or even thought of when looking at the painting. It was insightful because it taught me how to appreciate art in a profound way.

Learning about the art in the ancient world was not my favorite but it was still interesting. The only reason why it wasn’t my favorite was because my love has always been in paintings, particularly in the renaissance period and seeing so much stonework was definitely new for me. Nonetheless, I still found it interesting because history has always been one of my favorite subjects and this topic definitely felt like a history lesson because it showed how advanced people were even in ancient times. Something else that I did on my own was compared and contrasted the art in the ancient world and the art that I love so much. Ancient world art was very into making the presence of the one who is charge known. We see these messages come out in artworks like “Stele of Naramsi” and “The Palette of Narmar” where the figure who is most significant is larger than the rest in the art. The differences can also be seen in what they wear on their heads and their posture. Another thing that I learned was that artwork of the ancient world was in tune with naturalism. Naturalism being the depiction of realistic things in their natural setting, which I thought to be very beautiful. The artworks that showed that were “Panel with Striding Lion,” “Dying Lioness,” “Deer Hunt, Catal Huyuk,” and “Lamassu.” “Lamassu” was definitely a terrifying figure for me, but knowing that people worshipped a figure like this was very intriguing. Something else that struck me where the buildings and homes that these people created. Artwork like “Pyramid of Khafre,” “Pyramid of khufu,” “Temple of Amun-re,” “Ziggurat of Ur,”and “Ishtar gate” just shows that these people had everything that they needed. Their knowledge exceeded what people expected it to be during the paleolithic and neolithic age. The two pieces of art that are most intriguing to me were the “Ziggurat of Ur” and the “Ishtar Gate.” “The Ziggurat of Ur” stuck out because it was a place where jobs, religious rituals, and administrative buisness were held. Seeing a building like that built and seeing the use of it, reminds me once again just how advanced they were. “Ishtar Gate, for me, was such an architectural beauty that blew me away because I never would have imagined a house to look so decorative and colorful at an ancient time like that. To also find out that a figure like the Lamasu and lions would be put outside houses like that for protection was also really cool. 

Formal Analysis

Formal Analysis is a visual description of a work of art. To formally analyze a work art means that we are looking at the structure of the piece and analyzing the decisions that the artist made in his/her painting. When we are formally analyzing art we are evaluating it, asking questions, looking for the meaning, and looking at the central focus. We are looking for what art is showing us not telling us. In order to give a piece of art a formal analysis we need to describe it, find the formal properties, subject matter, and the historical context. To find the formal properties we need to look at the scale (the size of the painiting), medium (the type of painting it is), composition (placement of the visual elements), illusion of depth (the space that is created), chiaroscuro (light/dark), and forshortening (how close and how far away objects or people seem to be). Subject matter would be when we are looking at what the artist has decided to create. Finding the historical context would be like finding the main idea in a book. It is to find out what story or what scenario is being depicted to us. Historical context can be found through the subject matter. When we are looking at the historical context we are finding the circumstances in which the artwork was created. By comprehending the place where the piece comes from we are able to fully grasp the message and the story that is unfolding in front of us.

Image result for ugolino and his sons