Author: Rachel Swed

Themed Museum Tour- Final Project

Rachel Swed

Art 1010

Professor Shaw

Evolution of Art

Art has been the center of many great civilizations. We see this all the way from the Egyptian art till today. Art has changed greatly over time but its ability to portray emotion or tell a story has remained. Art has become the center of human creativity and has existed for thousands of years. But what impacted artist from civilization to civilization and how did art evolve into what it is today?

In ancient Egypt, art was used to teach or portray a story, mainly for religious teachings and common rituals. Examples of this can be the numerous painting, sculptures, and pieces of gods, pharaohs, and death masks. One example from the Brooklyn Museum is The Head of a Queen, which is dated back to 1400 BCE. As we discussed in class, ancient civilizations loved making art pieces that depicted their rulers to demonstrate their power and reverence. This artwork was chosen because it’s a great example to show how prominent the kingdom was in Egypt. Religion has played a major key in the arts successes from music to paintings particularly in this civilization.

Contrarily, when looking at Greek and Roman art it incorporates humanism. Humanism’s main focus is on mankind, rather than divine or godlike matters. When looking at Greek and Roman art, we see large human sculptures like Kouros seen at the MET. This is a great example because the face, stomach, and legs of this sculpture are polished, glowing, and realistic, making it almost human. The sculpture also has robbed curls on its head, characteristic of Greek/Roman culture. The sculpture is standing on an angle, as if in motion making the figure seem alive. The nudity in this sculpture is a very common characteristic in Greek/Roman sculptures and painting which dates from the ancient time, continued during the whole timeline of art, was the presentation of their culture in everyday life. This shows how their cultures and confrontation with everyday life was shown in their artworks.

As we move out of ancient world arts and into a closer century, during the 19th century we see a slight shift to a different style of painting- landscape paintings which were very popular. Landscape paintings depicted the intense beauty of nature through the eyes of the artist. One famous artist Vincent van Gogh and his most prized work Starry Night seen at the MOMA is a great example of landscape art which is why I choose to use it. One major movement during this time was the Romantic movement which greatly popularized the interest of landscape art. Different art techniques were used and referred to as Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. Impressions strayed away from story-telling in their artworks and instead focused on drawing everyday life. Light and color were very important aspects in impressionist paintings.

In the 20th century, we still see movements affecting painting- one powerful one to begin with-  the rights of colored people. This shows how art can be about what’s going on in society. The exhibit, soul of the nation has many artworks expressing the oppression faced by people of color. The artwork, Did The Bear Sit Under a Tree, by Benny Andrews, is a great example of the movement affecting blacks which is why I chose it. The painting caught my attention because of its honesty and rawness are seen by the aggressiveness of the lines and oil paint used. Furthermore, the rough texture symbolized the place he came from. From where he came, everything was rough – from the fabrics people used to the clothes they wore. That is why he chose to use a rough texture. The man in the painting looks like he is rolling away the American flag. His firmly straight face and fisted hand give him an angry appearance. The caption next to the picture states that this painting is a representation of a colored man during the civil rights movement “shaking his fist” at the flag which was supposed to protect him. In conclusion, I think that the painting successfully conveys the painter’s message. It clearly illustrates that the man is not happy with how the United States is treating colored people. This shows how art was used to portray what is affecting the people in the civilization.

Lastly, when moving into the 20th century we see what is prominent in this century- consumer culture and mass media. This was seen through the new art movement- pop art. Andy Warhol “Campbell’s Soup Cans” is a prime example of this because it shows the mass produced product and it was advertised everywhere- so much so that Warhol used to drink it every day for 20 years! This thirty-two canvas painting represents the thirty-two soup flavors which were displayed on shelves together to look like grocery aisles at first. The bases of this kind of modern art is taking something which is not initially seen as art and makes us think about it in a different way. This art shows what was important then and now-mass production- and how it affected artworks of the 20th century.

Art has transformed over time to become even more complex, and its interpretations have changed as well. Today, good artworks give a different meaning to each individual person. Art can tell a story, depict a beautiful scene of nature, or convey humor. Art does not have to be specific or follow certain guidelines compared to art in the middle ages. If it weren’t to the inspiring individuals who shaped the development of art today, the diversity of artworks we have today wouldn’t exist. From movies to marketing and advertising, modern art is becoming more involved digitally while maintaining the physical beauty of what art is. Art shapes identities and impacts our society as a whole. Art helps creativity thrive and with the constant negativity in our continuing fast developing society, we need to embrace and support art now more than ever. Overall, we see how art changed from civilization to civilization based on what was prominent or important at that time. From ancient Egyptian which religion primed them to make their pieces to modern art where movements and mass media was a huge part of civilizations and impacted what was seen in the art at that time. 

Work Cited Page:

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “Marble statue of a kouros (New York  Kouros),” in Smarthistory, December 20, 2015, accessed December 9, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/marble-statue-of-a-kouros-new-york-kouros/.

Dr. Noelle Paulson “Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night.” Smarthistory, accessed December 14, 2018, smarthistory.org/van-gogh-the-starry-night/.

Gisela M. A. Richter. “The Greek Kouros in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 53, 1933, pp. 51–53. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/627245.

“MoMA Learning.” Lee Bontecou. Campbell’s Soup Cans. 1959 | MoMA, www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/andy-warhol-campbells-soup-cans-1962/.

“The Fascinating Story behind Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans | Art | Agenda.” Phaidon, www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2013/february/22/the-fascinating-story-behind-andy-warhols-soup-cans

Part B-Annotated Bibliography- Final Project

Bibliography: Museum Sites  

  1. Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, “Marble statue of a kouros (New York  Kouros),” in Smarthistory, December 20, 2015, accessed December 9, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/marble-statue-of-a-kouros-new-york-kouros/.

This is useful because it provides two videos that go into detail about the statue Kouros and how it was made based on Greek and Roman Culture. It goes into each feature of the sculpture and what it represents. This is helpful for my project because it offers descriptions on the kouros and what the body represents. This is related to my project of how art evolved when I talk about art in the ancient Greek world.

2. Dr. Noelle Paulson “Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night.” Smarthistory, accessed December 14, 2018, smarthistory.org/van-gogh-the-starry-night/.

This link is useful because it talks about the details of this famous painting by Van Gogh including: the landscape, challenges, and the location. It even goes more in-depth with the colors of the sky. Overall, it does a great formal analysis of the painting extremely useful for my final project.

  1. “MoMA Learning.” Lee Bontecou. Campell’s Soup Cans. 1959 | MoMA, accessed December 14, 2018, www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/andy-warhol-campbells-soup-cans-1962/.

This talk about the time period in which the painting was made and details about the painting that are not made known which I find useful to my project to connect it to other time periods.

Bibliography: Magazines/articles/journals:

  1. “The Fascinating Story behind Andy Warhol’s Soup Cans | Art | Agenda.” Phaidon, www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2013/february/22/the-fascinating-story-behind-andy-warhols-soup-cans/.

This article published by Phaidon is useful because it gave me insight about why Warhol painting the “Campbell’s Soup Cans.” It also talks about the paintings itself and how it was displayed and how he painted it. This is related to my project when I talk about modern-day art and how its way different than the art of the ancient world.

  1. Gisela M. A. Richter. “The Greek Kouros in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. 53, 1933, pp. 51–53. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/627245.

This journal article written by Gisela M. A. Richter is about the Kouros at The Metropolitan Museum. This article provides the significance of the statue of Kouros as well as information on the preservation of the Kouros and how it made its way into The Metropolitan Museum. This article is useful because it provides information on the Kouros and what the human body symbolizes in the statue. This is related to my project of how art evolved when I talk about art in the ancient Greek world.

 

MET Visit

My experience at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was different from the Brooklyn Museum. Just by walking up to the large building was an eye-opener. The inside was widely spaced and was very busy indicating it is a popular museum. The Museum is split up based on Geographically designated collections which I thought was easier to look at the art. When looking at the art on display you can see that Renaissance and the Baroque are vastly different. Although from the two painting I choose to use look identical for a few reasons: women are the main focus of the painting and it looks like a common domestic scene. If you look closely you can spot the differences. For starters, if you look at the painting of “Woman with a Water Jug” by Johannes Vermeer you see the subtlety of the light coming from the window on her headdress and under her arm which is one characteristic of Baroque art. Another characteristic is that the painting is “unstable,” it is a specific moment in time. The lady is picking up a pitcher, putting it down, and opening a window. She is caught in between the two movements. Also notice how she is ruining the balance and stability of the environment because everything is rectangular: the window, the map behind her, and the table and she is in between all of these objects. Now when looking at a renaissance painting, “The Rest on the Flight into Egypt” by a follower of Massys is more stable and looks serene. There are horizontal and verticals like the tree and the baby which are straight unlike the squares. The painting looks calm. It does not look like a transition or a specific moment of time. So even though at first glance these paintings seem similar they are actually from different time periods and areas and are seen to be vastly different based on that.

Final Background and Outline

In my final project I will be looking at: ancient Egyptian, Greek/Roman, 19th and 20th-century art and see how art evolved all the way from ancient Egypt to the 19th- 20th century. Some things I liked to explore are what impacted these paintings and how they are different as time progresses and from different civilizations. 

Each work highlight different time periods I want to explore to show how different the art is either based on civilizations, cultures, or movements.

The five paintings I will be using are:

Campbell’s Soup Cans

by Andy Warhol

1962

The Museum of Modern Art

The Brooklyn Museum

Did The Bear Sit Under a Tree

 by Benny Andrews

1969

” Starry Night”

by Vincent Van Gogh

Museum of Modern Art

June 1889

kouros

700-480 BCE

Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

The Brooklyn Museum

The Head of a Queen

1400 BCE

 

 

Unit 2 Summary

Ancient cultures created many works of art over many centuries. Many ancient civilizations used art to illustrate their religions and cultures. By observing their Art we can see how these civilizations lived, who they respected, and the ideals on which their societies are built. All of these important facts, of ancient civilizations, can be seen through many mediums for example: paintings, sculptures, and palettes. Some of the ancient civilizations that I looked at were: Egyptian, Greek, and Roman. Each of these civilizations has their own unique flair in which they depicted their societal values through their art.

 

The first civilization that we will look at is Egyptian. Egyptian art, shows that their primary focus is on the afterlife and on divine and royal beings. Egypt’s art showcases the worship and praise of the Egyptian gods and kings. This idea can be seen from the work, The Palette of Narmer, which was produced in 3000 BCE. In this work, King Narmer is carved unproportionally large as compared to the other figures in the piece. This fact makes the king almost larger than life. Furthermore, King Narmer is adorned with a large spectacular crown and with a large Sceptre in his hand. To complete his god like depiction he is made to be standing with a royal posture. All these elements make him look truly powerful and godlike. We can see from here how in  Egyptian culture the subjects see their kings and queens as gods. Egyptian art allows us to see into Egyptian society and how they built their society on the fact that their royalty is like gods. Other forms of Egyptian art, pyramids, mummies, and death masks to name a few. These art pieces portray the Egyptian society’s obsession with the afterlife. One of the myriad of reasons as to why many pyramids were built was to be a burial place for the Egyptian elites, their gods, their pharaohs and queens. Once again we see how much effort was put into these art pieces so that their gods can be comfortable because of how much they worship their gods. Another interesting tidbit is that much of the surviving Egyptian art comes from inside the tombs and monuments of Egyptian royalty which illustrates Egyptian emphasis on life after death and the preservation of knowledge of the past.

However, when looking at Greek and Roman art we see many similarities. Greek and Roman societies had very different values from those of Egyptian societies and therefore their art is on a different spectrum than Egyptian art. Greek/Roman art focuses on human figures and humanity as a species, this is called, humanism. In other words humanism centers around mankind, rather than gods. This is what separates Egyptian and Greek and Roman art. This can be illustrated by looking at Greek and Roman art. In one of their artforms, sculptures, we see many human figures. Greek humanism portrays the natural world around us. As Austin Cline says  “it placed human beings at the center of moral and social concerns ” (“Humanism in Ancient Greece”).  This is very different from the ancient Egyptian world, where the art we are looking at is usually different paintings or sculptures of gods and leaders. Rather, This art puts humans in the center, not a spiritual presence. We see this by the many human-like sculptures that were made in the Greek and Roman civilizations. To further the humanist aspect, Greek and Roman art made sculptures look as if they are ‘moving.’ This is a major difference from Egypt’s stillness and stiffness in their sculptures. The movement in the pieces makes the figure seem alive. Another point in their sculptures that made them more realistic was their bodies. The front of the piece shows indents and curves of the stomach, legs, and arms (if there were arms). Greek and Roman cultures are seen in the faces of the sculpture as well as the curly short hair that frames the face. Overall, we see the major difference in ancient cultures by their art pieces.

Although we usually clump Roman and Greek culture together they still have many differences in culture and religion which is seen in their handiwork- specifically in their temples. Greek temples are typically very large. This is so they keep their godly figures and perform rituals inside the temple. Sculptures were usually painted (i.e. like skin tone colored or lipsticked). This differs from Roman culture where the temples were small and rituals were done in front not inside. This is one of the ways in which Roman and Greek art which are usually bunched together in their artwork differ based on religion and culture.

In Summation, we see major differences in ancient art based on what the society believed was important. Egypt put importance in gods and leaders while Greek/Roman went to a more humanistic approach. This, therefore, shows us difference in culture between Egypt and Greek/Rome. Contrastingly, Greek and Roman showed many similarities of commonalities between cultures based on how they portrayed individuals as a symbol of power for the rest of civilization.

 

 

Humanism in Art

When looking at art of the ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian world, the art we are looking at is usually different paintings or sculptures of gods and leaders. The purpose of these art pieces were to show how much the ancient civilizations revered and feared their leaders and gods. Contrarily, Greek and Roman art incorporates humanism. Humanism’s main focus is on mankind, rather than divine or godlike matters. When looking at Greek and Roman art, we see human sculptures. The two art pieces I will be comparing are Hermes of Praxiteles and The Standard of Ur.

Hermes of Praxiteles which was sculpted out of Parian marble. It measures 2.10 meters tall. The face, stomach, and legs of this sculpture are polished, glowing, and realistic, making it almost human. The sculpture also has tousled curls on its head, characteristic ofGreek/Roman culture. The sculpture is standing on an angle, as if in motion making the figure seem alive. Lastly, the marble child, little Dionysus, on the side portrays feelings and emotions.

One example of Mesopotamian art is The Standard of Ur. This mosaic looking piece is made out of shell, red limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen. The first obvious difference between the two art pieces is their size. Mesopotamian art is mostly small pieces that you can carry, whereas Greek/Roman art is mostly lifesize big sculptures. This piece, The Standard of Ur, depicts all the different people in Mesopotamian society, but focuses on the king, as opposed to Greek art where one art piece consisted of one person. In this painting, different people art doing different things, shows how civilization was split up into different levels. We can also see how clothing portrayed social class. The king wore something more elaborate and greater than the citizens on the lowest level of society. He also sits on a big throne while the other people in the painting are standing or working. The king is much taller than everyone else- he’s even breaking the roof. Mainly, this piece shows how highly society thought of their king, because he is portrayed in a way that makes him stick out. This differs from Greek art because their purposes and size were different. Greek art humanized its art while Mesopotamian art elevated its art pieces to a godly status.

 

Brooklyn Museum Visit Part I & II

Part I

 

 

 

 

 

 

When looking at the section of Ancient Egyptian Art, many artworks were familiar to me from what we discussed and looked at in class. One piece I was drawn to was The Head of a Queen, which was made during the reign of Thutmose III. This piece is said to be from Lower Egypt. As we discussed in class, ancient civilizations loved making art pieces that depicted their rulers to demonstrate their power and reverence. This artwork shows how prominent the kingdom was in Egypt. The statue is made out of brown quartzite, which was probably used because of its availability and convenience. The queen is wearing a large headdress. As the description states, the headdress was designed to make it look like a huge vulture with spread wings were on both sides of her face. This symbolizes her importance and ruling over the area. Her big eyes symbolize how the queen will protect her people and should be revered. Lastly, I noticed the nose and chin are destroyed. This could be a sign of iconoclasm, when a person destroys others’ art, in this case, it could have been a foreigner from another country- showing their dislike for this ruler. In summation, this artwork is an excellent example of how ancient Egyptians respected their rulers.

 

Part II

When I strolled through the Soul Of The Nation exhibit, I realized that many artworks expressed the oppression faced by people of color. The artwork, Did The Bear Sit Under a Tree, by Benny Andrews, caught my attention because of its honesty and rawness so I, consequently, chose to analyze it. The first thing I realized was how rough, messy, and aggressive the lines were in the painting. Andrews said that he chose to use oil paint to retain rawness in the art piece. Furthermore, the rough texture symbolized the place he came from. From where he came, everything was rough – from the fabrics people used to the clothes they wore. That is why he chose to use a rough texture. The colors red, white, and blue were used to paint the American flag, and the color brown was used to represent the colored man. The man in the painting looks like he is rolling away the American flag. His firmly straight face and fisted hand give him an angry appearance. The caption next to the picture states that this painting is a representation of a colored man during the civil rights movement “shaking his fist” at the flag which was supposed to protect him. In conclusion, I think that the painting successfully conveys the painter’s message. It clearly illustrates that the man is not happy with how the United States is treating colored people.

Unit 1 Summary

 

Throughout unit one of art, we talked about the introduction and the basics of art. We started off with the banking model. The idea that education is an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor is very much a true concept today. The teacher lectures and makes deposits and the students’ extent of learning is receiving and memorizing in order to get a decent grade. Therefore, thinking and creativity declines, and we simply become depositories for information without analyzing and discussing the data we are given. This is “banking”  design of education, where all the students extend only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits. This topic was significant to me because I aligned with what Paolo Friere discussed in “The Banking Model” because I experienced it first hand in high school and thought it was a horrible method of learning. I enjoyed the realization that this is a universal issue and not something that I alone disagree with.

Another topic I learned and internalized in class was the concept of formal analysis. I believe this is an integral part of understanding art. By using formal analysis, you are describing what is depicted in art not by simply looking at a structure or painting, but by interpreting and evaluating it. You would not understand the true meaning of what the artist is representing in his artwork if not for formal analysis. This idea is important to me because now I see art differently, and it makes me appreciate and understand it more.

In class, we used this to analyze paintings like the “Venus of Urbino” and the “Olympia.” We started off by looking at line, color, and focus. The lines on the woman’s body in “Venus of Urbino” are soft with dark outlines. The main color theme is red and brown. The background consists of vertical lines, which give the illusion of distance, making you notice the nude woman in the foreground of the painting. Before learning about analysis, I would have never looked at any of these components of the painting. I would have looked for a few seconds and moved on. However, all these components are the artist’s choice. Everything is intentional, and no detail is insignificant or not worth mentioning. In one of the readings we were given, the author used formal analysis for an ad for Dior handbags. The ad shows a well-dressed, pretty, and young woman holding the handbag. The background shows many large buildings in an upper-class neighborhood. The fact that they used a famous, gorgeous young woman in an area that looks quite rich makes the bag quite appealing. After seeing that not only art pieces can be analyzed, but everything around us can, I changed the way I look at the art in my environment.

Formal analysis and the “banking model” are two things we learned this semester that I really internalized. The “banking model” is very relevant to my life because it is something that I went through, so it’s a concept I am able to connect to. Formal analysis has given me a newfound appreciation of art and has shown me that all different components of art are connected and come together to portray the artist’s message.

Blog 4-Formal Analysis

The definition of formal analysis is describing was is seen not by simply looking at a structure or painting but by interpreting and evaluating it. Interpreting a piece of art can mean looking at the color, line, and scale of the picture. This can be done by asking questions about the piece. What particular colors were used? How was the quality of the brush/pencil work? Is this piece to scale? Why or Why not? Through formal analysis, you can get the true meaning of the piece and really appreciate it.

There are also a few components of formal analysis. One of them is formal properties. Formal Properties as discussed above are the physical aspect if the work. This includes the color, line, scale, material, illusions, and mimesis. A second component is a subject matter which is the prime focus of the work. But we should also consider how every item contributes to the whole story of the piece. A third component of formal analysis is historical context. When interpreting work, it is critical to consider the time period it was created in. The time period may have influenced the artist.

In the small excerpt we were given, the authors used formal analysis to dissect an ad for Dior handbags. It is shown that a well-dressed, pretty, and young woman is holding the handbag. The background shows many large buildings. The colors are whites, grays, and blacks. The bag is just a simple leather rectangle. However, the fact that they used a famous, gorgeous young woman over an area that looks quite rich, the bag is quite appealing.

Image result for dior handbag and gwyneth paltrow
*The Dior ad.

Students, Teachers, and The Banking Model

 

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire was a book that criticizes the conventional education system. The banking model Freire proposed is that students only receive, file, and deposit what the teacher provides. The only thing students are learning to do is memorizing information that the teacher “deposits” in the students’ brains. The job of teachers is not so the students can memorize as much information as possible but to teach and get the students to think and analyze the work that is given. Therefore, instead of strengthening the students’ knowledge they are only strengthening the oppression the teachers have on them. This causes the students to be disempowered while the teachers are highly empowered, at the students’ expense.

My encounter that was similar to the banking model happened in high school. In tenth grade, one of my teachers wanted us to read a book. To make sure we were reading it, she would give us quizzes. However, these were not ordinary quizzes. She would not ask what was the setting or main theme of the book. She would write a quote from the book and we would have to fill in missing words from the quote. This requires students to memorize the whole book, in case she would ask for a word from a specific page. Quizzes were a decent amount of our grade, so I started memorizing the book. The positive side of this was that I learned how to memorize a lot of pages in a short amount of time. The negative side of it was, I was not actually learning. I was memorizing because I wanted to do well in the class. We were not actually analyzing the book and learning the deeper meaning of it, so I gained nothing. The overall reason I was doing it was because she was my teacher and I had to do it. This is what the school system has turned to, students memorizing texts because the teacher asked them to.