Author: Ruth Merisier

Final Project: Museum Tour

In this assignment, I will be taking you on a journey through my own version of the “Soul of a Nation” exhibition. I will be discussing African American hardships/struggles and the people who helped black people gain the freedom they deserve.

African Americans have been struggling to get freedom since the times of slavery. They been oppressed by white people for centuries. Black people have endured so much from slavery, racial inequality, and incarceration of black people. Although the road for African Americans has been rough throughout history, they were able to preserve through the struggle with the help of various people.

The first painting we will be looking at is The First One Hundred Years by Archibald Motley.

In this painting, Motley creates a spine-crawling piece of artwork. There are many things going on in this painting. When I first saw this, one of the first things that caught my eye was the lynching of the person. Throughout history, lynching was a form of punishment that was given to only black people. It was a cruel moment in time that African Americans had to go through. If you look closely you can see two signs that says “whites only” on the left side and “colored only” on the right side. During the 60s, black people and white people weren’t allowed to be anywhere together. Whites had their own bathrooms, salons, stores, and even water fountains. Black people weren’t racially equal to white people. This painting shows the many trials and tribulations that black people had to go through as a race and Motley does a good job portraying what African Americans went through.

 

We now move on to the painting  Unite by Barbara Jones-Hogu

In this painting you can see that there are a group of African Americans joining together for a cause. Looking at their hairstyles and the shape of their hands, you can see that they are apart of the Black Panther Party. The party was a movement that formed during the times of the Civil Rights. The group was created to help African Americans through police brutality. In the times of the Civil Rights movement, black people endured extreme brutality from police officers. They have been beaten and bruised by officers. In today’s society, there are many black people who were unarmed that have been struck down by police officers. African Americans have formed a new movement (Black Lives Matter) uniting together to fight and bring justice to those who has been slain by white police officers.

 

As we make our way through the exhibition, we come across another painting, Black Prince by Jarrell A. Wadsworth

This painting is a of a well-known person in history. Malcolm X is a known activist that helped black people get the justice they needed. This painting is different as Wadsworth uses letters and words to create it. As you look at the painting you can see that across the left side of his face it reads “Black Prince”. As you look down, there is a phrase across Malcolm’s shirt . It reads “I believe in anything necessary to correct unjust conditions political, economic, social, physical, anything necessary as long as it gets results”. Malcolm X was willing to do whatever it took to get justice. He didn’t care if it were violently or calmly; as long as it got the job done it didn’t matter. Malcolm X witnessed the injustice that black people were going through and was determined to make sure that justice was serve.

 

The next painting that we will be seeing is April 4 by Sam Gilliam

This painting created by Sam Gilliam is based on the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. He is known for helping African Americans be racially equally. He is best known for being one of the pioneers for the Civil Rights movement. He’s famous for holding many protests. Compared to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, wanted to have nonviolence protests. He wanted to peace in getting the justice that black people deserved. In doing what he could to help, he too was treated poorly by white people. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. His life was taken away because he wanted to fight for the equality for African Americans. In the painting there are colors of red to represent the blood of King Jr.

 

As we come to a close on this exhibition, we see our final artwork.

Curtain for William and Peter by Melvin Edwards

This metal sculpture is made from barbed wire and chains. For every two wire there is a chain attach to them. This sculpture was created to for both slavery and incarceration. During the times of slavery, African Americans were constantly in chains. They had no freedom and they weren’t considered human beings. They were treated poorly and worse than animals. They were beaten and bruised everyday from their owners. Some slaves did running away to get the freedom they needed. When we see barbed wires, we often think of jail. There are many African Americans who are incarcerated. They are the race that has the most inmates in jail. There are black men who are also wrongfully convicted. Black people has endured so much wrong and so much hate from white people.

 

Through this mini exhibition of the “Soul of a Nation”, we learned that African Americans have gone through many hardships throughout the years. They were beaten and bruised fighting for the freedom and justice they deserved. During the times of slavery, the civil rights movement, and even incarceration, black people continued to unite and stand together. Activists such as  Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X did everything they could to help African Americans become integrated with white people. Despite all that black people have gone through as a race, they were able to unite and preserve through the struggles together.

 

Annotated Bibliography

The Atlantic Monthly; August 1963; Letter from a Birmingham Jail; The Negro Is Your Brother; Volume 212, No. 2; pages 78 – 88.

This article was a letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. The letter discusses the urgency to have a nonviolent protest. He stresses the many reasons as to how important having a nonviolent protest would be. This article is useful to my topic because Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the pioneers who helped contributed to black people having the same rights as white people.

 

Bortolot, Alexander Ives. “The Transatlantic Slave Trade.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/slav/hd_slav.htm (October 2003)

This essay discussed about the transatlantic slave trade. It was an exchange mainly between Africa, Europe, and America. As America was forming they needed more laborers. Europe was constantly conquering and needed slaves as well. Slaves were brought through the Atlantic ocean from Africa to Europe to America. Black people had no say as to what they wanted to do. They were treated like objects and properties instead of human beings. This essay is related to my topic because it discussed the struggles that black people went through.

 

X, Malcolm. Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements  https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ShfNyQrAa-YC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=malcolm+x+and+racism&ots=BA-eMqObLI&sig=SvyLqzvGHAAfy1IBpWq_o-Afua8#v=onepage&q=malcolm%20x%20and%20racism&f=false

This book by Malcolm X discuss some of the important speeches that he wrote. He discusses the involvement that he will be in regarding human rights for black people. He also discusses the meaning of a revolution. This book is relevant to my topic because Malcolm X helped black people gain the freedom and help preserve through the struggle even though it was in a violent way.

 

Clayton, Dewey M. “Black Lives Matter and the Civil Rights Movement: A Comparative Analysis of Two Social Movements in the United States.” Journal of Black Studies 49.5 (2018): 448-80. Web.

This article depicts a comparison between the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. In the 1960s, African Americans were fighting to have racial equality as white people. In today’s time, African Americans are now fighting from police brutality against white police officers. In both movements black people had to fight and are still fighting to get the justice that they deserve as human beings. This article relates to my topic in that it talks about the struggles that black people have gone through and are still going through.

 

Davis Y., Angela. Women, Race, & Class  https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=74QzFiv1w10C&oi=fnd&pg=PA30&dq=angela+davis+and+race&ots=HqEu78QMt0&sig=NOOdacGfAvIYXw89RgCC_Sac2vM#v=onepage&q=angela%20davis%20and%20race&f=false

This book discusses the Anti-Slavery movement and women. The anti-slavery movement is an abolishment society. Men who were free joined together to create this movement. White women eventually decided to join to show that they were more than just housewives. They wanted have rights just like black people. This is relevant to my topic because it discusses about African American hardships.

 

Outline/Background

Topic: African American hardships and the people who help paved the way to their freedom.

Thesis: Although the road for African Americans has been rough throughout history, they were able to preserve through the struggle with the help of various people.

Wadsworth A. Jarrell (American, born 1929). Revolutionary (Angela Davis), 1971. Brooklyn Museum

Wadsworth A. Jarrell (American, born 1929). Black Prince 1971. Brooklyn Museum

Barbara Jones-Hogu, Unite, 1969-71. Brooklyn Museum

Various Artists Wall of Respect 1967-1971. Brooklyn Museum

Sam Gilliam, April 4, 1969. Brooklyn Museum 

Melvin Edwards, Curtain for William and Peter, 1969/2012. Brooklyn Museum

Archibald Motley, The First One Hundred Years (1963-72). Brooklyn Museum

Joseph, Cliff  Blackboard 1969. Brooklyn Museum

Met Museum Experience

This was my second time going to the Met. This experience was interesting because I forgot how much bigger it was compared to the Brooklyn Museum. I was able to see a vast collection of art from both the Renaissance and the Baroque period. In the Renaissance period, they focus more on religious aspects while in the Baroque period they focus more on the action. The paintings has a freeze moment in time. Within the Renaissance period, a piece of art that caught my eye was the “The Dormition of the Virgin”. It is part of a double sided piece. I liked this painting because it has a vast amount of colors that instantly caught my attention. Like all the other renaissance paintings that I’ve seen, this one had a religious aspect to it. The painting focused on the Virgin Mary. She has passed away. She was the only person in the entire painting to have the golden halo around her head. She was surrounded by some of Jesus’s disciples and Mary Magdalene who is in the red clothing and holding a leaf branch. Mary Magdalene is also seen crying and wiping her tear. One of the disciples is reading the bible (the Catholic version) as everyone else is paying attention. In the Baroque period a piece of art that caught my eye was the “The Abduction of the Sabine Women”. In this piece there were so many things going on. In the front you can see a woman that is going to be taken away. You can also see a man who looks like his the head leader in charger. On the right you can see that there is a fight going on between people.

      

  

     

Unit 2 Summary

The Ancient World in the unit two consisted of Greece and Rome. It has many vast pieces of art between the two cultures. They were some things that were similar between the Greek and Roman art. They both use contrapposto. In Greek art, we learned that it has several periods including Geometric, Archea, Classical, late Classical, and Hellenistic. We also learned about the term contrapposto which is shifting of the weight. The classical period emphasizes on balance. It also has a detached notion of beauty. The classical period also focuses on control, discipline, and mimesis (imitation of nature). The sculptures made in this period were perpendicular. In the Hellenistic period, it focused more on drama, action, and strong emotions. The sculptures during that period were diagonal.

The Aphrodite of Knidos model was the first female nude sculpture in Greek art. It was part of the classical period. In Greek art, it was highly inappropriate to draw and display female nudity. Unlike the other models, this sculpture didn’t have a female model to create the full figure of the model. The Seated Boxer sculpture is part of the Hellenistic period. In all of the sculptures that we’ve seen in Greek and Roman art, this was the first sculpture in where the subject isn’t standing. Standing figures represented nobility while figures that were sitting represented as humility. The figure is bronze which is different from the other sculptures we’ve seen which were marble. His face looks realistic and you can see the nicks and gashes on his face along with the swollen ear. His posture seems as if he is drained and exhausted.

In the Roman Republic, they emphasize on portraiture. A good successful portrait shows who you really are as a person. We learned about the term verism which is truth. The Romans also valued age. The older the person the more wise the person is. In Roman art they prefer clothed sculptures. In the Aule Melete sculpture, the clothes are on. Compared to the Greek art, this sculpture is represented as a scholar and a person of wise character instead of a young athletic person. The man has his hand out as if he is talking to a group of people. His beard is non-existent. If you have a beard, it automatically determines you as a soldier because you wouldn’t have the time to shave.

Overall, the Greek and Roman art had interesting pieces. The difference in context changes as time goes on. I learned a lot about these cultures and hope to see more sculptures in the future.

              See the source image

Humanism in Greek and Roman Art

The suffix in the word humanism is “ism” which means a movement or a system or a way of thinking. The word human is a being that has articulate speech, mental development, and upright stance. Humanism is the system or movement of human beings. In terms of art, humanism shifts the focus in where man becomes the agent for change. It emphasizes the value and individuality of humans. In Greek and Roman art, humanism is very common as it is the main focus in majority of the pieces of art. In Egyptian and Mesopotamian art, they focus more on a higher power that is greater than mankind where as in Greek and Roman art, they focus more on the human itself.

On the left we have the Sumerian art of the Standing male worshipper and on the right we have the Greek art of the Kouros of Kroisos from Anavysos. In the Sumerian art piece, it represents a religious standpoint.  The figure is a sign or a symbol of a higher power. The figure is covered and has detailed lines below (almost like a dress or a robe). In Mesopotamia, nudity was a sign of humility which is why the figure below isn’t nude. The eyes in the male worshipper piece are wide and distinct and is one of the first things that draws your eyes. In the Greek art piece of the Kouros of Kroisos from Anavysos, the figure has more features of a human than of a higher power. It has one foot in front of the other and is completely nude. For Greek, nudity was a sign of culture and pride. The men and boys that were sculpted all appeared nude as it was a way to show strength and power. The eyes in the pieces aren’t as distinctive as the male worshipper.  In both art pieces, they have very intricate waves and beads/braids to represent the bread on the Standing male worshipper and the hair on both the Kouros of Kroisos from Anavysos and the male worshipper. Both pieces are also proportionate in symmetry and are stiff.

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Brooklyn Museum Assignment: Soul of a Nation

In the Soul of a Nation Exhibit,  I came across so many great pieces of artwork from the Angela Davis and Malcolm X piece to the Wall of Respect mural. One of the pieces that crossed my eye was the “Blackboard” painting. The artist uses a variety of warm and cool colors from green and white to represent an actual blackboard to red and orange in the clothing of the two subjects in the middle. The lines are smooth and continuous. The artist used just the amount of scale to show both the writing and the subjects. In this painting, it seems as the two subjects are teacher and student. The painting reminds me of a  school setting. It could be Black History Month and for class the teacher is showing the student an alphabet acronym of African countries, African American pioneers, and words that come to mind when one thinks of black people and all that we’ve been through.

I chose this painting because we need more teachers teaching students about black history. Black people have endure so much for years and are still enduring a lot. I know that there are many educators and parents who teach their students/kids about black history and its culture. There are many people who are unaware of the many people who helped us as a race to come together with other races as a society. This painting relates to the rest of the exhibition because it has aspects that relates to black history. The painting showed names of those who helped us from education to living in society with one another (such as Dubois, Malcolm X, Sojourner Truth, Toussaint L’oeuvre, and more). This painting also had empowering words such as “victory, justice, freedom, black power…” which showed how far we’ve come as a race and as a community.

Brooklyn Museum Assignment: Near Eastern Art

In the Ancient Egypt exhibit, I saw the “Eagle-Headed Genie Between Two Sacred Trees”. The first thing that caught my eye was the eagle’s head. As discussed in class, this relief reminded me of the “Lamassu”. We were told that in that time period, animals were portrayed a lot in paintings and sculptures. The relief has the head of an eagle and the body of a human where as the “Lamassu” has the head of a human, body of a lion/bull, and wings. In Near Eastern art, animals heads were a sign of divinity (the figure of being a god with qualities somehow related to the animal they are associated with). In Assyrian reliefs, the wings identified this figures as being supernatural. Both the human- and eagle-headed winged figures are genies, they were considered to be supernatural attendants to the king. The ones with eagle heads are considered to take more of a protector role, with their fierce qualities thought to frighten away evil forces.

The relief had many intricate lines to enhance the wings or the trees. Metal tools like chisels were certainly used to carve the initial shapes. Fine details are created with abrasives. The artist uses scale to emphasize the genie more than the trees.

In both of the  genie’s hands, he has a cone in one hand and a basket in the other. The eagle-headed genie was tending to a stylized palm tree which was a symbol of the fertility and prosperity of the king and his kingdom. By his arm, there are two daggers tucked underneath his garment. These daggers served more of a decorative purpose. In these reliefs, you can only see the handles which would have been inlaid with colorful stones. Some of these figures also carry whetstones, used to sharpen blades. These whetstones are carved with animal heads.  The first object from the left tucked into the genies clothing near his chest is a whetstone, the head of a calf poking out at the top.

 

 

 

Unit One Summary

In Unit One, there were many things that I’ve learned. First, I learned about formal analysis. In formal analysis, the viewer looks at the visual components of the work of art. Some components of formal analysis includes color, line, scale, and space/mass. In color, I would examine how the artist uses the range of colors (from warm to cool) in the work of art. In line, I would examine how the artist uses smooth continuous lines or broken lines in a painting. In scale, I learned that an artist uses this component to indicate the importance of a figure. In space and mass, I learned that these two components mainly refers three dimensional works of art and to the weight of the artwork.

I also learned about the banking model/concept. This model was created by Paulo Freire. The model was created for educational purposes and it basically stated that teachers knew everything and that students didn’t know anything except what the teachers told them. In my opinion, the model was created to lift up teachers and degrade students. The model stripped students in expressing themselves and their creativity. I believe many people has experienced this model at least once in their years of schooling. The teacher would know the material but not know how to teach it. This caused students to then space out or fall behind and possibly fail the class.

Lastly, I learned about art in the Ancient World. In the Ancient World, I learned that in most works of art, the king was always the biggest figure in the entire piece. My favorite work of art was the “Standard of Ur”. It was cool to see the various layers in which the work was portrayed. Seeing both sides that told two different stories was also nice to see. It was also great that it has many colors instead of one specific color. One side of piece was about social class and status. You could easily distinguish the different classes from laborers (who were at the bottom) to the king and his wise men (who were at the top). On the other side, it showed a battle scene in where there were enemies who trampled by chariots and people who were taken into prison.

Overall, I learned a lot in Unit One. I learned the various ways to view a piece of art. The many components that goes into evaluating a work of art is important because not all artworks are the same even if they were in the same time period. I then learned about the banking model which really empowers teachers and students have a disadvantage in showing their capabilities. From the banking model, we finally moved on to the Ancient World. I saw the different works of art that the people of Mesopotamia and Egypt did. It was interesting to see how the pieces of art flowed as time went on.

 

Formal Analysis

Formal Analysis is a method in which one looks at both the visual and physical aspects in different works of art. When dealing with formal analysis you are looking at the work to see what the artist is trying to say visually. When looking at the work of art, you are exploring the visual effect of work of art. Some components when dealing with formal analysis are: color, line, space and mass, and scale. With color, the viewer has to first distinguish the different ranges of color such as primary (red, blue, yellow) or secondary colors (green, purple, orange). The viewer also has to determine whether the artist has used warm colors or cool colors in the art. One has to look at the saturation of the art, whether the art is of high saturation (easy to recognize) or low saturation (hard to recognize). A term used by art experts is called value which is whether the relative of light is more white or black. With line, a viewer first has to see if the art is two dimensional or three dimensional. With two dimensional works of art, artists use linearity which is how the art piece really shows line and linear contours. Artists also use painterliness which is  how the artist uses light and dark in the art piece. A viewer also needs to see whether or not the line(s) the artist uses in the work of art is strong and continuous or broken up into small hatches pieces. With space and mass, space mainly refers to the three dimensional works of art. Mass is the weight or the volume of the art piece. With scale, the viewer has to relate the size of specific figures. In two-dimensional works of art, scales are used to help stress the importance of a person or an object. All these components combined together used by the artist is called composition.