Author: Sharona Abramova

Extra Credit- “Jewelry: The Body Transformed” at the MET

On Monday, November 19, 2018, I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to check out their new exhibition called “Jewelry: The Body Transformed.” The room was dim with black painted walls with glass columns from the ceiling to the floor with a piece of jewelry inside. This exhibition is all about jewelry, why wear it, and what its meaning is throughout history. They had 5 areas themed for something else such as the divine body, the regal body, the transcendent body, the alluring body, and the resplendent body. It wasn’t necessarily organized by time, but by theme, which was nice for a change. Jewelry is known to be an ancient form art that has enhanced and embellished the human body. Each area had to do what jewelry was attributed to. From the earliest time, it was attributed to the gods. Eventually, it was something that became appealing to the eye and became like a piece of clothing. Throughout history, jewelry has been something that helped others understand the culture of that time. I recognized the names of famous designers of some of the pieces such as Swarovski and Cartier.

 

The Seductive Pearl

Five strand pearl necklace

Cartier (French, founded in 1847)

Made in London, ca. 1926

 

The piece that stuck out to me most had to be the pearl necklace from the Alluring body area. Pearls are my favorite type of jewelry. Also, the company Cartier stuck out to me. Pearls in history were known to be as an erotic accessory. This idea faded in the era of post World War 2. 

This exhibition is my by far my favorite that I ever went to. It was interesting to learn about the meaning of pieces of jewelry in different eras. It gave me the opportunity to learn about cultures were like and comparing it to what it’s like nowadays. I never looked at it as a form of art until I went to this exhibition. I now look at jewelry as something that unites body and art. Overall, I had an enjoyable time looking at the beautiful pieces at this exhibition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Project: Shift of Focus in Ancient Egyptian, Greek, & Roman Art

Sharona Abramova

ARTD 1010 – 9:30 AM

Professor Shaw

Final Essay

Shift of Focus in Art History

Throughout history, art has been a way to understand what was going on during that era. It also has had an influence for the future generations. In civilizations such as Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia, the focus of their works of art were the gods. The focus in art shifted from Gods in Egyptian art to humans in Greek & Roman art. This is known as Humanism. The Greeks & Romans believed that humans should be celebrated equal to or even more so than the Gods in their artwork. The art of the Greeks and Romans is known as classical art.

The Brooklyn Museum

Meretseger

EGYPTIAN, CLASSICAL, ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty

ca. 1479–1400 B.C.E.

 

As seen here, there was an emphasis that was made on the Gods in Egyptian artwork. This goddess, whose name means “she who loves silence,” has a woman head and a cobra’s body. An animal with a human head is a common thing Egyptians did in art. Some background information is that as a local deity, Meretseger guarded the Valley of the Kings, where monarchs were placed in a tomb, and the village of craftsmen who worked there. Though a dangerous animal, her purpose was to protect the workers in the valley, and also sometimes those that did wrong things. Gods were the focus in the art pieces showing superiority over human beings. This is seen in the artwork because Meretseger is not portrayed as a human being.  This shows that the gods were special because they were portrayed in a different kind of appearance compared to humans because of their animal body and were the focus in Egyptian art. 

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)

Marble statue of a kouros (youth)

Ancient Greece, Attic

ca. 590–580 B.C

This sculpture shows how humans became the center in art. This is one of the earliest marble statues of a human figure carved in Attica. Ideas were still taken from history. For example, the rigid stance, with the left leg forward and arms at the side was from Egyptian art. The statue marked the grave of a young Athenian aristocrat. These sculptural types displayed nudity, highlighting their unique hairstyles and abstracted musculature. He is standing while being nude to depict equality & to represent that the physical structure of humans were the same regardless of their social hierarchy.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)

Marble statue of Hermes

Roman

1st or 2nd century A.D.

The Greeks had a major influence on Roman art. This sculpture depicts a built, muscular man standing in a more confident pose in nudity. Humans, like in Greek art, were the core in Roman art. It is a Roman replica of a statue attributed to Polykleitos. Romans tend to add a touch of humor to their artwork and that’s what made them unique.
The art of the Egyptians served a different purpose than the art of the later cultures. Egyptian art was meant to benefit a divine. However, it still did influence Greek & Roman artists. The art of the Egyptians was functional and created for a practical purpose. On the other hand, the later art was intended to be for aesthetic pleasure. The statues made by the Greeks held the spirit of the god or the deceased. The Egyptians thought of art as “functional above everyone else” (Mark, 2017). The idea of “art for art’s sake” was not familiar to them. If they saw how their art is displayed at museums nowadays, it would be incomprehensible to them. Egyptian art is still admired for its beauty and one of the reasons is that they placed a value in symmetry. Egyptian art is often criticized for being not refined because there was a lack of emotion/expression on the face, always 2D, & no light/shadow in the compositions. However, Egyptians did this on purpose. They thought that a spirit of the deity would need to represented the way they are in the pieces of art in order for the soul to continue its journey in the after life and had to survive in some form on earth.
Classical art by the Greeks & Romans owes its influence to the sheer beauty of humanity. Greece was conquered by Rome in 146 BC & that’s why Greek art had a major influence on Roman art. Romans even made copies of Greek art. They believed that a copy of an artwork doesn’t have less value than the original. The copies did often have variations to them. They often added a touch humor to some somber/serious elements portrayed in Greek artwork. They had an ability to adapt & uniquely combine their inspirations from previous centuries & that’s makes Roman art Roman.
Humanism is used in Greek & Roman art and it celebrates mankind by putting an emphasis on the human body. Humanism in different art sculptures evolved as it put more detailing on the body structures and face. They emphasized the body of man by making them have certain poses and different face expressions. Egyptian art focused more on deities & gods to honor them and put them at the center. On the other hand, Greek & Roman art focused on humans and how they’re the center of events.

 

Works Cited

Ancient Egyptian art

Introduction to ancient Greek art

Introduction to ancient Roman art

https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Art/

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https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4178

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253370

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254925

 

Final Project Annotated Bibliography

Reminder! My thesis statement is:

The focus in art shifted from Gods in Egyptian art to humans in Greek & Roman art.

The online sources/articles I will be using for my final paper include:

Ancient Egyptian art

Introduction to ancient Greek art

Introduction to ancient Roman art

The three online sources above offer introductions and the background history of Egyptian, Greek, & Roman art. They each influence the next chronologically especially the Greeks influenced the Romans. They are all useful because I include 3 works of art from each of these civilizations in my final paper.

https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Art/

This article helps you appreciate and understand what Egyptian art is all about. Also, it talks about the type of Egyptian pieces of art seen at museums. I will use it in my paper to show the purpose and meaning of Egyptian art. Also, to show how it made an impact for future generations.

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This article discusses the history of classical art of the Greeks and Romans. I will use it to discuss how the Romans were influenced by the Greeks when it came to art. It’s because Greece was conquered by Rome. Also, it talks about what classical art is all about.

Renaissance vs. Baroque- MET Museum Visit

My experience at the MET museum was different than when I went to the Brooklyn Museum. The outside of the MET and was more striking. I was intrigued when I got there because of the size of it and the nice touch of the sprinklers outside. There was a lot of people there sitting on the famous steps and chit chatting. I was surprised by how packed it was on a Wednesday around 3 PM. I went with my cousin who also needed to go for one of her classes. They have a nice amount of cool exhibits, such as the jewelry exhibition, and galleries to check out from different eras.

 

The two artworks that stuck out to me were the Portrait of a Woman by: Giovanni di Franco from the 15th century (image on the top) & another by: Giovanni Battista Gaulli from the 17th century (image on the bottom). Generally, Baroque art is more dramatic and emotional than Renaissance art. The similarities between these two art pieces is that a woman is the center and focus and that’s why I chose it. I wanted to choose two artworks that had some sort of similarity. The first portrait of a woman has a more serious face, while the other has a little smirk, showing more emotion. The woman in the Baroque art piece has jewelry on her silk dress and she’s wearing earrings. On the other hand, the portrait of the woman in the renaissance art piece has a more plain dress on and isn’t wearing jewelry. Another thing to point out is that the woman in the Baroque artwork has more of a real-life skin tone, making it look like it’s a picture taken from a phone. The colors used in the Baroque art piece are more brighter compared to the Renaissance art piece. Overall, the main difference between the Renaissance and Baroque is that Baroque art has a more dramatic vibe to it and it is more striking at first glance.

Final Project Outline

For the final assignment, I will be doing the first option, which is the paper proposal.

Thesis statement:

The focus in art shifted from Gods in Egyptian art to humans in Greek & Roman art. This is known as Humanism. The Greeks & Romans believed that humans should be celebrated equal to or even more so than the Gods in their artwork. 

The three works of art I will be discussing include:

The Brooklyn Museum

Meretseger

EGYPTIAN, CLASSICAL, ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ART Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty

ca. 1479–1400 B.C.E.

 

From the side:

I will be using this to show the emphasis that was made on the Gods in Egyptian artwork. This goddess, whose name means “she who loves silence,” has a woman head and a cobra’s body. An animal with a human head is a common thing Egyptians did in art. Some background information is that as a local deity, Meretseger guarded the Valley of the Kings, where monarchs were entombed, and the village of craftsmen who worked there. Though a dangerous animal, her purpose was to protect the workers in the valley, and also sometimes to punish people who did wrong things. Gods were the focus in the art pieces showing superiority over human beings. This is seen in the artwork because Meretseger is not portrayed as a human being.  This shows that the gods were special because they were portrayed in a different kind of appearance compared to humans and were the focus in Egyptian art.

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)

Marble statue of a kouros (youth)

Ancient Greece, Attic

ca. 590–580 B.C

This sculpture shows how humans became the center in art. This is one of the earliest marble statues of a human figure carved in Attica. Ideas were still taken from history. For example, the rigid stance, with the left leg forward and arms at the side was from Egyptian art. The statue marked the grave of a young Athenian aristocrat.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)

Marble statue of Hermes

Roman

1st or 2nd century A.D.

The Greeks had a major influence on Roman art. This sculpture depicts a built, muscular man standing in a more confident pose in nudity. I will use this to show how humans were the core in Romanian art.

 

Summary of Unit 2

In unit 2 of this semester, we learned about art in ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, & Rome. Each of these places depicted either gods as the central figure or humans (human body). Specifically, Greek & Roman art had an emphasis on humans, whereas, the focal point of Ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian art were gods & goddesses. One main commonality between all these is that each of the art pieces gives us an idea of what the civilizations were like during that era. It lets us know what was important and honored in that time. There was gradual change toward humanism. There was more detail of human characteristics were placed on the sculptures. Typically, these sculptures were sculptures of nude men to shed light on the beauty of the human body. An emphasis is put on the human body by the different poses and facial expressions seen on the sculptures.

Ancient Greek art had a major influence on Roman art. For example, the art piece known as Doryphoros (spear bearer) is a copy by the Romans of the original made by a Greek sculptor, Polykleitos. This art piece, as seen in the image below, portrays a nude man standing in a cocky pose with his arm raised and one foot in the back. His body is built, muscular with broad shoulders and a six pack. The Romans made small changes and added touches of humor to the original Greek art pieces, where they had a more of a somber element in their artwork.

In the Republican period of Rome, art was depicted by showing the facial expressions that convey emotion and personality of the patrons and their service. This is unlike in the first art piece where the man didn’t have much of a facial expression because the human body was the central focus of the sculpture. This art piece, which is from the mid 1st century that shows a marble bust of a man with a wrinkly forehead, bald head, large nose, an angry looking face with his eyebrows facing down, depicted in the image below. This art piece demonstrated the hard work put into the republic as service or as a leader of the community.

As mentioned earlier, the main focus in Ancient Egyptian & Mesopotamian art were the gods. In Ancient Egyptian art, the gods weren’t even depicted as humans, but animals. Well, not only animals, such as in Anubis. In Anubis (image on the right), as seen in the image below, the art piece shows a human body with an animal head, specifically a jackal. In the artwork showing the Ammit, which means “devourer of the dead” (image on the left), the body was consists of 3 animals, which include a lion, hippopotamus, and crocodile. These three animals were known in Ancient Egypt as “man-eating” animals. These artworks were meant to honor and respect the gods. These two artworks show that the gods were important and superior to humans during that time. They were depicted in a special way with animalistic features to represent dominance. In the art pieces that represented humanism, humans were important over supernatural and divine.

Humanism in Greek & Roman Art

Humanism is used in Greek & Roman art and it glorifies man by emphasizing the body of a human. Humanism in different art sculptures tends to evolve as it puts more detailing on the body structures and face. Egyptian & Mesopotamian art focused more on deities & gods to honor them & put them at the center. On the other hand, Greek & Roman art focuses on humans and how they’re the the center of events. They put more of a focus on humans rather than gods and goddesses. In Greek & Roman art, they emphasize the body of man by making them have certain poses and different face expressions. In one of the best known Greek sculptures known as Doryphoros by Polykleitos (image on the right), the focus is shifted from gods to humans. This art piece depicts a built, muscular man standing in a confident pose in nudity. He is standing while being nude to depict equality & to represent that the physical structure of humans were the same regardless of their social hierarchy. The artwork below (image on the left) is a depiction of Anubis, who was the Egyptian god. In Mesopotamian & Egyptian art, gods were the focus in the art pieces showing superiority over human beings.  This is seen in the artwork below because Anubis is not portrayed as a human being. His head is instead, the figure has the body of a human but the head of an animal, a jackal. This shows that the gods were special because they were portrayed in a different kind of appearance compared to humans and were the focus in Mesopotamian & Egyptian art.  

                                                         

Brooklyn Museum Assignment: Parts 1 & 2

Part 1: Art from the Ancient World

 

The first exhibition I went to was artwork from Ancient Egypt. This exhibit mostly had statues/statues and sculptures of different sizes. The art piece that stuck out to me is known as Statuette of a Male Deity (Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5, circa 2500-2350 B.C.E). This medium-sized statue stuck out to me most because of the marble-looking detail. Marble is my favorite type of print. This male statuette is light grey with black spots making it look like a marble print. The figure has a large wig and unusual clothing, which includes a penis sheath attached to a tied belt. This indicates that he is a deity. The identity of the statuette is undetermined. It’s known to either be done for either a temple or king’s tomb. This statue was the result of a royal workshop. It’s made of a very hard stone known as gneiss, a metamorphic rock. Its structure is a god’s strong, youthful body with muscles by the upper arms and chest, which reflects the ideal of the male form in Old Kingdom sculpture. The deity is in a standing position. He has a conventional pose, with his left leg advanced, hands by sides, chipped knife clasped in right hand, and his other hand is closed. His wig is plain & covers almost his whole forehead, long beard by his chin, has eyes with the eyelids a little closed, wide nose, and thick lips. The figure is standing against round-topped, plain, upright stone column that looks like a gravestone (stela). The condition of this statuette is the body is only to the knees, his right hand is broken, and his left elbow is chipped.

Part 2: Art from Soul of a Nation

The next exhibition I went to was Soul of a Nation, which showed art in the age of black power in the 20th century. These works of art were made between 1958-1983 during the fight for liberation, where African Americans experienced discrimination and racial violence at the hands of white citizens and the state. This area had many paintings on canvases that portrayed a lot of meaning. Specifically, in the artists of New York, the artwork that stood out to me was was by Benny Andrews, Did the Bear Sit Under a Tree?, 1969. This oil painting has an image of an African American man wearing a black and yellow boxed pattern shirt holding up his fists to the red, white, and blue with star drawings American flag, which is made of a sheet of rolled-up rough-looking fabric. The figure is a skinny African American man, has a straight face, and his mouth is made of a zipper. His shirt also appears to be made of a fabric because it stuck out of the painting. The texture used is a burlap bagging sack. Black paint was used for shadowing by his arms, shirt, and face. The painter colored outside the lines and has splatters of paint by the arms and the face. I chose this art piece because the 3D from the roll from the flag and his shirt stood out to me, it’s a painting from my hometown, and it had an important figurative meaning from the looks of it. This painting relates to this exhibition because of the use of the flag and the fist symbolizes Black solidarity. This work reflected the Civil Rights protests of the 1960s and it portrays “a black person who is shaking his fist at the very thing that is supposed to be protecting him [the flag] and that he’s operating under” (Andrews). This painting really showed me what the blacks were going through during that era because of the detailed unhappy expression on the figure’s face. They couldn’t rely on the American flag to protect them.  

Summary of Unit One

Unit 1 of Art 1010 this semester has been enlightening for me. I learned about 2 interesting concepts/topics, which include the concepts of critical pedagogy & formal analysis. Firstly, critical pedagogy has to do with Paulo Freire’s book known as “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” In this book, Freire came up with the concept known as The Banking Model. The “Banking Model” touches upon the relationship of students and teachers, specifically how students learn and teachers teach in a classroom. The role of students in a classroom is to remember the information their teacher gives them. The students just take in the information that’s given to them and memorize it for the exam. The “Banking Model” is prevalent and it stops students from developing certain skills that make them critical thinkers. It doesn’t give students a chance to say their opinion or to bring out their creativity, but to just absorb the information the teacher teaches in a classroom. This leads to the disempowerment of students and empowerment of teachers at the expense of students.

Secondly, formal analysis is describing visually and emphasizing the formal elements of an art piece. Formal analysis affects what the art piece represents. The ‘how’ and ‘why’ when it comes to art include interpretations on visual evidence which come from formal analysis. Formal analysis is a RE/presentation when it comes to analyzing the formal elements of the art piece. The properties of formal analysis include line composition, texture, color, size/scale, modeling (chiaro/scuro- illusionism), material, contrast, position, mimesis, etc. All of these elements bring out the meaning and evaluation of the art work. All components are the artist’s choices, everything is intentional & no detail is insignificant. The question that formal analysis answers is “What do you see in this piece of art?“ In class, we formally analyzed the art piece of Titan, Venus of Urbino (1538). Some observations we included were the lines (soft lines on woman’s body), dark outlines, and color (red/ brown).

Formal analysis helped teach me that art pieces have deeper meanings and every little detail in the piece counts. Now, when I will go to a museum, I will have a different outlook than I did and I will be able to approach the art pieces I see in a proper manner. I’ll take all the concepts of formal analysis and it will help me figure out the meaning of the artwork displayed in front of me. Every little detail in an art piece has a reason as to why it’s there and I will make sure to take that into consideration.

In addition, learning about the banking model mattered to me because I was able to relate to it because that’s what I went through in high school. I don’t feel like my high school experience led me to become a critical thinker. Instead, college is what helped, through the amazing professors I had and have. I am more encouraged in college to voice my opinion because of the discussions in class. In high school, most topics were censored because I went to  Jewish school and some teachers were closed-minded. In Brooklyn College, thus far, I never experienced the banking model. My college experience has helped me become the critical thinker I am today and helps me be more creative in the way I think because of the open-mindedness.

I enjoyed learning these concepts in unit one and I can’t wait to see what equally better or better concepts unit 2 has in store!

What is Formal Analysis?

Formal Analysis is describing visually and emphasizing the formal elements of an art piece and it’s important to note that every little detail has a reason as to why it’s there. Formal analysis affects what the art piece represents. The ‘how’ and the ‘why’ when it comes to art include interpretations on visual evidence which come from formal analysis. Formal analysis is a RE/presentation when it comes to analyzing the formal elements of the art piece. 

The properties of formal analysis include:

  • Line composition- lines can be horizontal, vertical, straight, curved, thick or thin. This leads our eyes around the composition and show character and direction. 
  • Texture- (ex. let’s say an art piece has a picture of a man wearing a shirt and you are able to tell the material of the shirt he is wearing)
  • Color- neutral or bright colors which can show dullness
  • Size/scale 
  • Modelling- chiaro/scuro (illisionism)
  • Material- the tools used
  • Contrast
  • Position -> composition
  • Mimesis, which means realistic

All of these elements bring out the meaning and evaluation of the art work. These components are the artist’s choices, everything is intentional & no detail is insignificant or not worth mentioning ! The bottom line is that the question that formal analysis answers is “What do you see in this piece of art?“