Category: Final Project

Final Project (Museum Tour)

Cassandra Moseley

Professor Shaw

Art 1010

Humanism became prominent in the Ancient worlds of Greece and Rome, which are very intertwined with one another. Humanism revolves around the Beauty of the Human form and its Essence. Humanism during the Greek and Roman era of artwork put humans at the center of everything; the human experience is at the center of all events in contrast to previous societies that put God at the center of everything. As time proceeds we begin to see an evolution of Humanism in which different elements begin to enhance this concept, most of which is seen through statues of men and women that were either prominent figures or part of mythology. Though, the evolution of Humanism can be seen through the different works of art that depict children during these Ancient times. Today, I will take you on a museum tour to explore the theme of children being depicted in artwork and their clear demonstration of the evolution of Humanism throughout the Ancient Worlds. We will begin the tour starting with Ancient Egypt.

This first image is Statue of Queen Ankhnes-myre II and her son, Pepy II, ca 2288-2224 or 2194 B.C.E., at the Brooklyn Museum. I am beginning this tour with this piece of artwork from the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. During this time, artwork still revolved around the different Egyptian Gods meaning that humans were not considered to be at the center of the universe at this point. I chose to begin with this particular piece because it is one of the first, and few times we see a child in artwork. In beginning the tour with this piece we can see that the child does not phenotypically display accurate representations of what children look/looked like. The child does not have any characteristic child features that would instantaneously make us assume that this was in fact a child. In the way the child was made to look in this piece, he just looks like a smaller version of an adult, again because he lacks resemblance to children. This piece of work is good to keep in mind as we explore the next few pieces.

The next image I wish to bring your attention to is Hermes with the Infant Dionysus, 4th century by Praxiteles at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. Here we move into Ancient Greece where we see the development of Humanism. During this time we begin to see more art revolved around humans and the human body. I felt as though this piece was important to show on the tour because we can clearly see the evolution of Humanism in  Hermes, but we can also begin to see the development through infant Dionysus. Here we begin to see physical features of children that are similar to what we see in our everyday lives. Dionysus has the round and full face that infants often have as well as a smaller and pudgier body. I believe that this clearly shows development of Humanism in children because if the name of the piece was not given, a viewer could still identify that a child is being represented.

Next, we will look at Marble grave stele with a family group, ca. 360 B.C., Late Classical at the Metropolitan Museum. I brought you to this piece in particular so that we could observe a few details in this piece. In this marble grave stele we can take note of the two women and man, and the chid holding hands with who we could assume is her mother. I chose to show this piece because just like the previous sculpture, we can see a clear representation of a child, this time a little girl. At this point we can see through examining the child that the depiction of Humanism has begun to evolve. One observation we can take into account is the use of size to show that she is in fact representing a young girl. The mother’s hand that is holding the young girl’s hand is noticeably larger than the young girl’s. I would like to point this out because it looks slightly exaggerated, but it can be assumed this was done to show that this a very young child, perhaps between the ages of 5-8. Then, when we take a look at the young girl’s face it is hard to decipher her age range, and if the body were to be gone such as the case with the woman to the left of her, one could argue that it would be difficult to tell that she was a little girl. The size of the head could signify that she was supposed to be a young girl, but the facial features could make one weary. This is why I chose this piece, size is used to clearly depict a child in this family, but the facial features are similar to those of pieces of artwork depicting women. The child has softer features to show a child, but the overall face is still similar to a woman’s. This piece shows evolution in Humanism through the young girl, but there is still an ongoing use of adult-like features on young children at this point in time.

One other piece we will be observing and examining briefly is Bronze statue of Eros sleeping, 3rd-2nd century B.C., Hellenistic Period at the Metropolitan Museum. Even though this piece is representing mythology, we can see obvious evolution of Humanism through Eros being depicted as a child. Brief background for the Hellenistic Period that we are entering is that during Alexander the Great’s reign we see a change and evolution in Humanism. During this time, we begin to see more works of art showcasing different subject matter as well as accurate characterizations of age. On that note, we can really appreciate the details of this piece, which is why I brought you to this piece next. In this piece, even though it is a representation of Eros, we have a child as the main subject matter. In this sculpture we can clearly see many different physical features that are being used to show that this is a child, instead of the reliance on size. Here we see the use of softer lines for Eros’ body in order to give the body a softer and more plush appearance, physical features we expect to see in a child in real life. We even see Eros with chubby feet, again another physical feature that is associated with very young children. Now if we take a look at Eros’ face, the use of soft lines and grooves is used to, again, give the face a softer and rounder look. Also, the tousled curls that Eros has gives him another young boyish feature. I chose this piece because it coincides perfectly with my theme of the evolution of humanism depicted through children. Evolution of Humanism was evident during the Hellenistic Age especially with their true and accurate depictions of children. Here we see more focus on physical features to represent specific age groups instead of the use of size.

The last picture I will bring your attention to is Bronze statue of a camillus (acolyte), Roman A.D. 14-54, Early Imperial, Julio Claudian at the Metropolitan Museum. As time went on the Romans also began to use more children as subject matter, and there was a focus on physical features depicting accurate age. When taking a look back to the previous pieces and now to this one, we can really begin to appreciate the development of Humanism as time went on. Just like the previous piece, in this Roman sculpture we can appreciate the accurate child-like physical features of this young boy. Here, soft lines and grooves are used for his physical features to once again show that he is a young boy. Although his hair isn’t tousled like Eros, it is cropped, but boyish curls are still depicted giving this child a more youthful look. When looking at his face, we see another depiction of a round and soft face to show the youthfulness of this boy, something we associate with children. We also see a slight smile and the softness of the apples of his cheeks, a physical feature that is prominent amongst children. I wanted to point out this physical feature on the boy because it is one of the most child-like physical features to the point where we have a saying “…so cute I could pinch your cheeks”, which is most often said to children; and the Romans captured this so perfectly. We also see his body as having the correct ratios and proportions to that of a real human child. I believe that this was a good sculpture to close on because we can see through this statue that as civilizations evolved we begin to see the evolution in their detailing to accurately portray the human world. This piece helps to further the idea that children accurately display the development of Humanism throughout the Ancient worlds that we have explored and previous learned about in detail.

I would like to end this tour with some final thoughts about the explored theme and pieces of art works that we examined. In the beginning I proposed to you the idea that while men and women are mostly used to show the development of Humanism throughout the Ancient Worlds, children in artworks accurately show the evolution and development of Humanism. Throughout the different pieces that I showed we begin to see artistic development along with civilization development. In beginning with the piece Statue of Queen Ankhnes-myre II and her son, Pepy II, and then examining the other pieces we can truly appreciate the development of artist’s attention to physical features when it comes to the depiction of children; size is no longer the main detail used to depict children. We began to see the use of softer lines and grooves and accurate proportions in order to accurately represent children in the art world, and their classic physical features that make a viewer instantly assume that a child is being shown. The children in artworks perfectly show the development and evolution of Humanism in the art world.

Works Cited

“Bronze Statue of Eros Sleeping.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/hellenistic/v/enamored.

Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “The Art of Classical Greece (ca. 480–323 B.C.).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tacg/hd_tacg.htm (January 2008)

Hemingway, Colette, and Seán Hemingway. “Art of the Hellenistic Age and the Hellenistic Tradition.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/haht/hd_haht.htm (April 2007)

Nichols, Marden. “Contexts for the Display of Statues in Classical Antiquity.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/disp/hd_disp.htm (April 2010)

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.

 

Final Project: Annotated Bibliography

  • “Expressionism Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement-expressionism.htm

The Art Story was my introduction to the expressionism movement. I learned about its origin, key ideas behind the movement, and some of the artists who inspired the movement. What was also very useful was the three examples of some of the most famous expressionism artwork. I’ll be using this as background and base my three paintings off their examples.

  • “Faith Ringgold American People Series #20: Die 1967.” Lee Bontecou. Untitled. 1959 | MoMA, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/199915

Two of my paintings are from the MoMA but I decided to only use the MoMA website for one of them, Faith Ringgold’s, American People Series #20: Die. The reason being that for this particular painting there is a small description of the painting and an audio portion from Ringgold herself. I think hearing why Ringgold painted that particular piece and what she was hoping to share with people will help me better understand the emotional process an abstract expressionist undergoes.

  • Paul, Stella. “Abstract Expressionism.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abex/hd_abex.htm (October 2004)

The Met Heilbrunn timeline was my introduction into abstract expressionism. Where is emerged, what led to the creation of abstract expressionism, and some of the most recognizable abstract artists. What was also very useful about this article was it talked about the goal behind the artists’ decision in wanting to branch out and away from traditional conventions and what about the abstract movement made them stand apart.

  • Ravid, Taly. “Abstract Expressionism.” St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Thomas Riggs. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. James Press, 2013. p14-15.  http://go.galegroup.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&u=cuny_broo39667&id=GALE|CX2735800019&v=2.1&it=r&sid=exlibris

 

  • “The Impact of Abstract Expressionism.” Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/abstract-exp-nyschool/new-york-school/a/the-impact-of-abstract-expressionism

 

Final Project: “The Influence of Expressionism in Social Movements” Paper Proposal

Expressionism was a movement that emerged in Germany during the early 20th century. It began as a defiant response to the conventional artistic Impressionist technique, where the depiction of reality was an objective one. Expressionist artists sought out to portray the world through a subjective reality, where their work depicted an emotional experience rather than the mere impression of one. They accomplished this through distortion and exaggeration of objects and events. The arrival of Expressionism announced new standards in the creation and judgment of art; “Art was now meant to come forth from within the artist, rather than from a depiction of the external visual world,” meaning the emotion within the artist was the most important material needed for their piece (The Art Story). As time progressed so did expressionism. Around the late 1940s, another movement called abstract expressionism emerged in New York. Within abstract expressionism were two broad groups: the action painters, who struck their canvases with powerful brush strokes; and the color field painters who were monochromatic painters. The abstract expressionists derived not only from expressionism but surrealism as well. Influenced by the emotion, “Abstract Expressionist painters rejected representational forms, seeking an art that communicated on a monumental scale the artist’s inner state in a universal visual language” (Khan). Following abstract expressionism came neo-expressionism during the late 1970s. This movement also rejected the standard composition and design and communicated a sense of inner disturbance, tension, and alienation. It was characterized as having expressive brush strokes, highly textured painting with paint built up on the canvas’s surface, and intense colors and most importantly always being focused on the controversial. Each of these movements gave many artists the freedom to express their reactions and emotions and allowed them to present the world from a subjective perspective enabling them to further create styles in which they can be more inventive and abrupt toward social injustices.

Merton D. Simpson. U.S.A ’65. 1965

One of the many artists who was influenced by the expressionist movement was the abstract expressionist painter, Merton D. Simpson. In 1965 he created U.S.A. ’65, a piece in which he used newspapers that negatively portrayed African Americans and incorporated them into his work. The reason that I chose Simpson’s piece was due to his dark and monstrous faces. As an abstract expressionist, your emotions regarding a particular subject must be the main attraction and as for Simpson’s U.S.A. ’65, his emotions regarding the subject are very clear. Not just in the sense of his colors but his overall message of struggle and turmoil shines in his piece.

Faith Ringgold. American People Series #20: Die. 1967

Faith Ringgold is another abstract expressionist painter who documented social discrimination. In her piece American People Series #20: Die we can see different races and both genders trying to kill each other, however, we can see that she dressed everyone the same. In doing so she shows the viewer, “an abstraction about what the fights were really all about… fighting to retain their position in society,” everyone is dressed equally to show they are all on the same level but there will also always be people who won’t let that happen. Through this style of art, Ringgold was able to speak up and tell the viewer a story and not be limited by anything (MoMA). This not only shows the reader what she physically sees but how she felt as she watches undocumented riots like these happen. American People Series #20: Die is a perfect example of the influence abstract expressionism can have on social movements.

Romare Bearden. The Dove. 1971

The last artist is Neo-expressionist, Romare Bearden. In his college called The Dove Romare uses various pictures from magazines, newspapers, and photographs to create something, unlike the previous two artworks. His use of all these elements are arranged in a way that the viewer’s eye is constantly on the move, jumping from light areas to dark areas and from pattern to pattern. In a time when society was divided Romare found a way to use his art to bring people together, figuratively and by literally placing people he found from different parts of the word in his artwork. At first glance, it may not seem as though it flows as well as the other paintings but that’s the beauty of Neo-expressionism, it wasn’t meant to follow conventional standards even within the expressionist movement.

Expressionism was a way for artists to convey more than a simple impression of a subject. This movement challenged them to dig deep within themselves and express their emotions, which in its self can be one of the hardest things to do. Expressionism provided artists with the tools they needed to speak up about social issues and along with their distorted images, helped evoke emotions and ideas within others.

 

Bibliography

“Expressionism Movement, Artists and Major Works.” The Art Story, https://www.theartstory.org/movement-expressionism.htm

“Faith Ringgold American People Series #20: Die 1967.” Lee Bontecou. Untitled. 1959 | MoMA, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/199915

Paul, Stella. “Abstract Expressionism.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abex/hd_abex.htm (October 2004)

Ravid, Taly. “Abstract Expressionism.” St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Thomas Riggs. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. James Press, 2013. p14-15.  http://go.galegroup.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&u=cuny_broo39667&id=GALE|CX2735800019&v=2.1&it=r&sid=exlibris

“The Impact of Abstract Expressionism.” Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/abstract-exp-nyschool/new-york-school/a/the-impact-of-abstract-expressionism

Final Project: Paper Proposal Outline

Topic Question: How did Expressionism influence artists during Social Movements?

Thesis Statement: The Expressionist movement allowed artists to present the world from a subjective perspective enabling them to further create styles that allowed them to be more inventive and abrupt toward social injustices.

ARTIST: Merton D. Simpson

TILE: U.S.A ’65 

DATE: 1965

MUSEUM: Brooklyn Museum

 

ARTIST: Faith Ringgold

TITLE: American People Series #20: Die

DATE: 1967

MUSEUM: MoMA

 

ARTIST: Romare Bearden

TITLE: The Dove

DATE: 1971

MUSEUM: MoMA

 

These five brilliant pieces of artwork all have one thing in common; they are all part of the expressionism movement. In each painting, there is a unique perspective being shown using styles like abstract expressionism or neo-expressionism. Breaking away from accepted conventions, artists were able to distort the world in a radical way for emotional effect. Looking at paintings like “U.S.A ’65” and “Emergency Room” not only shows us what the artist thought of society at the time but it also makes us reflect as to where society might be heading if we continue down a path of discrimination.

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/

http://history-world.org/arthist.htm

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 Outline

TOPIC:

The topic that I have chosen is Humanism throughout history. The reason as to why I have chosen the seven pieces of artwork below for my final project is because they all are related to the idea of Humanism. Each individual artwork represents a time period, before, during, and after humanism and the transition/movement from artwork that focused on religion and deities to artwork that focuses on the ideal human, making humans the center of attention.

Outline:

                                                     Artist: N/A
Title: Standing Male Worshiper   
Date: 2900–2600 B.C.                   
Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art                

Artist: N/A
Title: Stele of Naramsin
Date: 2245 BCE  
Museum: Louvre Museum (Paris) 
 
Artist: N/A
Title: Stele of Hammurabi
Date: 1780 BCE   
Museum: Louvre Museum (Paris)            

Artist: N/A
Title: Kouros
Date: 600 BCE  
Museum: The Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Artist: Polykleitos
Title: Doryphoros (Roman copy)
Date: 450-440 BCE
Museum: Museo Archaeologico Nazionale (Naples)

Artist: Michelangelo
Title: David
Date: 1504 
Museum: N/A
            
Artist: Raphael 
Title: School of Athens
Date: 1509 
Museum: N/A

Annotated Bibliography:
Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris, "Standing Male Worshipper (Tell Asmar)," in Smarthistory, December 16, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/standing-male-worshipper-from-the-square-temple-at-eshnunna-tell-asmar/.

“Standing Male Worshiper.” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/40.156/.

The authors of the two sources listed above both talked about the Sumerian Sculpture called The Standing Male Worshiper. These sources relate to my topic due to the fact that they talk about a sculpture that was made before the idea of humanism. The sculpture is of a man who has his palms locked together and is praying to who the authors believe is the god Abu since it was found in "The Square Temple"at Tell Asmar. 

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Marble statue of a kouros (New York Kouros)," in Smarthistory, December 20, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/marble-statue-of-a-kouros-new-york-kouros/.

“Marble Statue of a Kouros (Youth).” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/32.11.1/.

The authors of the two sources listed above talked about the Greek Marble Sculpture of Kouros. These sources relate to my topic due to the fact that they are about a one of the earliest sculptures that focuses on the human body instead of a deity or a human worshiping a deity. The sculpture is of a young nude man. The sculpture details the muscle on the human body and also shows a sense of motion in the way that its left leg strides forward, one of the firs sculptures to show movement.

Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer)," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed December 17, 2018, https://smarthistory.org/polykleitos-doryphoros-spear-bearer/.
“Marble Statue of a Kouros (Youth).” The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/32.11.1/.

The authors of the source listed about talked about the ancient roman copy of a Greek bronze original Polykleitos, the Doryphoros. This source relates to my topic since it is a sculpture that idealizes the human body. This sculpture was created when Humanism was at it's peak during that time. Similar to the statue of Kouros, the Doryphoros has a sense of movement but different to the Kouros, the Doryphoros has no symmetry, it instead has contrapposto, counter balancing to show that the statue is suppose to represent a person walking. It's one of the first statues that represents a human/person that could be a part of our world.

 

SN: Final Project (Creative Portion)


Above are images of my artwork at different angles that I created for the creative aspect of my final project in this art class. The artwork that I have chosen for my project was Egypt’s architecture, more specifically, Egypt’s Pyramid of Giza. I chose this topic because I am fascinated by how this pyramid is one of the longest lasting pyramid to date today and its structure is very intricate.  By recreating this pyramid, I wanted to focus on the bright color the pyramid contains, its dimensions, reflections and structure. Although the pyramid is 455 feet tall, I created a miniature version of it. The Pyramid of Giza is made out of almost 5 million blocks of limestone and was casted with agglomerated limestone concrete. Because I do not own those materials, I chose to improvise and use cardboard, and then draw many lines to represent the bricks. The Pyramid of Giza insists of tawny tones, which match the Desert it is located in, and the sparkle it has gives the pyramid a polished look. The shine comes from slabs of highly polished white limestone and stones were plated with gold, contributing to the sun reflection upon the limestone. In order for me to capture the exact architecture layout of the pyramid, the looks mattered, which is where the paint comes as an essential aspect. I chose a golden yellow paint to replicate the real pyramid. The shine in the paint shows the shine when the sun reflects the Pyramid of Giza and the sparkle the stone releases. In addition, while making this pyramid, I focused on the elements of composition: line, shape, color, value, texture, form, and space. These elements were vital in depicting a smaller version of the pyramid because when all of them are used together and are organized neatly, it determines what the outcome would be of my art piece. Knowing this, I made sure that the bricks are approximately evenly spaced and the lines show the formation the bricks took to form a triangular prism shape. Although the texture is difficult to portray through cardboard, I made sure to use the color to show the shine and bright colors that the Pyramid of Giza exhibits. Antonio Beato’s,  “Giza, Family of Tourists” art piece accurately displays the bricks, dimensions and texture the pyramid has, which helped me choose how to outline the bricks. It is noticeable that the limestone bricks reflect a dark shadow, which shows the distinction and space between each brick and using a marker, I was able to define the dark shadows and arrangement of it as well. Antonio Beato’s other art piece, “Pyramids at Giza”, shows the pyramid in its original location, in the outskirts of Cairo, and its dimensions as well, which I took into consideration. Successfully, I was able to create the exact artwork using many materials to create what I had in mind. With doing so, I made sure that it was a true representation of Egypt’s Pyramid of Giza, an important structure that holds a lot of history for Egypt.

 

SN: Final Project Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

“The Great Pyramids of Giza.” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/the-great-                         pyramids-of-giza/.

This article gives a history of the famous Egyptian pyramids and how they came to be, along with the meaning it has for Egyptians. Each pyramid built takes part of a royal mortuary complex that also contains a temple. It provides a detailed description of the Pyramid of Giza’s structure, methods used to make it and close up images of the pyramid that I could use to help create a replica of it for my project.

Roehrig, Catharine. “Egypt in the Old Kingdom (Ca. 2649–2130 B.C.).”             The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/oking/hd_oking.htm.

This article tells the history of how during Egypt’s Old Kingdom era, artists began to express their culture’s worldview as architects mastered techniques needed to construct monumental structures made out of stone. Their structures were important to the culture because they preserved life after death. This offers my project insight on Egyptian history and how their monumental structures came to be, as well as helping me understand Egypt’s background and the importance of their monumental structures.

“Giza Pyramids.” Civilization.ca – Haida – Haida Art – Masks, Museum of History, www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/egypt/egca14e.shtml.

This article specifically focuses on the Pyramid of Giza and how it is known to be built by the three pharaohs, Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus. According to the article, this pyramid is one of the only ones that survived the passage of time and it provides images of the pyramid iteself. The insight this article gives helped me learn more about the pyramid, especially because I recreated it myself for this project.

Forman, Werner, et al. “Standing Tall: Egypt’s Great Pyramids.” National Geographic, National Geographic, 24 Jan. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/01-02/egypt-great-pyramids-giza-plateau/.

The National Geographic article focuses on pharaohs and their placements in the pyramid after death, as well as how inscriptions in the pyramids have helped scholars discover new facts about Egypt. Not only does the article offer new information, the images included have helped me define the color, shape and texture of Egypt’s pyramids, which helped me define that in my project.

“Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture.” Scholastic.com, Scholastic, www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3753871.

The article states that Egypt’s temples have been built as palaces and daily rituals, along with seasonal festivals, have been placed as artwork inside the temples. Beliefs of life after death was an important practice to them and it was believed that in order for a spirit to continue living, the body had to be preserved and buried with valuable possessions along with food and water. Due to the fact that my project is about Ancient Egyptian Architecture, this article helps me understand Egyptian civilization, what tombs and temples have provided to Egyptian life and more insight into Egyptian religion and beliefs.

SN: Final Project Outline

Image 1

Title: Giza, Family of Tourists

Artist: Antonio Beato

Date: 19th Century

Museum: Met Museum

Image 2

Title: Sphinx et la Pyramide de Chephren

Artist: Antonio Beato

Date: not determined

Museum: Met Museum

Image 3

Title: Pyramids at Giza

Artist: Antonio Beato

Date: late 19th Century

Museum: Met Museum

Image 4 

Title: Pyramid at Saqqara

Artist: Antonio Beato

Date: late 19th Century

Museum: Met Museum

Image 5

Title: Study of a Pyramid

Artist: Jacques Louis David

Date: not determined

Museum: Met Museum

Image 6 

Title: The Temple of Dendur

Artist: not determined

Date: 10 BC

Museum: Met Museum

Each of these works of art are Egyptian themed and more specifically, they focus on Egyptian Pyramids, which is what I created for the creative part of this project, the Pyramid of Giza. Several of these artworks depict the Pyramid of Giza in a detailed way with a family of tourists and an image of the pyramid from afar to show the surroundings. The others are the Temple of Dendur, a sketch of a Pyramid, and two other well known pyramids Sphinx et la Pyramide de Chephren and Pyramid at Saqqara. All these images show the details of Egypts pyramids and helps me highlight their dimensions, color and surroundings.

Thesis/Argument:

Egyptian pyramids are well known for their massive structures, such as the Pyramid of Giza, one of the only structures to remain intact, and it identifies well with my topic and the works of arts I have chosen due to it being one of the oldest and largest of Egypt’s pyramids in the Giza Pyramid complex.