Abstraction to Nonobjectivity

Each student will be assigned one of the following works.

You must answer the blog questions for just your assigned artwork.

However, I would highly recommend all of you reading/watchin​g all of the following links below over all the pieces.

 

Artworks Assigned are:

Greg - Kandinsky's Improvisation 28 (#132)

 

1. Take one minute to list adjectives that describe the following artworks: Matisse's Goldfish (#131), Kandinsky's Improvisation 28 (#132), and Mondrian's Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow in separate columns.

Kandinsky’s Improvisation: chaotic, random, colorful, messy, jumbled, abstract, and confusing

Matisse’s Goldfish: bright, beautiful, slanted, complementary, life-like, and tilted  

Mondrian’s Composition: basic, plain, linear, simple, and proportional

 

2. Compare the three works then craft a one-sentence description of each.

Kandinsky’s improvisation is different from all of the other art works in that it is a jumble of different depictions and ideas. When you would look at this it evokes a sense of chaos. It is as if the subconscious of the brain illustrated itself upon this canvas. This is the prominent aspect of this painting that differentiates it from the rest of the others. Matisse’s Goldfish contrast itself from the others in that gives the most accurate perspective and illustration of life. Even though the painting does not look correctly proportionate and 3-D it is the most life-like. For instance the things upon the table look as if they could never really stay on the top. We are expecting those things to fall of the table. But ultimately we understand what is being illustrated as compared to Kandinsky’s Improvisation where on a first glance at the painting anybody’s guess is good as any. Lastly Mondrian’s Composition Red, Blue, and Yellow is completely different the rest. The other painting represents life but here we see geometric shapes and lines represented here. This definitely when introduced started a new era of art. Never before would this be considered art and received much backlash in its entry.   

 

3. Explore the impact of Freud and the horrors of war on escalating efforts to visually depict the external world, internal emotions, and abstract philosophical concepts in innovative, nontraditional ways.

During this period with the horrors of the First World War many sought to express themselves as a way deal with what they had experienced. This event and intellectual thinking lead to a great deal of emotional and horrific depicted art work of this time period. Because of such a transformative time this resulted in new techniques and styles of art. Sigmund Freud is the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. And during this time period the perspective about the relationship and status of our own thoughts and subconscious was prevalent. You look at Kandinsky’s Improvisation and that it exemplifies what I’m talking about.

 

5. Examine ways Kandinsky abandons representation in the belief that abstraction enables color, like music, to speak directly to the soul.

Kandinsky abandons representation in the belief that abstraction enables color to speak directly to the soul by creating a swill of jumbled imagery in a convoluted way. The mess of the imagery causes the viewer to see the condition of the soul. There is no emphasis on the color of the piece because it is told through the imagery.  

From Abstraction to Cubism

Sketch Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and post a picture of your sketch to your blog.

My rendition of Les Demoiselles d'Avigon

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema

Read the following excerpt, paraphrase it, and list examples of either works that we have studied or images from popular culture, that might be cited as evidence for the statement:

"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at​-ness. Woman displayed as sexual object is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle... she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire."

by: Laura Mulbey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"

   What this excerpt is stating is that there is an imbalance in our society when it comes to nude art. Almost always there is only a representation of women in the nude and not much or any male in the nude when it comes to looking on to the picture with pleasure. This imbalance seems to be driven my males which do it to fit the criteria to appeal to makes desire. The paintings are more about sex and the lust that comes from dwelling upon the pleasures of the eye than respecting the person for who they are. And this also makes since because how much emphasis is placed on the beauty of the women instead of the men. Some art works that fit this excerpt for evidence include the La Grande Odalisque, Olympia, Birth of Venus, and so forth. Each one of these artworks illustrates nude women in the beauty of her nakedness. Some of this, especially the ones that depict Venus are perfect to illustrate the idealistic beauty of them. On the contrary, we don’t see this type of modeling from any male posers.

Photographers

Watch the following video: Early Photography: Making Daguerreotypes (5:43) https://www.you​tube.com/watch?​v=N0Ambe4FwQk Question: What separates people who "take pictures" from photographers? Why have photographers struggled to be considered artists?

   There are several reasons that separates people who take pictures compared to photographers. The first is that people that take pictures do it because they want to capture a certain moment. This could be anything from their meal to a selfie. On the other hand a photographer has an extensive amount of equipment to capture a specific image that evokes a certain tine or message. The photographer might even have to set up what he or she is going to take a picture of. A photographer goes around and takes pictures for a living. This could extend to weddings, or the landscape like Peter Lik.

   Photographers have struggled to be considered artist because at the beginning of its creation it was considered a science instead of art. So when the public majority considers it to be science and then someone comes along and thinks of it another way. They will often receive backlash and it will take a long period of time to change the culture. An artist that paints has to get the paint and create the image. On the other hand a photographer doesn't have to create nothing as all they have to do is capture a moment that is already in existence. They didn't create it just captured it. And so to the public at this time that wasn't considered art as it was as almost you plagiarized nature and other things that were already created.   

Romanticism, Nature, and Human Action

What is the most powerful and/or beautify natural occurrence you have ever experienced? Describe it and its impact on you in detail.


   I have had many powerful and beautiful natural occurrences that I have had the pleasure of experiencing because of Boy Scouts. One of these that combine the power of nature with the beauty of it would be my submit of Mt. Baldy. Just as its name implies there are no trees, grass, or any type of vegetation on top of Mt. Baldy. All there is, is just rocks, snow and ice. As I was climbing the mountain I was on the ground but I still scared of the heights because our so high up in the air and it feels as if you could fall down the mountain since it's nothing but rocks. What made it so different to climb was the wind. At the top of the mountain we felt the full force of seventy mile and hour winds whipping at us. I remember as I was climbing I got down as low as I could because I swore that wind would pick me up and hurl me down the mountain. And actually when we reached the top I quickly dove down on the ground and assumed some cover behind some rocks that blocked the wind for me. Not only did nature show us her might but also her beauty. I could literally see, no kidding, for hundreds of miles in each direction. I felt as if I was on top of the earth. You gain a different perspective on life whenever you summit such a mountain. It is absolutely beautiful to be so high up and look down on all of God's creation in awe.  

Monticello

Sketch the Monticello (post in blog) Identify the classical elements of the Monticello. Compare Monticello to Villa Rotonda and discuss Palladio's influence on Jefferson.

 

   There are several classical elements in Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. For instance the four ionic columns in the center evoke the classical feel. Also the triangular pediment and triogyphs that lay atop the columns bring out that classical element. The classical elements of the ancient Greek Post and Lintel are brought our here. Another classical element would be the symmetry. It is very common and almost always that classical architecture would be symmetrical.  The center dome on top brings out the later roman pantheon.

   Whenever I see the Villa Rotonda I see an exact copy of the Monticello with a slight divergence and on a grandeur scale. Other than a couple of slight differences like more steps, no as many windows and different placement of windows it is the exact same structural idea. Even on the very edge there is a round arch. They both have the same columns and triangular pediment and raised center dome.

  Palladio had an influence on Jefferson. Palladio in his architecture used a mixture of classical Roman and Greek elements and that is very much evident in Jefferson’s Monticello. Palladio has the one that actually made the Villa Rotonda and as already described they are almost like the exact same thing. All Jefferson had to do is look at this building and then the wheels would start turning for his own house. Palladio influenced Jefferson to create his own house like the one of Palladio’s.

Seeds of Revolution in France

Sketch The Swing by Fragonard (show pic of sketch) If this is a quintessential Rococo work, describe Rococo art. How does The Swing portray aristocratic subjects' light-hearted self-absorption, pursuit of pleasure, and disregard for ethical concerns? Discuss how and why middle class responses to prints of such works prompted Diderot's call for moral art.  

 

   At the beginning of the 1700s, and at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, there is a noticeable shift away from classicism and "Grand Manner" (based on the art of Poussin) that had governed the art in France, toward a new style of art called Rococo. This signifies a shift away from the monarchy and towards the aristocracy as seen as characterizations of the art of this period. The art subject during this period and the life style of the aristocracy are defined as leisure as a pursuit and became involved themselves in romantic intrigues. Indeed, they created a culture of luxury and excess that formed a stark contrast to the lives of most people in France.

   The swing portrays aristocratic subjects of light-hearted self-absorption, pursuit of pleasure, and disregard for ethical concerns. For example we see the light-hearted self-absorption in the way that the painting is specifically about the two lovers. Not anyone else, it’s all about their relationship. The background can be considered bland and uneventful for the eye and this helps keeps the painting all about them. The background doesn’t catch our eye or draw us in because we are caught up in what is happening between the lovers.

   This also portrays a pursuit of pleasure because this depicts a plan by the lady and the lover (the one not holding the ropes in the bottom left corner) to get the servant to swing the lady and then she can allow the lover to look up her skirt. He doesn’t want the servant to know this is happening so he is hiding in the bushes. This story illustrates that there is a pursuit of pleasure going on.

   This picture definitely reveals that there is an element of a disregard of ethics. During this time period it was extremely wrong for this type of behavior and actions to be carried on. That is one reason why they have to hide to carry out their scandalous acts.

    During this time period there was a decline of the aristocratic and a uprising of the middle class. This new rising social class had a set of morals that they believed strongly in. Also one reason for the fall of the aristocrats was a change in the way of thinking concerning politics and just the way of life. The commoner people wanted more control and were incited to climb out of their poverty and be a part of their own government. And so it was painting like this that philosophers of the Enlightenment condemned. They demanded a new style of art, one that showed an example of moral behavior, of human beings at their most noble. Really it was the Enlightment and the rise of middle class morals that drove these types of painting away.