Ming Dynasty

During the Ming Dynasty artwork took on the familar subjects of landscapes, flowers, human figures etc. Their style is still all their own. I particularly like the paintings of this time because they are simple and with detail in all the right places. They usually have a story behind them or relate to a belief of the Chinese people. Twin Cranes b Plum Tree In Snow by Bian Jingzhao is an example of the art of the Ming Dynasty. This painting is Ink and color on Silk. One of the cranes is resting while the other is pointed up to the plum blossoms. The artists also left the mountains blank without snowy white caps to make the cranes and the blossoms really stand out.

Non-Western Arts

Wifredo Lam is a Cuban artist well know from is Afro-Cuban Style. Lam had a unique style but had great influence by Picasso. His paintings are excentric and pleasing to the eye. Wifredo Lam’s painting “The Jungle” was started in 1942 and finished in 1944. This painting is known to be his masterpiece. Lam’s style, polymorphism, contrasts different parts of the subject such as humans in this painting. Notice the feet and bums are large where the legs are skinny poles. I like this piece because of the wild colors and the people intermixed in the plants. This is a great, unique style!

Virtual Exhibit-Street Art

Street art became very popular in the 60′s and has grown from there. When most of us think street art we think graffiti and illegal activity but it is much broader than that. Street art allows artist to create work that wouldn’t likely get into a gallery and it reaches a much larger audience. Two artists that made street art famous for something other than graffiti, Julian Beever and Kurt Wenner. Both of these artists, legally, created master pieces art sidewalks all over. Using chalk they created 3 dimensional murals full of great fantasy, imagination and even renaissance work.

Julian Beever is Belgium based but has worked all over the world as a freelance artist. Beever made his start in the mid 1990′s using a technique called Anamorphosis, which makes the drawing look 3D from a certain angle. Beever also paints wall murals with acrylic paint, oil paintings, collages and wood panelled drawings. A few of Julian Beevers drawings:

Some of Beevers drawings were portraits. This one is of Queen Elizabeth 1. This was done on Oxford Street, London in 1999.

This one is more of a scene, the little girl is real but the rest is drawn around her. This appeared in the Daily Mail on December 22, 2008.

This last photo Beever drew a butterfly with a shadow so it lookes like in air. This was done in Mexico City, aired on Episode 9 on the television series Concrete Canvas.

Kurt Wenner is another street artists who uses the medium chalk and sidewalks. American born Wenner first started drawing at 16 and by 17 had a career creating artwork. Wenner worked for NASA painting future space drawings and when he left he moved to Italy to study art further. Unlike Beever, Wenner’s drawings are a bit more classic, old world drawings, angels and demons. Along with the street art, Wenner also does murals, oil paintings and sculptures. A few pieces of his work:

This is The Last King of Singapore in the 14th Century. Located at the National museum of Singapore.

This Drawing was inspired by the game, Gears of War. Done in 2006 this shows monsters from the game coming from a hole in the ground.

This painting, Reflections, the human figures are essential to the piece for they are looking down at themselves.

All of these chalk drawings are done on pavement and are a form of Street Art. So many different subjects and all 3D. I like this form of art because you can watch the artists in action while they are creating. It is amazing how they can take a simple sidewalk and make it come to life!

Ref:

http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_art

http://hubpages.com/hub/AwesomeKurtWenner

Early Modern

I was intrigued by Louis Armstrong and the way he played his trumpet and sang with such passion. Louis Armstrong was an amazing man and helped bring jazz and the vocal technique “Scat” to the music industry. Armstrong came from very little, born in New Orleans where is father left and his mother was in an out of his life. Armstrong was very optimistic, even coming from a hard life, and used music to show his emotion. My favorite song by Louis Armstrong is What a Wonderful World released in 1968. The piano, horns and vocals are soothing and the words of the song are great. This has of course an African-American influence, first being sung by Louis Armstrong and second because of the jazzy rhythm. This was a great time in music history with new genres emerging.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc

References on Louis Armstrong:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_a_Wonderful_World

 

Impressionism

I like the impressionism era of art work because of the free strokes, vibrant colors, and peaceful subjects. I like that most of the subjects are beautiful landscapes and the daily middle class activities instead of religious figures and portraits as in the Renaissance era. In Renoir’s painting, Ball at Moulin de la Galette 1876 shows just that, daily activities of middle class people.

1876: Musée d’Orsay in Paris

This makes it easy to enjoy just a simple, appealing painting and not have to know the figure in it or hidden messages. I did find a similarity between paintings in from impressionism and the era right before of Romantic in the paintings of Caspar David Friedrich, Seashore by Moonlight and Claude Monet,  Water-Lilies. Both of these paintings use light and reflection. The difference is in the technique it is painted, you can see in Monet’s painting up close it looks blurry but from a distance the water-lilies are easier pictured, in Friedrich’s painting it is crisp and clear.

1835-Friedrich

1907-Monet

All in all I like the Impressionism era with the use of light and reflection, color and calming subjects.

Classical

I choose the Play Zaire or Zara written by Voltaire, pen name for Fancois-Marie Arouet. Voltaire was a French play write known for thoughtful and comic plays. The play Zaire is full of romance and revenge. Zara and Nerestan, are slaves, Nerestan goes to help free them and others and while he is away Zara falls in love with Osman, the enemy. Of course when Nerestan comes back, hell breaks loose and Osman kills both Zara and himself. http://www.theatrehistory.com/french/voltaire002.html -A link to a better synopsis of the play.

I liked this play because its classic. I would love to of seen it. The middle class was on the rise during this century as well as new unlicensed theater houses popping up everywhere and this was probably a play that was performed in one. Middle class would go to these theaters because they often didn’t charge or where cheaper.

Zaire By Voltaire, 1732

Baroque Artwork

This painting by Pieter Pauwel Rubens of The Rising of the Cross 1610 caught my eye with all the intricate detail. This painting had a huge religious influence, obviously because it is the rising of the cross. The Council of Trent, created by the Catholic church to conduct the counter reformation efforts and gain more religious influence on the painters of the Baroque era. The characteristics, made up by the Council of Trent, were that paintings should be easily understood, emotional, dramatic, and display religious messages. The painting of The Rising of the Cross 1610 incorporates all of those characteristics.

I picked this painting because it was full of emotion and detail from the faces of Virgin Mary and other women and children crying in the left to the faces of the men raising the cross. Although this painting is very dramatic and detailed, the meaning and story is simple. I easily understood what was happening just by looking at it. The second reason I picked this painting was because the controversy over it. In 1794 the painting was taken by the French to Paris. Finally in 1815 after the defeat of Napolean, the painting was returned to Antwerp and displayed in the Church of Our Lady. (Web gallery of Art)

Pieter Pauwel Rubens, The Raising of the Cross 1610, Antwerp, Belgium

Ref.

Web gallery of Art- http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/rubens/12religi/32religi.html

Arnolfini Portrait

I choose The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck because it has many hidden symbols and meanings along with somewhat of a story. This painting is of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife in their room in the city of Bruges. This painting was thought to be almost a document of their marriage. Humanism is very much an influence in this painting. Humanism is the belief of the worth and dignity of an individual. In this oil painting there are many, almost hidden symbols of wealth and luxury thus the worth of a person. First is the clothing they are wearing, it is summer in the painting but they have on their expensive fur coat and silk and fur dress. The woman is also wearing gold jewelry. The room has a fancy chandelier and elaborate rug on the floor and bed dressings. All of these small details give the effect of very important, valuable people. I really like this painting because of all the detail but simply done. The meaning of objects around the room and the way Jan van Eyck signed the painting above the mirror. It tells a story without any words. This painting was done by Jan van Eyck in the city of Bruges in 1434. Today the oil painting is the National Gallery in London.

Hello world!

Well, Blog number one, I have only ever blogged one other time for another class, I’m a bit new at this so we’ll see how it goes!