Introduction To Visual Culture
Sunday, May 1, 2011
This picture is called "The Scream" and was created by Edvard Much. This painting was created during the time that expressionist painting was extremely popular in the art world. In this painting, this human is terrified while this feeling is magnified by the blood red sky behind it. There is a disproportional figure in the distance behind the screaming figure as the further image seems to be walking up behind the hairless person. The two figures are both wearing black, symbolizing death in some way. The world around this person is chaotic as the sky mixes up with the land and it is hard to determine what is part of what area in this painting. The person in the front is in some kind of pain, as you can see by the facial expression and hand gestures on the person's face. The painting is created using thick, but streaky brush strokes and even mixing the colors up in one part of the painting, such as the water. This painting might have been created due to Much's life and the fact that his sister was sent to an mental institution and he suffered from depression.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
This painting is called "Rams Head With Hollyhock and Little Hills"and was created by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1935. This picture shows a cloudy, almost stormy-like sky with low mountains and a floating skull with a white flower beside of it. During this time, O'Keeffe was involved in the feminist movement which began in the early 1920's. During this time, women were trying to find their place in the art world that was once dominated by men. This painting was painted during her time spent living in New Mexico, explaining the landscape and dead land of the desert area also known as "O'Keeffe Country." She had just ended her marriage to art dealer, Alfred Stieglitz, and the sky could be suggesting her storm beginning or maybe passing as she is free in New Mexico to paint as she pleases, although she is now alone at her new home, Ghost Ranch. She shows the power of nature throughout her art as she related this to her own life in her later years. This style of painting, using skulls and flowers, symbolizing life and death, became O'Keeffe's more popular subject and ended up being a style of art that we all know of her today. This painting became an icon for the feminist movement because of the power shown in the these series of paintings.
Monday, April 25, 2011
This is Georgia O'Keeffe's picture "Sky Above Clouds," created in 1962. This picture Georgia O'Keeffe created was during O'Keefe's early years where she returned to abstraction, which is present in many of her works while moving to New Mexico and after being involved with modernism which is what she is known for now through art history. This painting, created in the early 1960's, was inspired by airplane views as she was traveling back and forth between New Mexico and New York. This painting is one of a series of paintings created during this time period of her views of the world as she was looking down from the sky. These clouds are all altered throughout the picture, never having any two to be the same. These clouds show that not everything or everyone is the same or even what we think it is. The sky is show on two different horizons even though our view is shown on a higher plane. This painting shows how beautiful life is and how nothing is as we see it as she journeys to pursue her new life in New Mexico without her husband or marriage to Alfred Steiglitz, who held her back in some aspects of her career and even portraying her in a negative image. Overall, I believe that this picture shows the way that everything changes in someones life and how nothing is how it seems.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
This painting is called "Cornelia pointing to her children as her treasures," and was created by the artist Angelica Koffman. This painting was created during the neoclassicism period and was located and created in Switzerland. This painting strikes me as thought-provoking and meaningful because the woman in the red is showing Cornelia her jewerely and referring to them as her treasures. As a rely to that Cornelia points to her three children and tells the women that they are her treasures. She is trying to convey to us the imporant bond that needs to be present between mother's and their children. The children are also shown in a special and innocent way as the yound children helps his brother walk and is taking care of him and watching over him. This also shows the important relationship and role that family plays in each of our lives. Family is a person's most important treasure because it is a item and relationship that someone will always have. The use of the reds and bright colors help this painting to pop and let the figures stand out in the painting. The background of the painting contrast to the bright colors of the family and the woman. This painting is considered a family memory and appeals to everyone with a family sense of loving.
This is a picture of the St. Peter's piazza, which was designed by the architect Gianlorenzo Bernini. St. Peter's is located in Italy and was built in 1656. Gianlorenzo worked in Rome and was an expert in both sculpting and architecture. Bernini worked and created art during the baroque period, creating sculptures with both marble and gold. This architecture lies in the middle of the city and it looks as if the whole city revolves and was built around this area being, St. Peter's. The main road going through the city leads to the church, leading people to come into the open space. It is open and spacious in the middle, with a fountain and sundial located in the middle to make to the area look neat and symmetrical. As they go further down the space in the walkway begins to close, leading people and crowds to head to the church. The space in the walkway is extremely massive, holding thousands and thousands of people for special events, such as when the pope annually gives a speech to the people of the city. The architecture that surrounds the open space is also a covered walkway that people may use to walk under. This also leads into the church and is convenient for inclement weather. The pillars that push up the walkway are made of marble and this building needed 258 columns and 88 pillars for the completion of this covered walkway. Paul V ordered to designing of this outside space and commissioned Bernini after seeing his interior design and sculpture. The architecture of this time is amazing and prestigious while being superior to any other architecture designed and created during the early 1600's and is a special piece of history and art to the city of Rome.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
This picture is actually a rare wallpaper that was hand printed in Paris in 1815. The artist of this painting is Dufour of Paris. This scene includes a group of people riding camels through the city and looking and the beautiful buildings along the way. I love this picture because it tells a story even though only one part of the story is shown on this wallpaper. There is so much detail throughout the whole entire picture, drawing much attention to the picture! The plants and even people look exotic and full of emotion even though they are still images. Anyone can tell by looking at the pictures that the people are traveling and passing through this town. Also, there is not a lot of empty space in the picture, which is what I like because I do not perceive this picture as boring and this makes me want to look at the picture longer. These wallpaper arts are now used for home decorations to make any house look like a black and white Paris scene!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
This building is called the Helix Hotel and it is located in the Zayed Bay district of Abu Dhabi, UAE. This building was actually built for a competition in which a New York design firm by the name of Leeser Architecture won. This building has eight floors and includes a swimming pool as well as a running track on the fifth floor. To me, I love this building and architectural design. It is very modern and different from any other hotel or building I have seen. I have never seen a hotel like this but if I was in this area, I would stay here on my trip. Although the building is white and plain colored, the shape and structure of the building is far from plain. The layers of the building seem to be floating and look very beautiful. Even this building sits somewhat over the water giving the building a more beautiful look. The building's top floor is hanging partly over the previous floor which looks amazing and this seems to be a beautiful place to look at the scenery around the building. This hotel is extremely amazing and I would love to stay here and enjoy it's beauty!
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