Author: Noam Reinhorn (Page 1 of 3)

In today’s class, we looked at post-modern art. In this era of art, there has been a shift to greater focus on themes and narratives. One part of class that I found very interesting was our discussion of Maya Lins vietnam memorial at the national mall in Washington DC. Up to this point I dont think we have discussed any memorials as art pieces. In highschool I spent sometime studying memorials as scultpture so I enjoyed coming back to that in this post modern era of art.

Additionally, I found it is interesting to discussion the works at the museum here at Colby. Since we walk past or interact with these installations so regularly, it is very easy to forget that we are constantly surrounded by modern art here at Colby.

One thing that came up in class was Jean-Michael Basquiat and his role as a graffiti artist. I have always been interested in graffiti and how it is a form of art. It is complicated since alot of graffiti, even if very impressive, is vandalism. I think it is hard to grapple with how we appreciate works like Jean-Michael Basqiat’s early graffiti.

In today’s lecture, the art discussed was from both before and after World War 2. In the first part of class, we were introduced to Piet Mondrian who was influential abstract artist of the period. When looking at his composition with red white and blue the reduction was abundantly clear. The painting is reduced to only vertical and horizontal lines while also sticking to just black, white and primary colors. Additionally this limited color palette is expressed only in solid color, no shading. This leads to there being no foreground or background, just on flat plane. The one flat plane has a very interesting effect as the color red typically would feel closer to the viewer but in this situation i did not have that experience. I also found the evolution of Mondrian’s paintings of trees to be facinating. The evolution that we looked at was just four years from 1908 – 1912, but there was still very dramatic changes. Over the three images the impact of cubism on him is very clear and we also notice the way that the tree seemingly flattens. Similar to his composition with red white and blue, there is no foreground or background in his latest iteration of the tree.

Another highlight of the class was Arshile Gorky’s The Liver is the Cocks Comb. I found this painting to be hard to look away from. I also resonated with one of the other student’s comments that this painting reminded them of loony toons. I think the way that some of the figures are reduced is in a manner that has similarities to a cartoon character. I also found it to be very engaging that this painting is so clearly violent while the actual subject matter is still relatively unclear.

In today’s class, we began to discuss art after the First World War. Our class began with a discussion of Pablo Picasso, who we have all heard of, but I had not formally studied before. Picasso unique style developed over time and has remained timeless. His paintings are just as engaging now as they were when he first created them. Analytical cubism, which he coined, has remained a concept that is discussed and even practiced. I have really enjoyed our discussion of cubism and its varying different styles. This style of abstract art is the most engaging to me as there is still very clear subject matter but it has diverged from the more realistic approach.

As the class developed, the lecture shifted to surrealism. Surrealism was particularly impressive as the artists were fascinated with depicting repressed feelings. This led to the art being rather profound and the subject matter being incredibly unique compared to anything else this course has covered.

For today’s class lecture, the focus was Early 20th-century art. This type of art did not fit a specific style, rather there was a very large variety in the appearance of the paintings we looked at. This made for a very engaging lecture and discussion. I found that the paintings that stuck out to me the most were the very colorful paintings by the artist Henri Matisse. I found this very colorful style with some abstract elements to be very interesting. It reminded me of some modern art that we see made today.

There was an initiative earlier in the semester where the modern artist Steve Keene offered to make paintings for Colby students who wrote a paragraph about their favorite piece of art. I participated in this and have found that my painting has many similar elements to Henri Matisse’s. Though I do not think there is any connection or even inspiration, I do find the connection between Early 20th-century art and modern art to be very interesting.

The very small and distinct brush strokes of Andre Derian’s Mountains at Collioure also stuck out to me as a very impressive painting. The concept of using these small brush strokes to make the larger picture seems relatively simple, but in practice, I imagine it is very challenging. I was particularly impressed how Derain used color to aid the painting since he was not getting as much detail from each brush stroke.

Today’s class focused on post-impressionist paintings. There are two categories: one is form, including artists like Cezanne, and the other is personal expression, including notable artists like Van Gogh. We spent much of the beginning of class focussing on two of Cezanne’s paintings, including Mont Sainte-Victoire. These painting were both of the same location but their differences outlined the emphasis and study of light. I really enjoyed seeing how this change in coloring affected the whole composition and feeling of the paintings. The more vibrant colorful version drew my attention much quicker than the other which was interesting to me.

Another highlight of the class for me was looking at the series of paintings based around fruit. The required urgency of these paintings makes them very impressive, considering many other artists were taking much more time for their paintings. I also really enjoyed how active each of these paintings felt. At any moment, a piece of fruit could roll or change orientation. I think that the cloth/fabric falling out of the frame aided in this active feeling.

I also enjoyed our brief discussion of conte crayon and improvements in artist technology. It is very interesting how technological advances happen and then affect the artifacts. We don’t often think of art as a technology-based domain, but I would consider improvements in tools to be technological advancements.

Today’s recorded lecture began by discussing early photography and the first photographs. The invention of photography was a significant advancement for artists, and it allowed them to record reality easily. After wrapping up Realism, the lecture moved on to impressionism.

I really enjoy looking at the impressionist art. I find it to be very visually appealing and complex enough to maintain a viewer’s attention for a significant amount of time. I really enjoyed Claude Monet and his plein-air paintings. His ability to capture specific moments in an accurate manner is very impressive especially when compared to realist art. He has a unique style of divided brushstrokes, but this does not sacrifice other elements, such as lighting.

Monet’s series of Wheat Stacks and other haystack paintings show how he used different colors to create different feels and change the lighting. The lecture brought attention to how much color is used in the version set in the snow. This was particularly impressive as painting snow is incredibly challenging, especially when using so much color without making the snow look dirty.

Today’s lecture focussed on realism as we shift away from romanticism. A critical aspect that I noticed in the realist art was the underlying message. With the less imaginative and more realistic art, artists could have deeper messages in their works. A good example of this was Honore Daumier and the third-class carriage. This painting called to attention the experiences of poor people in a way that we have not noticed in other movements or eras.

I also really enjoyed looking at Winslow Homer’s Crack The Whip. I enjoyed seeing how one artist’s movement spanned multiple continents while maintaining the same central themes. American realism is very similar to what we looked at in Europe, though that is not necessarily true of every other movement. Homer’s painting did have its touches on it, with the schoolhouse and general environment being quintessential New England. I think impressionism will continue to interest me as we discuss that next.

In today’s class, we spent time in the museum looking at paintings and artifacts that we could use for our take-home exam. All of the items were from the Baroque period, though I think some were better representations than others. Jacques Courtois Bourguignon’s paintings stuck out to me as being good representations of the period. Particually his Battle Scene (with riderless horse) stuck out to me and is the painting that I chose for part 1 of the exam.

I generally enjoyed our time in the museum, where we got to see close-up examples of what we had been studying over the past few weeks.

In today’s virtual lecture, we began by wrapping up neoclassicism and then transitioning to romanticism. This transition marked a clear switch in artists’ ideals, which is clearly reflected in the differences in the art we looked at in the two lectures. I found the embrace of emotion in romanticism to lead to more engaging paintings that felt more captivating to a viewer.

The greater expression of human feelings and emotions In romanticism feels more like contemporary art to me. I think that when greater emotion is expressed in a piece of art, it also leads to a greater emotion being evoked by the viewer. The celebration of the natural world is also an aspect of art from this period that I enjoy. I am a fan of landscape paintings like those of Thomas Cole or Frederic Church, and I think I am starting to observe some connection to this period.

Unfortunately, I had to miss today’s class on Neoclassicism, but after review of the notes and the powerpoint, I noticed a few things that piqued my interest. I found the discussion of architecture and the Chiswick House to be very interesting. The aesthetic of Chiswick House is unlike that of many other mansions that come to mind. To me this house feels more like a public building or even a religious building. This makes sense considering the Pantheon was an inspiration of the architecture.

Another piece of the class that stuck out to me was the discussion of architecture at the University of Virginia. I have a good friend who studies at UVA, and they always talk about how much they love the buildings and the campus. We have not discussed much outside of Europe so far, so this was interesting to me, especially the UVA’s Rotunda, which is again inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.