Jan Van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece
“The paintings are so large and dark, except for those tiny sprays of light. They make me… they make me think of being stuck somewhere? I don’t know, like weighted down, but then those little patches… Those little parts that stick off? It seems like the darkness is almost trying to leave the whole thing, because the little light is back there, and it’s turning its back on the light” (Glasgow 133-134).
In the book, 8 pieces of art are analyzed and used to show the changes that were taking place in the world during the seventeenth century. Brook also attempts to connect the work of Vermeer to the Dutch’s role in globalization and how they came into significance during this time period. The paintings Officer and Laughing Girl, Young Woman Reading a Letter at An Open Window, and The Geographer all hints at doors that led the seventeenth century to such a successful time of global trade. In this paper, I will be looking closer at the three pieces of art mentioned above and connecting them to the globalization of the world and how they demonstrate Dutch global influence. The first piece of art to be discussed is the painting Officer and Laughing Girl.
The artwork comprises a ‘suspended’ parade of private objects in a personal environment with ‘floating’ aptitudes and figurative positions that evoke the spatial set of ‘blue screen’ technology. There are countless representations of painters in their workspace, frequently melancholic self-portraits before an easel, but here Whiteley is away and his manifestation is perceived more than observed – like the scent of a man who has just passed by. The studio heart emits unintentional warmth and owns the consumed coziness of preferred pantofle. It is a room that is not designed for a sales catalog nor organized for receiving
It is widely believed that The Arnolfini Portrait, painted by Jan van Eyck in is one of the most skilfully painted pieces of work of the 15th century, not simply for the many layers of oil paint thinly applied to create a beautifully detailed rendering of the occasion, but also because of the many instances of “disguised symbolism” , so that it creates an intensely complex scope for art historians to analyse and identify the exact meaning of the painting, and the identity of the couple. “Van Eyck was one of the earliest Flemish painters” (The Biography.com 2014), and this is one of his most noted paintings because it is unlike anything of its period, as a similar full length panel painting of a marriage contract does not appear around the same
The dictionary defines tragedy as; an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress. Romeo and Juliet for sure is a tragedy with many deaths and a not so happy ending. There could be a finger pointed for the chain of events that occurs. Abraham should be pardoned for his part in the story where Prince and Friar John should be punished. There are people that could have done something differently in this play to prevent the many deaths and tragedies from happening.
In contrast, the Council tracing board is far less overt. It offers a view into an historic moment, acting more as a photograph of an event than a reference for symbolism and learning. Yet, as the viewer takes time to enjoy the scene arrayed before him, the sub-text of the painting comes to light. Whereas with the Royal Arch board I started at the bottom and moved up, for this piece I find myself starting at the top and moving down.
The introduction shows the range of theories that Freeland will cover and how difficult it can actually be. In the first chapter of ‘But Is It Art’ Cynthia Freeland talks about the theories of rituals in art and of Hume and Kant’s theories. She also shows the contrast that blood has had in art. In certain forms, blood was a sign of sacrifice, honor, etc.
From the content of books to the songs on the radio, art serves to provide a reflection of the world. Behind every design, there are great chains connecting the art to the artist to the artist 's inspirations and so on as far as the eye can see. In Jonathan Lethem 's The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism, he emphasizes these unseen connections. "My search had led me from a movie, to a book, to a play, to a website, and back to a book." (Lethem 212).
Early modern history proves to change the lives of many humans. The world today would not be the same place as people know it to be if not for the advances the people made in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. I can identify many of these changes in history, involving religion, discovery, exploration, and science, through one painting alone. That painting is called Woman Holding a Balance by Johannes Vermeer. This essay will outline the connections I can make to these changes in history and this painting through observations and what I have learned through reading and discussions.
Hieronymus Bosch was one of the most influential painters of the fifteenth century, whose works are famous even after five centuries after his death. The artist spent his career in the town of Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. Bosch’s famous painting, Garden of Earthly Delights, is one of the most oracular pictures, which captivated and puzzled the audience since the inception of the picture. Garden of Earthly Delights is a large triptych and a conversational piece, never intended for religious setting. The picture belongs to the period of 1500-02 and conveys various meanings from the literal level to the allegorical level.
Because Dean uses many different sources coming from people of many different professions, not just art historians, she successfully avoids any traces of biases throughout her essay. She shows how all different types of people, including archaeologists, anthropologists, and just an average person, often succumb to the use of these four different mistakes to incorrectly identify pieces as art. A bias is often formed when the argument is supported by only a small window of evidence, and in this essay, Dean successfully avoids that mistake, and there for creates an argument with no
The picture, Surrender at Breda, was created by Diego Velazquez a Spanish painter between the years of 1534-1635. During his early years, Velazquez’s paintings focused on “people eating and drinking rather than religious themes” (Davies 691). During this time he realized how talented he was at what he did which led to him being appointed as the court painter to Phillip IV, “whose reign from 1621 to 1625 was the great age of painting in Spain” (Davies 691). The reason why Spain had become so well known for their art was due to the leadership of the Duke of Olivares. The Duke of Olivares “restored Spain’s fortunes and supported an ambitious program of artistic patronage to proclaim the monarchy’s greatness” (Davies 691).
Pollock’s Lavender Mist contradicts the notion that artwork needs to be logical and organized. In the past, conventional academics had expectations for art to follow a set of rules that were the “established authority” on the art of the time, but Lavender Mist directly contradicts what was the status quo. By creating a masterpiece that has no representation or recognizable figures defies the conventional “norms.” There is no single clear defined story that the painting tells but rather it represents something intangible; Lavender Mist is the product of Pollock’s mindset and emotions. Pollock’s canvas serves as “an arena in which to act- rather than as a space to reproduce, re-design, analyze or ‘express’ an object, actual or imagined” (Rosenberg, 1).
A varied balance between the symbolic and realism has been struck world over by the painting. In the fifteenth century Western painting began to turn from its age- old concern with spiritual realities towards an effort to combine this spiritual expression with as complete an imitation as possible of the outside
Susan Sontag’s article ‘Against Interpretation’ voices one of the most crucial issues that art is facing in today’s society. This is the issue of “interpretation”. Today in our society of information explosion and excessiveness, every work of art allows for more output than ever before. This leads to critics and interpreters analyzing and breaking down works of art as opposed to enlightening about them or experiencing them in a personal level. In this whole process of interpreting art there a massive loss in our sensory experience.
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