AP Art History: Content Area 4, Later Europeans and Americas
The Migration of the Negro, Panel no. 49. Jacob Lawrence. 1940-1941 C.E. Casein tempera on hardboard.
Content: Context: This is a series of sixty paintings that depicts the migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the urban North after World War I. It goes back to tempera paint. He was influenced by Italian masters of the fourteenth and fiftheenth century. Form: Asymmetrical balance; large negative space; angular forms, simple shapes Style:Tempera; narrative painting Function: This piece shows the migrations of African-Americans from the South to the North. This scene shows a public restaurant in the North. Meaning: This piece is a narrative painting done during an era where abstraction was becoming extremely popular.
Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). London, England. Charles Barry and Augustus W. N. Pugin (architects). 1840-1870 C.E. Limestone masonry and glass.
Content: A building with a chandelier and religious painting and sculpture. Context:This building is created with 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases, and corridors that stretch for 2 miles. Its central octagonal space contains statues of the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland. There are four mosaics that cover four doorways. Each mosaic represents four saints who represent the different areas of the United Kingdom. St. George represents England, St. Andrew respresents Scotland, St. David represents Wales, and St. Patrick represents Northern Ireland. Form: Style:This is in the style of a sandy-colored Anston limestone. Then, it was rebuilt into a honey-colored limestone to replace the decayed Anston. Many repairs were done to this building from fires to stones. Function: This was created to be a modern office building that is covered in medieval clothes. Meaning: This place served as the place where the two Parliament parties of the United Kingdom meet
Monticello. Virginia, U.S. Thomas Jefferson (architect). 1768-1809 C.E. Brick, glass, stone, and wood.
Content: A building with a round top in the middle. There are also white columns. Lastly, there is a wide lawn of green grass. Context:It resembles a one-story building with a dome, but the balustrade hides the second floor. There are tall French doors and windows to allow for circulation during the hot Virginia summers. This building is inspired by the Palladian villas in Italy and Roman ruins in France. It is a brick building with stucco applied to trim to give it the impression of marble Form:Symmetrical interior design; octagonal dome Style:Jefferson made sure that his owns style and personal ideas went into the interior and exterior decorations of the Monticello. Function: Created as a chief building on Jefferson's plantation. Meaning: The meaning behind the architecture building is that your own ideas are the best ideas for a building or a piece of artwork. Producing similar copies of arts, such as during the time of Age of Enlightenment, every art was about religion, it's alright to go outside of your comfort-zone and the similarity that society has stated. Being different and coming out of an art movement creates a brand new one.
Fallingwater. Pennsylvania, U.S. Frank Lloyd Wright (architect). 1936-1939 C.E. Reinforced concrete, sandstone, steel, and glass.
Content: A high tech house in the woods with a water fall. Context: Example of modern architect that began to become part of the nineteenth-century. Then Wright took it to his own system and to develop a house that he believed fit and true to his heart. that is the weekend home that is built with uncanny sense of genius logic Form: Style: Artistic architect building. There is a spirit for the place with the waterfall in it. Function: Meaning:to demonstrate the modern twist of modern architect styles of the 19th Century.
Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks. Claes Oldenburg 1969-1974 C.E. Cor-Ten, steel, aluminum, and cast resin; painted with polyurethane enamel.
Content: A huge lipstick with an orange top. Context:It was first installed on Beinecke Plaza, New Haven in 1969. It was built secretly. The sculpture is made out of inexpensive and perishable materials such as plywood tracks and an inflatable vinyl balloon tip. It was built secretly. It combines male and female forms such as themes of death, power, desire, and sensuality. Form:Symmetrical balance Style:Pop Art; Male and female forms Function: This was used as a platform for public speakers that were rallying points for anti-Vietnam era protests. Meaning:The meaning behind this is to show the feminine and masculine properties of the war in the United States.Current Location: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
The Scream. Edvard Munch. 1893 C.E. Tempera and pastels on cardboard.
Content: A man holding his face with his mouth opened. His facial expression is very surprised. The background is different colors. This shows the swirling blue landscape with fiery orange and yellow sky. There is a skull-shaped nostril, oval mouth and cultural consciousness. This is a artistic artwork that has been targeted of dramatic thefts and recoveries. It is a very simple work, but achieves maximum expressiveness. Context :This shows a Western art skill with the way of the artwork. It has been a very iconic human figure in history of Western art. Form: Asymmetrical art Style: This is in the style of experience, as this happened to Munch when he felt the cry of nature and it was heard through his ears. Function: to show the way this artist remembered a part of his life and then he depicted it through art. Meaning: to show how this simple artwork has contributed a lot to history and has made a huge impact on Western art.
Spiral Jetty. Great Salt Lake, Utah, U.S. Robert Smithson. 1970 C.E. Earthwork: mud, precipitated salt crystals, rocks, and water coil.
Content: A music note shape in the water. The note is made of rocks and it is in the purple-ish water. Context: The shape of a coil is an image that commonly seen in North American earthworks. The coil of rock in a part of the Great Salt Lake which is located in a remarkably remote and inaccessible area that contains abandoned mines and mining equipment. The artist liked the blood red color of the water that was produced due to the presence of bacteria that lived in high salt content water. The artist used a tractor with native stones to create the jetty. Form:Symmetrical balance Style:Site Art, or Earth Art Function: Asymmetrical balance Meaning:The meaning behind this artwork is to show how important both man-made and natural habitats are formed.
Y no hai remedio (And There's Nothing to Be Done), from Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War), plate 15. Francisco de Goya. 1810-1823 C.E. (published 1863). Etching, drypoint, burin, and burnishing.
Content: Black and white image of Spanish victims being shot at by the French soldiers. Context: Y no hai remedio is an ronic and sardonic piece of art. It shows the guns being pointed at very close range towards the victims. The victims are most likely Spanish patriots who will by killed by French soldiers. There are mangled bodies on the ground. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: Romanticism Function: To show the disasters of war; themes of war, famine, and politics. Meaning: This is the disasters of war that is also being criticized.
The Portuguese. Georges Braque. 1911 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: A painting that features forms, the objects are being broken down into smaller forms. Context:This artwork is to show the still life paintings and to go further to the Renaissance period. This artist was thinking about different time periods in which he could draw in different time periods in history. With his thoughts turning in his head, he makes an artwork that combines all of these time periods into one. It also shows how a man thinking about his different interpretations of artworks from different time periods. Then, he develops the idea of creating art with his coffee cup. Form: asymmetric balance Style:style of a Renaissance painter and Cezanne. He wanted to express the cup on the status surface of the canvas. Function: to show how the way this artist takes apart this one coffee cup and begins to study it in the way that other artists from past time periods might have interpreted this, but even farther Meaning:to show the unified singularity of an object is transformed into an object of vision through the artists eyes
Seagram Building. New York City, U.S. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson (architects). 1954-1958 C.E. Steel frame with glass curtain wall and bronze.
Content: A picture of the sea gram building in NYC. Context:This building has excellent simplicity, geometry of design, and elegance of construction. The bronze veneer gives the skyscraper a monolithic look. There is an interplay of vertical and horizontal accents. Form:Symmetrical balance Style:International Style Function:It is a reflection of the Minimalist movement in painting. Meaning: It shows a success of the International Style of architecture
Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park. Diego Rivera. 1947-1948 C.E. Fresco.
Content: A village of people coming together in a painting. There are a lot of balloons in the back left. Context: The composition depicts who is who of Mexican politics, culture, and leadership. It shows Sor Juana, Benito Juárez who was a five-term president of Mexico, General Santa Ana who is handing the Keys of Mexico to General Winfield Scott, Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlotta, José Marti who is the father of Mexican independence and is tipping his hat, General Porfirio Díaz with meals and is asleep, a police officer ordering a family out of an elitist park, Francisco Madero who is a martyred president, and the artist who is ten years old holding hands Caterina or death while dreaming of perfect love with Kahlo behind him. Form:Asymmetrical balance; it is a fifty-foot-long fresco and thirteen feet highStyle: Function: Didactic painting; colorful painting; horror vacui Meaning: This piece shows a revival of fresco paintings.
House in New Castle County. Delaware, U.S. Robert Venturi, John Rauch, and Denise Scott Brown (architects). 1978-1983 C.E. Wood frame and stucco.
Content: A white house with many glass windows. There are also white columns and a beautiful green lawn of grass. Context:The wife who lived in this house was a musician. There is a music room that has two pianos, an organ, and a harpsichord. The husband who lived in this house was a bird watcher and thus, there is a large window that is facing the woods. Form:Approximately symmetrical balance Style:Postmodern architecture Function: This house was created for a family with three members, Meaning: This house is a post modern mix of historical style.
Liberty Leading the People. Eugène Delacroix. 1830 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: A woman standing above all men. She is topless and is holding the french flag. Liberty is wearing a red Phrygian cap which was worn in the ancient by freed slaves. Context: This piece shows Liberty with French tricolor marching over the barricades to overthrow government soldiers. Red, white, and blue echoes throughout the painting. The child with pistols symbolize the role of the students in this revolt. There is a representation of the middle class by a man in a top hat and carrying a rifle. The representation of the lower class is by a man on the left holding a sword in one hand and a pistol in his belt. The Notre Dame Cathedral is shown through the smoke on the right and the French tricolor is raised on its tower. Form:Asymmetrical balance; pyramid structure Style: Oil painting Function: To show the July Revolution of 1830. Meaning: This shows the July Revolution of 1830. It memorializes the overthrow of the French government in favor of the "Citizen King", Louis-Phillipe. Current Location: Louvre, Paris
The Coiffure. Mary Cassatt. 1890-1891 C.E. Drypoint and aquatint.
Content: A women tying her hair in front of the mirror. Her bottom portion is wrapped in a towel. Context:This artwork is to show the pictures of the floating world, in other words, the beautiful women of Japan. This is an artistic drawing that shows the beauty of a woman that isn't fully nude, but shows her Japanese apparels. Form: Asymmetric balance Style:The style of this artwork is to show the forms of shading, lining and capturing beauty. Function: The function of this piece is to show how this technique is used, how it's used, and how to depict beautiful Japanese women. Meaning:to show how to capture beauty through a different way of art.
The Horse in Motion. Eadweard Muybridge. 1878 C.E. Albumen print.
Content: Albumen print of many horses in rectangle boxes. All the boxes are split proportionally. Context:This picture was taken to answer a question if all four legs of the horse take off the ground during a gallop. After a series of photographs, it was proven to be true.This is a historical artwork as it is shown to prove a point in history. Form: Asymmetric balance Style: This is in the style of a photograph with new technological techniques during the birth of photography. Function:The function of this artwork is to prove if a horses legs are completely off the ground during a gallop. Meaning:The meaning behind this artwork is to demonstrate if all the legs of a horse are taken off when galloping. It was proven to be true through a series of developed photographs taken by Muybridge.
A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery. Joseph Wright of Derby. c. 1763-1765 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: All ages of man and a young women that is sitting on the left. There is also a lamp in the center that is represented as the sun. Context: This philosopher is based on a portrait of Issac Newton. This piece of art is one of a series of candlelight pictures by Wright which was inspired by Caravaggio's use of tenebrism. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: Early version of planetarium. Function: To demonstrate the effect of philosophies that scholars now believe in Meaning: To show planetarium; imitation of the solar system. Current Location: Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby, United Kingdom
The Steerage. Alfred Stieglitz. 1907 C.E. Photogravure.
Content: Black and white photo of passengers on the ship and under the ship. Context:This is a painting that shows five nude female prostitutes from a brothel in Barcelona. There figures are here to show how they are in an disconcerting manner and none are traditional females. This is an artistic artwork that is there to represent feminist and it's interpretation. It shows that this horror of a painting shows how the women are masked, naked, threatened and powerless to the men while they are in this state of vulnerability. Form: Asymmetric balance Style:This artwork shows the artist's atheism, which is his will to risk anarchy for freedom. It shows his fears of everything loathed into this very artwork. It shows his deep fear of the female body as well. Function: To show the meaning behind prostitution during this time period and how it portrayed women and how they felt. Meaning: to show the vulnerability of both women and the artist during their state of occupation.
Still Life in Studio. Louis- Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. 1837 C.E. Daguerreotype.
Content: Black and white picture of objects on table. There are heads and a frame on the wall. Context: This was created to show the future advanced technology. To create these pieces, it took little labor. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: New vision of the material world Function: To show the inspiration of the old art to the new art. Meaning: The new technologies lead to the new creation of arm forms. This photograph is the start of the beginning and the art of photography.
Nadar Raising Photography to the Height of Art. Honoré Daumier. 1862 C.E. Lithograph.
Content: Black and white piece of art of a man in a hot air balloon. Context:This is an artistic artwork because it is the development of new technology that was introduced into the world during the birth of photography. Form: Style:This is in the style of something new, photographs. Artists from the Renaissance used a camera that would pass light through the hole and project an upside down picture. But that was old news. Now, there is the invention of a light sensitive surface. Function:The function of this piece it to show how the controversial of fine art medium was created. Some may argue that is it more science than art, other's believe it is art and not science. Either way, this is the improvement in technology that includes art as well. Meaning: The meaning behind this is to show the development of photography that is both a science and an art that was soon created together.
Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht. Käthe Kollwitz. 1919-1920 C.E. Woodcut.
Content: Black and white woodcut Context:This is a artist that turned to making prints instead of painting during the First World War, just like many artists during this time period. This is an artistic artwork that shows the designed that are carved into a slab of woof and then are covered with ink and then printed onto paper. This is also similar to the Chinese method of wood printing. Form: asymmetrical balance Style:horizontal sections. Function:To show that this is the way of printing for the printmaking methods suck as engraving with ink. Meaning:to show the different techniques in which printing and artwork is demonstrated.
The Bay. Helen Frankenthaler. 1963 C.E. Acrylic on canvas.
Content: Blue paint splattered on the canvas with green as the secondary color. White and gray are the background. Context: This piece is painted directly onto an un-primed canvas. The canvas absorbs painted more directly. It uses runny paint and is sometimes thinned with turpentine. It uses a landscape as a starting point and its basis for imagery in the works. It strengthened the two-dimensional of the canvas. Frankenthaler worked in the avant-garde New York School at mid-century. Form:Asymmetrical balance Style: Color field Function: to show the real impact on the social conscious it has and how it radically changes and moves towards the abstract. Meaning: The meaning behind this artwork is to see the sense of natural spontaneity and devotion to color and what makes it a part of what makes the colors so compelling.
Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building. Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Louis Sullivan (architect). 1899-1903 C.E. Iron, steel, glass, and terra cotta.
Content: Building with many rows and floors of windows. Context:This building is an endless crowd of tall buildings in Chicago. Chicago's Loop was the first that gave rise to the term, skyscraper. They catch pedestrian's eyes when they see the bronze-colored ground floor and the broad white façade stretching nearly twelve stories above the ground. This is a artistic building that has a wide rectangular window frames and relatively squat twelve-story frame were intended to meet the specific requirements of a department store. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: This is in the style of a department store. The windows are on the ground floor to show the store's product and there are three doors for the main entrance's entrance door. Function: to show that the idea of a department store for a company. Meaning:to show how a department store is thoughtfully planned out to show the products of the store.
The Burghers of Calais. Auguste Rodin. 1884-1895 C.E. Bronze.
Content: Carved bronze figure of six males. Context:There are six men covered only in simple layers of clothes and it shows the weakness of each male through it's bones and joints. This is an artistic artwork that shows the function of artwork is to show that the men about to lead and save a city. Form: Style:This is in the style of an artist that wanted to express his own artwork into this piece that was designed for something specific. Function: to show that it was supposed to be a monument for Calais. But the artist made something even better. Meaning: The meaning behind this piece is that the artist wanted to express his own artwork into this piece that was designed for something specific.
The Kiss. Constantin Brancusi. Original 1907-1908 C.E. Stone.
Content: Carved white stone of two people holding each other kissing. Context: This is a proto-cubist style of a non-literal representation of affection between two people with the wrapping of their arms and their lips coming together. Also, they share one eye. It also shows the way that this artist demonstrates and sees affection between two people with his abstract vision with six different types of artworks that are similar to one another, but each has a different kind of way it being unique in it's own way. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style:in the style of a plaster sculpture that has been made six different times with different ways. This shows how the artist really pictured this image differently each time. Function:to show how this artist uses his illusions and abstract work and created six different versions of the same idea with different techniques and new unique ways of making this sculpture work. Meaning:to show that the artist looks at this scene in six different ways to be interpreted in six different directions in six different locations
The Jungle. Wifredo Lam. 1943 C.E. Gouache on paper mounted on canvas.
Content: Figures and bamboos mixed together. Context: Wilfredo Lam was a Cuban-born artist whose career took him to the United States and Europe. He was interested in Cuba's mix of Hispanic and African cultures. He was also a member of the Surrealist movement in Paris. He was influenced by African sculptures, Cubist work, and Surrealist paintings. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style:Surrealism Function: This work of art is meant to address the history of slavery in colonial Cuba. It was intended to communicate a psychic state. MeaningThe meaning of this artwork is to show the different landscapes that this artist has endured and what his creation turned out to be.
Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow. Piet Mondrian. 1930 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Geometric shape squares next to each other. The biggest one is red. The other ones are blue and white Context:This was a painting that erected out of the de Stiji style movement. It is one of the major modern movements. It is based off a Neo-Plassic ideology of art. There is a traditional style with Cubism as well. This is an artistic artwork that shows a variety of styles of artwork with the combination of major modern movements with them. He shows blocks of shapes and boarders to demonstrate the goal of pictorial rhythms. Form: Geometric balance Function:to show that the artwork is part of a modern art movement during the mid Twentieth century. Meaning: The meaning of this piece of art is that the Neo-Plassic painting depends on the space and the type of artwork being portrayed.
George Washington. Jean-Antoine Houdon. 1788-1792 C.E. Marble.
Content: George washington carved in stone in a suit and tie. He is standing as if he has a lot of power (striahgt and tall). He is also holding a cane. Context: This artwork was created for an American hero by a foreigner. The reason for this is that it was a logical decision given that there was a lack of artistic talent available in the United States during this time. The Virginia General Assembly desired a statue of George Washington for display in a public space. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: Washington insisted that he did not want to have his attire as ancient Greece or Rome with togas or their garments. Instead, he wanted a contemporary attire. Function: The function of this piece is to show that this American hero needed to be displayed in the eyes of Americans. Meaning:The meaning of this artwork is to show that the great American hero was created by a foreigner to show that his heroism did not just stop at America, but it was broadcasted throughout the world as well.
The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm). Thomas Cole. 1836 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Landscape of a river stream. There is more space on the right. The left side of this landscape is clumped with dark clouds and trees falling. This kind of shows the effect of what the industrial civilization is doing to the land it is slowly taking it over. Context: This piece was painted to respond to a British book. The book criticized Americans for destroying the wilderness with industrial civilizations. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: Romantic and Classical Function: To show the beautiful view of Massachusetts Meaning: This piece of work was painted for an exhibit. The National Academy of Design is accounted for its large size. Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Kiss. Gustav Klimt. 1907-1908 C.E. Oil and gold leaf on canvas.
Content: Man holding his wife and kissing her on the neck meanwhile her eyes are closed. Context:This is an artwork that depicts a couple hugging with their bodies covered in a robe to show the style influenced by linear constructs and the Art style during this time. It also shows the way that love is portrayed through this artist's eyes and his artwork. He uses gold to make the robes almost become more illuminated than it would with paint. Form: Asymmetric balance Style:in the style of using gold and silver leaves in his artwork to make the robes and the whole artwork come alive than how it would be through paint. Function:to show how this artist shows love and how he demonstrates it through his artwork and his golden brilliance through the use of gold and silver leaf in his work. Meaning: to show how the way this artist shows two people's love and affection through his eyes.
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? Paul Gauguin. 1897-1898 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Man, shirtless holding the apple up into the sky. The other figures are also shirtless and seem to be searching for more apples. Context:This artwork contains numerous humans, animals, and symbolic figures arranged across as island landscape. This artwork is to show and represent the artist's painted manifesto to create while he was living on the island of Tahiti. This is an artistic artwork that shows the symbolic figures arranged across an island landscape. Form: Style:The style of this painting is there to show that this artist poisoned himself with this legend that was pointedly in line with the painting's themes of life. Function: to show how someone who paints for their own enjoyment can create this out of his own experience and symbolism. Meaning:to show that the paintings iconography is to show the mysterious symbolic meaning and the answers that can be shown throughout the questions in the work title.
Illustration from The Results of the First Five-Year Plan. Varvara Stepanova. 1932 C.E. Photomontage.
Content: Many people marching or protesting and a face of a Soviet. Context:Photomontage is a way that can include photographs with text, words, and even newspaper clippings. This is used to demonstrate composite images with the mounting of two or more images. This is a historical artwork as it is there to demonstrate the artwork that is shown the integrates between geometric planes of red. Form: everything is carefully constructed. There are only three types of colors and three types of tones. There are black, white, and sepia photographs with geometric planes of red to structure the composition. Style: Function: to show the mismatched scales of photographs with the power to show the viewer the reference to the Soviet Political system Meaning:to show how everything is carefully constructed with only three types of colors and tones. This artist alternates black and white with sepia photographs and integrates geometric shapes.
Narcissus Garden. Yayoi Kusama. Original installation and performance 1966. Mirror balls.
Content: Mirror balls are stacked on the surface of water. They are in the shape of an oval. Context:The Narcissus Garden is a reference to the myth of Narcissus who was a young man that was so fascinated by himself in the reflecting water that he dies and a flower grows out of the place that he dies. The installations were later moved to water, where the floating balls reflect the natural environment and the viewers that are around the work of art. Installations has been exhibited in many places around the world. Both in water and in dry spaces. Form:Asymmetrical balance Style:Happenings Function:to show how you look into your reflection, forcing a confrontation with one's own vanity and ego to either go forward onto the garden or to step back away from your reflection. MeaningThe meaning behind this piece is to see how victors take in their own vanity or ego by looking at themselves in the mirrored reflective balls.
La Grande Odalisque. Jean-Auguste- Dominique Ingres. 1814 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Nude lady holding a curtain, laying on her side with her back facing the audience. Context: This painting is greatly influenced by Italian Mannerism in its exaggerated body forms. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style:This is in the style of showing Feminine beauty that is shown through her beauty, her gaze, the structure of her body parts and the structure of how she is very symbolic through the distortion by Ingres. Function: To show the further improvement of the nude form of this female. Meaning: This piece shows an improvement of the female nude form.
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Pablo Picasso. 1907 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Nude woman, some standing, some squatting with animal faces. Context: This is a painting that shows five nude female prostitutes from a brothel in Barcelona. There figures are here to show how they are in an disconcerting manner and none are traditional females. This is an artistic artwork that is there to represent feminist and it's interpretation. It shows that this horror of a painting shows how the women are masked, naked, threatened and powerless to the men while they are in this state of vulnerability. Form: Asymmetric balance Style: shows the artist's atheism, which is his will to risk anarchy for freedom. It shows his fears of everything loathed into this very artwork. It shows his deep fear of the female body as well. Function: to show the meaning behind prostitution during this time period and how it portrayed women and how they felt. Meaning: To show the vulnerability of both women and the artist during their state of occupation.
Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On). Joseph Mallord William Turner. 1840 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Oil painting of a ship in the ocean with strong waves. It seems as if there is also war going on in the waters. Context: This is a classic example of a Romantic maritime painting. Turner depicts a ship, visible in the background, sailing through a tumultuous sea of churning water and leaving scattered human forms floating in its wake. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style:Emotional use of color; rapid brushwork Function: To show the foreground can be seen a number of bodies floating in the water; their dark skin and chained hands and feet indicate that they are slaves, thrown overboard from the ship. Meaning: The meaning of this piece is to show though the painting's size is relatively small compared to many Romantic landscape paintings, it still captivates the viewer in arguably a more powerful way. Current Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Starry Night. Vincent van Gogh. 1889 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Painted oil on canvas of the stars in the sky at night. This perspective is looking over the city. Context: This artwork was depicted through the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room, just before sunrise with an idealized village.This is an artistic artwork that serves the purpose of a mentally ill man seeing the world in his own way. Form: Asymmetric balance Style:There are experimented styles inspirited by medieval woodcuts, with their thick outlines and simplified forms. Function:to show that no matter the state of the man, as long as he has a paint brush in his hands, he can create things from reality and his illusions. Meaning: to show how the artist shows exaggeration through reality.
The Saint-Lazare Station. Claude Monet. 1877 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Painted railroad and train station setting. Context:This is a artwork that Monet did when he turned to urban landscapes. At this time, this is when artists began to paint at their own time. He tried to diversify his sources by his inspiration and a painter of modern life.This is a historical artwork that shows urban landscapes. Not only that, but it brings things to life like the setting and the machines. The artist sees geometry shapes and colors and lights instead of what may be depicted, such as a machine that travelers right upon. Form: Asymmetrical balance; dissolves an dematerializes, color overwhelms the forms Style:This is in the style of a painter with a modern life. During this time, painters painted on their free time whenever they felt like it. Function:to show that the true pieces of pure painting are achieved through an almost abstract vision, as everybody will have different views and interpretations when looking at this artwork. Meaning: The meaning behind this artwork is that there are many meanings that the viewer has to figure out, as it is an artwork through abstract vision.
Goldfish. Henri Matisse. 1912 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Painting of a goldfish in the water. Context: The artist drew this painting to escape the pressure of Parisian life. He produced this artwork while visiting Moscow two times. This is an artistic artwork that this artist views of how goldfish seemed to have spoken to him while he was visiting Moscow. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: This piece attractis the viewers attention to their colors. There is a continued influence of the artist that uses his colors throughout his career Function: to show that goldfish are things that the focus here centers on the fish itself. Meaning: to show that the interest of goldfish that attracted this artist to them during his two visits to Moscow.
Olympia. Édouard Manet. 1863 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Painting of a nude woman with her hand over her private area. She has nothing but a flower on her head. Context:This is a painting that shows a nude woman lying in bed and flowers are being delivered to her by a black servant. This is an artistic work that shows a very strange story. When it was exhibited for the first time, many people identified her as a prostitute. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style:This is in the style of a nude woman who has much going on around her. She is receiving a gift from a client, a man is giving it to her, and a client might have barged in through a door, as that's where her eyes are. Function:The function of this piece is to show her symbolic of her sexual independence from men and her role as a prostitute. Meaning: The meaning behind this piece is to show how the factors of one event add up to so many through the size of the work.
Self-Portrait as a Soldier. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. 1915 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Painting of a solider. This piece is confusing because I'm not sure if the is holding a portrait of a nude male. Context:This artist made a masterpiece of a psychological drama. This painting shows the artist dressed in a uniform and he is standing in his studio with a bloody arm and a nude model behind him. This shows that the artist had a complicated way of coming of age as an idealistic young artist. This is an artistic artwork that shows the artists struggles in his artwork. He suffered with alcohol and drugs and paralysis for a time being. His fears about war were also obvious and were placed inside these artworks of his. Form: Asymmetrical Balance Style: there are cultural works with a complex hierarchy. This artist had a strong impact on Expressionist art and World War 1. Function:to show that the artists struggles and fears within the artwork. This was artwork with purpose. It served the purpose to relieve the man from his troubles through the strokes of a paint brush. Meaning:to show that there is more honest and direct ways and more natural ways to work than work produced by artists from industrialized Western European nations.
Mont Sainte-Victoire. Paul Cézanne. 1902-1904 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Painting of a village, mostly green. Context: There is a different perspective to which it is difficult to estimate by eyes. There are different perspectives of where everything is in the painting. This is an artistic artwork that shows a deep panoramic scene that the atmosphere is filled with this space. There is a left side of the mountain and there is an outermost contour as well. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style: This piece is in the style of having geometric shapes such as irregular triangles and complicated pyramids. This artist strides away from regular and perfect and goes into his own word of irregulars and imperfections. Function: to show how the artist portrayed a panorama of a landscape and made it into his own with his own style and techniques of creating artwork. Meaning: to show how this artist created his own artwork with just a landscape and his own ideas of creating new art
Improvisation 28 (second version). Vassily Kandinsky. 1912 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Painting of horse and rider. Context:This artist uses horse-and-rider motifs to symbolize his crusade against aesthetic values and his dreams of a better and spiritual future through the power of art. It also shows how the painter used no less than seven other canvasses with images of riders. Function- The function of this artwork is to show that the rider came to signify the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Form: Asymmetric Style:in the latter painting, there are images of a boat and waves with a serpent and perhaps cannons emerges on the left. Function: to show that the rider came to signify the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Meaning: the meaning of this artwork is to show that there are different techniques that this artist uses and portrays different ways of demonstrating ways to make art.
The Valley of Mexico from the Hillside of Santa Isabel (El Valle de México desde el Cerro de Santa Isabel). Jose María Velasco. 1882 C.E. Oil on canvas
Content: Painting of the observation observation of rocks, foliage, clouds, and waterfalls. Context:There was the war of 1821 that was for the independence from Spain for Mexico. This is what is depicted in this artwork of a painting. This is a historical artwork that has the imagery that offered an opportunity to highlight symbols of patriotism valuable to a newly independent society. Form: Asymmetrical balance Style:This is in the style of the beginning of nineteenth century. This artwork is used to capture the imaginations of Mexicans. Function:to show the Romantic qualities of pure landscape. Meaning: to show historical value through a beautiful landscape painting.
Marilyn Diptych. Andy Warhol. 1962 C.E. Oil, acrylic, and silkscreen enamel on canvas.
Content: This picture is split up in squares all in porportion. There are many cults of Marilyn Monroe, half of the page is colored and the other half is black and white. Context: It is screen-printing photographic images onto backgrounds of rectangular shapes. The left is in color which represents her life. The right which is in black and white represents her death. Her public face is highlighted by bold, artificial colors. The private persona of her is submerged under the public face. The social characteristics are amplified such as the brilliance of blonde hair, heavily applied lipstick, and seductive expression. Form:Asymmetrical balance Style: Screen printing Function:Cult of celebrity, Marilyn Monroe Meaning: The reproduction of many denies the concept of this unique work. Current Location: Tate Gallery, London
The Swing. Jean-Honoré Fragonard. 1767 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: This piece has puffy clouds, an abundance of flowers, sinuous curves and rich vegetation. There is also a woman swinging as if she was on a swing, knocking the man in front of him over. Context: This piece of art is created for a patron, but in this case, he is in the illustrated piece of artwork. The author put Cupid in this image to show the lady needs to be cautious. Form:Asymmetrical balance; atmospheric perspective Style: Curvilinear characteristics Function: To show the frivolous artwork that is beginning to show over the religious artwork that have taken place in England for quite sometime. During the Age of Enlightenment, artists began to show things beyond religion and things that the church and religion would never agree to Meaning: The revolutionizing art; how it is not religious or church related. Current Location: Wallace
The Oath of the Horatii. Jacques-Louis David. 1784 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Three armed men are holding their hand out to a man in a red cape who has no armor on him. He is holding three sords by the cutting part. It seems to be the swords of the three men. There are women in the back on the floor behind the man in the red cape. Context: This is a painting with the example of exemplum virtutis. Exemplum virtutis shows self-sacrifice for the greater. This painting was painted under a royal patronage. During this time period in 1785, it created a sensation (Salon of 1785). Form: Style: Neoclassical; exemplum virtutis Function: To show the story of three brothers Meaning: This image is a story of three brothers or the Horatti who battle three other brothers, the Curatii whom are from another city and aren't painted. They pledge their fidelity to their father and to Rome.
The Two Fridas. Frida Kahlo. 1939 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Two women sitting on a chair next to each other. They are holding hands and the woman on the left has scissors in her hands. She has her heart cut out of her chest, but it is connected to the other woman's outer chest. It is connected by arteries. Context: Artistic artwork that shows the self-portraits of Mexican people. The woman have elaborate hairstyles with hosiery and attires. Form: To show the harsh reality of the social expectations of society and the beauty portrayed in the arts Style: Function:The function of this artwork is to show the harsh reality of the social expectations of society and the beauty portrayed in the arts. Meaning: Women had beauty, but had a harsh reality
Fountain (second version). Marcel Duchamp. 1950 C.E. (original 1917). Readymade glazed sanitary china with black paint.
Content: White fountain where men can urine into. It is marked with the letters and numbers, "RMUTT 1417" Context: This piece of work is considered as a ready-made sculpture that Marcel Duchamp thought was a work of art. He entered it in an unjuried show, but it was refused. He signed R. Mutt which is a pun on the Mutt and Jeff comic strip and the Mott Iron Works. The title of this work is called Fountain which is a pun as fountains spout liquid while a urinal collects it. He added more irony by turning it upside down. Form:Symmetrical balance Style: Ready-made Function:The function of this is to show that artwork is not a special object. It is a mass-produced in a factory. Not all of them are meant to be exciting or thrilling. Some are just there to leave you puzzled. Meaning: The meaning of this artwork is to show that the toilet is meant to symbolize the conceptual challenge posed by the readymade art today.
Villa Savoye. Poissy-sur-Seine, France. Le Corbusier (architect). 1929 C.E. Steel and reinforced concrete.
Content: White lifted, low, building on green grass. Context:This represents the culmination of the decade in which this architect worked in during the time of modern architect was developing. It is also an an artistic architect that has contributed to the rise of modern architect during this time of history. Form: Asymmetrical Balance Function: to contribute to the work that is being recognized during the rising of modern types of architect styles. Meaning:to show how modern architecture slowly rose through time after time.
Self-Portrait. Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. 1790 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Woman painting at a black paper or wall. She is posed in this painting. We know this because she is looking at the audience. Context: This piece is inspired by the portraits of Rubens which contains forty self-portraits of the painter. All of the portraits are highly idealized. Form:Asymmetrical balance Style: Oil painted on canvas. Function: To show how successful she was as a artist during this time. Nobody else had created such a large legacy and no other had left back so many artworks for others to remember her by. Meaning: The successful style that this famous woman contributed to during that time period.
Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Miguel Cabrera. c. 1750 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Woman seated in a library. She is wearing the habit of the religious order of Hermits of St. Jerome nuns of Mexico City. Lastly, there is an escudo (framed velium painting). Context: This lady is surrounded by symbols of her faith. She is known for publishing books that are popular. She also writes poetry and theoretical pieces. Lastly, she maintained a library. Form:Asymmetrical balance Style: In the style of religious and Mexican art. Function: To show the importance of knowledge and religion. Meaning: A instrumental that gives girls an education while in a world dominated by male.
Woman, I. Willem de Kooning. 1950-1952 C.E. Oil on canvas.
Content: Women big eyes and huge fierce teeth. The jagged lines creates an extremely intense mood for this image. The thick and thin black lines are important for the portrayal of this picture. This women stares blankly at you with a frozen grin. This painted figure has large bulbous breast. Context: This is satirical on women that appear in magazine advertising and its smile is thought to have been influenced by an advertisement of a woman selling camel cigarettes. Also, it is one of a series of six on women themes. It shows a combination of stereotypes. The ironic comment on the banal and artificial world of film and advertisements. Form:Asymmetrical balance Style:Abstract Expressionism; slashing of paint onto canvas Function: This works as a
Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure). Meret Oppenheim. 1936 C.E. Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon.
Content:Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon. Context:This artist created this object with an ordinary cup, spoon, and a saucer wrapped with gazelle fur. The artist believes that almost everything can be covered with fur. This is an artistic artwork that shows the Oppenhelm's elegant creation and how to understand the visceral memories and how to create metaphors and symbols out of it. Form:show how visceral reactions in Oppenhelm's sculpture comes the closest to the artist's aspiration. Style: Function:o show how visceral reactions in Oppenhelm's sculpture comes the closest to the artist's aspiration. Meaning: To show the elegant creation that this artist came up with, with just a china set and gazelle fur.
The Stone Breakers. Gustave Courbet. 1849 C.E. (destroyed in 1945). Oil on canvas.
Content:Two workers working very hard. One Context: This artist tried and achieved the goal of making this art come to life with realism and reality. This painting was made a year after the pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto.This is a historical artwork because it is there to serve as the reminder of what was going on during this time period after a series of actions. Form:Style:This is in the style of a historical artwork as this painting was made a year after Marx and Engels wrote their influential pamphlet, The Communist Manifesto. Function:The function of this artwork is to show how the two laborers are trying to remove stone from a road that is being built. Meaning: The meaning behind this piece is to make sure that history is remembered, no matter which direction or what it is about. Artists make sure that history is told through their artwork.