Works Discussed:
William Holman Hunt, Strayed Sheep (Our English Coasts), oil on canvas, 1852 (Tate Britain)
Claude Monet, Boulevard des Capucines, oil on canvas, 1873 (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City)
Vincent Van Gogh, Potato Eaters, oil on canvas, 1885 (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)
Art History students - remember the timeline I gave you that mapped from the Renaissance to Contemporary art movements? Well, Smarthistory has 3 podcasts that give a brief overview of the dates listed above. I want you to listen to the first podcast and respond. Please click on this Post title to navigate to the blog site, listen to the podcast then come back to my blog and post a comment about what you learned. Be sure to have your timeline with you and chart the progress.
For your added pleasure (& entertainment!), I added links to the individual artists. You can learn all about them and see the body of their work. Just to help you track them on your ISM Timeline, Holman was a founder of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Monet was instrumental in the Impressionism movement, and Van Gogh is inseparable from the Post-Impressionism movement.
(This is a 4th 6 weeks homework blog assisgnment #1)
15 comments:
I like this work of art.
The colors are incredibly vibrant ... And I love how the rolling clifftops (odd, but applicable)look so lush and verdant...
The whole scene radiates serenity, from the green-blue sea coast, to the resplendent flowers, down to the smiling eyes of the lying sheep.
One thing that I did not fail to notice, however, was the inclusion of a black sheep in the middle of the painting, as well as down in the lower right corner -- I wonder if that carries some innate message...
As to "visual thinking" -- The peacefulness of the painting reminds me of being fully submerged in a hot bath -- Hot water is an art form.
I really liked the Strayed Sheep. The subject seemed rather unique. It reminds one of a pastoral, coastal life. It also reminds me of the symbol of Jesus as the Shepard, though I don't know if that it what the artist was going for. I really like the single light source with the shadowing.
I liked The Boulevard des Capucines slightly less. The colors seem less bold, though they do convey the mood of the piece.
The Potato Eaters is a very interesting piece. The people are very individual. Though it is dark, you can clearly see the detail and the light source.
The pieces are all conveying a set time and place, so they are visuals of these places, clues that you can think about when you imagine them.
-Abby Jordan
I like how the artist in the sheep painting, dared to deviate from the conventions of composition of the time. The flock could symbolize the following of Christ, since sheep represent the those who are guided by Christianity. It's interesting how the artist's message could possibly have been people's divergence from the Church of England.
Monet's technique seems to blend all of the details of his painting with his individualized brush strokes to emphasize the rapid pace of the modern artist. The human figures are reduced, and are projected to be a microscopic detail in the painting, unlike previous art, where the human figure was the most important part of works.
In my opinion, the Hunt painting really shows how the artists of the time were beigining to try new things and leave the academy behind. Its seems like a transition from the rigid academic style to the more fluid impressionist styles.
The Money seems to show the impressionst ideas very weel, in the reduction of form in favor of much more abstract, vague, shapes that still convey the idea of what is being shown.
The Van Gogh actually moves more towards realism (sort of) than the Monet, and shows much more detail. However, the roughness and almost untrained feel that the painting gives off is a drastic departure from what the academy liked, and I'm sure that like Monet, the academy derided his works.
Glendon Plumton
just in time
My favorite piece of art from the three was by Claude Monet, Boulevard des Capucines. The attempt of capturing the impression that the human eye would get of the city is beautifully done. I love that this peice is realistic in the sense that it looks like human vision, imperfect yet identifiable.
Strayed Sheep by William Holman Hunt is my second favorite. The detailed quality and the fact that the peice was not exactly true to artisitc conventions of the time makes it interesting. It draws the eye in and fascinates me because of the unusual sense of balance that resides in this painting even though it is unsymetrical and off center in its horizon line and subjects.
I appreciate Vincent Van Gogh's Pumpkin Eaters because the lighting and style of the peice is expertly painted so that they resemble the subjects themselves. I don't find it pleasurable to look at the peice but I do realize the skill, talent and thought that went into the making of it.
I like this work of art.
The colors really popped out at me and grabbed my attention.
The use of dark and light colors really intruigued me. I really liked the contrast of the several colors used.
I'm not in love with Hunt's work, but I love Monet and Van Gogh.
Hunt's and Monet's work uses lighter colors, but Van Gogh uses some darker and more humble colors. Van Gogh's art has a more personal feel to his piece. It kind of has a... down to earth feel.
It seemked like he wanted to make it a more pesant painting. Not so much in a worker sense, but in a more loving sense. You can tell that this painting was done to represent the daily life of pesants and
I like this, because it gives you the feeling of belonging, because no one is overdramatically presented.
For Strayed Sheep, I love the deviations from formulaic perspective and classical landscape, and the radical departure from the academy. I find Hunts's "reliance solely on truth to nature" very effective.
Boulevard des Capucines, "another truth to vision," is lovely. Not only is Monet rejecting the academy, or classicism, but also the specificity that Hunt uses, and even downgrades the human form to black lines.
Potato Eaters, a "modern religious painting," gives a more intimate and humble expression of moral, rather than figures of angels or Christ. The way that Van Gogh chose to depict his subject matter is fitting, because he wanted to paint the peasants in a way that looked "untrained".
By rejecting the academy, the artists managed to stumble upon techniques to create beautiful artwork and set new precedents in art history.
Strayed Sheep by William Holman Hunt is porbably my favorite out of the bunch. I like how Hunt was well in tuned with the natural world and captured it almost magnificently. The scene filled with the strayed sheep magnifies and symbolizes a sense of peace and innocence. the overall use of colors and contrast of shadows also brings the natural pastoral scene to life.
The Boulevard des Capucines by Claude Monet seems like a great work of art that stands out on its own. Although pretty dull from a far, as the video zooms into the painting, you come to realize and appreciate the features and techniques used by Monet.
My least favorite is the Potato Eaters by Van Gogh. It includes realistic figures and bring about a sense of pathos and emotional appeal from the viewer. He captures the figure's emotions in such a way that their mixed emotions and faces coincide with the darkness that fills the room. All in all, I learned alot from the podcast, the paintings were great. Three different styles and paintings brought about a sense of interest, uniqueness and distinctiveness.
-kelcey d.6th
I really like this painting. It is a great example of texture. You can practically feel the sheep's soft wool and the lush green grass.
I believe that the two black sheep resemble the "oddballs" of the group. This group is on some kind of journey. It's a hard journey because some members have to rest(they might be dead, I can't tell).
I disagree with Josh, my first impression I thought this painting was kinda harsh.
I really enjoyed the Strayed Sheep piece. The landscape is so very controlling of the viewers eyes on the piece. The sheep look soft, and the piece overall looks exceptionally realistic.
The Strayed Sheep was really good and rather comforting b/c of the whole sheep thing. I just feel that certain animals make art more soothing and calm and that's how I felt about this one. The other two I don't really have much interest in although I can really appreciate Van Gogh's work and skill b/c he really was good but I guess that it just doesn't suit me as much for my likings. The fact that the pieces are rejecting the academy is also quite nice b/c it shows that they're trying something new even if I personally don't always like the new stuff that they portray.
Impressionism really is a pleasure to look at but more than that everything about it (like Van Gogh's Potato Eaters)is striking. This piece captures an instance of emotion of these people sad and dejected as the colors seem to drain the energy from the piece. Seeing the potato eaters makes me feel just as morose. We see the distinct brush strokes which allow the piece to have some movement but still hold to the sluggish dark feeling. I really like it.
I really enjoyed the Strayed Sheep art piece. The landscape rolls on, while the viewer is able to follow it and take it every detail and important aspect of the work. As you move around the piece the life in the color almost soothe you. The sheep appear to be soft and full of life. You can also see there is a single light soure that create dramatic shadowing, as Miguel would say "A Light Source From God...lol". But yea the work was really nice, it is a new favorite of mine and is very interesting and realistic.
I loved this peice of art work not only because the colors showed great detail and were very vibrant and noticible. One major detail I saw was the sheeps in the middle of the peice and how they really stuck out because of the black, but most sheep are white. So I had to do a double take on that peice and make sure those were sheep, it was just weird. Another thing I also liked about the painting is it had a very calm and warming feeling. It made me have this relaxing feeling about it, I really enjoyed that aspect of it to.
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