Art History I, the end

 This year art history has really been a treasure. The stars aligned for me and hooked up the facts I was learning in world history with what I was learning in art history. It has been a fun experience, very different from most survey classes. I really enjoyed having so many different ways of making grades. I liked having a variety of projects. I, however, was not a huge fan of the group projects but it was still fun to get to know the people that were sitting around me.
 My favorite project was definitely the Parthenon project. I really enjoyed working with a partner, not only was I able to learn more about my partner and the parthenon I was able to get a different point of view. I also liked it because it was like a mini field trip!
 I'm so glad I took this class, I know it will help me if I ever do become an art teacher. I can take all the facts I've learned into my career and help children grow up and have a better knowledge of art and it's history.

Ancient Roman/Early Christianity

Commodus As Hercules
Rome, c.191-192
This sculpture is of Commodus, who became emperor after his father's death. He was known for having no political skills, administrative competence, or intellectual distinction, as well as being "insane". He believed that he was the reincarnation of Hercules and the incarnation of the god Jupiter. He was a man of luxury and thoughtless amusements. This piece shows how vain he was, in having a bust made of him being the reincarnation of the great demi-god Hercules, while his face reflects that of his fathers by the elongated face and large eyelids.


Mausoleum of Galla Placidia. The small brick chapel is plain and modest on the outside, concealing the glittering treasures inside.Entrance is through a small door on the north side. The plain north facade was once covered in marble.The interior is lit by 14 small windows, several of which are on the second floor called clerestory windows. these windows are made to give the mosaic in the dome a heavenly glow. the figures in the mosaic are representative of the disciples. Matthew is represent by an angel, Mark by a lion, Luke by an ox, and John by an eagle, While Christ is represented by the cross in the center. As we can kind of see this picture glowing towards the center. 

From the beginning of time religion has been portrayed in art. It has shifted from the focus of a person, their achievements, and god-like divinity, to focus on the Christian belief in one savior. In the bust above Commodus is being portrayed as the demi-god Hercules which is an example of pagan, archaic beliefs. In Roman times the only real connection with religion was through mythological gods. However, instead of mythological stories and glorifications of other gods, Christian art portrayed miraculous, but humble stories of Christ and his followers. As Christianity spread throughout Rome the people soon realized they needed a place to worship and they began to borrow specific aspects from Roman architecture just as others have done throughout time. For example, Christian congregations needed a large well-lit space for worship and the Roman basilica model provided the perfect inspiration.

   This piece of pottery is an Aryballos-style Archaic Greek "vessel". It was created around 570 BCE. This piece would have been used for holding oil for the bathing process after one was finished at the gym. It stands around three feet tall, making it extremely portable, and is made out of terracotta. It is decorated by a black-figure painting on a light background. The figures we see beside the lip of the aryballos are pygmies and cranes in an epic battle. On the side of the handle we can see Hermes and Perseus  with two Tritons on top of the handle that are less visible from this angle, and there are three satyrs painted on the main face of the handle.
   The vessel was likely crafted and painted by Nearchos. Signing his name in an isolated portion of his works we can find him making other vessels earlier in the Archaic time period.

Egypt project

http://prezi.com/pcei9bkrlofx/ancient-egyptian-project/

Egyptomania

The Presbyterian church is decked out to look like an egyptian hall. It has the hypostyle halls painted on the wall which do create a great illusion making you feel as if there is more depth to the walls. However I do not feel very much when I see this church. Maybe it is the fact that I have been there many times to the point that my feels towards it are numb. I do think the artwork is amazingly done especially the stain glass work. But the feel itself does nothing for me. A few other people in my group felt to same about the church while others found it to be rather fascinating!

Individual blog 2 part 2

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/In-an-era-of-austerity-reasons-to-fund-the-arts/21121

Culture is a social language that we would be dumb without. Through out time it has been a question of why fund the arts. This article tells of past times when people have fought for the arts as well as people fight for the arts today. Art is something that is vital to our existence. No matter where you are or what language you speak art is universal. It can teach us about the past such as cave paintings or hieroglyphics, inform us of the present with things such as pictures of current events, and expand our imaginations about the future. We need art as a means to communicate when words can't be found. Without art this world could become more violent and ignorant because without art words are all we can use and sometimes words just aren't enough.

Individual blog 2 part 1

My favorite picture that we have recently studied is The Narmer Palette. Created at the dawn of its history, the palette suggest the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. This work uses the Rebus system of writing, where the picture represent a sound or the first letter of a word.  This is read by starting on the right side then the top, inside , then bottom. This piece has several representational symbols, for example the Lotus for Upper Egypt and the Papyrus for Lower Egypt.
During Narmer's time a Palette such as this was used for grinding eye paint. In his time everyone wore eye shadow and eyeliner because of the intensely bright sun. However this piece would have been much too fancy and important to be used for the grinding of the eye shadow. The amount of history that we can get just out of this one piece of work is truly amazing.

Collage

I have made this collage to look like the sun. I did this because I am a very bright and happy person and I’m always trying to make people feel their best. For about my friends and family that are the most important things to me I have put them in the sphere portion of the sun. My interests begin with the paint of “The Dance Lesson” by Degas. This includes my love of dance as well as most all of my pets! I can usually be found dancing, playing with my animals, or doing art projects. Belmont of course is at the top I love the flowers at Belmont so I really wanted to show them. Then at the guitar sign we have my community. I live just outside of Nashville and there are so many beautiful things to see. My favorite thing to do is go around with my camera taking pictures of flowers and birds, and who could resist some Long Horns? Next I have the nation coming straight down from the sun. In the nation section I’ve shown recent events/controversies, and how we as a nation must stand strong no matter what and always support the troops.

Decisions: I have chosen all of these things because they represent who I am, what I enjoy and where I come from.

Color:  Colors is particularly hard but I have done the school with reds tying them together, my interests all have some color of black in each picture, my community uses lots of blues and greens, and for the nation, you guessed it Red, White, and Blue.

Light: I have done light and dark in this by spreading them out randomly like the light and dark spots of a flame. It would be cool if they could move around like a flame but they can’t.

Texture: The plastic wrap over the sphere gives it a more wild untamed texture, as well as, the brush strokes I have used to create the flames.

Volume: Although I didn’t use cut outs I think my Paper Mache sphere gives the project a good bit of volume.

Line: This would definitely be off center with a use of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines.

Space: The background to my project is the flames, and like flames we can see them randomly trying to take over the foreground but with nor success.

Scale: Although the pictures of me are on the sphere they are the least important to me. I care more about all of God’s creatures and being sure they are well taken care of than I do myself.

Symbolism: This whole thing stands for something else. It stands for who I am. I was given the Lakota Indian name of Wildfire. This represents me, and my spirit to be free and always burning, warming everyone’s hearts, brightening the day.

Individual blog part 2

http://www.mutualart.com/OpenArticle/Indian-Art-on-the-Rise/6980C6BAE84E230F?promo=c35e0524722a8338

What to expect next out of Indian art.

This article talks about the changing of art in India. It focuses largely on one piece by Bharti Kher, The Skin Speaks a Language Not It's Own.  This piece has several theories behind it. It is a life size female elephant that is covered in bindis. A bindi is a decoration that was formerly used to signify the age, marital status, or the religious background of girls and women. The artist is letting the viewer decide what the elephant represents. The first theory is that the elephant represents the conflict of tradition and the modern times. And the elephant that is sleeping is being taken over by the bindis or being given power by them, representing either the masses of India turning toward religion and traditions, or turning away from them. I believe that these are both very compelling representations. I think that maybe the elephant is dying, and the movement in the piece is the elephant fighting trying to get up. I do agree the elephant represents India, and the bindis represent the population of India. However I don't think the bindi represent just tradition or just modern times approaching. I think the bindis are a mixture of the two. I think that in more recent times people have been trying to bring out their native traditions and cultural heritage, but there are still those that want to make things more modern and until we figure out a middle ground we can not rest peacefully.

Individual blog part 1

The picture I have chosen to talk about is "Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist". In this painting we a strong geometric shape present. The shape we primarily see is a triangle. The triangle was a symbol of that time that was used to represent a few things. It could be representative of the Father, Son , and Holy Spirit, as well as, the female figure. At the time this painting was done the triangle was believed to be the most perfect shape. The placement of these triangles make this painting visually appealing and help to create balance. 

The other thing we notice from this painting are the colors that are used. The artist has used color not only as symbolism but also as a way to give the figures volume. By using different shades and tints of colors he has created highlights and shadows giving the figures a sense of roundness. The artist has also used blue as a symbol for the Virgin Mary, as many did in that time period. The color blue was very rare and a pure color with a high value which is why it was considered so precious and perfect for the Virgin Mary.

My favorite painting

My favorite painting is called The Dance Lesson, by Edgar Degas. I like this painting best because I have grown up around dance. When I was a little girl my sister was a dancer and I went to her practices as well as her recitals. The dance studio she went to was full of paintings of ballerinas, some of which were Degas.  Later in my life I began to dance as well. At that point these pictures meant much more to me. I became those dancers. This painting is really a very interesting painting. The composition of the painting is that of a photographer, having things off center, as well as cut off. It seems as though the picture could continue on but didn't fit into the view finder. Degas does amazing things with his use of color, light and texture, not only individually but together. His color is mostly pastel but the use of bright colors helps to lead your eye around the painting. The perspective with the use of light and color give the painting depth and change the shade of the colors throughout the studio. The light also helps to give the painting texture and volume. Light is not the only thing that gives the tutu texture and volume, the brush strokes also help to give a plump vibe around the slim physique of the dancer. The brush strokes make the tutu seem more rough and fluffy by having shorter, firmer strokes.  The way the dancer's tutu flows over the back of the chair is one way the artist creates volume in this painting.