Sflippo's Blog

The Arsenal by Diego Rivera from 1928 while in Mexico

This piece of work, The Arsenal, by Diego Rivera was a response to a recent visit of his to the USSR in 1927. Rivera was in the Soviet Union as a member of an official delegation of Mexican Communist Party for the tenth anniversary of The October Revolution. Upon his return to Mexico, he painting “The Arsenal” to show his support for the Workers Movement in Mexico. In the image, you can see his wife, Frida Kahlo handing out the weapons to surrounding communist supporters from all walks of life. Rivera went to great lengths to depict certain individuals and supporters in this painting.

Diego was a well travelled individual for the 1920’s with trips to the USSR, Italy, Spain, and even France. As a result, his artwork reflects a lot of different influences. For instance, from his trips, he was able to study artworks from the Renaissance, as well as, take in the allure from the French paintings. It is said that a large majority of Rivera’s paintings resemble that of Aztec paintings with the simplified figures and bold colors; both characteristics of which the painting “The Arsenal” depict. Diego lived from 1886-1957 and thus was able to observe a great deal of worldly affairs, from WWI and WWII to the Mexican Revolution of 1910 which is where several of his murals take place or depict. As a result of his life long influences, Rivera was able to create numerous paintings, that all had a meaning and message to suggest.

The reason why I chose this painting was because of how busy it appeared. Diego made the painting include great amounts of detail in faces and actions of the people, all while staying relatively simplistic. I was also fond of how his paintings are like cross-sections of a certain place in time. If you look at other images by Diego such as “Detroit Industry” you can see how he depicted such images from this view. Another reason why I chose this painting was because it was a result of the communist movement going on in Russia, which I had just learned about in my history class. I was amazed to see the the results of this movement spread all the way to Mexico from the Soviet sphere of Influence. Ultimately, this painting has several stories to tell within it and gives us a look into an event we were not able to witness firsthand with great detail.

Sources:

http://www.fbuch.com/diego.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Rivera

These images are the work of Wu Boli from approximately 1400AD and is called the “Dragon PIne”

I found this piece of work very appealing to me for several reasons: I personally am very fond of the simplicity of the painting, it is all done with one color, but yet creates an astonishing representation of real life images. In addition to this, as you may know, I enjoy works that go into depth and detail, something of which the Ming Dynasty artworks accomplish very well. For instance in this image, every single stroke comes together to create a much larger picture in which no detail is left untouched. Another characteristic of this image that is so aesthetically pleasing to me is the natural world it depicts. The artist plays with perception to show the large tree in the foreground and the beauty of the stream in the background. Every time I glance upon this image, I discover some new and interesting detail hidden within the artists work.

The Ming Dynasty was developed after a century of Mongolian rule and in 1368 and the Chinese took control of themselves once again. As far as art went, this meant that emperors would put larger restrictions over the artists, and thus they had to create works to meet the needs and interests of the Imperial Family. This ultimately lead to a more realistic and professionalized style from which the wonderful works of landscape art were created. These works of art opposed the impulsive and carefree styles that the Literati School previously taught across the country and symbolized a patriotic need to revert back to the traditional old glory of the Han Chinese. However, this landscape movement of the Ming Dynasty eventually came to an end with the emergence of a small middle class, which created a need for a new type of painting: a painting with more color and personalization.

The artist of this particular image, Wu Boli, was a Daoist priest located at the Shangqing (Upper Purity) Temple of Mount Longhu (Dragon Tiger Mountain). Boli created this image for Zhang Yuchu, the forty-third Daoist pope of the Orthodox Unity sect of the early 14th century. This image retells the painting of Jing Hao, which was said to symbolize “the moral character of the virtuous man.” Hao describes his original work as, “a gigantic pine tree, its aged bark overgrown with lichen, its winged scales seeming to ride in the air. Its stature is like that of a coiling dragon trying to reach the Milky Way.” I found this explanation to hold very to to Boli’s rendition, as he holds true to the original theme and detail. It has been said that the pine tree represents perfected being,” as the image depicts the vital energies collected at the base of the stream, and growing up to the enormous pine tree.

Sources:

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/08/eac/ho_1984.475.3.htm

http://oer.uaf.edu/learn/AMTF200-v1/2009/206/

http://www.artrealization.com/traditional_chinese_art/landscape_painting/ming/ming.htm

Environmental art is a movement that originated from the United States in the early 1960s and continues to be practiced in today’s society. Theses works are constructed in the natural world, whether it be at a busy intersection, or a secluded forest. However, many of these works are vanish with time, and the only living records of them are from photographs and paintings.

Throughout my exploration of the Environmental Art, I found a common theme across a majority of the works: presenting the elements of life in the natural world. This theme continually jumped out to me as I browsed through several images for many reasons. To begin with, the fact that many of the artworks vanish into nature hints toward the circle of life which is a key component to nature. In addition to this, the materials of which many of these works are made come from the earth and form together to create elaborate forms of art. Another area of influence I found from these works was that all sorts of environmental elements would be brought together and combined to create the works, which again suggests towards a theme of the elements in nature.

The first artist I came across when examining the form of earth art was Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy was born in 1956 at the start of the land art movement. He is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist that currently resides in Scotland. He creates large sculptures and art throughout the landscape in order to create temporary and permanent works that bring out the character of the surrounding world.

The first painting of Goldsworthy’s that I found was:
“Two Oak Stacks” – 2003

I found this image to be an excellent example to depict what Environmental art is all about. It brings together all the surrounding elements of nature into one local environment. This piece of work gathers the oak trees into a large bundle in an open field, it takes elements from the forest and brings them out into the open where they can be examined more closely and in a new light. This once again shows the interaction of life in the natural world, and how the circle of life will eventually break this apart, and its journey will start over.

Another one of Goldsworthy’s works I found very interesting is:
Spire – 2008

This artistic work was very interesting in my opinion. It is located in the Presidio forest and truly shows the interaction between a manmade collaboration and nature. This image again shows how the the elements of nature are grouped together and create an object that allows individuals to view nature in a different located and content. Once again this piece represents the sub theme of the circle of life, as it is know this object will not last throughout time, and it will again return to the natural state of the forest.

The final piece of work of Goldsworhty’s that I found was:
Cone Sculpture – 2003

This artwork is very different from the other works, as it is not made of decomposable elements, which leads towards a different theme. I find the theme of this to keep within the elements of nature, however it will stand up to the trials of time. This ultimately lead to me believe the purpose of this image was to offer a different view on the natural world we know today.

Many of the works of Goldsworthy all backed up a common theme to the genre of Environmental Art. However, there were several other artists who also did the same.

One such artist is Walter De Maria. Walter created an iconic piece of work known as “The Lightning Field” circa 1977. Walter was born in 1935 and attended the University of California Berkley. During the 1960s, Walter moved to New York and began working with the movement of Environmental art.

This amazing piece of work consist of over 400 lightning rods scattered across a field in order to capture one spectacular moment: when lightning strikes. This image again suggest towards the theme of the elements of nature, as the strike of lightning engulfs the background of the field. In this picture we see the combination of two contrasting energies which again brings out the observation of nature in its original content.

In addition to Walter, Joseph Beuys created a gigantic work of Environmental Art known as 7000 oaks. This piece of work consists of over 7000 oaks scattered across the landscape and characterized by basalt stones. This image again hints towards the elements of nature, however in this case these works greatly improve the environment. Ultimately, helping to support the circle of life of the natural world.
7000 Oaks – 1982-1996

Finally, the works of Donald Lipski again reinforce the themes of the elements in nature. Donald Lipski was born in 1947, and upon graduation of college moved to New York to practice the influences from the Dada movement on the Environmental Art. In the work Exquisite Copse (Big Knot), we see the incorporation of an element outside of its natural home where it can once again be observed and viewed through a different light in order to show how the elements of nature intertwine.

Exquisite Copse – 2002

Ultimately, all these artworks and artists come together to enforce one common theme: to show the elements of nature and their life in the natural world. A few artists went about different methods to produce these results, but in the end, they all fall under the same category and work towards a common goal.  The Environmental Art movement has created several astonishing works, and helps reconnect society with the natural world.

Sources:

http://www.presidio.gov/experiences/spire.htm

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/s/images/sphere_goldswrthy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/e/earthart.html&h=271&w=329&sz=43&tbnid=uv5rEMKT_43t8M:&tbnh=98&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dearth%2Bart&hl=en&usg=__u14uclSNutRWrT_jXbGy_4QGYCs=&ei=n2z7SomrL5P6sQP6w-mDAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBIQ9QEwAw

https://classes.uaf.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_60839_1%26url%3d

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_De_Maria

http://landmarks.utexas.edu/artistdetail/Lipski_Donald

The Early Modern Era brought about many new forms of art, one if which included the Surrealist style of the Post WWI Era. The styles of Surrealism engulfed the psychological states of dreams and fantasies. The artist of this style looked towards the psychological research of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung for their inspiration. Freud and Jung’s work was out to explain the workings of the brain through analysis of the symbols in one’s dreams. It is as Freud stated, “”A dream that is not interpreted is like a letter that is not opened.” This statement does an excellent job at describing how and what this style is all about. Surrealist loved the freedom of expression they could show in their works and ultimately this lead them back to the era of the Renaissance for inspiration.

This style of painting grew from the Dada movement and flourished after WWI as a result of all the scientific and technologic advancements. This lead the artist to really embrace the use of perspective in their works, both 2D and 3D. Artist definitely used the element of perspective in the Surrealist works to play with your eyes, and again to make you think about the situation that is being presented. Artists also were greatly influenced by the current events taking place. Many fled Nazi German and as a result, this lead to a mixture of ideas and inspiration in the paintings they created. All these combinations come together to create my favorite work of art from this era.

The particular work of art I preferred from the surrealist style was Cle de Champs by Rene Magritte from 1931. To begin with, I was not completely attracted to its style and design. However, as I continued to look at the paintings of this era, it grew on me more and more. I particularly liked the “oddness” of this style. The paintings really make you think about the meaning behind the image. For example in the painting Cle de Champs, you are looking through a window frame, to elude as if you are looking through a new reality or “window.” In addition to this, the broken glass on the floor still reflects the image it held when it was in place in the frame. The combination of these attributes really make you stop to think; what’s going on here? This is ultimately why these paintings are the most interesting to me as they seek to explain the unexplained through several new and unique perspectives.

Source:

http://www.eyeconart.net/history/surrealism.htm

Cle de Champs

Impressionism was first created by Claude Monet in his painting “Impression, Sunrise.” From here on out remarkable works of art in this style would flourish throughout the 19th century despite the several struggles it faced in the beginning. As Impressionistic painting first appeared, people were not fond of its style; which was mostly in part to the new paintings it produced. This was because it was a new idea in painting, and it took people awhile to grasp the idea of these works; as society tends to to with anything new or different. Despite this minor setback, several artist flourished under this category: artists such as Edgar Degas, Van Gogh, and James Whistler. This style of art encompassed a series of rough brush strokes with distinctives colors, that when grouped together would form an image, as seen in “Rue Montorgueil” by Claude Monet. This effect was possible due to the perspective of which the human eye would view the paintings.

Granted the way these paintings were created based upon imagery and perspective is very amazing, I was still not fond of these paintings. I believe I feel this way because of the end result of the paintings. In my opinion the final result looks “sloppy,” granted this is the style, I preferred the more detailed paintings of Realism and the Hudson River School Artists with works such as The Oxbow by Thomas Cole circa 1836 from Massachusetts. With the paintings of the Hudson River School, one can see the lovely contrast of color and detail within the paintings, something of which I feel is missing from the Impressionistic paintings. In addition to this, I also found the subject matter of Impressionism to be less appealing to my eye. The paintings of amusements, pastimes, and pleasant moments of which Impressionism focused on did not effect me in the same way as did the topics and subject matter of Realism.

After the development of Impressionism, there was the creation of Post-Impressionism in the 1900’s which appealed a little more to me than earlier Impressionism. One reason why I was more fond of this style painting was it appeared to be more uniform and flowed together better. The paintings made more sense to me as they were clearer and engulfed a different subject matter. This is apparent in the painting “Place du Carrousel” by Camille Pissarro, the focus of this painting is the scenery and images of the building and contains more even and thoughtful strokes in my view. This ultimately allows for the image to stand out more and makes the painting clearer when viewed from a closer perspective. The era of Post-Impressionism also contained bold intense colors in hopes of transcribing visual effects upon the admirer of the work.

In the end, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism were not my favorite styles of painting from the 19th century. I much preferred the realistic paintings of the Hudson River School Artists and the subject matter of realism. However, the Post-Impressionistic paintings were more apparent to me for several reasons. Despite the setbacks that Impressionism had to overcome, it was a widely accepted art for of the 19th century of which many artist partook in its practice and were able to create amazing works of art. From all of this I have truthfully found that art is really in the eye of the beholder.

Pictures of discussed works and examples can be found below:

Link to Monet’s first Impressionism painting – http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/monet.html

From these images, we can see the style of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, as well as their corresponding subject matter. Also in this gallery is a painting from one of The Hudson River School Artist to show the style of which I am much more fond.

Sources:

http://oer.uaf.edu/learn/AMTF200-v1/2009/149/

https://classes.uaf.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_60839_1%26url%3d

http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/monet.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impressionism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monet-montorgueil.JPG

http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg84/gg84-main2.html

Opera was a very important piece of the Classical Era as it contains a great amount of information that one can observe and learn. In doing so, this helps us to understand the history of this period more clearly. For instance, we can see from the satirical works that have survived why the Licensing Act of 1737 was put into effect by the British Government. Without the few surviving works, it would be difficult to comprehend why such an order was put in place. It is these works from the past that can help us to unlock the mysteries of time we could not experience.

The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay was written before the times of governmental controls over the artistic realm in 1728 and was the first Ballad Opera. This is very important in understanding the meaning to, and behind the opera as it was unrestricted from the governmental influence. The Beggar’s Opera follows a story line that may not appeal to everyone, as it was very satirical. It follows the story of a highway mans daring journey avoiding capture and his wife. However, the opera was set to many popular tunes of the time of which the satire was played. As a result, the piece of theatre was very popular among the general populous. The opera played an amazing record breaking 62 consecutive times. This was so much in fact that the original owner of the theatre was able to fund and build a completely new theatre off of the money made from the Beggar’s Opera. It was at this theatre that the opera went on to show for an astonishing 1,463 shows!

This piece of work was so popular due to the way of which John Gay wrote it. He included popular tunes of the period that most people already knew. It was this that allowed for individuals to really get into the opera and sing along with it. Of course, another contributing factor was that of the satire, as humor is very popular among a society. It was these characteristics and that of Gay’s convincing realism that enabled the audience to really relate and enjoy the piece. Also, Gay put in a great amount of focus into all aspects of government corruption and society which help lead to the rise of the middle class during the Classical Era.

Personally, i found this Opera unappealing at first, however, i then delved into the meaning and themes behind it and found it to be a great piece of work all together. I believe you just need a little understanding of the times and background of something in order to appreciate it to the fullest extent. One part i particularly found appealing about this play was how Gay incorporated the use of spoken voice into the Opera. I liked this because it gave me a chance to catch up on what i had missed during the singing parts. I also liked the fact that he used popular music of the time and incorporated satire into the Opera. I found this to be somewhat like the “Scary Movies” of today where the make fun of movies that we already know. This is something i personally enjoy, as i can relate to the story and understand what is going on, and of course the humor is nice also.

Ultimately, the Beggars Opera by John Gay was a groundbreaking feat of the Classical Era. This work paved the way for many satirical plays and operas to follow which in turn helped lead to the rise of the middle class. There are many important aspects to this Opera, and all together it can help give us an understanding of theatre during times we were not present. The world needs works such as these to keep a living legacy of our generations and society.

Pieces of the Beggar’s Opera can be seen at:

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beggar’s_Opera

https://classes.uaf.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_60839_1%26url%3d

During the Baroque period, many new artistic ideas and practices were being developed. These new ideas were drastically different from those of the previous Renaissance and I am even more astounded at the beautiful works that came from this era.

One of my favorite forms of art that developed during the Baroque period was that of the illusionistic ceilings. These pieces of work stood out because they caught my attention as they reminded of optical illusions and architecture, something of which I was very fond of when I was younger.

I was amazed at how any artist could have the patience to paint a ceiling for days on end, piece by piece to make such a large masterpiece; and be able to do all of this while paying such great attention to the detail in these works. For example, if you look at this website: http://www.haltadefinizione.com/magnifier.jsp?idopera=3 you can see how magnificent the detail of the illusionistic ceilings really are.

The piece of work I would like to discuss is the Jesuit Church’s Illusionistic Ceiling by Andrea Pozzo in Vienna, Austria. I took a great amount of time to explore this work, and stared at many pictures of it, when eventually I realized what these ceiling were all about. It took me awhile to figure out that the ceiling is actually flat, and the dome is a result of how the artist painted depth perception into his work. I can only imagine how many times he had to walk up and down his scaffolding to make sure every brush stroke was perfect and every detail in place. My favorite part of this work is not only the false domes, but also how the line of the walls continue on into the ceiling. For instance the artist, Andrea Pozzo, took great amounts of time in making the molding of the wall flow into the ceiling, as well as the colors and lines.

There are many historical connections associated with this ceiling and the church in which it is painted. To begin with, upon completion of this masterpiece, the church itself was dedicated to the Saints Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier, both were very important figures of the time. In addition to this, The Council of Trent had taken place about a century prior to the completion of this ceiling and had a profound effect upon why the church incorporated the arts so greatly within their teachings. It was thought that by including more visual arts into the church, it would help to spread the word and keep people within the church during times of The Protestant Reformation. Finally, the expansion of scientific knowledge also plays into this ceiling. Artists had understood perspective and distance thanks to the recent developments in science at this time.

Ultimately, this ceiling is a mix of influences from the times in which it was painted. Although I visited Austria many times when I lived in Europe, the Jesuit Church’s Illusionistic Ceiling was something I never got the chance to see, as I probably would not have been interested in it then. However, in retrospect, this ceiling is one piece of work I really wish I could have gazed upon with my own eyes. I am still astounded this work of art: every time I pull up the picture I just cannot believe how incredibly detailed and wonderful this ceiling really is. Imagine walking into this church and standing in awe of what lies in front of you; I can only ponder its beauty.

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Trent https://classes.uaf.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_60839_1%26url%3d

The Renaissance was a remarkable time in which a great reform of ideas, beliefs and practices were undertaken. However, have you ever wondered where this idea for change came from? What happened one day that made people say, “ah this is the times of The Renaissance.” Given the many combinations of reasons that lead to The Renaissance, such as humanism, there was one fantastic piece of work that paved the way for all artists to follow: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s The Gates of Paradise.

Michelangelo was the one responsible for dubbing Ghuberti’s work “The gates of Paradise,” and it is believed he said this because of their beauty. They were said to have begun the Renaissance. “The Gates of Paradise” were begun in 1425 and took an astonishing 27 years to finish the 28 gilded bronze images due to the great attention to detail that marked the visual arts of the Italian Renaissance. These gates are located at the northern entrance to the Baptistry, (built in 1050) as the south entrance was created by Andrea Pisano in 1330. The numerous scenes depicted on these doors are those of The Old Testament, particularly images relating to the creation of Solomon.

These images on the gates are very important, as they mark another key feature of the Renaissance: Religion. Not only is it known that the funding for artists mostly came from the church, they created religious works in honor of these donations and job opportunities. The funding from churches was so important to artists during this time that when the Protestant Reformation took place, a large majority of money was stripped from art and this resulted in a shift in the practice of artistry.

The Gates of Paradise became such an icon that several members of the Medici Family were baptized at this location. In response, Ghuberti wrote in his autobiography that he worked on the gates, “with the greatest diligence and the greatest love”. It is also interesting to note that he won the bid to finish the north gates at the young age of 21 and did not actually complete them until he was 48 years of age. He was only a couple years older than me and he took on something that would make him famous for several generations to follow. He also had the patience to complete such a large undertaking; as he handmade each of the 28 panels; something I myself would not be capable of doing.

I personally found this piece of work to be amazing. Fist off, this was not a painting, but something far more than that of a few brush strokes. This work is an astonishing piece of architecture that has survived numerous centuries of harsh weathers, floods, and human interaction. This masterpiece stood out to me because I have always been interested in architecture and history; both of which this work encompasses. I was attracted to these gates due to the attention to detail and time management that went into this work. To be able to take 27 years to complete such a work of art and not lose interest in it is an amazing feat in itself. This is also something I admire about Ghuberti: passion; passion not only for his work, but for his character confidence in his abilities.

Overall, Ghuberti was an amazing sculptor and individual with a great deal of patience. Not only was he able to create an amazing masterpiece of architecture, he was also able to sculpt the beginnings of the Italian Renaissance during the 1400s. Ghuberti is a person we all can look back on and learn a thing or two from; as I am sure he did during his times of artistic creativity. If only we all were able to possess the patience and uniqueness of Ghuberti, all society would be the creators of there own masterpiece: life.

View of gates and one of the panels

-Sean Flippo

Sources (pictures/information):

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/gates_paradise/ghiberti_images.asp

http://www.maureenmullarkey.com/essays/ghiberti.html

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/italy/florence/ghibertiparadise/ghibertiparadise.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/gatesofparadise-200711.html

Well this is my first time blogging. Im sure it will be a little different for me because i have never understood blogging or wanted to create my own blog. However, it is required for one of my classes; so let the blogging begin.

This will definitely be a learning experience for me and hopefully my blogs aren’t to awful, as i hope to learn a lot from the blogs i read and write.

Sean