Friday, May 3, 2013

Hannah Wilke, S. O. S. Starification Series





Hannah Wilke, S. O. S. Starification Series. She uses her body to send a message. Her message is how women are treated as sex objects. She’s possessed with pieces of chewing gum on her body and face. The pieces of gum is a metaphor for masturbation. Just like the way the gum is chew – up and down. For the message is very clear and strong. Again art being used to send a statement.   

Sources:

David LaChapelle Sermon from the Jesus is My Homeboy series




David LaChapelle Sermon from the Jesus is My Homeboy series. This art work was a way to relate to a group of people, the poor, the homeless, prostitutes, drug dealers, gangsters, and so on. Obviously the Christians group did not approve of this. But, I think this a clever way to spread Christianity to those groups of people. Maybe if they see themselves a little bit, you can convey the message of faith more effectively.

Here are some of other works of the series:






More information of the artist:

The rest of the series collection:

Here is an interview about the work:


Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium.




Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium. This stadium was designed for use of the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Located at the Olympic Green, the stadium cost US$423 million. The design of this large stadium was accomplished together by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and Chinese architect Li Xinggang. The form of the stadium looks like a big nest which embraces and nurses human beings.     

More pics. of the stadium:


















Here is a video of the stadium:
Detail of information (measurements) of the stadium
Homepage of the stadium
Some history of the stadium:

Sources:

Felix-Gonzalez-Torres Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) (1991)





Felix-Gonzalez-Torres Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) (1991). this is kind of like a portrait of his deceased partner, Ross Laycock. In this installation art work comprised of 175 pounds of candy, corresponding to Ross’s ideal body weight.  The viewers are encouraged to take a piece of candy. This is a very unique way to call a statement out. And as the viewer’s take a piece of candy, one by one – the installation is making a metaphor: little by little Ross’s weight is being loss and little by little is to his death. The message is how society was ignoring the AIDS epidemic in the gay community.  

A video of the installation are:
More about Felix-Gonzales-Torres
More about Gonzales- Torres’s partner:
More about Installation Art:

Sources:

Flag for the Moon, Die Nigger




Faith Ringgold Flag for the Moon: Die Nigger (1969). Ringgold used her art to protest racism and gender inequality. In this work she is trying to say, that we can put a man in the moon, but we can’t figure the logic that is everyone is equal.  Again art plays a crucial role in conveying the message to people. For me the art has a very strong persuasive message. And am big fan when art is use to set a statement.   

More information about:
A chronological list of her art work
Some of her work in progress

Sources:

West Bank barrier




Banksy, graffiti stencil (2005) West Bank barrier, Palestine. Keeping his identity secret, the graffiti artist Banksy has made a name for himself with provocative images stencilled around the streets of London. This is a very friendly graffiti compare to what people are used to seeing. I liked it a lot. It’s simple and just something nice to look at. In Banksy's website it says that the West Bank barrier is "the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffiti writers".

Here are more of his works with the same characteristics:

This is his collection work:

More about Banksy :

A post: Who is Banksy?

Sources:

Exit Through The Gift Shop

I discovered Bansky by the blog/website honestlywtf.com which is in some ways a forecaster for new art, music, and cultural trends. I knew relatively nothing about the idea of street art, but I found Banksy's work appealing because it was ironic and unexpected, and at times very funny. And because the website is well respected in the art world, I thought that the artist had to have some legitimacy. So when I saw Exit Through The Gift Shop years later online, I thought that I would give it a try. The documentary focuses a bit on the street art movement at first, but eventually becomes a commentary on what art is in general. Oddly enough, though, I began to question the concept of art I had somewhat early in the documentary. When I first saw Shepard Fairey's works, I immediately recognized them. From the Obey sign to the iconic Hope Barack Obama poster, the works were not foreign in the least bit, although I did not even recognize Fairey's name or face. As someone who has always been involved in art, to have seen a respected Artist's work and not given it acknowledgement as art even, it was an odd phenomenon for myself.

Commercialism is infiltrated for certain in art today. However beyond commercialism, we have graphic design, street art, and architecture putting art where we never expected it to be possible before. I believe that the street art movement is one of the defining moments in out society. We are becoming less a "gallery" community of art viewers and expect now art almost everywhere we look. Aesthetically, this is pleasing, but it will be interesting to look at one point in the future and observe how the artists have changed in their appreciation and desire to take credit for their works, which seems to be a dying desire in real art.

http://www.obeygiant.com/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/The-Story-Behind-Banksy-187953941.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/movies/14banksy.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587707/

For the Love of God










Damien Hirst, For the Love of God was a very controversial work. This is a platinum and diamond skull. The reason is because he used an actual human skull for this work. The piece is worth 50 million pounds, making the most expensive contemporary artwork. There are mix reactions about this work. This is the work Damien Hirst is known for, he has made his name and fortune shocking the people and being very controversial. But Damien is always pushing the boundaries especially when he used a dead baby’s skull. I personally don’t like it. I feel we need to respect, especially when the only purpose is to call attention the benefit you.

Here is a picture, titled: Damien Hirst For Heaven’s Sake 2008







Here is more of Damien Hirst:
More of his controversial works:
Here is interview talking about the work:
Here is a post from The NY Times


Sources:

Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

Hirsch's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living is another work that reminds me a lot about philosophy. Martin Heidegger, an existentialist philosopher said that death is the only experience in life which we truly experience all on our own, anything otherwise is inherently interactive or social in some way. We cannot experience anyone else's death, and they cannot experience ours. Therefore, it is in some ways impossible to physically experience death in our mind when we are still living. Even the though of the process is somewhat impossible because we have never experienced it, and when we do it will only happen once.

I'm not sure that this is what Hirsch was going for exactly, but it does play a role in how I would view the art if I were to see it today. Much like Rachel Whiteread's casts, The shark is a symbol of something past. It no longer lives and interacts with its environment. As a result, the only interaction which it can be present in is up to us as viewers to create and manipulate.

In my research on the piece, I found that the original shark had actually begun to deteriorate, and was eventually replaced by another. It is interesting that the shark was actually replaced, as it seems to say in its own way that nothing lasts forever (the shark), except the social and cultural concepts we construct and choose to continue.

http://www.damienhirst.com/the-physical-impossibility-of
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/arts/design/16muse.html
http://ctrltomdel.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/the-physical-impossibility-of-death-in-the-mind-of-someone-living-some-thoughts-on-damien-hirst/
http://www.gis.net/~tbirch/heidweb.htm

The Crossing (1996)





Bill Viola, The Crossing (1996) is a video and sound installation. Viola reveals the cycles and dualities of life through the universal symbols of fire and water. This canonical work is indicative of Viola’s ability to convey extraordinary complexity via simple action and expert use of scale and sound. I think this a very cool way to combine art and technology. Viola takes advantage of the technology to make innovated art.

Here is the installation video:
Here are  another video similar:
Here are some of his collections:
Here is more information of Bill Viola:

Chris Burden, Shoot, F Space




Chris Burden, Shoot, F Space (1971) is a performance art. In this performance where Burden gets shot with a riffle representing the Vietnam War pointless mission. It was signifying that young people were just going to the war to die without purpose. Many performance arts were used to make a political statement. For me they have a huge impact in conveying the message.  

Here is a video:
More about performance art information:
More about Chris Burden

Sources:

Balloon Dog (Blue)

Jeff Koons is fantastic because he has really been able to play into the culture now of modern art. Not simply by appealing to other audiences of artists and critics, but putting all of his effort into pleasing his consumer. Art buying has formed a culture of its own now days. People have an entire range of prices and styles to buy from, and Koons has taken advantage of the fact that many people who are interested in buying art are buying it with the intention of impressing others, or showing off their wealth, or even just as a recognized way of making conversation. From that emerged Balloon Dog. It is on the surface a somewhat simple play on something that many people experienced as a child, but put into a large, shiny piece of adult art. In some ways it seems like a mix between something that could be found in a preschool and something found in a pawn shop. However, Koons has made it his own signature and as a result made something that those who do look to art for the social aspects of it flock to. Because of its signature appeal, it stands in both the art and commercial world. Interestingly enough, for Jeff Koons, the real art he creates may be less in the material and more in the profit aspect of his success.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/jeff-koons
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/jeff_koons/index.html
http://hyperallergic.com/64304/why-not-to-work-for-jeff-koons/
http://www.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/now/2013/178

La Grande Vitesse




La Grande Vitesse by Alexander Calder is a steel sculpture. It was created by Alexander Calder in 1969, and is often simply referred to by locals as "The Calder'.  The sculpture is consider stabile, which means a stationary sculpture that uses multiple flat planes to give the appearance of volume and movement. Calder first studied the architectural plans, scale, and materials of the buildings before building it. He designed a sculpture that responded well to the plaza and the surrounding architecture.

This is a video of sculpture:
Here is more personal history
Here more information about Alexander Calder:

Sources:

Surrounded Islands





Surrounded Islands 1983 by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. In 1983, eleven of the islands situated in Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, were surrounded with 6.5 million square feet of floating pink woven polypropylene fabric covering the surface of the water and extending out from each island into the bay.  The public were very happy with the installation. This is a work that you must be present to enjoy it to the fullest. The installation was there for two weeks.  

This are the permits obtained from the following governmental agencies:

The Governor of Florida and the Cabinet
The Dade County Commission
The Department of Environmental Regulation
The City of Miami Commission
The City of North Miami
The Village of Miami Shores
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management

Here is their main website:
Here are some sketches and blueprints:
Here is more personal info about the artists:

Sources:

Nine Fields Divided by Means of Two Colors





Nine Fields Divided by Means of Two Colors by Max Bill. Bill believed that everything from the Point of WWI was corrupted and evil. So, he wanted to restore the damage from a new Art style. An art style of mathematical order and no special meaning behind the art. As you can see in the art work, there is a uniform and mathematical order. You have nine equally lines, equally colors, and perfect symmetry.

Here is more about Max Bill:
Here are more works of Max Bill:

Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)




Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist) by Jackson Pollock.  In 1947 Jackson Pollock introduced a radically innovative method of painting in which he poured paint directly onto unprimed canvas that he tacked to the studio floor. His process, which was filmed in 1950 by the photographer Hans Namuth, was spontaneous and intuitive, Pollock exercised remarkable control over it and insisted, "there is no accident."  I love his work and in no way something anybody can do. A lot people say they can, but this something done by a special person. 

Here is a video of him painting:
Here is more about Jackson Pollock:
Here is more about Action Painting:
Here is more works of action painting:

Sources;

Ancient Sound, Abstract on Black




Ancient Sound, Abstract on Black (1925) by Paul Klee. This painting is a representation of the ancient sound. It is expressed through color mixtures made through a generative process inspired in the contemplation of growth in nature. Klee understands that darker colors represent lower tones in nature and lighter shades represent high pitch tones. Klee’s is known for his themes drawn from music, nature and poetry.

Here is more about Paul Klee:
Here is a collection of some of his work:
Here is a similar art created by Paul Klee:

Mystery and Melancholy of a Street




Mystery and Melancholy of a Street by Giorgio de Chirico. It’s a painting where is clear the day will soon end. The painting is heavily influenced by the writings of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. De Chirico painted lonely, urban landscapes that almost had a large locomotive. The immensity of the buildings were intended to dwarf the spectator and for them to become uncomfortable.  For me it feels so much loneliness and fear from the artist.
Here is a nice video of his artwork

Here is more about Giorgio de Chirico:
Here is more about the type of art painting: Surrealism

Sources:

The Persistence of Memory





The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali is a painting where time is the theme. Dalí frequently described his paintings as “hand painted dream photographs.” He based this seaside landscape on the cliffs in his home region of Catalonia, Spain. The large central creature comprised of a deformed nose and eye was drawn from Dalí’s imagination, although it has frequently been interpreted as a self-portrait. For me this painting looks like a weird, confusing nightmare. This are the types of art that have many imaginations themes and random objects put together, this called Surrealism. 

Here is more information about Salvador Dali:
Here are some other theories about the meaning of the painting:
Here is more about the type of art painting: Surrealism

Sources:

Several Circles




Several Circles, No. 323(1926) by Vasily Kandinsky, the transparent color circles float serenely across one another above an indeterminate, gray-black ground, like planets orbiting space. Kandinsky revered the circle as a link with the cosmic and as form that points to the fourth dimension. Finally, I personally love this work because of the feeling you are in space.  

Here is more information about Vasily Kandinsky:
Here is a collection of his works:

Unique Forms of Continuity in Space




Unique Forms of Continuity in Space is a bronze futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni. This is seen as an expression of movement and fluidity. Boccioni had a short, but productive life. The Futurist movement was striving to portray speed and forceful dynamism in their art. His sculptures were based on the energetic movements that symbolized the modern machine age. I love this sculpture and the representation of machine. It gives you the illusion that the sculpture is moving in fast speed.  

Here is more about the Futurist movement:
Here is more about Umberto Boccioni:


Sources:

Villa Savoye





Villa Savoye a house designed by Le Corbusier. The house was originally built as a country retreat on behest of the Savoye family. This is a three-bedroom house, beautifully sited in an open field, is almost a square in plan, with the upper living area supported on delicate piers.  Le Corbusier is considered one of the most influential architects of the 20th century. He is credited with changing the face of urban architecture, bringing it into the technological age. In 1923 Le Corbusier wrote: “The house is a machine for living in.” This was a radically new view.

 Le Corbusier had five points to new Architecture.
1)      The supports – PILOTIS – elevating the mass off the ground
2)      The free plan- the interior wall independent of the support system can be arranged in a free plan
3)      The free façade, the corollary of the free plan in the vertical plane
4)      The long horizontal sliding window
5)      The flat roof or roof garden, restoring, supposedly, the area of ground covered by the house.

More about the five points to new Architecture:
More about Le Corbusier:

Sources:

L.H.O.O.Q.




L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp is a postcard-sized reproduction of the famous Mona Lisa, but with a mustache drawn and goatee. This was Duchamp clever way of outsmarting art. Duchamp was artists that consider every move like a chess game. He was always thinking of the next move to make. This type of art is called “readymade” is when the artist takes an ordinary manufactured object and modifies it, by adding, changing them, or simply renaming them and placing them in a gallery setting.

Other ready-made works:

Fountain, 1917











Bicycle Wheel, 1917


Bottle Rack, 1917












More about ready-made
More about Marcel Duchamp

Sources:

I Saw the Figure Five in Gold




I Saw the Figure Five in Gold by Charles Demuth is a painting representing a fire truck. It references a William Carlos Williams poem about a Fire Engine speeding through the streets of a city. The painting is one of a series of eight abstract portraits of friends that Demuth made between 1924 and 1929, which were exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery 291

This is the poem that inspired this painting:
Among the rain
and lights
I saw the figure 5
in gold
on a red
firetruck
moving
tense
unheeded
to gong clangs
siren howls
and wheels rumbling
through the dark city.

Here is some more about Charles Demuth:
Here is more about the author of the poem:


Sources:

Books!










Books! is a poster created by Aleksandr Rodchenko.  Rodchenko was one of the leading artists in the post-revolutionary era. In this 1924 poster, Rodchenko combines the two media in an image that is mechanical and linear.  In the poster the text are in big block letters, is clear and legible. The photograph of a woman who appears to be calling out the Russian word for “books” is Lilya Brik, a fellow member of the Constructivist circle. The constructivist circle was a group a group of artists set out to reconceive the role of art in society. This is what I like about art, that it can make a political statement.  

Here is a picture of Lilya Brik:












Here is more about Aleksandr Rodchenko:

Here is more about Constructivists group:

Sources:

Suprematist Composition: Airplane Flying





Suprematist Composition: Airplane Flying by Kazimir Malevich, who was not only a painter, but an art theoretician. In the painting you see geometric objects. There are 13 objects (3 black, 2 blue, 6 yellow, and 2 red) He was a pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the avant-garde Suprematism movement. In 1915, he laid down the foundations of Suprematism. Because his new style claimed supremacy over the forms of nature, he called it “Suprematism.”
More about Kazimir Malevich

More about Suprematism

Sources:

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon




Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is one the most radical painting of the twentieth-century painted by Pablo Picasso. This is a painting representing five prostitutes at the time a very radical way of expressing it. This type of cubism is called proto-cubism. Proto-cubism has pictorial dismantling of forms and figures, combined with subversion of western artistic sources and influences. When it first appeared it was as if the art world had collapsed. This large work took Picasso nine months. Picasso created hundreds of sketches and studies in preparation for the final work. This was a revolutionary work, but there was so much controversial, even Henri Matisse was angry about this work.   
The painter Derain had this to say after seeing the painting:
“One day we shall find Pablo has hanged himself behind his great canvas."

More about the controversial:
More about cubism:


Sources:

Banjo Lesson













Banjo Lesson is an artwork portraying an elder teaching a boy how to play a banjo. This is a moving and memorable scene. This was painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner, which also painted more scenes from everyday life. In this painting, Tanner showed a positive and dignified image of Africans Americans. In 1895, believing he could not fulfill his artistic aspirations in America, Tanner settled in Paris. There, he focused on religious paintings.


More about Henry Ossawa Tanner:

Information of his religious works:

Sources:

Yayoi Kusama, Dots Obsession (1998)

Yayoi Kusama, Dots Obsession (1998) is something that I studied in my Color Theory class about a year ago. Ironically, her instillations only really focus on two different colors rather than many, but because they are instillations, they create much more dimensions of color than one may suspect on first glance. The shadows and light and strak contrast between colors create a complex which makes one think differently about dots, as well as the use of the two (usually primary) colors which are there. Additionally, polka dots are a somewhat standard print which has been around for a while. It does not take an art master to find something which is covered with the print. But Kusama's art is not simply polka dots. Her dots reflect more the kind of dots in nature, leading the viewer to make their own distinctions and interpretations. For myself, each time I look at the dots I have a different experience. It has ranged from seeing them as the inside of a cartoon mushroom to the inside of blood vessels in the human body. One fantastic part of instillations is that by forcing so much an idea or concept in the viewer's face, it forces some opinion or reaction. Whether for good or bad, people will come out of the exhibit with an impression left on them.

I also found it interesting that Kusama actually collaborated with Louis Vuitton, an expensive designer brand that often rides the line between mainstream and avant garde depending on it's collections. Again, in this collaboration Kusama focused on dots, but they were put on top of the iconic labels of the LV brand. It was to some, an odd pairing, but I believe that it is a great example of how Kusama's art is really present, and a display of her obsession. To me, it offers up a little commentary on addition. If one were to be so infatuated with something that it infiltrates their life and shows up on their purse, it is an obsession for certain.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/yayoi-kusama-interview_n_1749378.html
http://www.yayoi-kusama.jp/e/biography/index.html
http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/YayoiKusama
http://nymag.com/arts/art/features/yayoi-kusama-2012-7/

The Painter’s Triumph




The Painter’s Triumph by William Sidney Mount is a one of the greatest of all American genre painters. He believed that not just Europeans could produce amazing art, but also Americans; and that you didn’t have to study art in Europe to be good -- everything can also be done in America. I agree with his point. In this painting you see the painter showing the farmer his art. As you can see they both seem happy and bring a warm and comical feeling.  Mount painted humorous depictions of everyday life as well as subtler explorations of political, class, and even racial issues facing the young country.



More about William Sidney Mount:

More about Genre Art:

Sources:


Female Dancer




Female Dancer by Emil Nolde is a dramatic, intense print. Nolde was a prolific and experimental print maker artist. This is one of his most excited and dramatic works. You see a dancer dancing ecstatically. Nolde was interesting in modern dance and tribal arts of Africa, which are his influences to this work. He believed the tribal cultures were pure and authentic in contrast to the European culture, that for him were corrupted. Dancer was Nolde’s favorite of 13 lithographs he made. The artwork doesn’t have so many elements, but when you understand the message behind the artwork, you can see them all. He combines several of his key themes: the depiction of unbridled emotion, the freedom embodied by dance, the desires expressed by unfettered eroticism, and a fascination with the peoples and cultures beyond Europe’s borders.  

Here is a video of the art:
More about Emil Nolde:

More about German Expressionism:

Sources:

The Open Window




The Open Window by Henri Matisse is among the very first fauve works.  Fauvism was the first of the avant-garde movement that flourished in France. The Fauve painters were the first to break with Impressionism as well as with older traditional methods of perception.  You see sailboats and a balcony with flowerpots. The colors used were how Matisse conceived and structured his image. The colors of the objects are not the conventional, which is a major point of Fauve Art. Fauvism lets the artist express exactly how he sees and feels. The leader of this movement was Matisse, who had arrived at the Fauve style after earlier experimenting with the various Post-Impressionist styles and e Neo-Impressionism. These influences inspired him to reject traditional three dimensional space. 

A quote from Henri Matisse

“Construction by colored surfaces. Search for intensity of color, subject matter being unimportant. Reaction against the diffusion of local tone in light. Light...expressed by a harmony of intensely colored surfaces. “


More about Fauvism:

More about Henri Matisse:


Sources:

The Scream



The Scream by Edvard Munch is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world. Munch created four versions of them. The image has its source in Munch’s experience. As the artist walked across a bridge with friends at sunset, he was seized with despair and “felt a great infinite scream pass through nature.” The Scream is the artist’s best known work and most widely reproduced image. It has become a symbol of modern anxiety and alienation. These are the kinds of work that a lot people can relate to. I personally love it. There’s not a lot works that bring so much emotions to viewer.   

Here is one of the other versions of The Scream:













Sources:


Entrance to the Porte Dauphine Metropolitain station

Entrance to the Porte Dauphine Metropolitain station designed by Hector Guimard. This work is considered pure Art Nouveau. There were not so much architectural structures as decorative signs and symbols. The entrance was constructed out of prefabricated parts of cast iron and glass. There was one critic who described the entrance as dragonfly’s wings. It has a transparent canopy and panel "windows" above, and orange paneled walls below, each panel replicating the same scrolling Art Nouveau pattern that echoes the ironwork of the frame. There is a combination of imagination and functionally. For me the entrance looks like a path to a different world. I’m positive that when people walk in to the entrance there’s a feeling of joy.

Here are some pictures as you enter the Metro Station.   




















Sources:

Marshall Field Wholesale Store
















Marshall Field Wholesale Store was a commercial warehouse building designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. Modern architecture is said to have emerged in the United States by this building. Richardson achieved an effect of monumental mass and stability. Richardson did not focus on historical designs or architecture traditions; he demonstrated that a large commercial building could be expressed as a single integrated unit. Not all buildings must contain a symbolic meaning, especially when the purpose is just business. The windows are contained by massive Romanesque arches, which give the impression of having four levels, but in fact there are seven floors and a sunken basement. Marshall Field and Company closed the building in 1930 after the opening of the Merchandise Mart, then the world's largest building, which consolidated all company wholesale business under a single roof.

This is a picture of the Merchandise Mart building, responsible for putting an end of the Marshall Field Wholesale Store:


Sources:



The Night Café


The Night Café by Vincent van Gogh is a painting that shows van Gogh deepest fears. Van Gogh painted in September 1888 while he was living in Arles. Earlier in the year he had moved to a room at the Café de la Gare, where the room depicted in this painting was. The Night Café is a nightmare of deep-green ceiling, blood-red walls, and discordant greens in the furniture. The bright yellow floor is tilted so that the contents of the room threaten to slide toward the viewer. The result is a terrifying experience of claustrophobic. I think that was very unique way to convey his feeling towards the café. For Van Gogh the café is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad or commit a crime. The reasons why we know the meanings behind Van Gogh’s work are because of the hundreds of letters that he wrote.     

Here are some texts from a letter describing the painting

I have tried to express the terrible passions of humanity by means of red and green. The room is blood red and dark yellow with a green billiard table in the middle; there are four lemon-yellow lamps with a glow of orange and green. Everywhere there is a clash and contrast of the most alien reds and greens, in the figures of little sleeping hooligans, in the empty dreary room, in violet and blue. The blood-red and the yellow-green of the billiard table, for instance, contrast with the soft tender Louis XV green of the counter, on which there is a rose nosegay. The white clothes of the landlord, watchful in a corner of that furnace, turn lemon-yellow, or pale luminous green.

Sources:


The Courtesan

The Courtesan by Vincent van Gogh is one of many van Gogh’s Japonaiserie paintings.  Japonaiserie was the term that van Gogh used to express the influence of Japanese art. He never traveled to Japan, but he collected, copied, and sold ukiyo-e. Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th century and 20th centuries. Now only were they popular in Japan, but also in Europe. Not only do I like van Gogh’s work, but also his incorporation to Japanese art (Ukiyo-e). Mostly Japanese art is about nature, landscapes, and tales, which are the reasons I like it.    

Here are some Ukiyo-e woodblock prints: 










Sources


Le Moulin de la Galette

Le Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is a painting depicting a typical Sunday afternoon at Moulin de la Galette. In the late 19th century, working class Parisians would dress up and spend time there dancing, drinking, and eating galettes into the evening. This was becoming a trend for the French working class people and not just the wealthy people. Leisure theme paintings were also becoming popular to artist. 



Here are some other leisure paintings

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat    









Sources: