Wednesday, February 25, 2015


Salvador Dali
The Elephants
1948
I chose this painting because i think its one of his more simplistic paintings. Most of his work is very wild, and it confuses the eye. I do like this one because i like the gradient in the background, and the elephants are obviously not the typical type of elephants, which gives this painting its surreal genre.

Night Cafe-Van Gogh

The Night cafe is an oil painting created by Van Gogh in 1888. He had written many letters to his brother about such cafe and explains his usage of color in his painting. He claims to have used red and green to express terrible passions of humanity. Throughout the painting he uses clashes of colors. At one point, he wrote "this is one of the ugliest pictures I have done" due to its exaggeration of colors and thick texture. I really like the perspective of the painting and his use of converging lines. It creates a sense of wonder and distortion.

The Burning Giraffe


Salvador Dalí. The Burning Giraffe. 1937. Oil on canvas. 

I chose this painting because freshman year my roommate, a big Salvador Dalí fan, hung a poster of it in our room and I spent a lot of time looking at it, wondering what it was about. I found it interesting that although the name of the painting is The Burning Giraffe, the giraffe isn’t the focus of the picture. The drawers as part of the body also interested me and after doing more research I found that in Dalí’s earlier work he drew many figures with drawers.  I also like the colors and how the bottom of the painting as well as the top is much darker than the rest of it. After researching more about the painting I found that around the same time Dalí painted this the Spanish Civil War began. Many people believe that this painting was Dalí’s expression of concern for his country.

Te aa no areois (The Seed of the Areoi)

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Gaugain painted this piece during his three year stay in Tahiti. Gaugain travelled there in 1891 and then returned to France in 1893. Before his arrival to Tahiti, Gaugain had expected paradise.  Instead he found that poverty and sickness ran rampant following Tahiti's French colonization. Gaugains first paintings in Tahiti were inspired by real people and scenarios. This painting is one of the first in which Gaugain used his imaginary techniques to portray the scene. This painting is Gaugain's interpretation of what Tahiti may have been like before colonization took place.  The Seed of the Areoi was painted in 1892 and its medium is oil on burlap. 

Blog Post # 4

"The Woman With the Hat" 
Henri Matisse
1905
Oil on Canvas

This painting is thought to be a picture of Henri Matisse's wife, Amelia.  I choose this piece because I enjoy the use of  non-naturlistic colors that when used, still convey the woman's character or emotion.  The piece almost looks unfinished which is another quality that I find surprisingly pleasing to the eye.  When I take a quick look at this painting, it almost looks like I'm looking through a mosaic glass window to see the person on the other side.  I hope that Mrs. Matisse enjoyed this painting as well.

-Kimberly Sanguinedo

Pablo Picasso 1919 Sleeping Peasants







Pablo Picasso
1919 Sleeping Peasants
Water color and Pencil on Paper 
Museum of Modern Art, New York
I choose this painting because of the different colors that stood out to me. The use of colors namely yellow and vivid indigo blue, draws the viewer’s eye to the center of the frame. The painting looks very planned and controlled. The theme here in my opinion is that there are two peasants who after a long day working in the fields rest and take a break. There are no shadows shown which indicated that it is in the middle of the day. Also I noticed that his hat sits right on top of his head indicating that the light source is coming from directly above. 

Gauguin



This painting by Gauguin is called Bord de Mer II. Gauguin painted it in 1887 while visiting Panama. I like this painting because of the colors of the ocean  and the different colors in the sky. I also like how Gauguin painted people in real life. He captures these Panamanian women very well.

Jeune Fille Endormie


Jeune Fille Endormie
Pablo Picasso
1935
Oil on Canvas

I chose this painting because this post was the first thing I did this morning and all I wanted to do was go back to bed. The colors that were used for her body are very colorful and pleasant showing that Picasso found this women very beautiful. This painting portrays Marie-Therese Walter while she slept and was Pablo Picasso's lover. This painting is rarely shown in public and the last time it was available for viewing was in 1939 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

the green stripe


I chose The Green Stripe by Henri Matisse.  This is an oil on canvas painting done in France in 1905.  Matisse painted this unusual painting of his wife with a green line down the center of her face.  It is said that this stripe acts as an artificial shadow line, dividing the face with a light side and a dark side.  The left side of the face seems to echo the green in the right side of the painting and the right side of the face seems to echo the pink on the left side of the painting.  The very visible brush strokes add drama to the painting.

Pablooooo P


Pablo Picasso
Picasso's Blue Period
1903–1904
Oil paint/ Oil on Panel


The Old Guitarist was painted in 1903, just after the suicide death of Picasso's close friend, Casagemas. During this time, the artist was sympathetic to the plight of the downtrodden and painted many canvases depicting the miseries of the poor, the ill, and those cast out of society. He too knew what it was like to be impoverished, having been nearly penniless during all of 1902. This work was created in Madrid, and the distorted style (note that the upper torso of the guitarist seems to be reclining, while the bottom half appears to be sitting cross-legged) is reminiscent of the works of El Greco.
End of the Number
Pablo Picasso
Pastel on canvas
1900-1901
I chose this piece because I specifically like the definition that is accompanied with her face as opposed to rest of the etch. Everything surrounding her head is blurred or out of focus except for her digits which are clearly defined on her breast and dress. She appears to be intrigued, shocked or even aroused. It also is another style that is more realist than what we traditionally view Picasso as which is more for his surrealism and to a lesser extent his cubism. I enjoy the contrast between the bright colors of her gown, the light tone of her skin, and the cloudy, blue sky. She is surrounded by darkness on either sides of her but she is an oasis of color. Even the bright red of her lipstick and the brown of her eyebrows do well to accentuate her eyes. The splash of color which is her is not overemphasized as she would be if she had blonde hair.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Place des Lices By Paul Signac

                                                      Place des Lices 1893 By  Paul Signac   
I chose this painting by Paul Signac because he uses the technique of pointillism, which creates texture and the colors used for the trees and ground are unique colors. Signac does not use the typical brown colors for the tree trunks or green colors for the ground. There were a few artist who used the pointillism in there work, which is a different way to create a painting without brush strokes. It take a lot of time a patience to pull off a painting such as this. Most of Signac;s work uses bold colors such as blue, yellow and purple tones in his paintings. Those colors complement with each other and makes the painting come together.

Blog #4 Alex Cimieri


The Tree of Life, 1905, Gustav Klimt, oil on canvas
I chose this painting because i like the pattern that is created.  His use of shapes and colors creates a romantic feel throughout this and many of his paintings.  This painting represents the three worlds, The underworld through the trees deep roots, Earth through the embracing couple, and the heavens with the tree branches continuing off the page into the sky. Gustav also makes a point of representing death with the one and only thing on the tree, a black bird. 


Sunday, February 22, 2015

Blog #4 After the Bath

After the Bath by Suzanne Valadon in 1908, Pastel

    I chose this painting because it looks mysterious, she is looking back like someone is watching her dry off and the suspicion builds up. This depicts post impressionism and I don't know why she wanted to be on the sofa and that made it interesting to view. She could've stood behind the wall to get dressed and the colors are very normal to glorify a marvelous image. Somebody can be standing in the background and the fact that the towel is right next to her makes it seem she wants the audience to be looking at her nude body looking back at us. Overall it symbolized that she wanted it to look like she was a happy single woman, but she is soon married to a young lover.

Blog #4 The Kiss

This painting was created by Gustav Klimt.  It is named "The Kiss," and is an oil on canvas.  This painting shows a man and a woman, and the man is giving the woman a kiss on the cheek.  I like how both of the bodies seem to blend together in this painting.  I like how the colors and shapes were used to create this image.  I chose this painting because it looks romantic and makes it seem like the two of them are in their own little bubble or world.  

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Two Women at a Bar Post #4

Two Women at a Bar. Pablo Picasso 1902 Oil on Canvas


I chose this picture because Picasso was beginning to use blue tonality. He used different shades of blue in the pictures in order to represent melancholy or sadness. The two women at the bar appeared slouched over and even though their faces aren’t seen, their posture and the shading makes it seem as though they are upset. The blue represents darkness as well and the woman hunching over represents the heavy burdens of life. 

Have a Hugo Ball


The Church at Auvers - Post #3

The Church at Auvers is an oil on canvas painting painted in 1890 by Vincent Van Gogh. I read that this painting was reminiscent of scenes from northern landscapes of his childhood and youth. The first thing I noticed about the painting was the dark sky, as it stands out due to the color. However there is a shadow in front of the church and the landscape around it seems to be lit up by the sun, which is surprising because of the way he depicted the sky. I also noticed he used a similar dark blue color to paint the stained glass windows of the Church. It is a painting of a real church that is located in Place de I'Elgise, Auvers-sur-Oise, France.

Cafe Terrace at Night
Vincent van Gogh
1888

This painting by Van Gogh is a colored oil on canvas painting executed in 1888.There is also a version that is drawn with only pen and no color from Van Gogh's home. Through research, I found out that this painting isn't actually signed, but is discussed in three different personal letters from him to others. One of these letters is to his sister, where he describes his passion for creating the illusion of night in the background without the usage of black. Van Gogh discusses his love for the vast beauty that the nighttime has and this is actually the first painting he created in which he painted a sky that was filled with stars .This painting is currently in the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands. 

Man with a Pipe-Pablo Picasso 1911


Man with a Pipe is an example of analytic cubism. I like the idea of the subject in the painting being broken up into different pieces and being put back together as it has created a somewhat 3D feel to it. This painting is put together like a puzzle and with overlapping and connecting pieces. The most recognizable objects in this piece is an eye, moustache and hand. The brown background makes it seem as if this is in interior space.
The Lovers
1928
Rene Magritte

This artist is known for his surreal paintings, he was similar to Salvador Dali because of this. I chose this particular painting because its one of my favorites by him. Its mysterious in a way, and i like the perspective that he used in it. I also like the colors, because they contrast very well with each other. Some have interpreted this work as a depiction of the inability to fully unveil the true nature of even our most intimate companions. Other art historians have said that he bases some of his work on his mother who committed suicide when he was 14, however he denies this. 

Violin and Grapes

Pablo Picasso. Violin and Grapes. 1912. Oil on canvas.


I picked Pablo Picasso’s Violin and Grapes as an example of modern art. This painting is an example of cubism which Picasso is considered to be a co-founder. I like the simple colors used in this painting. When searching for a painting I liked by Picasso, I found this one interesting. At first glance, I didn’t really understand what the painting was. I concluded that it was a wooden object and eventually realized it was violin but not until I read the name did I notice the grapes. I like the way the painting is composed and the almost symmetrical feel it has. 

The City By Fernand Leger

The City 1919
Oil on Canvas
By Fernand Leger 

I chose this photo as a modern art piece, because the techniques used of Leger are very clean cut. There's  this modern look based on all the shapes he used to form this city scene. It has an abstract look that makes the viewers take a second look to really appreciate the fine lines Leger used. He uses tools that create  perfect straight lines and semi round shapes that create a painting that is on architectural style rather then freestyle of objects and shapes. He was known for analytic cubism for his style of work. The color choices he uses complement each other with the red, green, yellows and blue. The shapes he uses make it hard to understand what the photo was unless you read the title of it before hand. I would see this in a house today that was either built by Frank Lloyd Wright, which was a famous architect who formed houses and buildings that used perfect straight lines and geometric shapes. 

Blog Post Three

"Violin and Pitcher"
Artist: Georges Braque
Date: 1910
Medium: Oil on Canvas

           This piece is an example of analytical cubism.  This piece shows a different way of portraying an object.  it does not follow traditional views of the subject matter, instead, it shows an object from multiples angles and dimensions. The use of geometric shapes to interpret the object from multiple views in the mind's eye could be a way of describing this painting.  I'm not the biggest fan of this type of art but I do have a sense of appreciation for it.  I prefer more colorful displays of art but the shading and the depth depicted in this piece are exquisite. Honestly, when looking at the picture as a whole, I can sort-of make out the violin and a little of the pitcher, but I think that it was the artist's goal to make the view look twice at this piece.

-Kimberly Sanguinedo

Gauguin



This piece by Gauguin was painted in 1889 and is called the Yellow Christ. Under the influence of folk art and Japanese prints, Gauguin's work evolved towards Cloisonnism, a style given its name by the critic Édouard Dujardin in response to Émile Bernard's method of painting with flat areas of color and bold outlines, which reminded Dujardin of the Medieval cloisonné enameling technique. Gauguin paid little attention to classical perspective and boldly eliminated subtle gradations of color, thereby dispensing with the two most characteristic principles of post-Renaissance painting. His painting later evolved towards Synthetism in which neither form nor color predominate but each has an equal role.

0-9, 1961 Jasper Johns

This is one in a series by Jasper Johns of numbers 0-9 superimposed onto a canvas. According to Jasper Johns. org, There is a total of five the same size as this (including one in grisaille), three smaller ones on paper, one in metal relief, one pastel, a drawing and a lithograph. The series started with the drawing of 1960, the first work in which he mastered the difficult problem of superimposition. Johns had long been fascinated by numbers as a theme for painting, and in fact his earliest surviving work, 'Construction with Toy Piano' 1954, already incorporates a row of numbers. His other early pictures with numbers include 'Figure 5' 1955, which has a large 5, and a series begun about 1957 in which the numbers from 0 to 9 are repeated over and over again in rows. Some of these works are in bright colours and some in white or grisaille. 

Johns said to have done this because the eye fixates on one number at a time when looking at the painting. 

"The Yellow House" Vincent Van Gogh


Vincent Van Gogh painted "The Yellow House" in 1888. It is a very significant painting primarily because it is of the apartment he rented out. Because Van Gogh suffered from various mental disorders he relied on his brothers support. The same year Van Gogh painted this scene Paul Gauguin also stayed for a 9 week period. Many parts of Van Gogh's life are included in this painting such as the restaurant were he dined is painted in pink to the left edge of the painting. As indicated in a letter to Theo, the Night Cafe which he painted previously to this is located next to the restaurant.    

Jasper John's 'Map' 1961

Jasper John's 'Map' 1961

Jasper John painted 'Map' in 1961.  This painting is on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I choose this painting because of the chaos with all of these beautiful colors blending together that represent the country. He has a lot of different consistencies of paint. I feel like this would not be an actual map that one could use for directions. You can see that the artist stenciled in the names of each state and the borders but not very carefully. I think that it is interesting to look at the different ways he physically put the paint on the canvas. When looking at the West Coast to the East Coast, it is interesting to see that the paint on the East Coast is a lot more drippier. Many people relate it to the time of year and the economy and how Jasper was feeling at that time. 

Blog #3



Georges Braque painted the Woman with a Mandolin in 1910.  The medium for this painting is oil on canvas.  This painting was done during his first Cubist phase, known as analytical cubism.   I chose this painting because of the way it looks.  You can see the woman, barely, but you know she is there. I just find it amazing how a person can make this out of geometric shapes and maybe about 4-5 colors.

Night Cafe Van Gogh

I first chose this painting, Night Cafe by Vincent Van Gogh, because the red walls caught my eye right away.  After researching this painting further I thought it was unique that this painting depicts an actual cafe named Cafe de la Gare.  One other thing I thought was interesting was the half curtained doorway that was said to lead to "more private quarters."  The rest of the five customers in the cafe were meant to be depicted as drunks or derelicts sleeping at their tables.  The technique used in this painting is also interesting because of the way Van Gogh painted the floor.  All of the lines in the floor are running in the direction of that back door to privacy.  

Mont Sainte-Victoire



Mont Sainte-Victoire
(1885-1887)
Cezanne
Oil on Canvas

I chose Cezanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire (1885) because the focus of the painting is the view of the mountain but what caught my eye was the perception of the tree that was right in front of him when he painted the landscape. The tree takes up a large part of the painting even with a mountain and farmlands down below. Cezanne has multiple paintings focusing on the mountain. He uses geometry to describe the nature and different colors for depth.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Big Nude





Georges Braque
1908
France 
Cubism
Oil on Canvas

Georges Braque was one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, but also among the ones whose work is least well known. Although Braque’s pre-1914 cubist paintings are included in virtually all surveys of the modern movement, only one international loan exhibition devoted to Braque’s later work has been held in this country in the last 30 years and that was held at the Royal Academy in 1997.


Blog Post #3: Self-Portrait: Les Misérables by Paul Gaugin

Paul Gaugin
Self-Portrait: Les Misérables
Oil on Canvas

I chose this piece because I liked Gaugin's use of cool and dark colors between the foreground and background. The contrast of the warm and cool creeping into each depth of the painting is also a really nice touch, the light on his face and the sun on the hung painting. The distance from the wall of the background and the foreground is amplified by the shades of his face and the value difference. He demonstrates his preference for this style rather than impressionism, he is not copying nature or his environment, this art is an abstraction of it. 

Violin and Pitcher

(1910, oil on canvas) 
I picked Georges Braque's Violin and Pitcher as my example of modern art because it is constructed from cubism. Cubism was a revolution in modern art developed by Picasso and George Barque.  It was the first style of abstract art of the 20th century. Cubism was an attempt by these artist to change up the traditional styles of western art.  In this example Barque analyzed the subject from many different view points and reconstructed it with geometric shapes. 



Sunday, February 15, 2015

Blog #3 Cyclops

Odilon Redon, Cyclops 1895-1900, Otterlo

        This painting canvas is oil on wood and I chose it because of all the colors make the beast look harmless and enjoyable to look at, also it looks really cool. It has to do with an impressionist style and this image depicts something imaginary. The color and representation of the painting makes the Cyclops looks shy but it looks as if he is guarding the person in the photo, making sure she doesn't get hurt. He is keeping her hidden in the process while he remains visible, and the unique colors symbolize the entire painting in general of how the Cyclops is on the good side.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

The Bay of L'Estaque Post #3

The Bay from L’Estaque Paul Cezanne 1886 Oil on Canvas


I chose this painting because I love the way Cezanne uses colors to show depth and dimension. The cool colors in the back and the warm colors in the front show a way of depths to the picture and turns it into a more three dimensional painting that Post Impressionists tried to accomplish. He also uses geometric shapes to paint his paintings and everything in the picture can either be divided into a cylinder, sphere or a cone. Also, the painting only shows art, it doesn’t show the business of the people or any human figure, which makes the viewer appreciate it more. 

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Blog #3 Head of Orpheus Floating on the Waters

This painting was created by Odilon Redon, it is a charcoal on paper, and it could be found in the Kroller-Muller Museum.  This painting shows a head where the viewer can distinctly see the nose and lips of this person.  It seems like the heads eye is closed.  The head seems to be the head of a man, but you cannot be certain.  I chose this painting because the use of black and white color makes it seem mysterious and creepy.  Redon used symbolism in his paintings to translate his own dreams and emotions.

It Ain't a Pisser


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

The Cliffs at Etretat


The Cliffs at Etretat
Claude Monet
Oil on Canvas
1885

In 1885 Monet drew several pastel landscapes of the rocks at Etretat which have a Symbolist feel to them, enhanced by the medium and choice of colours: dove grey and fading purple.  Evening light softens the rock formations and illuminates the sea. Although some of the well-known oil paintings made at Etretat resemble pastels, others, like The Cliffs at Etretat are quite different, full of the sparkling light of Impressionism. Incidentally, Etretat is one of those landscapes that have been seen as a challenge to artists.

Gustav Klimt

Sea Serpents
Gustav Klimt

Most of Klimt's paintings contained a gold foil paint, and vibrant colors. He was known for painting women, and adding color whimsical patterns. The lesbian embrace of his models would have been unacceptable had it been presented as a straight portrait. However, by renaming the work and giving it a theme and by adding the fish-like serpent behind the bodies and adding a gold pattern, Klimt was able to show the painting to Vienna without fear of censorship. 

The Bay of Marseilles


I chose The Bay of Marseilles, an oil on canvas painting, by Paul Cezanne.  I originally picked this painting because of the way the colors all have a blended look to them.  I thought that was an interesting technique and it's what immediately caught my eye.  When I researched this painting a bit further however, I learned that Cezanne was not interested in capturing a moment in time, instead he liked to discover the harmony of the color and form.  This harmony to him was the structure of nature.

Sunrise

"Sunrise" by Claude Monet ( circa 1874) is one of the most recognizable and well known impressionist paintings. It is a landscape of a Le Havre in France but it is not a realistic portrayal of it. The impressionist form of art only captures the general shapes as well as colors, lights and darks. Historically this movement was known for the first uses of natural light in a painting. As we can observe, the individual brush strokes are visible and contribute to the paintings texture. It's history is an interesting one as it was stolen in 1985 and wasn't recovered until 1990.  The painting itself is oil on canvas and is currently on display at the Musee Mormottan Monet in Paris.

San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk

The San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk was painted between 1908 and 1912, and is an impressionist painting by Claude Monet painted with oil on canvas. It depicts a sunset in Venice. Monet visited Venice with his wife in 1908 and was invited by his wife to meet her at the waterfront. Monet was hesitant to do so because he feared he would conform to other artists that were drawn to Venice. What makes this painting interesting is that this was finished unlike many of his painting of Venice. Monet found that Venice was "too beautiful to be painted", however, it is believed that the death of his wife in 1911 drove him to complete the piece.

Women in the Garden 1866


Women in the Garden is an oil on canvas painting done by impressionist painter Claude Monet in 1866. Through research, I found that critics believed that Monet was able to master the illusion of natural light in the mechanisms he used in this painting. Not only were the colors and shadows used as an example of this natural light, but also the way in which the sleeves on the dresses of each woman are slightly translucent in nature. Also, I found that this painting was actually rejected by the Paris salons in 1867 because of it being weak in terms of its narrative. I personally enjoy this painting, because of the way in which natural light is portrayed along with the seemingly three different stories occurring among the four figures in the painting.


The Balcony #2


 The Balcony was painted in 1868 by Edouard Manet.  The medium is oil on canvas and this painting was exhibited at the Paris Salon.  This painting depicts five figures, on the left is Berthe Morisot, who eventually became the wife of Manet's brother and right underneath her there is a dog.  In the center is the painter Jean Baptiste Antoine Guillemet.  On the right is Fanny Claus, a violinist, and the fourth figure who is in the back left is Leon Leenhoff, who is Manet's son. With the five figures in the picture, the main subject of this painting is Fanny Claus, who is on the right.  While everyone in the picture almost seem disconnected from each other, Claus seems to be almost looking directly at her audience, which are the viewers of this painting.  The reason why I chose this painting is because while I was reading about it, I learned that this painting drew much attention because of the aggressive and bold green of the balcony.  I also read that this painting, because of the contrast of colors (black background, white faces/clothes, blue tie of the man, and the green balcony), creates an atmosphere of mystery.