October/ Octubre by Patssi Valdez (1995: fig.1) gives the viewer an inside look into this brightly colored world similar to magical realism as we stare at a table with item and a window view that looks outside at swirls of frosty cold air. This large scale acrylic painting on canvas measures to 78 1/16" x 26 3/8" x 1". At first glance we, the audience, are faced looking at a table with blue patterned table cloth and three objects on top; a book of Sor Juana, a golden pear, and a potted plant holding two yellow tiger lilies. At the bottom foreground of the painting, we can see a red and blue circular rug underneath the table with a pair of pointed black shoes, suggesting that this is a female’s home. The background of this painting, depicts …show more content…
The window view also appears to look at solar/lunar eclipse. According to NASA, it seems to appear that there was both a solar and lunar eclipse that occurred in the month of October in 1995. Although, both occurs only took place in the Eastern side of the world. Moreover, the window is shown to be surrounded by a white sheer curtain. All aspects of this painting seem to represent who the artist is as a person; a feminist Chicana who often depicts a magical realistic realm in her paintings. In this essay, I will be discussing the feminist aspect, religious elements, and Chicano content Patssi Valdez explores in her work of art titled October/ Octubre. The central focus on the table, in the painting, is what it appears to look like a book of Sor Juana. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, is a huge Mexican, feminist icon. During the seventeenth century, while the Spanish still occupied mexican territory, The catholic church had a significant amount of power. Sor Juana challenged the church by being a controversial figure at the time by her being a well-educated woman, nun, and poet/writer, during a time where men were …show more content…
The sugar skull is obviously referring to the Mexican tradition called dia de los muertos. Dia de los muertos takes place during the end of october and the first of November. This celebration is an important holiday as it is considered a vital part of Mexican identity, and identity in which is a combination of mesoamerican rituals, European beliefs, and Spanish culture. Mesoamerican culture shared many of the same traditions when celebrating their ancestors. Dia de los muertos isn’t about the final resting place of the dead, but instead the beginning of a new journey. A journey to the Machlin, a final resting place for the souls. Due to Spanish colonization, death rituals were influenced by new laws and lifestyles. Spain and the catholic church made an lasting influence on the cultures of mesoamerica. Many of these influences were a cause of mass war and the bubonic plague. Life and death balanced together like right and wrong, good versus evil, eventually creating a general understanding that life and death, itself, is a cyclical journey. Europeans brought the idea of cemeteries to the indigenous people. Today there is evidence of this with sugar skulls and celebrations in the cemetery and homes. According to The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity, Stanley Brandes
The painting Maria shows a middle aged foreign looking woman, standing under a dark veranda, looking vaguely out into the distance. The title give us the understanding that her name is ‘Maria’. Her features and her surrounds are realistic. The landscape is dry outback. There is no other human presence in the painting, other than a building off into the distance. An isolated town; an isolated Maria. She is wearing an apron which suggests that she had opened a café or store which would attract residents and people passing through the town.
The text also describes that West worked more deliberately on the faces than the things around the girls; people believed that it was a sort of portrait painting. Also in the text it says that, “ Smith (1883) has suggested that Fidelia may be a portrait of a Miss Hall, whom he identifies as the model for West’s Una” (American Paintings, 209). Fidelia is wearing a long white heavy drapery with a blue undergarment. She is holding a large brown book with gold clasp that is known to be the New Testament and she is also holding the gold chalice with a skinny green snake sneaking up but shows no fear to the snake and we know this because of her facial expression, she is just staring away. The text from the Timken Museum also informs us that the New Testament and chalice she was holding are ideas from Christian values, the chalice is supposed to be holding wine and water. However, for this painting the chalice is holding the snake to resemble poison that was meant to kill St. John. Apart from Fidelia, Speranza is wearing purplish long and heavy drapery with a greenish mantle wrapped around her legs and to the back of her, she is standing a bit behind her sister as well as holding onto Fidelias’ arm with a worried face while holding her hand up on her chest on her heart. Speranza is also holding a brown anchor on her left arm that is bent. Fidelia and Speranza are
I found the photography piece “From the Road to Tepeyac,” by Alinka Echeverria intriguing. This photography piece was a man kneeling down with a sculpture tied to his back. The woman in the statue had a green flag with multiple stars draped around her. This woman appeared to be the Virgin Mary. Underneath the Virgin Mary was an angel with green, white and red wings. The colors on the flag around the Virgin Mary and the angel’s wings represent Mexico. Also, the stars on the flag present the repetition constructed in this photography piece. There is no physical line for the foreground; however, this piece directs the eye from one point to another by implication. When I first saw this photography piece, I questioned why the statue of the Virgin Mary and an angel were on the man’s back. I realized the Virgin Mary and ...
The October Gallery. (2000, May 19). About the Artist [Online]. Available: http://www.octobergallery.com/sbarnes.htm [2001, March 19].
Contextual Theory: This painting depicts a portrait of life during the late 1800’s. The women’s clothing and hair style represent that era. Gorgeous landscape and a leisurely moment are captured by the artist in this work of
The picture itself depicts a classic poem “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue” with both a rose and violet present within the painting. This again relates the painting to an older and more classical time. The cup also present on the cabinet could represent another part in the poem where it discusses “sugar is sweet.” The cup’s content very likely would have had a type of beverage that most generally required sugar, such as tea or coffee.
“The Four Seasons” by Leon Frederic was the most stood out painting in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “The Four Seasons” is named appropriately to describe the meaning after the oil paintings. When I look at these oil paintings I see or think about the different seasons we have in a year, and the change it brings to the nature. This particular art piece by Leon Frederic seems to be about the different seasons and what makes each of them different. “The Four Seasons” shows the different seasons by the color used in the backgrounds, different types of nature used, and also the different expressions shown on the girls face.
Her use of primary colors and complementary colors are illustrated in the background, at the top of the fabric and in the outer view of the house and in the front yard. There is shading being shown in the two geometric windows. The entire work presents lines and implied lines as a focal point or as a means to describe a scenery. The texture of the garment is silky and very smooth like bed sheets. Post and lintel are crafted on the rectangular door frame and in the small window inside the door frame. Fine art is depicting in the background of the house; the painting is going in its own direction but still have a meaning behind it. The grass, tulips, and the weeds in the foreground appear naturalistic and lifelike which give the painting a multiple use of variety. The composition of the house is centered and upright. Marisela Esteves uses asymmetrical balance in the pathway and on the walkway to the flower garden. On the left side of the house there is a lot of variety elements and implied lines been demonstrating. Also, there is a lot of space in the background which grabs my attention because the line portrays a billboard in my mind that is covered by the vibrant, bright colors. The material that Marisela Esteves use was probably a knife or paint brush to mix, dye, and print on the fabric
The composition of this painting forces the eye to the woman, and specifically to her face. Although the white wedding dress is large and takes up most of the woman’s figure, the white contrasts with her face and dark hair, forcing the viewer to look more closely into the woman’s face. She smokes a cigarette and rests her chin on her hands. She does not appear to be a very young woman and her eyes are cast down and seem sad. In general, her face appears to show a sense of disillusionment with life and specifically with her own life. Although this is apparently her wedding day, she does not seem to be happy.
With an admiration for the unconventional, I am moved by Jackson Pollock’s Autumn Rhythm (number 30). If I could see any art piece in person, this would be my choice. I believe that Pollock’s radical painting style and the way in which he lay the canvas flat on the floor to work, gives this piece a deepened perspective. There is a visible control in the chaos to which Pollock has said "I can control the flow of paint: there is no accident." Seeing this piece in person would awaken my unconsciousness, and convey the feeling of spontaneity that I wish society will still embrace.
When first approaching this work, one feels immediately attracted to its sense of wonder and awe. The bright colors used in the sun draws a viewer in, but the astonishment, fascination, and emotion depicted in the expression on the young woman keeps them intrigued in the painting. It reaches out to those who have worked hard in their life and who look forward to a better future. Even a small event such as a song of a lark gives them hope that there will be a better tomorrow, a thought that can be seen though the countenance by this girl. Although just a collection of oils on a canvas, she is someone who reaches out to people and inspires them to appreciate the small things that, even if only for a short moment, can make the road ahead seem brighter.
Las Meninas is considered one of the greatest paintings of all time by critics and casual admirers of art alike. It was painted during a time when Spain’s glory was declining, and Velázquez was surrounded by the remnants of a once-great court, which was now in shambles and debt. King Philip had entered depression, due to the fact that he did not have a suitable male heir to the throne and was bankrupted by the Thirty Years’ War, and paid little effort to governing his country. He had lost power, and his portrait in the mirror of Las Meninas illustrates the shadow of what Philip had once been. The center and main focus of the painting is La Infanta Margarita, Philip’s five-year-old daughter. Light streams through a window onto her face, illuminating her with a golden light. Two of her meninas, or ladies-in-waiting, are located on either side of the princess, one kneeling and offering her a glass of water with another rising from a curtsy. On the right side, the dwarf Mari-Bárbola and the midget Nicolas Pertusato stand, along with a brown dog. Behind them, a man and woman are in conversation. On the left side, a massive canvas looms over the group as Velázquez, the artist, stands behind it with his brush and palette. On the dark back wall, two paintings hang along with a mirror which reflects the countenances of the king and queen. A man stands in the doorway of a door in the back of the room, with his hand on a curtain as if he has just pulled it open. The room appears almost empty, save for the figures in it, and this emptiness is amplified by the room’s high ceiling. Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez’s masterpiece, Las Meninas, conveys a message telling of the crumbling political situation and uncertain future of Spain at the ...
At first glance, the painting is very dark and shadowy convening the message of a sinful world. The chiaroscuro represents that we do not live in a perfect world, there is always evil lingering in the shadows. The main light source in the painting
The painting clearly refers to the period of slavery, presenting the unequal roles between black and white individuals. The artists paints the image in a way that both exposes and ridicules the actions of the white man. A black woman being kissed by a white man suggests that she is a slave and therefore in a relationship that was enforced and sexually violent. African American women, as slaves, were subject to the practice of sexual exploitation in the 19th century. Women were treated as property as they were continuously harassed, raped, and beaten by masters as white men with authority took advantage of their slaves. While women were appeared to be consenting to the mistreatment, no safeguards existed in order to protect women from such abuses, and were left with no choice but to engage in sexual activity with their masters. The black man in the image, on the other hand, is subject to being hit, a way of enforcing slavery. The two black figures, are in essence, a form of “luxury” for the white men as the black man is being deprived of his rights by his owner and is used as a tool through work in the fields, while the woman is used as a “luxury” that satisfies her owner through fulfilling the white man’s sexual
While a quick glance at the painting reveals a soft, gentle female form with a background of intriguing landscape, further study introduces an added layer of mystery. The way the woman glances slightly to the side as well as her small smile makes viewers feel that she knows some secret. Yet, at the same time, she appears to be a very kind, friendly and approachable.