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Henry Ossawa Tanner created The Banjo Lesson in 1893, using oil on canvas. There are two subjects in the painting, one is an elderly man and the other is a young boy. The subjects symbolize a grandfather teaching his grandson to play the banjo. The painting is currently being exhibited at the Hampton University Museum in Hampton, VA. and the size of it is 49 x 35.5 inches. The Banjo Lesson is composed of various lines, shapes and colors to unify the composition. The painting caught my attention due to the message I received when I first laid eyes upon it. It illustrates a wise old man teaching an eager to learn young boy. I have been fortunate enough to have my very own replica of this painting in my bedroom and I have spent countless hours …show more content…
The passing down of history and experience from one generation to another is what makes the painting so interesting to me. The painting is presented within the small boundaries of a log cabin. Semi- slumped and seated, the elderly man is looking down at the banjo while the young boy is seated upon his lap helping the old man hold onto the banjo. The expression on the face of the older gentleman looks as if he is serious-minded in teaching the boy how to play the banjo. Correspondingly, the boy is looking down at the instrument and has a look of determination to learn. The older man has the base of the instrument resting on his left hand to prevent the boy from feeling the full weight if the banjo. The elder man is using his right hand to either keep the banjo in place or to assist the boy with changing the tune of the music. The floor is made of wooden planks and has a few objects thrown onto it. Towards the foreground of the painting, on the far-right side, there is a metal water pitcher and a pot sitting upon the floor. A little farther back towards the middle right side, is a black cast iron skillet resting on the floor. The brightest portion of light is …show more content…
The subject’s heads and the base of the banjo are positioned in the center section of the rectangle with both subjects looking downward at the instrument. The top of the banjo is pointing towards the right rectangle and leads the viewers’ eyes to the right side of the composition. Tanner used two different light sources that meet in the middle of the painting. To the right side of the painting there’s a warm light glowing from a fire that is just outside of the paintings view. For the most part, the artist used mostly earth tone colors in the painting. The two chairs, the floor, the cooking utensils, the coat thrown over the chair, the subjects and their clothing are all in various shades of brown and black. The exceptions are the use of white, yellow, gray and blue that are all used as sources of light. A warm light is washing over the young boy along with a stroke of white that streaks across his forehead. Most of the white and pale yellow (glow from a fire) is brightly illuminated to the right side of the painting while simultaneously throwing darkness onto the left side and front of the painting. Also to the left side of the painting, there are cooler colors of gray and blue that can be seen submerging the older man, the walls on the left side of the painting and in the shadows from objects in the entire background of the painting. In the very front of the painting, the light source is barely seen. The color
The colors used in the painting are dark and some parts bright illustrating a focal point being the skull in the center as well as the quill, both surrounded by darker colors in comparison.
In the era where Thomas Cole first established the Hudson River School, other artist that is not from the United State such as John Constable, has the same taste in nature and outdoors. John Constable who is from England, created many painting from the surrounding area from his backyard to the countryside. For Cole’s painting, his work of art has been throughout the Hudson River, therefore, his painting consist of vast amount of forest, river, and mountains. He also travels in many locations in America and even done some painting in Europe. Both painter love nature, for this example, landscape will be the primary focus.
The artwork starts outside the barn. The left bottom of the painting holds a brown and white pig walking towards the barn in front of the resting dog lying just inside the barn’s open double doors. The pig’s ears are brown while its engorged nipples suggest it had piglets. As the pig strolls in front of the barn it encounters the remains of animal bones while patches of green grass and dirt highlight the way to the barn. On the opposite side of the pig, stands a reddish brown horse. The horse 's mane and tail are black. Its hind legs are white. The tip of the horse’s nose is white. The horse wears a saddle, bridle, halter, bit and reins. Its left hind leg rises as if ready to bolt. In the bottom right hand corner below the horse reads, “G.H. Durrie 1853.” While the area in front of the barn appears sparse, it is the barn and what occurs inside that is where the action
When looking at the painting it gives us a glimpse of the past. It looks almost like a photograph. The fine detail from the building on the right with the statue on top. The citizens walking around.
Jacob Lawrence painting the “Blind Beggars” shows an elderly blind couple walking down the street. It is assumed that they are a married couple. The blind woman is holding on to the blind man who is holding a begging cup in his hand. Children play around the couple, going about their own business as the couple walks past them. The “Alabama Plow Girl” photographed by Dorothea Lange shows a young child from the bottom.
First, the size of the painting drew me in before all. It measures at 339.1 by 199.5 cm, surrounded by a large golden frame. The size alone is enough to bring in any person passing by. Once getting close, the really wonder happened. The story told by the painting
O. Henry’s "Art and the Bronco" tells the story of Lonny Briscoe, a cowboy who is also an aspiring artist. It follows his quest to sell his first painting to the state legislature; to have it hung in the capital building. Lonny sees the sale of the painting as validation of his talent and worth as a painter. What he ends up learning is that the actual value of the painting turns out to be secondary to what other feel they can gain from it.
The two focal figures are illustrated with complementary colors, the woman 's dress being orange, and the man’s pants being blue. Benton uses these colors to bring life into the painting. The background is made up mostly of earthy colors like, greens, browns, and greys and a light blue for the sky. Benton seems to add white to every color he uses, which gives the painting an opaque look. The deepest hues found in this painting are the blue one the man’s pants and the orange on the woman’s dress, everything else around them looks washed out and Benton does this to emphasize his focal points
own painting. He sees some figures, along with a castle and somewhat of a landscape. The artist
The image located on page 997 by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Horn Players is an acrylic and oil paintstick on three canvas panels. The artist colored this painting to make a tribute to two legendary African American musicians. This painting features bold colors, fractured figures, and graffiti to capture the dynamic rhythms of jazz and the excitement of New York. The painting is divided into three panels. On both of the end panels, the artist has painted the pictures of the musicians. Also, the painting demonstrates random words which probably has to do with the musicians work perhaps. The painting style is abstract expressionism and art brut which the artist took inspiration from Pablo Picasso. The artists used bold colors on the black background.
...the eye because the fabric of his shirt and the roughness of his jeans appear to have texture but they do not. If you actually touch the painting, you will find it to be flat and it does not have that feeling of thick application of paint.
In this piece Benny has depicted himself in the artwork creating another piece of artwork. He is standing at a 45° angle as if he has been interrupted by us, the viewer. This is how Benny engages us, the viewer into his painting. As if we are just as much a part of it as he is. When looking at his painting from a distance it seems as if it is just another oil painting but upon closer observation you can clearly see the different fabrics that he uses to create the collage and which gives the painting its textures. He shows space in the painting by leaving the wall on which the canvas hangs, bare, as is the floor with the exception of the box of rags that he uses in his collage.
This painting by Vincent Van Gogh is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, in the Impressionism exhibit. There are many things going on in this painting that catch the viewer’s eye. The first is the piece’s vibrant colors, light blues and browns, bright greens, and more. The brush strokes that are very visible and can easily be identified as very thick some might even say bold. The furniture, the objects, and the setting are easy to identify and are proportioned to each other. There is so much to see in this piece to attempt to explain in only a few simple sentences.
The colors used in this painting are blue, white, yellow, brown, black, green, light blue. The colors Birch used seem dark in order to relate to the storm. By making it seem dark it really captures the mood of the composition. In general the quality of light in this painting is low.
To me the painting is a way of showing you what everyone else is seeing. That the painter had the men looking right at each other so they can see themselves running away. In turn I got to see myself doing the same thing and was able to change because of it. When other people look at the painting they probably see something else. That is why I choose to do the painting, it gives you the choice too interpret it any way you see fit. Or it can just be a beautiful painting to look at, but the painting was so much more to me. It painted a thousand words for me.