All artists are influenced by or incorporate issues and events of their time and place in their artworks. This statement is confirmed by a number of artists such as Polykleitos (5th century BC), Michelangelo (1475-1564) and the father of cubism, Picasso (1881-1973). Although some may be less influenced or may be one of the creators/fathers of their arts, all artists follow this statement as the time and place from where they were born helped mould the artists.
Polykleitos of Argos, was a renowned Ancient Greek sculptor from 5th Century BC. He was considered by many as one of the most important sculptors of his time. During his century, Greece went through many wars (e.g. Persian War) and soon rose to become one of the world’s greatest powers. The Greeks recognised the naked male figure to represent strength, power and all that were important in the perfect Greek man. Many of Polykleitos' works reflect this idea of the male perfection and were therefore usually displayed in public areas to remind the Greek people of male perfection. His work Doryphorus, is shown as highly masculine and is correctly proportioned to further show the male perfection. Polykleitos' works, were however ahead of his time as he was one of the fathers of what is now recognised as the Classical Greek style. His works incorporated contropposto (the sculpture places one leg forward to portray movement) to try and emphasise the athleticism and strength of the male figure. Another of his works (Apollo of Mantua), reflects the beliefs of the Ancient Greek civilisation. Apollo, is in Greek mythology the messenger God, and is therefore sculpted to once again show, what the Greeks believed to be the male perfection. The sculptor is shown as fierce, well-built and...
... middle of paper ...
...d the Analytic Cubist movement. During the Second World War, Picasso stayed in France under Nazi rule but his artistic style did not fit that of the Nazi artistic ideal. Although Picasso continued painting, he did not exhibit during that time. Picasso's works were usually held in exhibitions and were highly renowned although there were still many who did not agree with his style. Overall, Picasso's works reflected that of his time as the creation of the camera lead to a new movement of art which is still respected to this day.
Ultimately, it can be seen that all artists are influenced or incorporate issues and events of their time in their works, whether this is from the desire to portray Greek perfection to that of religious beliefs and the creation of the camera. To become renowned like Polykleitos, Michelangelo and Pablo Picasso, this statement must be followed.
The author, Andrew Stewart, begins with the male figure of Doryphoros. He focuses on the intent of the statue, establishing the knowledge that it was to set a new standard of the perfect male body to guide the future. The proportions of the body of Doryphoros were made according to a specific formula, with meticulous attention to detail. Each muscle and limb was specifically placed next to relaxed ones, creating visual hierarchy of the forms to be more appealing to the eye and mind. The figure is a copy and not originally named, but is most likely said to be of a warrior or athlete, possibly Achilles or Penthesilenia. This statue was to show a culture of people who were expected to take up arms and set a new standard for masculinity. Naked “spearbearers” were uncommon and most often reserved for athletes. The gaze of the sculpture is off in the distance, looking at the competitor, with a solid stance between macho arrogance and meek youth. The unhurried movement, self-contained pose foursquar...
Many of these artists' works contain subtle hints to the author's opinion on the subject. By analyzing their central compositional effects, the viewer can obtain a greater appreciation and understanding for the art.
Around the time 530 bce a statue was carved out of marble and given the name Anavyos Kouros. It represents a male figure completely nude. It is a sculpture in the round and stands a height of six foot four inches. Starting from the top we see the man's head. His hair looks odd to that of a normal human, it does not look like it belongs on his head. Looking at his facial structure his eyes are large similar to art of ancient Egypt. His nose, lips, cheeks, and ears are well defined and proportional. His body is muscular and he looks to be in great shape. The sculptor who made this paid close
Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous and well-documented artists of the twentieth century. Picasso, unlike most painters, is even more special because he did not confine himself to canvas, but also produced sculpture, poetry, and ceramics in profusion. Although much is known about this genius, there is still a lust after more knowledge concerning Picasso, his life and the creative forces that motivated him. This information can be obtained only through a careful study of the events that played out during his lifetime and the ways in which they manifested themselves in his creations (Penrose).
Winckelmann like Vasari dealt greatly with the artistic problems concerning representation and imitation of nature including the need for the human beauty in a figure. However he also was interested in art criticism based in historical timelines and causes for the change and evolution of modern art. This greatly seen in this article not only in his thesis that great contemporary art is based in antiquity but also in his explanation for why the Greek art was so well done and why it has risen back into the hands of modern art. First, Greek work came back to contemporary society greatly by the monarch led by Titus who brought authentic work from Greek masters for his artists to learn from and imitate. He also discusses the correlation between the bodies, like that of the Theseus model, with the Greek lifestyle they lived based heavily on training for the Olympic games and the resemblance of youth’s bodies to godlike figures. Great masters of contemporary work use these same bodily model and ideal of beauty in their work. Winckelmann states that their present good taste is due to the fact that they, “partook of good taste at its source.” Overall the Greeks set up rules of art that could be imitated to capture nature and its ideal form of beauty, an idea that many sought to accomplish.
Doryphoros by Polykleitos was originally a Greek bronze made around 450-40B.C. The only way we can see it today is through the Roman marble copies (which is common of many Greek statues.) Some supports had to be added for the change in material, resulting in the addition of the form resembling a tree trunk, the support on the left foot, and the small bar bridging the gap between his right wrist and hip. Doryphoros was originally holding a spear in his left hand; appropriate, given that his name means, literally, “spear-bearer.” The sculpture is a well-known and early example of classical Greek contrapposto (the shifting of weight onto one leg and off-axis shoulders and arms.) One leg nearly appears to be lifting off the ground, giving the effect of movement. The perceived weight shift adds more dynamism to the piece, and contributes to the realism of the figure. The resulting slight “s-curve” of the figure is true to what we might see in life, and reflects an interest in proportion and anatomy, as seen with many Greek sculptures of the age. This is made particularly clear in the defined muscle groups of the figure and attention to details such as the structure of the knees, hands, and feet. Polykleitos sculpted many athletic male bodies in the nature of his personal aesthetic canon, which we can see exemplified here through the intense attention to the mathematics of the human body. The contours of the figure are visually interesting and although the figure does not hold much facial expression, his body language and presence speak volumes of his existence as the epitome of masculinity.
From a craftsman’s standpoint, the enhancements can be seen in the Greek’s sculpting style. The sculpture bodies are seen as more relaxed and less rigid, given way to a more natural and realistic form. Sculptors also started replacing that unnatural archaic smile and large eyes with symmetric facial features that more accurately represented a human face. A common technique used in the Classical Period is called contrapposto. This technique was the position that sculptors used. Usually one of the sculpture’s legs is in front of the other causing a shift in the hips and torso; sculptors used this position to portray a carefree appearance. An example of the use of the contrapposto technique is the famous sculpture, Kritios Boy. When you look at the sculpture, you can see the one leg that is shifted forward, giving the boy’s body a relaxing stance. Although, contrapposto was very popular and heavily used during the Classical Period, the sculptures still have very serious looks on their faces. This doesn’t change until we enter the Hellenic Period, when sculptors started giving their works more creative poses and facial
Art is a very important part of humanity’s history, and it can be found anywhere from the walls of caves to the halls of museums. The artists that created these works of art were influenced by a multitude of factors including personal issues, politics, and other art movements. Frida Kahlo and Vincent van Gogh, two wildly popular artists, have left behind artwork, that to this day, influences and fascinates people around the world. Their painting styles and personal lives are vastly different, but both artists managed to capture the emotions that they were feeling and used them to create artwork.
His work is mostly famous with his Cubism events. As he enters its twenty-fifth year, Picasso changed his style of painting. It breaks down and reproduces objects in simple geometric shapes. Cézanne, African tribal art and Iberian sculpture would be the inspiration the painter when it turned to Cubism. (Picasso, P. (1970) With the Demoiselles d 'Avignon that this new style explodes in 1907. That same year, he met Georges Braque with whom he develops the power of Cubism. The two work closely together. To address the problem of representing what exists in three dimensions on a two dimensional surface, Braque and Picasso bring a new answer. They replace the usual codes of color, volume and perspective through a system of geometric signs. They will add to it, in a subsequent phase (synthetic cubism), the use of pieces of various materials (sand, paper, metal, wood, fabric, cardboard ...) to avoid falling into abstract art. Picasso abandons Cubism in 1915. (p25) It had been demonstrated that his work had given a big importance in our current historical events and how it was also given a big importance in his times such as in the support of the cubism
The Italian Renaissance and the Baroque era are two major periods in art history, some of the types of art in those periods were painting, sculpting, and architecture. During these periods, many artist gained enormous fame from creating wonderful pieces of work that represented their beliefs and artistic thinking. This essay will analyze and evaluate two pieces from those major art periods. Rembrandt 's painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and the sculpture David, by Michelangelo. These two masterpieces shed light of their significance in art history. David represents the Italian Renaissance for it being a strong symbol of the new republic, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp depicts the focus on human progression.
subject’s action. Many works of his time period were sculptures that were meant to be
The primary focus of ancient Greek sculptures was that of the human body. Almost all Greek sculptures are of nude subjects. As the first society to focus on nude subjects, Greek sculptors attempted to "depict man in what they believed was the image of the gods and so would come to celebrate the body by striving for verisimilitude or true – likeness (realism and naturalism!)."(Riffert) Not only did the Greeks celebrate the human form in their art but also in everyday life. (Riffert) One of the favorite topics for sculptors was that of the athlete. In Greek culture athletes were described as "hero–athletes". (Riffert) This shows that athletes were revered and looked upon as heroes. The influence of athleticism is evident in many famous sculptures. I will attempt to show how the human form influenced Greek art. It is important to note that many of the Greek sculptures discussed do not exist in their original form but rather in Roman copies of the original bronze sculptures. (Riffert)
In the early 20th century several movements occurred in America and Europe, therefore it was an era that characterized by the imperialism industrialization which polarized the nation into two categories of high and the low class. And the western culture dominated most of the world possessions. The U.S was able to have power over their land and they gained high economic and political power. The American did not allow other countries free trade to enter their lands. Furthermore, the Modernism Cultural movements allow many artists to present their styles in a unique form of expression. Modernism is characterized radically by breaking down the trends which occurred in the past of the 19th century. Moreover, Pablo Picasso, he was a phenomenal modern artist; Picasso was very famous for all of his work of art especially the cubism arts. Therefore, some viewers consider his art to be disturbing because they...
Picasso went through different phases in his paintings: the blue period, rose period, black period, and cubism. Picasso was a talented artist, with his dad setting the foundation; Picasso became the famous artist of the twentieth century. Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist”. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Pablo Picasso’s dad was a great influence on Picasso as a child.
For over two thousand years, various philosophers have questioned the influence of art in our society. They have used abstract reasoning, human emotions, and logic to go beyond this world in the search for answers about arts' existence. For philosophers, art was not viewed for its own beauty, but rather for the question of how art and artists can help make our society more stable for the next generation. Plato, a Greek philosopher who lived during 420-348 B.C. in Athens, and Aristotle, Plato’s student who argued against his beliefs, have no exceptions to the steps they had to take in order to understand the purpose of art and artists. Though these two philosophers made marvelous discoveries about the existence of art, artists, and aesthetic experience, Plato has made his works more controversial than Aristotle.