Seventeenth-Century Art Writing Assignment
Jan Vermeer’s career spread over a century of great change- in art, technology, and social customs. In art, subject matter ceased to be the most important component of great paintings. This allowed artists to discover how to appreciate and portray the sheer beauty of the world. One of the greatest of these masters was Jan Vermeer, born a generation after Rembrandt. Vermeer did not paint many pictures in his life, and few of them represent important scenes. Specializing in genre paintings (subjects of everyday life), he mainly painted ordinary figures engaged in ordinary tasks, such as a lady reading a letter or a young lady playing a lute. Yet what made these paintings such masterpieces was the way Vermeer achieved meticulous precision in the presentation of textures, light, and colors without the paintings ever looking unnatural or harsh.
In his life, Vermeer painted in two distinct styles: the first style (from 1653-1664) was characterized by brilliant use of color and an aggressive painting technique, whereas the second style was smoother and more refined with pale and softer colors. In other words, his style moved from one more characterized by a more masculine vigor to one of refined delicate subtlety. What remained throughout both styles was his exquisite combination of color and precision that harmonized figures and space.
Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft, Holland in 1632. As a youth he was apprenticed to Carl Fabritus and in 1653 he entered the Guild of Saint Luke of Delft wherein he became director. Although art was his main focus, he was also an innkeeper and kept a tavern in the Market Square. This area was a very rowdy place to live and work, and Vermeer apparently enjoyed painting as an escape from the crowded market and noisy tavern. Many historians are still uncertain as to where all his paintings went, but some say he was hired by Van Ruijven, a rich liberal protestant, who was the master of the Delft Charity Commissioners. Due to slow production, he suffered from financial difficulties despite his success in selling his works, and in 1675 at the age of 43 he died leaving his wife and eight children in abject poverty.
The Procuress was painted in 1656 and is a good example of Vermeer’s first style. This scene is painted with remarkable strength of color and light around the soldier and the woman who obviously hold center stage.
These two paintings represent typical examples from 14th century Italian artist, Barna da Siena, and 15th century Flemish artist, Rogier van der Weyden. Both images depict two main characters in a rather symmetrical composition and are of large size. However, it is clear that over a century and different region the stylized differences are very clear. Realism, the style of Flemish artists at the time, with all of its detail, is quite different from the large, flat shapes of color in Barna da Siena’s painting. Just by looking at the two, it is evident that the second painting is more advanced and developed. Art continues developing along different tracks today and who knows what art will develop into in the future.
Josef was born on March 19, 1888 in Bottrop, Germany. At the age of 17 he became an elementary school teacher. By 25 he studied in Berlin to expand his skills and become a certified art teacher. Through the years he continued to build his education attending several art academies; The School of Arts and Crafts, Munich Academy, and Franz von Stuck. In 1922 he enrolled to Bauhaus, a teaching institution in Weimar, Germany. Here at Bauhaus is where his achievements began and where he met his lifetime partner, Anni. In 1925 he was the first student invited to join the faculty staff and pronounced “Jungmeister” or “Young Master”. Josef taught various art classes and developed his own techniques as a figurative artist studying printmaking, stain glass, furniture as well as writi...
Albert Speer was born in Mannheim, Germany on the 19 March 1905, he was the son of an architect. He grew up in the town of Heidelberg in his early years, it has been said that his childhood was not one of happiness. Following in his father's footsteps, Speer studied architecture at the Institute of Technology in Berlin-Charlotteburg. He attained his licence in 1927 and became the assistant to Professor Heinrich Tessenow.
The compositions that each piece displays is different and prestige in its own right. Flemish panel painters were largely influential and created extraordinary developments in composition. The artwork tends to be very detailed and filled with symbolic meanings from surrounding objects or even coloring. Jan van Eyck was especially credited for paying exceptional attention to detail that creates such a realistic form, the figures seem lifelike. Much of this realistic appearance is due to the medium that was widely used in the North. The use of oil paints and techniques, such as finer detail with smaller brush strokes and layering of oil paints to create a glaze, were used and developed giving the Northern art distinct characteristics and composition. Italian painters created frescos by applying pigments to wet plaster. The result is a dull, flatter color and they were unable to achieve intricate detail. The com...
Vermeer was a man of ingenuity, balance, and method. Balance and control was found in everything he did, from the paintings to the way he addressed others around him. I believe the reason he was so interested with Griet and her methods for cleaning was because he appreciated things being balanced and measured. In his paintings, Vermeer used balance and technique to bring everything together and that's why all of his final pieces were composed properly. I also believe that Vermeer admired Griet's keen eye for the balance of colors when she separated the vegetables the way she did. He also exhibits the constant need for control when he removes the presence of the easel's leg in one of his paintings. Vermeer also portrays being methodical
The novel, Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, is an excellent story of a sixteen year old girl named Griet during the middle of the sixteen hundreds. After her father faced a terrible accident that caused him to go blind, Griet was forced to work as a maid for another family in order to bring in more money for her own. As a maid, Griet has to be careful to properly fulfill her duties while remaining polite and never crossing the boundaries between her status as the maid and the higher statuses of the rest of the family. However, this soon changes when the Master of the house, Artist Johannes Vermeer, takes notice of her keen eye in art and perspective. Secretly, Griet begins to sneak away from her own jobs to work in his studio,
The first way in which the painting displays beauty is in the technique of the artist. Kendall used a certain technique in which he created an ambiguous light source, thus removing any strong sense of shadow. Through this technique, he drifted away from the impressionist movement of his peers. Impressionists try to capture the images without detail but with bold colors, while Kendall preferred a romantic style, realistic but with emotion. His paintings took many weeks, even months to finish, but it is clear to all who see them that they are truly beautiful.
Diego Velàzquez was called the “noblest and most commanding man among the artists of his country.” He was a master realist, and no painter has surpassed him in the ability to seize essential features and fix them on canvas with a few broad, sure strokes. “His men and women seem to breathe,” it has been said; “his horses are full of action and his dogs of life.” Because of Velàzquez’ great skill in merging color, light, space, rhythm of line, and mass in such a way that all have equal value, he was known as “the painter’s painter,” as demonstrated in the paintings Las Meninas, Sebastiàn de Morra, and Baltasar Carlos and a Dwarf.
“Every good painter paints what he is”. This philosophy stated by Jackson Pollock out lines the idea that many contemporary modern artworks incorporate certain colours, textures, space, signs,
His colors would become more complex and the final product usually relayed his hard work and dedication. During the 1890’s he would start bringing multiple canvases to different sights. The light and weather would determine which artwork he was doing that day. As the light and weather changed, so would the canvas he worked on. This is why it would take him months to finish a particular piece of
Being born in Delft was one of the most influencing factors on his art. At this period of time, Delft was under Spanish rule, and that consequently effected on many artists. Who found themselves enforced to create their paintings in agreement with Christian morals, so, most of their paintings focused on painting the city, and local surroundings. Vermeer himself, was influenced by his Protestant identity. Protestantism in general respects daily-life images and the ordinary aspects of domestic life. For that reason Vermeer’s art concentered mainly on the beauty of mundane life. Based on this, Vermeer was a realist artist, that appears in his use of the black and white floors in some of his paintings.( Arasse, Daniel, 1996) The Dutch society as well influenced on Vermeer’s art, because it gave high level of esteem to the homogenized domesticity. That interest in those scenes, reflected on Vermeer’s paintings. Last but not least, Vermeer was mostly influenced
Van Gogh, being the son of a Lutheran minister, was very much drawn toward religion. Van Gogh decided to prepare himself for ministry by training in the study of theology. He failed at the courses and could not be the minister he hoped to become. Even though he failed the courses, he still had the desire to be a minister. His superiors sent him as a lay missionary to Belgium instead. There he wanted to be like his father and help out the unfortunates as a preacher. He tried to fight poverty through the teachings of Christ. Van Gogh's mission had to be discontinued. His approach to fighting poverty did not make his superiors happy. In 1879, he moved to his father's home in Ettan and stayed a while. He then left Ettan and went to The Hague.
Claude Monet is often considered one of greatest most dedicated of the Impressionist painters. His aim was to catch the light and atmosphere, something that was scarcely done before. He enjoyed painting outdoors and developed a free and spontaneous painting technique. His brushwork is remarkably flexible and varied. He often changed his technique, sometimes broad and sweeping other times dappled and sparkling.
...essive aspects that were quite advanced, the subject matter of his art was serious and dark. For his brilliance outshined all critisms, this made his art some of the most recognizable contributions.
For example, Perseverance, is a painting created by Gerald Brommer that although it shares similarities with Makenzie’s work like the color palette used, its rigid lines, and poor use of emotionalism, it was able to create its own mood by using a very distinct medium. One of the resemblances between these two pieces of art is the artists’ choice in colors. Perseverance, is also largely composed of neutral colors with a few darker objects that stand out. Both of the painters used the same technique with their color palettes to successfully draw attention to a certain piece in the painting. Another connection both pieces have is their poor use of the aesthetic theory, emotionalism. They both successfully create a meaning and connect with the viewers, but they do not appeal to the viewers in an emotional level. Not all works of art work towards appealing to its viewers in an emotional level, so it is not a lousy characteristic to miss. Perseverance also possesses the same kind of ridged lines throughout the painting. It contains geometric shapes that create a mood, similar technique used in Reverence. However, Brommers ridged lines helped create the mood of the whole painting, while Reverences ridged lines helped express the woman’s emotions. The moods of the paintings are very distinct. Reverence carries more of a sympathetic feel, while Perseverance carries a stronger more brutal mood. The mood created by Brommer was also acquired in a very contrasting manner. He used watercolor painting on paper in contrary of McKenzie’s oil on canvas. Although both artists prosperously created pieces of art by using similar techniques, they were able to have very unique moods by using distinct