Paul Gauguin, a French Post-Impressionist artist, tried to commit suicide in December, 1897 during his second stay in Tahiti. At that time, he did not have enough money to treat himself, and miserably, he was abandoned by people who owned his money, so his mental and physical conditions were poor. Moreover, In April 1897, he got news from his wife, Mette. There was written that his daughter Aline, who is only twenty, was dead due to pneumonia. Gauguin was absolutely depressed at this news and seriously thinking to kill himself. Before leaving the world, he wished and attempted to paint his last great testamentary masterpiece, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? which is one of his most famous artworks. He said, “I wanted …show more content…
He put his all strength and energy into the largest single artwork. His most ambitious masterpiece, Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? Paul Gauguin, who attempted to commit suicide after completing to draw the masterpiece, implied various meanings in this work. The painting, which is widely recognized as one of the best masterpieces in his works, is depicted about appearances and life of local people living in Tahiti. Gauguin believed that Tahiti was the last paradise for mankind. The artwork is so superbly organized into three scenes. People with three scenes are drawn from right to left in painting represents a title of this work. Firstly, the three people depicted with a baby on the right side of the screen represent the beginning of life. Behind them, there are two women, supporting each other's body, confide their thoughts to each other. A huge crouching figure, showing its back, raising its arm, and staring at these two women, think of their destiny and is surprised. The scene represents the title, Where Do We Come From? Secondly, each person in the middle means adulthood. The scene represents …show more content…
For instance, the two shaded figures by the tree of knowledge are used from Te Arii Vahine (The King’s Wife) created in 1848 - 1903. The old woman accepting the death on the left are derived from a lot of his earlier works, and the example of one of these works is Soyez amoureuses vous serez heureuses (Be In Love and You Will Be Happy) drawn in 1889. In addition, the child who is eating a fruit looks like a child in Nave nave mahana (Delightful Days), depicted in 1896. The two women who are squatting on the right, look their faces front are sisters of those that are referred from Nafea fas ipoipo (When will you marry) created in 1892. Also, the girl with a faint smile on her rips next to the old woman, learning on one hand, is staring at a mysterious white bird beside her, are depicted from Vairumati, which is the name of Tahitian goddess, drawn in 1879. There is also a white mysterious bird beside the woman in the artwork. Thus, he used the actual figures which he depicted in his earlier artwork to draw his most ambitious
The painting is organized simply. The background of the painting is painted in an Impressionist style. The blurring of edges, however, starkly contrasts with the sharp and hard contours of the figure in the foreground. The female figure is very sharp and clear compared to the background. The background paint is thick compared to the thin lines used to paint the figures in the foreground. The thick paint adds to the reduction of detail for the background. The colors used to paint the foreground figures are vibrant, as opposed to the whitened colors of the Impressionist background. The painting is mostly comprised of cool colors but there is a range of dark and light colors. The light colors are predominantly in the background and the darker colors are in the foreground. The vivid color of the robe contrasts with the muted colors of the background, resulting in an emphasis of the robe color. This emphasis leads the viewer's gaze to the focal part of the painting: the figures in the foreground. The female and baby in the foreground take up most of the canvas. The background was not painted as the artist saw it, but rather the impression t...
Jules Bastien-Lepage creates a realistic atmosphere, including a supernatural, religious-like presence within his painting. Oil on canvas was used to create the realistic quality of the work. By closely examining the artist’s technique, it is clear that he uses delicate brush strokes in a true to life manner. The colors, and use of light seem to be painted in a layered fashion to give the landscape a sense of depth. The background of the painting is a garden which include foliage and brush that surrounds the primary focus of the painting, Joan of Arc. The artist put a great effort into the details of the scene. Bastien-Lepage uses a distinct realistic quality in his painting which is visible in each individual leaf and branch. Various hues of earth tones, green and brown being the most evident, are blended together in the garden scene.
“A picture is a poem without words” – Horace, the purpose of art is to reveal the sensations of life but also allows humans to express their emotions and views on certain aspects. Jean-Michel Basquiat was a Neo-Expressionist painter throughout the 1980’s who was known for his style. He was African American artist and musician that was part of the SAMO. The SAMO was a graffiti group that wrote epigrams. While growing up, one of Basquiat inspirations that encouraged him to paint was his diverse cultural heritage. Basquiat was a creative self-taught artist who thought outside of the box when it came to painting. Most of the pieces he made were a collaboration of different ideas and constructed them together into a collage. During the 1980’s Basquiat’s art used the human figure to portray Minimalism and Conceptualism. His target market that were in many of his pieces was on suggestive dichotomies that focused on the lower class versus the higher class. Even though Basquiat work was remarkable, he was criticized and faced some challenges among his journey because of the symbols and words that were used his paintings. Despite the criticism,
Watteau’s last painting, the Enseigne de Gersaint, a gift to his friend, the picture dealer Edame Gersaint, was a signboard. It has to be acknowledged, that Watteau’s signboard however, is of a somewhat different nature. The painting transcended the boundaries of the commercial genre and was recognized as a true work of art.
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
Artists have a knowledge of all the artists that preceding them, creating a visual vocabulary from the art that they have seen and understand. For Jean-Michel Basquiat, that knowledge translates into his work, despite never having formal training in an art school. It is his awareness and understanding of the culture that surrounds him that brings a layer of sophistication to his painting, setting it apart from street graffiti that has been painted on canvas. Basquiat’s Untitled (Julius Caesar on Gold) (1981) is a confrontation of his own identity that is created with the visual vocabulary of artists that preceded him.
Vincent was an influential post-Impressionist painter born in 1853, Netherlands. With Theo van Gogh’s association, Vincent met reputable Impressionist painters such as Émile Henri Bernard and Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin. Impressionism served as a platform for Vincent in developing his own style . He explored with colours, a stark contrast from his usual dark and sombre style. The influence of Japonisme charmed Vincent into residing in Arles where he began painting landscapes. Thereafter, Vincent voluntarily checked into Saint-Rémy sanatorium where his works reflected strong colours and lights of the countryside around him. His manic depression and epileptic condition, led to his suicide on July 27th 1890.
He used rich naturalistic color to create gently, winding forms and silhouettes creating a picturesque scene on the left, and local color creates a hazy unifying blanket of light in the scene on the right and delivers a beautiful, peaceful mood. His harmoniously balanced compositions evoke the tranquil, undisturbed celebration of sublime nature. Van Gogh used color to express feelings and spirituality, and this coloristic composition creates a joyful, yet peaceful mood. The omnipresent strokes of yellow flowing from the sun provides the feeling of continuous energy and warmth. Van Gogh’s vibrant colors in the painting range from cool blues and greens to singed reds and bright yellows, a hue that he used to great effect. There is an inherent variety of colors in the dense green foliage. In the shade, the bark and leaves appear to have bluish-grey
It appears to me that pictures have been over-valued; held up by a blind admiration as ideal things, and almost as standards by which nature is to be judged rather than the reverse; and this false estimate has been sanctioned by the extravagant epithets that have been applied to painters, and "the divine," "the inspired," and so forth. Yet in reality, what are the most sublime productions of the pencil but selections of some of the forms of nature, and copies of a few of her evanescent effects, and this is the result, not of inspiration, but of long and patient study, under the instruction of much good sense…
...individual human being, worthy of our own unique individual response” (Weschler, p. 21). As we look at these paintings it is easy for us to connect to the subject matter, they all pertain to ethics. The contemplation of life and death, picking the right path for our highest and best good, forgiveness and taking pride in what you are doing. Each day we are faced with moral dilemmas and for the most part people choose to be good and do the best they can. These four paintings allow us to see the intersubjectivity in others as well as in ourselves.
I found Where Do We Come From? to be an inspiring piece of art. As I learned more and more about the artist and the individual painting, it began to make more sense. It is a beautifully orchestrated piece, which delves into questions that people are faced with in everyday life. Questions concerning birth, death, and life after death, are confronted, and Gauguin shows his feelings by expressing it in his art. It is a passionate expression of his deepest inner emotions and beliefs.
The composition of the painting takes place with the square of the canvas. The square is approximately 5' x 5'. A black frame surrounding the painting protrudes approximately 4" off the canvas. There is a 1" inlay between the canvas and frame. From this square, Reinhardt breaks the composition into six equal squares in three even rows. Texture is no where to be found in the painting. No visual indication of the artist's brush stroke is present. No varnished glare is given off by the piece. The entire work, including the frame, is completely matte. The squares take up the entire canvas in a checkerboard type arrangement. Each square is a slightly different shade of blue-black. It almost becomes impossible to see the difference between each square. The middle squares in the top and bottom rows shift more towards blue than the rest of the squares. The division of these middle squares become more obvious than the others. When the painting is looked at from a distance, it is almost impossible to see any of the squares at all. When looking from a far, all a viewer can see is a blackish blue canvas. As you stare longer into the painting, a halo begins to form around the corners of the canvas, creating a circle inside the square. Once you look away from the canvas, the circle is gone. With this observation in mind, we could say that the painting most definitely relies on the viewer. A viewer is required to look at the piece for its full affect. We could say that the squares in the painting are self-contained.
... though employing a familiar subject (the female form), shows the transformation from busy mosaics with gold embellishments to a brighter palate of colors and the use of stronger, bolder lines. The piece exemplifies his versatility as an artist.
The iconography of the picture could represent art in the view of the fauvists. Fauvists wanted to be free from tradition and natural colors. They wanted to be free to explore their world of colors as they saw fit. Fauvists and expressionists did not like to be held to strict rules when it came to painting. It could be that Le Bonheur de Vivre was a state in which they where trying to reach, but in reality could get never get there. On the other hand, could it be a place where they could only reach in their dreams? Critics have struggled with the interpretation of Matisse’s painting since the first display. That may have been Matisse’s meaning after all.
His approach was an organized, discipline, and theoretical painting base of knowing stories, and the style was line rather than color. The reason I picked the painting is because it does capture my attention of how messed up it is that these men would capture women and rape them. But in today society you see in the news every day in America they’re capture of women getting kidnap, rape and it captures my mind of how messed up this is. Nicolas is showing us these events that happen and you see this stuff in movies. The painting sends a message a powerful message by the emotion, color and theoretical. This painting is so historic they made a movie based on the painting in 1962 and 2006. Next is regarded as France finest artist is a women named Louise Mollin (1610-1696). Her painting “Still Life with Cherries, Strawberries, and Gooseberries” a famous painting that created a perfect balanced, simple composition and focusing the attention on the objects. The sizes, shapes and texture of the fruit and container form international contrasts. Her painting turns out to be simple but yet elegant and change the way of art. The colors of the fruit and bold and focuses just on the fruit other than having a painting doing something with war, death, and story behind it. This has change art and you can see in today painting something simple can grasp anyone