Mixed Media

Offering by Robert Rauschenberg.  Robert was painter and graphic artist whose early work anticipated the pop culture era. In 1993 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. His was born by the name of Milton Ernest Rauschenberg. In 1966 he and Billy Kluver launched the Experiments in Arts and Technology.  Robert would pick up garbage becasue he "wanted something other than what I could make myself and I wanted to use the surprise and the collectiveness and the generosity of finding surprises. And if it wasn't a surprise at first, by the time I got through with it, it was.

Collage

The Fifth of Never of Old Near by Jess.  Jess created his own vocabulary for his work.  The collage above would be referenced as a paste-up.Jess was a radio-chemist by profession and dreamed of a nuclear holocaust that would destroy the world in 1975.  This collage has so many different images that I am not able to see an obvious trend.The one stand out image is the girl with the gun hat since there a different colorization.  Some of images give a sense of violence. I am making an assumption that the machines in the bottom half of the picture are portions of a nuclear factory.

Oil Paint

Circle by Jackson Pollock. The medium used for this paiting is oil paint.  The bright, vibrant colors are achieved becasue the artist used oil paint.  The artist was able to blend the bright colors with darker colors to create a continuous flow. Pollock was a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement.  He is known for his "drip" paintings.  Drip painting is where paint is poured or dripped on to the canvas to create an abstract image.During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and struggled with alcoholism for most of his life.This addiction could potentially distort his image of reality and contribute to abstract art.  Pollock was also the subject of a movie that was nominated for and Academy Award in 2000.  As Pollock progressed as an artist he went away from naming his paintings to numbering them.  He changed to this concept to have people focus on the paiting itslef and not what is was as presented by the title.

fresco

Liberation of Peon by Diego Rivera.  This is one of eight "portable" fresco panels that Rivera made for his retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1931. Rivera based the panel on another of the same title that he painted in 1923 for the Ministry of Public Education building in Mexico City.During the revolution in Mexican society in the 1920s and 1930s, Diego Rivera was a leader among the core group of artists dedicated to creating a radical public art. Monumental murals for government buildings, designed for the public, were ideally suited to these artists' socialist commitment to presenting a visual "people's history" of Mexico. For his mural commissions, Rivera revived the Italian Renaissance fresco tradition of applying pigments ground in water to a moist lime plaster wall surface.

Etching

A View of Amsterdam from the North West by Rembrandt. The medium used was etching.  Before Rembrandt's 30th birthday his name was synonymous with artistic excellence.Rembrandt sold the plates he created in an auction to raise funds with the direction that the plates were not to be used for at least 100 years after his passing.  The European  family that purchased the plates adhered to the agreement.

Woodcut

Jestri by Emil Nolde.  The medium used was woodcut.  Thew woodcut print offers the artist a means of showing greater contrast with black and white.  The details of the persons face specially under the eye show an aging quality since they represent wrinkles.  Also the cheeks show depth by adding the black to show an impression. Emil Nolde is considered to be one of the first Expressionist.Hitler actually condemned all of Emil Nolde works since he deemed them to be degenerate art.  Degenerate art is defined as a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art.

Scale and proportion

Lightning on Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai.  The actual Mount Fuji in the paiting is extremely large to scale.  The size in emphasized by the relatively small clouds that are surrounding the Mount Fuji. The extremely large crack in the right side of the Mount Fuji is also out of proportion.  It gives the sense that Mount Fuji is cracked in half which is not the case.  It is the artist impression that the crack is much larger that what it is in reality.

Contrast

Big Fall, Black and White by Pat Steir.  I selected this image for the obvious.  The black background gives the presences of absences while the white is the perfect contrast to give the image life.  Due to void of the black the white water stands out even more since there are no primary colors in the image.  Even with the absence of color you ca still see the details in the water fall as a whole.  The drops of water on the perimeter add the the overall contrast against the black background.

Visual Movement

Darkytown Rebellion by Kara Walker.  I selected this image becasue the pictures flows in two distinct portions.  The first flow is the the people.  From right to left the people move or flow .  The second portion of the picture is the flow of colors on the right side.  They flow in a circular motion.  I was not able to really show the circular motion with the arrow since the only go in a straight line or diagonally.

Repetition

The Migration of Negro Panel no.41 by Jacob Lawrence.  I selected this image due to repeating sequence of the bricks.  The sequence is three large bricks then next row two large bricks which I have indicated with the arrows.  While the picture may seem monotonous at first the repetition of how the brick are sized have flow. The shape of each brick may not be the same but you can definitely see there is a pattern forming by the sequence of the bricks.

Emphasis

Heliogabal by Anselm Kiefer.  This images has multiple focal points.  The bright intensity of the sun against the bottom not intense color really draws your eye directly to the sun.  The secondary focal point is the orange cloud above the sun.  I selected this image as secondary since the dark cloud separates it from the actual sun so the contrast in color divides it from the primary point of the sun. The final focal point would the word that is incorporated into the paiting.  While the color is taken from the cloud and sun since it a word is draws your attention.  I even had my 10 year old pick out the three focal points to have a different perspective.

Assymmetrical

Fifth Avenue by Childe Hassam.  I chose this paiting because your line of vision is not focused on the forefront the picture.  The center axis is not focused on the from middle of the picture but to the right.  The large buildings on the right draw and command your attention.  With the left side showing a building to also but not as large as the right.  The image is balance by the bottom portion of painting where not detailed the images balance both top and bottom.

Op Art

Blaze by Bridget Riley.  This image is true Op Art or optical art.  The way the angles go in a circular motion and draw the viewers attention to the blank center.  By looking at the image you almost have a dizzying effect due to the "motion".  Also there seems to be tint of yellow or it could be just my eyes playing tricks on me.  The image is reminiscent of old cracker jack toys where you would manipulate the the little piece of cardboard to make them image move.  This image almost has a 3D effect since the perception of angles give it depth and pop.

Texture

Enter by Robert Ryman.  This painting was painted on oil and neutral ground on archival board.  The painting measures Height 10.2 in.; Width 10.2 in. / Height 26 cm.; Width 26 cm.  I selected this image due to white brush strokes.  The painting gives the look of texture by the way the brush strokes are not neat and even.  The painting may have an actual texture feeling to the touch also.  Mr Ryman is famous for his use of white paintings to show texture.  The medium he uses combined with his intentional brush strokes create a textured image. The image almost looks as though a white substance were glued to the canvas.