Art (Dr Caruana)

This picture was taken on the 22nd October at 12:45 PM and is found at the National Museum of fine arts at Valletta.

This painting was made by Emvin Cremona in the 1919-1987 period. Its an abstract made from oil on canvas. At first glance the painting gives you the impression that the artist was inspired by the Maltese boat the Luzzu due to the color choice and the black colored "eye" found near the middle of the painting this also helps because the colors chosen are all complimentary. Hard lines in black and brown and even the white of the canvas is used to give effect. The value is really apparent in the blue area were it starts out light and darkens the more it moves towards the outer part of the canvas to add depth to the painting. This paintings is also filled with irregular shapes there are regular shapes accept for the black circle in the middle which also gives Emphasis on it due to the placement and the color choice. The painting shows a lot of sharp movement throughout.


This picture was taken on the 22nd October at 12:50 PM and is found at the National Museum of fine arts at Valletta.

This painting was made by Frank Portelli in the 1922-2004 period. He called this painting "Agony of Christ in the Garden of Olives" and was made with oil on canvas. Its quite easy to notice that this painting falls under the religious category even the name of the painting gives this impression. It has hard lines throughout the whole painting it is divided due to the high contrast of the the black and dirty white that cuts in the middle so tonal values are a huge part of the painting. Detail is mostly seen on the main figure which is that of Christ and the background isn't all that refined so it gives emphasis on him, even the size of him compared to does around him gives that effect. This gives the viewer more ease to recognize the main figure of the painting which really inspires me in my drawings because of the fact that there is something about disproportion in the perspective of a painting that i really have come to like and has effected a lot of my ideas.


This picture was taken on the 22nd October at 12:57 PM and is found at the National Museum of fine arts at Valletta.

This painting was done by Albert Bierstadt in the 1830-1902 period. This painting was called the " The Iceberg" and was also done with oil on canvas like the others. Realism is the category that such a painting would fall under and credit to the artist for such amazing attention to the detail, either its seen in the reflection in the sea or the detail on the iceberg its self it is a highly detailed landscape with a heavy usage of blue that's why the dark red boat which gives the proportion difference between it and the iceberg stands out which gives emphasis. The artist uses cool colors to give the effect of the cold atmosphere. Rough white was used to bring out the texture of the iceberg. Despite the high contrast of the black and light black there is also a texture contrast between the texture of the rough iceberg and the smooth light blue sea which also gives the effect of movement. So there is a Technic difference splitting the image. Due to the paintings calmness and the fact that there is not that much going on in it, it is very balanced.


This picture was taken on the 22nd October at 12:52 PM and is found at the National Museum of fine arts at Valletta.

This Painting was made by Cesare Dies between the 1830-1889 period. This drawing is called Pilgrims Kissing the Foot of the Bronze statue of St Peter in the Basilica of St Peter and is also done with oil on canvas. This is an illustration since the title of it explains the whole image so it has a set of information from just seeing it which is also highly detailed and falls under the religious category. The colors aren't all that bright they are warm and dull colors. Detail is equally distributed throughout the whole painting. The emphasis is mostly on the woman that is kissing the bronze statue this is created by the red piece of clothing which sticks out from the rest of the dull colors. Hard lines and shapes are also apparent in the background.

This picture was taken on the 22nd October at 12:44 PM and is found at the National Museum of fine arts at Valletta.

This painting was done by Antonie Camilleri in the 1922-2005 period. This painting is made from resin on a panel and is called "The Internal Self Artist In front of a Mirror". This painting unlike the other drawing is not an illustration but it leaves the viewer in a sea of imagination since there is no specific information that can be viewed to think what the artist had on his mind whitest drawing it. There is a lot of contrast since there is only the use of one color which means its a monochrome. Hard lines and shapes are used instead of shading. The figure is not at all detailed and is quite dull and has no realistic effect and proportions here are not a factor since the figures head is not proportional to his body so the artist here shows that he just wanted the head to be the main focus. 

The flattened effect of the figure is shown so much that it looks as tho there is a profile and a front facing portrait since the roundness of the head is absent.


Task 2: Research on Art Movements

The Dada Movement

Dada or Dadaism was an art movement of the European Avant-grand in the early 20th century. It started in 1916 at Cabaret Voltaire and shortly after spread to Berlin.

At the Rendez-vous of Friends 1922

This painting was done by Max Ernst. It shows the members of the dada movement. Without notice your mind goes to dada wiliest viewing this image because of the puzzling nature of it were nothing makes sense you can't begin to comprehend why that type of background is there and why some of the figures have such a strange position. 

That is what dada is based on making a mockery on monumental works which was the only thing you could understand from such paintings and the movement wasn't even that long either it was ghost like and had a short period.

The artists in the painting claimed that dada was a wakeup call or as said an alarm to the art world to get it out of its deep slumber. And to make visual explanation Francis Picabia made this titled " The Dada Movement."

The Dada Movement ink on paper by Francis Picabia (1919) 

They made people look at things in another perspective which was part of their agenda which caused a lot of debate.

Fountain by Marcel Duchamp (1917)

This piece was a urinal flipped upside down. Contrivers spiked with art critics it was that type of art that you either like it but when you’re asked why you had no logical response or you hated it because of the lack of work and effort or the nonsense of it.

But works done by the dada artists were in an unusual sense called aesthetically pleasing which distorted there agenda in a way since there original aim was after all to be displeasing.

This shocked the art world it wasn’t timed nor was it planned nobody was expecting it and nobody knew the message that they were trying to pass on. Hugo Ball said “For us, art is not an end in itself…but an opportunity for the true perception and criticism of the times we live in”.

Impressionism



Before this movement occurred artists worked hard to create highly polished and lifelike paintings which had either historical or religious themes. 

This 19thCentury movement was started by Paris-Based artists which wanted to make a change in the art world which brought them to prominence in the 1870s and 1880s.

The most well known Impressionist painters were Claude Monet, Pierre Guillaumin and Frederic Bazille who worked together shared their ideas and exhibited their works independently. 

  Impression: Sunrise (1872)  by Claude Monet oil on canvas

This movement was mostly based on concentration on the general impression by the scene or object the artist is viewing and the other characteristic of impressionism is the use of unmixed primary colors and small strokes to make the illusion of actual reflected light.

As seen here Monet and his friends wanted to explore the change in nature and how natural light effects a scene. "Sunrise" is an early example of their studies were they studied the dawn light on misty air and water.

The Boulevard Montmartre at night by Camille Pissarro

This gorgeous depiction of Paris set in 1887 was painted by the french impressionist Camille Pissarro. This painting was done multiple times each in different times of day.

In this version it is shown on a dark, rainy light and is lit by artificial glowing line of street lamps which despite the lack of detail are clearly seen. The beauty of it is how the surface of the ground looks like its shimmering due to the light on the wet surface which without notice draws the eye to it.

The impressionists turned their attention to the city as well as the countryside as seen in the paintings above. It might sound common or nothing remarkably special now but at that time it was unusual for an artist to focus on scenes of everyday life. 

They made a lot of odd distinctions for that time another one was about photography they look at it that they can capture the moment in there own way and detail wasn't needed since there was photography.

Dada Sources:

Book (Modern Art) by Rosie Dickins

                    
Link : http://www.dadart.com/dadaism/dada/020-history-dada-movement.html by Peter Fleming in The Hamilton Spectator - January 28, 2015

Image: http://www.dadart.com/dada-media/Max-Ernst-At-rendez-vous-friends-1920-p.jpg
Image: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/francis-picabia-dada-movement-1919
Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_(Duchamp)#/media/File:Duchamp_Fountaine.jpg

Impressionism Sources:

Link : http://www.theartstory.org/movement-impressionism.htm by Robert.L.Herbert

Link : https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impressionism/ by Nicolas Pioch-19 June 2006

Image: http://english.cntv.cn/2014/09/21/VIDE1411230719262540.shtml
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Camille_Pissarro,_The_Boulevard_Montmartre_at_Night,_1897.jpg