This
quarter there were a few artistic periods I really enjoy. At the beginning of
Avant-Garde, the realism art I found fascinating. And the modern art I also
found very interesting. There are also some key characteristic that seem to tie
these two periods together. And its change, and artistic rebellion.
The
realism piece I found most interesting, and most memorable is The Stone Breakers by Courbet. I absolutely loved the look of his paintings, and the meaning and messages that
came from his paintings. In this particular piece, as we talked about before, has
a lot of political radicalism. With emphasizing the poor, and lower-class and
making them the main subject matter in a very large painting, they take up most
of the canvas, are not looking at the viewer. I think paintings that are
radical, and oppose the common beliefs at the time are very interesting. And
with Courbet’s fine tuning to detail on these men and their surroundings- it
really makes a spectacular piece. You can also see in this painting that the
Courbet is slightly disinterested with perspective and depth and concentrating
more on the men and the message being sent. The painting has a really flat
feeling to it, especially in the background. But like I said before, the men’s
clothes are very detailed, and look very realistic.
I also
really like The Gleaners by Millet,
much for the same reasons above. The main subject matter is of the lower class
people, who at the time, were not fit to be the center of art, where made the center
of art. This painting also has some
similar traits to The Stone Breakers.
None of the women are looking up, but they themselves have great detail in
clothing and stance. And the background is not super clear, obviously not the
main focus of the painting.
The
second artistic period was the modern art period. I really enjoyed the different
paths art was taking and the different questions that were being aroused at the
time. What is art? Being the most interesting question personally. But the
piece that I found most interesting was Fountain
by Duchamp. This has been mentioned many times in class, but I found his view on
art, or his portrayal of art very interesting, and I admire the steps he
brought to art. I really like this piece because it caused so much controversy
and there had never really been art like it before.
Over
all, I like art that is changing something, and causing confusion and controversy.
Although I do not think everyone’s art should do that, I think art is a very
important tool when used wisely to expose problems and encourage change. And all three of the pieces I mentioned above did that.