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Applying a Reading on a Piece of Art
Expressionism: Art reaction
This painting The Dance of Life, by Edvard Munch (1899-1900) portrays a group of dancers depicted as swirls of color. The central couple is flanked by a cheerful woman in white, and a dour woman in black. The impression created by this flanking is almost symbolic in nature, as if two spirits are haunting the celebration in the painting. The central image is of a couple, in the embrace of a dance amongst other dancers. The male figure is depicted in dark round curves of color, almost like the female figure. This suggests motion, or perhaps the feminization of the man in love, given that this lower half is just as voluptuous as that of his partner's.
The couple depicted in the center of the painting does not seem to be getting married, given that the woman is dressed in red. It is possible to construct several scenarios that would explain the presence of the women...
Perhaps the angry woman is a spurned lover? Perhaps the approving woman is the mother of the young woman? There is a 'specialness' conveyed in the presence of the couple because of its central location in the middle of the frame. The fact that the other female dancers whirling around them are dressed in white further conveys the couple's 'specialness.'
Despite the fact that the central woman is in red, however, there is still a distinct character to every other pair of dancers. For example, the dancing couple to the right of the viewer shows a large male nuzzling the nape of his female partner with eagerness. His face is quite distinct, his mouth is open, yet her hair and body are merely whips of brushstrokes. The fact that the male is overpowering the female is conveyed with the quality of the paint, rather than in a literal manner. Instead of translating a photographic reality, the impression of a lascivious…
Art Culture: Public Space Art Public art like that of Koon's Train (2011), Serra's Tilted Arc (1981), Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1981), and James' Sea Flower (1978), ignite discussion to the point of its modification, re-arrangement, or removal. The reason for this controversial treatment of public art is its ability to embrace a variety of aesthetic practices. The adoption of different aesthetic values like poster art, outdoor sculpture, earthworks, multimedia projections,
This work of art depicts a struggle between two ancestors, the Bungalung man and a Tingari man, the latter of whom was trespassing on sacred land (No author). The copious quantity of dots, particularly the white ones, evinces the full force of the elements invoked by the Bungalung Man to beat his opponent into submission. The power of the Bungalung man is evinced by the fact that he leaves
Applying a Reading on a Piece of Art Response: The Night Cafe, Vincent Van Gough "Two influences work on us, an outer one and one from within us" (Bahr 117). This idea that Expressionism in art is a depiction of the artist's inner reality as much as an exterior reality is manifest even in the post-Impressionist work of Vincent Van Gough entitled The Night Cafe. The swirls of color portraying the hazy
Art and Architecture Architecture and Art In a recent visit to Chicago, I observed the Chicago Picasso which was a gift to the city by the famed artist Pablo Picasso. Located in the downtown Chicago loop, the monument stands 58 feet tall, weighs 162 tons and is constructed of Cor-Ten (corrosive tensile) steel. Pablo Picasso gave this massive work of art to the city of Chicago, even though he'd never been to
Laid on its side, Rauschenberg's "Bed" contains the same visual and tangible objects as a real bed. "Bed" seems like more than a representation of a bed; it could just as well be one especially given the use of actual bedding. The expansion of the visual plane and the reworking of the canvas paralleled expansions of consciousness. Those transformations in consciousness and their impact on the art world were a
The dress is refined, but oversized and ill-fitting as befits a young boy. Here too, an Americanism is no doubt being added. Rather than make Henry Pelham appear too formal, as the scion of some great house in a European portrait, Copley reminds us that his subject is quite young and probably wearing hand-me-downs, or else some cost-saving garment into which he will eventually grow. It is a budding