A Woman Embroidering A Dragon Analysis

In the article “Conditions of Trade,” Michael Baxandall explains that fifteenth-century Italian art is a “deposit” resulting from the commercial interaction between the artist and the purchaser, who he refers to as a client. These works, as such, are “fossils of economic life,” and money, and they play an important role in the history of art. In our current perception of the relationship between the artist and art, “painters paint what they think is best, and then look around for a buyer” . However in the past, especially during the Renaissance period, the customers determined the content and form of paintings, as it was them who commissioned the work before it was created. He states that the artists and clients were interconnected and

Working in studios is the key to promoting and selling their successful works of art.

6.Portrait paintings have primarily memorialized the rich and powerful. Over time, however, it became more common for middle-class patrons to commission portraits of their families and colleagues. Today portrait paintings are still commissioned by governments, corporations, groups, clubs, and individuals. In addition to painting, portraits can

Baxandall describes the fifteenth century as a century where clients would order what they needed instead of purchasing the already made products (Michael 2). He continues to describe how this affected the production of painting. The less known or recognized artist would have to produce readymade arts in order to attract clients. However, the already established artists would wait for clients to make the specific orders that they required. Baxandall argues that the production of painting was hence influenced by the clients

The painting style of the handscroll is called otoko-e, or “men’s picture”. In contrast, there is another style called onna-e, or “women’s picture”. The characteristics of otoko-e are active movements, plenty outdoor scenes and a certain feeling of lacking restraint. In this handscroll, the movements of people are exaggerated. For example, in figure 1, everyone is chasing the storehouse. Their bodies are almost parallel to the ground. Seems like, in the next second, they will either ran really fast or fall down. Meanwhile, the painting included numerous outdoor scenes and only a few of them have some indoor depiction. In Figure 2, although it is a scene of the rich man’s house, most area of the painting was occupied by the yard of the house, only a little bit indoor environment is included in this picture. It seems like the painter tried his best to avoid indoor description. Moreover, based on the people’s movement, description of nature, and application of random curve, the whole scroll has a naturalistic and free

The painted vessels attended an auxiliary significant role as social currency within the domain of élite gift exchange. Many of these vessels finally ended in interment as part of the funerary offerings.

Hokusai knows such series of scene in different view of the same place at different time and season which it’s interesting to find these dimensions of reality in a painting. The most famous painting from Hokusai is the great wave (9.7) given well linear perspective and foreshortening, reflect influenced by the west. Giving the wave a naturalism movement and rhythmic power of swelling wave, even its flat, that gave it some effect. Hokusai the horsetail gatherer (9.8) is another great art piece from woodblock painting. Setting the atmosphere of stillness from the bird view. Putting a scene set for an emotion, where a man is looking for his child in the wood and mountain as the setting described it. from the setting of the scene, as looking at it, the moon is behind the tree from distant, as the light to the man way. Sharp contrast wave of the stream and the smooth clear as glass water which the duck is set on in peaceful. You can see there is a moment in this that hokusai made to tell a narrative in one scene, like others art piece from other artist had made from theirs (9.9)

The visitors shown in the painting appear to be wearing masks and are unable to be identified. The painting seems to have more focus on the masked visitors instead of the daughters because the visitors are actually in the visiting room while the daughters are hiding behind the windows looking at the visiting room. This creates depth using foreground and background in the painting and therefore makes the painting more spacious and interesting for the viewers. Meanwhile, Longhi has well created a colorful Venetian style painting using red, green, and white colors. The use of these three vivid colors create an appealing and noticeable visual effect.

In Rococo time, work of arts were locked to high class people who were the 10 percent of the total population and had 90 percent of total wealth. Artists performed their orders to make the aristocrat customer happy. The portrait of Louis XIV, the Swing, Pilgrimage to Cythera all are the sign of those days’ reflection-- aristocratic taste and the symbol of their lavish lifestyle. It seemed the heaven has come to the earth and these high-class people are only the inhabitants of the heaven like the divine Gods and Goddesses. In contrast the largest population were charged extra

Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai helped expose the Western world to Japanese customs and beliefs. His crucial impact on culture and art can be attributed to his notable and familiar depictions of Japan’s geography, architecture, and people that surrounded him. Hokusai’s unique blend of traditional Japanese methods and Western mediums made his work a source of inspiration for many European artists during the Impressionism era such as Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas.

Continuing the discussion in my last paragraph, I now focus specifically on another one of the three criteria developed earlier using Hill’s ideas– the rarity of a work. Based on the fundamental laws of supply and demand, the rarity of certain works can drive their prices up, which in turn allows them to function as “trophies” boosting the prestige of their collectors (Hill 7). If one accepts this reasoning as true, collectors viewing fine art as an investment, of which there are several, have a significant stake in making their collections seem like mystic objects (if only to increase the market value of their own works), and one can understand why such collectors would covet rare Renaissance art instead of more easily duplicable advertisements. Stated slightly differently, we categorize certain works as fine art and see advertisements as relatively undistinguished not because one has elements of commercialism and the other does not, but rather because the commercialism present in each panders to different audiences. Advertising, which needs mass distribution in order to work effectively, requires its creators to refer to a product (and thus commercialism) quite blatantly. Art dealers, on the other hand, may refer more frequently to a work’s “historical significance” and rarity, using these attributes as subtle reasons explaining why certain works are valued so highly. Expanding on this idea, I speculate (albeit without proof) that if an art dealer focused solely on price and not on historical factors, people would likely realize that the artworks they were buying were not actually that special; after all, some consumers might reason that anyone with enough money could

Ukiyo-e significantly influenced contemporary Japanese prints (kindai hanga). Such an impact can be directly observed when comparing the Nakamura Utaemon as Tonase contemporary print (1984) by Tsuruya Kokei with Toshusai Sharaku’s Segawa Tomisaburo as Yadorigi ukiyo-e (1794-1795). Both of these prints can be categorized as okubi-e, which are Japanese woodblock prints that feature up-close portraits of their subjects by concentrating on the face and upper torso. They also depict a famous kabuki actor as the character that he is well known for playing. Other than having a similar subject matter and an identical portrayal of it, the simple, plain background, bright colors, and sense of flatness generally found in ukiyo-e are employed in Kokei’s

The reading mentioned that many paintings that attained such popularity and meaning were not things that had been painted and then sold to a buyer. They were created by the painter to meet the requests of their client. Artist were commissioned to do public paintings or paint churches were the ones who gained most fame. But they did not just start painting these paintings because they wanted to go out and paint on the side of a chapel, they did it because they were paid to do and entered into a legal contract sometimes. In today's market, a lot of artists do it the opposite. They create pieces from self expression and then put these pieces out in the market and buyers find them. In the reading and video game, art patrons would seek out artist to carry out a vision or specific message that they wanted to make known through art. Where in today's world artists create art for themselves as a way to display the messages they

Kenzan learned pottery from famous Nonomura Ninsei who established “Kyo-yaki”, Kyoto Pottery, in mid 17th century. Kenzan opened his kiln when he was 37 years old in 1699 in Narutaki, Kyoto where he created many artistic ceramics “Kenzan-yaki”. His brother, Korin, often collaborated Kenzan on decoration of pottery and created innovative artworks together (Wilson).

Fish also play a large role in the celebrations. The word for fish, “Yu” sounds like the words both for and abundance. The fish is usually served whole, with head and tail, which mean having a good beginning and ending for the coming year. These round dumplings which is called JiaoZi signify family reunion. Its shape look like a bag the has many gold coins inside. This dish is called Lion’s Head Meatball. They are cooked with oversized meatballs and some vegetable soup. The lion represents power and strength in Chinese culture, while the oversized meatballs symbolize family reunion. Duck symbolizes fidelity in chinese culture. Also, sweet and sour pork is popular with families hoping for a lot of grandchildren because the Cantonese word for “sour” sounds like the word for grandchild. Cakes have a special place in Chinese New year celebrations. Chinese people called them NianGow. NianGow is made up of rice flour, wheat starch, water and sugar. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich and sweet life. The family will then end the night with firecrackers.