Aaron Douglass Building Stately Mansions Analysis

In 1931, he used an earlier sketch of elevated tracks and skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan as the model for House and Street. Davis’ style suggests European influences, but his compositions are as distinctly American as jazz, with visual harmonies created from cacophonous patterns of bricks, checks, stripes, and polka dots. For Davis, words – from street signs to political advertisements – were an integral part of this chaotic, vibrant American landscape. The placard in House and Street that reads “SMITH” may allude to AL Smith’s failed 1928 presidential campaign, and “FRONT” is the name of a street. Yet “FRONT” could also describe the wall’s apparent position in “front” of the elevated tracks, or its flat, frontal orientation. Davis then set the right half of the composition at an angle, as if he were painting a scene from two perspectives simultaneously.” (Frames of Reference: Looking at American Art, 1900-1950. By Whitney Museum of American Art, Beth Venn, Adam D. Weinberg, Kennedy

In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, written by himself, the author argues that slaves are treated no better than, sometimes worse, than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by demonstrating how the slaves were forced to eat out of a trough like pigs and second, shows how hard they were working, like animals. The author’s purpose is to show the lifestyle of an American slave in order to appeal to people’s emotions to show people, from a slave’s perspective, what slavery is really like. Based on the harsh descriptions of his life, Douglass is writing to abolitionist and other people that would sympathize and abolish slavery.

Classical landscape by Charles Sheeler is an exterior oil on canvas of the Estate of Mrs. Edsel B. Ford, Grosse Pointe Farms (figure 1) filled with deep, hidden irony. It was painted in 1931, and is based on a watercolor study. It’s a calm, clean, and serene painting that takes your breath away. It’s depicting a place someone would want to be in, a place where things get done, and a place where one can go to achieve this idea of the American dream. Charles Sheeler used American industry as a major theme of his art, his work “lends itself to an analysis in terms of geometric forms” he examines his subject matter so closely in order to fully understand the composition, the effect, and the design he wants to depict. Sheeler painted the plant’s exterior as an idyll, a beautiful, picturesque scene of the industrial age booming; however, in reality the United States was in the middle of the worst years of the Great Depression. Therefore, this painting done in Sheeler’s hyper-realistic artistic style is not actually depicting what the factory actually looked like.

Frederick Douglass’s speech The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro and John C. Calhoun’s Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions have some similarities and differences in the argument about slavery and its destiny with America. They both talk about slavery but in different ways. Douglass argues against slavery addressing that the signers of the Declaration of Independance put the interests of a country above their own and urges his listeners to continue the work of these great men who brought freedom to this land. While Calhoun argues for slavery responding to anti slavery petitions sent to the Senate by abolitionist groups, and unlike most southern politicians, Calhoun thought white southerners needed to stop apologizing for

Slaves didn’t know their mothers or birthdays.  Assess the impact on their mental  well  being ?

Through the use of first person encounters, Frederick Douglass in his narrative “A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” argues that the key to freedom is claimed through education. He introduces this idea after his beginning steps in becoming educated and later reinforces it by providing extensive examples of his experience with; slave-masters, learning the alphabet, reading and writing, and the exposition of individual opinions in literature.

Douglass writes the appendix in a serious but sarcastic tone. He wants to point out the hypocrisy between religion and slave-owners. His intention is not to display a hatred toward religion but rather to show the lying that happened. A great example of this is “devils dressed in angels' robes, and hell presenting the semblance of paradise” (389). Douglass sarcastically jokes that the slave-owners are the devils and with the practice of religion “dress up in angels’ robes”, however at the end of the day it is all a fake façade.

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by himself, the author argues that justice for slaves was different for justice for whites. Douglass supports his claim by first, proving the severity of the treatment of the slaves and second the injustice for slaves. Douglass’s purpose is to eliminate slavery by proving that having slaves like this is completely wrong in order to make someone in authority change it. Based on the explicit detail of this narrative, Douglass was trying to create a sympathy for other people with power in order to make changes.

Art by its nature is a subject of the philosophical, social, economic, political or religious context surrounding its creator. More often than not, a work of art addresses a specific topic or somewhat revolves around a particular person. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the context of a piece of painting, either historical or cultural, to its intrinsic value or the artwork's meaning. On the other hand, different cultures and time utilized specific conventions that govern the representation of objects of creativity. This essay highlights various pieces of art and their relationship to particular cultural, political, economic, or social settings. Moreover, it pinpoints how different times influence art presentation.

absence of a personal history due to being enslaved. He begins by telling stories of his main home during his time as a slave: the Great House Farm. He focuses on the songs the slaves use to sing about the Great House Farm. While singing these songs, Douglass states about being “within the circle” (26). Frederick Douglass highlights his lack of a personal history history by stating that he was, at that time, “within the circle” (26) and further explains the implications and consequences of being apart of the circle: his goal to recognize the tension in the

In gothic literature, the architecture that inhabits a story can go a long way not only in establishing the mood, but also in establishing the story’s characters. In “The Fall of the House of Usher,” by Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1839, readers are introduced to a dreary house that is falling apart, while in another story by Poe published in this same year, “William Wilson,” readers are introduced to a school that, although not in disrepair, is labyrinthian and similarly dreary. Moreover, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, published in 1847, showcases a house, the size of which would normally reflect the wealth and high class of it’s owner, and yet the grounds are overgrown, indicating a lack of attention to maintenance while the house itself only features sparse furnishing. In all of these stories, the buildings that inhabit their pages are more than merely settings. Instead they are fragments of specific characters, representations of some form of wellness, while almost being characters in their own right. In “The Fall of the House of Usher” the house represents the physical wellness of both Roderick and Madeline Usher; whereas in “William Wilson” the school reflects the mental wellness of the lead character; and in Wuthering Heights, the titled building represents the emotional wellness of its owner.

The use of geometric shapes in this painting allows the subject to be viewed in both a recognizable and unrecognizable state at the same time. Overall, geometric shapes and patterns play an essential role in what the viewer sees, which is further supported by a powerful color palate.

A painting that portrays the sublime is Mercker’s Copper Mill at Duisburg on Rhine River (Türk, 2003, p. 266). The painting shows a large factory that is right on a river, and the machines present in the painting

When one considers the term “Art Nouveau,” what comes to mind most immediately is “images of a European-wide invasion [characterized] by the restless dynamism of organic form”(Silverman 1). For me it is usually the work of Alphonse Mucha– his mysterious women surrounded by the beauties of nature. Often my Art Nouveau fantasies take shape in the odd fungal-shaped stained-glass lamps of Tiffany. Or sometimes they surface as the romantic Parisian posters I’ve seen at Pier One, advertising champagne or cats noir or bicycles or the like. But no matter what ones notion may be of what Art Nouveau looks like, there is a feeling that accompanies it that is at the heart of the style’s appeal. It is difficult to define or describe what

Centered in the house is a ramp that takes you on a journey from the underbelly of the house on the ground floor to the main body on the first floor and then on to a roof garden. Throughout the house views of the surrounding nature are framed, your mind is free marvel, as the forms evoke a sense of exploration and delight. Villa Savoye is better experienced than viewed through an image, only then can you understand the greater meaning and purpose that informs its beauty. One might argue that this is not beautiful architecture and a poor example, however upon visiting this house you cannot deny that the house is beautiful in its own right, evoking a response from the occupant. Le Corbusier’s masterpiece is moving; therefore achieving what he believed architecture to be about. This experience and the emotion that is felt can only be described in words. Shapes play a big role in the architecture but clearly the meanings behind are more important.