Abstract Art Analysis

Though, throughout this time period, “the great majority of Americans disliked or even despised modern art,” it was an essential art movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and the “CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the world for more than 20 years,” creating a meaningful impact on the outcome of the Cold War (Saunders). “Abstract Expressionism stood for, above all else,

Art is able to transport its viewer through time and connect us as a community. Audiences are able to infer the content and context of the artwork. Art displayed through different mediums and about different topics can share many similarities and draw connections between one another. Exodus, created by Shelby Lechman (2015), uses oil paint on canvas to depict a young boy and father in a train car, leaving their home in Hungary during the time of the Hungarian Revolution (fig.1). Back into the Earth: Creation and the Interpretation of Meaning, created by Tamara Himmelspach (2015) is a series of 11 prints and a physical dress displaying the designer in a jingle dress representing the traditions of the Ojibwa culture

America finally had the war behind it. The country was booming and the majority had a carefree attitude. People were accustom to their lives and were not prepared for what was about to happen in 1929. The new decade would be a time of great change for everyone – art included. The 1920’s would bring a rollercoaster of events to America.

In the contemplation of art, or rather the conceptually intangible definition it currently possess, it is imperative to be mindful that “art” has been utilized as a promotional device, ceremonial item, aesthetically purposed article or perhaps none of these or all. It is because of this vague term that Carolyn Dean, in her text, “The Trouble with (The Term) Art”, makes a case for the consequences of applying the term “art” in societies that lacked such a notion which also accounts for the Western-centric lens the field intrinsically utilizes when viewing non-Western art. The claim is deftly supported by the utilization of expert accounts in the subject, alternative perspectives for what is considered the current norm, and self-examining questions,

The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh is consistent of his typical artwork. He uses the lines free and loose making it an expression of his contour lines. The spacing between the stars and the curving contours making it a dot to dot effect. Van Gogh’s, The Starry Night” portrays his personal emotion. He writes to his brother about his painting almost as if he would be confused himself about the painting. The village is dark but at the same time it is peaceful compared to the dramatic sky life. In Sol Le Witts, Wall Drawing it uses an ordered form and symmetrical form called classical lines. The line Sol Le Witts uses is considered a connection between two separate points. Although

(2005). In D. Bjelajac, American Art: A Cultural History (pp. 37-129). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Kehinde Wiley is a New York based artist whose paintings focus on the themes of empowering black men and combining classical and contemporary styles.

The first work of art, illustrated by Kehinde Wiley, appears to give a realistic feel to the audience. As the painting of the man, the horse, and the sword appears as neither abstract, nor nonobjective. I can see that the painting is oil on canvas. In the background of his painting, it is dark red at the top, and pink towards the middle of the background, with a shade of white just above the neutral scheme of different brown shades representing the muddy ground. The white in the background probably represents the horizon. If you zoom in very, very closely, you can see what looks like a military cannon towards the right side of the painting, emphasizing the environment of a battle soldier. The horse is painted neutrally as well, white,

The art work that I have chosen for this formal analysis of an art work is the Painter of Paestum’s piece titled “Red-figure lebes gamikos (marriage vessel) it was made with terracotta red clay. This piece was made between 340-330 B.C. It is approximately 10 inches in height. The present location of this art piece is at The San Antonio Museum of Art in the Greek Late Classical section. The collection is a permanent collection from Gilbert M. and Denman, Jr. whose funds were used to purchase the vessel.” (“San Antonio Museum of Art Wall Text”). These marriage vessels are frequently shown in marriage scenes on Greek vases. This marriage vessel could have been given as a wedding gift or used to contain water for the bride’s bath before the wedding ceremony. Also, it could have been placed by the bride’s door and was possibly used in a ritual of sprinkling the bride with water before the wedding ceremony.

Examining the formal qualities of Homer Watson’s painting Horse and Rider In A Landscape was quite interesting. I chose to analyze this piece as apposed to the others because it was the piece I liked the least, therefore making me analyze it more closely and discover other aspects of the work, besides aesthetics.

Raymond Pettibon art work, Untitled (The bright flatness), on page 535 fig 25-35 shows a tiny surfer in an enormous wave in a California landscape. The subject matter is a large wave that a surfer is riding. The content of the artwork could be how people are a small compared to the big world we live in. I think this piece of art was painted on with watercolor and a type of paper. These lines in the artwork is very loose and free. These lines in the artwork reminds me of Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night lines in his artwork which are loose ,but the viewer can tell what the meaning of the picture is. In the artwork Untitled (The bright flatness) colors mostly used were the primary colors blue and red. The surfer is red and the waves of the ocean is blue. The wave color could be a local color that the viewers know the ocean color is blue. The blue color has different tints from dark blue to light blue. The wave in the art is three dimensional it represents the wave as if it was being seen in an ocean. In the picture, there is a highlight where the ocean has lighter white spots throughout the wave. Another highlight would be

The two works of art that I have chosen to analyze are 1) Jordan Casteel. Miles and JoJo. 2014. Oil on canvas, 54” x 72” and 2) Aaron Fowler. He Was. 2015. Mixed media, 134” x 165” x 108”. The themes that these works of art represent in regards to the exhibit are love, family, and pain. However, they also fall into other thematic categories. The main theme that seems to apply to both “Miles and JoJo” and “He Was” is Human Experience. Additionally, these arts differ in some ways.

Shepard Fairey’s piece titled Pay Up or Shut Up is a representation of the role that money or your role in society dictate the power of your speech. This piece of art by Fairey was released in May of 2015. It is a screen print on cream speckletone paper.

The work I have selected to look closely at is Parson Weems’ Fable “Grant Wood” created by Mason Locke Weems or sometimes referred to as Parson Weems. He created this painting in 1939 to tell the story of young George Washington and his inability to lie. The medium of this painting is oil on canvas and is currently in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas. The painting has a width of 127.3 cm by a height of 97.5 cm. This painting has main components that grab the attention of who is looking at it. In the painting, older George Washington is outside the frame showing what happened during the incident between young George Washington and his father. This painting created a fable that would later be known as the reason why

felt that the frame of mind of the artist when he creates a work of