Art Analysis: The Gleaners By Jean-Francois Millet

The two artworks I chose to use for my essay are the Merode Altarpiece by Robert Campin, and The Deposition by Rogier van der Weyden. Both paintings are from the Early Renaissance, and I found both of them in my textbook. (Campin painting: page 307 and Weyden painting: page 311 in book “ART: A Brief History”)

In the painting we see two people. We see the farmer holding a hayfork and beside him is a woman. The woman is most likely his daughter. The couple stands in front of a house styled by the “Carpenter Gothic” era. The sun is shining but the couple don’t look like they appreciate the weather or “something else”. They both look very stretched in their faces. The man has a long head and his mouth is like a parenthesis on the wrong side. The woman on the other hand doesn’t look straight at us but instead look to the right. She avoids us and therefore it becomes hard to figure out her thoughts. But judging by her facial expression she is sad and appears limp.

The Eviction is a painting by Jacob Lawrence made in the year 1935. Jacob Lawrence was one of the leading figurative painters of the twentieth century. He was an African-American painter who was famous for his paintings about the African-American life. Lawrence spent most of his childhood in Harlem in the years of Great Depression. This inspired him with a theme that he used mostly throughout his career. Lawrence was inspired by the artistic and cultural energy that fueled the Harlem Renaissance. He studied visual arts at a very early stage and created The Eviction when he was only seventeen years old in the year 1935. His painting, The Eviction, displays a common Harlem incident. The painting portrays a black family which consists four individuals is being forcefully evicted out of their house by a white authoritative figure who is most likely the landlord. The painting shows how all the things that was owned by the family is being thrown out on the street and the

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,

All the elements in the painting implies the trouble of the depression and the drought stark the farmers very hard. The painting depicts the abundant farm due to the drought that was symbolized by the sands, the extra skinny cow is about to die from thirst,

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,

Jean-Francois Millet arranges the farm as the main scene of background, and aims at three women gleaners being bent to pick up ears of wheat. Through the observation of the painting, we can see three peasant women occupy in the center of the screen, each bending with different angles, while their eyes all raking down to the ground. To contrast with the distant crowd, they wear coarse clothes and clunky wooden shoes, having robust statures. It is not appropriate to say that they

The artwork was created on 1887 during the Realist time period. Knight was known for his realistic portraits and landscaping in his paintings. In the painting the main subject of matter is the lower class family working in the fields and are about to have their daily noon meal. There are quite a few things happening in the painting, such as the main and woman in the back that are probably trying to fit all the potatoes they have collected into the bad, and also a woman cooking from a pot around the fire, while there is still a child still picking potatoes also. The image depicts a very realistic scene during the day, and the landscaping is very spot on also. The painting has a very good balance of colors worked into, ranging from brown to green. The landscaping is very well drawn from up close and even from distance and up to the skies and clouds. I found this painting to be very similar to The Gleaners by Jean-Francois Millet, as they both share the same medium and are both very good representation of realism. In the painting by Millet, it also depict the lower class working out in the field and a very well painted landscaping too. Both paintings give off the same feeling of sympathy towards the lower class in rural

It is called Plowing in the Nivernais by Rosa Bonheur. Rosa was born March 16th, 1822 and died May 25th, 1899. She established herself as the leading animal painter, linked with landscape painting and the realist tradition of art. This type of paintings is an oil on canvas. This painting was painted in 1849 and is located in Musee d’Orsay, Paris. The idea of the painting is to respond to the French Revolution. This painting shows the common wealth life style for an ordinary French peasant. The agriculture shows how farmers had to live to make a living back then. It stills happens today cause farmers are struggling with their farming system. Plowing in the Nivernais can show change for many

There is a sense of simplicity that even in their poverty there seems to be something good about them. In the painting there is a cat, and a dog. There is also a person that looks like it would be the son playing an instrument. The color palette is mainly brown, beige and grey and uses those colors to show light coming through. The right side of one of the females shows half of her face that looks light and the other half is dark that seems to blend in with the background. Simplicity is shown in their social class. It can also be seen in the food that is being presented which just a loaf of bread, and salt. This tells us the culture of the time period during this time, which was the simplest life. When I saw this painting I had a great deal of empathy for them. They had so little compared to the other family. One family had bronze while the other family had

The piece that I am analyzing is an untitled work of pin striping on aluminum by two local artists, ModKustoms and Tanner Leaser, who signs his pieces simply as “Tanner”. As with most artists in this genre neither goes by their real or whole name. ModKustoms created the textured aluminum panel that Tanner used as his form to display his pin stripping. This piece was created in 2014 for a charity art auction benefitting the Scottish Rite Hospital (ModKustoms). The piece is a two-dimensional, rectangular work of art meant to hang vertically on a wall. This piece was created using aluminum, translucent candied enamel paint, and 1-one shot lettering enamel (Tanner).

“Remembrance” by Annette Kuhn is basically about Annette examining a six-year-old version of herself. In the picture, to someone else, would just show a six year old with a budgerigar, but to Annette there is so much more. She pays attention to detail and the surroundings in the background. She talks about how she feels about photographs and what they mean to her. Then she begins to go into detail about the content of the infamous photograph. Annette recalls when and from whom she got the bird, Greeny, from; as well as what she was wearing and where she was when that photo was taken. Continuing she explains the inscription on the back of the photo, trying to figure out the meaning of the difference between her caption and her mothers. She then

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.

The outdoor mural on the east facing side of the WMCAT building is a breathtaking mosaic called The Metaphorest Project, created by Tracy VanDuinen. This larger than life size vista was an Artprize entry in 2011, and took 2nd place in the competition. This set the standard for not only large-scale public art within Grand Rapids MI, but also the most exhilarating. The scene is an impressive mixture of 2-D and 3-D design, the foreground being mostly of relief sculpture and multi-media mosaic; the background painted. The Metaphorest Project depicts the importance of creation, perception, and the imagination when trying to create a better world for yourself and future generations.

The idea of this piece is to show the connection between mother and daughter being painted. It shows the time and the classic style of the