Art Appreciation Examples

the human eye. Visualize having the ability to completely free your imagination, letting your thoughts and desires wander to form exotic scenes or locations. These unfamiliar worlds lay deep inside of the brain as subconscious thoughts, usually undetected by the person with them in his or her possession. With the help of the intriguing art movement known as Surrealism, however, these subconscious thoughts are finally able to be brought to fruition. Surrealism is a unique style of art that originated in France with the help of brilliant writer André Breton (Chilvers 599). He defined surrealism and its principles as a “purely psychic automatism through which we undertake to express, in words, writing, or any other activity, the actual functioning of thought… Surrealism rests upon belief in the higher reality of specific forms of associations, previously neglected, in the omnipotence of dreams, and in the disinterested play of thinking” (Chilvers 599). He also strongly emphasized that its purpose was “to resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality” (Chilvers 599). Surrealism is a 20th century style of painting which rebels against traditional notions of art. In order to understand this genre, it is necessary to examine the movement’s characteristics, representative

In the 19th century, there was an artistic transition from realism to a new form called impressionism. This change originated in France, as the world underwent a transition to industrialization. The impressionist was able to understand how light and color operate hand in hand in a painting. Instead of seeing an image as a whole work, impressionist would see smaller images making up the entire piece. The style was primarily made of the use of intense colors, open composition, light and movement and brush strokes. They were mainly

Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South and Madonna Enthroned are very similar images that were produced by very different cultures. Both images were produced during the 13th Century. The image of Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South was produced in Tibet during an interesting period of the country’s religious history. The branch of Tibetan Buddhism is led by a religious and sometimes political leader called the Dalai Lama. It was during the 13th Century during the reign of Kublai Khan, around the time of the production of this painting, that Tibet experienced the first incarnation of the Dalai Lama. One has to wonder if this painting is somehow related to that occurrence. According to

Impressionism can be considered the first distinctly modern movement in painting. Developing in Paris in the 1860s, its influence spread throughout Europe and eventually the United States. Impressionism was a style of representational art that did not necessarily rely on realistic depictions. The Impressionists loosened their brushwork and lightened their palettes to include pure, intense colors.

Surrealism was one of the most influential artistic movements of the 20th Century. André Breton consolidated Surrealism as a movement in the early 1920s, trying to achieve the “total liberation of the mind and of all that resembles it[1]” through innovative and varied ideas. Surrealism deeply influenced the world in the era between the two world wars and played a big role in the diffusion and adoption of psychology worldwide. Surrealism faded after World War II, but its revolutionary genius has influenced every artistic movement ever since.

These changes sculpted people to be less formal than they were. Surrealism was a major part of art in the 1920s. People used surrealism to express their selves. Salvador Dali is a major surreal artist and is mostly known for his painting The Persistence of Memory. Artists used their work to show their ideas.

Andre Breton founded the Surrealist movement in 1924 with his Manifesto of Surrealism which argued that art can benefit from an understanding of the Freudian dreamscape. His definitions of Surrealism were, “Dictionary: Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation. Encyclopedia: Surrealism. Philosophy. Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dream, in the disinterested play of thought. It tends to ruin once and for all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in solving all the principal problems of life” (Breton, 1924).

Art has evolved and regenerated itself many times during our human existence. These differences are defined through changes in styles under various theories. During the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a style known as Expressionism became popular. During this movement the artists were trying to use their artwork as a tool of expression toward life. It was mainly dominant in the nonrepresentational arts, such as abstract visual arts and music. It also was probably one of the most difficult movements to understand because the whole point of the piece lay within the artist. Not only was it a movement, it defined the act of art as a whole. From the beginning of time, each work of art, excluding replicas, show a way of expressing

During the twenty years after World War One, three major art movements appeared: dadaism, functionalism, and surrealism. Dadaism, a movement which conveyed erratic and random movements that were supposed to contradict human behavior, was a response to the anxiety of those who didn’t know how to react because of all of the strange and despairing behavior in the world. Because of these conveyed ideas, dadaism promoted outrageous and random behavior. Functionalism, a movement which tried to explore the functions and purpose of things and nature, was an attempt to find the purpose of humans in the dark times following the war. Surrealism, a movement which painted wild dreams and complex symbols, tried to spread the idea of hope from the current scary world. Through surrealism, imagination and hope was brought out through paintings that featured crazy illusions and impossible dreams. Overall, these artistic movements tried to answer and embody the general sense of anxiety felt by

The first “Manifesto of Surrealism” was published in 1924 succeeding dadaism, an art movement of the European avant-garde often regarded as the movement that brought forth postmodern art. At the time of its publication, Europe was still reeling from World War I and art was very much political. Breton and other surrealists wanted to break free from the conventional art if the times and express the imagination as revealed in dreams. Thus, the “Manifesto of Surrealism” came about in which Breton discussed the importance of merging dream and reality.

American fashion designer Tom Ford once said that, "...these are surreal times we're living in…”, referencing the forward thinking and fast paced world of modern art in all of its forms. Surrealism was a cultural movement beginning in the early 1920’s that was known primarily for its visual artworks. The aim of surrealism was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality" and tap into the unconscious mind. Surrealist artists sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Their emphasis on the power of personal imagination puts them in similar categories of true romantics, but unlike their romantic predecessors, they believed that inspiration could be found on the street in everyday

The Mona Lisa, 1503 - 1506, painted on poplar wood (77 x 53cm) with oil paint.

As stated earlier impressionism is a style of art characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors to represent the effect of light on objects. Impressionism was launched in 1874 when Claude Monet painted Impression, Sunrise. Claude was considered the leader of impressionism because of this painting. When he painted this painting everything seemed to change. He changed the movement by using loose brushwork which was sketch like giving the painting an unfinished look. Impressionism was also different because it focused on capturing modern lifestyles. Artists most commonly painted: suburban lifestyles, landscapes, railways, and trains.

‘The Louvre’ is the museum I researched, and ‘Virgin of the Rocks’ is the painting I decided to choose. The Louvre Museum is the largest in the world, and is situated in Paris, France. Around 35,000 objects are exhibited over an area of around 40 square miles. The Louvre is also the second most visited museum in the world, trailing only the Palace Museum in China. The louvre has more than 9 million visitors annually. (Louvre, 2016)

one of the most popular types of art in the later 19th and the 20th