Johannes Vermeer

Beginning with Vermeer’s painting called View of Delft, done in 1661, this painting done in oil paints shows a landscape scene from a port. The painting takes place in Vermeer’s hometown of Delft in the Netherlands and depicts a scene from his daily life. One of the first things that the author points out about

Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's Art through the Ages: A Global History, Fourteenth Edition, Volume II.

In this selection of the book, Gitlin discusses a seventeenth-century Dutch painter by the name of Vermeer. Vermeer was known for being able to”fr[ee]ze instants, but instants that spoke of the relative constancy of the world in which his subjects lived” (Gitlin 558). People collected Vermeer’s paintings for display throughout their homes. Gitlin sees Vermeer as the seventeenth-century version of the media. In that time, the images painted were relative to the people’s era and private world. In today’s world Vermeer would be the equivalent to a celebrity photographer or movie director. If Vermeer, or any other artist of his time, were to see today’s households, they would find that the once private space inside the home is now much more dominated by images of the outside world than what would have been possible in the 1600’s.

The Netherlands in the Seventeenth Century was the home of many famous artists, most notably Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, but also many lesser known artists such as Pieter Claesz.. Pieter Claesz was born in 1597 in Berchem (near Antwerp) Claesz moved to Haarlem in 1620 and lived there till his death in 1660. He is most associated with the Flemish and Dutch still life tradition and still lifes make up a vast majority of his work. His 1628 painting Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill is a prime example of the Still Life style called Vanitas, so named as the artist would attempt to display the vanity of materialism.

During the late 1750’s visual art began to take its place in the colonial world with the birth of “Several outstanding artists” and their talent with portrait painting and

-In the 1700’s a new middle class emerged. Mass print became a thing as well. Every day people started to purchase art works to display in their homes. It was a way for them to express their status and national patriotism. The diversity in patrons had a great impact on the arts of the 15th – 18th centuries. With new patrons and the demand for art work, artists were able to capture more than just religious scenes. They were able to create landscapes and everyday life in their work. Artists were commissioned by the new middle class to create art work that they were able to hang in their houses. For instance, artist Joseph Wright of Derby’s painting “A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrey (1765).”

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most infamous and influential artists of all time. When I saw that Van Gogh’s painting “Olive Trees With Yellow Sky and Sun” was on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, I knew I had to choose it for this paper. Before doing the research for this assignment, I didn’t know much about Vincent Van Gogh, but the fact that pretty much everyone knows his name and recognizes him as a huge part of art history, it made me naturally really curious about him.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview about my experience attending the Philadelphia Art Museum on March 15, 2013. The museum is Located in Philadelphia, PA and the exhibition that caught my attention was Journeys to New Worlds it explores the artistic exchanges between Spain and Portugal and their colonies in the Americas and Asia during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. (The Philadelphia Museum of Art, p. Philadelphia Art Museum).

Affected by broad social and cultural change, the way art was sold and displayed. In this case, the work Portrait of Dr. Gachet gained fame under the interaction of a series of collectors, critics and curators. But what I hadn’t expected before reading Saltzman’s book was the truth that initially van Gogh was famous by his mysterious life and

A great artist once wrote, “If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced”. This artist was Vincent van Gogh, soon to be an appraised artist known all around the world for his works, such as Starry Night. He is one of the very first artists of the post-impressionist style than is now adored in every continent. However, there is much more to the man than one painting. Creating a full timeline that stretches beyond Gogh’s life, this paper will discuss the life of Vincent van Gogh and the impression he made on the world.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a successful man in more areas than artwork. From the time he was a boy, he began studying the arts as well as the ideas of science, medicine, machinery, and much more. Da Vinci’s history is reflected in his paintings and inventions that have been able to change the world of then and now. Leonardo’s artistic vision led him down a prosperous path of life that has made him one of the most innovative individuals the world has seen. With the help of a lot of childhood exposure to the arts, along with the natural creativity born inside of him, Leonardo Da Vinci changed the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries through his work.

During the 17th century, especially after their break from Spain, The United Provinces of the Netherlands became the most prosperous nation in Europe by leading the world in trade, science, and art. Through the huge and one of the first art markets, art became a common household possession and allowed artists to freely express themselves, which is one of the evidential factors in three of the most universally admired artists of the baroque art era. Rubens, an influential Flemish artist of the Italian baroque scene, focused more on the works of the counter-reformation while the masters of the Dutch baroque art, such as Rembrandt, were in the heart of the protestant Dutch Republic. These three artists share similar artistic styles but yet have extremely evident differences and influences. The artists’ work also have a great portrayal of the historical and social impacts of the 17th century.

Portrait painting thrived in the Netherlands with the increase in production driven by interest in the idea of personhood and the definition of the individual self. Portraits help document the development of a personal identity as it connects factors like marital status, class, and profession. A common portrait genre produced during the seventeenth century portrays their subjects with an impassive demeanor with little vigor. At first, these paintings may be evaluated as lacking “personality” or “characterization” due to the artist’s lack of talent. However, this is rarely the case. In trying to understand Dutch portraiture, it is important to identify what type of functions they serve. Abraham de Vries’ Double Portrait functions not only as recording of his sitters’ faces but also as a signifier of the cultural, social and philosophical ideas of the time.

Throughout the vast history of art, historians can find connections throughout the centuries. Artists from the beginning of humankind have been inspired by the world around them. From the Apollo 11 stones to present day, history and culture have provided inspiration and have been the focus of various pieces. Examining artwork from the 15th-18th century, viewers can be shown a whole world that would be unknown to us without these artist’s contributions. History, religion, and cultural events have sculpted the art world, and we can observe this through many pieces during the 15th-18th centuries.

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most famous artists of all time. He is known for his paintings and is hailed as the quintessential expressionist painter in history. Yet, Van Gogh lived one of the most troubling lives one could ever imagine. Almost every painting can be viewed as a look into his troubled soul. Van Gogh’s Paintings today can be sold for millions of dollars, but during his life time he sold a single painting for a measly 40 francs. Van Gogh’s legacy has left behind stories of greatness and sadness having to do with both his personal life and his career as an artist.