Mona Lisa Smile Analysis

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” -Oscar Wilde. Women are wild, sensitive, magnificent, mysterious, and above all: individual. Art’s many different medias allowed artist throughout the ages to capture women at both their strongest and most vulnerable points. It has the power to capture a woman: as a naïve, young girl clutching her brother as they are painted into a lasting portrait, a golden statue of an angel sent down to Earth to help a saved man take his first steps into an eternal life with God, to the powerful goddess, Artemis, transforming a hunter into a deer and having his hunting dogs tragically attack him. The six pieces of art chosen express the individuality of each women who has walked, walks, and will walk the earth.

1985 (Figure 2) first appeared in 1985 plastered on billboards around New York City. The piece is illustrated in monochrome colours so to not distract viewers from the meaning of the poster. The harsh contrast in colours between the black writing and white background make the piece stand out and draw the attention of bypassers. Written on the artwork is a list of well-known museums in New York City and beside them is a score of how many women artists have had one-person exhibits there in the past year. The results showed that the Guggenheim, Metropolitan and Whitney museums each had zero, whilst the Modern museum had one. These results are supposed to shock the audience and make gallery curators feel a sense of guilt, that it’s clear the art world don’t appreciate women artists like they do men. Whist they are confronting the public with that truth they are also providing another critical message with this piece. The Guerrilla Girls identified these museums by first name, not out of convenience, but to make a statement, that the only museums to allow women artist some form of respect like male artist do was the ‘modern’ museum. Emphasising the fact that gender discrimination and bias nature in the art world should be in the past, and the only museum that realises and recognises this is the modern one. The poster’s main message challenges the patriarchal world of art and confronts art galleries

As we know, the result of “Art is” is “Art is” which returned in an ephemeral form at the Studio Museum. All forty photographs are on display on the basement level of the galleries, which are supposedly reserved for pieces in their permanent collection. The room just outside, whether coincidentally or not, is filled with photos of students - reflecting personal memories. How the museum decides to play with this, is by missing them with old-timer photos of Harlem from the

This Summer, I had the opportunity to spend my entire break attending conferences and interning at a lab at UCSD so I thought to myself I would never have the time to visit any art museum or do my summer assignments for that matter. That was until I realized I was living at a campus who had an art piece practically on every corner of their six colleges. I then began my journey, on scooter, to discover the hidden and the not so hidden gems The Stuart Collection at UCSD had to offer. It was then that I fell in love with 2 specific art pieces throughout the campus, those being Do Ho Suh’s Fallen Star, which depicts an immigrant’s transition into American culture, and Kiki Smith’s Standing, which depicts a seemingly tortured woman.

She spoke to a friend who was attending Sheridan College for illustration and she saw what amazing works being done by students. Life drawings, painting, all the foundational skills to becoming an artist were being covered, as well as students being permitted to use all sorts of mediums to express themselves.

A priceless painting has been stolen from the Art Institute while traveling to Chicago. A sublime, captivating piece, it is worth millions, billions, of dollars. This theft is an atrocious act, hidden by red herrings and innocence. The person guilty of this theft is none other than Isabel Hussey, a young sixth-grade teacher, hidden right under our noses. Ms. Hussey has been fascinated with art since a young age, particularly fancying Johannes Vermeer. When she heard “The Lady Writing” was arriving to Chicago, she was ecstatic. Ms. Hussey has been spotted frequently attending a local bookstore, Powell’s, and observing many art related books, accompanied by Mrs. Louise Coffing Sharpe and Mr. Vincent Watch. Reports have expressed her vast knowledge

Watson brings in the idea of different forms of knowledge. The first one is the sensible perception, which is the desire for knowledge as an end in itself. The other form is man in experience. It is considered a higher stage of knowledge than sensible perception. Man converts many experiences into one experience that he can use for understanding knowledge. Experiences brings the idea of art, beauty and science. Watson argues for Aristotle that art is superior to experiences in terms of knowledge. Art can be taught to others and even though experiences can be shared, the person must go through that experience to understand and use it to their knowledge. Then the paper talks about the idea of metaphysics establishes both knowledge and reality. Aristotle’s argument for reality is that metaphysics, as a science, must be occupied with a definite class of items. The unity of metaphysics as a science creates the relation of

Louise Bourgeois is an artist provided the keys that opened the door for female artists in the twentieth century. She was born in Paris 1911, and immigrated to New York, New York in 1938 after she married Robert Goldwater a young American art historian (Getlein, 2012), where she lived until her death on May 31, 2010 (Layayo, 2015). The blood of being an artist has flown through her since her conception. She was born into a family that repaired seventeenth and eighteenth century tapestries (Layayo, 2015). Being an artist was her destiny, and her life provided her the tools she needed to achieve her purpose. While growing up in France she attended various schools of art schools that include Ecole du Louvre, Academie des Beaux-Arts, Academie Julian, and Atelver Fernand Leger (Louise Bourgeois, 2001). She continued her study and practice of art when she moved to Ney York in 1938 by becoming a part of the Art Student League (Louise Bourgeois, 2001). Students would stop by her apartment on Sunday to get their art criticized by her, and this

After graduating Englewood High School in Chicago in 1948, Lorraine Hansberry left for college to pursue her interest in visual art (“Lorraine”). She attended the University of Wisconsin, the Art Institute of Chicago, and “numerous other schools before moving to New York” in 1950 (Jacobus, “Lorraine” 1223). Once in New York, Hansberry ditched visual art and found interest in theatre, which led her

There were many who often assumed roles or stereotypes recognized by the masses of the female gender before the 1940s, of examples such as the naïve princess or the obedient housewife. It was additionally a time of doubts and indecisions due to stock market crash. The concept of modernity was slowly being represented as a mirror or response to the reality. This paper will discuss the way that the female leads were presented in the film Modern Times and It Happened one Night in response the changing ideas of modernity such as gender, class, and sexuality.

In 1953, UCLA graduate Katherine Watson leaves her progressive California home to become a professor at Wellesley College, a conservative women’s school. On her first day of teaching, Watson is horrified to learn that her class had memorized the entire syllabus and textbook. As a result, Watson decides to teach Modern Art instead of the traditional art listed by the syllabus. She challenges her students to define art and to discover the true intention of the artist. By doing this, Watson is encouraging her students to think for themselves. Her intention is to help them understand that as women, they have the freedom to do as they please; they do not have to conform to societal expectations. These teachings cause significant problems in the

Although Mona Lisa Smile explored many progressive themes such as lesbianism and feminism, it came across very lackluster and I did not enjoy it at all. The cliche movie tropes and mediocre acting was a small portion of where my dislike was. One main complaint I had about this movie is its terrible portrayal of the Feminine Mystique. In Betty Friedan's book, some may argue that her book was targeted towards a small demographic of women, but many could relate to a part of the book some way or another. She may have not outright mentioned women of color or impoverished women but her book served its purpose for the time. Most of these critics are judging it under a present lense which is unfair. However, this movie came out in 2003, so it would

Rafaela Course Proff Date The depiction of gender roles and sexuality in “The Piano” Throughout history and even in today’s modern society, the concept of gender roles is a matter in which many individuals from all over have frequently questioned and discussed its significance. “Quote of todays society”, however in the film “The Piano”, the views on gender roles appear more unfair and discriminatory especially towards women.

Paula Moersohn-Becker’s “Self-Portrait with an Amber Necklace” is from the 19th century an is from Germany. The self-portrait is of a naked woman holding two flowers in a field of flowers. The only thing she is wearing is a necklace. She is a of a modern time period when nudity was not such a big issue, it was pretty common. She is of a free spirit, not caring if anyone is judging her by her body image. She is a flower child, with flowers used as a crown on her head. During the Middle ages nakedness was also a thing that artists portrayed through their work.

When I think about art, the first thing that comes to mind is the Mona Lisa. Although I am interested in art, I barely know anything about it, and the Mona Lisa is about the only piece of art that I'm fairly familiar with, but I wouldn't say it's my favorite. This is why it was hard to find a favorite work of art at first. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to go with The Starry Night. I don't remember how or where I came across this painting, but I know that it's widely recognized and used in popular culture.