Realism In Woods Of Ashokan

The Civil War is known as a central event in American History. The war was fought between the Union States and the Confederate States from 1861-1865. When people reflect on the Civil War, they often think of victory and defeat. They never bother to go behind the scenes. People that aren’t mentioned in most history textbooks are surgeons.

In art, there are qualities that speak louder than words. It expresses many different messages and emotions and each person has an experience different from the next. In this paper, I will be discussing two artworks I encountered. The piece is a good example of how people can encounter different experiences in one piece. I attended the Orlando Museum of Art a while back with family and overall enjoyed my experience. On my visit, I found the museum quite impressive and felt a deep connection with specific pieces.

During the pre-Civil War era, the technology of photography was rare or still in development. All renderings of war were either in paintings or in literature. Since artists were the only people capable of creating

The small strip across the top of the visual, presents us with an alternate world that is natural and heaven-like where numbat-like creatures are suspended upon tree branches. The gaze of the numbat-like creatures leads us to the quote, “They didn’t live in trees like we did”. Through the inclusion of text Tan portrays that the numbat-like creatures don’t understand the rabbits. This quote does not show any strong emotions, but instead the blatant tone bestows a ‘clueless’ feeling to us, the responders. This section is very small in contrast to the rest of the image showing the rabbits. This symbolically represents the unprecedented manner in which the rabbits came and quickly “made their own houses”. At observing the picture more closely, we can conclude that where the numbat-like creatures are sitting, the sky is lighter compared to where the rabbits are placed; implying that the lighter colour is the time the numbat-like creatures were familiar

An artist's job is to interpret, and express the aspects of life in a creative fashion. War has played a big part in shaping our human history, and many artists have portrayed their feelings about art through paintings, and even monuments. Whether it be to show; the joy of victory, the sorrow of defeat, or to educate the public on the gory realities of war. Art about war can also show us a great amount of history of the kinds of weapons that were used at the time. It is necessary for artists to interpret, and criticize all aspects of life; even ones as tragic as war, It can make the public more aware of what goes on in times of war.

Beauty is an incredibly subjective thing; what might seem appealing to one’s eyes may be horrendously ugly in the eyes of another. However, the status of “beautiful” or “ugly” can be assigned rather objectively when art is examined from the perspectives of different philosophies. The beliefs and values of different philosophies can be used to find meaning and beauty in various art forms, allowing for a more straightforward determination of beauty. Because of the many layers of meaning most paintings entail, they are a perfect example of an art form that can be analyzed by numerous philosophical viewpoints to find meaning and beauty, and Ma Yuan’s painting Walking on a Mountain Path in Spring, which comes from the Song dynasty of Chinese and depicts a sole figure standing in a natural surrounding, is no exception. Ma Yuan’s painting is beautiful because it represents the ultimate achievements for the Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian philosophies.

In the poem “To Paint a Water Lily” by Ted Hughes, the speaker conveys his attitude toward nature as perplexing, complex, and deceiving. He also expresses his opinion of the artist and the difficulties brought on by him trying to paint and recreate not only the picture of a water lily and its natural scene, but also capture the intense environment that is both peaceful and full of constant activity. The author achieves this through literary techniques such as: imagery and juxtaposition.

Annie Dillard’s “Seeing” discusses the two possible ways to properly see things and relates them to light versus darkness in nature, and upstream versus downstream of a river. The essay explains that there are two ways to see things in the world; to look for something specific, or to let go of that desire to see something. Both types of seeing are also combined with either brightness or darkness and with either upstream or downstream. Dillard has trouble seeing anything in the upstream of the river because that part of the river is always dark or cloudy. On the other hand, she can see the animals in the downstream of the river, where everything is bright and lively. The river is split in two different symbols which help show the best way that one should view nature. The downstream and the upstream of the river have unique characteristics, and Dillard also compares them to darkness and light. By using powerful imagery and diction, Dillard is able to compare the two types of seeing and explain why letting go of the desire to see is the best way to look at things.

Painters enormously manipulated the truth in their portraits they painted since they aimed to present a specific meaning or feeling to their observers. One of the results, paintings of America`s wars especially before the Civil War had a

Beside the pile of straw which has a wheel leaning against it, a farmer is stooping to collect timbers. Before a thatched cottage in the middle of the painting, several farmers carrying farm tools and riding horses silhouetted in the shadows. They form in groups as if they were discussing some deliberate issues. On the other pile which sits in the other side of the sandy road, a slightly stout farmer with a straw hat is sitting on straws to have a rest. Beside him, an older villager leaning on his stick and a comparatively shorter man who is carrying a basket are talking to him as if they were pleading him for some reason. The trees extend along the sandy road in a diagonal line, creating a spatial demarcation. In the far end of the road, there is a vague tall building with pinnacle roof. The sky above, which takes up nearly half of the painting, is pale and dusty, suggesting the end of the day in a hot arid climate.

The texture of the canvas works very well with the subject matter portrayed in the painting. The grassy hill side and the leaves of the trees are especially complimented by the canvas. It makes the leaves feel like they are slightly moving, this combined with the lack of detail itself the leaves. This is contrasted nicely with the very detailed renderings of the trunks and branches of the trees, the

Painting landscapes was very important during the 19th century. Thomas Cole was one of the most important figures in landscape painting in the United States. He went to many places searching for nature, which he painted to show the unmatchable beauty nature creates. His works of art helped people see and take pride in their great land, which was called America. Cole’s works were often made people feel like they needed to go out in nature and discover the inspiring world of mother earth.

​The effects of the Civil War brought about changes in the United States. The country had to answer the question: To what level of moral and ethical conduct do we want Americans to be held? Loyalties were seriously evaluated. People had to decide if they held their loyalty to the country as a whole, their state, their families, or even to humanity as a whole. They had to decide if it was right to own another person, or if the slavery system was justified as a way to keep the Southern economy going. Through all this contemplation, people wrote about their thoughts and fears, and as a result, people abandoned romanticism and became realists. Many writings of the Civil War, whether informational or literary, reflect

One of the pieces that I found to be the most moving was Frederic Edwin Church's "Our Banner in the Sky", which was painted during the war's outset in 1861. This is one of the pieces in which the enthusiasm for the war was quite clearly seen. In this work, the

Filled with shades of red, the upper part of the painting comes to create a strong opposition with the black area below it, itself encircled by a darker red. This painting consisting of three floating rectangles in various colour combinations, creates a sombre mood conducive to spiritual contemplation. With the use of Rothko's saturated colours the viewers are moved