Realistic Vs Abstract Art

Art is not always pleasant, but neither is society. Art and society have a reflective relationship with one another. During social, religious, and political controversy, artists such as Frida Kahlo incorporated imagery into their portraits of society which are often disturbing to the viewer. The role of an artist often includes acting as a social critic, to show us aspects of our cultural landscape that are unpleasant. In this manner, the art acts as a commentary on the negative aspects of Western civilisation. During the thirties and forties, Kahlo incorporated the hidden realities of economic and social depression into her works.

Nevertheless, I believed that I was limited in how I could be proactive. This belief stemmed from my inability to visualize myself expressing resistance through art. I knew art induced emotions within audiences that facts could not, and I knew combining art and information to create an argument that was both logical and emotional was an effective way to motivate audiences in support of social justice. However, before this class, I had never created protest art and believed only professional artists could make significant contributions to protest art. Due to this, I was unable to incorporate art in my own resistance against oppressive

Some of the most redefining and revolutionary moments in the history of man socially, have been catalyzed by use of art. Throughout the age’s music, imagery and poetry have been a fundamental tool in reaching out to the masses to condemn vices, motivate people and bring awareness. One cannot underestimate the impact that art has in influencing and communicating an idea to the people. Art is an integral ingredient in the cohesion and integration of any society. Through poetry, the poet is able to put across a message that resonates in the minds of the reader in an artistic manner that ultimately triggers a response. Art is therefore a force to reckon with in the transformation of a society or a regime.

Art is able to evoke different feelings and emotions to each person that sets their eyes on it. The act of ‘looking’ is simple, but a lot comes from it. Where the eyes are first drawn to, the duration that the eyes are focused on a specific detail, and the thoughts that flood one’s brain when viewing art is all significant. These actions say more than the piece itself, it reveals emotions of both the artist and the audience. Art can be expressed through infinite forms, but the underlying importance is not with the art itself. It represents a place in time, displaying what was noteworthy to an individual in their own life. It serves as a lasting creation representative of human imagination with the ability to bring out a multitude of emotions from whoever views it. When art is created it represents the creativity of the human mind compacted into a physical object. Art has little usage aside from pure observation, yet it has prevailed throughout time, showing its importance to humanity. Art provides a lens into humanity, showcasing the human ability over time. When studied through history, art is a view into the development of humans and their interests. Through something as basic as commonly using symmetry to transitioning to asymmetry, the European’s perspective following the Renaissance is revealed. The making of art is solely up to one individual and their creativity. It is the pinnacle of

giving a voice to problems, social and political criticism, and human emotion in an artistic form.

Romanticism and The post impressionism era are two major periods on the time line of art history. Different forms of art including paintings, music, and architecture showed tremendous growth, and ended up making history. This essay compares and contrasts pieces of work such as Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night and Joseph Mallord William Turner’s The Slave Ship. These two pieces both represent their own individual time periods, yet have similar characteristics. Both of these paintings have a way of uncovering a story without using a single word.

“Southern Wildlife, Deer Exposure” By Al Agnew is a natural landscape oil painting. The painting depicts a majestic 9 point buck laying in a tall stand of hardwoods and pines lying beside what appears to be a rocky brook. The buck is lying in tall dead grass in the appearance of it being fall especially with the tree behind him bearing no leaves, only rough branches. The buck himself is a rich shade of brown with a snow white chest and a cold black nose and eyes; staring into the distance as if to see a doe or patch of clovers. The antlers on the buck show age and royalty among nature.

In Harnett’s oil on canvas painting, “After the Hunt,” depicts a well put together still life of hunting

William Holman Hunt, an English artist, sets new standards for artists all around Europe. He cultivates a new style of paintings. This style emphasizes the detail of nature while practicing the style of pervious artists. He drew many paintings that many heavily criticized during its entrance to competition in the Royal Academy. Overall, his main accomplishment is the creation of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and emphasizing its principles to artists.

Art is the sole venue for human expression. It has been known to invoke emotions and appeal to one’s numerous senses. Even throughout times of despair, the human race has been known to seek differing forms of expression as a cope mechanism or simply to project their voices and opinions to the world. In fact, the American Journal of Public Health declared that, “There is evidence that engagement with artistic activities, either as an observer of the creative efforts of others or as an initiator of one's own creative efforts, can enhance one's moods, emotions, and other psychological states as well as have a salient impact on important physiological parameters.” Such creative expression was sought after by African Americans who emigrated to the United States by means of slavery. In order to preserve their culture and lose their customs, slave retained their

Art is an outlet through which one is capable of conveying their thoughts, emotions and stories. After the Holocaust in particular, people were able to view the world through the viewpoint of these artists. With the ability to see the victim’s emotions portrayed visually, one can begin to comprehend them from a personal perspective and understand the sentiments of sorrow.

Walton Ford creates paintings that are based on the style of the naturalist style of John James Audubon. Audubon was a naturalist who studied the biodiversity and anatomy of animals in their habitat or by examining a dead specimen. Ford uses the style of Audubon, however, unlike Audubon, Ford does not make the subject of the painting life-size and proportional to the real life animals.(Ford, Artnet) Ford does this to make the art seem more conceptual, rather than logical and realistic. (Ford, Art21)

Art is a catalyst of change. It can confront both social and political issues as well as providing people with a creative outlet in which they can express their innermost thoughts and feelings - but what effect can art have on our society as a whole? Artists today have the unique ability to connect with people in a creative, innovative way that they can understand and interpret themselves. With this ability, artists are able to express their own views as well as influencing the views of others. Art is an immense part of our world – so much so that we barely even consider its impact upon us – but just how significant is the work of artists in our modern day society?

His many depictions of the river men following their everyday craft led to a sequence called “The River Paintings” (Richardson, p.1). This work is also very similar to Bingham’s previous work: Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, both of which portray a pair of fur traders—one very young and the other old—paddling down a still river with their chained animal companion (Richardson, p.1). Each painting is instilled with a sense of timelessness and simplicity; a combination of water, greenery, morning light, the figures, and their craft (Richardson,

Using natural phenomenon as a starting point for abstraction, Mark Grotjahn’s paintings straddle the polarities of artifice and nature. His painting, Lavender Butterfly Jacaranda over Green (Fig. 2), expresses his fascination with nature. Transferring the experience of observation to an intrigue of creative possibility, Grotjahn harnesses the mysticism of nature through aesthetic formality.