Rick Amor Greed Analysis

Aaron Douglas’s piece titled Aspiration is oil painted on canvas by Aaron Douglas. All the flash lights in the dark night are what caught my eye first. When I divide the order of paintings into upper, middle, and lower, I feel that there is a higher ruling class living there. Two men in the middle and one woman each of three figures is holding an object in their hands that might symbolize different subjects of something and dreams of the life of the ruling class through the object. Three people in the middle are looking at the lights or building ahead. It looks like they are trying to reach the city on the hill and dream for the future ahead of them. And those three figures depicted had been escaped from the chains that hold the people under the three figures. And those people down there are also try to escape from there to find freedom. And also shows as what most of them dreamed of being.

There are three main aspects of this painting, each representing a different aspect of society. The first and lower part of the painting shows the working class, gathered in desperate and impoverished lines. This shows the lack of compassion available in the American economy.

The lines within the composition draws the viewer into several directions. The ruffles draw the eyes upward to the Daniel’s finger as it points to the right. Daniel’s finger directs the viewer horizontally as it does the king. The table with its array of dishes is another example of a horizontal line. The king’s hands are holding a fork and knife. The fork is also pointing right where as the knife is pointing left diagonally towards the king. The courtesan, leaning against the king’s right shoulder, is another example of a diagonal line. The painting also has a vertical feel to it. This is evident in the composition of Daniel standing, the candle and the arm holding the cigar. Like every line, every color used draw attention to the object.

The medium used for this work of art is oil. In this technique the oil acts as a binder and causes a quick drying layer that can built upon. The formal elements of a painting include line, color, space, light, texture and pattern. The line appears to be an implied line in which the work creates directional movements from top to bottom. But also forces the viewer to see how the figures stand out and there importance in the painting. The color shows a subtle spectrum with a detailed background from the skies to the mountains to the artist table canvas. The light is somewhat even throughout the painting showing emphasis on every figure holding something in their hands; and more so the final product of the artist that are being captured on the canvas. The visual texture of the painting appears to be smooth and the pattern is decorative and somewhat vibrant. The principle of unity and variety are evident in this painting, the design itself shows a sense of community of important figures throughout African American history. I was drawn to this piece because it embodied the heritage of African American art through history. This painting by Hale Woodruff displays many of the significant contributions that African Americans made to the world of Art. Not necessarily “picture art” but all realms of life art: cooking, liberal arts, politics, labor, law and many more through his vibrant

The illusionistic brushwork denotes the bulky drapery folds that are wrapped around the body.3 Behind his head is a large golden circle that could either qualify as a large halo or a sunset in the distance. His left foot is slightly lifted and is resting on the base of the writing desk which highlights that this artwork is three

The front of the painting shows three African American men in the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Each of the men are doing something different. Near the three men, are factories blowing out smoke. In the lower right hand corner, a man is being held back and dragged down by what seems to be a hand made from the smoke, showing that he is still doing work that he does not want to do. Below him are cotton fields, where slaves used to have to work and do hard labor with little to no pay. The man on the bottom left side is shown to also have the hand by him, watching his moves. He is in a pose where he is frustrated and seems to have given up on his dreams. Closer to the center, higher up, stands a third man, playing a saxophone. Music can symbolize freedom and awakening. Along the outer edges of the painting, the colors are dark browns, reds, and oranges. As the focus is drawn closer to the center, lighter colors such as yellow. Darkness, as an archetype, represents despair and the unknown while lightness shows hope, renewal and intelligence. The goals of success, exuberancy, and harmony showed hope and renewal in change in

The entire painting is focused around him and nothing else. It is made up bright colors, basic shapes, and lines. The background is made up of a mix of light and dark

His other noticeable work is Shadow man, which is similar to his Image Mass Murder where is splashes paint on the ground but instead of it around a chalked out outline it is brushed in the shape of a silhouetted. These images were created in different areas that would make the pedestrians have the most impact when they saw it, which was around corners and in dark alleys. Most of these pieces were in New York city but later expanded to some parts of Europe, including both sides of The Berlin Wall before it was torn down.

In this painting it is talked that the man in the left front is suppose to be himself. As viewers can see he paints himself away

Next is the use of color, or lack thereof. The colors in the background are very quiet and muted, mostly subdued blues and grays with hints of a deep red and brownish yellow peeking though. The colors used for the figure are browns and tans, almost as if the was painted with mud, like she is all-natural and from the earth. The range of colors would seem to have a cool tone if you were looking at them on a painter’s palette but the arrangement of color on the canvas gives the piece a warm feeling.

The painting includes elements such as a long array of color swatches that recede into the distance and zoom into the foreground. The swatches are painted, but the swatch at the top is “fastened” to the painting with an actual metal bolt. Spread across the canvas are three painted shadows. There is a rip in the canvas, the rip is simulated with paint, but it is “repaired” with actual safety pins. Below the rip is a hand, painted and signed by “A. Klang.” a commercial sign painter. The hand points to a white rectangle like a floating

Any art medium can be utilized to tell a story or evoke emotion in a viewer. Artistry is unique in that it is purely visual and can be left to interpretation if the artist chooses to stay ambiguous in the message they are trying to convey. As an artist, I am always trying to analyze the meanings behind famous works of art, whether those meanings happen to be incidental or purposeful. So, when contemporary artist, Enrique Chagoya expressed his adoration for the social commentary expressed in Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos sketches, I was intrigued.

Hamilton was born in 1922 in London. His early experiences had gained him a diverse set of skills that came handy in creating unique, unconventional artworks. Hamilton left school at the age of fifteen without any qualifications to work as an electrical engineer. During this time, he found a new passion with drawing, which led him to attend the Royal Academy to study art. When World War II struck, Hamilton had to discontinue his study and started working for the record company EMI as engineering draftsman. This chain of events made Hamilton familiar with science and technology, which he incorporated in various future works. When the war ends, Hamilton resumed his study at the Royal Academy but was then expelled for “not profiting by the instruction given in the Painting School.” This failure led him to enrolling at Slade Schools of Fine Art, where he was familiarized with various ideas of modernism.1

The shapes of the figures are sharply defined and the objects such as the table, book, and string instruments. There are diagonal rhythms throughout the painting in which it creates movement. The light source in the upper left allows the source light to have a more natural appearance throughout the painting. The shadows at the right-hand corner and the men wearing green in the middle contrast the main object with the most sources of lighting. The objects shadows and lighting create dimension and a vivid sense of more contrast. There are areas in the making with more contrast and the sharp contrast that creates movement in the painting. The shadows and the lighting throughout the painting show gradations and the highlights create more depth. Staring from the upper-left hand corner with the first figure of a gentleman wearing a hue of blue and yellow, the left side of his face and garment shows the source light in right above him. The source light above the

This painting is divided into three equal parts by the arches in the background and the characters correspond to each of these arches (TV12). The father is in the middle portion of the painting. The lines of perspective created by the tiled floor, draws our attention to the swords that the father is holding and the vanishing point lies just behind the handles of the sword. Our angle of vision is such that we are looking directly at the main figures groups, particularly the father. A single light source from the left of the picture illuminates the characters and also focuses our attention to the father holding the sword. This creates a ‘theatrical’ effect. The background is simple and stark so our attention is focussed on the figure groups in the painting. The painting has a wide tonal range that makes the composition logical and balanced. The colours used in this