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.
Overall, it seems like there are many people in society now living in our present life. Their society is developing and improving a little bit because of people at the bottom with shackled hands whom are under the influence of the three figures who have a bigger dream and look at higher world. Each of them in the painting has an object on their hands. These seem to be important clues to interpret this painting. One is holding a book, second is holding a jar or flask and third one is holding handwriting, directing or measuring tools of an architect with compass. And there is a globe
The watch in the foreground is red, the middle-ground watch is orange, and the background watch is gray representing the past, present and future in accordance with Einstein’s theory of everything, changing time and space. All three watches point to the top center of the painting which
Then there are also many psychological lines to be seen in the work. One such line is of the woman and the floor, where she is staring down towards it. Another is from the young child and the store clerk, showing a defiance between the two. Next, light and value are not very contrasting in this painting, with only the basic highlights and the shadows seen. It isn’t completely contrasting or contradicting since the colors blend well together with close to the same value ranges, dark colors seen throughout except for the people’s pale faces. There also seems to be a variety of light sources since the woman’s face along with the shop clerk and the young boy’s is lit up by what seems to be a light bulb since they’re much brighter and highlighted and then the men and women in the back aren’t really as bright, except for the ones who close to the open door, creating a blue tinge from the outside light. The shapes shown through the painting is shown to be either very round or very geometrical. There are organic shapes in things such as the umbrella or even the back of the chair, but mostly it is either straight lines and geometrical shapes. The volume shown in the painting is very much implied, correctly showing the
The main protagonist of this painting is the goddess-like figure in the middle. She represents Lady Liberty, a figure who is a symbol of knowledge and enlightenment. According to George Crofutt, the commissioner for “American Progress”, she is carrying “a school book, testimonial of the National Enlightenment”, further proving that she is the symbol of enlightenment. With her, she drags a telephone wire, which Crofutt claims “will bind the nation.” By using the term “bind”, this statement has two completely different connotations. The one Crofutt intended for his use was that the nation would be unified and connected to one another. It symbolizes the new technological developments
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.
It is a famous example of Renaissance art showing portraiture, realism, and some perspective. In this painting there are four distinct characters. Each has a different expression that shows how they are feeling. There is also more detail in the faces then in any other parts of the painting. Another technique it demonstrates is heightened realism. Whereas before the Renaissance the figures may have been painted simply and in only enough detail to get the general idea across, these figures are shown more realistically. Lastly there is the technique of perspective as shown in the background of the painting. The sea stretches out into the sky and the land in the background is shown how it would look if the viewer was actually
The artwork is a complex mixture if colors, shapes, and tints. In the painting, there are eight figures. Seven that is to the center and left of the painting and one on the right. The seven persons on the left are all either touching each other or interlocked with someone. Of that seven, six are men and one is a female. There is a man in
Prompt: Douglass maintains that slavery dehumanized both the slave and the slaveholder. Quoting specific passages in the Narrative support this thesis with examples.
Within the painting are six individuals. In the middle is Madonna and Child. To the left is Saint Francis and John the Baptist, and to the right; Saint Zanobius, the Florence Patron, and Saint Lucy. These individuals are equally placed in the foreground of the painting, bringing our attention right to them, however there is a group of two that is the most important. If you look at the gestures of
His frustration is visible in the expression on his face. He appears tired of her bothering him about it, hence the hand. The child is showing a lot of white which can represent faith, I think the artist did this to say that the baby is giving the family faith because they are trying to provide for their child and in order to do that they need to be able to put food on the table which won’t just only help the baby but them as a whole. The woman may also symbolize strength that’s why the artist made her dress and lipstick red; she’s fiery. She may help the husband maintain his sanity no matter how many problems they are going through as a family.
Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813-1861) was a popular U.S. politician, leader of the Democratic Party, and well-known public speaker. “Heavyset and only five feet four inches tall, he was dubbed the “Little Giant” by his contemporaries” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Stephen received a basic education and was involved in both farm work and teaching. In the years to come he married Martha Martin, who then passed away after giving him two sons, leading him to remarry a woman named Adele Cutts. Throughout his life he contributed many things to American history like the Freeport Doctrine and the Kansas-Nebraska act, which both revolved around Stephen’s ideology of popular
The man carrying the basket is what I believe to represent him. The ribbon seems to be tying him to what many people want him to believe is symbolized by the basket. The flowers represents those who are against him and want him to think a certain way. The woman in the background represent his personal beliefs. That help him stand despite what everyone else wants him to think or create in his art.
The background has areas of dark and light that may be representing a dark part of this woman's life and the light area showing awakening in this woman's soul. To me the woman in the painting is staring out into the world and realizing that there is so much out there for her. That she can walk out of there and not be lost any more. Mrs. Mallard felt the same way. In the room she realized that she can now live her life on her own the way she wants to. She walked out of the room with a sense of
This painting shows how close and codependent humans and nature were. How well humans worked together with one another and their world. How peaceful those that are close to nature are, which is why it (nature) must be celebrated and appreciated.
In the center of the painting is Plato on the left and Aristotle on the right. These two are showing the two parts within philosophy, Timaeus and Ethics. The other philosophers on the sides are ‘corresponding to the separate schools of thought within the two major divisions, each carrying on the philosophical arguments for which they were famous (Fleming, 304). Plato: (428-c. 347 BC) was a Greek philosopher and one of the most creative and influential thinkers in Western philosophy. Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the institution often described as the first European
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