Copley’s piece titled Portrait of a Lady in a Blue Dress created in 1763 by John Singleton Copley, represents an unnamed female portrait painted with oil on canvas. The piece currently resides in the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The work of art can be seen from one side only because it hangs on the wall. There is a great deal of indications in the painting to show the viewer who this woman was and how she ranked high within society.
The portrait is displayed horizontally with a gold trimmed frame. The subject is a female that looks to be in her early 20’s sitting upright on a large brown chair. If the viewer travels up the painting the first indication of the woman’s class is her satin, blue dress. The saturated blue shines and falls in the light like water. Paired with the dress are her exceptionally detailed endings to her sleeves. The lace is even painted as though it is translucent, allowing a little of the blue dress to show through the sleeve. Flowers throughout history have symbolized innocence of a woman and her virginity. The repeating theme of flowers, in the sleeve cuffs and ribbon) in the woman’s attired suggests her purity or innocent nature. Another very details section of the painting includes the corset/torso details. The sewing suggests texture in the torso with small beading in between. Towards the top of the chest in the center, the female seems to bear an extravagant, ribbon piece with a tear drop bead in the center. The light pink
One of the aspects I believe unifies this painting is, as I talked about above, the continuation of the blue of the woman’s clothing continuing up into her hair, which gives the piece a sense of wholeness and relativity. There is also balance in this piece, for while the woman’s head is offset, this is balanced out by the elongation of her shoulder and arm in the right side of the image. Variety is also achieved in this piece through the use of a variation of hues and a lot of tonal difference. Emphasis is placed upon the hair with the use of an unnatural hair colour, as well as the face where light colours are used to highlight and pull the attention. Space is not so much of an active principle in this piece, but is still present nonetheless. Beryl is placed in the middle of the painting, with her taking up roughly 50% of the space, and the rest taken up by background.
This painting is a portrait of an old woman who is sitting on a chair while facing to the left. She is wearing a yellow flower dress with a beige jacket while sitting in an empty room. Her beauty is illustrated by her curly, gray hair and also her wrinkled face, neck, and hands. These details is what makes her look real and pure. I like how detailed it is because it reminds me of my grandmothers.
Miss Anna Ward with Her Dog, a framed portrait painted by the British artist Joshua Reynolds in 1787, depicts the young daughter of Lord John Dudley and Mrs. Mary Baker. This 55x44 inch oil painting was purchased by the Kimbell Art Foundation in 1948 and is currently on display at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The sitter, in what appears to be secluded outdoor space, comfortably slouches back against a tree, perching her right arm upon a nearby boulder. The left arm is extended out to a canine companion, whom is laying at her feet, as it rests one furry brown paw on her gauzy pale dress. All that surrounds the two figures is a cloudy blue sky, distant foliage, and scattered stones in the earthy foreground. In this portrait Reynolds has exploited line, color, and light to make Miss Anna an unavoidable focal point.
This particular artwork could be interpreted as symbolic for identifying a future for sexual freedom of women; women being able to discuss themselves sexually, accept who they are and their individual beauty and the freedom to express female sexuality art, removing the stigma
The image I chose for this paper is titled A Rose. The image is a painting painted in oil on a canvas and was painted by Thomas P. Anshutz. The painting was produced in Pennsylvania during 1907. I researched this image on ARTstor by using the term realism and then I narrowed down my search by selecting a filter to return paintings as well as setting the geography filter to North America. The painting belongs to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection and is on display in the American Wing in the gallery of Images of Woman from 1880 to 1910.
The woman painted is sitting in what seems to be a domestic setting. However, unlike many other painted black women in the Enlightenment, she is seated alone. She is not depicted serving a white woman or doing any labour. The white cloths wrapped around her head and body along with the light background creates a dramatic contrast between the light colours and her dark skin. Her breast is exposed, but she is not sexualized like in many paintings of white women of the period. Despite her less-than-modest exposure, the woman does not show any signs of embarrassment. She is not blushing and her gaze is fixed on the viewer in neither a demure nor passionate way. In fact, she seems nonchalant about her exposure.
The background of the painting is very dark and a reflective of the dark times some women were in during this time. The dark background and the subject’s serious persona give the painting a mysterious sensation. Mrs. Richard Skinner’s clothing pieces are very light colors which give a light-hearted ambiance to the painting but the dark background, dim lighting, and the dark table that lay before her completely alter the mood of the painting. The lighting of the painting, therefore, emphasizes Mrs. Richard Skinner even more due to her dark surroundings, which is another example of Copley’s attempt at accentuating her womanhood. Some of the props in this painting elaborate and stress her sexuality even further. The subject is holding a flower in the painting; flowers are symbolic of purity and femininity. The way the subject is holding the flowers is to be noted as well. She is holding
Concerning color, there is a stark contrast between the figure on the painting and the background. More specifically, the figure of the woman is predominantly delineated in white color, especially pale, ashen white, as far her apparel and facial complexion are concerned, while there are also various hues of grey, with respect to her hair and accessory feather. These white and grey shades are vividly contrasted with the prevailing red and crimson hues of the background (viz. the drape, armchair, and table). Moreover, one can detect colors of dark green (jewelry), some beige on the left (pillar), and darker or lighter shades of blue on the right side of the canvas (sky), which all in concert and in addition to the subtle purple hue forming the sun or moon exude a certain dramatic sentiment. Also, there is brown, which often easily segues into gold (viz. books and attire details respectively). The main contrast of colors between white and red would be interpreted as serving the purpose of rendering the figure of the woman, and especially her face, the focal point of the work, despite, paradoxically enough, the lush red shades at the background. Bearing that in mind, the significance of the woman’s face will be enlarged upon later, when discussing aspects of her identity.
To describe the artwork “Woman in a Purple Coat” by Henri Matisse, the viewer has to be open to expression. In the artwork there is a woman, wearing purple pointy shoes, green pants with white faded stripes, a V-shape white shirt with grey lines, a long purple coat with white stripes and four black strips at the front to button the coat, a pearl necklace and another yellow long necklace. She is sitting with confidence with open arms on a vibrant two tone one side yellow and other side green couch. Sitting on the couch in a corner with a yellow flower arrangement on a pink and white vase with some fruit on a table next to her on the right. There is a magazine laying on the floor on top of a gray rug with black stripes above a black square marble floor. It looks as if she was reading intensely before being interrupted. She has her right foot behind her left, confidently waiting to be interviewed. The walls contrast with each other giving light and darkness to the portrait. On one side the wall is black with gray flowers outlined in red. On the other side the wall is green with black curvy streaks with white outline joined together by a grey corner behind the women wearing dark lipstick confidently sitting on the couch.
On page 87 in Artforms is the painting Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat. This oil painting was produced by Marie Louise Elizabeth Vigee-LeBrun in the year 1782. The work of art depicts a young woman, presumably the artist, posing in front of a clouded blue sky. The figure is clothed in a rose colored dress with white ruffle along the neckline, a navy blue colored shawl which is wrapped around the crooks of her arms, and a straw hat adorned with bright red, blue, and white flowers. A large white feather with black trim is protruding from the hat. The lady in the portrait is facing forward and holding paint brushes and a palette topped with paints in her left hand. Her hair frames her face and fall on top of her
The art and beauty in this painting is exemplified through the eyes of Boucher. It starts with a beautiful couple taking a rest after picking up some followers. Their clothing looks very elegant and colorful which shows that they are aristocrats. The man’s eyes are gazing at a shepherdess who gathered her own flowers. Their eyes are locked despite the man having his own woman right in front of him. The light brushstrokes of the dresses, flowers, and trees
I went to El Paso Museum of Art, and I was delighted it because there were lots of different paintings or sculptures, or I must say exhibitions. I got the opportunity to see Wayne Hilton's, Hermosos Huesos, Intimate Figures, etc. French and American prints like, Female Saints, Heroes, they even have have Modern Stone Totems. While I was admiring everything, the painting that really caught my attention, over all the others, was Girl at a Window, portrait of Rosalba Peale (1846). Rembrandt Peale, captured the beauty of his daughter on oil in canvas; her sight is most impressive, he caught Rosalba’s thoughtful look. I read that his expression won the admiration of people and I understand why because it brings out independence, intelligence, and wisdom. And at the same time we can see a feminine, sweet but at the same time firm person. I wonder what significant has the red piece of material that is on the tight side, I am sure it has to be with balance. The perspective of the painting is perfect and well thought. Rembrandt use colors to unify element to draw our attention to specific details and to express emotion. In this painting it is evident that Rembrandt use light color to show us
Judith, who is seen in the foreground of the painting and is also the main focus of the painting, is seen wearing an elaborate green embroidered dress along with a pearl headdress. The dress is very reflective from a light unseen in the painting, while the headdress is painted in duller colors, probably to emphasize the redness of Judith's hair. The bowl in the middle-ground which Judith is holding the head above is painted in muted colors along with the head to keep the focal point on Judith. The texture on the maid's bonnet in the background is painted using lighter tones to emphasize the fact that she can come out of the shadows to tell Judith to be quiet about the head, which represents the death of her enemy. Judith's arm is painted to bring movement from her obvious wealth delineated by the texture of the dress, to the maid who may talk to her, to the sullen head of her enemy. This composition by Galizia is alike with the one by Pordenone in the imbalance and unease that it brings the viewers, along with the subjects that they
The girl in the shadow of the neck seems to be hidden.It is in the main point of the whole picture. The middle ground of the artwork was in the girl’s blue scarf and face, especially in her eyes. Her eyes were kind of mystery. The background of the painting and the back of the artwork was darker, as well as the emergence of the bright woman’s shadow. The artist painting to the girl’s head shape strong and vigorous from deep to shallow, especially in the painting also used the effect of light and dark contrast. He also pointed out the pearl earring. It brightened up the point of the artwork. The artist used the linear perspective. The artist focused on using smooth brushstrokes as a way to show the texture throughout the piece. In fact, if you looked closely, the brushstrokes are linear and have a strong
The second part of the painting depicts an auction. She is being held up in shackles, the baby still on her back while slave owners bid on her. The colors are darker, black and dark green, representing a shift in the mood of the painting. The barbarian man is wearing a confederate flag