Titus Kaphar Voiceless Paintings

Texture and pattern are very easy to identify in this painting. The street’s cobblestones show texture and pattern in the way that they are arranged. Texture is also demonstrated through the paint strokes on the buildings, the tree, and even the sky. These thick, uneven strokes add a layer of depth and texture to all elements of the painting.

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.

The first thing to note is the overall composition of the painting. First and foremost it is a landscape painting. The colors are very monochrome; the space is stretched to reveal a depth to the painting that the eye cannot capture; and there is stillness to the art that embraces nature and serenity of life. In the right-hand corner of the painting there is calligraphy. The calligraphy lacks the precision, but is very clear in its form, much like the depiction within the painting

The most influential artist to me in this exemplary in this pursuit for the appropriated traditions is Kehinde Wiley. In his opening speech for the New Republic gallery show he expressed that things such as his work was evolved around the working of chance . In his case, he manipulates the chance of the representation of the black demographic in traditional work. Modifying the figurative works to create the chance for relating a body that is familiar. I see contemporary painter, Kehinde Wiley as a comparable to my work in regards to the topic as well as the manipulation of the human figure. The admirable features I see in Kehinde Wiley’s work in addition to these is the fantasy elements that are incorporated. These features are best exhibited in his piece, “Bound”. The work is a bronze sculpture that stands approximately four feet tall and two-and half feet wide. The composition is inviting as it includes busts of three identical women that have African descent features that are placed on a rounded triangle base. The expressions on all of the faces are of a staring and wondering nature that have a nature of regality as their faces are turned to the right at an approximate forty five degree angle as their all have their back facing each other to form a guard of the leaves the a laid on their base. The bodies are cut organically as it rounds off from shoulder to shoulder, just enough to form the upper torso to see the corset like dress that encompass the figure. Expanding

Perhaps the most technically impressive aspect of the painting is its remarkable three-dimensionality. Rembrandt is well known for his strikingly accurate portrayal of human shape and form, and this painting lives up to such reputation. With the use of oil paint, he was able to carefully and selectively layer color to create an astonishing representation of the human figure. The most alluring aspect of the piece, in terms of modeling technique, is the face. It contains so much detail; it is hard to believe this painting was done by hand. From the light, wispy texture of the facial hair to the subtle wrinkles surrounding the eyes, attention to detail is what sets this portrait far above many others. Rembrandt’s playful chiaroscuro on the nose and right hand truly give the piece a sense of depth, and the painterly quality of the piece produces a soft and elegant look. Also present within the face is the famous Rembrandt triangle. The result of a specific lighting technique frequently used by Rembrandt, a small triangle is formed underneath the eyes. It is present under the left eye in Marten’s portrait, which gives his face a more natural look. Another technique that intensifies the three-dimensionality of the visible body parts is the use of

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

This also shows his academic interests. He continues to share is ability to be artistic in this paragraph when he says, “I was an artist, always had been, and I would paint in their style, in reds, oranges, and rusts, on the rocks by the creek-geometric designs.” He reflects on his artistic ability and lonely despair when he states, “I lived in the worlds that I drew. ”(Paragraph 17) and again in paragraph 22: “I had painted a great Aztec pyramid under only black storm clouds, with nine masque-hideous faces upon it, one face for each tier. The lighting was angry and hellish and read, and an uneasy orange fire burned in each masque-face’s eyes.

Three specific details that indicate that the artist is a close observer are one, the blood marks on the duck that one can assume his son shot at in order to eat on their way to their trade point. Two, if observed closely, one can see a flock of birds flying toward the sunlight draw lightly to demonstrate the illusion of afar. Three, one can see native symbols on the quilt that the son is leaning on. The painting is painted as if the viewers are on land watching the father and son rowing the boat towards possibly the end of the Mississippi river. The water is clear and it reflects everything in the boat. Both the father and son are calm. The son is lounging and the father is smoking a pipe giving off a calm mood. The artist uses curves to help demonstrate the son’s boredom by making look as if he’s slouching. Bingham made the father and son’s body to connect and make a semicircle. Bingham uses spring colors, happy colors, to portray a relaxed mood. He uses soft colors, for instance the soft red color of the father shirt and the matte color black of the cat’s fur the keep the tranquil feeling.

Within the painting there is a landscape of tall sculptures that seem to simultaneously resemble buildings as well as stones so a depiction of modern civilization and previous life is being portrayed. Within the picture there is also african americans who stand elevated alongside the towering buildings with instruments in their hands and bright colors to give their vibe. White ghostly hands reach for the hard working Black figure who is trying to reach for the high altitude where the man who is playing the music has reached. Just this one painting reflected the life of an African American within this time period. It reached a large portion of the nation's hearts and created in influence with other

context such as race and gender, and the history of the painting. In addition, I will be

Directly above his head, yet still connected to his head is a semi-circle of an image of a woman holding a baby. It appears that the image is a memory, perhaps of his mother holding himself or his wife holding their child. The man is surely a representation of the artist and this is “his life”. He seems to be the focus of the painting and the overall theme appears to be memories layered throughout. Right above the original semi-circle is another semi-circle of four small, colorful squares. Each square is red, yellow, and blue in color reminding me of the artists’ Hispanic origins. Moving inward from the darker, gray and white outer portion of the painting seems to be a bookcase with three separate images. Each image is of a man painting on a canvas. These three separate images of a man painting throughout the artwork could be the artists’ memories of his father, or a significant man in his life. The grays, blacks, and white used show the artists’ darker memories, while the vibrant, beautiful colors symbolize the joyous ones. Similarly, the softer, warmer colors that the artist uses represent his love, appreciation, and admiration towards his father. Overall, the painting is a memory timeline that

It looks like the main focus of this painting is literally in the center of the piece. Anyone that were to ever view this painting could tell from the beginning that the overall view of this content is pathos. In the main section of the painting, there is an image of a person who is getting poured some type of liquid over their head. In this image, we can see the person in the center with no shirt on, and they have a small blue robe type of clothing tied below their waist. Around this person there are two figures with wings, they are wearing mini white gowns and their wings are white also. There is a person next to the wing like figures, that is pouring some type of liquid above the other person, this other human like

In my opinion, this work of art was truly amazing with the touch of darkness, mystery, and elegancy. The artist used the color mixture very well for that old antique look. The artist did very well in painting the background black and the woman black dress to distinguish the dress apart from the background. The phonograph is also distinguished from the background by painting white around the device. It gives that feeling of romance and darkness at the same time. The painting leaves the viewers of wanting more which the artist should had incorporated more things rather than just the woman and the phonograph. In the end, the masterpiece is absolutely amazing with a touch of the old century and modern

The Museum of Fine Arts, located in St. Petersburg, Florida holds a variety of artworks that depict a specific period in human development and cultural aspects. The variety was very helpful and the process to narrow down the search of a painting of my choice became less difficult. The painting that I choose was made by an American artist named Stuart Davis Untitled (Black and White Variation on Windshield Mirror). Davis’s painting was extremely peculiar and I wanted to further examine its properties. The Untitled has three characteristics that are unique: Davis’s background for creating the painting, understanding the types of lines used, and the choice of color schemes.

The artist depicts an initial confusing and weirded-out thought for the viewer at first glance, but as one deeply examines the art, the subject matter begins to become more clear. The vision being shared in this non-objective painting has a context of placing one in the standing of Mr. Man by gaining height and freedom from the (white) bars that are rising on each level that represent conflict which traps one in a “cage” of misery. The unbalanced symmetry of having the left side take up more space with little action, and the right side being smaller with the action unraveling, makes the viewer break down each composite perspective. For the left side, the mysterious female muse, Moon-Face, has an unproportional face that is almost blushing with shades of light pasty orange, with the mouth wide open. The energetic mood is amplified by the tone of yellow that is splashed in the mouth, representing a loss of words or at a state of disbelief. The female’s lower half is created with tints of red that enhances the curves on her body, as if chiaroscuro connects the light and dark contrast to show outline of the breasts, stomach, and hips in