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Art Essay-
The context, of which art is created, clearly reflects its history and where it is from. Society’s values are further highlighted by the piece and give us insight into what life was like. This is interestingly interpreted by Juan Bautista de Espinosa’s exuberant baroque style painting, with a heavily catholic influence from Spain in the late 1500’s, as well as Margaret Olley’s contrasting and simplistic sensibility of the mid 20th century. Each artist’s aesthetic, although significantly different; equally allow us to understand a certain time and place
Juan Bautista de Espinosa was born in 1590c. into a heavily Catholic family and country. Originally a gilder of altarpieces, Espinosa mastered the technique of still-life in …show more content…

The Spanish Empire, in an effort to increase its size and spread Catholicism, carried out many conquests overseas. In Bautista’s work “Still-Life with Grapes, Flowers, and Shells, 1628” reflects the “new delights” that the “new world” had to offer”. The arrangement of shells and exotic birds and flowers, is a combination of old and new: with a traditional style of painting depicting exciting and unexplored goods. This could possibly be a metaphor for the rather old and powerful Spanish empire, exploring into the unknown. The subtle uses of bright bold colours of peach and chartreuse, as well as warm earth tones are a clear reflection of the South American tropics, along with their exotic flora and fauna, and humid climate. It also creates moods of excitement in anticipation of what else there is to explore. The lusciousness of the brush strokes and use of highlights give the painting a new life, in the both things harsh like the foliage of the plants and soft like plumage of the birds. The sombre background and traditional table ground the contrasting arrangement and forms the basic structure of the piece. It also competes with the display, just like Spain and its conquest against other nations.
Margaret Olley is possibly one of Australia’s most famous still life painters. Born in 1923, Olley enjoyed art from an early age and even died with paint still on her fingers. She was trained at the East

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