Film 15: Picasso & Braque

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_cRXVw9680&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Question for open discussion: Why did these artists/filmakers chose to do these kinds of films? What is the meaning behind them?

Film 11: Manet/Monet/Timothy Marlow

Q1. I chose Edourd Manet and Claude Monet. I chose these artist because they have some similarities. They both like to paint their families in their paintings, and seem like they have a strong family background. Edourd Manet was the forefather of impressionism and Claude Monet was one of  the greatest impressionists. They both also like to paint the same way according to Timothy Marlow "seductive and their paintings would catch the eye of the public passing by".  Timothy didn't really treat any one of them different, it seemed like to me he had a great interest in both of them and of their work.

Q2. This painting was painted by Claude Monet, whom loved to paint pictures of his family. It has been told that his mother, father, and uncle are in the picture. They are enjoying a nice beautiful day outisde and have a nice conversation by the water. His uncle looks like he is enjoying his day as well as sitting in the chair thinking.

This painting by Edourd Manet is called the "Absinthe Drinker". It seems like this man is dealing with some sort of issues with the shadow of himself that is behind him. The painting is dark, but the man in the painting is dressed very sophisticated with a top hat on. Could it be this man is dealing with some heavy issues that are weighing on his mind?

Q3. Hughes and the others sort of interwine with one another because every painting and story is supposed to represent some sort of toughness within themselves. I think all of them are great story tellers, its hard to distinguish between them all because in some way they are all connected in some way.

Question for open discussion: Do you think that Manet & Monet have some kind of hidden dark secret as to why their paintings are almost similar? What kind of roots did they come from?

Film 10: VanGogh/Schama

Q1. Schama talks about Van Gogh with carefulness and seems like he feels sorry for him because of what he has been through throughtout his life. I did some research and it seems that Van Gogh was suffering from anxiety and other mental illnesses. He killed himself at an early age, I believe the article said he was 37 years old. You can see in the video that he has a great deal of anxiety and doesn't know how to handle it. He is constantly jittery or walking around in the video. He doesn't sit still long enough. Hence, why Schama talks about him a little more differently than the others, with the other painters Schama was a little more aggressive with his voice and his points. I like Van Gogh more than the others because even though he was suffering from anxiety, it seems as that was the best time for him to paint his paintings. Under the pressure is when he worked best, and thought best about everything that surrounded. You can see clearly in his paintings that his mood played a big role in his painting, by the colors, by the dramaticness of his paintings.

Q2. I like the starry night over the Rhone, its quiet, calm and nobody is around to hear your thoughts. I like the bright blues, yellows, and the motion of the water in the painting. The sky is lit up by bright yellow stars and there are so many of them, assuming that its the furthest away from a city. The further you are away from the city lights, the more stars you will see in the sky. There are a few fluffy clouds in the sky. I love going to places like this, because it gives me the opportunity to clear my head or to listen to my own thoughts without hearing my children or fiance in the background.

Q3. I like all of Van Gogh's paintings, in each painting has a different meaning or symbol that reprsents him and his thoughts. It's about how he sees the people and subjects he is painting. If I could have a skill like his and paint that many paintings I would feel very accomplished and relaxed because I would be able to put all my thoughts on a black canvas and make something beautiful out of it.

Question for open discussion: What did you convey from Van Gogh's paintings? What do you think his thought process was like?

Film 12: Impressionism/Collings

Q1. I'm a little torn between the paintings from this week and last week because I actually like both. I also feel that civilization and impressionism are some what intertwine with one another. You need civilization to give you impressionism for your paintings. As stated by Collings " People need to socialize in order to get everything we have in our daily lives". I like impressionism a little more than last week's lession only because you can read and predict a little more information from impressionism than in civilization. With an impressionism you can see if the person in the painting is sad, conflicted, or is thinking something really serious at the time of the painting being done. Collings surveyed almost the same enviornment as in last weeks lesson. He went where the inspiration is. Where people are full of life, love, and aspirations. H walked the metropolitan of New York City, where things are busy, fast, fun, and care-free.


Q2. There are two paintings that I chose, one is a bright colored painting, and the other is a painting of a city at night.

I chose this painting because its calm, peaceful, and gives you a sense of serenity when you are looking at the painting, picturing yourself that you are sitting on blanket, on a hot summer day. Possibly having a picnic, reading an interesting book, or sifting through a magazine. Or you could be having your picnic with a loved one and your children. Sitting down watching your children throw rocks into the water, or sitting there waiting for a frog to hop on one of those pads to relax. The lighting for this painting is perfect, bright and clear, full of sun. Shows just the right amount of greens, purples, whites, maybe even a little pink and purple.

The second painting I chose is because it shows this city a little bit different at night. Its beautiful, busy, care free. The colors in this canvas are little more dramatic than the one in the painting above. You have a darker greens, blues, yellow, some red in there. Depending on the mood of the painter this city is a little more devilis at night, a little more spontanious.

Q3. Every impressionism painting is different, as stated above it depends on the painters mood, setting, and the free style of their hand. If their hand has a feeling of tightness they might paint a more dramatic painting. If their hand is loose and care free, they will paint with bright, fun colors, instead of darker colors. In th painting above you can see it is taken at night, it is a different location than the heart of New York City. Both paintings are beautiful and give an touristic view of the city. So as you see, it just depends on the location and the mood of the painter. Because you can visit a thousand places, but you will never paint the same painting in those thousand places. Collings likes this kind of painting because it gives him a variety to choose from, its not just the same style painting or the same painting at all. Collings seems he likes diversity, he likes change and different places.

Question for open discussion: Why is impressionism such a big subject when it comes to painting?

Film 9: Civilization/Collings

Q1. Matthew Collings is a British art critic, writer and broadcaster. Collings is the producer and presenter for BBC The Late Show in 1989-1995. He also wrote documentaries films for Donald Judd, Georgia O'Kieeffe, etc. After leaving BBC Collings wrote and presented channel 4 TV series This is Modern Art which in return won him the Bafta award and many other awards.

Q2. A wide range of art history because these historians that he mentions such as Goya, David, Hockney, and so on are painters who express their true spirit of experiences of civilization in their paintings. It shows their feelings and thoughts of what the people were feeling at the time. It has been said by Collings that " what they are painting could be the way the world is going to be lived in the future". That civilization is the only way people are going to live a full life. I like Collings because he seems more down to earth, real life, the other artists have a sense of reality, but they also give off a "fake life" impression.

Q3. I think that our generation will be the "Facebook" generation. Because of the internet and technology advancing so rapidly, people will not have the communication or civilization with others unless its through a text message, laptop, email, or networks like Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter. Since all of this began, everyone has been communicating on an impersonal level. Its easier for people to communicate through via text, email, Facebook, rather than call the person or talk to       face-to-face, or even go visit the person and communicate that way. Years ago growing up thats how people would communicate by visiting their friends and family. Civilization is going to be the internet in the future.

The new wave of the future.

Film 8: Goya/Hughes

Q1: Robert Hughes is an Australian born art critic, writer, and television documentary maker who lives in New York since 1970. He was educated at St. Ignatius' College and attended the University of Sydney where he studied art and architecture. He has been published in many articles such as Time Magazine, The Observer, The Daily Telegraph, etc.

 

Q2. In this painting Goya is painting himself, some what facing a dark time in his life. He seems a little disturbed or confused on to what is going on around him in his life. He is searching for meaning in his life. It seems like Goya is obssessed with corruptedness and possibly evil. Some of paintings depict certain facial expressions of evilness and danger.

In his portrait of himself he is wearing a bull fighting jacket which shows a "declaration of toughness" according to Hughes. Goya is trying to link that there is common trait that we in the present have in common with our ancestors in the past. Referring to his bull fighter jacket, people in the 60's wore black leather jackets because it gives a symbol and representation that they are "tough" by wearing those jackets.

In this painting to the right it looks like he is painting someone that is evil, looks like he is swallowing a human.











Q3.  So far from what we have covered almost of the stories we have covered represent some kind of symbolicism, the French Revolution, mysteries or real life stories. Others seem to go off of inspiration and things that happen around them. Or they use props from things like pages of an old encyclopedia, for example: our Art professor likes to use blown up pictures of images or words from an encyclopedia. They all are correlated in one way or another, and its to show us that we do have some kind of common connection between us and our ancestors from the past. The best storyteller I would choose would be Simon Schama, he has a very intersting way of telling his stories. He takes a seriousness in telling his knowledge of Art. He likes mystery, and mystery is one of my favorite subjects. I like to be able to solve a good mystery. Even as a kid I loved to play the game clue. I often think life is like a game of clue, you solve a piece of the puzzle and another door to aother puzzle opens, and the pattern repeats.

Question for open discussion: Why is Robert Hughes so intrigued and puzzeld by Goya?

Film 7: David/Schama

Q1. Schama approached David with a little bit more seriousness in his research as well as his music for the youtube video.  It seems as if Schama likes to study and explore Europe for his paintings. It also appeared that he likes a good "mystery". He also focuses on the French Revolution and its attacks in Pais.  David and Caravaggio are similar in two ways, the first is assinations. Both paintings by David and Caravaggio have to do with murders and assinations during the French Revoluton.  And the second is the lighting for the paintings. The lighting of the paintings give off this dramatic and intense look.

Q2. I am somewhat disturbed, but yet curious about this picture. Seal Paul Marat was assinated in his bath tub. I am curious as to why someone would murder someone in his or her bath tub. But I guess everyone has their preference and reason why. Sean Paul looks peaceful in this painting. Schama described it as " beautiful and a guilty secret". Sean's face looks relieved as if he doesn't have to carry on anymore burden about anything he has done. The lighting looks dark, especially behind Sean, but in other aspects it looks very bright by the bath tub. It looks like he was reading some kind of letter or piece of paper. Or maybe he could be writing something to someone. Maybe he was writing a confession of some sort.

Q3. David seems to be a little bit of both "good guy" and a "bad guy". His paintings are representing life in its truest form, but at the same time he shows an infatuation with mystery, murder, and assinations. According Schama, " David's paintings were never meant to be shown off as gallory paintings, they are meant to show the entire of meaning of life".


Question for discussion: What do you think David was trying to convey in his paintings? And why is Schama so fascinated by David's paintings?