Have a look at these portraits and paintings and describe them using some of the expressions we went over in class. MoMA offers a glossary of art terms we can use to elaborate on them too.
Some fashionable artists to be found here and here. You could write something along these lines: 'The painter has used soft colours and, although it is hard to make out the texture, it looks as though it has been painted with long brush strokes. The portrait conveys a certain feeling of unease which could partly be due to the presence of the animal as well as the intensity of the woman's gaze'.
Also, how about having a go at guessing which picture is a fake?
Some fashionable artists to be found here and here. You could write something along these lines: 'The painter has used soft colours and, although it is hard to make out the texture, it looks as though it has been painted with long brush strokes. The portrait conveys a certain feeling of unease which could partly be due to the presence of the animal as well as the intensity of the woman's gaze'.
Also, how about having a go at guessing which picture is a fake?
10 comments:
I would like to comment the picture nº 1. It's a well-composed portrait. The woman is highlighted placing her in the centre of this oil canvas. She is surrounded by nature, some leaves and a tiny monkey. The painter has used soft colours, but there is one that out stands out, the black one. She is wearing a sophisticated hair style, a high bun with her bright black hair. The monkey's face is black and his black tail is around the woman's neck. It's the way to connect the monkey with the lady. Besides, she is wearing a peculiar necklace, a snake that bites itself and makes a perfect circle around the lady's neck. Although she is shown as a woman connected with nature, we can appreciate that she belongs to a wealthy class, with this long neck, looking at all of us from a superior level with a superior gaze and with her pouting lips.
The wall.
This picture looks simple but shocking. The human figure has been painted without details and dark, but it also expresses movement. On the other side, the landscape behind the curtain is wide and bright, but far from the man. It looks as though it is a symbol of the desperation for having a country with no inside borders.
I have chosen picture nº1 because I find it the most thougt-provoking
There are elements on the picture (e.g. the fixed look of both the woman and the monkey, and the snake-shaped necklace) that inspire mistrust and threat.
The whole atmosphere is disquietning and not peaceful at all. It seems to me that she is concentrated on something and I would risk to guess she's thinking that something unpleasant is going to happen.
The painter has used cold colours for the dress and the trees and warm colours for the woman's skin, but what really catch my attention is the very dark tones used for the woman's hair and eyebrows and for the monkey.
I chose Durer's portrait, I've always liked the artist's expression, the hair style, the fine brush strokes. I hazard a guess that he was in love with himself. The painting conveys the idea that he loves luxury and to be admired. On the other hand, the background is unsubstantial, dark, contrasting with the light face of the man. Also, Durer's signature is visible in the middle of the left part of the background, not in a discret place, as usual.
I am going to comment on the 5th painting. First of all, I would like to start by saying that it is a terribly confusing picture. We can observe four people sitting around a table, four strange and worried people. They seem as they were absent-minded, absorbed, as they did not know each other.
Colourfulness is one the predominant features of the picture. There is a dicotomy of warm and cold colours. A vast variety of colours has been used.
I would like to highlight the importance of body language, of hands' position. Why are they so worried, so bored?
Moving now to another remarkable characteristic, we may all observe "The Mona Lisa" painting in the background of the painting. Which is the author's purpose for this? Obviously, the people from the table have not even realised it.
The arrangement of the elements and the elements themselves are peculiar. I consider author's idea is intended to cause a chaos in the observer.
Girl with a pearl earring, this painting is showing the intimacy of a girl's gaze. We can see warm colors in the canvas and how the painter is directing our look to the parts of the painting he wants to point: eyes, pearl and mouth. He has hiden the girl's hair, probably to focus our attention on the face. To sum up, I would say that this portrait is a extraordinary example of how a painter can play with the lights to show us the most important parts of the canvas with a great delicacy and simplicity.
Girl with a pearl earring, this painting is showing the intimacy of a girl's gaze. We can see warm colors in the canvas and how the painter is directing our look to the parts of the painting he wants to point: eyes, pearl and mouth. He has hiden the girl's hair, probably to focus our attention on the face. To sum up, I would say that this portrait is a extraordinary example of how a painter can play with the lights to show us the most important parts of the canvas with a great delicacy and simplicity.
I have chose picture nº1 because I find it the most thought-provoking.
There are elements on the picture (e.g. the fixed look of the woman and the monkey and the snake-shaped necklace) that inspire mistrust and threat.
The whole atmosphere is disquieting and not peaceful at all. It seems to me that she is concentrated on something and I would risk to guess she's thinking that something unpleasant is going to happen.
The painter has used cold colours for the dress and the trees and warm colours for the woman's skin, but what really catches my attention is the very dark tones used for the woman's hair and eyebrows and for the monkey.
M_A:
Street art, an avant-garde tendency, is getting incredibly popular as a protest expression, especially in western countries. This graffiti shows ironically a window to paradise on a wall in the frontier, contrasting the effect of cold concrete and the light of the calming effect of this tropical sight. The anonymous author suggests the intention of one part of the society to face repression and division searching freedom and liberty.
RR:
About the last picture I'd like to say that it's an interesting author's protest against a wall, probably located in the Middle East, that divides different places and different populations.
In this case, it's a graffiti that denounces an unfairness. Id risk a guess that it's a picture made by Banksy, a famous painter who uses graffiti in public places in order to criticize or convey injustices.
In my opinion, the author uses warm colours to show a beach behind the curtain that contrasts with the sadness and the darkness of the wall and the place itself. The painter shows in this case a sharp style to reach his goal.
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