Later Europe And Americas

Front 1

Portrait of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.Miguel Cabrera. c. 1750 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Content: She is seated in a library and is surrounded by symbols of her faith and learning. A literary figure who published books that were widely read and wrote poetry and theoretical pieces. She also maintained a great library. She is wearing the habit of the religious order of Hermits of St. Jerome nuns of Mexico City. There is also an escudo, or a framed velium painting. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: Sor Juana Inés, or Sister Juana Agnes is a child prodigy who was born on 1651 and died in 1695. She is a creole woman that became a nun in 1669. The painting was done 55 years after her death for her admirers. Many portraits of her survive, but all of them are made from a now lost self-portrait. Feminist culture survived in Mexican convents where privileged nuns would live in comfort with the servant and households. Function: Style: Meaning: It is instrumental as it is giving girls an education in a male dominated world.

Front 2

A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery. Joseph Wright of Derby. c. 1763-1765 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby, United KingdomContent: The philosopher is loosely based on a portrait of Issac Newton. The lamp that is in the center is the sun. There is a mixed group of people attending that are of the middle class. There are all ages of men and there is a young woman that is seated to the left. Some are curious, some are contemplating. some are in wonder and some are fascinated. A philosopher stops to explain a point to the note taker that is located on the left. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: It is one of a series of candlelight pictures by Wright and were inspired by Caravaggio's use of tenebrism. Orrery is an early version of the planetarium, which imitate the motion of the solar system. It is influenced by the meeting of a provincial group of intellectuals, also known as the Lunar Society, who meet once a month to discuss scientific discoveries and developments made at the time. Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 3

The Swing. Jean-Honoré Fragonard. 1767 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Wallace Collection, LondonContent: There are puffy clouds, rich vegetation, abundant flowers, and sinuous curves. The figures are small in the prominent garden-like setting. A young girl is swinging flirtatiously by an unsuspecting bishop from behind. The patron is in the lower left corner looking up the skirt of the young lady. She is boldly kicking off her shoes at a cupid statue. The patron is hiding in the bower. Cupid is asking the young lady to be cautious, but could also represent the patron secretly hiding. Form: Asymmetrical balance; atmospheric perspectiveContext: Function: Style: Curvilinear characteristics Meaning:

Front 4

Monticello. Virginia, U.S. Thomas Jefferson (architect). 1768-1809 C.E. Brick, glass, stone, and wood.

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Content: It resembles a one-story building with a dome, but the balustrade hides the second floor. There are tall French doors and windows to allow for circulation during the hot Virginia summers. Form: Symmetrical interior design; octagonal domeContext: In Italian, it means little mountain. It is inspired by the Palladian villas in Italy and Roman ruins in France. It is a brick building with stucco applied to trim to give it the impression of marble. Function: It is a chief building on Jefferson's plantation. Style: Meaning:

Front 5

The Oath of the Horatii. Jacques-Louis David. 1784 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Content: The figures are pushed to the foreground. The forms are vigorous, powerful, animated, and emphatic. The gestures are sweeping and unified. One of the women on the right is engaged to one of the Curiatii brothers while the other woman is the sister of the Curatii brothers. It contains Neoclassical drapery and tripartite composition, but it's not Neoclassical due to its Caravaggio-like lightning and un-Roman architectural capitals. Form: Context: This painting is an example of exemplum virtutis, which shows self-sacrifice for the greater good. It was painted under a royal patronage. It created a sensation at the Salon of 1785. Function: It shows the story of three brothers or the Horatti who battle three other brothers, the Curatii whom are from another city and aren't painted. They pledge their fidelity to their father and to Rome. Style: Neoclassical; exemplum virtutisMeaning:

Front 6

George Washington. Jean-Antoine Houdon. 1788-1792 C.E. Marble.

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Content: George Washington is shown dressed as an eighteenth-century gentleman. Things associated with the military are minimised. The epaulettes on shoulder and sword are cast to the side. It is portrayed with naturalistic details. There is a button missing on his jacket and a tightly buttoned vest that covers his protruding stomach. The plow behind Washington symbolizes his plantation. He also seen as a man of vision and enlightenment. The badge of Cincinnatus is on his belt. Washington was a gentleman-farmer who left Mount Vernon to take up the American cause similar to how Cincinnatus from the Roman Republic left his farm to take control of the Roman armies before going back to it. He is leaning on the Roman fasces, or a group of rods bounded together on the top and bottom. There are thirteen rods which symbolize the thirteen colonies. Washington is leaning on them meaning that he is being supported by the thirteen colonies. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 7

Self-Portrait. Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun. 1790 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Content: She is looking at the viewer as she paints a portrait of Marie Antoinette who is created from memory as she was killed during the French Revolution. The thing in the painting is looking admiringly at the painter. There is a light Rococo touch to the coloring. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: It is inspired by the portraits of Rubens. There are forty self-portraits of the painter and all of them are highly idealized.Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 8

Y no hai remedio (And There's Nothing to Be Done), from Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War), plate 15. Francisco de Goya. 1810-1823 C.E. (published 1863). Etching, drypoint, burin, and burnishing.

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Content: Y no hai remedio is very bitterly ironic and sardonic. It shows the guns being pointed at very close range towards the victims. The victims are most likely Spanish patriots who will by killed by French soldiers. There are mangled bodies on the ground. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: There are eighty etchings and aquatints in Los Desastres de la Guerra and was published in 1863 which is thirty-five years after the artist's death. It was influenced by Spain's continuous warfare. The original title of "The Disasters of War" was "Fatal Consequences of Spain's Bloody War with Bonaparte and Other Emphatic Caprices". Function: The Disasters of War is criticizing the French's occupation of Spain and Spain's subsequent rulers. A question arises whether the people being shot at are civilians or soldiers. Style: RomanticismMeaning: The Disasters of War shows themes of war, famine, and politics.

Front 9

La Grande Odalisque. Jean-Auguste- Dominique Ingres. 1814 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Louvre, ParisContent: Has a Raphael-like face. There is an inconsistent arrangement of limbs. The arms are rubbery and her back is elongated. One arm is longer than the other and the placement of her leg. There are Turkish elements such as an incense burner, peacock fan, tapestrylike turban, and hashish pipe. Thus, the name "odalisque" was used. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: It is greatly influenced by Italian Mannerism in its exaggerated body forms. Function: Style: Meaning: It shows a further improvement of the female nude form.

Front 10

Liberty Leading the People. Eugène Delacroix. 1830 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Louvre, ParisContent: It shows Liberty with French tricolor marching over the barricades to overthrow government soldiers. Red, white, and blue echoes throughout the painting. There is a child with pistols which symbolizes the role of the students in this revolt. The middle class is represented by a man in a top hat and carrying a rifle. The lower class is being represented by a man on the left holding a sword in one hand and a pistol in his belt. Liberty is wearing a red Phrygian cap which was worn in the ancient by freed slaves. The Notre Dame Cathedral is shown through the smoke on the right and the French tricolor is raised on its tower. Form: Asymmetrical balance; pyramid structureContext: It was obtained by the French State in 1831, but was not shown to the public for 25 years due to its subversive or rebellious message. The Parisian landmark of the Notre Dame is mixed up with the true historical event and the allegorical and symbolical figures. Function: It shows the July Revolution of 1830. It memorializes the overthrow of the French government in favor of the "Citizen King", Louis-Phillipe. Style: Oil paintingMeaning:

Front 11

The Oxbow (View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm). Thomas Cole. 1836 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of ArtContent: Cole divided the landscape into two distinct contrasting areas. Romantic on the left and Classical landscape on the right. Cole's self-portrait is in the background. Covered in a dense forest that is impenetrably thick with broken trees, and a wild landscape with storms.Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: He is the founder of the Hudson River School. It was painted to respond to a British book that criticized the Americans for destroying the wilderness with industry.Function: It was painted for an exhibit and the National Academy of Design and is accounted for its unusually large size. Style: Romantic and Classical Meaning: It shows an actual view of Massachusetts.

Front 12

Still Life in Studio. Louis- Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. 1837 C.E. Daguerreotype.

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Content: There are a variety of textures such as fabric, wicker, plaster, framed print, wood, metal, etc. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: Still life were inspired by painted still life such as vanitas paintings. Daguerreotypes have great detail and has a shiny surface. Function: Style: Meaning: New art forms inspired by old art forms.

Front 13

Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On). Joseph Mallord William Turner. 1840 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonContent: The bloody sunset acts as a symbol for the scene that is unfolding. Recognizable forms such as the ship, the hands, and the chains are reduced in size so that is pales in comparison to the power of the turbulent landscape. Form: Asymmetrical balance;Context: Turner's painting was inspired by a scandal published in a book by Thomas Cook which had been reprinted in 1839. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1840 with an excerpt from Joseph Turner's own poem, "The Fallacies of Hope". It is based on the true story of an event that occurred in 1781 in which a slave ship known as The Zong with a ship full of slaves to be sailed towards America. Slaves are insured against accidental drowning, but not on sick and dying slaves which forced the captains to treat their slaves humanely. However, those that became sick or died, the captain would toss them overboard. England freed the slaves in 1833 due to an act of Parliament, but there were exceptions that were addressed until 1843. Function: Style: Emotional use of color; rapid brushworkMeaning:

Front 14

Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). London, England. Charles Barry and Augustus W. N. Pugin (architects). 1840-1870 C.E. Limestone masonry and glass.

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Content: It is a gigantic building with 1,100 rooms, 100 staircases, and corridors that stretch for 2 miles. Its central octagonal space contains statues of the Kings and Queens of England and Scotland. There are four mosaics that cover four doorways. Each mosaic represents four saints who represent the different areas of the United Kingdom. St. George represents England, St. Andrew respresents Scotland, St. David represents Wales, and St. Patrick represents Northern Ireland. Form: Context: A competition was held in 1835 for a new Houses of Parliament as the old one had burned down. There were 97 entrants. 91 was done in Perpendicular Gothic while 6 was done in the Elizabethan style. It was thought to be the native English styles. Gothic architectural touches were added to the structure by Pugin, who was a Gothic architect. The use of Gothic ornaments exceeds that of what would have been used in a regular Gothic building. The Big Ben is a clock tower and it also acts as a village clock for London. The central lobby is situated in between the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The central lobby was a place where the people would come to see members of Parliament. The metal grills on the doorway were originally in the House of Commons. They also marked the spot where women could be seated to watch members of the Parliament and is now, symbols of the suffrage movement. The Westminster Hall is what remains of medival house of the Houses of Parliament after it had been burn down. Function: It is a modern office building that is covered in medieval clothes. Style: Meaning:

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Front 15

The Stone Breakers. Gustave Courbet. 1849 C.E. (destroyed in 1945). Oil on canvas.

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Content: Two men are shown breaking down stone into rubble so that is could be used for paving. It shows that the figures are poor and will be poor for the remainder of their lives. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: It was submitted to the Salon of 1850-1851. It was done in response to the labor unrest of 1848 where people were demanding for better working conditions. The large size of paintings was usually reserved for grand historical paintings. However, by doing this, it helps promote this ordinary painting to the level of legend and history.Function: It shows poverty among the people. Style: Meaning:

Front 16

Nadar Raising Photography to the Height of Art. Honoré Daumier. 1862 C.E. Lithograph.

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Current Location: Brooklyn Museum, New YorkContent: Nadar is shown as a quacky photographer. For example, due to his excitement in taking a photo, he almost falls out of the balloon and even loses his hat. Every building has the word photographie on it. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: Nadar was famous for taking aerial photos in Paris since 1858. It mocks the claim that photography can be high art and its irony is implied by its title. It was done after the court decision that determined that photographs could be considered works of art in 1862. Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 17

Olympia. Édouard Manet. 1863 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Content: It shows the traditional subject of a reclining nude and it created a scandal at the Salon of 1865. The figure is cold and uninviting. There is no mystery or joy. There is a maid that is delivering flowers from an admirer. Olympia's frank, uncaring, direct, and unnerving startled onlookers. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: It was inspired by Titian's Venus of Urbino. Olympia was a common name for prostitutes at the time. Having a mistress was common to upper-class Parisians at the time. Function: Style: Simplified modeling; active brushwork; stark contrast of colorsMeaning:

Front 18

The Saint-Lazare Station. Claude Monet. 1877 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Museé d'Orsay, ParisContent: The effects of steam, light and color are not really about machines or travelers. Form: Asymmetrical balance; dissolves an dematerializes, color overwhelms the formsContext: It was exhibited at the Impression Exhibition of 1877. Monet is famous for painting series of paintings of the same subject at different times of the day and different days of the year. It was one of a series depicting trains. Originally meant to be hung together for effects. Haystacks were his first series to be hang together this way. Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 19

The Horse in Motion. Eadweard Muybridge. 1878 C.E. Albumen print.

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Content: Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: Human photography was now advanced enough so that I could capture moments in which the human eye could not. A device called a zoopraxiscope was used. The camera snaps photos at evenly spaced points along a track which gives it the notion that something is happening in sequence. Function: Style: Meaning: It greatly influenced painters.

Front 20

The Valley of Mexico from the Hillside of Santa Isabel (El Valle de México desde el Cerro de Santa Isabel). Jose María Velasco. 1882 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: National Art Museum, Mexico CityContent: It shows a keen observation of rocks, foliage, clouds, and waterfalls. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: Velasco is primarily an academic landscape painter and specialized in broad panoramas of the Valley of Mexico. He settled in Villa Guadalupe which has an overview of the Valley of Mexico. Function: It helped glorify the Mexican countryside. Style: Dramatic perspective, small human figuresMeaning: It rejected realist landscapes of Courbet and romantic landscapes of Turner.

Front 21

The Burghers of Calais. Auguste Rodin. 1884-1895 C.E. Bronze.

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Current Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkContent: The figures are sculpted individually and have different emotions such as fearful, resigned or forlorn. They suffer from privation and are weak and emaciated. They are arranged in what the artist thought was best. The central figure is Eustache de Saint-Pierre who has large swollen hands and a noose around his neck ready him for his execution. Form: Asymmetrical balance; details are reduced to increase the overall impressionContext: There were six burghers that offered their lives to the English King in return for saving their besieged city during the Hundred Years' War. It is similar to how Paris was besieged during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and Calais besieged by the English in 1347. The English King insisted that they wear sackcloths and carry the key to the city. It is meant to be placed at ground level so that people could see it up close. It was rejected by the town council of Calais as inglorious as they wanted a single allegorical figure. Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 22

The Starry Night. Vincent van Gogh. 1889 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Museum of Modern Arts, New YorkContent: There are mountains in the distance. The steepness is exaggerated. There is a composite landscape with a Dutch church, crescent moon, and Mediterranean cypress tree. The cypress tree is a symbol of death and eternal life. They are at one with the forces of nature. The trees seem like if they are green flames that are reaching into the sky exploding with stars over a placid village. Parts of the canvas can be seen through the brushwork as not every space needed to be filled. There is strong left-to-right impulse which is only broken by the tree and church steeple. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: The mountains are the ones that Van Gogh sees at his hospital room in St-Remy. Function: Style: Thick short brushstrokes;Meaning:

Front 23

The Coiffure. Mary Cassatt. 1890-1891 C.E. Drypoint and aquatint.

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Content: There is no posing and acting which helps render the figures as having a natural charm. She has a Japanese hair style. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: Cassatt's world is filled with women and they shown as independent not needing to rely on men to make themselves complete. It also shows women having fun with other women. It is part of a series of ten prints that were exhibited together. Function: Style: Pastel Color SchemeMeaning: The decorative charms is influenced by Japanese art. It shows tenderness which is foreign to other Impressionist.

Front 24

The Scream. Edvard Munch. 1893 C.E. Tempera and pastels on cardboard.

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Current Location: National Gallery, OsloContent: Figures are walking along a wharf and there are boats at sea at a distance. Figures are crying out in a horrifying scream with the landscape mimicking their emotions. Long thick brushstrokes swirls around the composition and discordant colors show the anguish of the piece. There is an emaciated stick figure with a skull-like head. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: It was painted as part of a series known as The Frieze of Life. It was said to have been inspired by a Peruvian mummy in Paris. It prefigures expressionist art. Contains art Nouveau swirling patterns. Function: Style: Meaning:

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Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? Paul Gauguin. 1897-1898 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonContent: The right side shows birth; the infant and three adults. The middle shows the mid-life; shows the pick of the fruit of the world. The left side shows death; the figure is derived from a Peruvian mummy that was exhibited in Paris. The Blue Idol represents "The Beyond". The figures in the foreground represent Tahiti and an Eden-like paradise while the figures in the background are darkened and anguish. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: It was painted during Gauguin's second stay in Tahiti between 1895-1901. He suffered from poor health and poverty and was obsessed with thoughts of death. In April 1897, he learned about the death of his daughter, Aline and was shaken deeply. He was determined to have this painting be his last artistic will and testament and commit suicide. It talks about the story of life and is read from right to left. Gauguin thought of the painting as his summation of his artistic and personal expressions. There are many non-traditional influences. Egyptian figures are used for inspiration. Japanese prints in the solid field of color and unusual angles and Tahitian imagery in the Polynesian idol.Function: Meant to be Gaugin's last artistic will and testament. Style: Abstraction; non-traditional Meaning: There is a rejection of Greco-Roman culture.

Front 26

Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building. Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Louis Sullivan (architect). 1899-1903 C.E. Iron, steel, glass, and terra cotta.

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Content: The horizontal emphasis symbolises a continuous flow of floor space. Maximum window areas to admit light and to also display store wares. There is a nonsupportive role of the exterior. The cast iron decorative elements transform the store into a beautiful place to buy lovely things. The exterior is coated in decorative terracotta tiles. There is original interior ornament that is elaborately arranged around lobby areas, hallways, and elevator. There are some historical touches in the round entrance arches and the heavy cornice at the top of the building.Form: Symmetrical balance; Context: Sullivan's motto is "Form follows function" which can be shown in this building. There are influences of Art Nouveau in decorative touches. Function: Style: Meaning:

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Front 27

Mont Sainte-Victoire. Paul Cézanne. 1902-1904 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Content: The landscape is seen from an elevation. The landscape rarely contains humans. The viewer is invited to look at space, but not enter. It is not a momentary look of the atmosphere as in the Impressionists, but a solid and firmly constructed mountain and foreground. Form: Asymmetrical balance Context: It is one of eleven canvases of this view. The series dominates Cézanne's mature period. He had contempt for flat painting and wanted rounded and firm objects, but ones that were geometric constructions made from splashes of undiluted color. Used perspective by combining forward warm colors with receding cool colors. Function: Style: Geometric formsMeaning: It shows not the countryside of Impressionism, but Cézanne is more interested in geometric forms rather than the dappled effects of light.

Front 28

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Pablo Picasso. 1907 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Museum of Modern Art, New York Content: There is no real depth and multiple views are being expressed at the same time. The poses are awkward, expressionless, and uninviting as opposed to the traditionally alluring poses. The three prostitutes on the left are more conservatively painted while the two on the right are more radically painted. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: It was also influenced by Gauguin's primitivism. The difference in how either side is being painted reflects a dichtomy in Pablo Picasso. Function: It represents five prostitutes, each posing for a customer, in a bordello on Avignon Street in Barcelona. Style: CubismMeaning: It is the first Cubist work of art and was inspired by the late Paul Cézanne and even, African masks.

Front 29

The Steerage. Alfred Stieglitz. 1907 C.E. Photogravure.

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Current Location: Private CollectionContent: Form: Asymmetrical balance; there is a Cubist-like arrangement of shapes and tonal values. Context: Alfred Stieglitz photographed the world as he saw it. He arranged little and allowed people and events to make their own compositions. He was interested in compositional possibilities of diagonals and lines acting as framing elements. Diagonals and framing effects of ladders, sails, steam pipes, etc. Published in October 1911 in Camera Work. The Steerage is the part of the ship which is reserved for the passengers with the cheapest tickets. It was influenced by experimental European painting compared to a Cubist painting by Picasso. Function: It depicts the poorest passengers traveling from the United States to Europe in 1907. Some of them may have been people who have turned away from the entrance to the United States like artisans whose visas had expired and were returning home. Style: PhotographMeaning: The content in this photograph represents the social divisions of the society.

Front 30

The Kiss. Gustav Klimt. 1907-1908 C.E. Oil and gold leaf on canvas.

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Current Location: Austrian Gallery, ViennaContent: Little of the human form is actually seen. There are two heads, four hands, and two feet. The bodies are most likely under a sea of richly designed patterns. The male figure has large rectangular boxes while the female figure has circular forms. There are spaced in an indeterminate location against a flattened background. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: The gold leaf used is reminiscent of Byzantine mosaics. Suggests all-consuming love. There are passion and eroticism. Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 31

The Kiss. Constantin Brancusi. Original 1907-1908 C.E. Stone.

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Current Location: Philadelphia Museum of art, PhiladelphiaContent: It is symbolic and almost Cubist as it renders both the male and female human forms. It's an intertwined and enveloped figure. The two eyes become one making almost cyclops-like. Shows interlocked forms. Form: Approximately symmetrical balanceContext: Brancusi worked in Rodin's studio (The Kiss). This is the fourth stone version of this object which was commissioned. The first version was one of his earliest efforts at stone carving and is located in the Craiova Art Museum, Romania. The second version is exhibited at the Armory show. Function: Style: Meaning:

Front 32

The Portuguese. Georges Braque. 1911 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Art Museum Basel, SwitzerlandContent: It featured forms, the objects are being broken down into smaller forms. The clear-edged surfaces sit on the picture plane and not recessed in space. The only realistic elements are the stenciled letters and numbers. Possibly that there is a dance hall poster behind the guitarist, a cafe atmosphere. It is nearly monochrome.Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: It is analytical cubism. He worked with Pablo Picasso to develop this style. Function: Style: Analytical CubismMeaning: It rejected naturalistic and conventional painting.

Front 33

Goldfish. Henri Matisse. 1912 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, RussiaContent: There is a violent contrast of color and they are thinly applied as the white of the canvas can be seen. There are broad patches of color which anticipate Color-field painting later in the century. Form: Approximately Symmetrical balanceContext: It may have been influenced by Asian art's decorative quality. Function: Style: Still life painting; energetic painterly brushworkMeaning:

Front 34

Improvisation 28 (second version). Vassily Kandinsky. 1912 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Guggenheim Museum, New YorkContent: Color seemed to shade around line forms. He strongly articulated the use of black lines. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: The title is derived from musical compositions. Kandinsky would give musical titles such as "Composition" and "Improvisation" to his works. He wanted the viewer to respond to his painting like how people would respond to an abstract musical composition such as a concerto, sonata, or symphony. He felt that sound and color were linked. Function: Style: AbstractionMeaning: Shows a movement towards abstraction and that representational objects are being suggested instead of depicted.

Front 35

Self-Portrait as a Soldier. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. 1915 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OhioContent: The nude model represents what is used to paint, but can no longer paint them. There is a drawn face and the right hand is missing which shows that he feels that he can paint anymore. There is an expressive quality about the facial features and grim surroundings. The tilted perspective moves things closer to the picture plane. The colors are not representational, but symbolic and are chosen to provide a jolting impact. Form: Asymmetrical balance; tilted perspectiveContext: Kirchner was an unwilling volunteer driver in the artillery in World War I as he did not want to be drafted into the military. He deemed unfit for military service because of lung problems and weakness. He also had a mental breakdown which debated as to whether or not he faked these problems so that he could avoid service. He painted this work during a recuperation period. His life was plagued by drug abuse, acoholism, and then paralysis. Function: Style: Nightmarish qualityMeaning:

Front 36

Memorial Sheet for Karl Liebknecht. Käthe Kollwitz. 1919-1920 C.E. Woodcut.

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Current Location: Private CollectionContent: The stark black and white of the woodcut is used to magnify the grief. There is no political reference in the woodcut. Human grief is prominent in this composition. Form: Asymmetrical balance;Context: Liebknecht was one of the founders of the Berlin Spartacus League which later became the German Communist Party. In 1919, Leibknecht was shot to death during the communist uprising in Berlin which is known as the Spartacus revolt. Function: Style: Meaning: There is a theme of women grieving over their dead children. Kollwitz's son died in World War I and thus, became a socialist.

Front 37

Villa Savoye. Poissy-sur-Seine, France. Le Corbusier (architect). 1929 C.E. Steel and reinforced concrete.

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Patron: Pierre and Emilie SavoyeContent: Tha main part of the house is being lifted narrow pilotis or thin freestanding posts. The house has a boxlike horizontal quality and is extremely abstract. It has a streamlined look and appears to float on pilotis. All the space is utilized. The roof is used as a patio. The turning circle on the bottom floor is a carport which allows members of the family to be able to enter their house directly after exiting their car. The open interior is free of many walls. The furniture is built into the walls. Ribbon windows winds around the second floor. The living spaces around an open courtyard setting on the second floor are surrounded by glass. Subtle colors are used such as white on the exterior which represents modern cleanliness; a new, simplicity, healthful lifestyle. Form: Symmetrical balance; boxlike Context: It is a three bedroom villa with servant's quarters. The patrons wanted a country house. Function: A living space for the Savoye family. Style: Simplicity; house; subtle colorsMeaning:

Front 38

Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow. Piet Mondrian. 1930 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Private CollectionContent: Only primary and neutral colors are used. Red, blue, yellow, black and white. There is severe geometry of forms and right angles. There is are gridlike forms. There are no shading of colors. Form: Asymmetrical balance; rectanglesContext: Function: Style: Simplicity; geometricMeaning:

Front 39

Illustration from The Results of the First Five-Year Plan. Varvara Stepanova. 1932 C.E. Photomontage.

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Current Location: Museum of the Revolution, Moscow, RussiaContent: The large portrait of Lenin shows that his image is used to stimulate patriotism even though he is dead. The color red is also dominant as it is the color of the Soviet Union. There is an emphasis on growth of heavy industry rather than consumer goods. There is a huge increase in electrical output. Basically, there is a dominant industrial symbol in the work. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: Varvara Stepanova is one of the key figures in the Russian avant-garde movement. It was influenced by Cubism and Futurism. The five-year plan is the Soviets practice of increasing agricultural and industrial production in five years. It was launched in 1928 and finished in 1932. The CCCP is a Russian abbreviation for the Soviet Union. It is a double page spread in a book. Function: It is a graphic art created for political and propaganda reasons.Style: Graphic artMeaning: Portraits of the deceased is also able to create patriotism.

Front 40

Object (Le Déjeuner en fourrure). Meret Oppenheim. 1936 C.E. Fur-covered cup, saucer, and spoon.

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Current Location: Museum of Modern Art, New YorkContent: There is a combination of unlike objects such as a fur-covered teacup, saucer and spoon. It is an assemblage. Form: Asymmetrical balance; erotic overtoneContext: It said to be done as a response to Picasso's claim that anything looks good in fur. Oppenheim was twenty-two when she produced this work of art and became famous which later helped her growth as an artist. It was chosen by visitors of a Surrealist show in New York as the quintessential Surrealist work of Art. Function: A response to Picasso's claim that anything would look good with fur. Style: SurrealismMeaning: It combined traditionally female and genteel objects versus masculinity of sculpture done on hard surfaces in great scale and done vertically.

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Fallingwater. Pennsylvania, U.S. Frank Lloyd Wright (architect). 1936-1939 C.E. Reinforced concrete, sandstone, steel, and glass.

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Content: Cantilevered porches extend over the waterfall. It is accented on horizontal lines and its architecture is in harmony with the site. The living room contains glass curtain wall around three of the four sides and embraces the wood around it The floor of the living room and walls of the building are made from stones found in the area. The hearth is the center of the house and an outcropping of natural stones surround the hearth. The suppression of space is devoted to hanging a painting. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: Wright wanted the architecture to be dominant as shown by the irregular and complex ground plan and design. Function: Style: Irregularity; complexityMeaning:

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The Two Fridas. Frida Kahlo. 1939 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Museum of Modern Art, Mexico CityContent: It is a combination of two self-portraits. The left shows Kahlo dressed as a Spanish lady with a white face while the right shows Kahlo dressed as a Mexican peasant. There is a barren lansdscape that shows the two figures sitting against a wildy active sky. Her two hearts are being connected together by veins which are cut by scissors by one end and lead to a portrait of her husband, Rivera at the other which was painted at the time of their divorce. The vein also acts as an embellical cord which also makes Rivera both a husband and a son. The blood on her lap suggests that she had many abortions and miscarriages. It also suggests her surgeries which are related to polio. Form: Asymmetrical balance; Context: Kahlo rejected the label of Surrealism to her work. The stiffness and provincial quality of Mexican folk art served as an inspiration for the artist. Function: Style: Meaning:

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The Migration of the Negro, Panel no. 49. Jacob Lawrence. 1940-1941 C.E. Casein tempera on hardboard.

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Current Location: Museum of Modern Art, New YorkContent: The overall color unity in the series unites each painting. Collective unity is achieved by painting one color across many panels before going on to the next color. The forms are extremely angular and they are flat simple shapes that hover over large spaces. It also shows a collective African-American experience as there is little individuality in the figures. The color is unmodulated. The tilted tabletop shows the surface of the table. Segregation is emphasized by the yellow poles that zigzag down the center. Form: Asymmetrical balance; large negative space; angular forms, simple shapesContext: It is a series of sixty paintings that depicts the migration of African-Americans from the rural South to the urban North after World War I. It goes back to tempera paint. He was influenced by Italian masters of the fourteenth and fiftheenth century. Function: Shows the migrations of African-Americans from the South to the North. This scene shows a public restaurant in the North. Style: Tempera; narrative paintingMeaning: It is a narrative painting done during an era where abstraction was becoming extremely popular.

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The Jungle. Wifredo Lam. 1943 C.E. Gouache on paper mounted on canvas.

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Current Location: The Museum of Modern Art, New YorkContent: The crescent shape faces suggests African masks. There are rounded backs, thin arms and legs, hands and feet. It is meant to suggest sugarcane which are grown in fields and not jungles. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: Wilfredo Lam was a Cuban-born artist whose career took him to the United States and Europe. He was interested in Cuba's mix of Hispanic and African cultures. He was also a member of the Surrealist movement in Paris. He was influenced by African sculptures, Cubist work, and Surrealist paintings. Function: It is meant to address the history of slavery in colonial Cuba. It was intended to communicate a "psychic state".Style: SurrealismMeaning:

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Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Park. Diego Rivera. 1947-1948 C.E. Fresco.

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Current Location: Museo Mural Diego Rivera, Mexico CityContent: The composition depicts who is who of Mexican politics, culture, and leadership. It shows Sor Juana, Benito Juárez who was a five-term president of Mexico, General Santa Ana who is handing the Keys of Mexico to General Winfield Scott, Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlotta, José Marti who is the father of Mexican independence and is tipping his hat, General Porfirio Díaz with meals and is asleep, a police officer ordering a family out of an elitist park, Francisco Madero who is a martyred president, and the artist who is ten years old holding hands Caterina or death while dreaming of perfect love with Kahlo behind him. Form: Asymmetrical balance; it is a fifty-foot-long fresco and thirteen feet highContext: It was originally located in the lobby of the Hotel Del Prado. After the 1985 earthquake which damaged the hotel, it was placed in Alameda Park which is Mexico City's first park. It was built on the grounds of an Aztec marketplace. Function: It depicts three eras of Mexican history. The conquest and colonization by the Spanish, Porfirio Diaz's dictatorship, and the Revolution of 1910. Style: Didactic painting; colorful painting; horror vacuiMeaning: It shows a revival of fresco painting which is a Mexican specialty.

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Fountain (second version). Marcel Duchamp. 1950 C.E. (original 1917). Readymade glazed sanitary china with black paint.

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Current Location: Philadelphia Museum of Art, PennsylvaniaContent: Form: Symmetrical balanceContext: It was a ready-made sculpture that Marcel Duchamp thought was a work of art. He entered it in an unjuried show, but it was refused. It is signed by the artist. He signed R. Mutt which is a pun on the Mutt and Jeff comic strip and the Mott Iron Works. The title of this work is called Fountain which is a pun as fountains spout liquid while a urinal collects it. He added more irony by turning it upside down. Function: Style: Ready-madeMeaning:

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Woman, I. Willem de Kooning. 1950-1952 C.E. Oil on canvas.

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Current Location: Museum of Modern Art, New YorkContent: It shows a ferocious woman with great fierce teeth and huge eyes. The jagged lines create an overpowering image. The thick and thin black lines are prominent. It has a blank stare and frozen grin. It has large bulbous breast which is a satire on women who appear in magazine advertising and its smile is thought to have been influenced by an advertisement of a woman selling camel cigarettes. The smile is a cut out from a magazine of a female smile. It has an ambiguous environment with vagueness and insecurity. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: It is influenced by everything, from Paleolithic goddesses to pin-up girls. It is one of a series of six on women themes. It shows a combination of stereotypes. The ironic comment on the banal and artificial world of film and advertisements. Function: Style: Abstract Expressionism; slashing of paint onto canvasMeaning:

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Seagram Building. New York City, U.S. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson (architects). 1954-1958 C.E. Steel frame with glass curtain wall and bronze.

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Content: This building has excellent simplicity, geometry of design, and elegance of construction. The bronze veneer gives the skyscraper a monolithic look. There is an interplay of vertical and horizontal accents. Form: Symmetrical balance; Context: Mies's saying "Less is more" is shown. It is set back from the street on a wide plaza balanced by reflecting pools. Function: It is a reflection of the Minimalist movement in painting. Style: International StyleMeaning: It shows a success of the International Style of architecture.

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Marilyn Diptych. Andy Warhol. 1962 C.E. Oil, acrylic, and silkscreen enamel on canvas.

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Current Location: Tate Gallery, LondonContent: It is screen-printing photographic images onto backgrounds of rectangular shapes. The left is in color which represents her life. The right which is in black and white represents her death. Her public face is highlighted by bold, artificial colors. The private persona of her is submerged under the public face. The social characteristics are amplified such as the brilliance of blonde hair, heavily applied lipstick, and seductive expression. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: This work was done four months after her death. It is fifty images from a film still that is from the movie Niagara (1953). Function: Cult of celebrity, Marilyn Monroe.Style: Screen printingMeaning: The reproduction of many denies the concept of this unique work.

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Narcissus Garden. Yayoi Kusama. Original installation and performance 1966. Mirror balls.

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Content: There are 1500 large mirrored, stainless steel balls are placed on a lawn underneath a sign that says, "Your Narcissism for Sale." The water placement of the balls makes a stronger connection to the myth. The balls move with the currents of the water and wind which reflects the organically made ever-changing viewpoints. Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: Yayoi Kusama was an internationally renowned Japanese-born artist. She started by showing large works of art that featured polka dots. She was also one of the foremost innovators of the Happenings. She works in a variety of media that included installations. The artist originally featured her work as a non-participant in the 1966 Venice Biennale. The artist the balls for sale for 1200 lira or $2 each as a commentary on the commercialism and vanity of the current art world. The Narcissus Garden is a reference to the myth of Narcissus who was a young man that was so fascinated by himself in the reflecting water that he dies and a flower grows out of the place that he dies. The installations were later moved to water, where the floating balls reflect the natural environment and the viewers that are around the work of art. Installations has been exhibited in many places around the world. Both in water and in dry spaces. Function: Style: HappeningsMeaning:

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The Bay. Helen Frankenthaler. 1963 C.E. Acrylic on canvas.

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Current Location: Detroit Institute of Arts, DetroitContent: Form: Asymmetrical balanceContext: It is painted directly onto an unprimed canvas. The canvas absorbs painted more directly. It uses runny paint and is sometimes thinned with turpentine. It uses a landscape as a starting point and its basis for imagery in the works. It strengthened the two-dimensionality of the canvas. Frankenthaler worked in the avant-garde New York School at mid-century.Function: Style: Color fieldMeaning:

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Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks. Claes Oldenburg. 1969-1974 C.E. Cor-Ten steel, steel, aluminum, and cast resin; painted with polyurethane enamel.

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Current Location: Yale University, New Haven, ConnecticutContent: It combines male and female forms such as themes of death, power, desire, and sensuality.Form: Symmetrical balance; Context: It was first installed on Beinecke Plaza, New Haven in 1969. It was built secretly. The sculpture is made out of inexpensive and perishable materials such as plywood tracks and an inflatable vinyl balloon tip. It was built secretly. Function: It was intended to be used as a platform for public speakers that were rallying points for anti-Vietnam era protests. Style: Pop Art; Male and female formsMeaning:

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Spiral Jetty. Great Salt Lake, Utah, U.S. Robert Smithson. 1970 C.E. Earthwork: mud, precipitated salt crystals, rocks, and water coil.

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Content: Upon walking on the jetty, the twisting and curling path change the participant's view from every angle. A jetty is supposed to be a pier in the water and in this case, it transforms into a coil of rocks that sits on the empty wilderness. Form: Symmetrical balanceContext: Coil is an image that commonly seen in North American earthworks. Such as the Great Serpent Mound. The coil of rock in a part of the Great Salt Lake which is located in a remarkably remote and inaccessible area that contains abandoned mines and mining equipment. The artist liked the blood red color of the water that was produced due to the presence of bacteria that lived in high salt content water. The artist used a tractor with native stones to create the jetty. Function: Style: Site Art, or Earth ArtMeaning:

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House in New Castle County. Delaware, U.S. Robert Venturi, John Rauch, and Denise Scott Brown (architects). 1978-1983 C.E. Wood frame and stucco.

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Content: Form: Approximately symmetrical balanceContext: The wife is a musician and thus, there is a music room that contains two pianos, an organ, and a harpsichord. The husband is a bird watcher and thus, there is a large window that is facing the woods. Venture's comment on the International Style is "Less is a bore."Function: It is a house designed for a family of three. Style: Postmodern architectureMeaning: It is a post-modern mix of historical styles.