Art and particularly Western Art is being inspired and is a response to its past or to another culture: there is a continuous inspiration and exchange creating new art movement and works. This habit is quite old and existed even during the Greek archaic period: for exemple the Orientalizing style that from the VIII and VII century BC notable in Corinthian Greek poetry was a direct influence by Middle-Eastern art and style at the time (Cook, R.M., Dupont, P. 1998. East Greek Pottery. London: Routledge.). The “creativity” of this art movement was just the reinterpretation of other art styles. In contemporary practice the Canadian artist Jeff Wall takes photography that are strongly influenced by artworks from the past, by Manet, Hokusai, Ingres,
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It depicts the suicide/death of the last Assyrian king, Sardanapalus, known to us by the greek historian Diodorus of Sicily living in the first century BC (Diodorus of Sicily, Book II, 23-29). The scene painted shows Sardanapalus lying down with an astonishing calm having his vision lost in though just after he ordered to his soldier/eunuchs, to kill all his wives and concubines and to burn all his precious goods and valuables. Delacroix’s work is quite impressive by its dimensions, 392 by 496 cm, and the materials used are oil paint on canvas. It is quite a well though painting and the thinking process of the artist can be seen in his numerous drawings of each characters and his oil studies in smaller scales. It has been painted during the Orientalist and Romanticism movement in Europe, very important in France and England and this work has been referred as the “icon of the romantics” (Sérullaz, A., Doutriaux, A. 1998. Delacroix: “Une fête pour l’œil”. Evreux: Gallimard.). The inspiration comes from the work of the British poet Lord Byron a contemporary to Delacroix. All this facts makes this art piece a painting of its time, depicting the figure of Sardanapalus as the figure of the romantic, the “Dandy”, a tableau breaking ties with the tradition of painting. Baudelaire had most certainly this painting in mind and especially the figure of the king when he …show more content…
Indeed the most striking difference is the different nature of the work: Delacroix’s one being a painting on a canvas, is a two dimensional work and Wall’s final piece, even if the photographic medium was used, is a three dimensional transparency lightbox. The space that they use in an exhibition room and the effect on the viewer is consequently different, the painting using a light that comes from an outside source and the lightbox giving ‘birth’ to its own light. These differences are mainly a consequence of the techniques and materials used, (that are strongly) affected by the era they were made in. But the narrative of the works of art are different as well: The Death of Sardanapalus teems with figures (16 living) and an action of destruction is depicted; The Destroyed Room has not even one character, it is a still life, the trace left by a violent action. This are the impressions after a first glance. But looking at the artworks in more depth some strong similarities start to
It depicts the suicide/death of the last Assyrian king, Sardanapalus, known to us by the greek historian Diodorus of Sicily living in the first century BC (Diodorus of Sicily, Book II, 23-29). The scene painted shows Sardanapalus lying down with an astonishing calm having his vision lost in though just after he ordered to his soldier/eunuchs, to kill all his wives and concubines and to burn all his precious goods and valuables. Delacroix’s work is quite impressive by its dimensions, 392 by 496 cm, and the materials used are oil paint on canvas. It is quite a well though painting and the thinking process of the artist can be seen in his numerous drawings of each characters and his oil studies in smaller scales. It has been painted during the Orientalist and Romanticism movement in Europe, very important in France and England and this work has been referred as the “icon of the romantics” (Sérullaz, A., Doutriaux, A. 1998. Delacroix: “Une fête pour l’œil”. Evreux: Gallimard.). The inspiration comes from the work of the British poet Lord Byron a contemporary to Delacroix. All this facts makes this art piece a painting of its time, depicting the figure of Sardanapalus as the figure of the romantic, the “Dandy”, a tableau breaking ties with the tradition of painting. Baudelaire had most certainly this painting in mind and especially the figure of the king when he …show more content…
Indeed the most striking difference is the different nature of the work: Delacroix’s one being a painting on a canvas, is a two dimensional work and Wall’s final piece, even if the photographic medium was used, is a three dimensional transparency lightbox. The space that they use in an exhibition room and the effect on the viewer is consequently different, the painting using a light that comes from an outside source and the lightbox giving ‘birth’ to its own light. These differences are mainly a consequence of the techniques and materials used, (that are strongly) affected by the era they were made in. But the narrative of the works of art are different as well: The Death of Sardanapalus teems with figures (16 living) and an action of destruction is depicted; The Destroyed Room has not even one character, it is a still life, the trace left by a violent action. This are the impressions after a first glance. But looking at the artworks in more depth some strong similarities start to