An Artist of the Floating World

by Gong Xian, Landscape, 1689, Qing Dynasty. I will first analyze the components that make up this painting. Then I will take an aspect of the painting and relate it to a comparable element out here in Santa Barbara. From this we can deduce if the artist morphed his own painting to a more unrealistic view of nature. From first glance, we obviously can tell this painting depicts a Chinese landscape. We see a mountain, trees, and some rocks. I have noticed these types of landscapes are very common…

makes the characters fly, tele-transport, glow, change bodies, and so much more and in this world of dreams, it all makes sense. The way the author depicts this whole reality seems unreal, yet it showcases the…

René Magritte is a surrealist artist who has produced a reputation for his “clever and intriguing imagery” using basic designs and ordinary symbolism. Maybe viewers for the most part got caught by his The Son of Man painting, but may not know the painter by name. Rather would recognize the iconic painting and the repetitive topic and theme in another depiction by this artist. There's considerably more to know about Magritte and how the painting fits into his works as a whole. René François…

“pictures of the floating world”, towards the end of the feudal era called the Edo period, 1603-1868 CE. Hishikawa Moronobu, 1618-1694, was the first great master that popularized this style of print in Japan, that eventually spread to the rest of the world. Suzuki Harunobu, 1725-1770, was the first to create and produce full (more than two or three) color prints, which led to more elaborate and colorful prints as the years progressed during this period. I always thought the artist was the only…

Frida Kahlo argues that she prefers painting herself because she is the only person whom she understands best. She does not just paint abstractly; rather, she paints to depict her own reality. The above statement is made to capture the essence of Kahlo’s artwork. Every time she gets holds of the brush, she paints is without any reservations, and her artwork is a reflection the feelings she had in her heart. On her life, Frida faced many tragic events and some of happy events. These events are…

has its state buildings being fitted with solar panels. It is carbon free and one can go around the city by hiring a bike for free and the market of Adelaide recycles its wastes extensively. The zoo in Adelaide has the only two giant pandas in the world. It is the city of festivals with celebrations galore throughout the year. The wines of…

In this essay, I am going to talk about the Impressionist painting Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies of Claude Monet and the ukiyo-e print Under Mannen Bridge at Fukagawa of Katsushika Hokusai. Through making comparison of these two artworks, I will mainly describe the stylistic difference and study some differences between Western and Eastern art and society. First of all, I am going to talk about the background information of Bridge Over a Pond of Water Lilies. This artwork represents the…

itself, a reference to the art of the Edo period and Ukiyo-e artists. While his gardens were their own floating worlds, the ponds and architecture suggests a way to move beyond our limited perspective and to be a place of quiet meditation. The bridge over the water garden quietly leads us to forget our troubles of this world and walk in elevation through a place of wonder; the mind is set at ease as we walk through Monet 's idealized world. Perhaps even the mirrored effect of the water suggests…

painted in the Thirteenth Century, or the Gothic Era, the artists of this time period borrowed from the Byzantine style which included, gold backgrounds, flat disc haloes, and very little to no depth. Due to this, Virgin and Child Enthroned is not really naturalistic, it’s almost stylized. The depth that is shown in Cimabue’s painting, is shown through overlapping figures, and vertical perspective, which makes the angels seem as if they are floating, instead of being planted on the ground. In…

Street art, in the past, was a vehicle by which the artist communicated his name by tagging, his message from his culture and his own viewpoint. The messages were often about their own environment. In the era of globalization and travel however, the rules of art have changed and the conditions under which art is now made has also altered. Those changes allow artists of different types of art to gain recognition. Banksy is one of those artists. How does the work of Banksy illustrate the…