Early Netherlandish painting

portraits between the years 1886 and 1889 put Vincent Van Gogh as one of the most successful self-portraitists of all time. Van Gogh was using portrait painting as a method of introspection trying to discover his own mind, as a way to make money for himself and a method of developing his skills to become one of the greatest artists to ever live. Through painting The Straw Hat Portrait Van Gogh was trying to develop his skills as an artist while he did not have the money to afford models to paint…

hangs the painting titled “Home Sweet Home”. This oil on canvas was created by the artist Charles Sheeler in 1931. The painting contains a few pieces of furniture. In the center is an empty wooden chair. On the left, you can see two rugs and a staircase that is leading upstairs. On the right, you can see a fireplace and a stove. Near the bottom of the painting you can make out a picnic table, it’s chopped off the painting but enough is there to tell what the object is. The painting also…

us through the history of art and what was considered important during those years. The next chapter is about oil paintings. As economies grew so did people’s want for materialistic objects. At the time, oil paintings were the only visuals and each were one of a kind. Oil painting developed with the classes. Classes became tied to having money, no matter how one got it, oil painting changed to reflect this. Not only was there a desire for…

While visiting the hallways of the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego, one work of art by Jennifer Steinkamp stood out greatly. One projector and a small computer in a dark room presented a work of art on a white wall: Flowers. The piece of art itself was a computer generated video of flowers that endlessly swayed side to side. However, it was not the projected content that intrigued me, but the medium of the work instead. I glanced at the computer, and my mind was filled with a multitude…

The artistic ability to create an optical illusion within artwork has piqued my interest for years. When there is an illusion in artwork, it grabs the attention of the viewers’ eyes and the viewer may even feel compelled to examine and interpret the artwork more thoroughly. One example of optical illusions in artwork are three dimensional street art. Three dimensional street art is so intriguing because the artist takes an ordinary concrete public space and transforms it into something…

Located at the Phoenix Art Museum is a unique work that was purchased “with funds donated by Jan and Howard Hendler” and created by Yayoi Kusama in 2005. The piece is titled You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies and is a “mixed media installation with LED lights” that was created as a permanent piece to the Phoenix Art Museum’s collection. The work can be found in the South Wing on the Upper Level in the Contemporary Art section of the museum. The intention of this…

The image St. George and the Dragon was created using the albumen silver from a glass negative process, and as such it is a black and white photograph. The white tones appear stark white, and the darker tones appear warm, ranging from light to darker shades of beige to almost brown. Also, visible are the various shades of gray. Such tones were typical of the wet collodion process, as was the sharp image and the clear depiction of the details. The photograph's tones range from light to dark,…

Alwin Nikolais: Visual Artist Extraordinaire Alwin Nikolais was a modern dance genius whose contributions to dance as an art form are numerous. Known for his innovative dance works and performances, he was a master of all trades who wanted to encompass a variety of visual and auditory art forms to create one large spectacle. Many considered him to be a pioneer of modern dance, and Anna Kisselgoff, a journalist and dance critic, was quoted in The New York Times obituary for Nikolais as saying:…

successfully explored the concept of visually representing reflecting on personal struggle and ones inner demons in their works. Herakut, through their unique view of the world around them which is revealed through the use of symbolism and unique painting techniques. Cecile reflects her own thoughts through the use of vibrant coloured portraits that don't always demonstrate every detail forcing the audience to ponder the deeper meaning by considering what is missing. Both artists have…

recognizable elements. This piece have bright colors that grab the attention of the viewers eye. It looks like it could be many different things all inside of one painting like one big galaxy universe. For Example, it has blue looking buildings sitting next to a lake house depending on what angle you look at the picture by. The painting is based off the city of Knoxville and it describes the emotion throughout the city. The piece have many different elements of art and the three I chose were…