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Non Western Blog Exhibit

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  Ukiyo-e is a form of woodblock printing that originated in Japan during the Edo period. Ukiyo-e was a form of mass entertainment for the time period in Japan, being sold as small mass printed pieces. While each piece of ukiyo-e is usually attributed to the artist who drew the design, many people are needed to produce ukiyo-e. The initial design gets sent to an artist who can carve the wood press, or presses if color will be added using presses. Another method used to color the images would be for another person to paint the ukiyo-e by hand. Publishers would organize all the pieces and figure out the distribution. Initially ukiyo-e featured mainly promiscuous images, but slowly began to take on more themes, addressing cultural and socio-political topics. Ukiyo-e was also used for mass marketing, appealing because of its low cost of production and catchy style. The first piece of Ukiyo-e I want to highlight is actually from a collection commissioned to increase tourism along the Tokaid
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Post Modern Era

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  Diversity was one of many themes in the contemporary art scene of the postmodern era. The art world had opened up to allow both men and women of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds a voice in the mainstream western art world. Right next to the theme of Diversity having a part in the dramatic shifting women’s roles was the women's movement. Women began to get politically involved in demanding equal pay for equal work along with better access to childcare and abortion rights.  I am going to be examining three artists that are known as icons of feminist art and a couple of their works.    The Beastie Parade by Betye Saar, Color etching on cream wove paper, 1964. You can view this piece here:  https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/BETYE-SAAR-(1926-----)-The-Beastie-Parade?saleno=2323&lotNo=66&refNo=677984   The first artist is Betye Saar, through this artist’s prints and assemblage work she uses symbolism to attribute meaning to black women’s place in the
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Early Modern Era

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            The Regionalist movement in the 1930s came at the peak of The Great Depression. At that time, America was in complete economic turmoil and was facing cultural and financial insecurities. Regionalism embraced subjects of the heartland, depicting what was around them in the present time, the art of storytelling. The American country was yearning for any type of reassurance and relief. I am going to examine three pieces of art from the Early Modern era from three different artists that depict art in relation to The Great Depression.        This iconic painting has held audiences' attention for almost a century. American Gothic was created by Grant Wood in 1930, painted on beaver board in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Wood is one of the most famous Regionalist painters. In 1930 the United States was suffering from the heaviness of the Great Depression and Americans around the nation were aching for simpler times. Inspired by a home decorated with a single Carpenter Gothic style wind
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Romantic Era

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       From the many styles that are in the Romantic Era my favorite is the Realist style. I love that Realism depicts ordinary everyday experiences and through those depictions there is an authenticity to the subject matter shared. Realism developed after, and in a reaction against the next style I am going to share, Romanticism. I personally and not a huge fan of the Romanticism style. Romanticism was created to elicit emotions and feelings, and that is not what I feel when looking at this style. I do find it to be enchanting and very beautiful landscapes in some cases but the style would not be my first choice.  I am going to be examining two paintings that depict Romanticism compared to two pantings that are of the Realist Style.        The first painting is The Nightmare  done by Henry Fuseli in 1781 on Oil on canvas but I am unsure of where. This odd and erotic piece by Fuseli portrays a woman covered in white light laying across a bed with her limbs hanging partly off. There is
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Morality and Art of the Classical Era

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       The Classical Era had two different styles of art that had two very different connections to morality in this time period. The style of the two that came first was Rococo style. Rococo style art in the Classical era was not seen to depict true philosophy of any type instead simply seen and enjoyed for entertainment. Rococo art is beautiful, feminine, bright, and carefree. It generally showed curving shapes in form with pastel colors making the subject matter light. Rococo style of art is highly romantic and idealized even going as far as saying hedonistic. It is not a reflection of real life or morality. Rococo style caused awareness for people to question if Classical era art and artists were emphasizing on mortality enough in their creations. on I will be examining two painting from this style, A Young Lady with a Parrot (1730), by Rosalba Carriera and The Stolen Kiss (1780), by Jean-Honoroe Fragonard. Rococo style reigned over the world until around 1775, but by 1785 it wa
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Baroque Era

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  Philip IV in Brown and Silver , 1632 Diego Velázquez      Diego Velázquez was a famed portrait artist from the baroque period who was in high demand. At 23 after painting his first portrait of King Philip IV the young king made him a painter of the court and only had his portraits done by Velázquez thereafter. I love this portrait of the king because of its realism and detail. The portrait, done in 1632 Oil on canvas, is titled “Philip IV in Brown and Silver”, and features the king wearing an elegant brown outfit with silver threading detail. The king displays his Badge of the Golden Fleece and the golilla collar, he is said to have created and popularized. Velázquez shapes the infamous “Habsburg chin” a prominent feature found in the Habsburg line, from royal inbreeding, with slight changes in skin tone and shading. Excellent shadowing and shading in this portrait can be seen throughout the whole painting, in the folds of his clothing, shape of his legs and shoes, even in the backgr
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Italian and Northern Renaissance

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                                Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus 1484-86   Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was one of his many paintings done for the Medici Family in Italy sometime between 1484 and1486. Botticelli depicts the story of the birth of Venus as told by Homer, the Ancient Greek poet on tempera on canvas medium. The attention to detail only brings more life to this painting’s storytelling, using dark lines around Venus’ body to contrast her almost alabaster skin, and beautiful definition in the hair and cloth. Even the waves create a sense of two dimensions. It all creates a whimsical illustration of the famed birth of Venus, and as most old art is, its content and medium tell a story themselves. Canvas was not commonly used for most formal paintings at this time. While canvas was gaining popularity, wood was still the most common medium for painting and especially for ones that would have been kept in a more formal setting. This and the nudity depicted hint at this pi
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