Monday, September 6, 2010
Welcome to VisCult Fall 2010!
This is the blog for Approaches to Visual Culture at Berklee College of Music, Fall 2010. This is also the required foundations course for the brand new minor in Visual Culture and Interactive Media Studies, an exciting area of the Berklee curriculum that encompasses art history, multimedia, media, film, and gaming studies.
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Max Beckman
ReplyDelete"Still Life with Three Skulls"
1945
Oil On Canvas
I saw this painting towards the end of our tour and thought it was very striking. For an oil canvas done in the late 40's it seemed a little out of place. I looked up Max Beckman. He was an artist of the post-expressionism era, also known as New Objectivity. This sort of art is characterized by plain, static, sustained and engrossing objects. In the era of the Nazi's, Adolf Hitler considered Beckman's art to be "degenerate", which is why I think this painting is really great. To begin with, it's themes are fairly dark. Pictured on a dresser are three skulls, some playing cards and what appears to be a bottle of booze and a gun. It uses third person perspective to show you these objects just how they should be in the style of New Objectivity: plain, static, parallel and unwaivering. The color is very thin and vague as well. It makes the tone of the painting very dark and edgy, which is certainly appropriate for the objects depicted in the painting. The style of the painting overall reinforces the objects shown. When you think of poker, skulls, guns, an alcohol, you generally think automatically of illegality, death, violence and drugs. Beckman's use of sharp strokes, fixed edges and cold imagery fit perfectly with what is being displayed in this work of art. It is also very appropriate for what we have been reading about comics, as this era of New Objectivity is influenced directly by interest in cartoon-like objects and the painting reflects this.
Aaron Nebbia
ReplyDelete"Grotto by the Seaside"
Joseph Wright - 1778
http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=34993
This oil on canvas, "Grotto by the Seaside in the Kingdom of Naples with Banditti", immediately caught my eye while walking through the exhibit. The main part which caught my eye was the contrast between the dark, shadowy foreground and the bright, sunlit background. This painting is extremely realistic and detailed, particularly in the textures of the rocks. The paleness of the sky, mountains, and lake in the background, shows that it is foggy, adding a sense of mystery to the scene. Another focal point in the painting is the group of bandits in the lower left corner. Their body language and the expressions on their faces portray that some kind of crisis or problem has occurred. The main thing about this painting that appeals to me is the realism of outdoor nature, making me able to easily imagine actually being there. There are no visible brushstrokes in this painting.
Jordan Townsend
ReplyDelete"Sacrifice of Iphigenia"
Jan Havicksz. Steen (1671)
The art work "Sacrifice of Iphigenia caught my interest the most while I was looking at the paintings. The thing I noticed most while looking at this painting was the many expressions on the peoples' faces. This painting is very detailed especially in the clothing of the people. The sky in the background seems to give the viewer a sense of depression especially with it contrast to the more dark colors on the sides. Overall this painting seems to be a mix of emotions coming from the expressions of the people as well as the areas of light and dark.
Valerie Blaemire
ReplyDeleteAlexandre-Georges-Henri Regnault
"Automedon with the Horses of Achilles", 1866
Oil on canvas
I found this image fascinating for its impactive action. The painting is of a man reining in two horses with his hands, yet the horses are trying to revolt. The man is looking at the brown horse to his left, and the horses are looking fearfully out into the open space. There is no audience in the image; as the viewer, we are positioned parallel to the action. The majority of the setting is being hidden in this image. The viewer cannot clearly decipher the exact location of the action, the main hint that is given is the water in the background, leading you to see that this moment is taking place on a cliff. The artist obviously wanted to show the overall picture of the image rather than one detailed area. Between realism and abstraction, the image is definitely more realistic. Everything from the waves in the horse's hair to the man's strained muscles are defined. For this reason, I find the painting captivating.
Rachel Amitay
ReplyDeleteJacob Jordaens
"Portrait of a Young Married Couple", 1621
Oil on panel
http://www.jacobjordaens.org/Portrait-of-a-Young-Married-Couple.html
I chose this image because at first glance, it seems to be a typical marriage portrait from the seventeenth century, but upon closer inspection I found it to be more unique. The figures seem connected to each other in their poses, but their faces are not passive as is the case in many marriage portraits. The man has a relaxed, yet serious expression, while the woman seems to have a look of determination and certainty. They are looking at the spectator, and there is an element of "eye contact". The work is highly detailed and realistic, and the pair are both wearing beautiful clothing with intricate lace patterning. The focus is meant to be on the couple, not the background, which is very simple and does not draw the viewer away from the pair. An exact location is not depicted, because the importance lies in the connection between the two people, not in the particular setting.