The artistic stylization used by early 20th century artists endeavors a distinctive approach in the depiction of the Great Depression in both methodology and aesthetic portrayal. Philip Evergood’s Dance Marathon (c. 1931) and Reginald Marsh’s Chatham Square (c. 1931), which both are exhibited at the Blanton Museum of Art, are artistic representations of the American culture during the “Dirty Thirties”. Although both paintings were created during the same time period and ultimately share the thematic downheartedness of the decade, Evergood and Marsh cultivate their own independent approach in constructing their individual artworks. Marsh focuses his piece on the basis of composition, detail, saturations and highlights to construe a melancholic …show more content…
By analyzing both paintings, it proves to show how the differences in artistic approach still demonstrate an analogous theme of depression.
Reginald Marsh incorporates many key characteristics into his painting that serve to embody an overarching dreariness in the atmosphere. The painting depicts a small crowd of middle-aged men, cloaked in dark bronze coats, soliciting and wandering their gaze among the shadowy floors and the other inhabitants of the New York street. One of Marshall’s key elements in the painting is his utilization of color and painting technique. The painting emcompasses unpolished brushstrokes that serve to produce a haze-like quality to its people and the environment. Many of the subjects throughout the painting have a sketch-like quality that are animated by the saturation of oils. A variety of dark, rich brown palettes coat the backs of the people and surrounding structural supports that effectively contrast with the illuminating yellow hues that radiate from the local fur boutique. The highlights incorporated by the artist brings forth emphasis to areas that may
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1934) approaches his portrayal of the Great Depression in a more exaggerated way to convey a sense of pity among the viewers. Dance Marathon depicts a party of dancers competing amongst each other for the sole prize of the dancing contest. Unlike Marsh, Evergood does not rely heavily on capturing crisp and realistic details; instead he serves to emphasize on imagery and characterization through hyperbolic design. The painting’s first notable detail is the stylization. Evergood composes all his characters in bold details, applying a dark, black outline on body images and clothing. The physicality of facial features holds recognizable detail, in terms of capturing proper facial composition; the detail of body physique, however, embodies a subtle abstract stylization--and a sense of mannerism--that uses a variety of proportions to emphasizes focal points throughout the painting. For instance, the two central dancers mark their significance by consuming the central column of the painting with their stature. Another key element is Evergood’s utilization of color. The painting is surfaced with a multitude of vibrant and flamboyant hues that contrast with one another to create a chaotic atmosphere through the meshing of colors and contrasts. Shading, highlights and the overall colorization of the figures are illustrated with careless and simplistic brush strokes that work accordingly to give animation to the subjects. Following
The Great Depression was one of the hardest eras America has ever had to face. It tore families apart, leaving them with nothing but despair. Wood and Shahn use their pictures, American Gothic and Rural Rehabilitation Client, to depict this feeling of anguish. American Gothic displays the anxiety of those who experienced the first ripples of the Depression and Rural Rehabilitation Client shows the sheer desperation of those who lived during the worst days of the Depression. Through these two works of art, the feelings of hope and hopelessness are powerfully represented.
Many of these artists' works contain subtle hints to the author's opinion on the subject. By analyzing their central compositional effects, the viewer can obtain a greater appreciation and understanding for the art.
I will compare the emotions that both artworks send to the viewers when they first look at them. When I look at the portray 1, I fell sadness. That’s what the artwork is conveying to me. No one in the picture is happy or smiling. Everyone is sad, upset or indifferent. When we look at their gaze, the father is looking traight away, with tired eyes. His gesture shows that he doesn’t want to hear what his wife has to say and is asking her to stop. The mother’s gaze is on something in front of them. Her eyes are big and she seems to be giving more attention to things than the man. She seems sad sad to be spoken that way. On portray 2, the atmosphere is visibly different. The man and woman have a little smile on their faces and the kids are playing next to them. The people in the portray don’t look indifferent to each other or sad like in the other portray, they look pleased and caring. The man and women gaze are relaxed and they seem to be enjoying themselves. They are looking straight away in a pose as if someone is taking a picture of them. The kids gaze are in their
... after nine at night, but in those days [we] ... did not think of our day in terms of hours. We liked our work, we were proud to do it well, and I am afraid that we were very, very happy.” The 1930s were a time of struggle and sadness. However, American citizens continued to work and search for the happiness they once knew. Although the Great Depression stretched through the 1930s, putting a damper on the economy and liveliness of the nation, the decade cannot be solely defined by it. Art and photos illustrate the decade’s sentiments, while acts of society and architecture reveal much more regarding a common citizen's lifestyle. A tragic photo, a vast-spread psychological struggle, and a famous building, are all examples of artifacts taken from the 1930s that have changed, they way we perceive our country, the American way of living, and America’s skyline forever.
"1920's Art." The 1920's - Roaring Twenties - The Nineteen Twenties in History. 2005. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. .
Degas’ passion for depicting ballerinas as they were performing perfectly captures the tone of Impressionism. The impressionist painters were enchanted by modern life and capturing the movement of life in Paris. Both Degas’ Ballerinas and Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette captures the essential qualities of Impressionism. Because Degas’ Ballerinas reflect much of the Impressionist movement, we can use the work be compare to other works of the same time and location, such as the one of Renoir.
Though most works of art have some underlying, deeper meaning attached to them, our first impression of their significance comes through our initial visual interpretation. When we first view a painting or a statue or other piece of art, we notice first the visual details – its size, its medium, its color, and its condition, for example – before we begin to ponder its greater significance. Indeed, these visual clues are just as important as any other interpretation or meaning of a work, for they allow us to understand just what that deeper meaning is. The expression on a statue’s face tells us the emotion and message that the artist is trying to convey. Its color, too, can provide clues: darker or lighter colors can play a role in how we judge a piece of art. The type of lines used in a piece can send different messages. A sculpture, for example, may have been carved with hard, rough lines or it may have been carved with smoother, more flowing lines that portray a kind of gentleness.
Black smoke stained the sky and scarlet blood darkened the earth, as global war, once again, ravaged twentieth-century society. The repercussions of the Second World War rippled across the Atlantic and spread like an infectious disease. As the morality of humankind appeared to dissipate with each exploding bomb, anxiety, frustration, and hopelessness riddled the American public and began to spill into the art of New York City’s avant-garde (Paul par. 4). By the mid-1940s, artists reeling from the unparalleled violence, brutality, and destruction of war found a shared “vision and purpose” in a new artistic movement: Abstract Expressionism (Chave 3). Critics considered the most prominent artists of the movement to comprise the New York School
“Compare the ways in which the authors of the two texts convey ideas about art through their central characters?
The painting is organized simply. The background of the painting is painted in an Impressionist style. The blurring of edges, however, starkly contrasts with the sharp and hard contours of the figure in the foreground. The female figure is very sharp and clear compared to the background. The background paint is thick compared to the thin lines used to paint the figures in the foreground. The thick paint adds to the reduction of detail for the background. The colors used to paint the foreground figures are vibrant, as opposed to the whitened colors of the Impressionist background. The painting is mostly comprised of cool colors but there is a range of dark and light colors. The light colors are predominantly in the background and the darker colors are in the foreground. The vivid color of the robe contrasts with the muted colors of the background, resulting in an emphasis of the robe color. This emphasis leads the viewer's gaze to the focal part of the painting: the figures in the foreground. The female and baby in the foreground take up most of the canvas. The background was not painted as the artist saw it, but rather the impression t...
Jackson Pollack and Vincent van Gogh are some of most famous artist before and after their time. Each artist has a similar and different painting methods that they use when painting pictures. There most well-known paintings are called “Number 1” and “The Starry Night”. The paintings give off emotion by how they look, but each one is painted in different ways. The public did not find their paintings wanting when they were made. The difference was how long it took for them to get recognized for their work. Lastly, the paintings gave different and similar reactions to people that have changed over the years of their existence.
...hese repeated vertical lines contrast firmly with a horizontal line that divides the canvas almost exactly in half. The background, upper portion of the canvas, seems unchanging and flat, whereas the foreground and middle ground of the painting have a lot of depth to them.
In conclusion, the pieces have a variety of similarities as well as differences. Both pieces are double portraits that show the difference in time periods in which they were created and the way artistic tastes change over time. Both works of art seem to express differences between light and dark. Though both pieces have similar subject matters they vary in the use of medium and technique to create stark contrast with each other.
When I imagine an artist, I picture a Parisian dabbing at a sprawling masterpiece between drags on a cigarette seated in an extravagantly long holder. He stands amid a motley sea of color, great splashes of vermillion and ultramarine and yellow ochre hiding the tarp on the studio floor. Somehow, not one lonely drop of paint adorns his Italian leather shoes with their pointed toes like baguettes.
Still although different in many ways they still share many similar aspects such as the use of large canvases, an “all over approach” in which the whole canvas is treated equally, every part of the canvas is important, quality of brushstrokes and textures, the use of accidents that play an important role to the entire work and the attempt to express pure emotion directly onto a canvas.