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Research essay on the cultural impact of art
How art has influenced culture
Observation of children playing
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This critical analysis will be a visual representation of Children at Play (Georgia Museum of Art 1947.178,) a tempera painting on panel created by American Modernist artist Jacob Lawrence in 1947. This 24 x 18-inch composition displays his signature use of “primary colors and flattened forms” through his cubistic figures prancing in a circle in what looks like an area with windows and curtains (Georgia Museum of Art, 2018). The tempera paint supplies a flattened appearance and proposes a vivid color scheme juxtaposed with dark-toned human figures. Lawrence is well-known for illustrating “African-American life, history and his concern for human freedom and dignity” and these influences are often reflected in his work (art.com). For an example, …show more content…
The subject matter of the painting could be inspired by his childhood environment or possibly the neighborhood in which he lived. In addition to the use of dark skin tones within the painting, understanding Lawrence’s culture and heritage allows the viewer to assume that the human figures are also African American. The potential intent behind this painting was to capture a scene of children playing in Lawrence’s neighborhood, and to capture the delighted, spirted, and the carefree emotion behind the children’s attitudes. I believe the purpose of this painting was for Jacob Lawrence to illustrate a time in history and to tell a story. His concern with human freedom is evident in this painting, especially through the children’s’ spirit. Additionally, Lawrence was brought up in a time where African Americans were experiencing freedom for the first time during the Great Migration, therefore this upbringing could also have an influence in his desire to portray freedom as a theme in Children at Play. The children in the painting are experiencing freedom in movement, dance, and in play. Ultimately, Jacob Lawrence wanted to capture the rawness of a human dignity, freedom, and authenticity behind the African-American culture, and I believe the specific purpose of this painting was for Lawrence to share not only another chapter of his life narrative, but a chapter of African American history, as
Wayne, transforms this painting into a three dimensional abstract piece of art. The focal point of the painting are the figures that look like letters and numbers that are in the front of the piece of art. This is where your eyes expend more time, also sometimes forgiving the background. The way the artist is trying to present this piece is showing happiness, excitement, and dreams. Happiness because he transmits with the bright colours. After probably 15 minutes on front of the painting I can feel that the artist tries to show his happiness, but in serene calm. The excitement that he presents with the letters, numbers and figures is a signal that he feels anxious about what the future is going to bring. Also in the way that the colors in the background are present he is showing that no matter how dark our day can be always will be light to
Kehinde Wiley was born in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. He is a New York visual artist who is known for his highly naturalistic paintings of black people in heroic poses. As a child, his mother supported his interest in art and enrolled him in after school art classes. When Wiley was 12 years old he attended an art school in Russia for a short time. At the age of 20 he traveled to Nigeria to learn about his African roots and to meet his father. He has firmly situated himself within art’s history’s portrait painting tradition. He earned his BFA at San Francisco Art Institute in 1999 and he received his MFA from Yale University School of Art in 2001.
After reviewing Jacob Lawrence’s direct and dramatic paintings, it was clear that his painting helped him express himself. The painting was and still is a product of the economic and cultural self-determination that African-American dealt in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, during the migration and still evident in society today. The visual qualities in Jacob Lawrence artwork that is appealing are the vibrant colors and his clever way of self-expressing the time he was so familiar. In final analysis, his artwork expressed how he felt about his environment and what his perspective were during that time. And, how restrained his painting were, for instance, Street Scene – Restaurant, even though African- Americans had access to restaurants in the neighboring area but, he still place patriot outside the restaurant waiti...
While visiting the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, the works of Archibald Motley caught my attention. Two paintings by the same artist are the focus of this compare and contrast paper. Both are oil paintings during the same time period. Portrait of my Grandmother was painted in 1922 and Hot Rhythm was painted in 1934 only 12 years later. Although the paintings are by the same artist and have similarities, there are also differences which make the artist’s work interesting. Portrait of My Grandmother and Hot Rhythm are two paintings by Motley that capture different emotions (aspects would be a better word) of African Americans.
In this tempera painting, he used matte opaque water based paints. Tempura paint is a fast drying, opaque matte paint which is inexpensive. Along with his use of tempura paints, he used paper-covered boards to create this beautiful painting. In addition, his use of vibrant colors is what brings this painting alive. In contrast, the “Alabama Plow Girl” is not a painting but an actual photograph taken by Lange. What is interesting is that the photograph is not in full color, but in black in white in contrast to the “Blind Beggars” painting, which has vibrant colors. Both Lange and Lawrence art works reflect on the theme of poverty and unfortunate circumstances of
Jacob Lawrence is celebrated for his insightful depictions of American and, in particular, African American life. Best known for his epic series of paintings on such subjects as the lives of Harriet Tubman and Toussaint L'Ouverture, he has also created numerous prints, murals, and drawings. Among the latter are a delightful set of twenty-three illustrations...
An important person during the Harlem Renaissance was an artist named Jacob Lawrence. He is one considered one of the greatest painters of modern history. His best known paintings are his paintings based on Harriet Tubman and the Great Migration. For in his paintings he includes his emotions during the great migration. When African-Americans started to flee to urban north in look for jobs and get out of the rural south and the Jim Crow Laws.
Jacob Lawrence has painted figurative and narrative pictures of the black community and black history for more than 60 years in a consistent modernist style, using expressive, strong design and flat areas of color. Jacob Lawrence was a great artist. During Harlem Renaissance, he helped establish African American artists. He gave lectures at Washington University, and he enjoyed working with students of all ages.
Jacob Lawrence's unique career has earned him a National Medal Of Arts , election to the National Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design,a National Council of the Arts commisionership, and dozens of honorary degrees and awards, including the NAACP's Spingarn Medal. His paintings has been freatured in several major art exhibitions and many different museums. Lawrence's parents came from the south but they moved to Harlem where Lawrence grew up. Lawrence was born in 1917 and grew up in Harlem during the Great Depression. He had many extraordinary educational oppurtunities as well as his first employment as an artist. In the studio of his mentor, Charles Alston, young Lawrence painted while the Harlem Renaissance was blooming with a generation of young artists and writers. He studied at the Harlem Art Workshop from 1932-1937 and at the American Artists School from 1937-1939. In the 1930's there was two main art groups,realism art and abstractionism art. Lawrence rejected both of them and made up his own style of art. His paintings are alive with human figures, usually African Americans,engaged in all different types of activities. He dipicted the figures in his paintings with dignity and grace. He got his ideas from several different sources. He used repetitive paterns and a lot of different colors and design which are commonly found in a quilt or an African textile. He made up to as many as 60 paintings which are each telling a story and the messages are usually of human triumph over oppression and injustice. Although his paintings often relate to the history and experience of black people their themes are universal. Lawrence allso made murals for his story telling. Throughout most of the 20th century , art institutions within black communities were the only places that exhibited the work of black artists. If other galleries did have black exhibits they were singled out as "Negro artists" or "Negro Art". Without gallery exposure, they were rarely noticed by influential people or obtain appropriate prices. In 1941 Alain Locke, a friend of Lawrence's introduced Lawrence's Migration series to the owner New York's Downtown Gallery Edith Halpert. Edith immediately organized an exhibition for Lawrence's art work, and Lawrence joined the select few group of artists she presented, which included Stuart Davis, Charles Sheeler, and Ben Shahn. Lawrence's Migration series was purchased and divided between the Museum of Modern Art and the Phillip's Collection.
...retation of the painting some aspects were surprising to how dark and heavy hearted she could speak, she took an interesting perspective. However in her interpretative poem she found a perspective of the painting that connected with her. As she used every stroke of darkness painted into the canvas an opportunity to have it symbolize this darkness and evil that resides in the world. It told her story and her experience of a starry night. Similarly Van Gogh had used every stroke of light painted into the canvas to be a symbol of beauty, and a symbol of his fascination of the night sky and its illuminating lights. He uses swift movements of his brush to depict a sky that seem to be able to sweep the mind away from the frustrations of this world in to the dreamy night light. A single painting worth a million words tells many stories through every perspective.
Jacob Lawrence’s’ painting, Brownstones, is a very energetic painting. This painting consists of children doing several activities such as jump roping, playing with a ball, walking their dog, and just chatting. There are a total of ten adults that is portrayed the painting; one couple is walking together closely showing the love they have for each other, another couple pushes their baby carriage, one lady is carrying her groceries to her place of living, and seven adults seat on the seat either enjoying a conversation or receiving fresh air. “Other couples and paired figures appear throughout the image” (“Jacob Lawrence: Exploring Stories”). “Lawrence also offered multiple views into the brownstone's open windows” (“"Brownstones" by Jacob Lawrence”). There
2. The African American culture blossomed during the Harlem Renaissance, particularly in creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history. Embracing literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts, participants sought to reconceptualize “the Negro” apart from the white stereotypes that had influenced black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other. They also sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that might, as seen by whites, reinforce racist beliefs. Never dominated by a particular school of thought but rather characterized by intense debate, the movement laid the groundwork for all later African American literature and had an enormous
Langston Hughes uses Locke’s criteria of creative expression to display the full depth of African American human experience. “The great social gain in this is the releasing of our talented group from the arid fields of controversy and debate to the productive fields of creative expression.”The Harlem Renaissance brought about a new era for African Americans in which they created art through music, literature, and artwork to represent the black experience. Alain Locke’s “The New Negro” defines the aims of Harlem Renaissance writing through racial independence and patronage. The movement came about from a migration from the south to the northern urban centers, specifically Harlem becoming the focal point for these changes. It brought about
You will choose and closely evaluate three pieces of art (paintings, poems, music, etc.) from black artists, using the information in Hughes’s essay as the basis of your evaluation and analysis. First, you must provide an in-depth analysis of the selected art pieces. Then, you should determine whether or not the artists are living up to the roles and responsibilities put forth by Hughes, using textual evidence from his essay to support your evaluation of the
This painting by Vincent Van Gogh is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, in the Impressionism exhibit. There are many things going on in this painting that catch the viewer’s eye. The first is the piece’s vibrant colors, light blues and browns, bright greens, and more. The brush strokes that are very visible and can easily be identified as very thick some might even say bold. The furniture, the objects, and the setting are easy to identify and are proportioned to each other. There is so much to see in this piece to attempt to explain in only a few simple sentences.