Throughout this paper, I will discuss the painting, “A Bit of War History” by Thomas Waterman Wood. I will analyze numerous of art techniques that evoke the theme of the portrait of the image and how it changes over three paintings which individually have their own unique meaning. In the first painting, the African American is depicted looking directly at the viewers. He is drawn in a linear style that notably do clear outlines of the figure is shown. Even though he dressed in very rags which are demonstrated through the holes and stains found on his pants, he raises his hat and gives a warm smile directly at the audience, which indicates that he is happy. This brings up the question why is the man happy? Well if you look to his right pocket it is filled with tobacco leaves which were very popular back then which is a good reason to be happy. One can also …show more content…
make an assumption that the man was a former slave who is now free since he is carrying a small bag and a stick. In fact, the title of this painting clarifies who the man is in painting. According to the Merriam-Webster, a contraband means “a slave who during the American Civil War escaped to or was brought within the Union lines”. As we further analyze the painting we see a sign in, the background on the right that says, "Volunteers Wanted," so one can assume that he has come to the office to enlist in the army and he may have just done so since there is a rifle placed diagonally against the chair which juxtaposes the stick he is carrying in his hand. I interpreted as a transition from one low social status to a higher social status since the African-American will become a soldier which is a position that gains a lot of respect and honor. Furthermore, in the next painting titled “The Recruit”, we now see the man with an erect posture, who is exhibiting pride yet in a very serious manner. Also, the uniform he so proudly wears contrasts the poor clothing he wore in the previous painting which conveys a transition in social status. The paper and writing utensil laid scattered on the chair indicates that he knows how to reads and writes, which not very common for African Americans during that time. The rifle that was once leaning on the chair is now rested against his shoulders which convey this jarring effect since it’s at an odd angle and everything else in the painting on a horizontal axis. It's quite obvious that man has been trained and stands ready to move forward which again contrasts his relaxed pose in the previous painting. Though, it is very unclear of what position he will serve in the Civil War. During the time, African American soldiers were not primarily used in combat. They served in all other military roles as, messengers, scouts, cooks, medics, scouts, etc. African-American soldiers faced many other difficulties besides being underpaid. They were also segregated from white soldiers and faced much harsher punishments as prisoners of war. Now years have passed since this man was illustrated in “The Contraband.” His countenance and stature have dramatically changed from what was once happiness and pride in previous paintings are now dull and hopeless.
“The Veteran” no longer wears his uniform and his rifle is leaned back against the chair once again. From now on, he wears crutches since his leg was amputated due to fighting in the war. His actions suggest that he is saluting which marks an end to his service. Also, the drum from the doorway which is shown in the other two paintings is now gone, which also conveys the end of military service since there is no longer a need to rally. In the description, it stated that the African American was returning to the office to receive his pension. It was very known that they received significantly less than White soldiers when it came to a pension. Though they faced many hardships, involvement in the Civil War provided numerous of benefits to Black American soldiers such as recognition for participating in the war, citizenship, and earning of respect from many White Americans soldiers involved in the
war. Overall, these three paintings have a unique meaning due to the evolution of this African American man throughout the Civil war. It reveals the struggles an African American had to go through during this period.
The dialogue Crew has written between “old pa” and his grandson “we got chopped to bits at ypres” (Memorial, 1999) shows the brutal and slaughterus experiences “old pa” went through during the First World War. By Tan using the colour blue in “old pa’s” eyes, he accentuates the saddness, therefore showing a message that it is not only a book that is able to tell a story but it can also be told through people’s eyes. This allows the audience to connect on a deeper level with the realism and historical past of the war, as well as the past life expeiences in the grandfather’s stories. The use of the army camouflage colours in the illustrations is also a strong tool in suggesting to the children that this book has a direct connection to the army, soldiers, wars and battles. The images of the people, the soldiers and the women also add to the historical reality of the content of the
The entire image of the Portrait of Toks Adewetan (The King Glory) (2016) painting is interesting because Wiley uses different object to identify what the painting stands for. For example which color Wiley uses in the Portrait of Toks Adewetan (The King Glory) has an specific meaning behind. the background painting of the portrait, the shirt that Toks Adewetan is wearing, the necklace around his neck is blue is associated with purity and healing. The red that Wiley’s uses in the painting is related to life force and preservation. The diamond earrings Toks Adewetan is wearing in Portrait is white which represent is the color of learning and knowledge in Buddhism. the leaf branches are Green, is the color of balance and harmony. the gold rings and gold watch symbolizes rootedness and renunciation. The brown leather around his wrist represents his African roots.Wiley is making a statement by replacing the original white male with young men of color who dressed in modern clothing posing. assuming the original poses of Jesus Christ from King of Glory (man of Sorrows). The model transforms the message of the original icon by looking upward with pride and confidence. to show that black people life has value, they have suffered enough during
Nevertheless, one of the most important imageries is the fact the rifle itself represents war; thus, the soldier takes so much care of the rifle because the rifle, or the war, once took great care of him by shaping him into the man he is today and, most importantly, by keeping him alive. Imagery, therefore, proves how Magnus delicately transmits information so that an appropriate characterization could take place, which informs the audience about the soldier’s character and, ultimately, the importance of war to the
The art represented more than just sculpture. The art represented the social issue of racism by not having “black art” in a “white museum”. History shows us that black or African-American people have had a hard time fitting into this society because of the older days were black people were considered to be inferior to the “white
Between 1910 and 1930, Harlem began thriving with African- American arts such as literature, theatre and painting, and music. This era was soon known as the Harlem Renaissance. During this time racial pride became a very big thing among African- American artists, but the only problem was how to best show this pride. Both high art and folk art can give a good expression of racial pride.
The poem's persona and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall depend on each other to express the poem's intention. The poem's intention is to show that war is lethal, less than gloriful, and extremely real. Although years have gone by, these recollections are still affecting how he lives. Simply standing in front of the wall reminds the speaker of all of this. The Veterans Memorial takes on a life of its own. While the speaker is in its presense, the wall controls him. It forces him to remember painful memories and even cry, something he promised himself he would not do. The persona in the poem reacts to the power the wall has and realizes that he must face his past and everything related to it, especially Vietnam.
Examining the formal qualities of Homer Watson’s painting Horse and Rider In A Landscape was quite interesting. I chose to analyze this piece as apposed to the others because it was the piece I liked the least, therefore making me analyze it more closely and discover other aspects of the work, besides aesthetics.
He depicted the figures in his paintings with dignity and grace. He got his ideas from several different sources. He used repetitive patterns and a lot of different colors and designs which are commonly found in a quilt or an African textile. He made up to as many as 60 paintings, 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.
We walked and walked looking at each art piece, which were all well displayed. Then as I looked at the back wall, a large oil canvas painting looked right back at me. I could feel its pain and so then, I decided to do my paper on this piece. The painting was The Ragpicker by Manet. (The Ragpicker. Edouard Manet.1865.Oil on canvas.) The painting was so enormous that it was hard to miss. Such a huge painting for one man, it almost looked life-like. The dimensions of this work is 76.75” x 51.25”. This scene seems to take place of a lower-class man late in his age, probably near his seventies, appears to be looking out of the corner of his eye. The ...
“A Veteran is someone, who at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, their life. Regardless of personal political views, that is an honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact.”
In this paper I will discuss the print called The Green Violinist. This painting was created by Marc Chagall in the years of 1923 and 1924. It is quite a large painting since it is 78” tall and 42 ¾” wide. It is an oil on canvas painting. The main figure in the painting is a strange looking man playing a violin. He has green skin and a black beard. His face is painted at an odd angle. His facial features are contorted at various angles. He is holding his violin and bow in his hands. One hand is ungloved while the other is wearing a white glove. He is wearing a long purple top coat that reaches to the middle of his calves. He has on a purple cap as well. His feet do not appear to be touching the ground. He looks like he is standing on two rooftops. He appears to be larger than life, almost like he might exist in a dream. In the foreground there is what looks like a large dog with his feet on one of the roofs the violinist is standing on. There is a church top in between the two houses he is standing on. In the middle ground, just behind the man, is another much smaller man who appears to be holding another violin up by the tuning section of the violin. In the background are two more houses with clouds above and behind them. Another man is reaching up into the sky between these two houses towards a being in a purple jumpsuit that looks like he is floating or flying in the sky as the violinist plays. There is a man sitting on the ground hunched over on the backside of one of the houses as a man on a horse and buggy drive by. Only the horse is looking back toward the violinist.
...s work The 3rd of May, 1808 is a very detailed and dramatic narrative within a collection of war themed works by the artist. I believe that by using the formal elements of color, texture, shape, lines, space, and the value I was able to sufficiently provide evidence that Goya offers a sequential order of direction for the audience to comprehend from their personal viewing. The twisted and grief stricken work creates a massive emotional connection and the artist plans for the viewers’ to grow and understand this message. The subject highlighted is obvious that Goya is passionate on his stance and outlook on war is suggested in the work. It’s obvious that Goya’s formal organization of his color palette, variation of brushes, repeating shapes, and play with lighting all correspond to depict man’s savage and at times monstrous actions are justified during war.
Though DuBois argues that art shouldn’t be used as propaganda or for political reasons, that it should be used for art’s sake alone, this particular painting of a fist, and all forms of Negro art, represent the black community in many ways. On the other side, white people would like to see the degraded version of Negro Art, they don’t want to see certain topics in the art, they need to “stay inside the box.” But African Americans have the right to represent themselves and still be accepted; they’re free people. This specific art piece I have selected, is by no means sexual or derogatory, however, a critic of Negro art may see the fist as rebellious or a symbol of violence. The fist could also be considered, in Schuyler’s view,
To look at Charles W. White’s paintings is to see early 1900s Black America through the lens of a social realist. African-American novelist Ralph Ellison stood behind men and women, like Charles White who used art to express their personal views on their experiences of being Black in America (Heritage Gallery). “Most of the social realists of the period were concerned less with tragedy than with injustice,” said Ellison during a 1955 interview published in the Paris Review. “I wasn’t, and am not, primarily concerned with injustice, but with art” (Chester 1955). As early as the late 1700s, blacks began narrating and writing autobiographies in an effort to create “in words, a portrait of a human being” and to combat the derogatory images prevalent in American visual art forms (Gates 1990).
In this essay, I shall try to examine how great a role colour played in the evolution of Impressionism. Impressionism in itself can be seen as a linkage in a long chain of procedures, which led the art to the point it is today. In order to do so, colour in Impressionism needs to be placed within an art-historical context for us to see more clearly the role it has played in the evolution of modern painting. In the late eighteenth century, for example, ancient Greek and Roman examples provided the classical sources in art. At the same time, there was a revolt against the formalism of Neo-Classicism. The accepted style was characterised by appeal to reason and intellect, with a demand for a well-disciplined order and restraint in the work. The decisive Romantic movement emphasized the individual’s right in self-expression, in which imagination and emotion were given free reign and stressed colour rather than line; colour can be seen as the expression for emotion, whereas line is the expression of rationality. Their style was painterly rather than linear; colour offered a freedom that line denied. Among the Romanticists who had a strong influence on Impressionism were Joseph Mallord William Turner and Eugéne Delacroix. In Turner’s works, colour took precedence over the realistic portrayal of form; Delacroix led the way for the Impressionists to use unmixed hues. The transition between Romanticism and Impressionism was provided by a small group of artists who lived and worked at the village of Barbizon. Their naturalistic style was based entirely on their observation and painting of nature in the open air. In their natural landscape subjects, they paid careful attention to the colourful expression of light and atmosphere. For them, colour was as important as composition, and this visual approach, with its appeal to emotion, gradually displaced the more studied and forma, with its appeal to reason.