The Banjo Lesson was by an African American painter named Henry Ossawa Tanner. The painting was created in 1893. When looking at the figure image on page 373 in the textbook Prebles’ Artforms: An Introduction to the Visual Arts, Eleventh Edition, you can see that the medium of the painting is an oil painting. In the painting The Banjo Lesson, the story presents an old man and a little boy playing a banjo. Through the looks of it, you can see that the old man and the little boy could be related to each other just by the looks of their bonding time together. There could be a chance that the artist himself, Henry Ossawa Tanner, may have described himself in the painting as the little old man teaching his grandson how to play a banjo. Although …show more content…
The painting shows more attention on the old man and the little boy having lessons on the banjo. I believe Tanner wanted more attention on the figures to show there meaning of their lifestyle. Also, Tanner gives so much emphasis on their emotion in the painting that you can see the love that they have for each other. The colors of the light that Tanner used to emphasize the boy in the painting and how banjo is brought out. Both are used to connect a story of how it came to be with the old man. He may have also wanted the viewers to understand that is was him and his grandson trying to reconnect after long hours of working in the fields. As for subordination, he uses the contrast of light and dark in the background to give different lighting of specific items that are surrounding the figures. You see items scattered all over the wooden floor like pots, pans, cups, and even a working bag. Behind the two humans, you see there is a table that is decorated with a table cloth and more dishes. Through all the details of the surrounding image, you can see they are living in poverty or homes during the times of …show more content…
The banjo symbols the African American culture of Jazz and R&B. Jazz, R&B, and other sounds of the African American spirit is what helped them to get through tough times. In the painting, you can see they are bonded by the play of the music. Another symbol is the glow of the light. Wherever they is darkness, there is always light that would guide you. No matter what you are going through, always have your faith. In the painting The Banjo Lesson, the light symbolizes some growth and maturity in what life is going to bring forth. As for the story in the painting itself, it symbolizes how African Americans value with what they have. According to the banjo, it symbolizes a miracle for them to understand how precious their moments are when they are together. Since there are only one table, view old pots, and rusty wooden floor, and both the old man and the young boy have less fortunate clothing, it all symbolizes that they are living in poverty. The old man has worn down shoes and the young boy has on none, which represents there hard work working in the
The third symbol is Bobby spray painting the wall. Bobby paints a self-portrait of a “Pale Ghost Boy” referring to himself and he is also holding a faceless baby in a carrier. The faceless baby could represent feather lack of identity because he’s new to the world. And Bobby painting himself as “pale” and “ghostly” because he could be scared and could feel like no one supported him. This symbol is important because it shows how he isn’t fully mature because he is spray painting but it shows how lonely he feels being a single parent taking care of Feather.
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...
An artwork will consist of different elements that artists bring together to create different forms of art from paintings, sculptures, movies and more. These elements make up what a viewer sees and to help them understand. In the painting Twilight in the Wilderness created by Frederic Edwin Church in 1860 on page 106, a landscape depicting a sun setting behind rows of mountains is seen. In this painting, Church used specific elements to draw the viewer’s attention directly to the middle of the painting that consisted of the sun. Church primarily uses contrast to attract attention, but it is the different aspects of contrast that he uses that makes the painting come together. In Twilight in the Wilderness, Church uses color, rhythm, and focal
Various symbols are used in "The Lesson," by Toni Cade Bambara, to represent the social and economic inequality faced by the children in this story. The children, not that they asked for it, are dealt the bad hand by fate. It is up to them to decide what to do about it or even to do anything at all.
There was one symbol in the story that stood out especially in my mind and that was the stripper. She was a tall blonde-haired woman with a tattoo of the American flag on her stomach. I think the stripper symbolized the perfect American white woman, something a black man can strive for all his life to obtain, but would never receive. This was a symbol of the many things that a white man could have whereas a black man could not.
In the history class I was taught importance almost always starts in the center, and the character the artist wants to most present will be lighter than the rest of the painting. This is clearly shown in the
This enables the star and figures to stand out as well. Another interesting aspect related to the colors, is that the grey-blue color also is broken up by the pink color of the slaves shackles. This is clear that the artist wanted us to see the shackles and be especially aware of the fact that the figures are captive. The standing man looking toward the sky is also standing on a patch of ground that is also the same pink color, allowing the audience to know that he is the key focus of the piece. This enables the eye to be draw directly to this figure upon seeing the piece (Lazzari and Schlesier
Also, since it’s hard for the viewer to see any emotion the women are feeling in either painting by looking at their faces, the two painters appear to have used colors to create the tone. The feeling of gloom that surrounds the two women on a wharf with the color suggests that they have not found what they have been looking for so their sorrow will last a little longer. The kneeling woman has a brighter background probably depicting that she has found solace or love where she currently kneels. Between the two paintings, the kneeling woman seems to have a brighter looking future ahead of her.
There is a lot of repetition of the vertical lines of the forest in the background of the painting, these vertical lines draw the eye up into the clouds and the sky. These repeated vertical lines contrast harshly with a horizontal line that divides the canvas almost exactly in half. The background, upper portion of the canvas, is quite static and flat, whereas the foreground and middle ground of the painting have quite a lot of depth. This static effect is made up for in the immaculate amount of d...
The noose, Klan hood, and the Native American headdress represent how America mistreats other people. The noose and the Klan hood show that America is a place that discriminates against black people in its own society. Even though the Nazi party murdered millions of people in cold blood, they still saw our racism as a point they could use to persuade their citizens that we are evil. The Native American headdress has the same metaphor but for the Native American people. Our ancestors killing the Native Americans is another example of how we are malicious. It is saying “Look what they did to the blacks and Native Americans, they will invade us and will treat our people the same way!”. The American flag is a fascinating part of this poster. The
..., the broader feel of the scene. He wants us to take in the entirety of the painting but have a moment to catch the individual scenes within it, like the couple dancing, the man in the corner rolling his cigar, or the women in the front talking to the man. We do get places where our eyes can rest, but in general your eye takes in the swirl of modern life and pleasure.
In the Piano Lesson the main symbol is the piano in Berniece’s home. The piano has a lot of meaning behind it and has been through a lot. This piano has made it all the way from the South to the North, which wasn’t easy. Berniece brought the piano miles from where it was because it meant so much to her. The carvings on this piano are magnificent they represent all of her ancestors. The blood and sweat that were put into making this piano means so much more than just something you play is amazing: “ Willie Boy carved all this. He got a picture of his mama… Mamma Esther… and his daddy, Boy Charles. He got all kinds of things that happened with our family” (1183). Instead of carving what Sutter asked he made the whole piano about the history of his family. After the carving was done, the piano became a monument to his family’s
For Kristen and her friend, they can decide what music to play as they drive , travel from Flint to Atlanta by agreeing or effecting a voluntary non-hierarchical contract arrived at by voluntary bargaining among themselves, rather than a hierarchy or a third party imposition having a win-win attitude in mind.
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.
Starting with visual elements I saw lines, implied depth, and texture. I see lines by him using lines created by an edge. Each line is curved not straight but it works with the piece. By using this he creates the piece to make it whole. He uses many curved lines within the painting I don’t know if there is a straight line in the whole thing. The next element I saw was implied depth. Using linear perspective you can see the mountains but they look smaller than the rest of the piece. They are the vanishing point in the back making it look as if you can walk down and they will get closer and closer to you. The last element that I saw was texture. They talk about Van Gogh’s painting, The Starry Night having texture through a two- dimensional surface, in which this painting has that similar feel. Van Gogh uses thick brush stokes on his paintings to show his feelings. There is actually a name for this called, Impasto,