Bob Johnson, Citizen Voices, The Courthouse-on-the-Square
Introduction
I will be using various elements that constitute a description that includes: answer the question “what do I see”, describe the form of art, what the medium was used for creation of this work, Size and scale of the art piece, Elements or general shapes formed in the composition such as buildings or several figures within the painting are lined up, description of the use of line and how line describes shape and space, description of color and color scheme, texture if surface or other descriptions about how the work was executed. This is the methodology I will be using to analyze the work.
Description
The piece looks as if it were printed on to a canvas after the artist
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had finished painting it. It looks like he had used water paint to do majority of the painting then switched to another medium to outline what he had painted in water paint. Analysis Bob Johnson creates a work of art directly influenced around the time of women’s suffrage for the Denton County.
His, Citizen Voices, predominately utilizes organic shapes to show the women of the nearby colleges in Denton. The irregular shapes, often curving or diagonal lines created to depict the movement of women’s equality. The color scheme used by the artist was a cool or autumn set of colors to show the season of going to college is in the fall. He changes the color and shows emptiness with the color white to transition between each subject of the piece to provide a real sense of being in college. The color scheme is complementary with the orange and blue concludes variations in color between hues that are opposite to one another on the color …show more content…
wheel. Johnson’s piece is an example of the technique, atmospheric perspective, a nonlinear means of giving the illusion of depth. Vertical, horizontal, and diagonal line was all used in this piece to show movement of time and stability of education. He presents a use of diagonal line to show the movement of subject to subject. The artist use horizontal line as well with the woman sitting by a tree with the horizontal ground showing stability and the vertical tree showing support in her studying. Second Analysis The artist also accommodates the piece with two more slabs that is one picture split and placed around the outside. This image was taken around the time where colleges were protesting the war in Vietnam as you can see with the including peace sign and American flag inside the sign. The audience’s reception of this would present them what the power of voices can do in two separate times of reform. The style Johnson uses is a simplistic design of actual line and the basic coloring scheme does not render the piece amateur at all, but tells a story of what it was like to be a women student at the time. Citizen Voices were accommodated with text that tells the history behind on how the educational rise in Denton prior to the civil war that private and religious institutions existed for higher education.
Very few public educations existed and most went bankrupt do to lack of support. The Citizens of Denton County formed a committee to fund universities themselves, or have state legislation fund them. Five institutions emerged after this and only three now remain: University of North Texas, Texas Women’s University, North Central Texas College. This painting showed the support for the education that was possible due to Denton County. This later came to show that women also have the right to attend
college. Conclusion Bob Johnson’s Citizen Voices has value, it epitomizes the time period one would discover throughout the United States (figure1). Johnson’s art is worth considering because it captures the unique features of Denton in the Post-Civil War era. I am convinced when viewing his work of art that I am in school decades ago. He succeeds in capturing a moment of historic permanence during a time when America was rapidly changing. His work envisions the ideal, urban location for colleges that brought the community together to better the young America for the future. Johnson’s Citizen Voices have value historically among the Denton County. Originally meant to capture college in North Texas, Johnson created a masterpiece which highlights the community accomplishments. Bibliography Riddle, P. (2015, June 01). Office of History and Culture. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from http://dentoncounty.com/Departments/History-and-Culture/Office-of-History-and-Culture/Exhibits.aspx Johnson, B. (1962). Citizen Voices [Painting]. Denton County Exhibit, Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum, Denton, Texas. Barrett, Terry. (1994) Criticizing Art: Understanding the Contemporary. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company.
The historical painting I chose for my final, is an illustration of Bret Harte’s novel, Her Letter, His Response, and Her Last Letter, creatively illustrated by Arthur Ignatius Keller in 1905. The historical painting I chose for the comparison of Arthur Keller’s painting is another painting done by Arthur I Keller; illustrated for 54-40 or Fight by Emerson Hough, in 1909. Arthur I Keller is a very natural, elegant style painter, with an eye for natural beauty. Keller’s many paintings express intricate detail, and genuine quality. Although I picked two water color paintings out of Arthur Keller’s many collections of paintings, he also uses charcoal, acrylics, oils, and pastels to create other works of art. In both paintings I chose, Arthur Keller uses water color and gouache to paint people. Arthur’s first painting I mentioned, illustrating “Her Letter” is a more detailed painting. Keller uses water color to create a graceful look to his painting; his delicate balance of color, keeps the viewer’s eyes wandering around the painting. The focal point in the painting does not catch the viewer’s eyes because of heavy, dark colors, but because of the proportion differences of the people he implies. The painting gives off a very old fashioned feel, in a tasteful way. Arthur Keller’s second painting, illustrating “54-40 or Fight” has a completely different color theme, and gives off more of a mysterious, dark feel to it. The painting is detailed, but in a more simple way, and there is less negative space. As to where Keller’s “Her Letter” painting had a lot of open areas on the canvas, this painting, displays two people in a small enclosed dark room. The focal point is more dramatic, and a lot more obvious because instead of using sizing,...
The work that I have chosen to talk about was “The Old Stagecoach by Eastman Johnson.” This work would be considered a painting. The images that are shown in the painting are a old stagecoach as the name of the painting suggest. The stagecoach does not have any wheel and so it just sits on the ground. There are also a bunch of children that are portrayed playing inside and on top of the stagecoach. The colors that are used in this painting are all realistic, this is very important because it portrays what a warm summer day would like on a farm. There are a lot of different colors such as bright green grass and bright colors for the clothes that the children are wearing. There a quite a few principles are elements that are used in the painting. One of the first principles that I noticed was the emphasis of the stagecoach. It appears in the center of the image and is definitely the main focus of the image. The children in the image are definitely important to the painting to show how much the they enjoy the stagecoach. There is also a good use of variety in the colors used for what each child is wearing which also brings interest to the painting.
The paint is spread thinly along the surface showing no raised areas for texture. The objects within the painting have similar line weights. There are different directional lines as well
are depicted with the same degree of variation. To understand such a diverse set of paintings –
The first artwork I chose for the formal analysis project is The Tiger by Ito Jakuchù originally painted in 1755. This painting is of a tiger licking its paw in the grass underneath a tree branch. There seems to be two diagonal planes as the tiger is leaning forward and sitting erect. There is a horizontal plane from what appear to be branches above the tiger. The painting has asymmetrical balance as the elements are equally distributed to balance the top and the bottom of the space. The artwork demonstrates several types of line. There are curved lines used in the tiger’s stripes. There are also diagonal, vertical and horizontal lines used in the background for the grass and the overhanging tree branch. The curved and wavy lines used in the tiger’s body, for example in the shoulder muscles, imply movement in addition to the curve in the tiger’s tail. The color scheme used in this painting seems to be complementary to one another as the artist used orange and brown tones with blue and red-orange accents for the tiger’s eyes and tongue. Black is used throughout the p...
The first painting analyzed was North Country Idyll by Arthur Bowen Davis. The focal point was the white naked woman. The white was used to bring her out and focus on the four actual colored males surrounding her. The woman appears to be blowing a kiss. There is use of stumato along with atmospheric perspective. There is excellent use of color for the setting. It is almost a life like painting. This painting has smooth brush strokes. The sailing ship is the focal point because of the bright blue with extravagant large sails. The painting is a dry textured flat paint. The painting is evenly balanced. When I look at this painting, it reminds me of settlers coming to a new world that is be founded by its beauty. It seems as if they swam from the ship.
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.
Civil Disobedience is a deliberate violation against the law in order to invoke change against a government policy. Civil disobedience can come in the form of running a red light or j-walking, or in more noticeable methods such as riots. Coined by American author and poet Henry David Thoreau, the term has developed to define the act of disobeying a law one sees as unfit or unjust. Usually the purpose of civil disobedience is to gain public attention to a perceived injustice and appeal to or gain support from the public in a non-violent way. The idea is to force the government to negotiate or else continue with the unwanted behavior; or in simpler terms, to “clog the machine” (“Civil Disobedience”). It is believed by many that the act of civil disobedience is justifiable in a democratic government like that of the United States. A Democracy is defined as a form of government controlled by elected representatives or by the people themselves. However, in order to have a stable government, it must be built on a stable society. Societal welfare is the general good for the public and how its members take action to provide opportunities and minimum standards. According to societal welfare, which is the sake of the emotional and physical well-being of the community, the laws must be abided and civil disobedience is morally unjust in our society. Once any member of the society questions the affairs of the state, the state may be given up for lost (“Jean Jacques Rousseau”).
The funding of public education has long been an issue for the state government of Texas. Starting before Texas was even a state, public education funding was at the forefront of politicians’ minds. In 1836, one of the reasons Anglo-Texans wanted to become independent from Mexico was Mexico’s lack of a public school system (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). This drove the desire of President Mirabeau B. Lamar of the Republic of Texas to create legislation that would grant public schools land (A Brief History of Public Education, n.d.). This act set aside four leagues of land per county for the use of free education centers and thus began the funding of public education by the state government (An Overview of the History of Public Education in Texas, 2016). In the last 177 years, the Texas Legislature and the Texas Education Agency have created numerous acts and laws regarding the funding of education, but it has been in the last 50 years that this topic has become highly contested, resulting in several lawsuits and endless efforts (by the school districts) to equalize the distribution of funds to Texas school districts (Texas School Finance History, n.d.). In sum, the complex issues and policies that surround the funding of public education are derived from a combination of the legislature, bureaucratic agencies, and local governments in the form of school districts.
Wet Canvas, no date, Jules Cheret: The Father of the modern poster, found here: http://www.wetcanvas.com/Museum/Artists/c/Jules_Cheret/, (accessed 26/11/2013).
see the type of elements the artist has used and how different elements can complement each
Each drawing. Each painting. Each sculpture. It can give you a glimpse of what is going on in the artist’s head. Take the painting “El Autobus” by Frida Kahlo as an example. It has been said that the painting is in reference of the accident Frida Kahlo had where she got impaled by a metal handrail. The painting is of a bench with people sitting on it just before boarding the bus. This kind of artwork, where the artist puts a little bit of him/her self in it is something I strive for. I want to make art that reflects me, or that means something to me. I don’t want to make something just because, I want it to be where the viewer could possibly see the hard work, the passion, the emotion behind it. Things that most times get
It seems to be his style of painting, thick brush strokes. It is not simple, there is much to the painting, there is emotion in the painting. It is a stunning piece made by him.
Conversely, upon investigating the artwork’s factual information such as the painting’s context, the artist’s background, the genre and the school or movement associated with the painting, it is possible to obtain knowledge that combines objective information and subjective opinion, confirming that some degree of objectivity, albeit with our ‘cultural imprint’, is possible as an art observer.
Art criticism is another component of art instruction. It includes showing appreciation for an artwork and its purpose. The critic uses their own knowledge of art and their own depiction of the work to make an opinionated statement on it. It requires background knowledge and a trained eye of perception to be able to make an accurate analysis of a person’s work. This includes knowledge of the physical details, design, technique and style of the work (Hurwitz 1991).