Joseph Hirsch’s painting Daniel was painted in 1976-1977. In 1978 during the153rd Annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design, it won the First Benjamin Altman (Figure) prize. It measures 38 inches by 45 inches (96.52 cm x 114.3 cm) with a five inch gold wood frame surrounding it. The medium is oil on canvas. Everything within the painting is centered to draw your eyes to the action of the turned head and the pointed finger. According to the placard next to the painting this is a modern day version of the biblical story of Belshazzar’s Feast following the sacking of Jesualism from the Book of Daniel. From this point on, each figure within the painting will be addressed as Hirsch intended. The painting depicts a seated king, a dozing courtesan and Daniel. The three figures are the focal point of the composition. Hirsch uses a strong color palette to give the painting a luxurious and wealthy feel. Although the detail is not miniscule, the composition as a whole is easily understood. The use of oil paint allowed Hirsch to play with the composition as it was created.
The paint does not have any visible signs of cracking like other oil paintings. It appears to be as vibrant today as it was when it was originally painted. A good example of this is the color of the chairs. The fuchsia is the first color are drawn to. From there the composition pops out at you. The king’s ruffled shirt shows Hirsch’s used of impasto. Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on the canvas thickly enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible.
The brush strokes are similar to Leonardo’s sfumato technique, but reminiscent of Rapheal’s color usage. The strokes are soft along the edges giving them a hazy appearan...
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...ing only smoke billowing up. On the left side of the courtesan is a man’s arm holding a lit cigar. On the table is a bowl of fruit and an ice bucket with wine.
The view of the painting brings to mind the all the senses. Smell is the first to come to mind as the smoke from the candle billows up, the burning smell reaches the noise as well as the burning cigar. The fruity smell overshadows that of the smell of chicken and peas. The noise of a dropped tray and the breaking of glass as it hits the floor makes everyone turn to the right. People talking over each other to be heard. All of the senses are realized as the painting is viewed.
As Hirsch intended, the painting is meant to teach a lesson in judgement and retribution. Hirsch’s painting showed the how we as human are susceptible to greed and it is something we need to overcome or we will be judged and punished.
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
The texture of the paint is smooth and flows very nicely the paintings composition is primarily bundled into the bottom right half of the image. The wings and legs of the animals as well as and table help form an invisible sloping line across the painting.
When looking at the painting it gives us a glimpse of the past. It looks almost like a photograph. The fine detail from the building on the right with the statue on top. The citizens walking around.
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
This painting made me cry. After knowing her story, this meaning of this painting is so apparent and distressing. The biblical story of Susanna says that two elders were infatuated with her beauty and cornered her in a garden one day. To save their skin, they lied in court and said that they had seen her lay with a man that was not her husband. They had been lying. Daniel convinced the court that the two men were bearing false witness and both men were put to death. The turmoil that this young woman went through is parallel to what happened to Artemisia when she was a young woman. You can see the pain and confusion on Susanna’s face and the condemning judgement that the two judges are casting upon her. Susanna is nude with a simple sheet draped over one leg and her breasts are exposed, it makes her appear vulnerable. I think she chose this biblical heroine for this painting because it helped depict the tragedy of her own life. She was only 17 years old when she painted
The composition of this painting forces the eye to the woman, and specifically to her face. Although the white wedding dress is large and takes up most of the woman’s figure, the white contrasts with her face and dark hair, forcing the viewer to look more closely into the woman’s face. She smokes a cigarette and rests her chin on her hands. She does not appear to be a very young woman and her eyes are cast down and seem sad. In general, her face appears to show a sense of disillusionment with life and specifically with her own life. Although this is apparently her wedding day, she does not seem to be happy.
When you put all these aspects put together with my interpretation of what is happening in the painting, a sense of calmness and security was constructed for me. No matter what this couple may be going through at the end of the day they still lean on each other for support. The complementary colors symbolized a sensation of strength between them, the balance of the composition created a stability characteristic, and the smooth and fluid brush strokes created a tranquil energy between the
Visually, both Wassily Kandinsky’s Composition VII and Jackson Pollock’s No. 2 constitute a chaotic arrangement of colors and images with no apparent relation to one another. The randomly scattered paint, large canvas, and over-clamped figures all build a similar visual chaos in both paintings. Despite the mayhem, the two paintings differ in the inner emotions each artist wanted to express and the nature of the “chaos.” While for Kandinsky the chaos represents the smooth and melodic sentiments raised by music, for Pollock the chaos depicts the more spontaneous and impulsive emotions. The authors’ differing goals lead Kandinsky to ponder and refine his painting to capture a more universal theme and Pollock to develop his “drip” painting method
The painting shows Mary, Mary Magdalen and John embracing Jesus’s dead body while they are crying, and focuses on their emotional distress of losing someone dear. Mary is caught middle of letting out a great cry while embracing Jesus from the left. John is shown with curly brown hair while also letting out a cry, but he is behind Jesus and only his face is visible. Mary Magdalen is to the right holding onto one of Jesus arm that reaches over the edge that almost seems like it is coming out of the painting. The whole scene in the painting is very grim as Jesus, the central figure, is lying dead with scars of his mistreatment clear for everybody to see. His body is white and thin with veins of arms and body showing through the skin, and his face seems so tired and worn out. On his head, there is a crown of thorns, but without any blood or scars. The emotional distress in the faces of those around Jesus are stylized, but any viewer would recognize their
Jasper John's painting, commonly called Three Flags, captured my attention right away. The painting was made in the year 1958. It measures 30 7/8 by 451/2 inches and is 5 inches deep. The painting was made with encaustic canvas and comprised of three flags that are superimposed to form tier arrangement creating a three-dimensional artwork. The three flags appear in different sizes with each flag about 25% smaller than the other. The inner flag and the middle flags are only partially visible. The flags resemble the United States of America’s flag that was used in the 1950s. The flags were painted with thirteen red stripes that alternate with white stripes. It also has forty-eight white stars that are in a blue canton (Jasper Johns, 2010).
images in this painting, all of which have the power to symbolize to us, the viewer, of the painter’s
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.
The composition of this particular piece of work is very crowded and the only space that is apparent is where the geometrical shapes overlap creating some small gaps between them. Perhaps the distressed society of the time explains the chaotic feeling of this piece. The war had created complete upheaval and had ruined many people’s lives and societies. The combination of torn edges and sharp edges encourages the viewer to feel erratic and unordered yet everything is arranged and given a particular place. I think that Schwitters wanted to create some kind of order within his work as well as having an undertone of chaos. I feel that the layers of paint t...
...s of the people that cared about Jesus and also to see the anger that God had for what the people had done to his son by showing the stormy clouds and gloomy surroundings. But he also wanted us to see that even among the gloom that good can come because Jesus has died on the cross for our sins so that we may join him in Heave with our father. I believe he shows this by the light surrounding Jesus. I think this is a great master piece. Tintoretto has so much going on throughout the painting that you can go back and look again and find something going on in the picture that you missed before.
To me the painting is a way of showing you what everyone else is seeing. That the painter had the men looking right at each other so they can see themselves running away. In turn I got to see myself doing the same thing and was able to change because of it. When other people look at the painting they probably see something else. That is why I choose to do the painting, it gives you the choice too interpret it any way you see fit. Or it can just be a beautiful painting to look at, but the painting was so much more to me. It painted a thousand words for me.