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Surrealism research question
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The Belgian painter Paul Delvaux’s enthrallment with Jules Verne and his exposure to surrealism lead to the Awakening of the Forest in 1939. Delvaux, known for his female nudes in landscapes, was first exposed to the genre of surrealism through the works of Giorgio de Chirico in 1934 at the Minotaure Exhibition in Brussels. In his attempt to recreate his childhood fantasy, Delvaux literally places himself into the fantasy. Professor Otto Lidenbrock nephew, Axle, who’s face pictures to the far left of the of the canvas is rumored that Delvaux modeled Axle after himself. His childhood love for Jules Verne’s Journey to the center of the Earth led to the creation of multiple piece considered in the surrealist movement by Delvaux, including the …show more content…
Awaking of the Forest. Delvaux depicts the juxtaposition of mood of the forest people and explores, but in a manner that does not fully relies the surrealist form. Paul Delvaux brings the forest to life with his use of texture, color, and form. The forest appears to have elements from both temperate deciduous forests and tropical forests. Large healthy deciduous trees are seen in the foreground, all with different organic shapes. Two types of deciduous trees are depicted, one with smooth bark and ridged bark. Delvaux used visible strokes to bring out the grain of the ridged bark, while most of the textures are smooth without any noticeable brushstrokes. Moreover, the ridged barked deciduous trees have greater color variation when compared to the smooth barked deciduous trees, with browns and mossy greens in addition to the variations of greys. It should be noted that only the smooth barked trees are touched by the forest people, may it be by hugging or climbing. The tropical forest elements are seen more in the background of the painting and the floor vegetation. These two types of forest, deciduous and tropical, promotes the idea that this forest is not of this world. The use of non-neutral colors is seen in Delvaux’s use of red. Red is seen mostly on the intruders to the forest (i.e. Professor Otto Lidenbrock and the Victorian woman), with a few touches in the vegetation on forest floor. The use of the color red frames the edges for the canvas, giving interest in to the dark shadows of the trees without distracting from the central figures. The brightness of the painting radiates from center of the work to the darker edges. The large white moon peaks slightly off-center through the forest canopy clearing at the top of the painting. Below the moon, the largest grouping of the forest people. The fair opalescent skin of the forest people provide the greatest contrast to the muted greys, dark browns, and greens of the forest. Comparing the skin of the forest people to that of Professor Otto Lidenbrock and Axle, notice that Professor Otto Lidenbrock is more muted and dull while Axle’s seems muddied up. Furthermore, there are two woman in Victorian garb walking into the forest with lanterns. They are in the shadows of the trees, yet their lanterns do not illuminate around them. This could be seen as their inability to unveil the mysteries of the forest beyond. The title The Awakening of the Forest harkens to the idea that the forest people are not just entities in the forest but physically a part of the forest. Delvaux blurs the line of distinct form in three of the forest people in the foreground. This idea of the people being integrated with the forest is most prominently seen in the leftmost female near Professor Otto Lidenbrock. There is a distinct line where her hair transitions to a bush-like vegetation, which extends to the floor of the forest. This could be seen as a headdress worn by this forest nymph due to the glimpse of hair forward of the vegetation. However, the idea that the forest people are physically part of the forest is corroborated by two other forest people. To the immediate right of the aforementioned forest nymph, there is another forest nymph where all of her hair is entirely comprised by vegetation. In addition, to the far right of the painting, forward of the woman in Victorian garb, there is a hermaphroditic forest character where again his hair is composed of vegetation. Furthermore, two white doves lay atop of his head (the inclusion of white doves could also allude to the peace and serenity of a people and land untouched by modernity) which furthermore reinforce their connection to the forest. The female form is the most prominent figure seen in in the Awakening of the Forest, and Delvaux depicts the forest female and the Victorian females in opposing manners. There are 19 forest people seen in the painting – 17 of them overtly female and two of them appearing as hermaphroditic males. Each of the females have distinguishing characteristics that let the viewer identifying them as different beings. Delvaux, known for his expansive collection of the female nude, brought in his fascination of the female form into the work. His elaboration for the subject matter shows in his addition of the forest people that were not explicitly mentioned in Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. All the female forest people could be seen as the idealism female nude in movement, instead of its standard lounged position. But this female nude form does diverge from the classic idealized body with the addition of pubic hair. What can be gathered from these observations is that Delvaux depicts these forest people in an ideal primitive female form. To go back to the primitive is in direct juxtaposition of the Victorian woman depicted in the painting. The Victorian females are depicted without distinguishing characteristics, mainly missing visible faces. They completely turned away from the viewer or their face is so obscured that there are no emotions to be felt. The modern woman is closed off to the viewer and cold, while the primitive woman is expressive. Exaggeration of the face is the defining characteristic of what allegedly pushes this work into surrealism.
The forms of the bodies depicted follow the standard human forms without much deviation. This is true until one reaches the faces. The faces feature exaggerated eyes. The eyes of the figure are enlarged to the point of uncanny, in the sense that they convey this eerie underline mood to the overall feel of the painting. This is enhanced by the paintings large size, which allows for the view to more easily become engulfed in the eyes of each of the figure in the painting. Since the face conveys so much of the emotions of the human figure, the swaying of the face to the eerie is what makes many attribute this painting to surrealism. While The Awakening of the Forest is based off Jules Verne Journey to the Center of the Earth, there are no passages in the novel that depict the scene portrayed in the work. Yet notice that the sight line of the depicted main characters, Professor Otto Lidenbrock and his nephew Axle, are not on the forest people. Professor Otto Lidenbrock is engulfed with his examination of what seems to be a fossil or rock. While Axle has an empty forward gaze, unfazed. This could be interpreted as the two explorers being blinded by their quest to the point where they had missed the skeptical immediately next to
them. The general inclusion of this piece and Delvaux himself in the midst of surrealist works and surrealist artists both contradict what defines the genre of art, and how he himself viewed his work. André Breton outlined the guidelines on what surrealism encompasses in his First Manifesto of Surrealism. Breton clearly defined surrealism with two definitions: Dictionary: Surrealism, n. Pure psychic automatism, by which one proposes to express, either verbally, in writing, or by any other manner, the real functioning of thought. Dictation of thought in the absence of all control exercised by reason, outside of all aesthetic and moral preoccupation. Encyclopedia: Surrealism. Philosophy. Surrealism is based on the belief in the superior reality of certain forms of previously neglected associations, in the omnipotence of dream, in the disinterested play of thought. It tends to ruin once and for all other psychic mechanisms and to substitute itself for them in solving all the principal problems of life. (Breton 1924) The fact that The Awakening of the Forest is based off of concrete subject matter contradicts the release from the control of the reason seen in the dictionary definition of surrealism. Furthermore, the “omnipotence of dream” seems undermined by the presence of this existing subject matter corrupting the psyche and not allowing for the true expression of the subconscious to express itself on the canvas. Delvaux himself didn’t consider himself as truly part of the surrealist movement. Delvaux stated “Surrealism! What is Surrealism? In my opinion, it is above all a reawakening of the poetic idea in art, the reintroduction of the subject but in a very particular sense, that of the strange and illogical.” The poetic idea in this particular case could be Delvaux’s childhood realization of one of his favorite works in his aesthetic vision. Yet it is based in so for of logic and therefore not truly a surrealist work.
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 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
The painting has an order and there are different shapes and angles. Rectangular shape is main trend around this piece, including the wooden chest, the leg rest and the canvass. Also things overlap, creating the illusion of the shape look closer to viewer than the shape behind it. The example in this piece would be the chair on which Adelaide Labille Guiard sits be close to viewer than the girls behind it. This adds depth to the space. Also due to linear perspective girls behind the chair are smaller due to being farther away.
Each shape encapsulates the individual to provide the concept of proportion that humans should be composed of: Leonardo felt as if the human body itself is a piece of art and depicted it to be so in many of his works. He would have large space behind most of his pieces to show connections, but in The Vitruvian he leaves that space open in order to connect that the human body itself is connected to the world in a different way: “This image provides the perfect example of Leonardo's keen interest in proportion. In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Leonardo's attempts to relate man to nature” (Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man). The form of the body and the abstract of the canvas behind him bring a realization of the beauty of man. Nature and people have a cohesive bond that can’t be broken, one with out the other, the world will collapse and dimensions of art wouldn’t be the same. Pop art was and still is a very famous and well-known style of art that is known all around the world. The most influential pop artist in the world is Andy Warhol, or as most people call him, the father of pop
This piece is acrylic, oilstick, and spray paint on wood panel that is 186.1 centimeters in height and 125.1 centimeters in width. This piece features a human-like figure in the center that is mostly half red and half black. This figure has a gray head with one yellow eye and one light gray eye and above its head is a black halo. The background consists of patches of various colors such as light blue, black, dark red, light green, beige, turquoise, pink, and yellow. On the bottle left corner there is a figure drawn that looks like a fish and has a strip of mustard yellow painted through it. Also towards the bottom right of the artwork, there is some drawn on letters that almost look like words but are messily painted over with a desert sand color. This piece is my favorite because I find it aesthetically pleasing. There is a lot going on in this piece that makes looking at it genuinely interesting. The colors that Basquiat choses for the background go very well together and overall compliment the figure in the center. I like how incredibly expressive this piece is and it makes me want to buy a canvas and start painting that I desire. I also like how the human-like figure is drawn. One could see what looks like an outlined ribcage on the figure, which makes me believe that the head is actually a skull. Upon further research I learned that Basquiat was
many other emotions that the artist is trying to display in his painting. Although we can try and
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.
...ause the look of curiosity of the girl extends beyond the frame. This gives the painting a sense of curiosity.
In the beginning, Surrealism was primarily a literary movement, but it gave artists an access to new subject matter and a process for conjuring it. As Surrealist paintings began to emerge, it divi...
This notion of Abstract Expressionism has become an interesting factor between the Contemporary arts making of Abstract arts, specifically paintings. When approaching Artworks from Contemporary Abstract painters, the subject matter dives deeper in meaning than the actual artwork before the viewer. From an outward appearance, some paintings from artist, such as, James Little, juxtaposed to works by Odili Donald Odita, have a lot of formal similarities within the uses of geometrical shapes and balancing colors. However, understanding the means to why each artist paints the way they do, will actually become rather different from first approaching and accessing the paintings.
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.
The painting is very humanistic and portrays a very real and anatomically correct portrayal of the men in the painting.
Cubism takes the opposite route for the same effect. Solid lines are drawn, but the painting itself is usually more abstract (as with Picasso). At times it can be difficult to discern what some paintings are supposed to represent. Bright, vivid colors infuse the pieces with more passion. The contrast between those not well defined objects and the punch of emotion gives cubism its personality and vitality.
Many artists started experimenting with new styles of art throughout the Baroque Ages to the present time. These paintings and sculptures were famous for the detailed work and the beauty of art. To define male beauty, these arts have simplified the creativity in masculinity. For centuries, the art of male beauty has been constantly changing and the portrayal of men has become more feminine in many artworks. These changes in these artworks were caused by the increase of time that has passed and the occurrences that had influenced people to associate these experiences through their masterpieces. It is known that mainly known that artists like to express their emotions and show their imaginations that can easily show the meanings in a visual display. By having a representation of each masterpiece, the work to provide the visual views of male beauty can mostly be found through paintings and sculptures that revolves during each era.