What Is Rock At Sea Transcendentalism

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The beauteous painting Rock at Sea is an alluring depiction of the jagged coast of Ogunquit, Maine. Its artist, Raymond Jonson, incorporates the use of vibrant blues, violets, and greens to illuminate the painting and bring it to life. Created in the beginning of the 20th century, this painting has just a touch of transcendentalism, a movement in which it was believed that by becoming one with nature, one could become one with God or become like Him. Rock at Sea communicates beauty and peace with an ominous foreshadowing of darkness and danger. The roaring twenties were a time for prosperity. Many people lived luxurious lives, surrounded by wealth and riches. The same was true for the ever blooming field of arts. Famous artists and movements rocked the decade. Pablo Picasso and surrealist Frida Kahlo produced some of their finest works during the twenties. Art deco, a form of art most commonly seen in the decorative architecture of the twenties, was also a popularity of the era. While this painting leans more towards an abstract modernist piece, with modernism being a form of art that challenges direct depictions of what the piece is modeled after, a high amount of influence from other works of the time can be seen. …show more content…

He was largely influenced in his career by Russian Avant-grade painter Wassily Kandinsky, but his painting Rock at Sea showed more influence from 19th century sea scape painting trailblazer Winslow Homer. Jonson, after receiving a full education at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, worked at the Chicago Little Theater as the graphic art director for several years. In later times, Jonson would move out to Albuquerque, New Mexico and, in 1936, would co-found the Transcendentalist Painting Group. Rock at Sea emerged just before this big move and sixty years before his death in

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