On 10 Aug, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
The nineteenth century was a period of constant change, revolutions, wars, endings and new beginnings. These turbulent times affected artists who began to express themselves in more than one way. Indeed, when we study the 1800s art, we have at least four movements that really transcended and made an impact in the History of Art: Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, and the origins of Cubism. In this article I want to talk about one of the greatest Romantic painters and possibly one of the last Old Masters, Eugène Delacroix.
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On 1 Aug, 2018 With
Articke by Jimena Escoto
No matter which era of the western history of art you study, mythological scenes are present. That is why a great way to navigate through the evolution of art is by studying the same subject as it has been depicted across time and space. One of the most popular deities of the Greco-Roman pantheon is Venus or Aphrodite, the goddess of love, sexuality, fertility, etc. She is the protagonist of a vast number of stories regarding the gods and the mortals. For example, the love triangle between her, Mars and Vulcan, her interference within the Homeric epics, and her manipulation of Dido and Aeneas.
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On 23 Jul, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
Since the beginning artists have tried to represent those things which are abstract by transforming them into persons, thus allegories. We see rivers, mountains, feelings, and many other things acquire human forms with personalities. One of my favorite allegories is the “Four continents”, i.e. Europe, Asia, Africa, and America (Oceania haven’t been totally discovered, and those islands who were known weren’t considered as a different continent yet). During the seventeenth century, with the discovery of the American continent, artists were inspired to depict this “new” continent with its companions. The question is, how do you represent them? They’re not exactly abstract, as they do have a shape and location, but painters wouldn’t design just another map, would they?
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On 19 Jul, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
The society and the educational system of today prepare us to be specialists. Either you are a doctor, or a mathematician, or an artist. Hardly, though not impossible, you’ll find someone with more than one college degree, especially in different areas of knowledge. However, in the 16th century, this was not the case; as a matter of fact, if you were dedicated only to one specialty, you were kind of average and not interesting at all. During the Renaissance, we find architects who also painted and sculpted masterpieces, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. They were complete artists. We can say that Giorgio Vasari belongs to that exclusive group, he was a painter, architect, art historian and a writer.
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On 4 Jul, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
It is well known that the Renaissance was a period of rediscovery of classical culture. As a result, artists started depicting mythological scenes, even though they never forgot Christian themes. With this new liberty and excitement to create, subjects that were formerly censured flourished. One particular theme that I have noticed frequently used in Italian Renaissance is that of Leda and the swans. One of the major subjects during this time was eroticism, of which Leda’s story belongs to.
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On 23 Jun, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
Have you ever wondered how did we go from the sculpted columns in the Gothic cathedrals to Michelangelo’s David?
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On 8 Jun, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
The Renaissance must have been a wonderful time to live in, if you were wealthy, of course. And to live in Florence at that time meant two things. The first one was that everybody knew who the Medicis were; and the second one, the streets were full of artists, architects, sculptors in hopes that the Medicis would commission them an artwork. Indeed, the Medicis were big fans of fine art and they spent as much as they wanted in expensive masterpieces of any kind.
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On 5 Jun, 2018 With
Article by Rachael Concessio You may have never picked up a paintbrush before and know next to nothing about fine art. However, the name Michelangelo is not lost on you. To this day, he remains one of the greatest artists produced by the Renaissance movement. In this article, I am taking an in-depth look at Michelangelo’s life and art career. Early Life Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6th, 1475 in Caprese, Italy. For generations, his family had been small-scale bankers in Florence. When the bank failed, his father was forced to take a government position in Caprese where Michelangelo was born. Not long after his birth, the family returned to Florence. As a promising young artist, he was fortunate to grow up in Florence; the heart of the Renaissance movement and artistic expression. Apprenticeship In 1488,…
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On 9 Apr, 2018 With
Article by Jimena Escoto
So few personalities of the history of humanity have transcended as much as Alexander the Great has. He lived 2,300 ago and he still is one of the greatest conquerors ever. His empire went from Macedonia and Greece to the Indus valley. His life is full of amazing stories that get mixed with mythology. As a matter of fact, this issue about the Greeks telling their story with gods and fantastic creatures make, on the one hand, hard to believe some events, but, on the other, makes it very interesting and fun. Nonetheless, his story served as inspiration for major works of art since he was alive. In this article, I will be focusing on the old Masters and a few representations of Alexander’s incredible life.
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On 1 Apr, 2018 With
Article by Anders E. Johnson
From the collection of Van Gogh’s earlier works, the drawing Worn Out, completed in 1882, resonates the earnestness of the beloved artist Vincent Van Gogh.
We are confronted with a sketch of a Dutch farmer peasant. Drawn with pencil on paper, Van Gogh employed light strokes of graphite as well as bold lines to define the edges of the chair and the farmer’s pants. Crosshatching is also visible throughout the piece, giving a sense of texture, especially as seen on the dirt floor surface and the clothes. The entire composition is structured vertically with the main element being the man centered in the foreground in a rectangular fashion.
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