German Expressionism

After reading the lecture and coming across expressionism, I remembered seeing an exhibition at the Met a few years ago about German Expressionism and Otto Dix came to mind. I saw this picture in person and it made an impression on me because I could feel the despair and sadness of the painting.  I read the bio on the wall about Dix and found that he was traumatized by WWI and the paintings shown mostly dealt with his emotional response to this surroundings.  It was a sad exhibition, but in terms of expressionism it full filed its definition.

Surrealsim

In terms of surrealism Dali always comes to mind first and this is one of my favorite paintings he's done.  For some strange reason it feel like I've seen this something similar in my dreams.  That is what I adore about his work, the fact that it they seem like representations of dreams.

Abstract

When reading about abstract art I remembered one artist in particular. Stuart Davis and this painting "Egg Beater No.1" from the Whitney Museum. I specifically remember this piece because when I saw it in person I stood there and tried to make sense or a connection to the title and it stumped me. Maybe it the fact that everything is messy and being torn or seems to be coming apart, like what an egg beater does to its victims. I guess that's the point of abstract art and this piece certainly is a good example of that.

Style

Whenever I think of an artistic style Modigliani comes to mind. I can always distinguish his work, by elongated faces, the little black eyes and small mouths that most of this paintings and some sculptures encompass.  I learned of him at the Met in NYC, when a painting of his caught my attention, not this one(this is my favorite of his), and I began to look up more of his work and learn about him as an artist.

More Architecture

This is Pont-du-Gard. It is located in southern France but was constructed by the Romans, as it is exemplified by the beautiful Roman arches. The stone work looks raw, unfinished in Pont-du-Gard but yet has a sophistication to its design.  

Architecture

When reading about ancient architecture I was began to think of a place I've always wanted to visit and found very interesting. Machu-Pichu in Peru exemplifies ancient architecture because it incorporates the landscape into the buidlings without offending the surrounding. This is in contrast to modern day archcitecture where, for the most part, surrounding and landscape are not respected. The use of stone that is the smae color as the stone around it, incorporates the buildings and at the smae time gives it a mystical feeling.

sculpture 2

I took this picture in the Louvre and I think it exemplifies issue of scale mentioned in Unit 2. The sculpture in set on a pedestal that makes it perception grandiose, like David. 

Sculpture

 I like this sculpture because to me it addresses the negative and positive aspect. One can see the statue from different perspectives and from every angle one can encompass different points of view.