The painting of Untitled by Gerald Donato displayed in the Taubman Museum in Roanoke allures attention by the chaotic combination of figural pieces and the collided whirlwind of vibrant yellows, oranges, greens, and undertones of black. The background information shares that Gerald Donato was a talented, beloved painter and teacher whose work anticipated references to important art-historical developments. Ideological forces, such as familiar cartoon imagery, “Steamboat Willie”, and formally represented figures, are clearly influences in his work as his interest of hidden subject matter is visually bursted on an oil canvas. He created a blended cartoon-like scene of abstraction and figuration by incorporating a mysterious feminine figure “Moon face” and a recurring character “Mr. Man” to embody a message of escaping from the spiral cage that represents the constraints in life. Mr. Donato borrowed images from past history and radically transformed these elements through his own blend of abstraction and figures to send a message about the conflict between society and individuals.
The artist depicts an initial confusing and weirded-out thought for the viewer at first glance, but as one deeply examines the art, the subject matter begins to become more clear. The vision being shared in this non-objective painting has a context of placing one in the standing of Mr. Man by gaining height and freedom from the (white) bars that are rising on each level that represent conflict which traps one in a “cage” of misery. The unbalanced symmetry of having the left side take up more space with little action, and the right side being smaller with the action unraveling, makes the viewer break down each composite perspective. For the left side, the mysterious female muse, Moon-Face, has an unproportional face that is almost blushing with shades of light pasty orange, with the mouth wide open. The energetic mood is amplified by the tone of yellow that is splashed in the mouth, representing a loss of words or at a state of disbelief. The female’s lower half is created with tints of red that enhances the curves on her body, as if chiaroscuro connects the light and dark contrast to show outline of the breasts, stomach, and hips in
One of the aspects I believe unifies this painting is, as I talked about above, the continuation of the blue of the woman’s clothing continuing up into her hair, which gives the piece a sense of wholeness and relativity. There is also balance in this piece, for while the woman’s head is offset, this is balanced out by the elongation of her shoulder and arm in the right side of the image. Variety is also achieved in this piece through the use of a variation of hues and a lot of tonal difference. Emphasis is placed upon the hair with the use of an unnatural hair colour, as well as the face where light colours are used to highlight and pull the attention. Space is not so much of an active principle in this piece, but is still present nonetheless. Beryl is placed in the middle of the painting, with her taking up roughly 50% of the space, and the rest taken up by background.
The background of the painting is very dark and a reflective of the dark times some women were in during this time. The dark background and the subject’s serious persona give the painting a mysterious sensation. Mrs. Richard Skinner’s clothing pieces are very light colors which give a light-hearted ambiance to the painting but the dark background, dim lighting, and the dark table that lay before her completely alter the mood of the painting. The lighting of the painting, therefore, emphasizes Mrs. Richard Skinner even more due to her dark surroundings, which is another example of Copley’s attempt at accentuating her womanhood. Some of the props in this painting elaborate and stress her sexuality even further. The subject is holding a flower in the painting; flowers are symbolic of purity and femininity. The way the subject is holding the flowers is to be noted as well. She is holding
In Sandra Cisneros’s “Geraldo No Last Name,” the author uses a brief and economical style through sentence structure and description to create the effect of bluntness. The first way Cisneros conveys this effect is through sentence structure. Cisneros uses short, effective sentences while describing the situation. The style is a very straightforward, having the reader feeling blunt and insensitive. Referring to the text, Cisneros writes, “That’s the story. That’s what she said again and again. Once to the hospital people and twice to the police. No address. No name. Nothing in his pockets. Ain’t it a shame.” This is a prime example, as last sentence, “Ain’t it a shame,” emphasises how much Cisneros does not care for Geraldo, and leaves the
The face is over exaggerated in its features and is almost clown like. It tests the ideas of gender, identity, and race. The only reason I would assume that this portrait is a woman because the collection of which it was originally presented was named “Head of a Woman.” However, this easily can be represented as a man due to its angles, and there was not an overly dominant color that is generally associated with a specific gender. This leads into the topic of identity especially in the twenty-first century where people have become freer to express their identity and beliefs. Lastly, I think Thomas was trying to add the topic of race into the piece with the afro inspired pattered and similarities to African
Knowing the sex of the artist introduces the preconceived notion of how the artist may view the opposite sex. In this painting, because I know the artist is a male when viewing the subjects of the painting I understand why they are painted in the way they are. His gender influences my
Concerning color, there is a stark contrast between the figure on the painting and the background. More specifically, the figure of the woman is predominantly delineated in white color, especially pale, ashen white, as far her apparel and facial complexion are concerned, while there are also various hues of grey, with respect to her hair and accessory feather. These white and grey shades are vividly contrasted with the prevailing red and crimson hues of the background (viz. the drape, armchair, and table). Moreover, one can detect colors of dark green (jewelry), some beige on the left (pillar), and darker or lighter shades of blue on the right side of the canvas (sky), which all in concert and in addition to the subtle purple hue forming the sun or moon exude a certain dramatic sentiment. Also, there is brown, which often easily segues into gold (viz. books and attire details respectively). The main contrast of colors between white and red would be interpreted as serving the purpose of rendering the figure of the woman, and especially her face, the focal point of the work, despite, paradoxically enough, the lush red shades at the background. Bearing that in mind, the significance of the woman’s face will be enlarged upon later, when discussing aspects of her identity.
It is a famous example of Renaissance art showing portraiture, realism, and some perspective. In this painting there are four distinct characters. Each has a different expression that shows how they are feeling. There is also more detail in the faces then in any other parts of the painting. Another technique it demonstrates is heightened realism. Whereas before the Renaissance the figures may have been painted simply and in only enough detail to get the general idea across, these figures are shown more realistically. Lastly there is the technique of perspective as shown in the background of the painting. The sea stretches out into the sky and the land in the background is shown how it would look if the viewer was actually
Another interesting perspective captured in the painting is facial elevation and position. The meninas’ heads are at different elevations to that of Margarita. Their attention is towards Margarita yet their perspectives are different. María’s eye view is higher than Margarita’s eye view yet the painter makes it appear as if María’s eyes are looking up on Margarita. Moreover, Isabel’s elevation appears to pay homage to Margarita by her angle of inclination, eye direction and facial expression. .
The background has areas of dark and light that may be representing a dark part of this woman's life and the light area showing awakening in this woman's soul. To me the woman in the painting is staring out into the world and realizing that there is so much out there for her. That she can walk out of there and not be lost any more. Mrs. Mallard felt the same way. In the room she realized that she can now live her life on her own the way she wants to. She walked out of the room with a sense of
The art and beauty in this painting is exemplified through the eyes of Boucher. It starts with a beautiful couple taking a rest after picking up some followers. Their clothing looks very elegant and colorful which shows that they are aristocrats. The man’s eyes are gazing at a shepherdess who gathered her own flowers. Their eyes are locked despite the man having his own woman right in front of him. The light brushstrokes of the dresses, flowers, and trees
The painting shows five women naked with flat figures, disintegrated planes and faces, inspired by African masks. The compacted space the figures occupy appears to project forward in jagged shards; a fiercely pointed slice of melon in the still life of fruit at the bottom of the composition teeters on an impossibly upturned table top. In this painting, Picasso makes a radical departure from traditional European painting by adaptation of Primitivism and abandonment of perspective in goodwill of a level two-dimensional picture of a plane.
To begin, the proportion of the woman’s gaze accentuates perfection. The eyes introduces a sense of nobility to the piece acquiring a softness at the gaze. Painted with a spherical shape, it allows the appearance to emerge mysteriously throughout the portrait and I quote “Through their roundness, therefore, the mind, knowing itself, is sometimes forced to reveal the secrets thoughts of their
Then there are also many psychological lines to be seen in the work. One such line is of the woman and the floor, where she is staring down towards it. Another is from the young child and the store clerk, showing a defiance between the two. Next, light and value are not very contrasting in this painting, with only the basic highlights and the shadows seen. It isn’t completely contrasting or contradicting since the colors blend well together with close to the same value ranges, dark colors seen throughout except for the people’s pale faces. There also seems to be a variety of light sources since the woman’s face along with the shop clerk and the young boy’s is lit up by what seems to be a light bulb since they’re much brighter and highlighted and then the men and women in the back aren’t really as bright, except for the ones who close to the open door, creating a blue tinge from the outside light. The shapes shown through the painting is shown to be either very round or very geometrical. There are organic shapes in things such as the umbrella or even the back of the chair, but mostly it is either straight lines and geometrical shapes. The volume shown in the painting is very much implied, correctly showing the
Dark colors picture anguish, loneliness and to a certain extent the feeling of insignificance of the man. On the other hand, bright colors denote what he thinks of his lover. Munch use lines to draw the viewer’s attention to the main area of interest. In this case, that is the connectedness of the man with his lover despite their separation. One example of a line is the woman’s golden hair floating towards him as a symbol of their love. Lines are also used to etch the man’s facial expressions and the woman’s lack thereof. But other than the two lovers, the nature in the background has a symbolic meaning. The crimson bush, the tree, the land, the sky and the water all help represent the man’s inner turmoil. All of the elements of the painting collectively help to convey the permanence of
This painting is divided into three equal parts by the arches in the background and the characters correspond to each of these arches (TV12). The father is in the middle portion of the painting. The lines of perspective created by the tiled floor, draws our attention to the swords that the father is holding and the vanishing point lies just behind the handles of the sword. Our angle of vision is such that we are looking directly at the main figures groups, particularly the father. A single light source from the left of the picture illuminates the characters and also focuses our attention to the father holding the sword. This creates a ‘theatrical’ effect. The background is simple and stark so our attention is focussed on the figure groups in the painting. The painting has a wide tonal range that makes the composition logical and balanced. The colours used in this