My Kid Could Paint That

John Singer Sargent, Two Girls with Parasols, 1889.

In John Singer Sargent's career he painted over 900 oil paintings and 2,000 watercolors, which doesn't even include the endless sketches and charcoal drawings. After the scandal of Madame X, Sargent's portrait career ended in Paris but eventually grew in Britain and America. Sargent painted Two Girls with Parasols five years after his strapless gal got him in hot water. The tree and the woman in the center create a barrier from the lush green on the right and the rough browns on the left. The contrast of the colors is not harsh, instead it flows.

J.M.W. Turner, Procession of Boats with Distant Smoke, Venice, 1845.

Waves 
By Robin Robertson

I have swum too far
out of my depth
and the sun has gone;

the hung weight of my legs
a plumb-line,
my fingers raw, my arms lead;

the currents pull like weed
and I am very tired
and cold, and moving out to sea.

The beach is still bright.
The children I never had
run to the edge

and back to their beautiful mother
who smiles at them, looks up
from her magazine, and waves.

Editor's Note: Students were asked to match a poem to a picture. They could do so with or without comment; they could be serious or playful, profound or goofy. We will leave it to our dear readers to make their own connections.

Edgar Degas, The Ballet from 'Robert le Diable, 1871

Edgar Degas was born in Paris into a moderately wealthy family. When old enough, his father wanted Edger to pursue a life in the courtroom. So they compromised, Degas went into the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris in November 1853. Since he did not enjoy the world of the lawyers, he decided to not apply himself. He soon met Ingres who told him, "draw lines, young man, many lines."Shortly after Degas received admission to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he found his way through the school developing a style similar of Ingres.

Degas is known for his graceful paintings of ballerinas from an angle that is off to one side of the stage.  The Ballet from "Robert le Diable" comes from an angle in the audience. In this scene Degas depicts the third act of Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera Robert le Diable. The ghosts of dead nuns have been resurrected and greet one another amid the ruins of a moonlit monastery. While analyzing this painting, it reminds me of the ballet Dracula (preformed by the Kansas City Ballet) where Dracula resides in an abandoned abbey and frequently dances under the cover of moonlight (classic vampire stuff). 

Degas featured himself in this painting, right in the center of the audience. He is completely oblivious to the performance on the stage and his eyes wander off - much like the other students whom were seeing the inside of the Kauffman center for the first time. Degas paints  The Ballet from "Robert le Diable" with three harsh verticals; the edge of the audience, the arms of the dancers, and then the rail coming off from the archways in the monastery. There is not a good indication of a center, the column splits the painting just to the left, Degas' head just to the right, and the dancers are awkwardly sliced through the center of those two. 

The Ballet from "Robert le Diable" hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have walked through the halls of the Met, however I did not get to see this painting. I saw other pieces by Degas, which is where my appreciation of his works started. 

Edgar Degas, Portraits in an Office: The Cotton Exchange, New Orleans, 1873.

Edgar Degas visited family in New Orleans in 1872. His brother, René, coerced Degas to stay for a longer time then Degas imagined. During his long stay, Degas created The Cotton Exchange where he included his family within the painting. This painting was popular back in France where it was the only painting of Degas' that was purchased in the Pau Museum. 

Wyndham Lewis, The Crowd, 1914-1915.

With an unstable family life Wyndham Lewis, found his balance in painting. His parents were born from different countries and later divorced. Having to deal with switching houses a few times a week, with understandable complaints of not seeing a parent too much, try divorced parents in different countries. Lewis lived with his mother in England where he went to school and learned how to play rugby and paint. There are no recollections if he had a relationship with his father. Once out of school Lewis traveled around Europe for the most of his career.

James Nares, Can You Hear it, 2010.

Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite.

James Nares is a contemporary artist, creating his works since the late 1990s. Nares has an infatuation with movement, and creating movement within a short passage of time. He shows more of a creative mind as he passes through busy New York streets as he films his artistic videos.

What is more interesting than his works is how Nares creates his paintings. Nares first custom makes his own paint brushes that range from a paint brush fit for painting a wall to brushes that are larger than life. Once the perfect-sized brush has been chosen, James Nares straps into a harness and repels over his canvas, Mission Impossible-style. Nares craves to identify his movement by creating a finished work in a single stroke.

One of Nares’ pieces was featured in episodes of Gossip Girl, where his artwork hangs in the apartment building of the Van Der Woodsen's. James Nares captures moments in a manner similar to ever-present Gossip Girl.

The bouncing lines of Can You Hear It reflects the highs and lows of Manhattan’s upper elite. When following the love stories of Blair and Chuck, or Dan and Serena there are obvious (and sometimes redundant) ups and downs flows the same as this painting. In the series finale the viewers are given a sigh of relief when the show presents what happens five years later. Not surprisingly, Gossip Girl is perpetuated into the future of outsiders that crave acceptance. Nares’s piece flows like a river, sustaining the viewer’s eye to ebb and flow. Whereas Dan’s yearning to be accepted and eventually loved by Serena by hiding behind a mask, Gossip Girl encourages future high school students to do whatever they can to get mentioned by GG. XO XO.

Eugène Delacroix, Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi, 1826.

Francisco Goya, The Milkmaid of Bordeaux, 1825-1827

After Francisco Goya's death, his reputation skyrocketed. Curators from France and England were buying all of his pieces. They even purchased paintings that were given to Goya's son. People from other countries knew that he was a eccentric sketch artist, and they thought his paintings were not held to the same standard.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Christ, 1834

Jacques-Louis David, Belisarius Asking for Alms, 1781

While David traveled to Rome, he was infatuated with historical paintings. This particular one shows a wide range of David's abilities. The detail of of the columns in this painting provide a design necessity. The columns do push down on the figures and split the painting in half. They also create a harsh diagonal, starting from the top left and passing through their arms and slashing into the bottom right. With the flow of the painting, the columns force the work our of balance. The right side is more packed and dark than the right.

The people in the foreground, feel merciful. The man and the child are begging for help, showing weakness that is in need of rescuing. While the woman gives another layer of compassion, understanding, and a maternal hand. The older man is not looking at the woman but is looking up past her face praising God; however, the young boy is communicating more compassion towards the woman.  But the soldier in the background seems to be protesting this offering.

Henri Rousseau,  Surprise!, 1891

William Hogarth, Marriage A-La-Mode: 2, 1743

William Hogarth, an English painter, is known for his '"modern" and 'moral' subjects. Hogarth interned with a goldsmith. Later on his career he started to work with painting. Hogarth was continually claiming that his work was plagiarized and lobbied vociferously for the Copyright Act of 1735 to protect writers and artists.

In Marriage A-La-Mode presents a scene of higher class citizens. There are three hard diagonals. The first starting on the far left side, the corner of the frames down through the man in the blue coat. The second starts at the window down through the man in the red coat. The last one the man on the far right, beginning at his head going through all the way down through his toe.

Hogarth balances the painting with inception paintings (the paintings within the painting) above all of the people on the bottom. Also, the paintings are used as harsh verticals to split the painting in to thirds. The use of the clusters of people adds to this effect. Within the thirds there is a different object on the floor, left: a dog; middle: the handkerchief; and right the family tree. He uses the men on the far sides, on the left the man in the blue coat and on the right the man in the red coat to balance the painting as well.

The man standing facing the window holds blueprints for a building. One could assume that the building is the one that is being built outside the window. The men in the center, are holding money and papers that are talking about the marriage of the woman and the man to the left. The man in the red coat is pointing to the family tree on the floor. Possibly showing that they will be added to the family tree. If you look at the woman she does not look happy to be betrothed. While the man leaning into her looks more than delighted that she is going to be married.

Degas, The Dance Class, 1873

"The image of Time brought thoughts of mortality: of human beings, facing outwards like the Seasons, moving hand in hand in intricate measure: stepping slowly, methodically, sometimes a trifle awkwardly, in evolutions that take recognizable shape: or breaking into seemingly meaningless gyrations, while partners disappear only to reappear again, once more giving pattern to the spectacle: unable to control the melody, unable, perhaps, to control the steps of the dance."- Anthony Powell

Edgar Degas, a French painter, was known for his dance subjects. He is also considered a founder of impressionism. However Degas disregarded the term "Impressionism" and called his work "Realist". He was taught in painting historical and classical art. But he soon switched to more modern subject matter and used his classical technique in his work, becoming a "classical painter of modern life."

The Dance Class was created in the middle of Degas' career. The diagonal of people pushing towards the dancer by the music stand is the major flow in this scene. Also the touches of red, the man wearing the coat in the background, the other man in the middle-ground, and finally the red carnation in the dancer's hair, pushes the eye foreword.

The viewer obtains a sense of stress and hurriedness from the dancers in the background and in the foreground. If you draw your attention to the dancer in the middle, the gracefulness of her arabesque calms the viewer. As your eyes progress to her hands, you can feel her reach. Her head leaning back, you can breathe in with her, making the painting feel strong, and composed in the middle of chaos.

Donatello, Mary Magdalene, 1454-55

Mary Magdalene depicts a story of a woman who was a strong disciple of Christ. According to the Bible, Magdalene was a "woman of sin." In which her story dictates of her being saved from seven demons. After becoming a passionate follower of Christ, she became a role model for other female followers. At one point Magdalene refused to eat, she intended to rely on "heavenly nourishment" alone, which is why Donatello captured her with sunken, corpse-like eyes.

Donatello's attention to detail in this wood carving is astonishing, with every single drape of her dress and twist in her hair looks like it is dripping right off her. Magdalene's rugged body, brings back the idea of her only consuming heavenly nourishment. If one were to look at her face, she expresses a need for one last bite of heavenly nourishment which instills her loyalty to Christ.

Through Donatello's attention to detail comes along the striking humanistic qualities. Donatello goes as far as to carve her broken teeth poking out through dehydrated lips. What my eyes were drawn to were her eyes. The eyes are carved with an iris. Her head is pointing down, but her eyes remain looking up.

This portrait of Mary Magdalene is unlike any other done. Other works show her as a beautiful woman, with long blonde hair and fit. However, in other renditions, her eyes are all looking up, or at Christ himself. Donatello's version shows a different side of her, one that exemplifies her true passion for Christ.

Bennozzo Gozzoli, Journey of the Magi, Kelsey Thorp

Edgar Degas, Racehorses, 1885

I am thankful for the opportunity to ride and the lessons I have learned from it. Since the first time I was on a horse I learned a lot. My first pony ride was at a local petting zoo when I was in pre-kindergarten. There I learned just how massive these animals are - and how much fun they can be. After this, I only saw horses in pastures outside the car door, or even in books.

The next time I rode a horse was at a family friend's farm. They let me walk the horse by myself, brush him. But they had to tack him up- I was too short. Once I mounted the horse I was free from the confining circle of the petting zoo. This experience taught me to enjoy this freedom and the time I have with horses.

A week later was my birthday. For my birthday I received a helmet which was a ticket for horseback riding lessons. From this point on riding horses has been an influential in my life. Because of riding I learned how to be graceful when under stress. I am thankful for my horses for teaching me to be organized and how to communicate without talking. Also many of my horses have instructed me not to fear failure, but to grow from it.

Thomas Hart Benton, Figure and Boats, 1920

I came into a place mute of all light,
Which bellows as the sea does in a tempest,
If by opposing winds 't is combated.

The infernal hurricane that never rests
Hurtles the spirits onward in its rapine;
Whirling them round, and smiting, it molests them.
-Inferno, Dante, Canto VII

As a local painter from a town outside of Kansas City, Missouri, Thomas Hart Benton grew up in the 1880s. His father did not approve of his painting, so he sent him off to military school. Benton's mother, on the other hand, was artistically inclined. He ended up devoting the majority of his life to art, obviously not taking his father's side. His work caused much controversy. Many people praised him for creating pieces that were realistic to the time period. Others thought of him as a drunk hillbilly or even an "okie baroque."

Benton regularly paints scenes of small town mayhem, which could be a product of his parents' relationship, or his own dealings with his parents. His father wanted Benton to follow in his footsteps and become a politician. Benton's mother supported him 100 percent She was totally invested in his life, emotionally and economically, at least until the day he married at the age of 33. Benton studied art at the Chicago Art Institute, and eventually moved to New York. Even as he established himself as an artist, Benton was still considered a drunken hillbilly.

In this piece, everything pulls and flows to the center. The circular patterns of the waves moves the eye in circles, like a whirlpool. Ending up at the person in the left hand corner. As one looks further into the piece, there is a house, standing on what seems to be a cliff. In Canto VII, Dante talks about a tower. In comparing the two works, the tower and house match up. This composition correlates with Dante's Inferno a great deal. With the winding river and the canoe at the base of the cliff, along with the figure depicting one of the many shades that are described in the text. Figure and Boats adds to the mystery and eeriness of Dante's Inferno.

Donatello, Feast of Herod, 1427

Giotto, Noli me Tangre, 1305

The border and the actual painting seem to coincide with each other. Like the animal scolding her cubs, Jesus is not reprimanding,  but almost telling the awakened disciple to stay.  The disciple that is reaching towards Jesus resembles the cubs in the frame by reaching out to the bigger animal. Giotto carries on the same color scheme from the painting into the frame. Even into the smaller image, it does not seem to stand out. However, it does add a sense of comparison to the painting.

Marc Chagall, The Blue House, 1917

"After a very long time I stood up again because I knew where I was going. I was going to the summerhouse. I had not been near the summerhouse for six years, but Charles has blackened the world and only the summerhouse would do... when he saw me turning onto the overgrown path which led there he went another way as though he has something important to do and would meet me somewhere later."- Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle