My Kid Could Paint That

Paul Cezanne, The Large Bathers, 1905

Cezanne is a master of modern art, known for his pallet knife paintings. His painting Les Grandes Baigneuses is one of the very last paintings he worked on, as well as the largest of his paintings. I can easily tell how he is able to achieve balance through geometry, color, and figures, but its fairly obvious. You really don't need a Senior Art History student to see that. What makes the paining so great are the female forms he captures and the way he executes them. Female nudes as a subject is not ne,  but the commonality of the scene is what Cezanne is doing differently than the past. What he captures through his paints is an intimate moment, where all of the subjects are focused on themselves. While some of the proportions are certainly off, the colors he uses to add contrast within the skin tones, as well as leaving parts of the canvas exposed to peer out, gives the painting its modern feel as it steers towards abstraction.

The most interesting fact about Cezanne's The Large Bathers is its impact. At first this painting, along with others in the series, were not seen as masterpieces to the public. However, the works made quite the impact with his contemporaries. You can see how this painting might have influenced the styles of artist like Picasso, Matisse, and Gauguin. In fact, Cezanne, being a master of his craft, was looked up to by many artists, some destined to become masters themselves. Picasso considered Cezanne to be "his one and only master" and Matisse commented:  "At critical moments in my artistic adventure it gave me courage; I drew from it my faith and endurance." These artists would go on to paint figures within landscapes that if someone were to put their works side by side The Large Bathers,  he or she would find some of similarities and influences.

This painting is so influential because the creativity Cezanne has placed on this canvas is inspiring yet not entirely obvious. The way he's able to sculpt these figures into this formation and also thread them into the landscape creates a harmony within the painting. Everything beings to work together. Having said all of this, there has been a great debate as to whether the painting was actually "completed." Being the last painting Cezanne worked on, some claim that due to the style and its rough appearance, Cezanne was still in the process doing the preliminary sketching of the figures. Either way the contrast between the bare canvas and the energy of his colors adds another dimension to the painting that has effected the way we address modern art.

Judgment of Paris Peter Paul Rubens, 1639

Peter Paul Rubens grew up learning from the best, and he is a Flemish painter and considered on of the most important in the 17th century. Studying in Italy and learning contemporary styles from greats such as Caravaggio, he combined "bold brushwork and luminous color" to bring together his style of "animated and exuberantly sensuous" scenes. Ruben's was known to have combined aspects from all of these styles creating a balance between Northern and Flemish art and introducing some of that to Italy. 

The Myth of this piece started with a golden apple. One the three goddesses, Athena, Hera and Aphrodite, thought the apple belonged to the prettiest of them all. They quarreled over who may be the fairest, and no one outside of the three dared make a decision themselves. Zeus, then found Paris, son of Priam who was the king of Troy, and had the prince choose one the three. The goddesses appeared to Paris naked and as he carefully inspected the women,  each offered a gift to him: Athena offered Paris wisdom in skill and war, Hera said she would make him king of Europe and Asia, and Helen using her powers, offered Paris the most beautiful mortal woman, Helen of Sparta. Paris chose Helen, wife to king Menelaus, and awarded Helen with the apple.

This myth awarded painters with the opportunity to create scenes of beauty contests and devine sexuality. It is controversial as to why the three goddesses showed to this beauty pageant naked. But nonetheless, Ruben's took advantage of this scene twice over, and created two Judgement of Paris' one in 1625 and this one in 1639. I chose the latter because I believe it fully demonstrates the characteristics of his work as I previously described. The colors, bold details, and teasingly sexuality of this piece makes the earlier piece look like a few naked people standing around. I feel the intensity of this moment form the Paris' thoughts to the goddesses' desire for the apple. Each goddess standing before Paris posing with Rubens beautiful use of the coverings, to the dog curiously onlooking all brings this scene together to create a work that would define Rubens career.     

Ivan Aivazovsky, Battle of Chesma, 1848

The Battle of Chesma was the  first of many battles between the Ottoman Empire and Russia during the Orlov Revolt. Aivazovsky gives his piece a bit of a theatrical twist, with people who must have been on those ruined boats just hanging out on a shipwreck and watching this battle as if it was a movie. To skip a history lesson, this battle was absolutely disastrous for the Ottomans. Hence, one side of the piece appears almost completely stable, with a calm moon peeking from the clouds. The other side - decimated. One inconsistency in that statement, though, is the destroyed ship in clear view  - presumably on the Russian side - carries the flag of the Ottoman Empire in plain sight. Perhaps it's just for clarity, but I think it's interesting how he placed the ruined boat on the safe side and not with the rest of the destruction.
Aivazovsky's technique is completely melodramatic, but his use of the firelight on the water and his creation of fire even in the smoke is unique. His clouds even have depth to them, something I haven't found in many paintings of his era. I assume a battle in 1770 didn't have such large explosions, but it adds such interest to the piece - it's a giant pillar of fire.

The Western art world doesn't give much focus to Aivazovsky as a painter, probably something to do with his subjects - which were always historical in some right. His work is similar to J.M.W. Turner's, who clearly gave him inspiration in his lighting of the water and his attention to detail. Especially in this piece, so chaotic in its subject matter but so serene in its execution, Aivazovsky calls upon memories of Turner's Slave Ship. I really enjoy him.

Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer Above the Mist, 1818

Odilon Redon, Pandora, 1914

Said to be the first woman to roam Earth, Pandora was to be the guardian of Earth's true beauty. When Prometheus stole fire from the heavens, Zeus sought to seek vengeance on him. To exact his vengeance, Zeus presented Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother, and with her a box crafted by the god Hephasteus. This box is, of course, the famed box that holds all the evil in the world. Redon depicts Pandora in all of her beauty with vivid, dreamy colors that completely take the focus away from the box in her hands.

The issue here is that Prometheus was actually a good guy just trying to be the benefactor of mankind and bring humans fire. But Zeus wasn't a fan of his fire being stolen, nor humans. So he created the first woman to be Epimetheus' bride and gave her the box, imbuing his creation with all the attributes he found decidedly human - especially curiosity. Zeus warned the newlyweds not to open it, but one day when Epimetheus was away, Pandora decided to open it. which released all of the evils known to mankind.

But, the good thing is that at the bottom of the box, underneath all of the creepy evils spewing out of it, remained the gift of hope. Hope was the one good thing Zeus gave to Pandora, and therefore humans for the rest of time. It was the light in the box, the thing that Redon portrays here in this piece. Whether this is before she opens the box or after, Redon focuses upon the lighter aspects of Pandora as a being and of the world she has been created to embody in its beauty.

Jan Vermeer, The Milkmaid, 1658

I would not call her the picture of adolescent beauty. To be honest I think Vermeer used an Olympic male swimmer to model for her shoulders. I mean, come on, you don’t get muscles like those milking cows. Or maybe you do? I might live in Kansas, but I do stay a fair distance away from cows. She is not even the focus of the painting though. Our direction is drawn to her hands, the chore she is performing. Her devoutness to the household she serves. The emotional pull towards the painting comes from her honest and hard work.

Vermeer’s works consist mainly of scenes depicting wealthy families, clothed in fine robes and furs, taking part in things exclusively for the privileged, i.e. The Music Lesson. However, the scene here strikes the viewer as entirely different. The intimacy within the painting cannot be missed. Where there used to be a wall separating the viewer from the scene, Vermeer chooses to allow the Milkmaid to solely encompass the scene. He is able to take something so domestic, so mundane and make it feel like a piece of heaven -  something sacred and special. He takes care in panting every detail because he realizes its importance to the painting as a whole. The window adds light and warmth to the scene, the copper pot and basket relate back to the milkmaid’s act, and lastly the foot warmer in the corner shows the maids diligence in performing her job.

The colors in the painting appear calmer than the ones characteristic to Vermeer. Simple blues, whites, and yellows. It is almost as if Vermeer is saying look what I can do with a limited palate, look what I can create. The single silhouette against the bare wall, the vessels, breads and baskets all shine in the light that pours in from the window. The objects all have points where shimmering light hits them, and Vermeer’s talent is exemplified. I marvel at the young woman's steady hand and concentrated stare, for there are times I wish I had such dedication to my homework. Or really anything these days. Senioritis is a thing and it's pretty debilitating; however, looking at The Milkmaid gives me the motivation to go on.

A Metallica Shirt

Grant Wood, The American Gothic,1930

Viewing the 1930 painting, the audience notices historic value taking place. The father and daughter live in America’s greatest depression. While poverty swept over The United States, The American Gothic implies the farmers protecting their land. During the 1930s, the Homestead Act. took place. Everything including the house has a homemade appearance. Gender roles can also be presented in Wood’s painting. The audience sees the daughter near the house in domestic clothing and the father in work clothes. The American Gothic has abundance of history images that shapes the overall painting.

The American Gothic relates directly to the constitution “We the people.” Not we the government.  The painting represents the American emblem: because it allows the people to decide what this painting means.

Anne Valayer-Coster, Still Life With Round Bottle, 1770

After the Renaissance, art shifted in focus from exclusively religious topics to a growing tolerance of  more mundane subjects, especially in still lifes. Though still not as important as religious works and generally considered the lowest form of art, still life paintings were enjoyed by the growing middle class and merchants. Only once photography was invented and made complete realism unnecessary did artists begin to experiment with still lifes and elevate them to the level of other art forms, as part of the 19th century Impressionism movement.

This piece, Still Life With Round Bottle, was painted by Anne Valayer-Coster, a late 18th century French artist about whom little is known. She painted mostly still lifes, showing great skill even at an early age with her paintings of flowers. At this time, society resisted the idea of a woman moving in the public sphere, but Valayer-Coster persevered and became one of only four women accepted into the Royal Académie des Beaux-Arts before the French Revolution.

The painting itself, simple and unpretentious in comparison with others of its time, carries no overt religious or moralistic meaning. However, the goblet of wine and the bread are symbols of the Eucharist. A common form of still life was the vanitas, where symbols of death and mortality were included to remind the viewer that they would not live forever. The more common symbols, such as skulls, hourglasses, and candles, are absent, but the fruit and bread will eventually rot away. Valayer-Coster captured a moment in time, down to the imperfections of the bread's crust and the reflections on the glass, in a comfortable, domestic scene.

Pontormo, Joseph in Eygpt,  1518

Joseph in Egypt, by Pontormo, illustrates Biblical scenes in Genesis. God’s prophet, Abraham, received a promise. God pledged to Abraham: Abraham’s offspring will seek protection, and Israel (the promised land) belongs to the Jews.

As three generations passed, Joseph (son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, and great-grandson of Abraham) fled mass famine and Herod's looking for their son. Joseph and the Jews entered into Egypt. Soon, Joseph and Pharaoh became friends. Unfortunately, the Pharaoh died and Pharaoh’s successor took his place. History changed; and the Jews became thought of as dangerous animals. The Egyptian ruler forced the Israelites into slavery. Seen in Exodus, Moses frees the slaves and brings them back into God’s holy land.

Joseph in Egypt represents four biblical stories. In the first historic event, Joseph introduces his father, Jacob, to Pharaoh. Around the painting, the audience finds Joseph reading a petition. Moving up from the painting, Joseph appears at Jacob’s funeral. And the last image contains Joseph’s blessings to his grandsons.

The four scenes have interesting values besides the actual events. When Joseph introduces his father to pharaoh, it has symbolic meaning of an introduction to an unusual land. By painting Joseph’s blessings, Pontormo reinstates God’s love and guidance to the Jews.