The Armory Show

Armory Show

The Armory Show
The Armory Show of 1913, officially known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art was the first large exhibition of such works in America. The exhibition challenged and changed attitudes towards art. The show altered all history and all the past styles and works that had been done. It was the starting point of a massive art movement and changed the foundation of art institutions all over the world, especially America. The event went from February 17 to March 15th and on the opening night had an outstanding audience of 4,000 guests to view its amazing collection of paintings and sculptures from over 300 artists.

The show was held in the 69th Regiment Armory  in New York City and was an absolute public explosion. It was criticized by the public and the press as a circus of freaks and clowns. The main organizers of the show were Walt Kuhn, Arthur B. Davies and Walter Pach, who also had created the Association of American painters and sculptors. At the time the National Academy of Design was the power house of all art that mattered, and they were not happy with the idea of change. They were scared of the evolution the show was trying to awaken and felt threatened that they are trying to change everything that they had represented and done. They opposed a new possibility of freedom in art. Critics harassed the show with multiple critical articles. They continuously bombarded the artists and the show itself. However, since the work was impressive, and it reinforced the styles of cubism, fauvism, post-impressionism and symbolism. It also fostered ideas about the working class, cultural relativism, primitivism and Native American culture in art.

While the Armory Show did not significantly influence the styles greatly of the painters themselves, it brought modern art to the attention of a greater public, inspire collectors and patrons, and helped create a larger American art market in which galleries could survive.

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The Roman Slave Market

Ignacio Robinson

Jean-Leon Gerome, A Roman Slave Market ,1884 
 Jean-Léon Gérôme painting of The Roman Slave Market dates back to 1884. The painting at first seems more towards the sensual side, but it truly is just a demeaning act by perverted men. The gentlemen are technically purchasing a slave, but as seen from the facial features they are enjoying themselves more than usual. The gaze of males focuses on the woman from either side, making the event a cruel spectacle for the slave herself.

Roman law regarded slaves as mere property. An item to be sold like any other product. Roman Slaves were subject to the will of their masters, against whom they had no protection or rights. The sellers would emphasize the features and benefits and any unique selling points. Slaves for sale would sometimes be made to standnaked on revolving stands so the buyers could see exactly what they were purchasing. If the slave was not nude, potential buyers could demand that they were stripped in order that a closer inspection might be made.

The painting is a powerful icon for women, especially today. It is proof that they have overcome the law of man and pushed through the limitations that have been put upon them since the beginning of civilization. The shadows in the background of the painting add a heavy weight to the crowd and make the viewers vision center on the woman and her white, reflective skin. The woman’s nudity and covering of her eyes adds to the innocence and allows her to be separate from of society. The painting balances out nicely its composition and lighting, and is cut with equal parts beauty and disgust.



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Corridor in the Asylum

Corridor in the Asylum

Vincent Van Gogh, Corridor in the Asylum, 1889
Vincent van Gogh’s painting of Corridor in the Asylum caught my eye with the depth in the center of the painting, which seeming like an endless reach.

This was Van Gogh’s depiction of the asylum of Saint-Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy, where he spent twelve months near the end of his life and where he painted his oils of olive groves, cypresses and roses. The painting re-kindles the memory I have of my grandmother and how she has affected my life. My grandma was sick and there was nothing I could do. However, she was never negative, always smiling and keeping the mood filled with vitality - despite her age. From the angle in which we see the corridor the front pillars are in brighter and smoother colors; but they darken as the the viewer's sight travels the distance. My feelings of hope for the health  of my grandmother diminished as doctors and others said delivered their verdicts, but she would always find a way to make me think otherwise. 

Hasmukh Amathalal’s poem "Powerless" is my comparison towards this painting and my memories. The poem’s second half especially brings me back to the day’s when my grandmother would speak with me about pursuing my dreams and sticking to my morals. Amathalal writes, “I became powerless when you went somewhere” and “I land in problems when you leave.” My grandmother was my second mother figure, and I could speak to her when my mother was busy with work. She and my grandfather had been through a lot and always made me realize how lucky I am, “You are a great source of strength and power,"  every time I think things are bad I think of my grandparents and siblings and know that things will be okay. Her death had left me in tears and sorrow, but that sorrow was quickly triumphed after speaking with my mother and knowing that my grandmother would want me to use her lessons to strive and succeed.
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Postman Joseph Roulin

Ignacio Robinson

Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888, Postman Joseph Roulin 

The Roulin Family is group of portraits that Vincent van Gogh painted in Arles between 1888 and 1889. The portraits, featuring Joseph, his wife Augustine and their three children, Armand, Camille and Marcelle, was VanGogh’s attempt at practicing his portraiture technique. During that time period, finding a family that was willing to sit down for portraits, in spite the instantaneous results of photography, was rare.  

The portrait of Postman Joseph Roulin, featuring the father dressed in the customary blue of a carrier’s attire, interests me more than any other Roulin portrait. Van Gogh uses an imaginative technique to create the shading and seating posture of Joseph.  Roulin’s acquired the unique child-like style that people like to refer too. Van Gogh’s attempt at using concrete, non-blended colors to shade the deep blue of his suit, becomes more apparent as the viewer’s eye descends below Joseph’s buttons. The dark contrast between the deep arctic blue and the light colors pushes Joseph’s form forward, towards the audience. Also, I like his beard. 
  • 12:00 AM

Anxiety

Anxiety

Munch, Edvard, Anxiety, 1863-1944 
Munch’s collection of Anxiety paintings, uses the same haunting faces of its characters, draws out a feeling of hopelessness and blank expression from its audiences. I admire Munch’s work in this collection because the unique landscapes and disfigured forms accurately reveal the “anxiety” that the paintings are known for. Of the collection, my favorite work is “Anxiety.”


The fiery colors of the background have no warmth behind the distressed faces, making it seem like a eternally regressing background. The painting clearly reveals Munch’s agoraphobia, through the muted and hopeless expressions of the people. Despite their obvious despair, Munch implies that the characters continue to walk forward, oblivious to anything but their living hell.  


The cool colors and striking contrast in outlines and shading that Munch uses, further pushes his subjects forward, creating a progressive motion that pushes them over the bridge. All his subjects are practically faceless, except for the woman in the foreground who is portrayed with both hands in a strangling motion around her own neck.

The expressions almost seem robotic and inhuman. Uniform motion only adds to the horror of this painting. The swirling colors of the background create a vortex that traps the audience within Munch’s sense of panic that the woman clearly expresses.

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Third Class Carriage

Daumier

Honore Daumier, Third Class Carriage, 1864

The Third Class Carriage by Honore Daumier focuses on the struggles of the lower classes and emphasizes the hard-working people in the picture to create sympathy. Their clothes are worn down and soiled. The family seems exhausted, further adding to the effect of poverty. Their facial expressions, droopy and heavy, exacerbate their condition.

 The background is filled with crowded groups of people, dressed to seem as part of the higher class. Their ignorant expressions show their disregard for the lower classes, further adding to the isolation and heaviness of the group. The painting shows some of the problems sparked by industrialization.  With the radical rise in power that the aristocracy enjoyed, lower classes were forced to make a living by doing hard labor, an unrewarding and gruesome profession. The lighting in the painting mainly comes from the windows where the upper class are sitting.  However, complementary spotlights glow from the grandma and mother, possibly alluding to a hopeful future and further emphasis on the family’s difficulties.
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