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Showing posts from September, 2017

Baltimore Museum of Art

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Upon visiting the Baltimore Museum of Art this past week, a lot of the artwork that I observed sparked my interest. However, 3 pieces in particular caused me to go back and look deeper at the piece. The first one, and the one that I looked at the longest would be Washerwomen by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.  The composition of this piece at first glance looked to me like the Golden Triangle, going from the standing woman to the two women kneeling by the water and then to the young child. The more I looked at the painting, I noticed that the Rule of Thirds could also apply going both horizontally and vertically. I also noticed some implied lines in this, one being the outline of the water. I was drawn to this piece first by the colors. In the photo, the colors are not as vibrant and pigmented as in real life, however I liked the neutral and pastel colors incorporated. I also like the way the women are painted, they all look very soft and gentile.   The second piece that I found to be inter

"Ways of Seeing"

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The first episode of "Ways of Seeing" as narrated by John Berger introduces a new way of thinking about art and it's perspective. Many factors influence the way that a piece of art, whether it be a painting, sculpture, book or even a song, is viewed by whomever is observing it. This video made me wonder if the way I view art in different settings or circumstances changes the feeling I may receive from the art. Yet, it makes logical sense that different people will obviously view art in different ways depending on the setting, in which I found this to be somewhat similar to the Italo Calvino article. It was interesting when John Berger began to explain the idea of the camera in regards to art and how it may change the feeling. I somewhat feel like taking a photo of a painting for example does not allow the viewer to fully emerge themselves into the art form. One of my most favorite parts of going to art museums is having the ability to stand up close to a piece of art a

Italo Calvino

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While reading through this article, I often found myself going back and rereading just because I had trouble fully understanding what Calvino was trying to convey to his readers. However I also found myself going back and rereading certain parts of this article again because I was intrigued at the way that Calvino explained certain arguments. I found myself thinking "Wow I have never thought about that in that light before" numerous times, which was enjoyable to me because I got to read about something I found to be very interesting and a somewhat abstract way of thinking. I found this article to be an informative piece on a different way of thinking about art and connecting it to our mental processes that happen when we not only see art but think about it. Calvino began with a very religious approach to explaining the way that images come into our heads and how they form, saying that God sends them to us from the heavens when referring to Dante. This is an interesting appr

Jerry Saltz

After reading the article "The Whole Ball of Wax "  by Jerry Saltz, it is clear that his views on the topic of art are different from those who feel as though art can change the world. Instead of having that viewpoint, Saltz compares numerous different critics and their opinions to come up with an analogy in the end relating art to a cat. Ultimately, through the examination of multiple artists and critics, Saltz comes up with his view of art being one that has the ability to influence change throughout the world. Art is more than something that is enjoyable to look at visually. Instead, Saltz comes to the conclusion that art is "part of a universal force" (Saltz), and is meant to be an experience. Throughout reading this article, I agreed with a great deal of what Saltz was saying. Being someone who enjoys learning about art and enjoys creating art, I too feel as though art is more than just a simplistic piece of material. Art is most definitely, in my opinion, me