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Gala Eluard,1924

Artist: Max Ernst (1891-1976)

Max Ernst was born in Germany on April 2, 1891. Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, poet, and a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism. In his early life, Ernst was raised in a Catholic family. His father was a teacher of the deaf, and was deaf himself as well. He also was an amateur painter, and both of his parents were strict disciplinarians. Despite the disability of his father, Ernst learned many painting skills from him and even used him as inspiration. In 1914, Ernst attended the University of Bonn with the goal of studying philosophy. He eventually dropped out of school because of his interest in the arts.

Gala Eluard is an oil on canvas painting. Gala Éluard was muse and lover to Ernst, who painted this work based on Man Ray’s photograph of Éluard’s eyes. With curious forms rising from her unfurling forehead, Éluard becomes an imagined embodiment of Surrealism’s wide-eyed interest in art’s power to explore the mysterious territories of the unconscious mind. The colors of this portrait are focused on browns, and it transmits calmness, mystery, silence, motionless, and autumn vibes. Even though this painting reflects an effortless beauty, it doesn’t show perfection. The audience can observe the unequaled details of each eye and eyebrow, which gives to it a sense of an authentic portrait.

Gala Eluard reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism by being part of the Surrealism movement. Surrealism, in Gala Eluard in particular, emphasizes mystery and allow the artist to express his basic drives like love and sexuality. I encountered this work in the Metropolitan Museum, gallery 901. What caught my attention was the serenity of the eyes, I couldn’t look at nothing else on this painting but the eyes. It felt like she was looking right at me, and I found it interesting. Also, what drew me to this piece of art was its authenticity, and the fact that despite being art it still shows a woman’s imperfections.

Questions I have about the work:

What is the significance of the top of the painting? What caused Gala Éluard’s eyes expression? Is she hiding something? Why did Max Ernst painted this portrait? What is the mystery? 

“Max Ernst, and His Paintings.” , www.max-ernst.com/.

“Max Ernst Biography.” www.max-ernst.com/biography.jsp.

“Gala Éluard.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, www.metmuseum.org/en/art/collection/search/490182.

Visual Arts : The Key Characteristics of Surrealism. jrocastro09.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-key-characteristics-of-surrealism.html.

For my modernism assignment, I visited the Museum of Modern Art and came across a painting called The Dream by Henri Rousseau. Henri Rousseau was a French artist who lived from 1844 to 1910.

While at the MoMA, some paintings and sculptures had a brief description adjacent to them on the wall. Rousseau’s The Dream did not have a description next to it but only the year of its creation and a statement that it was made by “oil on canvas”. When I first saw this painting, I immediately noticed the woman who was exposed and lying across what I think is a soda. Surrounding the woman was a jungly environment with vibrant colored flowers, animals including jaguars and an elephant, and a native holding an instrument.

The context that I believe is occurring in this work is that it is referring to the period of colonization in the mid-1800s when European countries were colonizing and taking over several regions in Africa and claiming them for their resources. Because the woman shown in this painting has white skin, she represents the European countries that colonized Africa. I am not entirely sure why Rousseau chose to paint the woman to be naked but I would assume one reason which is to display elegance, purity, or power in some odd way. Also, this painting is titled “The Dream” which could refer to the woman’s position being highly desired by Europeans during this time period.

Henri Rousseau’s The Dream is a work of impressionism in the Modernist era of art. As said previously, this painting reflects the period of colonization in Africa by European countries and how white Europeans gained a level of superiority against the native Africans. It creates a visual impression on what it looked like in Africa since the mid-1800s. Because impressionism is a form of art that tries to display one’s experiences, The Dream is successful in accurately depicting how Europe saw its occupation in its African colonies. Although the work puts a positive light on Europe by including the colorful flowers and the woman on the sofa, it would look much more pessimistic and have a different title if it were made by an African painter instead.

What drew me to this piece by Rousseau was how the woman stood out over everything else in the painting. At first, I thought this work was bizarre because almost everyone would not expect a naked person to be posing in a dense jungle. However when looking into the context of this painting, I understood the symbolism behind the woman and why Rousseau chose to paint her there. A question I have for Rousseau is if he would rather live in Africa or stay in France.

The Lovers 1928

René Magritte – The Lovers 1928

René François Ghislain Magritte was born in Lessines, Belgium on November 21, 1898. His childhood consisted of growing up facing harsh realities such as bearing with his mother’s suicide, and frequent traveling because of his father’s business. Painting started as an experiment while he worked in commercial advertising to support himself. He was known for being a surrealist artist because his art was a take on objects and imagery in daily life. Pablo Picasso was also one of his inspirations for his art in the 1920’s.

The Lovers 1928 is an oil on canvas printing. From the printing, it evokes a sense of mystery as to the two lovers faces being covered. The color palette is quite neutral but heavily focused on greys. These colors set of a depressing mood and atmosphere surrounding the setting of the painting but also a sense of mystery. The cloth can be seen as a barrier between the two and contributes to surrealism interests such as the act of concealing, disguising, thinking outside the box.  Magritte intended for the painting to be open ended, to remain as a mystery.

This work also reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism such as expression. Rather than being told what to think,  Magritte wanted his art to bring out the creativity of expression from others when viewing his work. By having his art open ended, it allowed endless interpretations as to what the painting is about. Some thought that the cloth wrapped around the lovers was referencing his mother’s suicide since he witnessed her drown with a towel over her, and others viewed it as forbidden love. Being able to think for yourself, rather than following traditional beliefs was a major part of Modernism.

There were many pieces in the museum that were abstract but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where it was leading towards. However, The Lovers 1928 was a piece that didn’t exactly have a single answer but that was what got me interested. Many works of art have multiple meanings or interpretations of them but I think the surrealism drew me towards this piece. As someone who enjoys the romance genre, the art reminded me of it, but also a sense of tragedy.

A question I have about this work is if the artist purposely covered both the man and the woman’s face to promote equality by chance? Women’s rights were limited at the time, but men had power, yet the man is still covered in the photo.

Source: https://www.biography.com/people/ren%C3%A9-magritte-9395363

My visit to the Museum of Modern Art was an amazing experience. I saw many paintings that are world-class. I saw the Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, one of the most famous paintings to exist. Because it was not in the allotted time-frame of the assignment, I chose the next-most captivating painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso.
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, ceramist, stage designer, and the co-creator of Cubism. He is renowned for the ability to keep reinventing himself and his craft, his works over time drastically changed and it may appear to some that they would have been done by separate artists, not one.

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was created in 1907 and is an oil on canvass. It was acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest in 1939 by exchange. This probably meant that the Museum of Modern Art had a deal or a trade with the Bequest for this painting. It depicts 4 prostitutes in a brothel in Avignon. It draws influences from African tribal masks and Spanish Renaissance artist El Greco.

The aesthetic of this painting is related to modernism because the evokes a new sense of style of painting that was drastically different from the conventional paintings at that time. Pablo used shapes alluding to sharp edges and curves to illustrate a scene. Although this artwork was made up entirely of geometric-like shapes, people were able to see that the human figures in the painting, 5 nude people. This can be considered a modernistic approach because it is a unique expression and technique people were not used to. Shapes made the painting, instead of the stroke of the brush or the traditional ways to paint an image. The painting reminded me of paper mache but in 2-D instead of 3-d. Another interesting point is that conventional paintings had depth and realism to the people, but he made it extremely abstract and modernistic by transcending the common “thinking” of that time period.

In a large room that housed the Starry Night, there was an entrance that connected to another room. On the wall of the adjacent room was the biggest painting I had seen in the Museum. This painting drew me in because of its size, color, and unconventional style. It was interesting that he used shapes to piece together the human figure, I thought that the irregular shapes of the artwork made it drastically unique.

One question I had about this work is why Pablo used the Cubanism to illustrate the nudity of men/women. Would it have been easier to just paint people in the more conventional way?

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79766

[The Persistence of Memory 1931 – Salvador Dali]

–Basic information about the artist.

Salvador Dali was born in Catalonia, Spain on May 11th, 1904 and died in Catalonia, Spain on January 23rd, 1989.

–A description of work you selected.

This oil-on-canvas painting depicts numerous stopwatches that are seemingly melting and drooping. The white-pink object in the middle of the painting is supposedly a monster with eye lashes and a tongue. The golden cliffs are based off the coast near his home in Catalonia. He was on hallucinogenic drugs while painting this.

–An analysis of how this work reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism.

The Persistence of Memory is viewed as a painting based off the surrealism movement. Surrealism is a stream of modernism which means that this painting can be associated with modernism.

–A description of the context in which you encountered the work.

The painting is presented in a frame surrounded by a dark olive color to show off the contrast of colors much more vividly. There was a tiny crowd surrounding the painting as it is one of the more popular ones exhibited at MOMA.

–An explanation of what drew you to this piece.

What drew me to this piece was the crowd surrounding it. I was curious on what the cause of commotion was about so I went in closer to see and I found this painting. Upon further inspection, I really appreciated Mr. Dali’s choice of colors used. They were visually pleasing and complimented each other nicely, as orange and blue are scientifically the most aesthetic color combination for us to look at. The “weirdness” of the painting was also very interesting to me since in my opinion, the best works of art are the most absurd since it shows creativity and imagination and inspires much more thinking to the viewer compared to someone’s realistic painting of a campbell soup can for an example.

–Any questions you have about the work.

What do the ants depict in the bottom left corner of this painting? Does the tree have any symbolic meaning behind it as well?

On my visit at the Met Museum, a particular piece of modern art that caught my eye was Joseph Stella’s Coney Island, painted in 1914. It is a circular painting, mounted with a gold frame. Joseph Stella was an American painter born in Italy in 1877 and died in 1946. He was best known for his paintings of Industrial America such as paintings of the Brooklyn Bridge or Coney Island. His piece on Coney Island is an oil on canvas painting and looked like a kaleidoscope of bright and beautiful colors. With the many shapes and different colors, it is essentially an abstract painting. His use of colors are coordinated with the lights and crowds at Coney Island. Coney Island is a popular area in Brooklyn known for the beach, entertainment, and tourists.

This piece of work is abstract which is  a branch of modern art. I believe modern art is meant to be different, expressive, and sometimes strange. Abstract art uses different shapes, colors, lines, and forms to create a visual reference, which is sometimes hard to depict. I’ve always liked abstract art because I can create my own idea of what I think the art piece is. I was primarily drawn to this art piece because it looked really pretty. When I went closer and examined this art piece and description, I felt like I could see lights, perhaps at night and the sky. Some parts of the art, towards the middle, had intricate small dots which was interesting. I could also see shapes overlapping as well as the jagged lines.

At the bottom right of the piece was his signature in really small light letters, almost as if it was going to mix with the paint. The questions I would ask about this painting are why those particular shapes and how long did it take to paint it? Overall I really liked the painting as well as the trip to the Met. I learned a lot about the different types of  modern art, mediums, and techniques while trying to find an art piece.

Tadeusz Borowski’s “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen”, was a short story written about the horrendous conditions the prisoners faced in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The author speaks of his experiences through first-person narrative, detailing the atrocities that occur in the camp as a prisoner. This short story has similar themes to Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” as the narrator in both texts relate to the theme of dehumanization. In Borowski’s narration of the life as a prisoner, there were examples of derogation of the incoming Jews such as taking away their belongings and encaging them in tight, compact trucks. Gregor in “The Metamorphosis” faces similar consequences as he himself turns into a bug and has to face the dehumanization directly by his family members.

The beginning of the short story of “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” stood out to me because prisoners were starving, and food was a scarcity, they were described as “pigs” that ate stale bread and whatever scraps of food they can find on the ground. This was eerily similar to “The Metamorphosis” in that Gregor’s transformation into a bug changed his appetite and his human desire for sweet milk and bread became unpalatable after his sister brought it in to feed him. These two both draw upon the theme of dehumanization because like the “pigs” described in Borowski’s text, Gregor was willing to eat rotten and food considered to be inedible for human consumption. This connection ties directly to the concept of dehumanization because the prisoners inside Auschwitz were fed like they were pests and animals, they were not fed properly relative to the S.S. soldiers in the camp. As a result, prisoners were not treated like humans, but like animals. In “The Metamorphosis”, Gregor’s sister fed him scraps such as “some cheese that Gregor had declared inedible two days before” which he happily devoured to feed his new insect appetite. Gregor literally metamorphosed into a bug and developed traits of a bug so that makes him void of being “human”.

Another connection between the two texts would be the process of dehumanization. In Borowski’s short story, the prisoners were given orders to assist in moving the incoming Jews to be transferred into the gas chambers. When the trucks came, an absurd description of an overcrowded truck with the Jews on the inside gasping for air comes to show that they were given no respect nor consideration of their wellbeing. As a result, the prisoners had to clean up the unfortunate dead bodies left over inside the truck, carrying out corpses of infants crushed and flattened by their legs “like chickens” to be thrown away. This encaging is a dehumanizing act, which can also be seen in “The Metamorphosis”. Gregor, after scaring away his family, was basically exiled and locked in his own room where the only activities he could do is eat and wait. This is a dehumanizing act because there are no human rights such as freedom, his room was locked from the outside by his own parents. The idea of dehumanization is apparent in both texts through the use of entrapment and limitation of freedoms.

In Tadeusz Borowski’s “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen”, the narrator Tadeusz is part of a group of prisoners whose duties were to strip other incoming prisoners of everything they wore from their clothing to their jewelry. The other prisoners were then sent to their deaths in a crematorium while their belongings would be sent to Germany. The inhumane treatment of Jews in this text can be compared to another text that I read in class previously, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave”. In Frederick Douglass’s narrative, Douglass describes how white slave-owners in the southern United States would perceive and treat African American slaves as inferiors. This is similar to how Tadeusz saw German officers sending Jewish prisoners to their deaths shortly after they arrived at the concentration camp.

A major subject that I found comparable between Borowski’s story and Douglass’s narrative is dehumanization. One example from Borowski’s story is when Tadeusz and other Canada men were stripping the Jewish prisoners of everything they wore, leaving them completely naked afterwards. These prisoners were looted by the other non-Jewish prisoners before they were either forced into work at a labor camp or their deaths in a gas chamber. In the narrative, African American slaves in the south had no right to owning property or anything since they were considered to be property of their owners. They were also denied any form of education as it was feared that they could use literacy and education as a weapon against slave-owners who wanted them oppressed. The similarity I found between the two texts is that both Jews and black slaves had nothing at all. Borowski’s text showed that Jewish prisoners were literally robbed then killed and Douglass’s showed that slave-owners did everything they could to prevent their slaves from gaining any form of power. Both texts displayed how certain groups of people were dehumanized by other groups throughout history.

Another subject that I found between Borowski’s and Douglass’s writings is deception. In Borowski’s story, deception is used against the Jewish prisoners when Tadeusz and the other Canada prisoners had to refrain from telling them that they’ll be sent into the gas chambers. This was likely done so that there would be a lesser chance the Jewish prisoners would retaliate against the Nazi officers and the Canada prisoners. As for Douglass’s narrative, Douglass mentions the “slave breaker” or the act of breaking one’s mind or spirit so that resistance will never occur. This was done to slaves to deceive them into thinking that they’ll never win if they ever choose to rebel against their owners. I will also add that white slave-owners were deceived into thinking that Africans were “scripturally enslaved” meaning that the Bible’s story of Ham being cursed with black skin made it so that black people were originally meant to be slaves.

On my visit to the Museum of Modern Art, the artwork that I found amusing is the painting “I and the Village” (1911) by Marc Chagall depicting reflection of his gaze on harmony between nature and the human being. Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was a Russian-French artist who was born in Vitebsk and later on in his life moved to Paris where he met with some of the most famous artists and engaged in art movements of cubism and fauvism that inspire him to draw his most famous artworks. However, like other expatriates, he usually felt nostalgic about his motherland; thus, his art usually immersed with his native customs, fairy tales, and lifestyle. In his first work of art “I and the Village,” he portrays his learning of Cubism by use of lines and shapes to separate painting into sections by which he represents various memories. Including the reflection of the frictional connection between the man and the animals. By the fauvism, Chagall’s painting is flat also the art looks more folksy and harmonious by a variety of sizes and juxtaposition of colors. Doubtless, by the use of the combination of art movements Chagall superimposed both styles with each other thereby fulfilling his artwork with deep meaning.
Even though that this painting depicts the village, aside from it this art conveys other ideas. In the foreground, the face of men and a cow united by a thread from their eyes shows the connection between them. At the same time, the contrast of red and green that used to depict the man’s face produces an assumption that it’s Chagall’s self-portrait filled with Cubism and his vision of home. On the other hand, the white-blue cow on the left corner, aligned with a rural scene of cow milking conveying the memories from the past and the jewelry on her neck gives personification bond with a village. Moreover, by looking further into the background, the scene becomes more symbolic. On the top, we can see the small urban village consisted of colored houses and church with a person inside that can be foretold to be the village of Vitebsk. Close to them is a man with a scythe and the woman that can represent the rural people. It is undeniable that some of the houses and the women painted upside down that may reflect social inequality. Besides, the emotions on the man’s face reflect a pleasure of seeing his native land that overlapped with artist nostalgic thoughts while being away. Doubtless, in the center of the painting, we can see the circle that overlapped with the cow’s and man faces and a tree which is an association of the life cycle that united together. The decomposition of colors such as red and green symbolize the life, freedom, and peace. Last but not the least on the bottom there is a drawing of a branch of a tree that is shining from the sun rays from the left, may be associated with the emphatic memories from the past, combined with the images of love, self-evaluation.
What draws my attention to this painting is an aesthetic combination of both cubism and fauvism as well retainment of traditional aspects and images of nature and the people. In other words, the artwork contains a sheer image of each character, animal, and landscape which can be seen and interpreted were clearly and intuitively. Meanwhile, the painting of artist like Picasso or Braque requires dramatic imagination equivalent to its creator to find its true meaning or thought inflicted within it. Chagall’s art, on the contrary, retains the mere question of the precise use of green color to bestow upon the man’s face that makes me wonder what might be the meaning behind it other than the general features of fauvism and cubism.