The painting I chose was “Reading at a Table” by Pablo Picasso. This artist was born in Malaga, Spain in 1881. Picasso is known to be one of the best artists of the 20th century, as well as the co-founder of cubism. Throughout Picasso’s life, he produced many paintings which became quite popular even up to today. Pablo Picasso died at the age of 91 in 1973.

The painting to the side displays a woman reading at a table, hence the name. It seems as if she is very young which is one of the reasons why it stood out to me. As a female, it seems that education is a very important aspect. Throughout history, we usually see that women have been encouraged to study to better themselves for their future. I also chose this painting because the colors popped to me. I’m not usually a fan of dull colors, but Picasso seemed to make these colors pop in some way to me. Again with color, I like the way he used color schemes. He used both warm and cool colors and complimented them very well together. It seems that Picasso wanted the female to stand out and make her the center of attention in this painting by making the colors in the background darker than the colors of the actual person.

As mentioned above, Picasso is the co-founder of cubism. From this painting, we can see it a bit with the table that the young girl is sitting on and also her dress underneath the table. Also, he doesn’t use perfect lines in the painting. This seems to be more on the modern side because it displays that he has more freewill to draw however he would like. Basically, he does not need to follow specific guidelines. The way that Picasso uses geometric shapes randomly brings the whole piece together nicely. According to the description for the painting, it is said that this is Picasso’s mistress (Met Museum). With the flower crown on her head and also blonde hair, it shows a sense of youthfulness and chastity. It also shows the purity she has because the flowers are white.

Although he made the color schemes well put together, I still wonder why he made this painting look a bit dull if this was a painting of someone that he loved. Why not make her look more vibrant and full of life instead? It interests me as to why he chose this method. It makes me wonder if Picasso and his mistress were known or on the low.

Works Cited

Biography.com Editors. “Pablo Picasso Biography.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 05 May 2016.

“Pablo Picasso | Reading at a Table | The Met.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, I.e. The Met Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2016.

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain in1881 and he was one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. He created 22,000 works of art in different forms (ceramics, mosaics, graphic arts etc). Picasso was at the Royal Academy of Art in Barcelona at age 15. In 1907 he painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, which is focusing more toward cubism and modern abstraction. Cubism was developed by Picasso and Georges Braques. It was the first style of abstract art which evolved at the beginning of the 20^th century in response to a world that was changing with unprecedented speed.

The Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, by Pablo Picasso, depicts five nude females, four of which are standing while the fifth is crouching down. These women are said to be prostitutes from a brothel. Their bodies are made up of jagged lines, not exactly showing off any feminine features, and they are all very angular and disjointed. The leg of the woman to the left doesn’t even resemble a leg, but is more like a part of the wall that is behind her. Two of these women have faces that look more like African tribal masks. The coloring of their faces is different than their skin colors, and the faces are longer. We also see shades of green in the standing woman and shades of blue in the woman crouching down. The eyes of all five women are disproportionate and not symmetrical, and they all have serene, if not somewhat aggravated facial expressions. The background is fairly simple, composed of blue, white and brown geometrical shapes, and there is a table with some grapes and other fruit in front of the women. The whole painting is very two-dimensional and a very unrealistic depiction of women and space.

This work reflects the aesthetic preferences associated with Modernism because of the jagged lines and abstract way in which the women were painted. Modernism was all about experimentation with art, and Picasso did just that in this painting. He seems to have incorporated different types of art, such as Expressionism and even African tribal art, but also cubism, due to the geometric shapes found in the painting.

This work can be found on the fifth floor of the Museum of Modern Art, in the section Painting and Sculpture 1, Gallery 2. It is surrounded by other paintings done by Picasso.This piece is quite large, and was the first thing that I noticed as I walked through the door into the gallery. Its size alone was enough to draw me to it, but the look on the women’s faces, along with the tribal aspects of it are what pulled me to pick this piece.

http://www.picasso.com/life.aspx

The artist who painted the work above is a French artist named Paul Gauguin. He was born in Paris in 1848 and died in 1903. He is known for his work in impressionism which is capturing detail in a work through the use of bold colors. And this is what Gauguin is known for, his experimentation with bold colors in his art. He gained more popularity for his work after his death making impressions on may other french and german artists.

The work above is a use of flat, bright and unrealistic colors. It is a painting of a Polynesian goddess who is sitting naked with nature behind her as a background. The painting itself is oil on burlap and was painted in 1892. He painted the piece due to his visit to Tahiti which was a French colony at the time. He visited the place in hopes of finding Tahiti culture but the French had already colonized enough. In the painting he shows Tahiti as a premodern land of leisure instead of the poverty that was stricken at the time. His interest in the piece was to recover a “pure” subject and closer to nature.

The piece promotes modernistic aesthetic through the different types of cultural styles used. For example the pose of the lady is an ancient Egyptian pose, Japanese art from the absence of shadow and modeling, and in the areas of flat color, and also Javanese in the position of arms. He also adds a Western style to it from the colors he uses. He used colors that are not realistic to what the island was like with its colors. The piece itself is not of its true colors because of the poverty that was in the area at the time. So Gauguin using colors to represent nature, and making it look pure is to avoid the viewer from seeing the true nature, adding a western touch to the already colonized island.

I encountered the work at MoMa surrounded by other works of Gauguin and other impressionists in art. The piece reflects the time of French colonization of other islands and countries.

The colors drew me to the piece the most. The woman sets a great contrast to the background and the cloth she is sitting on making the painting have many different areas to look and focus at for its detail and rich coloring.

The painting I picked was “The Sleeping Gypsy” by Henri Rousseau. Henry Rousseau is most celebrated as being one of the best naive artists. He was given the nickname la Dounaier, which came from a job he held from 1871 to 1893, where he worked with the Paris Customs Office. Prior to this career, he served in the army. During this time, painting was something that he did as a hobby, and in 1893, he accepted early retirement, which allowed him to focus on painting full time. This in turn allowed him to better his from, and create a name for himself in the world of art.

Henri describes the painting as   “A wandering Negress, a mandolin player, lies with her jar beside her (a vase with drinking water), overcome by fatigue in a deep sleep. A lion chances to pass by, picks up her scent yet does not devour her”. This work reflects modernism because of the flattened shapes and perspectives, the freedom of color and style, the subordination of realistic description to imagination and invention.

What drew me to this piece was the calm lion under the moon which is the brightest part on the painting. The women in the picture is a traveler therefore she doesn’t know anyone or have any friends and family which means she is lonely. The way I interpret the painting is that the lion represent all the dangers that can come your way as a result of being lonely. The water base represents health and the instrument represent material happiness but none of that means anything if you’re alone. To me the sent the lion picks up is loneliness and unhappiness.

I have many questions about this painting like why did he choose a lion to be in a dessert setting. Why did he only include 6 stars and do they had a significance. Where did he get inspired to do this painting?

Work cited

“Museum of Modern Art | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2016.

“http://www.henrirousseau.net/”Henri Rousseau, and his paintings. Web. 03 May 2016.

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain in 1881. He is one of the greatest and most influential artists of 20 th century. He’s known as the co-creator of Cubism. He’s a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmakers, ceramicist and stage designer. Picasso was considered radical in his work. Nearly 80 of his 91 years, Picasso has devoted himself to an artistic production and contributed significantly to the development of modern art in the 20 th century.

This piece of work is titled “ Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”, in English means The Young Women of Avignon.” It depicts five nude prostitutes from a brothel on Carrer Avinyó in Barcelona . It’s kind of wild and aggressive. There are three naked women on the left side. Two women on the right side of the painting wear mask. The one wearing the mask in the back is drawing the curtain. The other one is sitting on the curtain facing the audiences. In the middle of the bottom, some fruits are being placed there. Brown incorporates with blue, two tones contrast and create a strong sexual anxiety. These five female prostitutes are depicted in a narrow space. They are placing in a splintered plane, which create a geometric view. The whole painting is vivid and feels real in any point of view.

This painting is real large, so it’s easy to catch an eye on. The reason why I chose this painting is because I have known this painting since I was 10 years old. I first encountered it in my art class. It kind of made me feel shame and I didn’t dare to see it, as I was too young by that time. But it did leave a deep impression in my mind. Now when I encountered it again, as an adult, I became more comfortable with the content. And I was seeing it in an artist way. Everything in my eyes is full with the talent of the artist and was astonished by the creativity of Picasso.

As I mention before that Picasso is the co-creator of cubism. By definition, cubism means it’s a point of view. Cubism art will give audience a different view form any direction. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is a break from traditional history of linear art. In Renainssance, artists tend to use perspective. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon innovates abstract form. It creates a new way to see the world. Art could be depicted in a geometric view. This work has lead to a successive art movement toward abstract form.

My question regarding this art is that how Picasso paint this piece of art and make it have a geometric view?

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-cubism.htm

— What did you learn from this story that you did not previously know about life in Nazi concentration camps?

–This story can be described as a kind of “initiation story” for the narrator.  How is he changed or transformed by the events of the narrative?

–A tall, grey-haired woman who has just arrived on the “transport” whispers, “My poor boy,” to our narrator.  What does she mean?

–“Are we good people?” asks our narrator.  What is this exchange about? What do you think?

–Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.”  What seems strange about it?

“The False Mirror”, or “Le Faux Miroir” is a surrealist painting by Belgian artist Rene Magritte (1898-1967) composed in 1928.  Surrealism was a big 20th century artistic movement that emphasized the creativeness of the unconscious mind. The title of the painting, however, was a product of the mind of Belgian Surrealist writer Paul Nouge (moma.org). Born in Lessines (a province in Hainaut, Belgium), not much is known about Magritte’s childhood- there are many legends and myths concerning the context and inspiration for his work, however. For example, many of Magritte’s paintings, including one called “Les Amants”, is rumored to portray the lovers with cloth over their faces as a result of his finding his mother’s body with her dress covering her face after suicide by drowning (wikipedia.org).

“The False Mirror” portrays a lash-less eye with the usually white iris replaced by a blue, cloud filled sky, with a black pupil smacked dead in the center. According to the gallery label at MoMA, the title thought of by Nouge was chosen to imply a restriction on the eye: mirrors directly reflect the things on the other side–Nouge suggests that the eye is subjective and chooses what it sees. It also implies blurred vision. To me, the painting drew me in simply because I have a fascination with the eyes; I am one of those “the windows are the eyes to the soul” kind of people. Reading the label and being educated about what the intention behind the painting/title was, I was a bit pleased because while I did not hit the nail right on the head, my interpretation of the painting was along those lines. In essence, it was sort of the same. The way I took it was that as humans, we only see blue skies. Blue skies are often directly associated to good days; they serve as a form of relief and almost as a symbol of hope. Personally, I associate blue skies full of clouds with optimism, almost like an “things can only get better” kind of vibe, the same way that dark and stormy skies are associated to misery. I agreed with the message I received from the painting, only because as humans we choose to ignore the negatives and downsides of life–we tend to focus on the good, because ultimately all that we want from life is happiness.

The painting above relates to Modernism and the ideas associated to it because seeing as Modernists were very much interested in incoherence and the stream of consciousness, the visual is incredibly strange and portrays the way that one’s conscious functions– it focuses mainly on what we think, and not to what we do. Also, the implication of restriction of one’s vision and seeing only what evokes positive emotion and what is ultimately beneficial to us constitutes that cynicism that is so often underlying in the Modernist works, suggesting that we are motivated by and inclined to see only what is in our best interest.

The MoMA is filled with character and bursts with historical energy throughout each floor. The process of finding a ‘modern’ piece was difficult because of the vast variety available. While on the first floor of “Painting and Sculptures I” I found a corner dedicated to Diego Rivera. I recognized his style of work immediately and couldn’t draw my eyes away from “Young Man in a Gray Sweater” published in 1914. The bright colors grabbed my attention first followed by the layers of gray and beige that blend together to create an image of folded hands. After noticing the complexity of the man’s folded hands, my eyes reverted back to the bright colors and their placement in the portrait. “Young Man in a Gray Sweater” seems to portray a young man in his studies. The random and rare bright colors remind me of books placed on a bookshelf and the young man is dull and almost colorless because he has a lot of reading to do. The young man represents a student who has a lot of studying ahead of him, I believe he is colorless because of his lack of knowledge. I think his hands are folded out of concentration as well as an act of being taken seriously. The title highlights that his clothing is gray, to me gray is dull and I believe Rivera was pointing out that the young man’s clothing is the only dull thing about him.

In my freshman year of college I went through a phase where I read and studied everything about Frida Khalo. The vibrant colors used in portraits were intriguing, and so was Khalo’s obsession with Diego Rivera. My studies always projected Freida’s famous lover Diego Rivera as a promiscuous and inconsiderate husband towards Khalo, but a creative cubist and muralist genius to the rest of the world. Born in Guanajuato Mexico on December 8, 1886 Rivera’s earliest influences came from his hometown, but most of his early inspiration came from Europe. Spanish cubist Pablo Picasso was one of Rivera’s heaviest artistic influences. However, after returning to Mexico Rivera was inspired by the ideas forming the present Mexican Revolution which changed his artistic style drastically. Rivera went from Cubism to portraying morals of the Mexican people, their villages, and their historic lifestyles. In Mexico City on November 24 1954, Diego Rivera died of heart failure.

“Young Man in a Gray Sweater” is a prime example of modernism in the 20th century. Cubism is a great example of artists rejecting tradition and embracing novelty. “Young Man in a Gray Sweater” depicts Picasso’s influence on Cubist style, but Rivera uses brighter colors than the usual Cubist. The brighter colors and design used in the painting are heavily influenced by his Mexican pride. Using a form of nationality in his paintings highlights a modernist idea of subjective perception. Like other ‘modern’ artist, Rivera illustrates how he sees other young Mexican men and not how they actually look in reality. By using dull colors on his body but bright colors to represent the books, Rivera forces us to see his passion and pride which is considered subjective to all observers who aren’t from Mexico. I do want to know if this is a self portrait, a loved one, or a student of his. 

WORKS CITED:

“National Gallery of Art.” Diego Rivera. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2016.

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter and printmaker. He was born on December 12, 1863 and died on January 23rd 1944. His art works were greatly influenced by expressionism and one of his most famous creation is “The Scream” (1893). His works are generally quite obscure and depicts a sentiment of fear. His early life seems to have been an influence to his genre. His family was tormented with illness. His mother died when he was five years old and he was raised by his father who suffered from a mental illness. The latter raised him and his siblings through fear causing the artist to grow up with repressed feelings and emotions. He showed an interest in drawing during his early life but did not receive any training. He went to a Technical university to study engineering but left to become a painter. In 1885, Munch went to Paris where he was exposed to French Impressionism which greatly influenced him.
The Storm was painted by Edvard Munch in 1893. At first look, you just see a number of buildings, probably houses and some people in the foreground. But if you take a deeper look at it, you understand why it is named “The Storm”. Apparently, the painting was inspired by a violent storm in Asgardstrand which is a town in Norwa. The sky in the picture looks greyish, as if it was about to rain but that also evokes an element of darkness. The trees are bended, depicting strong winds. In the foreground, there are five persons, with what seem to be a woman in front of them. The woman is wearing white clothes and has blond hair. We cannot clearly depict her facial expression but she seems to be scared. Her hands are covering her ears or the side of her face, as if she was screaming. From the shape of her dress, her legs seem to be in a running position suggesting that she is plausibly trying to get away or escape something. She is separated from the crowd that is the five other women in the back. I believe that she is the center of this piece of art. Munch was literally trying to depict someone escaping a storm, maybe an inner storm.
This work clearly embodies the elements of Modernism, more specifically Expressionism and Impressionism. Impressionism is the creation of images without details, where the colors are bold and there is no clarity of form. This image perfectly depicts those ideas as we can see and understand what is in it but we cannot perfectly identify its expressions and the details are vague. Impressionists rely on the idea that what the eye perceives is different than what the brain understands. What we see as a storm might have actually been something deeper to Munch. Expressionism works in order to present the world in a subjective state where images are used in order to bring out emotions. This particular art reflects a state of darkness and fear, with the main woman trying to express something which we can only see by deeply analyzing it.
I found this painting at the Museum of Modern Art. It was intriguing, mysterious and dark. Despite the lack of clarity into what is happening, from the buildings to the persons, The Storm actually has numerous details which gives us an idea of its settings. I thought the colors were very appropriate to its theme and they invoked a sense of darkness in the painting.

The painting I choose is from Picasso’s artwork, “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”. Pablo Picasso was one of the most well known and influential modern Spanish artists who was active in various art fields such as sculpture, painting, design and drawing. He was also “known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore” according to artists’ brief introduction from Moma.
The reason that I choose “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” is that I think this painting is different from other traditional paintings in term of how Picasso used abstract geometrical shapes and lines to depict a completely new perspective of painting. Therefore, as I felt a little weird about the naked women’s figures as I just encountered this painting. “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” is a depiction of five naked women on a compressed space while all figures seem do not have “appropriate” shapes and symmetries, instead “their figures are composed of flat, splintered planes rather than rounded volumes”(painting’s introduction from Moma). Also two women one the right cover their faces by masks. I think Picasso was depicting prostitutes since these five naked women were giving sexually appealing poses as well as the title of the artwork also referenced to brothel.
I believe this artwork is a good example of modernist since “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” shows many modernist characteristics. First of all, this piece of painting is one of the earliest artworks of cubism. There is an incoherence of space and shapes of the figures. All the figures seemed to be connected by jagged glasses, which gives people visual impacts. Further, there is also an incoherence of cultures: Spanish women wearing African masks. Secondly, As I looked at these figures, I discovers that each women was drew from different perspectives. One was drew from the front while others were depicted from the side or the back. Third, there is a rejection in the traditional perspective and ways of painting. Throughout this work, there are barely some smooth lines, instead, most of the lines which composed the whole figures were straight and curve. Therefore, this painting gives me an impression of geometrical shapes made up the major parts and overlaps of body figures. Lastly and most importantly, there is an allusion of this painting. I think instead of showing the plain feature of “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”, Picasso also wanted people to think about what is the meaning behind this piece of art. However, I do not now exactly what the messages hidden behind this incredible painting.  In addition, I am also interested in what motivated Picasso to develop this new technique of painting besides he just wanted to break the traditional view of aesthetic preferences.
Works cited:
“Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles D’Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.