Author Archives: l.zhu5

The work I chose is Charing Cross Bridge, 1905-1906. This work is an oil on canvas by the French painter and sculptor, Andre Derain. He was one of the pioneers of revolutionary painting in the early twentieth Century. He used bold colors to depict concise painting boldly and was called “Fauvist” with Henry Mathis. Derain first discovered the art of black and realized the rich and imaginative of folk art; he studied the art creation of the ancient people, set foot on the way they walked and created the modern art by tradition.

His early works used segmented color blocks, fast curves, and dull colors. His techniques were not crude, the lines were elegant, and colors were harmonious. For instance, Charing Cross Bridge was his early works that used segmented color blocks. According to my understanding in the MoMA, Charing Cross Bridge was that he developed the bright Fauvist palette while painting alongside his elder peer Henri Matisse in Collioure, France in the summer of 1905. There they were imaginative and creative paintings.

However, when these works were exhibited in Paris, the public and critics found the palette startling and ridiculed their efforts. As Derain said, “Fauvism was our ordeal by fire… It was the era of photography. This may have influenced us, and played a part in our reaction against anything resembling a snapshot of life. No matter how far we moved away from things … it was never far enough. Colors became charges of dynamite.” I interpreted this sentence as even if the camera can record more realistic scenes, pictures cannot convey art. The picture is inflexible, and the art is souled. Here he assimilates a branch of oil paints to dynamite.  Also, he once explained. “The great merit of this method was to free the picture from all imitative and conventional contact.”

The reason why this work attracts me is its brilliant color. In this picture, the author has rendered the sky a colorful scene, depicting the city and the meadows around the bridge in green and blue, which is different from what we have seen before. For me, although this work is called Charing Cross Bridge, my favorite is the coloring of the sky in this work, which makes me delightful and impresses me deeply. I have ever seen on the Internet that Monet also painted charing cross bridge series in 1899-1904. Monet is different from Derain. His charing cross bridge depicted the unique landscape formed by fog in London. I wonder why Derain used segmented color blocks to draw the sky.

Yesterday, I joined the Wax-Seal Stamp Making Workshop during 12:30-2:00 p.m. because I prefer handcraft and painting to dance and music. After sign in, we selected a lump of clay. The first step was that we needed to work up it into a shape of seal. I pinched a heart-shaped handle of the seal. You can make any shape you like. Then, we pressed the front and back on the table. The surface of the seal would be flat. Second, I carved my favorite brief pictures on the stamp that were a pig and a emoji. I picked out the tools that I thought it was best to use and got the praise from others. (I’m so happy.) Here was a tips that don’t carve the pictures too deep because wax would remain in the seal, and it was not convenient to take out. Third, when I finished carving, I waited 30 minutes to let the seal was baked. After that, we lit the candle and waited for the wax oil to fall. We could stamp it until save enough. Finally, when the wax oil was cooled, we took the seal and got it done. I was failed at the first time because I carved my pictures too deep and it needed to be dipped in water before stamping. It was my first time to learn how to make a wax-seal stamp. The handwork can relieve stress and let people be more creative. Therefore, I’m happy and enjoy to join in this active and really suggest you can try to do that at next time.

My name is Liying Zhu. I’m a international student and a transfer student. I come from China. It’s my third year to study in America. Painting and swimming are my favorite. I have a dog in my hometown. She is 16 years old. I love her very much. My major is statistic. Nice to see you in this semester.