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Watch Middle Class Sensibilities Change Art

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 For this blog post I decided to display some art that I feel shows the transition between the Rococo and Neoclassical styles, as this gave rise to some of the more interesting works of art of this period. Here’s a fascinating one called The Forge of Vulcan by John Singleton Copley (American) dated to 1754. The rise of the middle class asked for more didactic paintings in terms of morals and a return to the subjects of antiquity. The Forge of Vulcan depicts the moment in mythology when Apollo finds his wife is having an affair while weapons of war are forged. Despite the grim subject matter (compare perhaps Baroque artist Diego de Velázquez’s earlier treatment of the same) and subject matter of antiquity common to the Neoclassical era, the bright colors, nature imagery, and lighthearted, sensual, almost satirical response to the god’s cuckoldry recall Rococo sensibilities.   Here is Time orders old age to destroy beauty by Pompeo Batoni (Italian) dated to 1746. While it displa...
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Baroque

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  Gerrit Dou - The Painter in His Studio In this 1647 self-portrait by Rembrandt’s student Gerrit Dou, the first thing you might notice is that he’s doing everything *but* paint. Aside from expressing a general interest in the life of the mind popular to the art of its day, his cluttered workspace, with dramatic elements like a sculpture of wrestlers and sheet music left in disarray (note the still life or vanitas influence: these objects are in a transient state) suggests severe “artist’s block.” Surely we’ve all had times when we're stuck on a hobby and would rather, say, experiment with every musical instrument ever made. Notice that behind the artist there’s a blank, washed out, fairly unrealistic background, a facet of Baroque art, which represents less reality and more the painter’s mental state. Also take note of the strong diagonals and how the most vivid parts of the painting seem to pull away from the artist, leaving only the void behind. Finally, see the broken classical...
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Art Analysis: Leda

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  Leda, painted by Gail Potocki (b. 1961, American) is a provocative painting depicting a moment from Greek myth. In the myth, Leda, a queen of Sparta, was desired by the god Zeus and was seduced by him in the form of a swan. Most interpretations of the Leda myth today treat the encounter as nonconsensual, at very least by deception.  In Potocki’s depiction, the rhythm of the composition draws the eye to Leda’s enigmatic expression - she seems to be disengaged, but at the same time, we see her cracking open the egg that, in the myth, would have allowed Leda to give birth to Zeus’s progeny. The egg is not the focal point and although the red tone highlights the violence of both the swan’s act and Leda’s retaliation, it’s largely held apart from Leda’s body, and from the rest of the image through shadow. In other words, this painting depicts a woman who knows something Zeus doesn’t, whose personhood is unimpeachable and undisturbed. I also feel that the swan is depicted in a pin...
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Blog 1

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 My name is Moran. I am a non-traditional (“like, thirty”) student and I’ve been drawing for a very long time, but I feel as if I lack fundamentals and have decided to go to back to school and get a formal education in the arts. I am from Connecticut, but I used to live in Alaska and will hopefully be joining the rest of you in the state next semester.  I am primarily a novelist (my first book, a children’s fantasy, won a fancy international award and I’m always bragging about it), but I’m trying to get my drawing skills up so I can move from prose to cartooning. Will Eisner is a big artistic inspiration of mine. Here is an incredible sequence from his graphic novel A Contract With God: Aside from Eisner, I often turn to David Choe when I need to rediscover freedom and audacity. He can be found on YouTube. I hope I will learn from each of you this semester. 
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