What a thoroughly enjoyable project! Despite not really liking this unit, this project has more than made up for it. It took me a while to get into it but once I did, I go really stuck in!
I looked at this painting at the National Gallery for the annotation for this unit and at first I wasn't sure whether to use it for the project as well. I looked on the web and in books for other paintings but the detail and variety of reproductions and quality put me off. I thought that as I had seen the painting up close and seen all of the details for my self, this painting was the best one to use.
I had bought a postcard already to put in my collection and this was helpful, especially as the requirement was not to use other resources for the description part. It helped not only to refresh my memory on the painting, my annotation picture is not great, but also it meant I could put a ruler across the image to determine the lines and composition.
The notes from my annotation were very helpful and reminded me of small elements in the painting, such as the sea shells, that can't be seen on the postcard.
I did find though that the sheer volume of content in the painting made it difficult to keep within the word count limit, and I did go over just a tiny bit. My first draft was nearly 2,000 words so I had to be very efficient with words and almost ruthless with what I needed to say and what could be left. I didn't mention some of the smaller details in the background, and I didn't even look into potential symbolic references to the animals, the flowers in the foreground or the instruments.
Overall, I mostly enjoyed getting into the picture in such detail, really breaking it down and seeing what makes it so good and work so well. It amazes me to think that Titian, and other artists, are able to plan all these elements to work together and not to let it be obvious.
Friday 23 April 2010
Unit 7 - Project
Analysis of a sixteenth century Italian painting with a mythological theme
‘Bacchus and Ariadne’, by Titan.
Painted 1520-1523. Oil on canvas, 176.5 x 191 cm
The painting shows a procession of approximately ten people coming from the woods to the right, led by a man (Bacchus) in the centre of the painting. He is leaping from his chariot to a lady (Ariadne) on the left; she is pointing towards the sea and horizon in the background.
The main activity in the painting happens in the foreground at the viewer’s level. The boy in the centre who looks out of the painting draws in the viewer.
Despite the majority of elements being positioned to the right hand side, attention is firstly drawn to Bacchus due to his central position and also his skin tone is light and bright, his startling pose and his pink cape.
The eye than follows the revelling and drunken procession into the foreground. At the back of the procession is a man carrying a wine barrel, another on a donkey in an apparent drunken stupor being supported upright, two ladies with instruments and a man dancing, wrapped in vines and holding an animal’s leg aloft. These elements conclude that some kind of feast has taken place.
Coming into the very foreground there is a bearded man wrestling with snakes and in the centre, looking out to the viewer is a satyr dragging an animal’s head and being barked at by a dog.
Continuing on towards Ariadne, there a two cheetah’s that appear oblivious to the rowdiness behind them and the air of panic between Ariadne and Bacchus. In fact, no one seems to be startled by Bacchus’s sudden leaping (or even by the man wrestling with snakes). Beyond Ariadne, a ship is sailing away into the setting sun and above this we see an oval constellation of stars.
Direction of vision around the painting
Although the diagram is not mathematically accurately, the shape of the elliptical spiral echoes ‘The Fibonacci (Golden) Spiral’ theory and here it opens up the painting, creating a balanced rhythm.
The painting can be divided up using diagonals from corner to corner. Firstly, from top left to bottom right, there is a line created in the downward outline of the first cloud, continues through Bacchus’ body, uses the train of the lady’s blue skirt and finishes with the trailing leg of the bearded man.
The opposite diagonal is created by tone and colour. The top left consists of mostly blue tones in the sky, sea and Ariadne’s dress. Even the ground Ariadne stands on is a mix of earth colours with blue (this causes confusion as to whether they are on a cliff top, as implied by the coastline, or at the shore and almost in the water which is possible as there are shells on the ground). The rest of the painting is of earthy yellow, brown and green tones. The foliage is green with some brown autumnal shades, the people have tanned skins, the first lady has a burnt orange-brown top and the cheetahs and chariot are also shades of brown.
Both of these diagonals therefore place Bacchus at the centre of the image. Almost perfectly intersecting the diagonals and cutting the picture in half is a horizontal line created by the head level of several characters (Ariadne, first lady, bearded man, dancing man) and emphasised with Bacchus’s forearm and the arm of the lady in light blue.
Other colour flashes are found in Ariadne’s blue dress (same blue as the first procession lady) and her red scarf, and in the yellow cloth and a golden urn (bearing Titian’s name) discarded on the ground.
Another way that attention is directed to Ariadne is with horizontals found in the cheetah’s backs, horizon, chariot top, snake and vine band. A line can also be found through Ariadne’s pointed arm, Bacchus’ cape and the treetops. A strong vertical is created from the tree trunks and the first lady’s firmly placed left leg, dividing the action on the left and right. Depth in the painting comes from the use of aerial perspective; the blurred shapes and wash of blue tones of the town along the cliff top demonstrate this.
There are a wide variety of emotions being expressed; the struggles of the bearded man and the wine carrier, relaxed serenity in the ladies, excitement in the dancing man, Bacchus’ seriousness and Ariadne’s distress. The cheetah’s and satyr seem to be the only ones not caught up in the energy of the activities.
The story portrayed is based on a poem by Catallus, telling of how Ariadne is looking out to sea towards her lover, Theseus, who has abandoned her on the island and Bacchus, god of wine and intoxication, finds her and falls in love with her. This account varies from Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ version in which he finds her asleep.
The painting shows this well although it is not clear that Ariadne and Bacchus have never met before. There does appear to be recognition between them as Ariadne tells him what has happened. It also is not clear why Bacchus is pointing back towards the procession, unless Titan has done it purely to again demonstrate the contrapposto technique.
Viewers of the era would have been able to identify the story and characters involved more readily as the stories and poems, and the elements associated with such stories and certain characters, were common knowledge. For example, the character Silenus can be identified, as he was associated with riding an ass and known as being a ‘foster-father’ and ‘companion in revelry’ to Bacchus. Elements that identify Bacchus are images of wine, vines, excess and intoxication, shown in this particular painting by Silenus’ presence, the wine barrel and the man dancing with vines wrapped around him. The ‘chariot drawn by wild animals’ and women with tambourines, as shown in Ruben’s ‘Peace and War’ painting, are also icons.
This painting has a brightness and clarity that is not seen in many of Titan’s other works, such as ‘Venus and Adonis’ where the look is much softer and has a cloudiness to the atmosphere. They do share a common feature in composition though; both paintings have the story at the centre and one corner is filled with the sky containing a feature of the story.
Bibliography:
‘How to read a painting’ by Patrick De Rynck (Thames & Hudson)
‘The secret language of art’ by Sarah Carr-Gomm (Duncan Baird publishers)
‘Bacchus and Ariadne’, by Titan.
Painted 1520-1523. Oil on canvas, 176.5 x 191 cm
The painting shows a procession of approximately ten people coming from the woods to the right, led by a man (Bacchus) in the centre of the painting. He is leaping from his chariot to a lady (Ariadne) on the left; she is pointing towards the sea and horizon in the background.
The main activity in the painting happens in the foreground at the viewer’s level. The boy in the centre who looks out of the painting draws in the viewer.
Despite the majority of elements being positioned to the right hand side, attention is firstly drawn to Bacchus due to his central position and also his skin tone is light and bright, his startling pose and his pink cape.
The eye than follows the revelling and drunken procession into the foreground. At the back of the procession is a man carrying a wine barrel, another on a donkey in an apparent drunken stupor being supported upright, two ladies with instruments and a man dancing, wrapped in vines and holding an animal’s leg aloft. These elements conclude that some kind of feast has taken place.
Coming into the very foreground there is a bearded man wrestling with snakes and in the centre, looking out to the viewer is a satyr dragging an animal’s head and being barked at by a dog.
Continuing on towards Ariadne, there a two cheetah’s that appear oblivious to the rowdiness behind them and the air of panic between Ariadne and Bacchus. In fact, no one seems to be startled by Bacchus’s sudden leaping (or even by the man wrestling with snakes). Beyond Ariadne, a ship is sailing away into the setting sun and above this we see an oval constellation of stars.
Direction of vision around the paintingAlthough the diagram is not mathematically accurately, the shape of the elliptical spiral echoes ‘The Fibonacci (Golden) Spiral’ theory and here it opens up the painting, creating a balanced rhythm.
The painting can be divided up using diagonals from corner to corner. Firstly, from top left to bottom right, there is a line created in the downward outline of the first cloud, continues through Bacchus’ body, uses the train of the lady’s blue skirt and finishes with the trailing leg of the bearded man.
The opposite diagonal is created by tone and colour. The top left consists of mostly blue tones in the sky, sea and Ariadne’s dress. Even the ground Ariadne stands on is a mix of earth colours with blue (this causes confusion as to whether they are on a cliff top, as implied by the coastline, or at the shore and almost in the water which is possible as there are shells on the ground). The rest of the painting is of earthy yellow, brown and green tones. The foliage is green with some brown autumnal shades, the people have tanned skins, the first lady has a burnt orange-brown top and the cheetahs and chariot are also shades of brown.
Both of these diagonals therefore place Bacchus at the centre of the image. Almost perfectly intersecting the diagonals and cutting the picture in half is a horizontal line created by the head level of several characters (Ariadne, first lady, bearded man, dancing man) and emphasised with Bacchus’s forearm and the arm of the lady in light blue.
Other colour flashes are found in Ariadne’s blue dress (same blue as the first procession lady) and her red scarf, and in the yellow cloth and a golden urn (bearing Titian’s name) discarded on the ground.
Another way that attention is directed to Ariadne is with horizontals found in the cheetah’s backs, horizon, chariot top, snake and vine band. A line can also be found through Ariadne’s pointed arm, Bacchus’ cape and the treetops. A strong vertical is created from the tree trunks and the first lady’s firmly placed left leg, dividing the action on the left and right. Depth in the painting comes from the use of aerial perspective; the blurred shapes and wash of blue tones of the town along the cliff top demonstrate this.
There are a wide variety of emotions being expressed; the struggles of the bearded man and the wine carrier, relaxed serenity in the ladies, excitement in the dancing man, Bacchus’ seriousness and Ariadne’s distress. The cheetah’s and satyr seem to be the only ones not caught up in the energy of the activities.
The story portrayed is based on a poem by Catallus, telling of how Ariadne is looking out to sea towards her lover, Theseus, who has abandoned her on the island and Bacchus, god of wine and intoxication, finds her and falls in love with her. This account varies from Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’ version in which he finds her asleep.
The painting shows this well although it is not clear that Ariadne and Bacchus have never met before. There does appear to be recognition between them as Ariadne tells him what has happened. It also is not clear why Bacchus is pointing back towards the procession, unless Titan has done it purely to again demonstrate the contrapposto technique.
Viewers of the era would have been able to identify the story and characters involved more readily as the stories and poems, and the elements associated with such stories and certain characters, were common knowledge. For example, the character Silenus can be identified, as he was associated with riding an ass and known as being a ‘foster-father’ and ‘companion in revelry’ to Bacchus. Elements that identify Bacchus are images of wine, vines, excess and intoxication, shown in this particular painting by Silenus’ presence, the wine barrel and the man dancing with vines wrapped around him. The ‘chariot drawn by wild animals’ and women with tambourines, as shown in Ruben’s ‘Peace and War’ painting, are also icons.
This painting has a brightness and clarity that is not seen in many of Titan’s other works, such as ‘Venus and Adonis’ where the look is much softer and has a cloudiness to the atmosphere. They do share a common feature in composition though; both paintings have the story at the centre and one corner is filled with the sky containing a feature of the story.
Bibliography:
‘How to read a painting’ by Patrick De Rynck (Thames & Hudson)
‘The secret language of art’ by Sarah Carr-Gomm (Duncan Baird publishers)
Thursday 22 April 2010
Unit 7 - Gallery visit
21.04.10 - Visit to Warwick Art Gallery & Museum
I have chosen to visit the newly refurbished Art Gallery & Museum in Warwick as I have never been here before and wanted to go somewhere for a completely open minded and fresh look. I was originally going to go to the gallery in Leamington but I've been here so many times before and already have opinions on what works and what pieces I like etc.
The gallery has been closed for several months and reopened at the end of March.
I have chosen for this visit to only look at the gallery part, and not the museum area.
The rectangular building is built in stone with large arched windows on all sides. The modern glass entrance leads into the shop and directly into the small gallery area. Walking past the open plan gallery exhibition it goes into the museum area.
The gallery is small, only approx 5m wide x 10 m long. The core of the building is taken up by a stone wall that originally would have been the market 'offices' and the gallery and museum work around this.
As the gallery space is hemmed in on two sides by outer walls that are almost completely glass, one side opens into the museum and the other long side is part stone wall and partly opens into the shop, there aren't any walls on which to display work. They have overcome this by using tall white exhibition/display boards.
The gallery doesn't have a permanent collection, only regular temporary exhibitions (I actually think this is quite good as it would encourage me to go back again although they didn't have a leaflet of the forthcoming exhibitions for me to take away), and so the boards would enable them to arrange the space accordingly. The exhibition currently on is for two artists and the boards had been arranged in such a way that the work of each artist is kept separate but also does link to each other. I was told that the exhibition to follow is sculptural work and so they could take the boards out all together to accommodate this.
The current exhibition is titled 'The Material Life of Things' and features work by Kathy Webster and Jill Irving.
Kathy Webster's work is the first to come to and is a series of still life acrylics of various fruit, flowers and pots. The works have been clearly displayed in groups based on the subject matter. Slightly different subjects have been displayed next to each other but with a gap between them to demonstrate that there is something different. For example, two pictures of food items are next to a group of three pictures, also of food items but these are on cloths. There is a feeling of continuity throughput the display.
On the other side if the board, pictures of flowers have been displayed separately, and some use of the walls between the windows has been made to show 2 charcoal drawings, again, separated because of the difference in medium but still close enough to feel part of the main display.
All of the works had backgrounds in black tones, mainly black/green or black/red, and this really helped to unify all the pieces together. It also allowed for the colours of the focal object to stand out boldly.
As it is quite hard to describe the layout of the boards and the works, I have done a quick diagram;
The black lines in the middle are the display boards. The ones closest to the shop/entrance were used to show Kathy Webster's work and the boards by the museum end were used to show Jill Irving's work. The square display pillar by the window also had Jill Irvings's work on and the other square is to show the display cabinet with items relating to both artists.
In the square created where the two sets of boards meet, the gallery have made a link between the two artists. On the two boards at the end of Kathy Webster's section, a piece from each artist has been chosen to face each other. The works, I feel, are good 'summary' pieces for each artist and also, through the colour schemes and floral subjects, they have a connection to each other.
On the two boards at the end of Jill Irving's section, A3 information cards for each artist are shown. They correspond to the paintings opposite and gave a quick outline of the artists' history, a little bit to explain the works on show and also how they work and are inspired. I thought that it was a good idea to have these cards shown in the middle of the display as having them near the entrance would possibly have influenced the viewer, rather than letting them see the works first and then find out about the background and the artist.
The general layout of the boards was very well done. Even though the most part was in a straight line, by having the end boards at the ends on an angle, it encouraged me to walk around and 'explore' the display.
Jill Irving's work is printed images of insects and flowers. She uses a combination of mono print hand drawings, prints from botanical books and lino print silhouettes of insects. Mixed into this, she often hand writes or uses text from books to label the flowers and some info about them. The softness of this text, sometimes so soft it's illegible or the hand written mono print ones are backwards, means that they complement the imagery and aren't too obvious.
Scales and proportions between the prints have been disregarded. Some prints showed tiny delicate flowers next to a much larger beetle or ant, which did look playful. The paper used also varied from white, cream or grey, and also the use of textured paper with flowers pressed in. The pictures on this floral paper looked more like test prints to me rather than a purposefully planned piece. The ones on the grey or cream smooth paper were quite striking and gave another element to the overall effect of the piece. They almost made the prints on white backgrounds look a bit boring.
On the side by the window were some works that were exclusively lino prints and were more graphic in style. The more tropical animals, the sharp outlines and the colours and layers of paint had a slightly African feel to it, much differant to the other works.
The large wall of windows and bright sunshine streaming in made it difficult to view Jill Irving's work on this side as the had been mounted with glass and had glaring reflections. I had to stand really close and at an odd angle to the side of each piece to view it and found myself moving on much quicker.
Personally, I didn't think Jill Irving's work was as good and I think it is because the pieces are a combination of elements and don't form a complete picture. The individual elements are quite pretty and have been arranged well on the page to create a sense of movement, but I do prefer to see an overall image.
The display cabinet at the end linked the gallery space into the museum display. It contained items from both artists that were a mixture of props, research items and books. It also had some printing blocks in to explain briefly the method used in Jill Irving's work.
Something noticeable that I found with both artists was the obvious mismatch of frames for the pieces. Kathy Webster's were mostly in plain black frames but there were some fancy gilded ones, some with no frame and some modern silver ones. Jill Irving's were mostly white wooden but there were some that were black, plain wood and coloured. For both, as the majority of pieces were unified by the frames, the odd ones really stood out and I couldn't see that they were for any particular purpose.
The gallery's other slightly unusual feature was the use of cafe style music in the background. I don't think this had any particular relevance to the display but it was quite relaxing. Without it I feel the building, with so much stone, would have felt almost hollow and unwelcoming. I sometimes feel in galleries that I am being watched and I can't relax and spend time looking, but here I was very relaxed and was amazed to discover that I had spent an hour and half just looking at this small display.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this visit. It gave me the ideal opportunity to visit a new gallery and to see works by artists I hadn't heard of before. The gallery was very welcoming and the regular change in displays makes me want to go back regularly. The work done to the building to modernise has been done very well and wihout losing the old historic feel.
I have chosen to visit the newly refurbished Art Gallery & Museum in Warwick as I have never been here before and wanted to go somewhere for a completely open minded and fresh look. I was originally going to go to the gallery in Leamington but I've been here so many times before and already have opinions on what works and what pieces I like etc.
The gallery has been closed for several months and reopened at the end of March.
I have chosen for this visit to only look at the gallery part, and not the museum area.
The rectangular building is built in stone with large arched windows on all sides. The modern glass entrance leads into the shop and directly into the small gallery area. Walking past the open plan gallery exhibition it goes into the museum area.
The gallery is small, only approx 5m wide x 10 m long. The core of the building is taken up by a stone wall that originally would have been the market 'offices' and the gallery and museum work around this.
As the gallery space is hemmed in on two sides by outer walls that are almost completely glass, one side opens into the museum and the other long side is part stone wall and partly opens into the shop, there aren't any walls on which to display work. They have overcome this by using tall white exhibition/display boards.
The gallery doesn't have a permanent collection, only regular temporary exhibitions (I actually think this is quite good as it would encourage me to go back again although they didn't have a leaflet of the forthcoming exhibitions for me to take away), and so the boards would enable them to arrange the space accordingly. The exhibition currently on is for two artists and the boards had been arranged in such a way that the work of each artist is kept separate but also does link to each other. I was told that the exhibition to follow is sculptural work and so they could take the boards out all together to accommodate this.
The current exhibition is titled 'The Material Life of Things' and features work by Kathy Webster and Jill Irving.
Kathy Webster's work is the first to come to and is a series of still life acrylics of various fruit, flowers and pots. The works have been clearly displayed in groups based on the subject matter. Slightly different subjects have been displayed next to each other but with a gap between them to demonstrate that there is something different. For example, two pictures of food items are next to a group of three pictures, also of food items but these are on cloths. There is a feeling of continuity throughput the display.
On the other side if the board, pictures of flowers have been displayed separately, and some use of the walls between the windows has been made to show 2 charcoal drawings, again, separated because of the difference in medium but still close enough to feel part of the main display.
All of the works had backgrounds in black tones, mainly black/green or black/red, and this really helped to unify all the pieces together. It also allowed for the colours of the focal object to stand out boldly.
As it is quite hard to describe the layout of the boards and the works, I have done a quick diagram;
The black lines in the middle are the display boards. The ones closest to the shop/entrance were used to show Kathy Webster's work and the boards by the museum end were used to show Jill Irving's work. The square display pillar by the window also had Jill Irvings's work on and the other square is to show the display cabinet with items relating to both artists.
In the square created where the two sets of boards meet, the gallery have made a link between the two artists. On the two boards at the end of Kathy Webster's section, a piece from each artist has been chosen to face each other. The works, I feel, are good 'summary' pieces for each artist and also, through the colour schemes and floral subjects, they have a connection to each other.
On the two boards at the end of Jill Irving's section, A3 information cards for each artist are shown. They correspond to the paintings opposite and gave a quick outline of the artists' history, a little bit to explain the works on show and also how they work and are inspired. I thought that it was a good idea to have these cards shown in the middle of the display as having them near the entrance would possibly have influenced the viewer, rather than letting them see the works first and then find out about the background and the artist.
The general layout of the boards was very well done. Even though the most part was in a straight line, by having the end boards at the ends on an angle, it encouraged me to walk around and 'explore' the display.
Jill Irving's work is printed images of insects and flowers. She uses a combination of mono print hand drawings, prints from botanical books and lino print silhouettes of insects. Mixed into this, she often hand writes or uses text from books to label the flowers and some info about them. The softness of this text, sometimes so soft it's illegible or the hand written mono print ones are backwards, means that they complement the imagery and aren't too obvious.
Scales and proportions between the prints have been disregarded. Some prints showed tiny delicate flowers next to a much larger beetle or ant, which did look playful. The paper used also varied from white, cream or grey, and also the use of textured paper with flowers pressed in. The pictures on this floral paper looked more like test prints to me rather than a purposefully planned piece. The ones on the grey or cream smooth paper were quite striking and gave another element to the overall effect of the piece. They almost made the prints on white backgrounds look a bit boring.
On the side by the window were some works that were exclusively lino prints and were more graphic in style. The more tropical animals, the sharp outlines and the colours and layers of paint had a slightly African feel to it, much differant to the other works.
The large wall of windows and bright sunshine streaming in made it difficult to view Jill Irving's work on this side as the had been mounted with glass and had glaring reflections. I had to stand really close and at an odd angle to the side of each piece to view it and found myself moving on much quicker.
Personally, I didn't think Jill Irving's work was as good and I think it is because the pieces are a combination of elements and don't form a complete picture. The individual elements are quite pretty and have been arranged well on the page to create a sense of movement, but I do prefer to see an overall image.
The display cabinet at the end linked the gallery space into the museum display. It contained items from both artists that were a mixture of props, research items and books. It also had some printing blocks in to explain briefly the method used in Jill Irving's work.
Something noticeable that I found with both artists was the obvious mismatch of frames for the pieces. Kathy Webster's were mostly in plain black frames but there were some fancy gilded ones, some with no frame and some modern silver ones. Jill Irving's were mostly white wooden but there were some that were black, plain wood and coloured. For both, as the majority of pieces were unified by the frames, the odd ones really stood out and I couldn't see that they were for any particular purpose.
The gallery's other slightly unusual feature was the use of cafe style music in the background. I don't think this had any particular relevance to the display but it was quite relaxing. Without it I feel the building, with so much stone, would have felt almost hollow and unwelcoming. I sometimes feel in galleries that I am being watched and I can't relax and spend time looking, but here I was very relaxed and was amazed to discover that I had spent an hour and half just looking at this small display.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this visit. It gave me the ideal opportunity to visit a new gallery and to see works by artists I hadn't heard of before. The gallery was very welcoming and the regular change in displays makes me want to go back regularly. The work done to the building to modernise has been done very well and wihout losing the old historic feel.
Unit 7 - Chapter & Film
Chapter 11 (The Sixteenth Century in Europe), Film 7 (Heroic Ambitions) and Film 8 (The Play of Light)
In my post for Unit 5 (The Early Renaissance) I mentioned that I struggled with the chapter and that it was possibly due to not being able to read it all in one go. Having now read chapter 11 on the later Renaissance, I actually think it has more to do with the subject matter just not doing it for me. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there is something about this period that just doesn't stimulate me.
There are elements of the Renaissance which I find really interesting, or rather, there are artists at this time that I admire (Jan Van Eyck's technique and use of oils is beautiful, and Durer and Leonardo's sketches are of such a precise nature).
I understand that it was a key time in the history of art in terms of developments in oils and printing, and that the freedom artists came to have allowed for more expression in the works. I feel that it was a time that artists looked back to move forward. They looked at the past for inspiration and to see what worked, and built on that, striving to be better and to get ahead.
In my post for Unit 5 (The Early Renaissance) I mentioned that I struggled with the chapter and that it was possibly due to not being able to read it all in one go. Having now read chapter 11 on the later Renaissance, I actually think it has more to do with the subject matter just not doing it for me. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there is something about this period that just doesn't stimulate me.
There are elements of the Renaissance which I find really interesting, or rather, there are artists at this time that I admire (Jan Van Eyck's technique and use of oils is beautiful, and Durer and Leonardo's sketches are of such a precise nature).
I understand that it was a key time in the history of art in terms of developments in oils and printing, and that the freedom artists came to have allowed for more expression in the works. I feel that it was a time that artists looked back to move forward. They looked at the past for inspiration and to see what worked, and built on that, striving to be better and to get ahead.
Saturday 3 April 2010
Assignment 1 - completed
I have finally completed and emailed off to my tutor all the work for Units 1-6 and Assignment 1.
This as taken me a lot longer than expected and hopefully I will be able to pick up some speed now that I have finished work for maternity leave.
I think the main problem I have had time wise, is not enough time! When I signed up for the course, the handbooks advised that a unit could be done in a week and I allowed approx 2 weeks instead. However, I have been finding that each unit has been taking me 3, sometimes even 4 weeks. Throw into the mix Christmas and family holidays and we are now just into April.
The OCA's guide of one unit per week is great if the student isn't working full time, or is able to spend at least 3-4 evenings per week studying. Unfortunately I couldn't commit to that many evenings and when you've been at work all day, get home and do dinner/housework, I was only really getting in a couple of hours work before feeling shattered...plus being pregnant!
As this is my first baby, I don't know how much time I will be able to spend studying once he arrives and for what length of time between feeds etc. I am hoping that I will be able to spend at least 1 or 2 mornings a week working and therefore a unit should be done in 1 or 2 weeks.
I have already drawn up a summary of what is needed for the next 5 units up to Assignment 2 and put it into a weekly planner. Generally, I feel it could be achievable for me to read the chapter and view the film in one week, and the following week to complete the annotation and project.
Based on this 2 week rule, and adding on a few weeks for luck, I hope to be able to send in Assignment 2 by the end of July (please don't hold me to this!).
So far, I have enjoyed the studying and can already see a difference in my work. I am much quicker at reading the chapters, knowing what to make notes on and what isn't relevant, I'm more confident in my annotations and generally more aware of what it is that I am interested in and looking for.
Daft as it may seem with it being a History of Art course, but I didn't realise there would be so much history involved. I was looking for a course that had more on the meaning of art and the development of art and techniques through the ages. I have more interest in analysing artworks and understanding there messages. There seems to be too much on the social/cultural changes of the periods. Maybe I'm looking at things the wrong way?
I think that I need to put more effort into my annotations and dedicate more time to these. I am also hoping that the following chapters on myth and symbol will be more my thing.
Units 4 and 6 have so far been the most enjoyable for me both in terms of the actual style and also the major developments that were made during the periods. The High Gothic style with it's intricate stonework and beautiful stained glass, plus the amazing cathedrals that were built are awe inspiring and fascinating to me. Then, the detail and quality of painters like Van Eyck and Durer also amaze me, with their precise skill of painting/printing and the pioneering techniques and methods that they used.
These are in contrast to the blander Classical style of the Greeks and Romans,and the return to the Classical style in early Renaissance Italy. I have not found units 2,3 and 5 as interesting, also as there is more sculptural work in these and I tend to favour paintings. Granted there were some remarkable developments in engineering and architecture, such as the arch and vault, but overall the style and period isn't something I would choose to study again.
This as taken me a lot longer than expected and hopefully I will be able to pick up some speed now that I have finished work for maternity leave.
I think the main problem I have had time wise, is not enough time! When I signed up for the course, the handbooks advised that a unit could be done in a week and I allowed approx 2 weeks instead. However, I have been finding that each unit has been taking me 3, sometimes even 4 weeks. Throw into the mix Christmas and family holidays and we are now just into April.
The OCA's guide of one unit per week is great if the student isn't working full time, or is able to spend at least 3-4 evenings per week studying. Unfortunately I couldn't commit to that many evenings and when you've been at work all day, get home and do dinner/housework, I was only really getting in a couple of hours work before feeling shattered...plus being pregnant!
As this is my first baby, I don't know how much time I will be able to spend studying once he arrives and for what length of time between feeds etc. I am hoping that I will be able to spend at least 1 or 2 mornings a week working and therefore a unit should be done in 1 or 2 weeks.
I have already drawn up a summary of what is needed for the next 5 units up to Assignment 2 and put it into a weekly planner. Generally, I feel it could be achievable for me to read the chapter and view the film in one week, and the following week to complete the annotation and project.
Based on this 2 week rule, and adding on a few weeks for luck, I hope to be able to send in Assignment 2 by the end of July (please don't hold me to this!).
So far, I have enjoyed the studying and can already see a difference in my work. I am much quicker at reading the chapters, knowing what to make notes on and what isn't relevant, I'm more confident in my annotations and generally more aware of what it is that I am interested in and looking for.
Daft as it may seem with it being a History of Art course, but I didn't realise there would be so much history involved. I was looking for a course that had more on the meaning of art and the development of art and techniques through the ages. I have more interest in analysing artworks and understanding there messages. There seems to be too much on the social/cultural changes of the periods. Maybe I'm looking at things the wrong way?
I think that I need to put more effort into my annotations and dedicate more time to these. I am also hoping that the following chapters on myth and symbol will be more my thing.
Units 4 and 6 have so far been the most enjoyable for me both in terms of the actual style and also the major developments that were made during the periods. The High Gothic style with it's intricate stonework and beautiful stained glass, plus the amazing cathedrals that were built are awe inspiring and fascinating to me. Then, the detail and quality of painters like Van Eyck and Durer also amaze me, with their precise skill of painting/printing and the pioneering techniques and methods that they used.
These are in contrast to the blander Classical style of the Greeks and Romans,and the return to the Classical style in early Renaissance Italy. I have not found units 2,3 and 5 as interesting, also as there is more sculptural work in these and I tend to favour paintings. Granted there were some remarkable developments in engineering and architecture, such as the arch and vault, but overall the style and period isn't something I would choose to study again.
Friday 2 April 2010
Unit 6 - Chapter & Film
Chapter 10 - revise sections(The Fifteenth Century in Europe) and Film 6 (The Northern Renaissance)
Reading just these small sections of the chapter has been a really useful way to summarise the key features, similarities and differences between art of Northern Europe versus Italy. Using the works of artists Van Eyck, Durer and Bellini to highlight the achievements of each area and to show the main developments in styles and techniques.
Further to my post on Unit 5 Chapter & Film, the film this time did relate to the later sections of the chapter, and the artists above. Again it was a very neat summary of this time of the Renaissance period and also introduced briefly some others artists and works.
Reading just these small sections of the chapter has been a really useful way to summarise the key features, similarities and differences between art of Northern Europe versus Italy. Using the works of artists Van Eyck, Durer and Bellini to highlight the achievements of each area and to show the main developments in styles and techniques.
Further to my post on Unit 5 Chapter & Film, the film this time did relate to the later sections of the chapter, and the artists above. Again it was a very neat summary of this time of the Renaissance period and also introduced briefly some others artists and works.
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