Category: Art with Amruta!

Hi all!It’s Thursday !

And it’s me

ISABELLA ..! Time to Indulge……

In easy -to -make teatime treats like Nutella Crepes!

Come….!!

And here are your ready to eat Nutella Crepes!

IZZZAABELLA … !!!!This is JUNK food … !!!!

I know! I know TWINNY !!

Junk food/ comfort food / quick instant food …purrrfect….for AMRUTAS Art presentation today… POP ART!!!

Merci Isabella for your intro … !

Twinny always ready to pop/jump the gun!!! But ….

let’s fire away..!

Today’s topic…

POP ART!!!

This art movement started in the mid 1950 ‘s in England

And in the late 1950’s in the US … World War 2….

…had just happened..(1945 )….People tired….in Repair mode.., slowly getting back on their feet .. No one in the mood for dark complex art…

surrealist or abstract … Nor for art dealing with morality /history /mythology … What they wanted was non- intellectual easy -to -understand ‘in -your- face ‘ things , ‘fun ,flippant happy ‘ art !!

By the early 1960’s there also began a sudden boom in manufacturing and the media … The age of consumerism was emerging .. And developing at breakneck speed …So up popped ‘pop art’!!

Using everyday kitschy stuff , turning it around , presenting bright images,

Trendy , not -necessarily -smart messages …!

Have a look…

If one were to choose one icon of pop art .. Hands down ANDY WARHOL would win!!!

( August 6th 1928- 1987)

A very successful magazine illustrator ( Glamour magazine)..and graphic artist..

He began a style much emulated today .. Mass producing everyday commercial images in a frankly literal but stylised way ,appealing to the masses. At first he used to paint each image one by one….then he switched to

screen printing ….

Gay , very fond of wigs , wildly creative … His output…. Prolific!

The museum dedicated to him is the largest in the US ….to a single artist ….

Have one long look at this cool dude!!!

He ran an art studio… ‘THE FACTORY…’And had the cream of NewYork’s a-listers in and out of it…He loved the glamorous world of stars….actors, singing legends political bigwigs….

Producing stylised art of / for Marilyn Monroe , Elvis , Mick Jagger, Jackie Onassis …To name a few …

Pop art was in his books ‘very literal !!!’

If you were painting Mickey Mouse … You would see only Mickey Mouse .. No ifs, ands or buts!!!

If you wanted to paint Campbell’s soup cans … Well …you would see only Campbell soup cans !!!

He had a solo exhibition in LA with 100 canvases of .. Campbell soup cans !!!

Instantly Andy Warhol was on the world pop art map!

He loved to keep everyone guessing … As to his next venture…

Be it in fashion (paper dresses), photography ,silk screen printing , making films or presenting television shows….. And hey…

The first person to make DIGITAL computer art (in1984 )was Andy Warhol!!!…. In the world!!!

Here are a few more of his works …

Art aside Andy Warhol ‘QUOTES’ quite simple yet eclectic… ..One of his famous lines”Each person has their 15 mins of world fame ”…sometime in their lives …

Pradeep you in your 15 minutes of fame right now .. and I think for you .. might stretch to an entire day!!!

But guys / gals if your time in the sun…has not yet arrived….Don’t despair .. It will !!!

Some other quotes…

COMICS already were a fashion ….the first cartoon strip was made way back in the 1830’s….

Popularised as satire through the ages.. But reaching the widest audience with

Adventures of

TINTIN…1929 …by Belgian artist Herge…..

Then ARCHIES and Riverdale high.. 1939

Then ASTERIX…By the French Belgian Goscinny and Uderzo – 1959… And so on and so forth ..

Pop art started featuring comic characters and …ROY LICHTENSTEIN …Was particularly adept at it….

Have a look….

Not only comics…Pop art influences were seen every where ….

In ADVERTISING …

In FASHION !!

Low-cost,

cool ,bold , sensational!!

Have a look at how fashion has been influenced by pop art…
Now isn’t that cool Twinny ?!

Yup right up my street Amruta …

But look at you … Amruta ….. Can’t seem to shrug off that ‘ART GEEK image’ of yours …specs and all….

Here …take this bag And sling it over your shoulder ….

And Isabella … Give her a coke !!

Yes …..Coke Zero!

Low cal and lite !!

That’s  cool!

Byeeee! See you all next week!!

Hi all!Amrutas art musings a tad toxic …

Time for a TEA break … !!

And some cake …!

And look who’s here

….to bake it…

Isabella!!

Presenting … A simple guide to simple cooking….

”INDULGE with ISABELLA .. !! ”

And of course the proof of the pudding is …. Only in the eating …!

 

…… If mangoes not in season …. Use peaches ,pineapples …. And name…’PEACH SURPRISE ‘

‘PINEAPPLE PLEASURE ‘!

If no good fruit in market ….Use JAM….And call your cake ‘CREAMY JAM TREAT… Of course layer the jam before the cream…..If you’ve added too much sugar call it ‘DOUBLE SWEET TREAT!’

Likewise

If too much cream … …. Say you are serving ‘ DOUBLE CREAM TREAT!’

Isabella’s GOLDEN RULE…number ONE … NAME…according to what you have made !!

Indulge yourself …

With this new- kid -around -the -bloc ..!

… Isabella !!!

( pronounced … Izzabellllaa !!!)

 

And now back to AMRUTA … !! Ms OVER ENTHU.. is here !!!

Twinny you really are very mean … Calling ME names…

And of all the days … Today …

when I have gone into the in-depth history of ”a name”…The name OCULUS!!!

Whaaaatt??? Are you ok  Amruta ??!

Yes Twinny …The other day I was sitting in the waiting room of Dr RANJIT MUKHERJEEs ophthal clinic … OCULUS..and I pondered and pondered … And started Tracing the history of the name

OCULUS!!

How APT is it….Let me show you …

Huh!!Who can stop you Amruta… Might as well go ahead!
The word OCULUS is from the Latin word for ‘ eye’.. And
Latin , you may be aware originated in 600 BC… Yes ,before Christ !!!

The word is that old !

Latin continued to be spoken , written in , especially by scholars right till 600 AD … Then its usage reduced a bit only to come back in the Renaissance …15 th century … revived as a language like everything else in the Renaissance…and used right till 1960 … When the pope decided … Enough is enough … No more Latin!!

But I still use it…!

”Carpe diem !”

Seize the day!!!

Now In 27 BC the worlds hugest ,most spectacular unsupported dome was constructed in Rome …atop a temple with 16 colonnades .. The size of half a football field…Finished only in 123 AD… By Agrippa …. The PANTHEON is an astounding construction courageously made without the use of steel … Only concrete … Surviving nearly 2000 years..,A temple built to honour the Gods …
From a 7.8 metre diametered opening or OCULUS at the top showers in the LIGHT of the GODS!!

Look !Twinny look…!!

Now cut to the period from 1296 AD to 1436.AD… Pre Renaissance …this was when the DUOMO with its ‘Open to the sky’ ‘OCULUS’ was constructed in Florence !!!
Here it is … The most beautiful frescoed cathedral with beautiful paintings of Christ and Judgement day ….. Lit up through the LIGHT WELL at the top ….This cupola would never have been completed had it not been for

the genius of a hot tempered timepiece maker ( he also invented the modern alarm clock )

BERTOLUCCHI !

Hey amruta what’s the point.?.. Sabra Ka phal meetha hai naari…..or so my great friend says….Relax Twinny !!!

Come on …see the oculus of the Duomo!!

Renaissance was also the time when Raphael .. Painted the beautiful ‘Madonna in the meadows’ .. Sheilding her two children Jesus and John from the outside world ….
 Amrutaaaa?…What’s the connection ..??

You will soon see Twinny ….hold your horses !!!

Cut to 1951 , post world war 2 ….

Salvador Dalis painting … ‘Exploding Raphaelesque head’

This showed the Madonna head… Strewn with fragmented heads and figures ( post the Nagasaki Hiroshima atomic bombing )… Yet with tender peaceful expression

..Superimposed Over the dome of the PANTHEON…

Invoking the blessings of the gods through the OCULUS at the top of the skull…… Phew !!!

The ‘moustache ‘ man sure outdid himself!!

For gods sake … Concentrate Twinny!!

Dali drew from art in the Renaissance which found inspiration in the Pantheon from the early ages…

… which drew from the Latin …eye or OCULUS…

Goodness gracious me!!!Dr Ranjits clinic name OCULUS dates back to antiquity …,

Simply AMAZING!!!!!

Light from without

For light within…..

Wow!!!!
Oh my gosh Amruta !

I fear You have gone totally mad……!

Art has bombarded your entire head ..!!!!

And exploded it ….!!!!

All I can see is one big echoing OCULUS … Amruta !

AMRUTA !!
TWINNY…., you no better … Your nerves frayed and fried too !!
ISABELLA…. ISABELLA!!

Can we have some coffee …please…?!

Milk ?….No..Black !

1 tsp sugar…. ?Yes .,brown…!

Don’t have? .. No worry…..don’t put any!

☕️☕️!!!

Lovely ….Isabella..,,

Thankyou! Thankyou !

Oh …What a relief ..this art class is over !!

Hi all!Amruta back !

With my art musings!

Today will present art NOT to amuse

But to bemuse…or rather

To baffle!

To stun!

To unnerve!

SURREALISTIC ART!!

Above .. the group of surrealist painters…

And below a caricature of these famous eccentrics….

Art of the 1920 ‘s .. Centred in PARIS …Just post world war 1… Born out of DADAISM … (Yes that is a word!…a type of pessimistic brooding Violent Anti -Art) SURREAL art is a free flow ,completely non -restricted art ….painting the complex processes of THOUGHT/ IMAGINATION/ MEMORY … The SUBCONSCIOUS !!!
Dumbfounding…???!Yes!!

Have a look….

Try remembering the dream you had last night .., now try painting it on paper … What would you see?
Random objects ? Sizes shapes different from the actual, placed in tandem juxtaposition or in free fall ??

Set in a utopian world ????

With swaying sea urchins , seals ???!

Anything anyhow …!!!

That’s what surreal artists tried to capture on their canvases !!

IMAGES from their SUBCONSCIOUS! …..

Their fears ,their guilt ,misjudgements, their failures ,their sexual fantasies … Just about anything !!SUR.. Means ‘beyond’

REAL…

Means’ Reality ‘

SURREAL … Beyond reality !!!

ANDRE BRETON was the true POPE of surrealism !!… 1896 – 1966
He was a doctor / aesthetician who wrote the Manifesto of Surrealism..

He had a great interest in psychiatric art( Tarun/ Arvind..you guys will probably understand Surreal art best!)

And believed in AUTOMATIC handwriting and painting!!

Under Selfhypnosis he held free reign on the canvas…it was He who said ….if you can’t imagine a horse …

Galloping on a tomato .. You doomed …!

We too !!Look at some of his works …

And here is Andre Breton himself with a few  words…

It was also the era of the Austrian neurologist SIGMUND FREUD … The genius who created Psychoanalysis (1856 -1939)… It was he who Conceptualised ”id , ego, superego’ , the Oedipus complex, ‘oral -anal -phallic theories … And of course …His ‘interpretation of dreams’ — ‘Not interpreting a dream is like leaving a letter unopened..’.

Surreal artists were greatly inspired…Now they spoke freely on their canvas painting repressed ideas , wish fulfillments , fantasies .. Etc.

Frued the Iconic German Jew is seen here smoking his pipe … ( he finally got cancer of the jaw and asked for euthanasia )….along with a picture of his London home where he was bestowed asylum from Nazi Germany ….

It was really NOT necessary to understand Surreal Art !!
50 % surrealists painted WITHOUT any agenda whatsoever …they were great artists mind you …who just …let the picture happen!!

Various techniques were employed to achieve

this …

DRIP painting.., paint dripping onto the canvas from a moving can!

FUMAGE.. Use of candles below paper to give myriad patterns of soot…

GRATTAGE…here painted canvas placed over a wire mesh… Then paint scraped to reveal the textured bottom…

FROTTAGE… Easiest to demonstrate …take a paper .. Place on textured surface … Then rub pencil/ crayon over .. Like so ….

So 50 % surreal art is actually only about colours textures techniques….And the remaining 50% ..????They REALLY had something to say !!Only you needed an EXPANDED vision to see it … !!

Here is SALVADOR DALI ( 1904 – 1989)

The most famous Surrealist artist ever!!

To understand him .., first understand his moustache !!!

Eccentric, excessive,

humungously creative …SALVADOR scandalised all! Coming up …..are his most famous paintings …

‘THE PERSISTENCE of MEMORY’ ‘…Showing melting clock pieces…

Next are Dalis paintings inspired by his catholic leanings …

Followed by scores of others ….all rich in artistic eccentricity, optical illusions and shock value!

Ending with his queer ( to say the least) LOBSTER telephone and MAE WEST LIPS sofa !

With his prodigious output and showmanship this Maverick artist never ceased to amaze and intrigue !!

 

Next are the paintings of RENE MAGRITTE …
1898- 1967…

Clean clear images with a subtle message

…

In ‘ SON of MAN’ … A man with coat and bowler hat …behind an outsized Apple … To show that there’s always something hidden BEHIND what is hidden….

Next a picture of a PIPE with a caption … ”THIS IS NOT A PIPE!’

Hey but it is !!

Next GOLCONDA …Many men in bowler hats suspended in space going up ,going down like the fortunes of Golconda!!!Yes … Same to same Golconda ..from our very own Andhra Pradesh with all those ravaged diamonds and princely wealth!!!

And the last ….. ‘THE LOVERS’… Am an Eternal romantic so naturally … This is My favourite …!!!

But …

Skewed / double skewed Meanings …

Enough to blow your mind…’phew!’…See for yourself …..

The list of surreal art and surreal artists goes on and on!

Chirico/Miro/ Max Ernst/ManRay…….

And though this art spanned only the time period between the two world wars … Its had a profound impact on

Modern day PHOTOGRAPHY

and ADVERTISING…… …many surreal ideas lifted straight from Rene Magrittes pictures!!

So I see Twinny .. You quite taken in with the surreal… And now you want to paint … surreal art .. ??

Yourself ???

Are you sure ?

Not that easy … You know …

To do it right…..

Have A good nap … ….!

with the Dali moustache on…of course!!!

This way better !

Bye all! …

Gotcha Twinny!!😬!

Hi all!It’s Amrita again!

With my’ HEART musings’…Ooops! what’s the matter with me …??! Correction!!

ART musings !

And the subject today ….close to my heart …

IMPRESSIONISM!!

So what’s so Impressive about Impressionism ?
A style of art … Of the mid 1800’s….perpetuated by a group of artists in Paris…. In the ‘Salon’….,.

Renoir ,Eduard Manet, Claude Monet ,

Sisley , Degas…

These artists broke away from traditional European painting .. Concentrating on landscapes and frivolous subjects of everyday living …

Here are some examples of impressionist paintings….all pretty happy nonconsequential pictures…!!

Just my type!!

What you notice instantly is BRIGHT BOLD shocking colours and SHORT brush strokes .. Sometimes only millions of dots ( pointilism)
The pictures are ‘FLEETING’ images ‘….captured by the artist… An artists ”impression” of what he just saw happen in front of him with great attention to the light falling on the subject AT THAT INSTANT …accurate , not exact but Full of vibrancy!

Have a look at a few more pictures..

Impressionists had to paint real fast … In order to ‘ CATCH’the picture as it happened!!
So OUT they would go with their easel and paint ( by now available in tubes kept in a case )

Catch the light and paint, paint ,paint …before the scene changed ..you know how quickly the sun sets… Right before your eyes..! That burst of rain, that light flickering on water .. OH SO ROMANTIC..However to arrest ??

Only with QUICK RUSHED FRIENZIED masterly strokes… !!

Not a wonder that impressionist paintings look rather ROUGH and UNFINISHED …!

In 1839 … Photography moved from the pinhole ..CAMERA OBSCURA to the ‘DAGUERREOTYPE’

introduced by Louis Daguerre )… For the first time the exposure time was REDUCED from a few hours to a matter of minutes!! The picture was seen on a silver plated copper sheet … This is more than a century before we progressed to DIGITAL cameras and microsecond exposure( 1990!)

The intro of practical photography influenced impressionists in a big way … They could now paint with ease on their easel as the picture they wanted to paint had already been captured!!!

Not only that… artists could  now paint from a picture taken previously and even ‘stylise ‘it…..!

Let’s try to understand what stylising a painting would mean….

To illustrate the difference ,here is a photograph …  and a stylised version of the same….

This is the foundation of post Impressionism…..

You had to be a real cool artist to stylise an ordinary scene … And VINCENT VAN GOUGH(1853to1890)perfected the art !

“real painters do not paint things as they are… they paint them as they themselves feel them to be.” (Vincent Van Gogh)
A Dutch painter with no formal training .. Plagued by mental illness …he laboured to remain sane…Producing a huge body of work ( over 2000 paintings) , mostly on paper ( both in watercolours and oil),.. In 1889 he sliced off his left ear and presented it to a brothel maid .. No one and nothing is worth that ! In 1890 he shot himself lethally dead in a cornfield outside the Arles sanatorium . Though he sold only ONE painting in his lifetime….this

Intensely sensitive , immensely talented… ICONIC TORTURED artist will be remembered forever …..

Here are a few of his works ..

Vincent Van Goghs friend was Paul Gauguin… They somewhat disagreed in style …here are pictures of the colourful Gauguin …
Note the exaggerated body sizes …. And the opulent Tahitian colours….

Paul Gauguin…..

And some of his works…

It was post Impressionism that laid the foundation to an art type which was more INTENSE /more CONDENSED

.appealing to the intellect as much as to the eye…

EXPRESSIONISM

The forerunner to Modern art was finally born!

Super -super -Stylised real art !!

Have a look.. At the next 3 pictures …

Entitled

‘The scream’

The Riders…

From the ‘ Blue Rider’ period

And…

‘Deers in wood’….

Now … Don’t tell me Twinny … You did not understand????!

Ok let me illustrate … The difference between…..

IMPRESSIONISM

POST -IMPRESSIONISM

And EXPRESSIONISM…

In my own rough way …

Am going to show you the ‘SIGNATURE’of someone you and I know …..

Moving as ART moves …..Rumbling

From one type to another ….. The ART MOVEMENT TRAIN…..! Chugh… Chugh …. Chugh….!

Here they are…

Got it Twinny ??

No??!

Art keeps getting more emotional   , less ‘real’ !

Now did you understand ??

No???!

Oh no!

How will I ever get you to understand Modern Art and  surrealistic paintings at this rate ????!

..You really ought to ‘See’ things differently … Try seeing the pictures this way……

Or this way….

….  best of luck !

Byeeeee!

Amruta….!

Taking your job of chronicling art very seriously .. I see!

Ok what do you propose today ?

RENAISSANCE art …

But you touched on that last week..

Oh I see .. Just tip of the iceberg ..

Ok ok .. Go ahead ….

Take us on your ‘lamba safar ‘!!!My dear Twinny … You are a tad irreverent! Let me tell you …

‘Art can capture emotions when words fail us…’

Especially true for Renaissance Art ….

Rising from the ashes of the medieval period ( the great plague, the 100 years war , the turmoil of the Catholic church…)

Renaissance art emerged as a Phoenix …in the 1400 s right up into the mid 1550 ‘s .. The most amazing art period in history .. One of growth ,invention ,

creativity …REBIRTH!

Have a look at a few examples …Look at this beautiful work of Sandro Botticelli ( pronounced boughtichelli)’The BIRTH of VENUS’ Made in the 1480’s Venus ,the goddess of love ,is blown by the God of the West Wind …to the shore on a shell! Awaiting her is the goddess of Spring, Horae with a beautiful flowery mantle… She must be shivering cold coming out of the ocean!!! Totally nude but Mystical and beautiful ….!!

And here is the handsome Botticelli….

Botticelli used a CANVAS to paint on. Quite a big one too…6×9 ft …..

Canvases longer lasting than wooden panels which were hitherto the norm….

Realism … . the hallmark of Renaissance art … very evident in this painting …

The model whom Botticelli painted was .. Actually a beautiful florentine woman Simoneeta .. His unrequited love ..!

Love can really inspire and create …!

To understand the concept of Realism…

Note difference in the following 2 pictures

First of Madonna with her children in Classic medieval style(1300’s )

and second..Madonna with both Jesus and John in the Renaissance style …

In the latter the faces and figures more human more real …more loving more emotive…

So where did Botticelli get this idea of painting mythological subjects like Venus ,Horae Zephyrs..etc ?? Hitherto mostly religious , mostly Catholic subjects were painted ….
Well in the1500′ s Gutenberg produced the printing press ..

So Ancient texts of the Greeks and Romans were suddenly available to read and draw ideas from ..

Not only that, but by Serendipity .. A whole set of thinking artistic genius’s were born….

All Together ..!Leonardo da Vinci !

Michaelangelo !

Raphael !

Architects like Bertolucchi

Scientists like Galileo / Copernicus

Scholars !

Writers !

Wealthy families !(the Medici )To support the arts…

No wonder ..

The Renaissance was a period of unsurpassed growth and colossal creativity !! Completely

Super Fantastic!!!

Leonardo da Vinci , ( from province Vinci!) lived from1452 to 1519……was the soul of the ‘ HIGH Renaissance ‘

He was the pinnacle …The Renaissance man!

What did he do ??

What did he NOT do ..is the more accurate question ..

Mathematician

Inventor ( parachute / space vehicle / war machines envisaged by him but all made after his lifetime )

Artist ( exemplary)

Anatomist

Sculptor

Architect

Writer ( in his Notebooks .. Luckily many of these are preserved)

He was simply amazing!!

Look at his fresco painting ‘the LAST SUPPER’…..

Using oil to paint …

At the supper Jesus declares that he will be betrayed by one of the 12 apostles around him.. IMAGINE your shock / agitation / horror were YOU one of the apostles seated there …Each apostles emotion and body language is captured amazingly .. As though one is right there in the room with all the drama happening!
Leonardos technique of blurring outlines or  SFUMATO  ( yes! That is the spelling!)and foreshortening ( of lines) added depth and linear perspective to a picture ..this was groundbreaking … Though we now take for granted … ‘The Last Supper’ took Leonardo 3 years to ‘somewhat’complete …on the plastered wall of a convent in Milan… And 19 years to restore !!!

‘Somewhat complete’? .. Because he never completed any of his works!!!Here is a statue  … Leonardos horse .. which only got completed 500 years later!!

Leonardo believed that art and science are inseparable …. He laboured long dissecting and understanding the human body .. ..here is a pen and ink drawing of the ‘vetruvian man…”

This was never meant to be a painting ..or to be displayed ..outside of his notebook..! But this picture is seen printed on teeshirts / bags/ wall pieces/ tatoos…Even part of the movie’Da Vinci code.!’

Look around … And you will see it everywhere … Well almost …!

Leonardos output of work NOT prodigious … He was so busy with so many different things in his life!!!Only 15 works actually !! Moreover he NEVER signed any of his paintings!!! So who is to know whether he painted more ??! Here are a few….

His most famous ,most visited and most parodied painting ever… is the MONA LISA ( now in the Louvre in Paris).

Painted on a piece of pinewood in 1506 ….

Though not exactly beautiful …With her enigmatic smile …she remains a wonder!

WHO was this mystery woman..??? Was it the artists mother?

Was it Leonardo’s assistant Salai dressed as a woman??

Was it a rich patrons wife Lisa del Giacondo ??? One will never know … But whoever the painting was commissioned for , that person certainly NEVER got it !!! Da Vinci kept the Mona Lisa with himself … To refine and work on further!! Whimsical …. are artists!!!

Here are some variants…of the famous’mona Lisa ‘…

So Amrita … Wouldn’t you have just loved the master to paint a portrait.. Of you ..?!!

Yes of course Twinny … How sweet of you to suggest ..!

Well here it comes…

Haha ! Just like you Amruta!!

Byeeee!!

So Amrita / Amrika / Amruta …whatever your name .. How come this newfound obsession with art? Newfound ???!

Heavens no..!

Art is the sole surviving relic of centuries past.. People pass on , animals die … Art lives forever…

Ok ok ! So what do you have for us today. .. ”BAROQUE art”… .. Alright Amrita ..Go ahead….Make your point…

Baroque art started in 1600 in Rome ,Italy and spread all over Europe carrying on right upto the 1700’s.

Baroque means imperfect pebble … It was an exuberant , dramatic ,elaborate art style full of emotion and movement … Look at some baroque paintings … You will realise there is richness and very real figures illuminated in an amazing manner ..called chiaroscuro ..And above all…movement ..of all types… Pushing , pulling , lifting, tugging….Full action!!!No stillness ,as seen in the RENAISSANCE paintings before this …..

Caravaggio was the greatest Baroque painter … Painting themes religious in nature fully encouraged by the Catholic Church .. Here is a picture of the Crucifixion of Peter … Peter is lying

upside down on a cross being pulled by three others .. All in bold dynamic postures displaying intense emotions.. Background in most baroque works dulled out with complete emphasis on the drama of the subject

Movement / energy the main thing … See the following two statues… Of the same subject ”David”.

Michelangelos ‘David from the Renaissance period is a beautiful figure of a male nude … With his sling poised to defeat the mighty Goliath

Very real, but ‘still’ and

contemplative ….

Bernini’s ” David” of the Baroque period .. On the other hand ,displays a powerful expressive body in full swing and drama…Ready to catapult the pebble and knock goliaths head off!!!

So much movement , so much detail, so much colour, so ornate ,so dramatic … All these qualities evident in the frescoes of basilicas of this period … Beautiful figures in full motion scrambling up to the ”open to the sky”

Ceiling..

Have a look…

Baroque art known also as Jesuit art because of the often religious themes… But …By the 1700’s..People wanted something less serious ,more flippant ,more lah -di-dah…!So was born ‘late Baroque’ or ROCOCO art .. This was centred in France and had themes lighthearted and entertaining of the French aristocracy .. Full of romance and amorous encounters…using soft colours and curvy lines….

Like so…..

Rococo art thrived in its extravagant detailing and exaggerated decoration…To illustrate.. See the following two pictures .. First of ‘lovers’ in the baroque period .. Then of ‘lovers’ in the rococo….. So much happening all over in the rococo picture..,,!

All flounce ,flair….Background / foreground everywhere !!!

Even if the subject was ”still life ” rococo artists would ‘overdo’ in every way … One would be lost .. As to what the subject was in the first place ..!!

Have a look….

First…Still life in Baroque.

Next … Still life in Rococo…

So all in all ,if one were to use modern day tatoos as an idiom to express what Renaissance

Baroque and Rococo Art is …

In increasing degrees of expression ,detail and sensationalism….

They would be as follows ….

So Amrita …. Which art period do you lean towards….er like??

Renaissance ?

Baroque ??

Rococo???

Depends on the mood actually ..

Right now it’s ….

Over the top… Rococo!!

Byeeeee!

Hi all!Welcome to Art Musings with Amrita !!
We all very modern… So thought should start with Cubism .. Forerunner of

Modern art …

What is Cubism? Avante garde art style ….of the Early 20 th century …

Simply… objects are analysed , broken up and reassembled..

Usually a painter paints from a fixed viewpoint .. As though he were painting a photograph .. But In cubism there are multiple view points to see same object, then object broken up and reassembled and superimposed ..in sort of collage … So all in all , very abstract …not very pretty, but symbolic…

Have a look at a few cubist works ….

So who invented cubism? Two masters…

The prolific father of modern art … Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque …. They both friends actually , born within a year of each other 1881/ 82…and their cubist styles so similar that sometimes indistinguishable …

But as persons very different .. Pablo flamboyant notorious

Braque quiet serious ..

Here are Braque and Picasso …..with a quote from each ….

Emotions Experiences of life Environments…..,,all lend to what an artist trying to depict … So Pablo had his ‘blue period’ when he lived in poverty in Spain … All works appeared rather sad and blue …

‘ rose period ‘ when he was more buoyant ..enjoying life to the hilt in Paris … and a period where ‘African ‘ art influenced him and cubism was born… Here are pictures…One each of the Blue ,Rose and African art period… It was difficult to choose which picture to post ….Picassos body of work is tremendous !!

People very amazed by many paintings of Picassos ..but especially this one ..Named Les desmoiselles D’ Avignon …It depicts five prostitutes in various poses …. Pink Cubist but Unusual for its time … Not because of the nudes .. More because of the aggressive blatant sexuality portrayed …Rather novel at the time… when other artists conservative

Georges Braque died in 1963 … 10 years before Picasso ..An accomplished sculptor and musician .. He Often would paint a clarinet/ guitar / violin…

Though Picasso moved to all sorts of styles … Like surreal / abstract …

Braque held on to the monochromatic fragmented style of cubism… Here are 3 pictures … Man with guitar

Violin and candlestick

Houses at estaque ….

Yes you will have to really look for them….

Many many artists followed in the footsteps of Braque and Picasso … right from 1901 to 1921 ..the end of the cubist period …Jean metzinger Painted ‘teatime ‘

Called the ‘Mona Lisa of cubism’ … Because though cubist ,it had a touch of realism … ( you can make out that here is a woman drinking tea!)

So guys and gals that’s cubism… !

.,You could try at home … Take apart an object and rearrange …Like rearranging life …

Sometimes this paradigm shift in life makes all the difference…

The important thing here is to think ‘Out Of The Box’

And to do that … Well .. Just Get into the Box ….!

Byeeee!!