Final Reflections

1. When the course started, I expected to learn more about artists and art in general. They were definitely met. I don’t think I’ve ever been this in tuned with art and art history. I had always thought it was boring, but looking at art from beginning until now is so interesting. There are so many areas of art that are looked over because no one may not take the time to understand and think about different elements of art. Through this course, we were slowly able to look at art and artists and reflect upon it and relate it to our own hands on work and text book readings. 
2. After completing this course, art still has so many meanings. I still feel that art is emotion. Many of the movements and time periods we looked at were based on changes in the world. Art reflected these changes. Emotions were captured in the work. Emotions based on changing times or emotions based on the world at that certain time. Art isn’t concrete and there isn’t anything that we can’t consider art. If imagination is applied as well as emotion, anything created can be considered art. Art isn’t strictly pencil, paints, and paper. It’s captured feelings in an abstract form. 
3. I still do not have a favorite artist. When I look at artwork, I’m focused on the work and the person who created it doesn’t matter as much as the work I’m looking at. 
4. I think online courses are extremely time consuming. I’ve done more work for this course than I have any of my other classes. However, that is very beneficial. I can definitely say that our book was the only book I’ve read for the course as opposed to other books for other classes. I really enjoyed this class. There was a heavy work load, but it wasn’t anything too stressful. I would definitely take another online class again. I really learned alot and I am pleased with how the course turned out.

Self Portrait

I chose the pieces that I did because they all depict a side profile view of the artist's face. When thinking of how I wanted to pose myself and do my own self portrait, I wanted to do a semi profile view. There weren't also too many images to choose from. Frida Kahlo is very inspirational to me. I love her work and the way she depicts herself in her portraits. To have the chance to make my own portrait while using hers as an inspiration piece is very appealing to me. I used a mixture of pencil and charcoal to do my portrait. Originally, I wanted to do something using my computer to piece together a self portrait in a different yet interesting kind of way. However, after rethinking, I wanted to do something more traditional. I love shading and depicting light in pictures, so to use this media was my perfect opportunity. The most challenging part of creating my self portrait was making sure every detail was included and everything was placed exactly where it should be. Drawing faces is so difficult; everything has to be perfect and so detailed. So making sure my face actually looked like a face was a difficult task. But all in all, the project was very enjoyable for me. I look forward to projects that are hands on as opposed to book work. This piece is me exactly. It's a clean cut portrait reflecting the lights and darks and shadows seen. It's original yet traditional. Emphasis can definitely be seen in this portrait. Certain elements of the picture stand out more than others, specifically my eyes. I really enjoyed this project and I am very happy with the final result. I plan on keeping it and framing it. 


3 Inspiration Pieces:

 

ORIGINAL:

SELF PORTRAIT

Student Final Project Analysis and Critique

The works I chose to look at were "The Wonders of Life" by Emily Graham, "Looking out My Window" by Marty Collins, "Cityscapes: Around the World" by Meagan Aiello, and "The Beauty of Buffalo" by Emily Trzepacz. I chose "Looking out My Window" because the feel of the exhibit was so breathtaking. He took the time to put you in the mood for the exhibit and it felt very relaxing. I feel he put a lot of time and thought into the work and I fully enjoyed it. The mood was also very different than any of the other exhibits I reviewed. The most challenging part of writing the critique was fitting everything I wanted to say into two pages. Marty's work was so well done, I had too much to say. You had to pay close attention to detail and you had to be professional about the things you wanted to say, but overall, I didn't have any difficulties. I think critiquing peers work was enjoyable. We don't have face to face contact with eachother at all, nor do we have access to peers work. So getting to see the results of  a final project, including all the materials we learned through out the semester was very enjoyable. We also got to see creative abilities of fellow students. I would love to see what my peers wrote about my work. I put alot of time and thought into it, so I would love to see what others thought about it. It's always good to see both positive and negative feedback about final works because it leaves room for improvement and thoughts about how we could better future work. I would rate my article a 9 or 10. It focused on all the positives of Marty's work. There wasn't any negative feel about it and I feel that I brought out all the elements of his work that he took the time to emphasize. It's very subjective and doesn't bash him at all. I did enjoy working in this project. Overall, it was very time consuming and somewhat difficult at times, but it was a nice project to work on at the end of the semester. It included ideas and elements that we learned through out the semester, and put it all together as a whole.

Jenna Aiello - Criticism Videos

GREENBERG ON ART CRITICISM

Greenberg believes that writing about visual art is much harder than writing about literature. some of the best criticism he’s read was about music. In his generation, writing was so much more foul than succeeding generations. He let his preferences come out then learned that you always have to be good. He was ready to accept anything that was good. Some of the works didn’t fit with the prejudices he acquired. He analyzed crisis in his younger days. One of his quotes ready by the interviewer was said to be overblown by Greenberg. He says now they’re aren’t any crisis.When art is good, he says, it’s everything is should be. He says, modern art doesn’t prove itself, artists prove themselves. 

GREENBERG ON POLLOCK

Greenberg met Pollock while he was with his wife to be outside of a corner store. He talked about Pollock giving an interview about not wanting to to easel paintings. Greenberg had written a review about easel paintings. Pollock objected to pictures of a friend of his, saying they were just easel paintings. However his pictures remained easel paintings. He knew he wasn’t painting murals. He wanted to find his way to the edges of the picture. You don’t ask anything of art, except that it be good. What’s looked through is the discipline. This has to do with the difference between good and bad paintings, good successes, and loopholes. In those days, if magazines wanted to come out and make a fuss about you, you were submerged to it. So they did. And this had a negative affect on Pollock. People believed that Pollock did wasn’t real painting, and it was some freakish thing. Pollock was aware of this but he wasn’t going to be a painter, properly speaking. He was more of an outsider in the New York scene. 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

Giorgio Vasari’s important writings allowed future generations to lean about the lives and artworks of old masters. The discoveries of Giotto represent the first pages of the Renaissance. This period of rebirth started from the ancient Romans. They sculpted, painted, and made mosaics based on what they saw in the world around them. They provided enough stability to let the art flourish. Rome was overrun by barbarians from the North. Byzantine artists created beautiful art and mosaics as well. Giotto was one of the firsts. He found nature far more interesting; he drew the world around him using perspective. He used real people as models. His sense of 3-D space is so common now that we don’t even think about it but back then none of is was seen before. Ghiberti had such an amazing view of human form. He worked on the North Doors for 21 years. He added depth to his works. Donatello sculpted David and brought about the idea of contrapposto, the position that the statue was standing. He learned from the past and improved upon it too. Uccello also added perspective to human and animal forms in his work. This showed a new view of figured in painting.  Masaccio added weight to his figures by shadowing around the human body. He adds a new element beyond the sense of anatomy. He studied form and the mind. He brings drama into painting, psychological depth, and intensity. The important thing to notice about Francesca is his use of light. This is how he found he could add depth to his paintings. All of the figures in Botticelli’s work are members of the Medecci family. He even painted himself into the scene, as if he was watching. The Birth of Venus is a great story showing how figures in art are changing. Da Vinci applied science and math to his works. He used what he learned from the artists before him as well. He was curious about everything and applied what he heard to his art. He was convinced that seeing things for himself was the key to knowing them. He thought of the human body as a kind of machine. Rafaello became a master of balancing the way objects and figures were placed in his work; composition. His colors were bright and alive. Michaelangelo was a man of perfection. He taught himself by studying the work of others. He believed that God created man to strive for perfection. 

THE CRITICS: STORIES FROM THE INSIDE PAGES

A good critic will suggest fresh ways and will go deep into work. Criticism helps open up a work so people see it in a different way. It is to get people to think. You’re helping the art of your time to stay alive. You have to figure out how to grab the attention of listeners. Critics get people to think about information, so there is a value in listening and reading those that spend time in evaluating work. A second is to direct media to good works. A third reason to write is that the writing can be fun for the reader or the viewer. Some critics relish the struggle from putting words to print. Criticism improves the media and sometimes their remarks can lead to great things. They can sometimes have an impact. They can mobilize public opinion to have an impact. Critics who are successful enjoy their craft. The tv universe is so huge. Different technologies are making it expand in so many directions. It broadens your horizons when you report. Reporting is thought to be ruled by notions of objectivity but critics are allowed to be subjective and call things the way he sees them. A review is an informed opinion and the properties of film criticism are more analytics. It tells you more what the film is, a more scholarly insight. A reviewer is expected that you haven’t seen the play or read the book and a critic expects that you have. Criticism takes a wider view and is also delivered by someone willing to make an argument. One way to identify superior criticism is to see that it makes an argument. It goes further to look at trends or demonstrated human truth. Criticism can be broken down into knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis and synthesis, and evaluation. The best criticism involves critical thinking. It must be well constructed. They have something specific in mind when they’re writing. When writing materials, they form a unique way of studying the text they’re writing about. They take notes, make outlines, and work to get their reviews correct. The danger of close relationships between start and critics end up in them posing as publicists. The hardest thing is to write negative things about people critics like. Criticism is the practice of analyzing, classifying, interpreting, and evaluating art and literal works. You’re finding artists intentions. 

THE COLONIAL ENCOUNTER” VIEWS OF NON WESTERN ART AND CULTURE

People from different parts of the world need to see Dahome art to be impressed and see it as an actual art form and not just a craft. Half of the area of the World Fair in Paris was devoted to celebrating French Imperialism while the rest represented different colonies. This new French self image was enhanced by the French colonies. The images of them in the late 19th century wasn’t coherent. We need to explore meanings given to the colonies. Many colonies were represented by structures. The Dahome exhibit had no civilized infrastructure according to the French, suggesting that it wasn’t civilized. Other images gave credibility to the impression created during the world’s fair to the naive people. Images showed African people as barbaric and violent against each other implying that they may turn against Europeans. One African figure represents strength, and represents an African king. It’s form of independence is a shark determined to protect its shores. In 1900, a fairgoer could experience a reconstruction of a Algerian street. Tourism was on route to becoming an industry after 1900. Hotels became well established. In the Algerian Pavilion, tourism was used to encourage french settler communities. In hotels, tourists could encounter a reincarnation popularized in paintings. The representation of Arab women was a part of a much more widespread public culture in France. The proliferation of women brought their familiarity to the public. The belly dance perpetuates this appearance. In the Egyptian theater, belly dancing came to stand for Arabicity. France promoted it as the essential Arab experience. Naked African men and women were displayed caged along with exotic species of the kingdom. The positioning of women mirrors pictures taken. Material culture couldn’t demonstrate the evolution of colonized races. Material culture was made to share values contributed to art. They are the denial of the meanings that the objects have in their cultural settings. People are viewing “art” rather than culture. 

JACKSON POLLOCK: MICHAEL FRIED & TJ CLARK IN CONVERSATION

Two analysts agree that Pollock had a negative impact on art as well as he was considered a master who was very complex about his work. Fried focused on the aesthetics of Pollock’s work. Clark focused in its historical role. They also discuss his work as being optical and not tactical, giving off a negativity. Both men go back and forth on Pollock’s work, discussing it’s negative and positive impact. They look back at history and all of the elements of the work and discuss is very carefully.

These videos all have a relation to art criticism. It’s important to look at the good and bad of works and not focus on either. These videos enhance my understanding of that. Works are looked at from all angles. When looking at works that I chose for my project, I looked at them as to how they would reflect my theme and the message I was looking at portraying. Critics do the same. They evaluate works in their own way. 

Jenna Aiello - Art Curation Project

This project was very difficult but interesting at the same time. Selecting a theme and works that apply to that theme was a bit of a challenge, but when it all came together, it seemed very simple. While selecting works, we had to make sure that the theme was clearly seen and would be applied to it's meaning. We also had to keep in mind the elements and principles of art, which was also difficult, especially when it came to organizing our works. It was also difficult to find works that didn't repeat others or say the same thing that others did. Creating the exhibit was fun though. It was nice to be in control of an exhibit with your own theme and meaning and teach somebody else about it. The most challenging part of this project, however, was all the interpretations of the works. Because they all met the same theme, alot had the same to say about them. In order to get to that level to interpret the works, we had to describe them, analyze them, and seek out the elements used. This was more time consuming than difficult but seeing your theme shining through these works of art was very refreshing. All in all, I enjoyed this project. It was a challenge, but art is a challenge in itself.

Lowbrow, Native American Discoveries, Kodak

DISPLAYING MODERN ART: THE TATE APPROACH

The gallery was dealing with such huge crowds that certain galleries needed to be roped off. It was the most popular museum of modern art in the world. The Tate has an astounding detail for British art. The way that we look at modern art is shown by historical concerns. The MoMa opened in 1929. This pioneered the new form of display. THis system for exhibiting was the product of the museum’s first director. It was a response to artistic modernism; it was the characteristic type of modern exhibition. The works were categorized in a series of rooms and chronologically. The movements evolved around each other based on their order. Artists began to explore the political concepts of the museum in their work. The history sold the museum as an ideological museum. Concerns expanded to look at the role of gender and sexuality in works. Professionals had to come to terms with these types of works. Works were displayed in 4 sections and each section provides a theme and principle for each work. The themes are landscape, still life, history, and the nude. Genres have expanded to make titles consisting of three terms, each relating to each other. The other terms widen the structure. Within these terms we can look at movements and develop themes. They yielded so much. These artworks were made at different ends of the 20th century, and Water Lillies was produced after WWI. The works are also made of different materials. In contrast, Long’s works consist of a circle of slate and a drawing made of mud and a photograph. The display challenges us to see parallels between different works of art.

BONES OF CONTENTION: NATIVE AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Over the past 150 years, the bones of Indians have accumulated in the name of science. During the colonization of North America, the bones of Native Americans were collected and studied at will by archaeologists. In 1974, a cemetery was found when a man was beginning construction on a highway. They were reburied in another ceremony but the remains of an Indian were taken to a lab and studied but the other 26 white people weren’t. The woman of the construction worker made a trip to the city council of Iowa. Maria Pearson’s battle caught the public. The first law protecting Indian burial sites was passed and went state to state. David Van Horn was searched by the police for possession of Indian bones. The crime carried a prison sentence of 3 years. The case was thrown out of court. The law also attacked artifacts held by museums across the country. Archaeology became the structure of American colonies. THey had to declare that the people weren’t the owners of the land when the colonists wanted them off the land. The discovered mounds and other earth works. Soon people began to dig up the mounds and the remains were collected. Skulls of Indian tribes were now being investigated. It resulted in the collection of 4,000 skulls. Starvation, war, and disease threatened the Indians and they were seen as a doomed culture. Dozens of museums were built to house the collections were the remains have rested. Attempts were starting to be made to recover these objects and remains. In 1985, the Smithsonian began an infantry of its Indian remains. It held the bones of more than 18,000 Native Americans. The new law was beginning to bite. By the end of 1999, the museums skewered their collections. Some tribes just want the bones returned as soon as possible. Studies that anthropologists were engaged in could provide much information however, they cannot continue on because of the law. In some Indian cultures, there are ceremonies that can identify ancestors. When science says they’re not related, Indians believe that isn’t true. Scientists don’t know the Indian culture and techniques they use to identify each other. Archaeologists see the remains as markers and if the don’t continue, they feel they lose the past. Indians use oral tradition to pass things down. They know what their lives mean because of the oral tradition. For many Indians, oral traditions contain all the information that they need. Scientists are piecing together the science of disease by looking at the effects on past bones. They hope to gain a better insight of diseases today. The problem with this is that it is open to disagreement. WIth this uncertainty, its not surprising that Native Americans are skeptical. Maria Pearson has taken place of a highway production in Iowa along with the governor to ensure that Indian rights weren’t excluded or that sites weren’t vandalized. The Omaha Tribe have lived in Nebraska for years. A collaboration has developed between the tribe and the University of Nebraska. They suggested that the bones be studied for cultural and medical information. These remains can speak to us, but only through science. Research is directed by the Omaha tribe and their council. They addressed the problems they needed. Diabetes has had a devastating affect on the Omaha tribe. It results from change in diet and activity. The lifestyle meant they were all in very good physical shape although patterns have changed. The answer lays now in their diet. They had a diverse diet and a large part of it was derived from bison, 40-60%. There is a lot of processed food and fat i Omaha diet today. This could have triggered diabetes. In the early 1800’s, trade took off. It brought about the tribe’s downfall. The change in the culture resulted from disease and a change in the economics. Before the epidemic, their health was very good but after the women had much more of a role in manufacturing and this contributed to their bad health. Women weren’t living long enough to birth, therefore the population declined. Research can be used to generate a sense of pride in the children of the tribe. Remains have been buried now; scientists have done their research. The Omaha also got their knowledge. 

GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE: PICTURE PERFECT

George Eastman was a marketing and business genius. He was born in 1854, he was a child of new photography. He was the founder of Eastman photography. He created the 1st affordable user friendly camera. The George Eastman house has been the mecca of film and photography. It includes over 400,000 photographs. This links the history of photography and film to the life of George Eastman. History was captured through these works. In this house, archives are right across the hall. It contains about 16,000 objects. It holds the largest Daguerreotype collection outside of France. It also has the first camera ever sold in the US. It was sold the $76 in 1840. In 1844, Talbot published his book using illustrations. Kodak became one of the best known brands in the world. In 1888, he offered the Kodak, costing $25. Processing the film was handled by Kodak. In 1900, he introduced a camera that sold for $1. It was a hit. Kodak shipped over 150,000 cameras in the first year alone. The snapshot was born. He knew engaging women and children, he was presenting to the world a way to capture memories. Adams used his pure art forms to create amazing pictures and memories. In 1894, a machine that took and projected movies was develpoed. Eastman, working with Edison, developed a film strong enough to deal with movement. Eastman had the first home theater in America. In 1902, he began construction on a 50 room estate, which is now the centerpiece of the museum. It had a photo album of prints of the home and garden taken during his day. It aided in the $2 million restoration of the house. The album allowed for accurate restoration of the house because it had so many angles of the house. The collection contains over 62,000 personal artifacts. His love of hunting shows all over the house. He brought back an elephant which hangs in the conservatory. He was making a movie of a charging rhino. He was a maker of film. There is a collection of 25,000 films in the Eastman house. The 1st great monster animation classic was the Lost World. Eastman was a man who was in control of his own destiny. He took his own life. He died on March 14th, 1934. His legacy is that he changed forever the way we see ourselves and each other. He gave us our image. 

THE LOWDOWN ON LOWBROW: WEST COAST POP ART

Lowbrow is something somebody used. It is art that no one can categorize. It was seen on porno sites. It is reactionary against highbrow culture. It has many connotations. It used in relation to paintings with naked girls and hot rods. It evolved into a meaning of it’s own. A more appropriate term would be lowbrow surrealism. It was a manifesto. It isn’t surreal. It’s about heart. It’s more of a people thing. What makes the artists a group is the common experience that makes them want to be a part of that type of art. People can relate to the imagery they are seeing. There is a historical reference that is more personal in this type of art. It has a history in folk art. It comes full circle to consumerism. One thing that is important with this type of art is the post WWII period from the late 40’ t the mid 60’s. They had a lot of influential elements. At the same time there was an American consumer culture developing. There were very important images in this time that influenced lowbrow art. Rock posters were known all over Europe but weren’t shown in America. Lowbrow art was also seen in comics and was influenced by comics. One of the greatest alternative artists of our time is Robert Crumb. Tiki art is another successful aspect of lowbrow art. It shows a world we’re fascinated by. Conceptual art is conception. An artist just has to point to something and that is considered art. Conceptualism brought intelligent thought to the playing field. The established art world is joined systematically to help promote only certain forms of art like minimalism and abstract art. There has been an emergence of women artists who have made their presence felt. Things in pop culture women can reference that are sexually driven can be seen in this art. Women feel that they’re better qualified to paint women than man are. Lowbrow is better open to women than any other movement in the art history world.   People are attracted to art when people aren’t telling them they have to be. It’s a natural attraction. One of the most important things is the artist audience interaction. Seeing the artists in public and knowing who they are adds a lot to the art. New York inherited fine art from France, due to abstract discretions. The fresh new capital of the world was New York. LA have the quality of being on the pacific brim and owing almost nothing to Europe. Things in LA are all new and exciting and are all related to art. This is where people are open to new things. In the late 70’s, punk rock happened. The majority of punk rock musicians had a fine art background. You can see many artistic abilities in the CD covers and fliers. This movement blew up because Bully Shire opened up a gallery. Juxtapose magazine made is possible for people worldwide to stay in tune with the lowbrow scene. It started out of necessity. People associate good art with NYC. There was recognition for lowbrow work on the west coast however. The greatest masterpieces are coming out now and people are spending a great amount of money on the art work. By the mid 60’s work, for example, Dali’s work was going for millions of dollars. 20 years ago, Robert Williams could beg anyone to show his work. Now, galleries are begging him for his work. This movement has gone under an amazing Renaissance.

Modern Art Blog

ANDY WARHOL: IMAGES OF AN IMAGE

The features of a face have been repeated 10 time in black in two horizontal rows. The rest of the surface is covered in silvery white paint. The work is entitled 10 Lizes, painted by Andy Warhol in New York in 1963. He enjoyed a career as a commercial artist. He cut out ads in newspapers and used them as his subjects. He collected pictures of actors since his childhood. He selected a picture of Marilyn Monroe and used it to print a whole series producing many versions of the original picture. Her face made Warhol famous. He began with a simple idea, the immense power images have acquired in out society. He cropped pictures, simplified them, colored them, etc. and continued this technique. He also took an interest in Elizabeth Taylor. He produced a silk screen image of one her pictures. He silk screened a picture of her with her husband and another couple. He reproduced the front page of the daily news covering Taylor’s breakup with her husband. He also created a large canvas depicting Taylor as Cleopatra. He also used pictures of her from 4 years prior to create more silkscreens. For 10 Lizes, he had a screen and canvas made and covered with silvery white paint. He applied his frame to the surface 10 times. He reused the same silkscreen frame on different colored backgrounds, according to the same principle as the Monroe motif. This printing represented a brilliant commercial idea; he could reproduce images and meet clients needs in no time. The repetition causes a sort of dizziness; it distracts the eye and eliminates the initial exceptional nature of the original photograph. He also took an interest in other celebrities. He produced many variations of the Mona Lisa and Jackie Kennedy. His loft on 47th St was used as his studio and became known as the factory. It became a place for artists to hang out. He was obsessed by the idea of celebrity. He also published his own magazine and made a film with Liz Taylor in Rome. He had become an international superstar. He decided to use polaroid pictures as a basis for some works. Rich clients were willing to pay a small fortune for their portraits. In his portraits, only the basic traits of the face survive. Silkscreen printing erased Taylor’s smile. She no longer has a complexion, color, or skin. There is no feeling or radiance, just an imprint. Death was one of Warhol’s main themes. Plane crashes, car accidents, electric chairs, suicides, and human skulls were some themes. 

UNCERTAINTY: MODERNITY AND ART

Art has it’s own memory of itself. In it we see human consciousness changing, idealized versions of what we could be if we were better than ourselves. We see an unquestionable set of values carried through art. But then art changes, because everything changes. WIth industrialization, art changed. Modern life eventually emerges. Consumerism arises and new ideas change how we live. We then see art as it describes us and freedom to be what we want to be. The big thing that modern art tells us is that there is no single code for living, the burning thing to us is uncertainty. What will future civilizations see when they look back to us and art? A changed society. They will be interested in how we showed ourselves to ourselves. Art becomes the conductor for changing values. Modern art is a tradition when art is transformed. It never stops changing, it keeps responding to the same problem; modern life. Because its difficult, people wish it would pull itself together. Modern art took off when they felt art had to go deeper than mass culture. Hitler tried to make art exist in a world where it never really can. We live in a world where nothing lasts and doubt exists. Modern art became an icon for moral goodness. Abstract art is where the look of the world is left behind and you’re in an experiment where you’re being asked to see beyond the illusion that art has always dealt with. An abstract artist says, this is the experiment, what is it telling you? We’re uncertain because we know there’s an inner light. Modern materialists take an interest in their urban environment. Their shapes and designs are intriguing to them. Artists were outcasts because they couldn’t accept the values of consumerism. We can measure our individuality by the consumer products that surround us. We learn to live with the doubt that goes along with it. This feeling is communicated in art through pop art. There is a change from a belief in higher values to accepting that we really don’t believe anything. There is no reliable truth except that nothing is true is a theme of pop art. We look at our own disillusion. Modern society disillusioned abstract artists. Consumerism says there are no values except the values of the free market. We should look within and see new freedoms mean there is no high and low anymore, we are all the low. We think out art is weird but we’re weird because civilizations model of art has changed. We see new dreams and questions we’re ready to ask now. We look, we think, we enter the future. 

THE POWER OF ART: ROTHKO

9 paintings by Rothko arrived at London’s Tate Gallery after his suicide. Money follows art. There is nothing a painter wants more than a wealthy patron. Representing American, another 5 of Rothko’s paintings were in tour in Europe. He was the greatest living American painter. His was commissioned to provide paintings for the Four Season’s restaurant in the Seagram Building. THe architect approached Rothko about his work to decorate his restaurant. In exchange for paintings, they agreed to pay Rothko 35,000 which is about 2.5 million today. Rothko thought long and hard about this because he was insecure about American capitalism. He was born in Russia in 1903. Beating up Jews filled his memory and took over his childhood. He was brought up by his mother among his arrival to the city after his father has died. He went to school, read every book he could get his hands on, and played instruments. He wanted to please his mother. He dropped out of Yale. He had a creative itch and thought art could change the world. He really believed this which is why 30 years later he couldn’t walk away from the Seagram job, the greatest challenge of his career. He rented space in an old gym and went to work. As he started work, he envisioned the Seagram murals as a teaching, a tribute to modern life. He taught kids at a Jewish community center to make ends meet. He dabbled in expressionism. The Subway serious were the first painting that would catch you off guard. The people have a compelling strangeness. He insisted that his paintings reflect the values of society. There was no interpretation to his art. He wanted to establish human values, nothing related to psychology. It’s about and of the world. Sexuality to irony to death and a sense of tragedy is what he painted. He he almost completed work on the Seagram job by 1959. He had always wanted to give his paintings the emotional force of the old maters. He visited Michaelangelo’s library for inspiration on the Seagram murals. They were both after the same feeling. He [Michaelangelo] made the viewers feel that were trapped so all the could to was hit their heads against the wall forever. This is the feeling Rothko wanted to give the people who ate in the Seagram restaurant. He had become the maker of paintings that were powerful and complicated. His feeling he’d been striving for finally revealed itself. They were unmistakably deep. What Rothko makes his paintings do had an effect on our senses. They come and get us and we surrender. He stated that his paintings would be hanging in a place where the richest people would come and dine with them. There were things about the commission that were challenging in a positive way. He wanted to work in a public space, his place. A curator came to invite him to exhibit in a fair in Germany. He offered to paint for free if this curator built a chapel of expiation for the Holocaust. It never happened. With success, his life got shabbier. He developed alcohol problems and his chain smoking brought him lung and heart problems. His work got darker and more intense just as modern art was going. His work was always an alternative to pop culture. He was defensive and angry. He went raven black, as black as Texas oil. He created murals, only in black. But before he died, these murals took a turn and evolved slightly with added shades of gray. 

ISAMU NOGUCHI: THE SCULPTURE OF SPACES

The idea he had, he never lost. It’s an overall concept for treating the earth. Everything else comes out of sculpture. Self expression didn’t interest him enough. Sculpture was something different than painting. He wanted to extend what sculpture may be. He went around the world and landed in Japan. A new era started there. He found gardens upon stone gardens. This took on aspects of sculpture, as evidence of sculptural instinct. The UNESCO garden was his first big chance to do something outdoors. It was his homage to the Japanese gardens. There is a youth to his madness. It is a humanizing of sculpture. It is something a part of peoples lives and it comes from his own background, the need for belonging. He always felt uncertain as to where he belong and was always looking for someplace where he would be at home. This holds many clues to his interest in sculpture and his feeling of isolation. He became the typical American. He was in NY when he was out of high school. He was nobody but people wanted to help him. He got a scholarship and went to Paris. He returned to NY dead broke. This influenced his work and how he thought. Noguchi was summoned to Miami to redesign Bayfront Park. His work spanned 2 generations. His late works were covered on the news coverage, giving the public insight to the work he can potentially do. However, he threatened to quit unless city commissioners tore down the public library. The light will become more apparent. It was hidden by the library. The library was ripped down. Art has to do with discovery of the character of a place and enhancing it. It’s the differences that make the difference, not the sameness. Work began on Bayfront Park. He is constantly moving from one medium to another as a manifestation to sculpture. He is always concerned with peripheral relationships and perimeters. He spent time working on the shape of the lake before he got to the business of the fountain. His playground sculpture steps outside traditional art and work that can be found in a museum. He wanted to create something that can be useful to people. His water sculptures reveals that imperfections are better than perfections. We can’t perfect nature because nature is perfect with those specific imperfections. Noguchi perfected Jerusalem. His sculpture respected the Holy City. He built three hills in the sculpture garden. You must climb up. As you ascend, you come face to face with the sculpture as the sculptor wanted it to be seen. The gardens he lives in represent a celebration of life, just by it’s mere creation. Elements refpect serenity and calmness. The composition that nature completes is a way that no one can imitate. This is real sculpture. The energy of matter and grass create a harmony and appreciation of life. When he was first given the commission of the Moere Numa Park in Japan, he was excited. He created a 3-D relationship between pieces.