Art: The Change from Renaissance to the 20th Century - Essay Example

?1st May Art: The Change from Renaissance to the 20th Century Michelangelo has been selected for the Renaissance artworks as his productions were some of the most mesmerizing and mark making ones. There are other artists too, but according to me, none served the Renaissance period like Michelangelo did. Renaissance: Pieta (1498-1499): Considered to be a masterpiece of the Renaissance period, Pieta was one of Michelangelo’s most initial works of art. It is a marble sculpture and depicts Jesus in his mother, Mary’s, lap. Typical of 16th century art, this art work has been highly inspired from Biblical accounts and religion. In this case, the scene after crucifixion has been shown. Since there are accounts of Mary lamenting the loss of Jesus, she has been shown to be in grief while Jesus, has not been typically depicted passionate. His face is rather calm and creates a dialogue between him and God. The sculpture has been carved out of a block of marble probably using a ‘chisel’ as Michelangelo once stated. David (1501-1504): Where Pieta gained the unknown and young, Michelangelo, introduction as a promising artist, David led him to be recognized more than ever before. Inspired from the Biblical account of David beating the giant Goliath, Michelangelo came up with a never seen before form of the story. His David stood different from all versions of the story carved before. This time round, Goliath was not shown but only David stood tall and handsome with a sling hung over his shoulder. The statue was carved out of marble and is around 17 feet tall. It was common during renaissance to revive the classical form of art and induce it into the society. Michelangelo successfully achieved this by making David a nude, muscular and beautiful young male. The statue now stands in the city of Florence and many replicas of it have been created all around the globe. Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-1512): Alongside being a renowned sculptor, Michelangelo was also a brilliant painter. One of his most famous and remarkable works is the Sistine Chapel Ceiling that he did along with four other, highly renowned artists of the High Renaissance period. These included Botticelli, Raphael, Perugino and Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo’s part included around three hundred figures and they took four year to complete. The image of God however was completed in a single day. The most popular part of the Michelangelo’s part is the iconic imagery of Adam being given life by God. Being a fresco, the painting was done on wet plaster, applied to the ceiling as it continued. Being a Renaissance painting, it is entirely based on religious contexts. Martyrdom of St Peter (1546-1550): Martyrdom of Saint Peter, also known as ‘The Crucifixion of Saint Peter’ was the last fresco that Michelangelo painted. It is a good example of renaissance art as it carries a religious theme and well depicts foreshortening, the use of chiaroscuro and atmospheric and linear perspective. Chiaroscuro is a technique in which paint is applied in varying tones to show variation in light. Renaissance artists used this technique greatly to show three-dimensionality in their work. Foreshortening further provides the painting with three-dimensionality whereby linear and atmospheric perspectives come in to not only make it three-dimensional but also give it a more realistic look. Since it is a fresco, the method used for the painting is based on the application of paint on wet plaster and that of plaster as the painting continues. 20th Century: As for the 20th century, the artist that I have selected is Paul Jackson Pollock. He played a significant role in the Impressionist movement of the time and played a leading role. The Key (1946): “When I am in a painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It is only after a sort of 'get acquainted' period that I see what I have been about. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc, because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give and take, and the painting comes out well.” "The method of painting is the natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them." This is what Jackson Pollock once said while giving reviews about his style of working. As seen, Pollock worked mostly by dripping paint on the canvas with the canvas set on the floor, The Key is a bit different. Since Jackson Pollock worked on what later came to be known as ‘drip technique’ from 1947 onwards, this 1946 painting is a good example of rather painted abstract art than dripped abstract art. Typical of 20th century art, The Key has been done with oil paint and is a fine example of the Abstract Impressionist Movement that prevailed during that time. The oil paints used were those of ‘Winsor and Newton’ and instead of brushes, Pollock used hands to bring the strokes and spread the paint on the linen canvas. No. 5 (1948): Done on a fiberboard sheet sized 8ft by 4ft, No.5 is one of the best known paintings done by Jackson Pollock using the ‘drip’ technique. Like most Pollock’s later woks, No.5 was created with the oil paints dripping from the brush over the canvas and creating patterns and motions as Jackson Pollock moved his hands. The drizzle of yellow and brown color over the painting seem to be the clearest parts of it and according to an assumption, create a nest like pattern. This work, like most other works by Jackson Pollock, has also controversial and enlisted as one of those ‘meaningless’ paintings but bow, is highly praised and recognized by critics. Full Fathom Five (1950): The name of the painting, Full Fathom Five has been inspired from a dialogue of Shakespeare’s play ‘The Tempest’. In the play, the character, Ariel, says: “Full fathom five thy father lies / Of his bones are coral made / Those are pearls that were his eyes.” It has been done using oil paints but the surface of the painting was made using a canvas knife along with a mixture of buttons, key, nails, cigarette butts, matches, coins and thumbtacks, these objects add to the painting and add to its heavily coated and dense look. The size of the canvas is 50ft 7/8 inches by 30ft 1/8 inches. Blue Poles (1952): Housed in Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia, Blue Poles is considered to be the most important painting done by Jackson Pollock. It is an abstract painting done, as usual, with dripping of paint and is officially known as ‘Blue Poles: Number 11, 1952’ as it was created in the same year. Since the relation between the content and the context of the painting was not acceptable to most critics of that conservative time, it created a scandal when Australian government bought it for US$ 2 million. Today however, it is recognized and largely understood and its price has been estimated to have reached up till A$180 million. Blue Poles as done on a glass placed atop an 82ft 7/8 inches by 15ft 11 5/8 inches canvas using aluminum paint and enamel. Conclusion: If we compare and contrast the artworks of the Renaissance period with those of the 20th century, we see a huge change. Back in the day, no packed paints were readily available in the market and hence, artists and painters had to mix pigments in various mediums in order to come up with paint that was applicable on the desired surface. Also, we see that in olden days, sculpture was highly common but lost its popularity over painting on canvases as the 20th century came about. The biggest and most evident change that we notice, however, is that of the content of the artwork. During the renaissance period, artists worked on the lines set by Greco-Roman art and tried to fit it in their society. Moreover, they worked to make their artworks look more realistic and three-dimensional. Hence they came up with techniques such as chiaroscuro as well as the use of linear perspective, atmospheric perspective and foreshortening. The themes of their art were always a Biblical inspiration and art was limited to religion and commissioners. In the 20th century, art became more of what the artist wanted to do and hence, it was not necessary that an artwork was always commissioned by someone. Artists worked on their own, became more independent and the concept of realism has almost completely vanished. Also, in this time, carving monumental sculptures out of marble got out of trend and classical era art did not influence any artist. Abstraction became the trend and the use of canvases and packaged paints, readily available from the market, began to be used. Hence, we can say that during the Renaissance period, art was more done to create and propagate more symbolic, fantasized and more realistic versions of the Greco-Roman art while in the 20th century, it was more of a freelance work done by artists in ac colorful and confusing manner and a lot of experimentation was done with materials and mediums. Sources: 30th April 2011 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_%28Michelangelo%29 30th April 2011 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%28Michelangelo%29 30th April 2011 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling 30th April 2011 - http://www.artbible.info/art/large/509.html 1st May 2011 - http://www.1artclub.com/the-key-by-jackson-pollock/ 1st May 2011 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_5_%28painting%29 1st May 2011 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Poles 1st May 2011 - http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pollock/fathom-five/ Read More