Prominent Oil on Canvas Artworks - Essay Example

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s oil on canvas artwork Herodias with the Head of Saint John the Baptist in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston was done within 1625 to 1630 and is 119.4 x 95.3 cm (47 x 37 1/2 in.) in size. This piece is typically Baroque and represents the culture and events that took place during the 17th to 19th century wherein Catholic Re-reformation was intensified spreading influence on artists. (Pioch) Caravaggio was one of the main figures in the Baroque period since most of his artworks were with Biblical theme. Herodias with the Head of Saint John the Baptist is one example of the artist’s works with Biblical subject and embodies the style of the Baroque period, which is characterized mainly of dynamic movements and emotional intensity. In Caravaggio’s painting depicting the Biblical character Herodias with the beheaded John the Baptist, dynamic movement is evident in the oblique lines visible in the artwork particularly the leaning position of the main subject while as the emotional intensity is visible in the colors used by the painter. The colors used were dominantly dark shades of red, blue, brown and green as if signifying the somber mood of the painting as it mainly depicts the death of John the Baptist and the triumph of the wicked. The colors also insinuate the bloodshed that transpired and the lifeless head of John the Baptist that is of a greenish-blue pallor. The volume element of the painting shows depth of each form in the painting and contributes to the dramatic appeal of the artwork as it creates an impression that the person in the painting holding a severed head is real and is just in front of the viewer. The emotional intensity in this painting perfectly exemplifies the attributes of the Baroque period and serving the propaganda of the Catholic Re-reformation during that period. Pilgrimage to Cythera (Embarkation for Cythera) done in 1717 by French artist Jean-Antoine Watteau is oil on canvas work created during the Rococo period and is 1.29 m x 1.94 m. in size currently housed in the Louvre. Watteau’s artwork was created during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe wherein philosophical reasoning had flourished and artworks commonly had to be confined to have a rationale behind them. (Pomarede) Appropriately representing the Rococo style is the artist’s Pilgrimage to Cythera (Embarkation for Cythera) in terms of lines, subject and form since it depicts a group of men and women in a scene that looks as though they were preparing to travel to Cythera—an island believed to be the birthplace of goddess of love Venus. (Pomarede) The group appears to be in a high spirits and in whimsical mood typical of Rococo style, which opposes the Enlightenment ideologies dealing with serious and subjects with underlying principles. Rococo focuses on subjects that are leisurely, of motion and juxtaposed forms and these are evident in Watteau’s painting. The elements of color, shape and lines in the Pilgrimage to Cythera (Embarkation for Cythera) illustrates the traits of the culture and time period during Watteau’s time since it shows traits of Rococo style mainly typifying the objection to the standards set by the Enlightenment period. The colors used by the artist were light in value giving the painting a relaxed atmosphere while the dominance of straight horizontal and vertical lines indicate subtle movements in the scene. The juxtaposed forms, on the other hand, characterize Rococo style’s resistance against the reserved forms of the Enlightenment period. The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid: the executions on Principe Pio hill is oil on canvas painting by Romantic artist Francisco Goya that can be found in the Prado National Museum in Madrid, Spain. The painting was created in 1814 and measures 268 cm x 347 cm depicting firing squad executions by Napoleon’s army. Goya’s painting best represents his time and culture since it portrays a subject on the political happenings that happened during the artist’s time, which was one of the noted historical events for that period. Art culture during Goya’s time was dominated by Classicism or Neoclassicism and Romanticism was a revolt against the prevailing art style. The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid: the executions on Principe Pio hill embodies the Romantic style during Goya’s time since it deviates from the restrained subjects of Classicism and deals with raw and genuine emotions or occurrences compared to the cool and composed subjects of Classicism. Aside from the subject, Goya’s artwork also bears elements of a painting such as lines, space and colors common in Romantic artworks and reflects the period in which the artist lived. The lines used in The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid: the executions on Principe Pio hill are oblique as seen in the road where the army and civilians stand on and the outstretched arms of the civilians indicating motion as the artist captures the action between the two groups. The use of lines represent the period since Romanticism emphasizes more on invoking emotions. The use of space and colors in the painting provides the viewer an impression of realism because the artwork seems to alarm the viewer on what was happening on the picture while appealing to the emotions on the way Napoleonic armies treated the helpless civilians. French Fauvist artist Henri Matisse’s Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat) dated 1905 is a painting oil on canvas found in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. This painting exemplifies the period and culture in which the artist had existed because the elements of colors, lines and form show the rapid changes and revolution in art during Matisse’s time. During the artist’s era, various art movements had emerged. Some of these are Expressionism, Impressionism and Fauvism, which is spearheaded by Henri Matisse. Although Fauvism was not widely accepted and was short-lived, the movement exhibited works that introduced artworks that defy the conventions of the aesthetic value of art. In Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat), the distinct features of Fauvism that is the vivid colors used is immediately noticeable. The colors used in Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat) signify the principle behind Fauvism, which is to portray subjects effectively through colors and not through form and lines. This unusual approach in the use of colors shows the radical changes in culture during the artist’s era. The use of lines in Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat) shows bold lines clearly defining the separation of colors in the painting. The use of form in this painting is obviously not so distinct thus lacks the precise appearance of the subject in this artwork contributing to the rationale behind the Fauvist style of giving emphasis on the colors thus demonstrating the thorough exploration of artists with different art forms and styles during Matisse’s time. Pablo Picasso’s Guernica oil on canvas is in possession of the Reina Sofia National Center for Art Museum in Madrid characterizes both the political turmoil during Picasso’s time as well as the advancement of art in that period. The artist was well known for his own style, which is Cubism that is highly recognized during that time when art styles were on the rise. The beginnings of Cubism can be seen in Guernica particularly on the head of the horse on the center part of the painting, which was rendered in geometric shapes hence the element of shape in this painting is significant in the development of a new artistic style during that period. Other elements such as the subject, color, form and lines embody the importance of that event in history captured by Picasso. The subject features a chaotic setting reminiscent of the bombing of Guernica, a small town in Spain. The lines further stress the chaos in the scene with oblique and jagged lines visible in the painting. Moreover, the forms used in the artwork were of dismembered body parts and distorted images, which accentuates the turmoil in the scenario. Guernica fully represents the tumultuous circumstances during Pablo Picasso’s time as well as the proliferation of experimenting and discovering new art styles similar to the development of Cubism. CITED WORKS Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da. Herodias with the Head of Saint John the Baptist [Painting]. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Retrieved from http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true&id=32243&coll_keywords=caravaggio&coll_accession=&coll_name=&coll_artist=&coll_place=&coll_medium=&coll_culture=&coll_classification=&coll_credit=&coll_provenance=&coll_location=&coll_has_images=&coll_on_view=&coll_sort=0&coll_sort_order=0&coll_view=0&coll_package=0&coll_start=1 Goya, Francisco. The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid: the executions on Principe Pio hill [Painting]. Prado National Museum. Retrieved from http://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/online-gallery/on-line-gallery/obra/the-3rd-of-may-1808-in-madrid-the-executions-on-principe-pio-hill/ Matisse, Henri. Femme au chapeau (Woman with a Hat) [Painting]. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved from http://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/213 Picasso, Pablo. Guernica [Painting]. Reina Sofia National Center for Art Museum. Retrieved from http://www.museoreinasofia.es/coleccion_en.html Pioch, Nicholas. Baroque. Retrieved from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/baroque/ Pomarede, Vincent. Pilgrimage to Cythera. French Painting. Retrieved from http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225149&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225149&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500815&fromDept=true&baseIndex=30&bmUID=1189640286127&bmLocale=en Watteau, Jean-Antoine. Pilgrimage to Cythera (Embarkation for Cythera) [Painting]. Louvre Museum. Retrieved from http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225149&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673225149&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500815&fromDept=true&baseIndex=30&bmUID=1189640286127&bmLocale=en Read More