Review of Works by North American Artists - Essay Example

Art Pieces, North American Artists Art Piece Number One Baby with Rattle and Dog by Mrs. Moses B Russell1 Artwork: Baby with Rattle and Dog Artist: Mrs. Moses B Russell Date of Work: 1842 Location of Work: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Design Analysis The medium for Baby with Rattle and Dog is watercolor and gouache on ivory. Mrs. Russell is more famous for her noncommercial work. She extensively worked on family projects, as seen here in this piece. The baby is wearing an intricate gown, a beaded coral necklace and the picture on ivory speaks so high of the artist’s talent. The dominant color is white which probably represents the innocence of the child and is enforced with the red color of the curtains and necklace. The baby is sitting on an ornate tasseled pillow by a fluted column, the design here is of rising vines and drapes. The baby is looking right at the viewer (her mother) while the playful dog is fighting for the rattle in his mouth. The intended audience for this piece of art is Moses’s own family. She used to work on family portraits and this is another example, plucked out of her family collection. The lines used here are mostly horizontal reflecting a sense of calmness. The implied shapes are circular, dominant in the baby’s face, dog’s body and curtains. Chiaroscuro is prevalent in the picture; half of the picture is dark, especially towards the left of the viewer and above the child, whereas the central figure, the child’s face and clothes are very bright. Color combination is analogous (warm and cool). The emotional effect of color choice probably has the same effect on all viewers; the innocence of the child is highlighted by the bright white. Art Piece Number Two Daphne by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer2 Artwork: Daphne Artist: Harriet Goodhue Hosmer Date of Work: 1853 Location of Work: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Design Analysis A master piece of marble, known as Daphne, made by the very expert hands of Hosmer, this piece of art is gracefully placed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The emotions conveyed through this art are of grace, elegance and regal expressions. The art piece is modeled after the Greek mythological nymph Daphne, which was pursued by Leucippus and Apollo. She escaped them both by turning herself into a laurel tree. This art piece shows her transformation into laurel leaves. The picture shows Daphne frozen in time, looking at her left, probably towards her pursuers, Apollo. The expressions on her face show victory as if saying to Apollo, ‘you can never have me.’ Marble used here is pure white illuminated by bright lights, which could be an expression of Daphne’s innocence, but the victorious expressions on her face doesn’t mean that she never seduced men. It is a marble sculpture; a three dimensional piece of art with no visible horizontal lines, only the figure is extremely smooth; the way it should be for mythical figures. The only things that stand out from the smooth texture are the laurel leaves and the hair of Daphne. Even they are very contained and elegant. Art Piece Number Three The Cup of Tea by Mary Cassatt3 Artwork: The Cup of Tea Artist: Mary Cassatt Date of Work: 1879 Location of Work: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Design Analysis The picture is of Cassatt’s sister, Lydia Cassatt. Despite the fact that the title of the art piece suggests an event and not a person, it is a mix of both. Gatherings at tea used to be a very busy social event and the picture here represents both the person and the event. The medium used is oil-on-canvas. The dominant feature of the portrait is the color play which the artist was very skillful at. The luminous pink of Lydia’s dress is more pronounced with the pink in the arm of the chair, the underside of the tea saucer, the lower side of the white glove facing the pink dress and by the face of the lady. The background of the portrait is greenish and it is easier to spot the unprimed canvas through this color. The canvas is in fact brilliantly used to give the impression of the part of the spontaneity. The picture is strange in terms of categorizing it as two dimensional or three dimensional. The figure is the positive with the ground (seat) as the negative however, the intense colors are just marvelously shining and giving a three dimensional touch to the portrait. From an Isometric perspective, the picture shows overlapping of colors, which is quite extraordinary as it doesn’t break the smoothness of the flow of colors. For instance, the pink color merges with the dark of the underarms, giving it the perfect dark shade which doesn’t contrast that much with the glow of the pink dress, as if both the colors are in perfect harmony, giving the picture an exquisite look. The lighting does give the impression that the lady is sitting in a room, probably the perfect afternoon teas session. The hat of the lady appears to have a mesh, which again puts a challenge to the artist as to how it will keep the harmony with the rest of the picture but the visual texture doesn’t diminish at all, in fact the viewer can only wonder how the color merges with the dark especially in the folds of her dress and hat. The emotional aspect of the art piece instantly gives a feminine feel to the picture, a composed and ‘managed’ look, despite the oil on canvas technique there is no doubt that raised little finger of the hand with which she is holding the tea cup and fur of the lady’s dress, provide an unmistakable feminine persona. Works Cited "Harriet Goodhue Hosmer: Daphne (1973.133)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web. 11 September 2012. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1973.133 "Mary Cassatt: The Cup of Tea (22.16.17)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web. 11 September 2012 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/22.16.17 "Mrs. Moses B. Russell: Baby with Rattle and Dog (1999.6)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Web. 11 September 2012 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1999.6 Read More