Perseus Turning Phineas and His Followers to Stone - Assignment Example

Perseus turning Phineas and his followers to stone By: of the of the of the of the department Date Perseus Turning Phineas And His Followers To Stone Each work of art has to be evaluated and given the credit it deserves. In order for the artwork to be evaluated properly, there are theories that are used. These theories are created so it is possible to assess the artwork in the best possible manner. One of the theories is the formal theories. This theory focus on the attention to compression and gauge how previous art works many have influenced the latest art work (Angle2668, 2014). Most of the artists will combine some pieces of arts from their previous works to create patterns that is only unique to the specific artist. In regards to the theories, artists will use a piece of the previous artworks so that they can achieve success in their latest artwork (Schmidhuber, 2012). This makes a pattern that identifies the artist. See Apendix 1. The sociocultural theories are used when considering if the piece of art has cultural and value systems. This theory is used to look at the environmental conditions that may have influenced the piece of art. It also checks how the economy is a factor while creating the piece of art. The economic condition of the artist while producing the piece of art bares a huge influence on the final piece. It also explores the possibility of political conditions during the production of the piece. This theory takes a more physiological approach. The theory dates back to the Russian revolution. The theory is closely associated with the Russian psychologist Les s. Vygotksy. He stated that the social design of regrets is the main influence on an artwork. The personal, social design and regrets come second The expressive theories investigate if the artist tried to express his personality on the art piece or he expressed the views of the world. This theory was created out of the Romantic Movement. This crashed with the classifications which placed an individual at the center of the artwork. The theory states that good art should show the artists emotions and felling successfully. The art piece should communicate these feelings to the ones looking at the piece well. The today’s definition of art has been derived from this particular theory (Bourne, 2001). A good piece of art should be able to express all these theories successfully. These theories are used to classify paintings and deduct reason from them. They help in understanding what the artist was thinking about while making the painting. All the three theories have different dimensions and each dimension applies to a specific painting so as to make a good analysis. For example the formal theory has different dimensions. The theory will check for compression and compare it with previous work of arts from the same artists. On another painting it will check on pieces f previous arts that have been incorporated to the new painting. The Perseus turning Phineas and his followers to stone is a painting done by Luca Giordano in the early 1680. The painting is on display in the national museum in the United Kingdom. This painting has several versions of the same artist. The painting tells a story of Andromeda who was betrothed to Phineas. This was until Perseus rescued her from the sea monster and was set to marry her. At the weeding Phineas attacked Perseus. Perseus used the head of Medusa to turn them into stone (the National Gallery, 2014). In this painting the artist uses all the three theories to make the art work very pleasant and beautiful. To analyze this painting using the formal theories I would have to look at the previous works done by the artist. Luca Giordano is a renowned artist with many art projects under his name. All the paintings done by this artist and are on display in the national museum in the United Kingdom, show similarities in the small details in the pieces. The artist has incorporated pieces of art that were in his previous works in this painting. For example, in the piece Minerva as Protectress of the Arts and Sciences from Modelli for the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, the artist uses the same color scheme as in this painting (the National Gallery, 2014). The time and effort that have been used to create these two pieces is almost similar. The theme that he uses for both the paintings is landscape. Although the paintings are not similar, they try to convey the same landscape. This theme is popular in most of his paintings. He also uses similar colours for the women and men in most of his paintings. The quality of the paintings is very high and cannot be compared with others. He has unique brush strokes that align on the canvas very well. He was the leading Neapolitan artist in his century. The creativity of the piece is good. The artist has managed to represent the whole story with just one painting. The other versions of the painting should not be considered as substitutes to this painting To analyse this painting with the sociocurtural theories, I would take their different aspects. 1) I would analyse what cultural value does the painting have. This aspect of the theory asserts that individual psychological action arises as a result of the practical organization shaped by our biologically specific psychological capacity and the culturally made paintings (Lantolf, 2006). This painting has a lot of cultural significance. The painting tells a story that happened a long time ago and brings the story to life. It educates on what happened on that particular day and how the culture at that time was. The painting uses an educational tool to teach what was happening at the specific time. The second aspect is the economic system. What was the economic status at the time that the painting was being done? This is a critical factor in the outcome of the painting. We cannot compare the times that the painting was being done in the time we are viewing the painting. At the time the painting was being done, the availability of painting materials and painting surfaces (canvas) was not that much as it is today. This can affect the quality of the paintings on different levels. Also, the economic system can affect the artist mentality. If he does not have enough money to complete the painting to perfection, he might end up doing substandard word. In this particular painting, this was not the issue because this painting shows high quality. The third aspect is the politics at the time. The politics at the time can affect a painting in many ways. Politics can affect the mental capabilities of producing good work. Also, different political ideas affect the thinking of the artist. Theyre things that if the artist paints can be evaluated as political statements. This can affect the painting in several different ways. If the politics of the time allow for a positive remark for the painting, then the painting will be a success. However, if the painting receives a negative remark due to political influence, then it will be hard to sell the painting. While the artist is creating the painting he needs to be in the correct state of mind. If he is influenced by political views then the painting will portray these political views. In this painting the politics at the time did not affect the painting. In addition, the views expressed in the painting do not portray any political views. In this painting there are no signs that the painting portrays any political views. To analyse the painting using the expressive theories, I would try to find out if the artist expressed his personal views or views of the world. Expressions are one of the most powerful elements in a painting. Expressions can be represented in a painting in two different ways. An artist can decide to express the views of the world. This means that the artist may decide to express what other people felt and are saying in the paintings. This means that the artist will paint a painting considering other peoples expression rather than the usual where the artist paints a painting using his own perspective. When he uses his personal experience, he alone can tell what he was thinking while creating the painting. In this particular painting, the artist incorporates the expressive theories well. The painting portrays both individual and word expressions in the painting. This has made the painting more self-explanatory and captures the eyes of many. Perseus turning Phineas and his followers to stone is a master piece that is on display the National Gallery in the United Kingdom. This masterpiece shows class and magnificence. It also shows the talent that the artist has. This piece of art is worth millions and shows how artists in the 17th century were serious about their work. The painting has received lots of good ratings over the centuries. In this painting, the artist has used all the styles and themes to make the painting more pleasant to the eye. This is what has made the painting stand all the tests of life. References Angle2668. 2014. Prebles Artforms Chp. 5. Available at: http://quizlet.com/1782497/prebles-artforms-chp-5-flash-cards/ [Accessed 21/2/2014] Bourne, J. 2001. The expressive theory. Available at: http://stuckismwales.co.uk/theories.php [Accessed 21/2/2014] Lantolf, J. 2006. SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY AND L2: State of the Art. Studies in Second Language Acquisition The National Gallery. 2014. Perseus turning Phineas and his Followers to Stone. Available at: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/luca-giordano-perseus-turning-phineas-and-his-followers-to-stone [Accessed 21/2/2014] Schmidhuber, J. 2012. A Formal Theory of Creativity to Model the Creation of Art. Available at: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-31727-9_12[Accessed 21/2/2014] Appendix 1 Perseus turning Phineas and his followers to stone Read More