Sublime in Visual Art - Coursework Example

Part One The meaning of the term sublime is applied mostly in reference to visual art. Simply, it pertains to the allure of something (art) in terms of an overwhelming sense of visual pleasure and power that is meant to inspire through amazement and emotion. The philosophy of sublime pertains to assessing the intensity, quality and magnitude of greatness that transcends the physical and unseen classifications resulting in a state where a person’s ability to understand something is overwhelmed for an interim period. Ideas based on the sublime focus on how art elicits emotions of delight from terrifying moments. The philosophy of sublime encompasses obscurity, vastness, terror, tragedy, suddenness and a whole mixture of other emotions. In addition to human reactions to art, the philosophy of sublime is concerned with themes relating to nature and the raw responses that are elicited from it through observation. Emphasis is placed on the impact of viewing tragedy from a passive position, like through paintings of nature’s catastrophes (volcanic eruptions) or the tragedy of another person (Burke 141). The attribute of grandeur and darkness has a strong influence on what is perceived to be sublime through artistic representation. Portraits such as Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps by Turner and Monk by the Sea by Friedrich, offer such a chance. The two portraits employ dark and enigmatic colors to show the imminent and grandiose nature of terror. The use of dark colors on both paintings (black), is used to focus on the terror and sadness elicited in the picture, which essentially shows a high degree of the sublime. Darkness represents infinite opportunities since one cannot be sure of what they will find in darkness. Stokstad also aims to review a number of themes such as romanticism and sublime in his discussion of Raft of the Medusa by Gericault. Just like in the two paintings above, Raft of the Medusa utilizes dark colors to show the terror of the sea and the infinite possibilities of the persons in the portrait. A deeper review of the portrait indicates contrasting fortunes-those at the top are hopeful and joyful, those at the center are seeking for aid, and the people at the edge of the raft are perishing. The raw emotions of despair, indifference and joy are an indication of the sublime and theme of romanticism (Stokstad 65). Part Two The Nightmare (1781) by Fuseli ‘The Nightmare’ is an oil canvas painting created by Henry Fuseli, a British-Swiss national in 1781 and exhibited for the first time in 1782. The painting’s measurements are 12.1cm by 14.73cm by 8.9cm. In the 1780s, Britain was engulfed with the culture of Goth and the painting is an extension of that social phenomenon. The painting shows a woman lying on her back in what seems to be her bedroom. An ugly looking ape is on top of her while a horrific looking horse stares at the woman and the ape on top of her. This period in British culture was focused on themes of supernatural and fantasy, which had engulfed the nation and played an important role in contributing to the popularity of the Gothic culture. The Nightmare is revered as an iconic painting propagating the theme of horror. The painting is touted as being based on classical art, popular culture and folklore and a wide variety of imaginative concepts. Sexual perversion as a theme is also identified from the way the horse stares at the spectacle of the ape sitting on top of the woman’s mid-section region. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (1796-98) by Goya The painting, also known as Los Caprichos, was created by Francisco Goya, a Spanish national between 1796 and 1798, but published in 1799. The picture was developed through applying dry point, aquatint, etching and burin. The measurements of the painting are 21.2 cm by 15.1 cm. In the painting, a man is shown peacefully sleeping on a drawing table despite numerous owls and bats busy hovering over his head. However, there is one creature at the center of the painting, which unlike the others, has a transfixed stare in the direction of the viewers of the painting. In addition, a lynx is seated calmly watching the sleeping man. However, the lynx is alert as evidenced by its wide eyed gaze at the sleeping man. The image is used to depict the dark nature of human beings. The nature of the image forces the viewer to be actively engrossed in it, such that it’s as if the foul creatures (monsters) are also part of the viewer’s nightmares as well. The painting was employed to mock the practices of Spain in the 18th Century before the emergence of the enlightenment era. The painting tries to criticize some of the popular Spanish norms that include- superstitious beliefs, arranged marriages. The hovering creatures are the symbols of evil and mystery that was rampant in 18th Century Spanish society (Rosenthal 28). View of Delft by Vermeer (c. 1662) The oil canvas painting was created between 1660 and 1662 by Johannes Vermeer. The Dutch artist employed the oil canvas technique in this painting to illustrate the contrast between light and shadows. The painting’s measurements are 98.5 cm by 117.5 cm. The painting depicts the New Church Tower which is found in the middle side of the right hand side of the picture and the Schiedam Gate. Further on the right, there is a depiction of the Rotterdam Gate made of a central building and twin towers of the barbican and the Schiel Canal. In addition, the artist also portrays the Armamentarium roof, located on the west side of the Schiedam Gate and the Kethel Gate. The barge is portrayed as being comprised of a white and red wooden structure and a structure above it. He also depicts a shipyard comprised of two ships structured for shipping herring. Besides the buildings, the artist also depicts people on the quay, who are in front of the city wall and others sailing on the water. The artist’s use of contrasting colors to depict the buildings and the sky is effective in developing a certain depth. The sky is bright while the buildings are dull and shadowy. The painting depicts an idealized version of the city of Delft, which is found in Netherlands. Death of Marat by David (1793) The oil canvas painting, with measurements of 162 cm by 128 cm, was created by David Jacques-Louis, who was a French national. The painting portrays a naked dying man named Jean-Paul Marat. The man is in a bath tub clutching a portion of a slightly bloody letter in his left hand. Every object in the painting is used to symbolize something. The bleeding wound on the man’s chest identifies the source of his imminent death, while the cause of his imminent death is a knife depicted laying on the ground of the bathtub. On the right hand side, the man is clutching a quill pen and on the table beside the cloth-covered bathtub, there is ink. The ink and the quill pen are used to indicate the profession of Marat (journalist). In addition, the desk is engraved the name of the dying man (Jean-Paul Marat). The clutched letter contains the date of his death and the name of his slayer, Charlotte Corday. The painting aims to portray the dying man, a Swiss journalist who had been murdered, as a political martyr with high moral values. The artist uses a dark background to intensify the impact of the murder of Marat. The arms are depicted as lifeless and the light in the room is focused on the lowered head of the man to intensify his lifelessness. The concept of martyrdom is very vivid in the picture and is representative of the impact of iconography pertaining to the art of religion, which was often used in the past. Part Three Goya’s Dark Visions In his earlier work, Goya used tapestry cartoons to depict monarchs, aristocrats and in overall the residents of the Spanish royalty. However, towards the end of the 18th century, he began to adopt a different technique that had more perspective and a darker outlook. Goya’s His series of dark visions aimed to express the disdain that Goya felt regarding the Spanish culture in the 18th Century. He tries to expose the ills in society and the exploitive nature of the civil society, by taking jibes at the stupidity, deception and biases perpetuated by the customs of the Spanish society. The dark visions series marks his shift from enlightenment to romanticism. Goya’s work on dark visons is a satirical criticism of the discriminations, wrongs and superstitions in 18th century Spain, which is a presentation of his liberal views. The artist’s work is in response to the enlightenment manifesto and he advocates for a shift from rationality and reason, to emphasizing on the value of emotions and feelings. His work places great emphasis on anti-neoclassic anti-Napoleonic notions. The ‘dark nature of humanity’ theme is also prominent in his later work. Following the adoption of reactionary policies by the French government, the artist developed a set of paintings (The Madhouse, Bullfight in a Village, The Procession and The Tribunal of the Inquisition) to show religious persecution, incompetent political officials and generally political turmoil. In 1814, he created a series of paintings (The Black Paintings) to show dark visions of the supernatural, demons and the occult. The series focusses on the portrayal of the horror to elicit shock (Fahy 34). Perspective System Development The development of the perspective system can be traced in the period between the 13th and 14th century, when there was a shift from reverse perspective to linear perspective. In reverse perspective, which was employed in the years prior to the 13th century, parallel lines did not converge when they approached the horizontal line but rather they splayed. According to early manuals of artists, elements found below the viewer’s eye should always be inclined upwards, while those that are above the spectator’s eye should be inclined downwards. Even though the use of arbitrary tilted lines in either the upward or downward direction led to the production of unnatural effects. In that epoch, it was still deemed a significant improvement and progression towards the use of the technique of linear perspective on a rational basis. The Renaissance marked the beginning of the refined use of linear perspective as a technique to effectively capture images more realistically. It is worth noting that the effective use of the linear perspective system coincided with the extensive use of the same system by cartographers. The first accurate use of perspective systems was in the Masaccio and Trinity paintings. They were the first paintings to show the relationship between an art’s subject matter and linear perspective (Edgerton 67). There are other types of perspectives such as curvilinear and anamorphosis. Curvilinear provides an additional option to linear perspective, where straight lines are depicted as straight rather than arcs. Anamorphosis entails stretching linear perspective images in one or multiple directions in order to obscure the original format. At the moment, artists are using revised versions of linear perspective evidenced by its extensive use in video games and modern art. Part Four During the course of this semester, I have acquired a lot of knowledge from the work of prominent artists and from how they adopted different styles to not only enforce their messages through their paintings, but also to develop realistic images which elicit raw emotions. However, Vermeer’s work on the portrait View of Delft, has been very informative and influential, especially pertaining to the use different colors to show contrasting fortunes. The application of dark colors is used to depict negative emotions/outcomes, while the use of bright colors is used to portray positive outcomes and emotions, which I am currently trying to incorporate in some of my projects. Works Cited Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Oxford UP, 2008. Print. Edgerton, Samuel Y., and Samuel Y. Edgerton. The Mirror, the Window, and the Telescope: How Renaissance Linear Perspective Changed Our Vision of the Universe. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2009. Print. Fahy, Thomas Richard. The Philosophy of Horror. Lexington, Ky.: U of Kentucky, 2010. Print. Rosenthal, Le. Romanticism. New York: Parkstone International, 2008. Print. Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Cothren. Art History. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print. Read More