The first piece of art that I selected is entitled "Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rowers Lunch),” by Pierre Auguste Renoir. This painting, done in 1875, portrays three men on the terrace of a restaurant on an island in the river, a place where rowers often met up. The artist, Renoir, was very well acquainted with the owners of the restaurant, and was probably a frequent customer. There are three men, seemingly engaging in some intellectual conversation, despite their causal appearance and demeanor. The setting seems to be very upscale and serene, and it makes me believe that Renoir must’ve have a very good impression of the place, and that he must be apart of this prestigious society.
The second piece I selected is by Vincent Van Gogh from 1890, entitled "The Drinkers." The painting is of the four ages, or stages, of man. Surrounding a table that has a pitcher sitting atop of it are four beings, a baby drinking from a bottle, and teenage boy drinking from a cup, and middle aged man with a cup in his hand, and an older man, also drinking from his cup. Excluding the baby, who is dressed in a pure white cloth-type material, they all seem somewhat green in appearance, literally. The middle aged man and the old man look sick and very aged, which lead me to believe that the drink they are all taking part in swallowing is alcohol The fact that Van Gogh would paint a picture depicting this leads me to believe that either he was an alcoholic or that alcohol may have been a popular theme during this time in his community that needed to be addressed.
The third and final painting I chose was created in 1943. It is called “Solitaire” and was created by a French painter named Balthus. There is a girl kneeling on a footstool and leaning on a table playing a game of solitaire by herself. Her posture indicates that she is having some personal issues. She looks lost, tired, and worn out. Maybe she is lonely, as solitaire is a one person game. This allows me to think of the Balthus as a person who maybe used to art as a way to vent, and the girl uses solitaire to make herself feel better.
Labels: Art Institute, The Art Institute
Raquel Barney
February 19, 2010
Three Art Analysis
One of the first pieces of art in The Art Institute that caught my eye was a Pierre-Auguste Renoir piece called Two Sisters. This French 1881 work of art took me back to my childhood. It reminded me of my two sisters and myself as we also had a similar photo taken. Just as the two young girls I the painting, we had a beautiful background with lots of color and we were all dressed in beautiful floral dresses, almost identical to one another. We looked like little sweet innocent porcelain dolls. As in this extraordinary painting of the two girls, who in fact are not related, the artist shows us beauty in the lives of children, in youth and in the spring time as well. The children in this piece possess a peaceful and relaxed mind as they sit along side the river. People for the most part are empathetic. The girls in the painting however, are elevated by their surroundings but at the same time, less involved with them. As I viewed this piece, I am informed of self and its unintentional acts of nature. I can feel the presence of joy not gestured or shown from self.
The woman in this next painting was sympathetically drawn away from the tunes she played with composure. As I often say, she is in her own world. During the mid-19th century, the piano was a popular instrument for domestic music making. The Woman at The Piano, displays an informal yet elegant and extravagant lady possessed by music. Comfortably, Renoirs young Parisinne is playing for an individual, herself and for a community, her family, who are not shown in the painting. She does not play for a formal audience. This 1875 piece shows the various personalities of self. It shows the calm and submissive side of self as well as the outgoing and aggressive side. The artist brings out a unique style of womanhood, as he plays in her casual robe d’interieur, with a confection of white diaphanous fabric over a bluish under-dress. The artist bluntly without words, reveals to us part of who the woman at the piano really is. He introduces us to her self, as shown through this one particular characteristic of her identity. She is without a doubt everything but cruel, unfriendly, vindictive, selfish, hideous or vengeful. She possesses an extreme amount of unexplainable cultural beauty.
When I seen this next piece, I almost wanted to have kept on walking, but the more I looked at it the more it made sense of something to me. Henri Fantin- Latour’s Still Life: Corner of a Table was very intriguing. I actually looked at this piece longer than any other one, because at first I did not notice anything intense about it. This elegant canvas of 1873 was the largest and most famous painting by the decade. As the delicate rhododendron blooms it reflects the influence of the Japanese Prints. With time, I clearly see self with the possession of independence, maturity and adulthood. From the formal place setting to the wine and glasses to the crisp white tablecloth, it reveals elegance, maturity, excitement, romance, responsibility as well as a social life. In which, self is portrayed through these fine characteristics, introducing an identity. The artist of this unique and questioned piece welcomes the emptiness of the mind to openly explore the various aspects within this piece. Because there is a vast openness for the viewers of this piece to expand on their imagination and what they see, the other in this piece is definitely that of whom you are not.
Labels: The Art Institute
I have never come to appreciate my hometown of Arlington Heights more than I have after living in the city. Don’t get me wrong, Chicago is great, full of culture and diversity, art and music, and of course, the shopping, but when I feel overwhelmed, I can take a 40 minute train ride home and find peace and quiet. I can find nature and clear night skies filled with stars. Many of my high schools friends have moved on from suburbia and find it boring when they return, but I am a firm believer that there is no place like home.
Many times, I have thought, “I gotta get out of the suburbs”, but despite that occasional attitude, it’s my favorite place to return to. Arlington Heights is where my family is. It’s home to most of my fondest memories. Granted, there are many things missing, the mall that I hung out with friends at is gone, best friends have moved away, and apartment complex’s have replaced other favorite spots, but my house will always be there. You can find many beautiful spots including lakes and forest preserves filled with deer and other wild life.
One of my favorite places to go is Woodfield mall. It’s one of the largest malls in the Midwest and people come from far away just to shop there. There is a great deal of amazing restaurants near by including a delicious Brazilian steakhouse and Shaw’s Crabhouse. I love to go there and just walk around the mall and window shop. I feel content just driving around neighborhoods on nice days listening to music in my car.
Arlington Heights is the place I rely on when I am feeling the pressure of life. I will forever hold a place in my heart for the suburbs no matter where life takes me, because it is my home.
The first painting I picked was one done by Alfred Sisley, the painting is titled "The Seine at Port-Marly, Piles of Sand" and it was done in 1875. I thought that this painting was interesting because I felt that it explored themes outside of the artist himself. First off the actual picture consist of two boats on the river both holding two men and the area around it looks as if it's some kind of village or town that is still being developed. I found this interesting because I felt that it reflected how things were back then in that century. The world was still being developed I would presume, and it was because of workers like the men on the boats that allowed for such progress to be made. I feel that the picture shows the characteristics of hard work and how it ultimately leads to great rewards.
The second painting I chose is titled "Untitled 3" and it was done in 1950 by Barnett Newman. While the piece is not neccesarily a painting itself-it consist of a wooden rectangle covered on the face with two columns of different colors-I felt that it showed the artist personality in it with the two colored stripes going down the projected rectangle. To me I see two different sides of the artist's personality, hence the two stripes. If I could take a guess I would say that the left side, which is colored like an orange-red type of shade, represents his passion for something but I really can't say, they say that red is a very emotionally intense color and that orange is associated with joy and happiness so maybe he's so happy that it's intense. And maybe, I'm just spit balling here for pardon me if I offend anyone, he's gay and maybe that's what the intense happiness is. The other column is just gray which I interpret as him being dull or unwavering in some instances. Which would really conflict with the other side don't you think? So maybe he's a gay whom happens to be conflicted on the inside? IDK.....
The third and last one that I picked was a painting by Cy Twombly which was done in 1961 and is titled "The First Part of the Return from Parnassus". Now this particular picture I didn't find to appealing but I figured that it would be fun to analyze. First off the piece is mixed media so it's not technically a painting and actually there's more pencil on the picture than there is actual paint. But to get to the point, the picture looks like something that a hyper active pre-schooler did. It's like they didn't exactly know what direction they wanted to take the picture in so they just added anything to it. Like they started on it one day then over the next few days they came back and added random stuff here with a paint spot there and a line over the hills and far away. I mean I didn't find any structure in it at all, this painting was way beyond the confines of abstract art. But it got me to thinking that maybe that's what that person is like in real life. Maybe they've come to terms with the fact that life is random and they completely embrace that fact, which would explain the lack of order to it because what's the sense of planning for a series of unknown events right? Or maybe the artist had a special condition, and I hope that's not pushing it to far. But overall I feel that the picture is "unique" and I use that word very loosely. And honestly, I've been to that muesem like maybe 3 or 4 times and everyone of those times there's always about 3 handfulls of paintings that I wonder why they were allowed to be put on display here. But I guess it works for them so, I guess that's the end of that.
If I had to choose one place in the whole world to defend I would have to pick my home. Not my country, not my state, not my city or the neighborhood that I stay in, just my house. It is the most important place to me. Even though I hate it with almost all of my guts, I couldn’t imagine me living anywhere else in the world.
I’ve always hated being stuck at home. I think this came about when I had my first sleepover at a friend’s house. Everything always looks better from the other side. And for me that was an absolute truth. I found that I could do almost everything that I couldn’t do at home I could do freely at other family members’ houses and my close friends. My parents didn’t allow us to watch television much, nor did they like use playing video games. Two things that any boy who’s coming of age needs and I hated it. No amount of pleading in the world could convince my parents to get me a game console or cable television. My later attempts at purchasing my own video games only ended in them taken away from me for undisclosed periods of time.
Aside from that I really didn’t get along much with the people in the house, specifically my rude, loud, and obnoxious little sister. She got me into more trouble than I can count on all the hands in a regular sized elementary school classroom. And ever since 2008 my cousins have been staying here as well. Each of them is either just as bad as or worse than my little sister. I and my father have been going at it with each other since I started high school and things with me and my mom have gotten a bit unstable at times.
But regardless of all of the unnecessary bashing that I’ve been doing on my house, I would have to agree when people say that “Home is where the heart is”. This is the place where I created nearly all of my most cherished memories; from my best birthdays to my worst. It’s where I learned the hard facts of life from my mother, who I can easily nominate for the mom of the century award. This is where I spent my summer vacations planning what I was going to do for my next one. This is where I celebrated my first and last Christmas, Easter and Halloween. Where I learned that playing with fire is not a smart thing and neither is sticking foreign objects inside of wall sockets. And this is the place where I can find shelter in my personal sanctuary that doubles as my bedroom.
My home is my safe-house from all of the nasty ills that this world has waiting around the corner. It’s the place where I grew up and it is my only home for the time being. There is nothing that can bring us apart no matter how far away I go. I will always find warm and friendly smiles whenever I walk through the front door.Jack sat at the bar drinking amber ale out of an imperial glass slowly and smoothly. The place was inhabited with enough people to keep it lively but not saturated as he hated overly crowded pubs. The people were young and old, lager groups to pairs and the Jack - sitting on a stool with patrons on his right and left both facing away from him.
Some didn't even notice the silent, solitary guy in simple dark clothes and the ones who did figured him for lonely or strange, shy or just another alcoholic. Few could see his face which didn't support any of their assumptions as it was calm and content which was exactly how he felt. As the mahogany colored beer depleted, the bartender came over and asked him if he would like another. "Yes, please." He replied with a confident smile accompanied with direct eye contact.
His focus, constantly shifting back and forth from around the bar that surrounded him to deep inside his own head, was at that moment on the class discussion that took place earlier that day. The annoyingly heated political argument that had everyone in class all worked up except for himself who was simply fed up with the banter.
He then thought of the girl who put had originally set the class aflame for reasons he could not remember. What he did recall, however, was the tight, twisted look on her face as people called her out on her invalid arguments and the soon to follow open-mouthed look of absolute surprise when the entire class turned to her in realization that she was actually ignorant to the fact that the earth was not the center of the solar system.
Just picturing her face with wide shell-shocked eyes, reddened skin and mild perspiration caused Jack to chuckle just loud enough for the people at the bar to hear. Some looked at him like he was a mental defective but he didn't care. He was blissfully engaged in the company of himself.
Labels: Study 1
People tend to call it a shit hole and, for the most part, it is. The town is a shadow of what it used to be. Upon first entering the village, you’ll notice pawnshops, off track gambling facilities, empty store fronts and pimpy cars. Unless you’re can’t afford to live anywhere else, chances are you only come to Waukegan to for court, the mental asylum or cocaine but if you actually slow down and focus on being in the city instead of leaving it, you’ll find that it has much more to offer. It’s not just a shit hole, it’s my shit hole!
It may be the only market around that will support a Ponderosa Steakhouse but, if you can shift your line of sight over to the building adjacent, you’ll also see that the market also supports a used car lot loaded with old, eclectic gems – where else can you find a working taxi cab from 1975? Waukegan is my Logan Square – it’s where you go when you want something a little different. It’s also home to some of the best independent restaurants around. Authentic Mexican joints and outstanding pizza parlors dating back to the 50’s are everywhere.
However, I wouldn’t step foot into any of the bars, especially with a hat on, since gangs are the city’s biggest drawback. In fact, it’s best to stay off Washington St entirely. It’s not uncommon for white people to be attacked or pulled over on Washington after the sun goes down. When in doubt be respectful.
The downtown section was at one point booming but is now more or less the loneliest part of town. Every other store front is vacant as the big business that was once dominant has moved elsewhere. Still, the Genesee Theater still hosts amazing show the view of Lake Michigan is most decent. Sure it’s lonely but, at least for me, it’s the good kind of lonely – the kind that draws me in instead of pushing me away.
Defending The Inside of My Neon
It’s totaled now but when I had it people would make fun of it. But they would always want a ride. Sometimes I would even talk about it myself. But I would attack anyone who talked about it. The inside of it was small but somehow everyday after school it had about seven people in it. It’s crazy because the people who always would talk stuff were the ones on the bus stop. The ceiling fabric was slightly hanging off and if you were my height it would be irritating to sit in the back seat. I never did take it to a car wash because of the fact that the transmission was screwed, so when it was in neutral it was basically in drive, and it didn’t move at all when it was in reverse. So I had to be careful where I parked, and if I wasn’t I had to push it to a point to where I could drive it. But I did wash it myself a couple of times I was just to lazy to do it when it was really necessary.
I didn’t understand why people would talk about it so much because it was better than many other cars, and they were either walking or on the bus. I drove it to school everyday and never had a problem. But people would still talk about the size since I’m 6’4 in such a small car, but I was comfortable. After a while I started to dislike it but now I wish I had it. There are still people who talk about it, and they get told off still. Anyway I would take the neon and its crappy interior and bogus transmission over the CTA anytime.
What i will defend is the south suburban Area,Why! Because there be alot of stuff that be happen in that area and out there.If you are 15 and older you can get your State I.D. or you Driver License. But if you are 17 and older you can get in certain Clubs that are in that area, I Have been to certain area and Clubs out threre and it fun. I have been in that area ever since i was a child,But there is a lot of things that out there that i am interest in. But the sight of been out there is a nice area, it be stuff that happening in that area like going skating,various games room......the Movie Theater is different from other Theater.Then Stuff like fight dont be going on in this theater,it quite up there and not ghetto, like other theate.The Restaurants are very nice and neat, People come from different State like it in the South Suburban area.There are a lot of People that come from the City of Chicago, that move out here for peace and Quite, not a lot of Violence be going on out here,The homes are very nice and beautiful.It don't be Siren or Shooting going on at night it quite in this area. I would recommend anyone who enjoy the people that are out there like this area to be peace and quite.The School is very nice and Quite to.
