25 Pieces That Inspire Me (The Burial of Count Orgaz)

The Burial of Count Orgaz by El Greco; 1586. Oil on canvas. Located in Santo Tome in Toledo, Spain.

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• "The Burial" was painted during the era of the Reformation.  El Greco's style is identified as mannerism.  Spanish Mannerism portrays the very pious nature of the country.  His style does have source from several past styles.  Most notable are hints of Late Byzantine and Late Italian Mannerism incorporated into his artwork.  These styles combined with the emotionalism of the Spanish created El Greco's style.
• When looking at "The Burial" viewers can see how Greco represented the human figures with a firm realism while heavenly figures were depicted as long undulating bodies.  Greco also painstakingly individualized each figure, demonstrating that he was a portraitist as well.  Glances from figures in the heavenly sphere and glances from figures in the earthly sphere distinguish clear levels in the painting.  Greco's main concern in this painting was to portray emotion and express religious fervor. 
• I chose this piece because of the religious emotion it exudes.  The painting is magnificently interesting as well, due to everything that is occurring at once

25 Pieces That Inspire Me (Family of Country People)

Family of Country People by Louis Le Nain; 1640. Oil on canvas. Located in the Louvre in Paris.

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• "Family of the Country People" was part of the Baroque movement in France.  A theatrical and very dramatic human scene is witnessed in this painting, as in Caravaggio's (but to more of an extreme).  
• Le Nain represents a very miserable and dreary scene of a peasant family in France.  The family has no reason for joy or merriment, however, they are strangely stoic and dignified.  Le Nain casted his subjects in a very respectable manner, disregarding the circumstances from which they came. 
• I chose this painting because its composition and the skill of the painter is able to clearly, and very emotionally, portray the human drama before him.     

25 Pieces That Inspire Me (Calling of Saint Matthew)

Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio; 1597-1601. Oil on canvas. Located in Contarelli Chapel in Rome, Italy

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• The Calling of Saint Matthew is a tribute to Baroque art.  Caravaggio had disdain for all forms of classical art.  Instead of idolizing the classics, he sought to naturalize religion and the classics, making them purely human drama.  His dramatic portrayal of un-idealized figures was clearly Baroque.  Although showing the true nature of humanity, Caravaggio's paintings were still theatrical in nature.  
• In the Calling of Saint Matthew he uses a stark contrast between light and dark to over dramatize the scene.  One ray of light coming from an unidentified source creates a religiously powerful effect on the painting. Drama is the essence of this painting and of all Caravaggio paintings.
• I chose this piece because it is a perfect example of Baroque art.  It exemplifies an element not characteristic of the Renaissance, but clearly Baroque.  The effect it has on viewers is also successful in portraying the religious image intended.  

25 Pieces That Inspire Me (Last Supper)

Last Supper by Tintoretto; 1594. Oil on canvas. Located in San Giorgio in Venice, Italy.

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• Tintoretto's Last Supper was part of the High Renaissance, more particularly a part of later sixteenth century Venetian art.  Tintoretto incorporated many Mannerist devices in his work, but his style became evidently different.  His paintings portrayed dramatic power, spiritual vision, and glowing Venetian colors, departing from Mannerism.  
• One of the most common aspects noticed when observing Tintoretto's Last Supper is his use of light and dark. (chiaroscuro)  Due to the names they share, Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper and Tintoretto's are usually compared.  When so done, it becomes obvious that the two are very different.  Tintoretto's version shows a more stylized, less formal view of the scene; with Christ not being in the center of the painting, a dramatic use of light and dark, and portrayals of limitless depth, Tintoretto's is clearly different.  
• Personally I like Tintoretto's version of the Last Supper more than Leonardo Da Vinci's.  That being said, I already established how they have very different qualities.  With that in mind, Tintoretto's Last Supper seems more alive and more realistic to what the scene might have actually looked like.  I chose this painting because I enjoyed how the artist presented viewers with a different view from Leonardo's version. 

25 Pieces That Inspire Me (Green Coca-Cola Bottles)

Green Coca-Cola Bottles by Andy Warhol; 1962.  Located at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York

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• Green Coke Bottles belongs to the Pop Art movement of the 1900s.  Andy Warhol is known as one of the most well know figures of this era.  His image acts as a form of propaganda, a characteristic common with the Pop Art movement.
• Warhol chose a very familiar American image to create a visual vocabulary that reinforced the image's connection with Coca-Cola buyers.  The repetition portrays the presence of the Coke bottle in Americans' everyday lives.  Warhol used the silk screen technique to print multiple images.
• If Warhol hadn't made a large enough impact on my life already, the fact that I WILL BE GOING TO THE SAME COLLEGE HE WENT TO, makes his art even more dear to me!!!  Yes, Andy Warhol went to Carnegie Mellon.  He studied art at Carnegie's very esteemed Fine Art's College.  Just minutes from the school is an entire museum dedicated to Warhol's art and life. Green Coca-Cola Bottles had already been my favorite of Andy Warhol's works due to its clean and simple repetition of such an American beverage.  Hopefully attending the same college as Andy Warhol will rub off on my art and architecture skills ;).   

25 Pieces That Inspire Me (Netherlandish Proverbs)

Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder; 1559. Oil on panel.  Located at the Staatliche Museen in Berlin

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• Netherlandish Proverbs can be categorized into the reformation period.  It is a Netherlandish piece (obviously), which shows a very different style than southern European countries and Germanic art of of the period.
• The work is a portrayal of a typical Netherlandish village shown from a bird's eye view.  This piece is a representation of human nature.  With it's omnipresent view, observers are offered a glimpse of each person and their actions.  Amazingly, Bruegel also incorporated more than one hundred proverbs into this piece (the reason for its name).  As this piece attests, Bruegel's outlook on life became increasingly bitter as he grew older.  
• Netherlandish Proverbs is my single most favorite piece of art.  Not only is it visually engaging, but it also incorporates a message deeper than face value.  By portraying the scuttle of everyday life, Bruegel is providing a psychological mirror for viewers.  Really observing Netherlandish Proverbs becomes a very social and moral experience.     

  

25 Pieces That Inspire Me (looking at architecture wonders of the world)

 

In this post we will be discussing architecture.

ar/chi/tec/ture:  The style in which a building is designed or constructed, especially with regard to a specific period, place, or culture.

  That was the definition of architecture according to Oxford Online Dictionary.  In today's society, architecture means something different to every person.  It could mean the house in which you sleep and eat, or the theater in which you watch magnificent plays, or the skylines of New York and Hong Kong, or the ancient ruins in Rome and Greece.  For each, architecture is something different.  To all, it is important.  For me, architecture is a source for present and future inspiration.  Past architects and their buildings have provided my grasping mind with a classroom spread across thousands of years and seven continents.  Unfortunately, my description for each piece must be brief considering the fact that there are several pieces which I must discuss. So, lets begin!

1. Our first piece is Kaufmann House (Fallingwater) in Bear Run, Pennsylvania by Frank Lloyd Wright.

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• Fallingwater is a by-product of early twentieth century architecture.  Designed by one of the most well known architects of the twentieth century, Wright created a style all his own.  Wright's vision for the many buildings he designed was to portray a heavy reliance on the natural and organic shapes of nature.  With this in mind, Wright envisioned unsymmetrical designs that interact playfully with nature.  Two main aspects of his buildings that are characteristically "Wright" are his cross-axial plan and his fabric of continuous roof planes. 

• With a brief glance at Fallingwater, Wright's new vision of architecture can be seen in the contrast of textures between concrete, painted metal, and natural stones in the walls, as well as the house's full-length strip windows which create a bridge between the interior and the exterior.  Fallingwater melds right into the surrounding scenery and is an extension of the nature of Pennsylvania.

• Fallingwater and all of Wright's works have been an inspiration to my future career and dreams.  My fascination with Wright's legacy has brought me to love and cherish Fallingwater with great passion.  With my acceptance to Carnegie Mellon University's architecture program, I am one step closer to this stunning work of architecture.  I will be studying in Pittsburgh; Bear Run, Pennsylvania is only about an hour and a half away from Carnegie Mellon! The excitement is almost too much to handle!

2. Our second architecture piece is The Paris Opera House in Paris, France.  The Paris Opera House was designed by Charles Garnier

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• The Paris Opera House captures a more fantastical side of architecture that was inspired by Baroque wealth and indulgence.  Although it was built during the Enlightenment time period, the heavy ornamentation and the grandeur feel of the building is undoubtedly Baroque.  The period was one of extreme and lavish spending on the part of the wealthy.  
• This Opera House set a standard for pre-World War I theatres and Operas until the war changed the face of architecture.  Garnier designed the entire building with the same magnificence seen above (in the photo of the grand staircase), but at the same time arranged corridors, vestibules, stairways, balconies, alcoves, entrances, and exits to facilitate easy passage throughout the theater, as well as provide room for socializing and entertaining.
• My affair with the Paris Opera house began when I saw the Phantom of the Opera on stage.  I went home later that night and looked up the theatre and instantly fell in love with the amazing and stunning beauty of the building.  This theater also sparked, for me, a love of architectural history.  Hopefully, one day, I'll be able to witness the grandeur of the building myself.   

3.  The next piece is Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia.  The house was designed, and was the home of, Thomas Jefferson.

(I have actually had the honor of visiting Monticello, so here are some photos of the trip I took back east for a cross country race in 2008! I dragged my whole team out to Monticello even though they were kicking and screaming.  Haha, I think I was able to instill some love for history and architecture in all of them!!!)

                                                     

• Monticello was designed during the neoclassical movement during the late 1700s, early 1800s.  The Neoclassical ideals were synonymous with the virtues of the New United States; a tribute to these virtues was made in the form of architecture.  This renewal of Classical designs is true to the enlightenment, a time of expanding thought and a return to classical principals and ideals.
• Jefferson was one of the main supporters of classical architecture, clearly apparent in his residence in Virginia.  After remodeling  Monticello, Jefferson gave his home a look inspired by Palladio and Robert Adam.  Monticello shares characteristics of the Villa Rotunda and of Chiswick House. 
• Of course, as an architecture buff, I already knew about Monticello before we landed in Virginia.  My team and I were staying in Richmond (about and hour and a half away), but that wouldn't stop me from convincing them to go see this landmark.  It was a beautiful sight and I will always remember as the sun set behind Monticello, silhouetting the Blue Ridge Mountains.  At that moment, Thomas Jefferson's modest country home became an instant favorite.  

4.  The fourth architecture piece is Leon Battista Alberti's Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy.

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• Santa Maria Novella is a representation of the Renaissance art period.  Renaissance architects and artists sought a rational and natural beauty in their art and buildings.  Alberti's main goal in the Santa Maria Novella was to exemplify the Renaissance ideals using rational proportions and natural designs.
• Using a Romanesque/pseudo classical design, Alberti went beyond earlier plans.  Such details as the equality of height and width of the facade, related proportional parts of the building, and a strict geometrical order all contributed to the Renaissance design.  Santa Maria Novella is the epitome of Renaissance architecture. 
• So far we've looked at twentieth century organic architecture, baroque inspired architecture, and neoclassical architecture. Santa Maria Novella is the next step on our architectural history tour. It portrays a time of reasoned thinking and new ideas.  I chose this piece because I felt it perfectly described Renaissance architecture, more so than any other building built during the time.

5.  The fifth building is Milan Cathedral in Milan Italy.  Construction began in 1386 on the order of Antonio da Saluzzo.

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• Milan Cathedral was built at the end of the Gothic Period, when art and architecture was moving into the early Renaissance period.  
• The fact that Milan Cathedral was built during the crossover of the Gothic and Renaissance periods is evident in the confused mixture of Gothic and Renaissance elements used in the facade.  Classical pediments can be seen amid Gothic pinnacles, a combination of two eras.  The proportions of the building are wide in relation to height, a characteristic of Italian building.  Aspects that stand out on the facade are the many pinnacles and the highly garnished tracery.
• I chose this piece because I found the mixture of Gothic and Renaissance designs very exciting.  The eclectic facade of the building is very engaging because if differs from most other cathedrals.  Some may ask why I didn't choose a more characteristically Gothic piece like Notre Dame or Reims.  The answer would be that, although both of those options are beautiful and remarkable buildings, I loved the fact that Milan Cathedral was a sort of "final tribute" to the design of grand Gothic Cathedrals.

     

6. Our final architecture piece is Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Trukey.  The chief architects of Hagia Sophia were Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. 

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• Hagia Sophia was built during the early Byzantine era for Emperor Justinian.  This building epitomized Byzantine art and architecture.  
• This large structure (two hundred and seventy feet long and two hundred forty feet wide) is an architectural wonder, comparable to Roman and Christian architectural monuments.  The building's plain exterior is characteristic of Byzantine architecture.  Different empirical rulings can also be identified in the exterior and surrounding minarets (a Turkish design established after the Ottoman conquest).  The presence and historical importance of this building makes Hagia Sophia one of the most admired structures in all of history.  
• I chose Hagia Sophia because of the immediate effect the building had on my imagination.  For me, a first glance at a picture of this structure brought to life stories of great cities and love affairs under the shadow of Hagia Sophia's great dome.  With dome upon dome, the building has a sense of weightlessness.  I love the sprawling effect it gives off and the grandeur, yet simple feel of the exterior.  Hagia Sophia has become a destination I must see before I die.    

  Evident from each structure, there is no doubt that architecture is one of the most inspirational forms of art. Hopefully one day my name will be recognized as a great architect and be worthy of a place in a future edition of "Gardner's Art Through The Ages"!  This concludes my post on architecture.