Goldwater 3 Painted On Oil Canvas example essay topic

The official name of the show I attended at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art was entitled Albert Marquet from the Pompidou, as all of the pieces displayed (45 paintings and 20 drawings) were on loan from the Pompidou Center in Paris. The time span of the works ranged from the early 1900's to the late 1940's. Marquet's work is described as somewhat impressionistic, and out of the 65 items on display, I focused on six: two works I especially enjoyed, two I didn't particularly connect with, and a remaining two that I felt relatively neutral about. Entitled Portrait d'un journalist american, (1934), this sketch was done in China ink on plain paper and was approximately 10 inches by 8 inches. Marquet used straight, vertical lines, which were simple and direct. The journalist was a square-faced man in his late 40's to early 50's.

Dressed in a plain button-down shirt and an equally simple tie, with a single-button vest underneath an ordinary blazer, nothing really stood out. He was faced profile and had one ear visible. His hair was about an inch high and combed back. What I found most interesting, and this was what really caught my attention, was the subject's eyes -- they were closed. One would think that a journalist had to keep his open eyes and always be watching the surrounding world. It was as if the artist was attempting to show that this journalist, who happened to be American, was oblivious as to what was going on.

Ironically, I have always thought that people of other Goldwater 2 countries felt this way about Americans and our culture. To be perfectly honest, I often feel this way about my own culture. Truly fascinating! Femmes de Laghouat, (1921), done in oil on canvas, was about 15 inches by 18 inches. The lines were smoother more rounded than those of the previous piece. In the background were two walls shaded a deep mint green, both rectangular, almost in the shape of parallelograms, and at an angle to each other, both with white creamy and sky blue borders.

In the center of the picture sat two dark-complected women, both with dark, mysterious eyes and hair. Both were wrapped in warm-colored, triangular blue cloaks that partially covered their full-length salmon-colored dresses. When facing the picture, the woman on the right was looking towards the woman to her left. She appeared to be in her late 20's and seemed joyful. Her counterpart gazed off into the distance and looked to be in her late 30's or early 40's. Depressed came to mind as an accurate way to describe the elder of the two women.

Both sat 'Indian style,' side-by-side, on clay colored, earth toned carpet. It was the same color of a red-clay tennis court and contained reddish-brown wavy lines and misshapen circles. The lines of this picture, as I would soon find consistent of the vast majority of Marquet's work, were wavy and blurred. The only vertical lines were of the walls, which helped to enclose the two women.

I honestly did not find much about this piece that I liked. I do not think it had much to do with the line shapes, I just didn't appreciate the mixture of colors used. Although well suited for the artwork, as they gave the piece a necessary 'ethnic' feel, the choice of colors made me somewhat uncomfortable, which seemed to be the intention. Goldwater 3 Painted on oil canvas, as with the majority of this collection, was La Seine et l'abside de Notre-Dame (1902), also known as The Seine and Apse of Notre-Dame de Paris. This painting, also oil on canvas, with dimensions of two feet by three feet, was painted with many different kinds of lines.

The scenery consisted of a large, curvaceous river in the center, painted in slight variations of algae green. The surrounding buildings, on opposite sides of the river were designed in earthy browns and grays. In contrast to the shape of the river, the buildings were rectangular and square, straight and had fairly strong horizontal and vertical lines. In the foreground stood many people, all painted black, with the exception of one person who wore a red cap.

A typical sky blue with soft cotton-like clouds, the skyline disappeared into the background. It projected the tranquility of a serene Fall day. La Seine did not invoke any stroke senses and therefore was a neutral piece. Yet another oil on canvas, standing about two and a half feet by three feet, Les Deux A mies, (1912), was one of three pieces displayed in the center most part of the exhibit. The subjects were two women, both somewhat pale, and drawn in smooth, soft lines that complimented the delicacy of their complexions. Neither wore anything but black, semi-sheer nylons which rested slightly above the knee, and one half inch heeled black shoes.

Save these things, the two women were nude. One of the women was sitting on a faded, orange-brown linoleum floor with simple rectangular designs throughout. She, with her legs raised and bent at the knee, rested them at a 45 degree angle, which created a triangular shape, and placed her right hand on the bed and her left on the inner curve of her thighs midway between her knee and stomach. She faced Goldwater 4 profile, her body powerfully slanted, with bare breasts tinted a light shade of green.

The other woman laid on the bed with both hands folded behind her head, one leg bent at the knee, the other touching the floor, exposing herself freely and without reservation even more powerfully and with more confidence than her companion. Both looked at ease, accompanied by a medium sized brown chair off to the right, a pastel colored couch / bed, and lightly tinted drapes of pink, blue, and green. The lines in this picture flowed completely freely, throughout the canvas, which was another oil on canvas. I loved this picture. It was so honest and so real, not inhibited whatsoever, and completely exposed. It was perhaps the most honest piece in the entire collection and it was due to both the form and content.

Interesting yet much less provocative was Andre Rouveyre, (1904), which measured three feet by two and a half feet. The focal point of this portrait was very apparent; a man in his mid 30's with whom I exchanged introspective gazes. Standing angled against a green wall, with one leg at a 45-degree angle and the other facing forward, he was the product of some rounded, yet more straight lines. He stood stiffly upright, outfitted in black pants, and a vest, shoes, top hat and jacket of the same color, which contrasted a white shirt that peered out of his collar and sleeves. His hands were hidden in his pockets and though he looked straight ahead, his dull eyes might as well have been hidden for they could barely be seen. The floor on which he stood was a yellow brown, a reoccurring color in this collection, with brown stripes that bordered the bottom of the wall and a light that decreased in intensity and brightness as progressed upwards.

The lines in this picture, though somewhat curvy, were still straighter than Goldwater 5 anything else, and were therefore uninviting. Additionally, the fact that the subject was dressed in all black gave off a cold, somewhat dark impression and I was not fond of it. My final choice, Les Quai des Grands Augustine, (1905), at three by two feet, was created with oil on a piece of cardboard. It displayed gentle, blurry lines, I couldn't help but think, regardless of my limited knowledge of art, that stylistically it looked similar to Monet's Water Lilies.

In this selection, a long, white road cut diagonally through the picture and disappeared into the sky, which led my eyes to and then fixated them upon the sky, the focal point. The sky was created with muted greens and yellows, which the water replicated, and both were identical in coloration. Off in the distance was a forest, towards the middle right side, composed of tall, dull green trees. The lines were always diagonal and soft, never harsh or straight. This, in conjunction with the tones used, helped to create a neutrality.

As far as Albert Marqeut's exhibit went, I very much enjoyed it. Honestly however, I did notice that all of his textures and techniques seem to be quite similar. Reoccur ingly were the uses of muted, earth tones and soft lines, which I did enjoy. However, it would have been interesting to have been able to see something with a bit more variety. His artwork also seems to have a theme to it: nudity and work involving the outdoors. There were many pictures of naked women and they were all so delicate, as were the other works, yet not to the same extent.

I have realized that I like color, lots of it. The art I enjoy does not have to depict any particularly spectacular subject, however the more diverse the colors, them ore Goldwater 6 captivated I am. I also like distortion. In general, all of the works saw seemed to have been distorted in some way. Although art can imitate life, I believe that truly interesting art takes something very specific and blurs the edges. Why create something to look exactly as it does realistically?

I prefer to see something that varies a bit from what it would look like in reality. More than anything else, I learned that I really can appreciate nude work. I am aware that this might fall under the category of content, but I am truly surprised with my recent discovery of a great appreciation for this type of work. And perhaps it isn't so much that I can appreciate nude work, whereas I could not in the past, but that I can enjoy looking at something that hasn't been prepackaged. Nude work just happens to be completely honest, and I like that. In fact, I'm convinced that I am a new- found lover of art that tests my limits.