Tuesday, April 8, 2008

ART 101 DRAFT FINAL EXAM - MUSEUM PAPER

'Putto Poised on a Globe' made manifest of unbaked clay, by Andrea del Verrochio, 1480 during a period called the Italian Renaissance, and Mark Rothko's, an American Artist, 'Chapel Murals' created in the years 1962-1967 during a post war period called Post Modernism, oil on canvas both express complex emotion and sensation with their timeless art pieces.

Inviting interests from any perceivable angle, Andrea del Verrochio's, 'Putto poised on aGlobe'(modeled in unbaked clay approx. 1480), appears to move asymmetrically through space remarkably. Mark Rothko's, 'Chapel Murals'(1962-1967), blurs the perceivable lines between the figure and ground with a relieved symmetry. Both artists employ the elements of art: line, shape,texture, value, space and color, to bring their works of art to life and to create visual harmonies. For example, both artists use space, either two-dimensional or three-dimensional, to create a perceivable shape or mass.

A shape is a two-dimensional form which occupies an area with identifiable boundaries. Rothko used shapes in his murals to create such a visually dynamic balance between the figure and ground that one’s eyes have trouble distinguishing the figure, that which we detach and focus on, from the ground or surrounding. Verrochio's work uses the three-dimensional space, which our bodies occupy, to cast emphasis on Putto's limbs, which form distinct directional lines. These directional lines create a "decisive movement" that invites the observer into Putto's world to see exactly, for what he's reaching.

Both artists use line, but in completely different contexts. Line is a path traced by a moving point. When observing Verrochio's work our eyes trace a persistently flowing line from Putto's dangling...foot, along his carefully balanced torso, to his outstretched arm, then off into space. The line, Putto's eyes follow, enforce this upward and outward rhythmic movement as well. In Rothko's, 'Chapel Murals', the lines are created by the varying brush strokes and warm red hues he shapes on the picture plane. The thin "lines" between the grounds and the figures dance before our eyes, creating a sort of meditative experience, in which they appear to disappear and reappear into the background.

Verrochio and Rothko nudge one to ponder the 'Sacred Realm', as did many Pre-Socratic philosophers. These compositions seem to raise the timeless philosophical questions on, the nature of being, knowledge and values. Though, the 'Sacred Realm' cannot be experienced with the human senses, though, some artists and philosophers throughout the aeons have directed their creative energies toward making concrete form of these abstract ideas. This is a complex and mysterious role. Both Rothko and Verrochio assume this role in their artistic endeavors.

In Verrochio's 'Putto Poised on a Globe', the emphasis is not directed to the chubby child-like cherub figure, but is actually focused on Putto's or 'ones' transcendence or liberation from the visible physical manifestation itself. The decisive upward-diagonal lines flowing through the piece create a movement away from, both, Putto and the globe itself; then they take off and disappear into an invisible space or realm where they have traveled for an eternity. The piece, through it's composition and visual design elements, such as line and space, evoke a childlike emotion of curiosity, both, literally and figuratively. Mark Rothko, composed the 'Chapel Murals' during a post World War II art movement called Abstract Expressionism, of which Rothko consciously directed his focus on a form of abstraction called Color Field painting. He, Rothko, wanted to create a sensation of pure dematerialized color. He achieved this by featuring one or more soft-edged color rectangles floating in a larger color rectangle on the canvas. Rothko thinned his paints so
much that the pigment powder barely held to the canvas. Again, driven by the reoccurring theme of the invisible realm in which the focus is not of the 'thing' itself but of it's 'form'. Rothko's art through it's meditative tranquility, draws the viewer into this realm and invites contemplation. Not only do both artists explore this 'sacred realm', they bring back remnants of a distant journey into space, that formalize that contact between the earthly and divine realms.

Technique and medium, both, are employed to in art, both two and three-dimensional,to express complex ideas and emotional sensations. Mark Rothko and Andreas del Verroichio were no strangers to employing these important tools.

In the western tradition, painting is the queen of the arts, for if one were to ask people to form a spontaneous mental image of "art", ninety percent of them are likely to visualize a painting. During paintings long history, the styles have broadened richly. Mark Rothko's 'Chapel Murals',1962-1967, oil on canvas are but one example of the medium. Oil paint, consisting of pigment compounded with oil, it's binder, dries so very slowly that it may be weeks or months before the painting has truly "set". Rothko employed oil paint's slow drying characteristics to thin the paint as far as to create and express a sensation of pure dematerialized color with the pigment barely clenching to the support or canvas. The thin consistency of the paint Rothko applied to the canvas enhances the meditative tranquility of his pieces and initiates contemplation.

'Putto Poised on A Globe' forged of unbaked clay by Andrea del Verrochio in 1480 is a sculpture in the round, which means it exists wholly in our three-dimensional world. Verrochio modeled this piece, as mentioned prior, in unbaked clay which meant as long as the clay remained wet, he was, using his hands and sharp tools, able to build up the pieces form and pinch it's outward decisive lines. These decisive lines and rounded form then make up Putto's body and gesturing limbs. We can then from this three-dimensional piece, 'Putto Poised on A Globe', read a curios emotion from the pieces posture and gesture. The message is complex and all-inclusive, so Verrochio expressed it in the complex form of sculpture in the round.

The period of an artwork is determined by the time during which it was created. A preiod in art typically spans a period of about 100 years. In contrast there can be many movements in art within a specific period, for example 'Abstract Expressionism' which took place in the aftermath of world War II, about 1945, during a period called Post Modernism. The 'Chapel Murals' are a creation of Mark Rothko's created during the 'Abstract Expressionist' movement. In this, non-representational, color field painting it's meditative tranquility draws the viewer in and invites contemplation, in contrast to the representational period know as the Italian Renaissance. Andreas del Verrochio's 'Putto Poised on A Globe' was forged of unbaked clay, during the Italian Renaissance, which spanned a period from the end of the end of the 14th century to about the late 15th century. The Renaissance marked the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Born out of a rapidly evolving civilization, the Renaissance was a vehicle for a quest for scientific precision and greater realism became an influence that reflected the increase of secular objects.

There are countless ways to interpret or approach art, though throughout the art world there are underlying themes, and perhaps sometimes not so underlying themes, that emphasize cultural aspects of which they are influenced. From applying oil to a canvas, to using clay to form a round sculpture which exist with us in the three-dimensional realm, artists use visual harmonies or unity. Verrochio uses a consistent rhythm of upward flowing diagonal lines, while Putto's leaning gait enforces the same discernable visual rhythm harmony. In Rothko's 'Chapel Murals', Rothko used color to unify the space in the pieces. He paints a pattern of dynamic warm values which seem to float above the picture plane. This unity is also reliant upon the rhythmic placement of the various sized shapes. However different their approach, both artists used many of the same principles of design. How they employed the design principles, are of a completely distinguishing nature.