Art200X Blogs

  Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring is an oil on canvas  painting thought to have been painted in 1665 in Delft.  I think this painting is a good example of tenebrism, as her face and upper torso are highlighted, and the background is dark and obscuring. There is a lot of shadowing, and it looks like the light is angled at the left side of her face. The colors are quite dull but still do the job of catching your eye. Her expression fills me with curiosity. What emotion is she trying to express? I think that everyone could interpret that differently.  During this time, wealth was coming to merchants, which led to the desire to collect and have paintings, artwork, and personal portraits. The wealth also influenced them to want to show off their prosperity, as having their own portrait painted was a symbol of wealth. Portraits were more popular than ever in this era. This particular painting is somewhat unusual for this era, as paintings and portraits are usually littered with

  This is  Hunters in the Snow (Winter)  by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565, Northern Europe Some elements in this artwork that have really stuck out to me are the colors. I love how they aren't super bright, but still eye-catching. The way that perspective is very spaced out makes this artwork enticing to me. I like that the focus is on the hunters and dogs, but there are still other things going on in the background that add depth to the artwork. There are a lot of aspects in this painting, and I love how the artist can show all of them. The way that the dogs have their head hung depicts an unsuccessful hunt, along with the hunter having his head tilted down, it shows sorrow and disappointment. People are playing on the ice, enjoying a crisp winter day.  I would probably own a copy of this painting, I think I would just have a hard time figuring out where to put it.  I think that this relates to humanism, as the village portrays regular life in the day of someone who lives there. 

 My Thought Process I enjoy geometric shapes, so I decided to look for an art sculpture that had this. I also love animals, so what better to look for than a geometric animal sculpture for this assignment? Nature has always had a way of pulling me in and captivating me. Geometric shapes and sculptures and such have also had this effect on me a few times. I think the two can blend together very well and effortlessly.  The Art Piece For this sculpture, I love that it has straight lines and sharp angles. I also love that it's all mirrors. Another thing I particularly enjoy about this is that it has two pieces to the work. Not only is it the mirrored wolf, but also a rhinoceros head.  This is WOLF by Arron Gregory Looking Deeper When I first saw this, the wolf immediately caught my eye. They're my favorite animal. The mirrors just added to my curiosity. I think the background matches the art very very well. A simple, plain background so the mirrors are really only reflecting whites