Critique #2

“Agony”

Lives are lost every day, leaving others behind to feel grief while mourning the losses. People struggle with loses in many different ways. Often times, one mourns the death of a loved one, or close companion for a very long period of time. Suffering from misery and feeling sympathy throughout these struggles causes a loss of hope for many people. In the painting, “Agony”, Jerome Richard Tiger carefully uses distinct juxtaposition, contrasting color and strong body language to demonstrate the misery and sympathy one feels when another is lost.

Jerome Richard Tiger uses distinct juxtaposition to show the pain that the native man feels as he mourns the death of the woman. Though the woman has passed away, her body appears full. The man is shown to be weak and malnourished, showing his misery over the death of the woman. The fullness of the woman’s body emphasizes the malnourishment of the man’s body. Though the woman is dead, the man appears to be even more lifeless than the woman in the sense that his body is nothing but skin and bones, while her body appears plentiful. The contrasting juxtaposition emphasizes the harsh extent at which the man is suffering.

In the painting, “Agony”, Tiger uses contrasting color to emphasize the misery and sympathy the native man feels after the woman passes away. The artist uses blue and orange, complementary colors to add contrast to the painting. The blue color causes the viewer to feel the sorrowful emotion expressed in the painting. The woman’s pale blue dress shows the strong sorrows her death has inflicted upon the man. The blue background also adds sorrow-filled emotion to the entire painting. The blank blue tinted background also shows that the man doesn’t have much else in life besides the woman who has just passed away. The orange color used throughout the painting shows the man’s warm sympathy towards the death of the woman. The contrasting colors emphasize the strong emotions that Tiger demonstrates in the painting.

The strong body language used in the painting shows how desperate and alone the man has become. The man is sitting down with the woman drawn across his body. The empty background shows the man is alone and has no one else. Tiger paints the arm drawn across the forehead of the man as he looks upwards toward the sky and possibly the heavens. The native man is looking to God and the heavens in grief. He is struggling with the loss of the woman and is miserable now that she is gone. The man is searching for an answer that cannot be found, looking for an explanation of some sort to give reasoning for this terrible tragedy that he is now encountering.

                Tiger’s use of distinct juxtaposition, contrasting color, and strong body language complete his painting. He uses these techniques to establish a sense of misery and sympathy throughout his painting. Tiger demonstrates a strong feeling of sympathy and misery that many feel when facing the loss of a loved one. The painting, “Agony”, relates to many people who have lost someone who has closely touched their life and will forever remain in their memory.

Self-Portraits

1. Rembrandt van Rijn
 -“Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar”

 -1659 AD

 -Netherlands

Vincent Van Gogh

 -“Self-Portrait with Felt Hat”

 -1888 AD

 -Netherlands

Lucian Freud

 -“Reflection (Self-Portrait)”

 -1985 AD

 -United Kingdom

Paul Gauguin

 -“Caricature, Self-Portrait”

 -1889 AD

 -France

Susanna Coffey

 -“Eris”

 -2003

 -America

Kathe Kollwitz

 -“Self Portrait”

 -1898

 -Germany

Gregory Gillespie

 -“Self-Portrait with Yellow Background”

 -1999

 -America

Pablo Picasso

 -“Self-Portrait”

 -1896

 -Spain

Paul Cezzane

 -“Self-Portrait”

 -1885

 -Russia

Brett Gamache

 -“Self Portrait”

 -2008

 -America

2.      The self-portraits painted by Gillespie, Coffey, and Gaugin use intense color, sharp contrast, and careful detail. All three artists use both warm and cool colors throughout the self portraits. Complementary colors are used to show contrast in each of the paintings. The paintings are very detailled, especially the face of each artist. Coffey and Gillespie's faces appear to be rough, while Gaugin's face appears to be smooth. All three artists use careful detail to show the texture of their faces. Gillespie, Coffey and Gaugin similarly use color, contrast and detail throughout their self-portraits.

3.       Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait, "Self-Portrait with Felt Hat" is the strongest self-portait. Van Gogh uses a radial technique which causes the viewer to concentrate on his face, the center. The painting is made up of lines. The repitition of lines gives the painting rythm. The variation of color causes the painting to stand out. Van Gogh unifies his painting by evenly distuibuting color to each part of his painting.  Vincent Van Gogh's self-portrait is very distinct and stands out amungst the rest.

4.       In earlier times, there were no cameras; the only way to have a visual image of something was to draw or paint it. Older artists use to paint self-portraits so that later on people would know what they looked like. Artists often enjoy portraying themselves as they see themselves, regardless of what others may see. Many modern artists do not focus on self-portraits as much as their other works because today there are cameras.There is not as much of a need to paint oneself today, as there use to be.

homework due 3/11

"Misery Painting" Michael Anthony


"Misery" (Sculpture) Asad Hossein

Critique #1: "Watime Misery Self Portrait 1945" Janos Pirk

“Wartime Misery Self Portrait 1945”

       War after war the world moves forward, leaving ongoing challenges left behind. Often times, only those who partake in the war are affected; citizens tune in to the news but make little contribution to the war effort. However, in World War Two everyone in America was affected; factories began producing war materials, families bought less food, and women knit clothing. Job opportunities also increased due to the necessities needed for war. Not only were soldiers fighting in the war; everyday citizens aided in the war effort. At times the war seemed never ending and hopeless. Misery took hold of many individuals during this terrible time of war. In the painting, “Wartime Misery Self Portrait”, Janos Pirk carefully uses simple symbolism, rundown facial expressions, and contrasting juxtaposition to demonstrate the misery and hopelessness that many people feel during a time of war. 

     In the painting, Janos Pirk, portrays a tattered blue shirt at the end of a pole, appearing to look like a flag. Normally, a flag represents a country’s pride. However, in the painting Pirk uses a tattered blue shirt rather than a flag to symbolize a loss of hope. The tears of the shirt show poor conditions; much like the country and its citizens face during a time of war. Citizens pledge to the American flag for hope and what is to come in the future; using a tattered shirt to represent America’s flag shows a loss of hope and a feeling of misery for all of America.

               As one year passes another slowly begins. War is an ongoing process that seems never ending. Janos Pirk portrays himself to be rundown and miserable through his facial expression, as many other Americans feel during a time of war. In the painting, Pirk paints one eye closed as the other is being held open with his fingers to show how exhausted and run down people are from the war. This detail adds affect to the painting and gives it a sense of misery. Citizens are tired and uninterested in the war effort; it has gone on too long and needs to end.

           Strong and hopeful, people often begin war with confidence. However, years into war people often lose hope and become weak, lacking the confidence they once had. In the painting, Pirk uses contrasting juxtaposition by placing a strong solid coffee cup next to weak brittle hands to emphasize how weak the citizens become due to an everlasting war. The comparison between the coffee mug and the hands is very distinct. Placing two opposites next to one another, strong and weak, emphasizes just how weak the citizens became during World War Two.  

         Janos Pirk’s use of simple symbolism, rundown facial expressions, and contrasting juxtaposition completes the painting. In using these techniques Pirk allows the viewer to feel a sense of misery at the sight of the painting. Pirk expresses a strong sorrow-filled emotion felt by many, during a time of war, through his painting, “Wartime Misery Self Portrait 1945”. Not only does the painting apply to those who lived through World War Two, it applies to anyone who is emotionally rundown and miserable because of any war.