American Art

I wasn't sure what country to do my next post on and it took my a while to settle on America. I chose it because although it doesn't have a long history in art, many hugely influential and great artists come from this country. A few of which I would love to discover more about, this will be my main focus of the post. American art started off primarily with portrait and landscape art but then modern art began to develop hugely until New York replaced Paris as the center of art worldwide. Now-a-days American art covers a huge range in styles and topics.

The first topic I am going to talk about is an American artist is Edward Hopper who is very well known, in particular for his oil paintings. He was born on 22nd July 1882 in New York, the same city in which he died aged 82. For 6 years Hopper studied at the NY school of art where he explorede both illustration and fine art. He first of all worked as an illustrator and after that he travelled to Paris, the center of modern art at the time, this trip greatly inspired him. In 1942 Edward Hopper painted his most well known, and my personal favorite, painting called 'Nighthawks'. The painting shows a few people sitting in a diner late at night, it is painted in oil paints and is painted in a style known as 'social realism'. Personally I love the colour and shapes used and I find the painting quite lonely.



Nighthawks by Edward Hopper
http://03varvara.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/edward-hopper-night-hawks-1942/edward-hopper-night-hawks-1942/

Next I have decided to talk breifly on pop art in America. Although this style of art orginated in Britain it took of hugely in America in the late 1950s and 1960s. Artists such as Roy Lichtenstein focused on old fashioned comic strips using oil and manga paint. He used bright colours and Bem-Day dots. Andy Warhol was another hugly influencial artist is is very well known in association with pop art. Not only did he create visual arts but he made his whole lifestyle and himself as a person into a sort of art form.

This is one of Andy Warhols Most Iconic Paintings
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/popart/Andy-Warhol.html

Irish Art

My next post is on Irish art as I am Irish and looking back it probably should have been my first post because of this! Irish art dates back to stone carvings which were found at new grange, they date back around 5,200 years. Celtic art is also often associated with Ireland through artifacts such as the book of Kells. Ireland is also home to many famous current artist such as Brian O'Doherty. But for this post I am going to focus on the works of one Irish artist in particular who I greatly admire, Jack Yeats.

Jack Butler Yeats was born on 29th August 1871 and died on the 27th March 1957. He is the son of John Butler Yeats who is also a famous artist and brother to W.B.Yeats who is a famous writer. Yeats grew up in the Irish countryside with his grandparents in Sligo but moved to London where his parents were later. An unusual fact about him is that he won an Olympic medal in painting. 

Jack B Yeats
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/05/yeats-sketch-to-be-sold

In terms of his artwork, Jack B Yeats progressed through many different styles. Early in his career he worked a lot with illustration and drew for a few magazines and also comic strips. As he got older he progressed into a completely different style involving a lot of symbolism and expressionist art. The subjects of his art were primarily Irish and sometimes involved political feelings often as his was a Irish Republican. But he is most well known for his landscapes, horses and circus scenes. This stage of his artwork began quite simplistic but later developed to a point where he would use a lot of paint very thickly to create lots of texture. He was also very interested in the use of colour which you can see in his works.

The Liffey Swim - Jack B Yeats
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/8866530488366432/

Italian Art

I have chosen to do my next post on the art in Italy, I chose this country because of their major influence on the world during the times of the Roman empire and the renaissance. Also during junior cert history I really enjoyed learning about their culture and civilisaton. Italy has a vast and interesting past and some of the most famous artists that have existed come from this wonderful country. I have been their once a couple of years ago and I loved it, from the architectural art to the frescos and paintings I found it facinating.

One of the most recognisable forms of ancient Roman art is called a fresco. Frescos date back to 30,000 years ago and the oldest form of them originates from France. They were made by painting on wet plaster on walls. Many frescos were discovered in Pompeii and Herculanium in very good condition following being preserved by the volcanic ash and lava after the eruption of mount Vesuvius. They dated from the first century AD and on them were scenes of gardens and homes. Romans would have had simple furniture as frescos were the primary form of decoration. Floors were also often decorated with mosaics. Some were premade designs while wealthier Romans could hire people to design them. To make them the base would be put down first which was mortor. Then bits of stones, shells, pottery and many other materials were placed onto into the design, each piece as close to eachother as possible. Finally liquid mortar filled in the gaps, this process was known as grouting.

                    

Another time in Italian history which involves hugely influential art was that during the renaissance. And in fact the city of Florence is known as the birthplace of the whole era due to Lorenzo de' Medici, a great patron of the arts. During the renaissance time period of about the 14th-17th century huge advances in art were made. Subjects didn't just include religious topics, but also focused on the human anatomy, nature, mythology, portraits and everyday life. Realism was introduced, this was making their art very realistic by using techniques such as shading, perspective, foreshortening and sfumato (a technique using the blurring of edges). The most famous renaissance artist is probably Leonardo Da Vinci, whose works include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Other artists include Donatello and Michelangelo Buonarroti. 

This is a Self Portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci
http://www.science-facts.com/53/the-universal-man-da-vinci/ 

African Art

My next post is about African art, paticularly within sub-Saharan Africa as the more northern parts have a more islamic culture than what we associate with traditional African art. I have chosen this as i really know very little on the topic so through writting a bit about it i hope to learn lots too.

Through my research i have discovered wooden masks of people, animals or mythical creatures were very common in western africa , but unforchunity wood doesn't stand the test of time so very few ancient ones remain. Some were also made of light stone, metals, fabric and pottery. These ceremonial masks were once used for celebrations, initiations, crop harvesting, and war preparation. The people who wore the marks in a way loses their human identity and turns into the spirit shown by the mask. In relation to the art of the masks they were decorated with anything possible for instance animal hair, shells, feathers, egg shells, teeth and horns. Now a days African masks are made in large quantities for tourism puposes, the culture surrounding them has ceased which is definitly a shame.



An African Mask
http://ancientafricanmasks.com/masks4.html



Another form of art traditional to Africa comes in the form of body art through tattoos, scarification, body painting, coiffures and jewellry. It was used to shown ones status, beliefs, origns and as a method of expressing ones self. Body painting is the main method of artistic expression amoungst most African tribes. Chalk and earth pigments are used to do this, close friends or family sometimes paint their faces or bodys the same to represent their bond. Body modifications are also a big part of their culture, men and women stretch their ears and chins and other body parts using plates which increase in size. Sometimes they stretch their necks using rings and a long neck is a sign of beauty.



http://www.africanconservancy.org/member/bodyart/surma.html



Japanese Art

A type of art I have always found particularly interesting is Japanese art, especially the more recent, manga art and traditional prints. I am going to focus on these two although there are many other types!

 

Woodblock prints originate back to the eighth century in Japan. Its main purpose was to depict scriptures, particularly Buddhist ones. Until, 1765 the method was primarily used for written text but then new techniques made it possible to use a range of colours in one print. Before this artist had printed in black and white and painted on colours. A woodblock print required four components, the designer, the engraver, the printer, and the publisher. Each colour would require an individual carved wood block, usually cherry wood. And the paper on which it was printed on was created from the bark of a mulberry tree as it is strong and absorbent.

This is an example of a Japanese Woodblock Print

http://www.virginia.edu/artmuseum/exhibition/japanese-color-woodblock-prints

Manga is a form of Japanese cartoon/comic which is hugely popular in japan with all age groups and it is quickly spreading in other countries too. The word manga refers to any type of cartoon in Japan but in other countries it is specifically associated with the particular style of Japanese cartoon, it is also referred to as anime. This type of art started out around the late 1940s and early 1950s during the post war period. There are certain materials specific to manga art. For instance manga pens e.g. copic markers or pro markers, what makes them different to other pens is that they are very water based to allowed blending and avoid streaking. For this reason the paper used has to be thick! It is also commonly created through digital art.

This is an example of the books on sale teaching manga art.
http://www.impact-books.com/general/manga/top-10-manga-art

Introduction

Hello, my name is Julia and as part of my transition year in school I am setting up a blog. I have chosen the topic of 'the geography of art' as it is an area I am interested in. I hope to explore traditional and ancient styles of art and artists from cultures from all over the world. I hope to learn a lot through doing this and I hope you learn something though reading it!