Uncategorized

choose a work of art and write about it.

choose a work of art and write about it.

Is this the correct form? Use this form for a critique of a drawing, painting, sculpture or photo on display in a museum. This form should not be used for works of art on display for sale. Not all museums are “art” museums! To complete this assignment you must select a work on display at a museum that was created by an artist as an art piece. This may seem obvious, however not all museums a focused on fine art.

Part One: Basic Descriptive Information (5% of the grade)
Student’s name    John Doe
Title of the work you selected    Untitled, Moonlight Marsh Scene
Name of the artist     Granville Redmond
What is the artistic media? If the artistic medium is not one covered in the artistic media lecture, explain what the media is.     Oil painting on canvas
Year the work of art was created. This may be a span of years or an estimated date.    1871 to 1935
Physical dimensions (metric or imperial units)      26 by 43 inches
Name of the museum    Irvine Art Museum
Ownership of the artwork    Irvine Art Museum
How did you discover this museum?    By researching several museums throughout Orange County

Part Two: Biography (17% of the grade)
Provide a biography of the artist. (200 – 500 words)
Granville Redmond was an artist who was born on March 9, 1871 and passed away on May 24, 1935. His paintings mainly focused on California Impressionism, as he was an American landscape painter. Redmond’s family moved from Pennsylvania to California in 1871. Similar to Van Gogh, Granville Redmond was deaf, so his parents enrolled him into a boarding school, Berkeley School for the Deaf. Redmond was very talented and his artistic skills were recognized. There were several stepping-stones as his journey started with learning sign language and pantomime – expression of feelings through gestures, like a mime. He had a few teachers who significantly affected his life, Theophilus d’Estrella, Arthur Frank Matthews, and Amédée Joullin who helped Redmond and encouraged him to become a better artist. After graduating from the Berkeley School for the Deaf in 1980, he began to study at the California School of Design, where he made life long friends and won a scholarship to study at the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1898, Redmond returned to Los Angeles, California, where he opened up his own studio. He became a very distinct artist, as his style was unique and skillful. He married Carrie Ann Jean in 1899, whom was also deaf and had children together. Redmond successfully lived through his life creating artwork that brought financial and emotional success. He is well known for his poppy paintings and calmer paintings.
Provide an MLA formatted citation for the source of your biography.

“Granville Redmond. California Poppy Field.” LACMA Collections Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

Part Three: Description (17% of the grade)
Describe the subject matter in detail. Do this in your own words.

The Untitled, Moonlight Marsh Scene painting is an oil painting that has an extensive color palette of blue. This painting felt like it was nighttime because of the color. It is a very skillful piece where there are intricate details to show the different tones of the color blue, yet mixed together in a very calm and soothing way. Although there is mainly only the color blue used, the brush technique of the piece gives the artwork a feeling of connecting as the technique showed the different scenes in the artwork. The brushwork was done in very small details of colors, to show every little stroke. The technique showed that on the left and right side of the painting, there were either bushes of plants or trees. There was a small stream going down through the middle of the artwork that led astray into the dark. I could tell that towards the back, there were several mountains because of the shape and detail. Towards the center of the artwork, there is light shining down with white oil color with a tad of blue. This distinguishes the artwork to definitely be during nighttime, because it must be the moon shining down. The artwork was pretty balanced in colors although it was mainly blue, because each side contained a similar amount of darkness and light. There was not a great contrast in colors since the hue of color was very similar. The surface of the artwork is very bumpy because of the details put into the piece and also because it is oil color. Overall, the artwork has very distinct technique and a great variety of the different shades of blue exhibiting a tranquil environment.

Part Four: Artistic Movement (17% of the grade)
Identify the artistic movement of the piece. Keep in mind that there are dozens of artistic movements in our history. Only a few are covered in class. (Do not respond with “Modern”, “20th Century”, or “Contemporary.” These designations are not specific enough for this question.)

This artwork is of the California Impressionism

Provide a definition of the artistic movement you identified in the previous question.

California Impressionism is art made in California around the times of 1890 and 1930 as it is based on the landscape, scenery in California by different artists, whether they grew up in California, or moved to California. It is artwork that depicts California with the costal area, mountain scenery, deserts, fields and the different landscapes in California.

List some elements of the artwork that fit the artistic movement defined in the previous question. You must be specific here. Make clear connections between elements of your definition and elements of the selected artwork.

Some elements of California Impressionism include brushwork that has small dabs of color and also wide bold brushstrokes; there were also a lot of colors of nature used, like green, brown, and blue. These elements are similar to my artwork selected, Untitled, Moonlight Marsh Scene, because it is an artwork portraying the landscape and was created during the times of 1890 and 1930. It is also similar to the artwork I selected because of the intricate detail of small dabs of color used and color of nature, blue. The whole artwork produces a nature scene somewhere in California where there are a lot of mountains and streams.
Part Five: Interpretation (17% of the grade)
What is your INTERPRETATION of the artwork? What is its meaning?

My interpretation of the art was a smooth, tranquil, peaceful environment in nature where nothing matters. The stream going down the middle of artwork represents my life or any individuals’ life, where everything keeps flowing and happening through time. It is not something that we can just stop or change, but only nature can stop it, so one day the stream may stop having water going down it, which represents the end of our lives. The light shining from the moon meant lives shining brightly, distinguishing each and every one of us as a unique individual in the world. This artwork also meant to me that although our lives keep flowing and we can’t control everything that happens, there is a place for us that is calm and serene.
How have other critics INTERPRETED this artist? Sources for interpretive criticism by others may include books about the artist, scholarly journals, newspaper, and magazine articles.

Other critics have interpreted this artist, as The Master of California’s Poppy fields, as Granville Redmond’s artwork has became one of the icons for California landscape. Thomas Reynolds believed he was a very powerful artist in which his tonalist paintings captured very limited hues, similar colors, and serene nature. They were seen as even more powerful because Redmond was able to do this when he lived a life of quietness. A Los Angeles newspaper even named him “Color King is Granville Redmond.” Many critics interpret Redmond as a successful artist who captured landscape and nature very steadily, as he brought colorless, simple landscape into bright colorful energetic artwork. Redmond preferred to paint artwork of solitude, because of his deafness.
Provide MLA formatted citations for your sources in the previous question.

“Granville Redmond. Landscape.” LACMA Collections Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.
“Irvine Museum: Lasting Impressions.” Irvine Museum | Lasting Impressions. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.

Part Six: Commonality (5% of the grade)
What does the work of art have in common with the other works of art that it is displayed with at the museum? Is there a common subject matter, artistic movement, or artist?

The Irvine Museum had a common subject of California Impressionism during my visit. They were exhibiting “Lasting Impressions: Twenty Years of The Irvine Museum,” when I visited, because it has been twenty years since they have been open. This common subject matter was mainly paintings and artwork of California scenery or landscapes. The common subject of the artwork created an atmosphere for nature all around the museum, because of the similar color hues being nature colors. There was a very similar technique used for many of the paintings as a lot of paintings were also painted in oil color. The time of the artwork produced was also common, since most of the artwork were produced in the early 1900s to late 1900s.

Part Seven: Evaluative (17% of the grade)
What is your EVALUATIVE assessment of this work of art? Provide some justification for your response.

My evaluative assessment of this work of art was that it was very intricate, deep, and well balanced. Although there was not a great palette of colors used, Granville Redmond really brought in the different brush techniques and details to bring the artwork to a whole another level. It is not a simple job to create an artwork that is quite significantly meaningful, bringing in our emotions with just one main color. I thought Redmond did an excellent job bringing in all these different techniques to speak out to viewers like me, though a silent, peaceful artwork, yet bringing out so many different emotions in viewers. There was such a great depth to this artwork, bringing a sensation that focused on each and every one of us. I thought that the intricate details really pin pointed at each small part of our lives.

How have other critics EVALUATED the merits of this artist? Sources for evaluative criticism by others may include books about the artist, scholarly journals, newspaper, and magazine articles.

Other critics have evaluated the merits of this artist as powerful. One critic stated that Granville “puts the voice of nature into his pictures. He listened with his eyes and caught each accent from the faintest whispering of the pines to the thunder of the tempest” (Reynolds). Critics believed that his artwork was a great piece of nature, as Granville depicted his artwork very realistically of California’s landscape. One of the critics added “Redmond, all his life, has been hearing the music of sunlight and moonlight, the symphonies of seascape and landscape” (Reynolds). The merits of Granville Redmond were significant because he brought such great meaning in his artwork, though he could not hear. Redmond brought his own style and meaning into his art. He was similar to Van Gogh in a few characteristics.

Provide MLA formatted citations for your sources in the previous question.

Reynolds, Thomas R. “Granville Redmond’s Tonalism.” Thomas Reynolds Gallery – San Francisco. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

;2Part Eight: Terms (5% of the grade)
Describe the work in terms of the elements of visual arts that were covered in class during week one.

My perception of this artwork was a magnificent piece of art creating a feel of nature and amazing technique. Redmond definitely had good content in his artwork, as my participation had me lose my self-awareness into the artwork. The subject matter of his artwork expressed his own feelings of deafness and silence. The texture of the artwork was bumpy because of the oil color, and the composition was very well balanced, proportionate, with a whole feeling of unity. The blue color hue brought in a feeling of blues, sadness, and yet calm, peaceful environment. There was a rhythm of brush technique used in the artwork, since the strokes were in a pattern. I felt that overall this piece of artwork was overachieved the three steps to be an artwork, and was definitely a piece of beauty. As it is known, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”