The Allegory of Painting by Jan Vermeer

05/05/04

Part I

1. The painting "The allegory of Painting" by Jan Vermeer has a very unique sense of style to me. This painting to me does not seem to have a calm presence to it. It has a huge sense of mood though. The woman seems to be very frustrated in what she is doing. Furthermore the painting has many symbols and icons. A huge prestigious curtain covers much of the painting it seems to be set up. What personally drew my eye are the tiles they kind of seem to be geometric along with everything else. The picture in the background of the Netherlands is perfectly matched, to the eye, with the ceiling. This painting seems to be really based on establishing lines. Secondly I noticed that the lady has a blue renaissance dress on while holding a trombone to a perfect line with the painter's hand. She is also holding a book in her left hand. The picture is all based on symbols of the mid evil time. The chandelier above their heads is of double headed eagle, which I think is a sign of a big empire back in that time.

2. In the painting "The Last Supper," Leonardo Da Vinci seemed to try and portray a scene that was full of grace on what seems to be Jesus. The portrait seems to reveal something about him that many people may not see. I think he is trying to portray himself as a sort of God. Maybe he sees that in his head. In the painting the supper table is grouped in four sets of three. They all seem to be amazed with the man in the middle, Jesus. What is actually going on in the picture is what Da Vinci saw, in his head, as the evening before Christ was betrayed by a disciple. He gathered all twelve people and told them he knew what was coming. As he told them the story he gave all the dinner residence instructions on how to eat in the future to remember him by. This is like a snap shot picture of when Christ gave them this information and all twelve reacted differently to the news. This masterpiece was painted on the wall of the Dominican convent of Sta Maria delle Grazie. In the painting it was day light and at the "actual" dinner it was proclaimed to be night time which, in turn, tells me that he was not there along with that in accordance to the Book of John 13:21 the supper was at night.

3. The Egyptians invented the potters wheel, or "tournette," to form art sculptures and, of coarse, pots. They invented it in 4000 B.C.E. and it has been around ever since then. In order to make the sculpture, the potter must go through several steps of creation. Firstly, the potter must take the amount of clay the potter needs and ram it on a hard surface, to extract any air bubbles in the clay. Secondly, the potter must jam the clay on the center of the wheel surface, while pressing and smoothing the edges to secure the piece of clay to the plate. That process's purpose is to make the base for the clay pot. After the potter is sure the clay is secure, he must firmly hold the clay with his arms in a V. Thirdly, he must begin coiling at the bottom and gradually work his way up to the top of the pot, meanwhile the potter's assistant is holding and supporting the top of the vase. When doing this task of coiling the potter must be certain that the pot is staying symmetrical and centered to the wheel while it is spinning. While doing this process the potter had to kick the bottom of the throwing wheel to make it spin. Furthermore, when the pot is centered it is time for the potter to make his finishing touches with the coils and artistry. For example, look at the picture in the book made by Ming Dynasty in the 16th century. It was a plate created on the wheel and the name of the piece is Kraakposelien.

4. The painting by Bridget Riley called, "Drift 2" created in 1966 uses the type of art that looks to fit the era. The painting looks to be moving and gives me a headache when focusing on it for to long. The wavy black and white lines kind of confuse the eye. When focused on it for to long it starts to confuse the eye and looks like waves are flowing through the page. It is not very difficult to use your imagination with this piece. She leaves the painting to be broad enough for one to imagine many different things. The way she uses the color and contrast of the shades makes the waves look to be real to the eye.

5. The difference between Picasso's "Glass and bottles of Suze" and Henri Matisse's "Venus" is that Picasso's seems to be like to worlds colliding and they can't get along. With Matisse's piece it seems as if the painting designs are meant to be together. The use of Blue and White calms the mind, while the use of bright orange and blue seems to stir the mind up. Furthermore, the painting by Matisse is supposed to bring on love. He portrays that in the negative space he cut out, the white, and the blue which is the man in love. The man in love seems to be breathing out white which is portrayed as Venus the goddess of love. In the painting by Picasso it just seems hatred to me he bring out the story of death and the elegant bottle of water. He portrays that by using to very different colors and very different types of situations. In the blue is supposed to be newspaper a clipping about death and it is colliding with the peacefulness of the French bottle. The paintings both portray college in a way Matisse who did not go would have liked to go and is why he painted about an obsessed man in love. On the other hand Picasso went to college and maybe hated and like it which is why he might have painted with the colors and the differences of worlds.

6. In the painting, "Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash," created in 1912. I see the Chain seems to be going about as fast as the dog's feet, along with the dog's master's legs. The name of this piece is very appropriate because in the paining everything is dynamic. Moreover, the painting all seems to be moving at the same speed. I know that I have noticed that in real life. The ground even has lines in it and it is like what I have seen when looking at the pavement in a car. The whole picture seems to be moving very fast and dynamic. The word Dynamism means enthusiastic and that is what I think of when looking at the oil painting.

7. The painting by, Charles Searles, "Filas For Sale; From The Nigerian Series," deffinitly caught my eye. The colors used in it are very bright and artistic looking. In this picture I think of how the color is used and it seems very busy, like a market place would be. It seems like he picked up on the brightness and creativity of the Nigerian culture. To me it seems like he is using the colors to explain how they seem happy with everything. In this painting he uses lines and different expressions