Realistic
High Noon
The artist responsible for this piece of art is Edward Hopper who born in Nyack town that is to the west of Hudson River in the New York. His educational background focused on studies on illustration arts and later majored on Fine arts. Most of his works captured the themes of tension between the different gender in the society and the theme of traditional verses the modern way of life where he tried to clearly bring out the tensions that depicted the two ways of life.
High noon is an art painting measuring 27 ½ x 39 ½ inches whose composition and medium was oil on canvas; a work that Hopper made in the year 1949. From the art image an unidentified woman is seen standing aimlessly and alone on the doorway and surrounding her is a large house. The artist has successfully achieved his intention by using light as an element of art. It is evident from the image that the house has been struck by sunlight that in the process has cast shadows on the walls and the roof (The Dayton Art Institute). Based on the shadow cast it is clear that the house is large affirming the exploration of how the modern way of life isolates people including those who have acquired large magnitudes of property. Another point that can be noted by a viewer viewing the composition is that it is difficult to actually tell what the woman is looking for or waiting. As a matter of fact, the artist has explored the theme of isolation supported by the arguments that the modern way of life comes with large houses that isolates people from others in the community or neighborhood (Hudson S. and Noonan N. 12)
The composition of art has ensured that the most important component (the woman) is detached from the other components that make it easy for the viewer to concentrate more on her since the composition has provided an improved vision. The forms used in the art are simplified in a way that they provide an esthetic vision of the art; the colors are refined in a way that grey and white shows negative implications of isolated suburbs arising from developed housing units cementing the theme of isolation. Additionally, the blue color depicts a quiet environment surrounding the solitary figure of the woman (The Dayton Art Institute).
Abstract
Stacks in Celebration
Charles Sheeler was born 1883, Philadelphia where he studied applied art and industrial drawing at the School of Industrial art (The Dayton Art Institute). He was one of the members of the precisionist movement who provided abstract representation of objects with rough spaces and using light and shadows to bring out the actual representations and depiction of the real world. As one of the members of the movement he explored that theme of urban development that emphasized so much on the changing urban and city landscape.
One of his artwork Stacks in Celebration represents a power plant factory with smoke stacks sharply defined to represent the industrial theme as the subject matter. It is asserted that the artist had a lot of interest in the subject matter and thus brought in the element of celebration to celebrate what was considered the growing American urban landscape (Sayre Henry 38). This is an artwork that was composed in 1954, measuring 22 x 28 inches and the medium being oil on canvas. It is evident that the colors used in this artwork are cool and balanced and have been used to reduce the spaces between components of the composition to help the audience focus their attention on the state of the art structuring of the wall, roofs and windows of the power plant. He has achieved this by eliminating certain details of the actual plant and replacing them with shapes, for instance the smoke stacks have been sharply defined by the artist. Lines have been used to provide an abstract representation of the walls, roofs and windows that have ensured the visibility of the artwork (Graham 23).
The work is characterized by colors that form a pattern, cylindrical and linear shapes that represent the windows and the pitched roofs. Balance in the composition has been achieved by balancing the industrial structures to planes and stacks of smoke approaching the sky. Abstract use of light has portrayed the rays from the sun to show the operation of the power plant during the day.
Part 2
Lost and found
This is an object by Alison Saar composed in 2003 using a collection of wood tin and wire and measuring 72.4 x 317.5 x 83.8 centimeters. This is an object of two figures seated but looking down though one figure is similar to the other. These two figures are sculptured from wood; the grey color of the figures shows the natural and original depiction of African cultures (The Dayton Art Institute). The artist has succeeded in using cylindrical shapes to depict the bending aspects of figures that are seen looking down upon each other. Lines have been used to represent the hair that is connecting the figures. They are connected by a collection of fused hair and represent a metaphorical understanding of how the figures are not looking at each other despite being connected.
The simple materials used to compose the work points out to the fact that in daily real life people are connected despite some of the unlikely happenings. This work also addresses issues of change where lost is from past and found is in the future. The black color used to represent the hair connecting the two figures shows the complexities that are perceived inside and outside the African communities and the African roots connecting them.
Works cited
Graham P. An Introduction to Painting Still Life. Chartwell Books Inc. ISBN 0-7858-1750-6,
2004.
Hudson S. and Noonan N. The Art of Writing about Art Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, 2002.
Sayre Henry . Writing about Art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2005.
The Dayton Art Institute. December 10, 2015. Retrieved from: