Art Never Dies
Salon Essay 1
The Ring, Prenomen of Amenhotep III Is an ancient piece of art work dating back to the year 1390 to 1353 B.C. It originates from Egypt and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was the ring of a great pharaoh by the name of Amenhotep III. The ring was used to show his magnificent ruling. There are many types of these rings but they all look about the same. It was finally found in a museum excavation in 1910 or 1911. Though not much has been said about this piece it still plays a role in African history as a symbol of royalty.
First, in the years 1390 to 1353 B.C. Amenhotep III reign as pharaoh of Egypt. He was known as Amenhotep III the Magnificent and was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. Amenhtep III was given the name Amenhotep III the Magnificent for the large scale building programs he started. The ring was created in the 18th dynasty which was the time of many of the most famous pharaohs so pieces like this were common for ruler in Egypt. The era this ring was created in is one of the most known eras of ancient Egyptian history and Amenhotep III’s art pieces are the most found and restored. The ring is a praenomen which was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. Though the actual creator of this ring has not been found we can assume that it was a relative or someone that admired him greatly.
Second, the Ring, Prenomen of Amenhotep III is a blue ring made of faience. Though this ring is blue there is one that is green and another that is grey. On the top is a round oval with carving in it. The carvings show a woman across from a stick figured person. The woman is most likely either a goddess or Amenhotep III’s mother. Above them is a carved out circle most likely a sun and below them is a half circle. It’s harder to see it from the front but its back seems to be broken off and makes the ring into more of a C shape. The rest of it that still remains looks slick and smooth most likely meaning it was glazed over.
In conclusion, the Ring, Prenomen of Amenhotep III is an ancient Egyptian artifact from the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty Amenhotep III. It dates back to the years 1390 to 1353 B.C. when pharaohs were famous. The ring was most likely made by a close relative or a big fan. It’s a slick blue ring that has a chip on the back of it. There are other rings with the same name and look about the same except for the color of the stone. After a couple thousand years it was discovered in a museum excavation. It now is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a staple in African history.
Salon Essay 2
The Madonna and Child by Duccio di Buoninsegna is an original that has been remade multiple times that dates back to 1290–1300. The painting was displayed at the Mostra d’art antica senese in 1904, in Siena. It was used as an altarpiece and a large scale fresco for many different churches and cathedrals. This piece is an intimate and devotional image of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Duccio followed other innovative Italian artists like Giotto whom strove to go beyond the iconic Byzantine canon to make a better connection between the viewer and the painting. It was sold to Sangiorgi in the 1920s and the sold again to Adolphe Stoclet. The Madonna and child is a major religious piece that is still used today in churches.
First, Duccio di Buoninsegna was born late 13th and early fourteenth century in the city of Siena in Tuscany. He’s an Italian painter and considered to be the father of Sienese painting. He was known for his government and religious paintings throughout Italy. Information about him growing up is uncertain but more information has been made about him than other Italian artists. Duccio was said to have been married with seven children. He had a lot of debts and fines showing that he had a hard time with money. In the 1300s he was one of the most favored painters in Siena and the Madonna and Child is the painting that he is most known for.
Second, the painting is very fade now and doesn’t have a colored background but has a frame like trim. The colors of Mary’s cloths are blue with a yellow trim and she is takes up a major portion of the painting. The Christ Child is clothed in red and maroon and He is less than half Mary’s size. Mary is cradling Christ Child as He is reaching for her face showing the bond between the two. A circle is around Mary’s head to show how holy she is. This piece was made by using tempera and gold on wood. There is a burnt part at the bottom of the piece where it was worn down by an alter candle.
In conclusion, The Madonna and Child is a famous, religious painting made for churches as an altarpiece. It was made between the years 1290 and 1300 in the city of Siena by Duccio di Buoninsegna. It shows the close connection between the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. It’s a very basic colored painting made from tempera and gold on wood. There are many other renditions of this piece but Duccio’s was the original. It was passed down and sold through many different generations. Now it is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where it is a representation of the relationship between mother and child and the important of the Virgin Mary.
Salon 3 essay
The Moses by Lorenzo Monaco is a religious painting dating back to the late 1400s. It was made in Florence which is a city in Italy but it is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Moses is depicted holding the 10 commandments in this painting as he was the one who wrote them. It was given to Bequest of Mabel Choate in memory of her father and the exchanged to Joseph Hodges Choate. There are four panels in the Metropolitan Museum representing Old Testament patriarchs this being one of them. These are among the finest works of Lorenzo Monaco who was known for painting panels. Though little has been said about this art piece it is a symbol of religious judgment or rules for churches and synagogues.
Lorenzo Monaco was the leading master in Florence at the time that he painted Moses he was an Italian painter of the late Gothic early Renaissance age. He was born in Piero di Giovanni in Siena in the year 1370. He was an apprenticed in Florence and was influenced by Giotto, Spinello Aretino and Agnolo Gaddi. Monaco joined the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in 1390. He started painting in 1404 and showed general spiritual value, and he usually did not use profane elements in his works. In the late part of his life, Lorenzo did not accept the early Renaissance innovations but still managed to be successful in his works. Monaco died from an infection in 1425.
This painting shows Moses holding the commandments one in each hand as he is seated on a cut stone bench. He’s in a blue tunic that is above the waist with a knotted sash at his center. He’s covered by a pink or violet cloak with yellow on the inside. There’s a separate piece of blue cloth on his shoulders too. The tablets that have the commandments are rested on his knees and the top of them held by his hands. There is a faded circle around his head to show that he is a holy figure in this painting. The painting was made by using Tempera on wood and there is a gold ground at the bottom.
Lorenzo Monaco’s Moses is a religious painting of Moses with the 10 commandments. The painting shows Moses sitting on a stone cut chair wearing the colors blue yellow and pink. It dates back to the late gothic era in the 1400s. Monaco became famous for his gothic panels that he created. This piece was thought to be an altar piece for synagogues and churches. It is part of four panels that all show the Old Testament in the Metropolitan Museum. It is said to be one of Monaco’s best works of religious judgment.
Salon 4 essay
The Rinaldo in the Enchanted Forest by Jean Honoré Fragonard is a chalk drawing work from 1761 to 1765. Honoré is a French artist from the year’s 1732 to1806. The drawing shows a scene from Canto XVIII of Torquato Tasso’s epic poem. It depicts battle within the crusades between a Christian knight and Muslims. Rinaldo, the Christian knight, finds himself against a pagan enchantress on his way to Jerusalem. This piece was made shortly after Fragonard went back to Grasse France from Rome. It was sold by a vendor by the name of Galerie de Bayser from Paris but now is at the Metropolitan Museum.
Jean-Honoré Nicolas Fragonard was born 5 April, 1732 in Grasse France. He was a Rococo painter and printmaker responsible for the creation of about 550 paintings. His work was said to convey an atmosphere of intimacy and veiled eroticism and he was said to be one of the most prolific artists active in the last decades of the Ancien Régime. He was the apprentice of François Boucher who at first didn’t want to bother training him but after Fragonard studied for six months at the great luminist Boucher saw that he was more experienced and was ready to train him. He attended the French Academy in Rome September 17, 1756 after getting the Prix de Rome in 1752. In 1765 while he was still in Rome his work was bought by the king Louis XV which made more demand for wealthy art by him. When Fragonard returned from Rome to Italy he had a wife, Marie-Anne Gérard, who was an artist herself and a daughter Rosalie Fragonard. He then proceeded to draw the Rinaldo in the Enchanted Forest and then returned to Paris in the early nineteenth century where he died in 1806.
The Rinaldo in the Enchanted Forest is a dusty and blurry scene from the Crusades. It shows Rinaldo on the left side of the drawing as he is raising his sword to attack and his shield in front of him. A winged being most likely an angel is behind and to the left of him and lays on the ground as it looks up at Rinaldo. On the right side of the drawing are dead soldiers in the sand. At the bottom center of the drawing are dogs charging at Rinaldo and they seem to be conjured by the enchantress. The enchantress is at the top center and is depicted having wings. Smoke and a tornado are around her showing the destruction that she causes. The painting was made by using a brush and brown wash over black chalk underdrawing.
This drawing is a symbol of the great battles in the crusades and illustrates the bravery shown by the Christian knights. It was made by Jean-Honoré Nicolas Fragonard who was a French painter and printer. He was well experienced from many years of studying from academies and Boucher’s apprentice. It illustrates a scene from Canto XVIII of Torquato Tasso’s epic poem. Fragonard used a brush and brown wash on black chalk to show the destruction in the smoke caused by the crusades. Rinaldo is depicted fighting the enchantress’s dogs. The piece was sold by Galerie de Bayser and past down until it is now at the Metropolitan Museum.
Salon 5 essay
Achille-Etna Michallon’s “Waterfall at Mont-Dore” is a detailed painting of a lush landscape from the year 1818. It depicts a water fall into a stream surrounded by foliage. It brings peace to the viewer’s eyes as it shows the incense of nature. It was originally painted in Italy but Michallon is French and it is now at the Metropolis art museum. It was one of if not his best painting and he was known for painting landscapes in the 1800s. He soon in the early 1900s obtained a pupil by the name Camille Corot who he taught to paint landscapes which lead historians to Michallon’s works. The “Waterfall at Mont-Dore” painting will show the example of Michallon’s ability to capture the peace and tranquility of his landscaping expertise for years to come.
Achille-Etna Michallon was born October 22, 1796 in Paris and his father was a sculptor by the name of Claude Michallon. He grew up in France as he learned how to paint by studying Jacques-Louis David and Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes. In the year 1817 Michallon was awarded the Prix de Rome for his paintings. At this time he was known for his landscape paintings and moved to Italy in 1818 where he painted the “Waterfall at Mont-Dore”. He only stayed in Italy for two years but the trip impacted his paintings greatly. Michallon soon after died of pneumonia in September 24, 1822(1822-09-24) in Paris at the young age of 25. Though it is unknown when, he had a pupil by the name of Corot who passed down his legacy.
“Waterfall at Mont-Dore” is a landscape painting that shows nature around a waterfall. The waterfall is placed in the center of the painting as it falls from a rocky cliff. To the right of it are a collection of trees leading up the side of the cliff. At the very top of the painting we see a mountain in the background and a nice blue sky with a thin cloud passing over it. The left side of the cliff is covered by a tall tree that looks to be full of life. Behind the tree is a stream that the waterfall leads into as it moves off to the left of the painting. Finally we see on the bottom right what looks like a woman by a log as an animal (most likely a donkey) is to her left. This painting is an oil painting on a canvas and the viewer is leveled with this woman as well as the tree but just far enough away to see all the beauty this piece has to offer.
The “Waterfall at Mont-Dore” is a peaceful painting that shows nature around a waterfall to make a nice landscape. The painting depicts foliage growing around the waterfall and a woman with a donkey by a broken tree log. It was painted by Achille-Etna Michallon who was a French painter known for painting landscapes and even got an award for doing so. He spent his time growing up studying other painters and even got a pupil of his own. He painted this painting in Italy where he became inspired to paint more but died before he could at the young age of 25. Historians say that he could have been a lot more successful had he not died at the peak of his painting career and could have even been one of the best artist of all time. Now his piece is at the metropolis art museum as well as his pupil who carried on his legacy of landscape art.
Salon essay 6
Peter Booth’s “Desert” is an abstract landscape painting of a post war desert of ruin and destruction. It dates back to the year 1985 and depicts a prehistoric terrain of the Australian outback. It showed the violence that we as humans bring into the war by polluting a once beautiful landscape with the remains of war. Peter Booth is an Australian painter known for creating these types of landscapes after violence. His works follow the influence of artists like Francisco Goya and William Blake as Romantic artists. A year after it was made Mr. and Mrs. Roy B. Simpson purchased it and now it lies at the Metropolis Art Museum. It is forever a warning of what violence and war can do to the world.
Peter Booth was born on November 2nd, 1940 in Sheffield, England. As a youth he was aware of the industrialization in North England and saw the problems it caused. He and his family moved to Australia in 1958 where he became an Australian figurative and a surrealist painter after attending the National Gallery School in Melbourne. He had a little practice before this though as he painted hard-edged abstractions of dark rectangles, to signify social problems like alienation in the 1970s. In 1977, he began to make figurative, landscape, and abstraction imagery in his art pieces that started to display war scenes. Booth found most of his inspiration in his dreams which made him a serial artist and they consisted of mutilated bodies as well as what we see in “Desert” which is war. His works made him one of the key artists in the 20th century that showed the brutality and destruction war and violence have on the world.
“Desert”was made by using oil on a canvas to show the aftermath of a battle in the Australian outback. The figures in this painting are very unclear but resemble an element in what use to be a nice landscape. The land is littered with dead trees, thorn bushes, rocks, and animal skeletons to show the rotting of life. What looks like a sword is impaling the ground in the center of the painting relay that there was some sort of battle here. To the left is a tent next to a cross showing that the battle might have had some religious reasoning to it. The sky is cloudy and filled with smoke and the sun isn’t visible to make a gloomy and darker feel to the painting. There are so many dead and destroyed things in the sand that it seems to take up more than the actual land and the land is inhabitable.
“Desert”by Peter Booth is an abstract painting of a destroyed and rotten landscape. Booth shows the effects that violence has on the world by using war scenes like this one and mutilated bodies. He was known back in the late 20th century for his serial paintings in Australia. He became inspired by the industrial revolution in northern England and his dreams. This particular painting uses a dark, cloudy sky and dead animals and trees to create a gloomy and horrific image of the after math of war. The landscape looks as though it use to be a beautiful sight but Booth portrays it as what humanity’s violence has done to it. The painting was bought by Mr. and Mrs. Roy B. Simpson a year after it was created in 1985 but is now at the Metropolis Art Museum.
Salon essay 7
“Life of Nichiren: A Vision of Prayer on the Waves” is a Japanese print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi from the Edo period. It was made in 1835 using an image made on paper with ink and color and then printing it on Polychrome woodblock. The print depicts the life story of Nichiren who was a Buddhist priest. Within it there is a boat of people that are being pushed by large waves that surround them. It was made to capture and display the struggles and obstacle in Nichiren`s life that he had to get through. As for Utagawa Kuniyoshi, he was born in 1797 and died in 1861 and was one of the last masters of Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints. “Life of Nichiren: A Vision of Prayer on the Waves” was passed to Henry L. Phillips in 1939 but is now at the Metropolis Art Museum.
Kuniyoshi was born January 1, 1797 and was originally named Yoshisaburōby his father Yanagiya Kichiyemon. He started printing at the young age of 12 and his works were noticed by Utagawa Toyokuni who was an ukiyo-e print master. He was admitted into Toyokuni`s studio soon after in the year 1811 and studied there until 1814 and became an independent artist. Between 1818 and 1827 Kuniyoshi failed to make any works and became very poor to where he had to sell used tatami mats for a while just to make some money. By the 1820s he developed his own individual style of print making and made “One hundred and eight heroes of the popular Suikoden all told” based on Shuihu Zhuan. Most of his prints were of worriers or influenced warriors but he also made some landscape prints as well. Kuniyoshi died in April 1861 at the age of 65 in Genyadana but not before passing his knowledge off to many of pupils including Yoshitoshi.
The “Life of Nichiren: A Vision of Prayer on the Waves” is an inspirational piece of art that depicts the Buddhist priest Nichiren attempting to calm the waves as they sweep up his boat. To the left side of the print there is a giant wave that is following up a smaller wave in the center. The boat has been forced to the right side of the print but waves are also coming from the right side of the print. The boat is a canoe shape and in it is Nichiren as well as 6 others who are lying at the opposite side of the boat. Nichiren is holding out his hands to block the waves coming from the left as the others are terrified. In the background there is land with mountains on it to show hope at the end of the storm. At the top of the print is a dark and stormy sky that shows the light either coming or going.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi`s “Life of Nichiren: A Vision of Prayer on the Waves” is a Japanese print from 1835. He was born January 1, 1797 and started printing at the age of 12 admitting him into Toyokuni’s studio. He soon became an independent artist and after going through a time of poverty became an ukiyo-e print master. This particular print depicts Nichiren attempting to stop waves that are coming from either side of his boat. Behind the waves and the boat is land showing that after the storm there is hope. It is currently at the Metropolis Art Museum but until 1939 Henry L. Phillips was the owner of it. “Life of Nichiren: A Vision of Prayer on the Waves” as well as Kuniyoshi`s other prints will remain as motivational art works for all worriers and tell ancient Japanese stories in each one.
The Scream
“The Scream” is an agonizing piece of art by Edvard Munch a very renowned modern artist. It was originally named Der Schrei der Natur or The Scream of Nature and was made in 1893. It depicts a man screaming in despair with an orange background. There have been many atempts to steal this piece of art and some even succeeded and had to be recoverd by the authorities. In an auction it was bought for $119,922,500 by Leon Black in 2012. Munch is a Norwegian painter and printmaker who was a great influence in German Expressionism. “The scream” is now at National Gallery, Oslo, Norway with high security where it will be forever known as Munch`s best piece of art work.
Edvard Munch is a Norwegian artist born on December 12, 1863 in a farm house. His mother whom was also artistic died of tuberculosis in 1868 when he was 5 years old. He went to a technical college to study engineering in 1879. Munch soon left college though to become an artist but his father who was a very religious man was disappointed in his son`s decision and saw art as unholy. In 1881 he enrolled in another school this one being an art school. Between the 1880s and 1890s Munch spent his time trying to find his style of art. He died on January 23, 1944 in at Ekely and he is also thought to be a Nazi sympathizer because he had a Nazi funeral.
“The Scream” is a piece of art that portrays pure despair in a human. In the center coming from the bottom is a man dressed in black and screaming, facing the painter. The man has dark grey, green, and flesh tone skin with a bold head and a long face. He seems to be standing on a pear as it is going diagonally across the bottom left side of the piece. At the end of the pear seems to be two other figures in black but their faces are not visible behind the man screaming and off the pear is the sea. Within it are two boats that are very far away and are hard to see. At the top of the piece is an orange and white sky with some blue streaks to add to the fearful and sad mood of the art piece.
Edvard Munch`s “The Scream” is a piece of art that shows the viewer the fear and utter despair of the average human being. It was made in 1893 when Munch was finding his personal art style. He grew up with a religious father and his mother died when he was very young. “The Scream” was his best art piece and many people have tried to steal it from the National Gallery. It was made with Oil, tempera, pastel and crayon on cardboard and sold for $119,922,500 in an action. The piece depicts a man screaming on a pear under an orange, white and blue sky. Some think that Munch was a Nazi sympathizer because he had a Nazi funeral when he died but even if he was he will still be known as one of the greatest artists of all time.