The artists that influenced his work include Williem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, and Robert Motherwell. These artists made him become associated with the well known Abstract Expressionist movement, however, he disconnected himself from this by his relationship with Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Jones. His work was sometimes connected with minimalism, for example Black, White, and Gray. His work was sometimes deemed "high-art graffiti". He had more than just paintings though. Twombly had produced many sculptures produced from a variety of materials such as found objects, clay, and plaster that were all painted white to suggest Classicism.
Twombly began his artistic career studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and at Washington and Lee University, and at the Arts Students League in New York City where he met the previously mentioned Robert Rauschenberg. Twombly and Rauschenberg both attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina followed by a trip to Italy and North Africa. Rome became Twombly's primary residence in 1957. With the Abstract Expressionist movement in mind, Twombly began to use calligraphic, graffiti like repetitive marks on his canvas using oil, pencil, and crayon. It was as though he was achieving some kind of stream of consciousness hand writing in art. His marks often include pieces of poetic text. Upon close look one can tell that his marks have a variety of tension and have a wide range of emphasis. His work was eventually placed in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 1979, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1994. In 1995 the Cy Twombly Gallery was opened at the Menil Collection in Houston. A year after, he won the Praemium Imperiale award, which was presented by the Japanese to artists who have "contributed significantly to the development of international arts and culture." I personally fell in love with the Abstract Expressionist unit last year, and I've wanted to explore back into that style without completely throwing away the linear elements that my art usually has. I am currently experimenting with carving into an abstract painting, but I wanted to try to add drips to it as-well. I may not do it with this piece, but I am hoping to try oil with the next one and take inspiration from his marks. My piece is similar to his in the fact that it tells a story and gives light to the inner state of mind similar to how old masters gave light to the outer states. I have included words in mine similar to how he often uses excerpts from poetry. I also like how he separated himself from the AbEx movement because he did not want to limit himself, and his use of 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional art is really intriguing. I think he fits on my list of my top 5 favorite artists. For further information of Cy Twombly, here are some Interesting Articles and the sources I used to find my information about him: Biography Information about his Art Interview Video Credit line for piece above: Leda and the Swan 190.5 cm x 200 cm oil on canvas
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Elizabeth Berrien is an internationally recognized wire sculptor. Berrien was born in 1950 and is known as the godmother of the contemporary wire sculpture movement. As a young child she always had an affinity towards animals. She would lay on her lawn for hours and study small ants and other insects. She said that at age five she was gazing at the ceiling and she visualized a long line looping back on itself. She then began to used a crude form of knitting to make a blanket for her pet turtle. While it was not a success, it was from that point that she began to pioneer new uses for fiber. All throughout her years in grade school she was marked as gifted and excelled in math. Her love for geometry and topology were crucial to her later experiments with wire sculpture. Berrien always had trouble expressing herself creatively in high school. She says that she could see the "energy lines" that made animals beautiful but she had difficulty transferring them onto paper. She almost abandoned her passion for art until she was forced to enroll in a sculpture class. Her teacher, Kenneth G. Curran, trained Elizabeth to explore different ways to express herself using creative problem-solving. He forced to to go out of her comfort zone and explore the use of wire. When the idea of her going to art school was proposed, Curran fought against it. He stated, "you're a non-conformist. You're doing a good job not being influenced by Alexander Calder, but most college art teachers have a personal mandate to influence the hell out of their students. Just go out there and have a life, the wire will take care of itself."
QUESTIONS:
1. How does Berrien's choice of material impact the content of her work? Does it impact the content at all? 2. How did what was going on in Berrien's life and what was going on around her change her subject of work? Did it change the content? (use information from the bio on her website) 3. Do the events or people from your past or current life affect your body of work similar to the way Berrien's does? Does your choice of material impact your content? Eugène Delacroix was the youngest of four children, his early life was sadly filled with much loss due to the death of his father, brother, and his mother all before he was even 16. Delacroix was interested in art from a young age, as he was often encourage by his uncle, artist Henri-François Riesener. Works such as Scenes from the Massacres of Chios (1824), The Death of Sardanapalus (1838) and Liberty Leading the People (1828) helped him become the leader of the Romantic movement in the 19th century. He strayed away from classical scenes and took a modern approach by focusing on more dramatic narratives, often inspired by history or literature. His work was often in direct contrast to that of his rival, Ingres. His pieces often focused on emotion and exoticism, each brush stroke containing vivid color and movement. Many of his works were based on direct observations of nature, for example the many animal drawings he created after his trip to North Africa. Other artists in France during his time were Théodore Géricault and Antoine-Jean Gros (other important figures for the Romantic era of art in France). The Death of Sardanapalus 1827 oil on canvas 12'10" x 16'3" Louvre Museum Paris, France Male Nude Posing for Figures in the "Frise de la Guerre" c. 1835 graphite, laid paper 19.6 x 29.1 cm National Gallery of Art Washington, DC SOURCES:
The Complete Works of Eugène Delacroix The Death of Sardanapalus (video) More Information On Delacroix (make sure you click on the "continue biography" link) After reviewing each of the sources: 1. What are some ways in which Delacroix broke classical tradition in his paintings (especially The Death of Sardanapalus)? 2. What were the main inspirations behind Delacroix's work? 3. Delacroix did not often follow the path of other artists, for example he did not apply for the Prix de Rome. How did Delacroix make himself known and how did it affect his career? |
Julianne
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