Cecil Collins

In 1965, Cecil Collins (1908-1989) created “The Great Happiness” using Etching. 

I think this image is interesting because, in my opinion, the greyscale of the image leaves its subject matter open. I can’t decide whether I think it is a seascape with waves and spray from the ocean, or if it is a starry night maybe with some fireworks creating the spray-like effect in the sky, or if it is something else entirely. I like this mystery and ambiguity as I think it gives more power to the viewer whilst also making them use their imaginations as to what it could be depicting.

I think the contrast between the dark panel at the bottom of the image against the light panel in the middle and the sort of middle tone at the top, gives the overall image a slightly more realistic and believable appearance.

Cecil Collins

In 1951, Cecil Collins (1908-1989) created “Hymn to Night”.

I think the darker top and bottom of the image with the colour getting lighter towards the middle, creates a mysterious and haunting atmosphere with a suggestion of danger. I like the range of tones in the sky as it gives a real feeling of distance and perspective. I also like the way that the figure is almost part of the tree which to me suggests the idea that people could be one with nature if we ever tried or wanted to be.

I think the shape in the sky, on the right of the tree, at first looks like a cloud but looking closer I think it could be the shape of an angelic type figure flying towards the figure in the foreground.

Futurism

Futurism was an art movement with political implications that started in 1909 and it was the most important Italian avant-garde art movement of the 20^th century.

The Futurists were fascinated by new visual technology, in particular chrono-photography, a predecessor of animation and cinema that allowed the movement of an object to be shown across a sequence of frames. This technology was an important influence on their approach to showing movement in painting, encouraging an abstract art with rhythmic, pulsating qualities.

Their enthusiasm for modernity and the machine ultimately led them to celebrate the arrival of the First World War. By its end the group was largely over as an important avant-garde, though it continued through the 1920s, during that time several of its members went on to embrace Facism, making futurism the only 20^th century avant-garde to have embraced far right politics.


Giacomo Balla (1871-1958)
Flight of the Swallows 1913

 

Balla has created the swallows’ speed and movement by placing them in precise sequence, one after another. He appears to have included the rigidity of the window shutters to contrast their motionlessness with the birds’ continuous movement.

I like the powerful suggestion of speed, movement and energy in this image as it makes it very life-like.


Gino Severini (1883-1966)
Armored Train 1915

In this image, five faceless figures crouch in a militarised train car, aiming their rifles in unison. Smoke from gun and canon fire shroud the natural landscape. Severini celebrated war, which the Futurists believed could generate a new Italian identity- one of military and cultural power.

I think this image looks pretty at first, but then looking closer you can see soldiers which look like they are in trenches. I also think that their squared faces and bodies make them look as mechanical as the train and guns around them.
 

Carlo Carra (1881-1966)
Interventionist Demonstration 1914

This image was inspired by Carra’s sighting of leaflets dropped from an airplane as they fluttered down over the Piazza del Duomo. He has used the Cubist style in this collage poem with the composition moving outward from the center in concentric circles and with a number of rays or lines of force moving out from the center giving an impression of an explosion.

The layered items create illusion of perspective. This idea was also used in synthetic cubism – using items from the real world in a painting. The visible overlaps also suggest a busy atmosphere.

While the colours vaguely suggest an explosion, I only saw the leaflets within the image.

Jim Dine

Jim Dine (b 1935) is an American artist. Although closely linked with Pop art, what sets him apart from his peers is his depiction of intensely personal images such as shoes, neckties, and tools; the latter of which he came to appreciate while working in his grandfather's hardware store as a teenager.

 This image, created in 1984, is one of a series/suite of 28 prints using dry point etching which make up the book “The Temple of Flora”. The dry point technique has been used to give an overall soft look to the image.

I like this image because it shows how fragile nature can be whilst also showing the beauty that it creates. I also like the falling seeds/pollen as well as the veins on the leaves and petals which add texture to the image. I think the dark patches near the bottom of the image give a feeling of shadow, and to me suggest something lurking in the undergrowth therefore giving a feeling of wariness. I really like the way that the curving stems of the flowers draw your eye to different parts of the image in an almost continuous pattern.

Impressionism

Claude Monet (1840-1926) painted “Grainstacks: End of Summer” in 1891 using oil paints.

Monet used skills of painting with pure colour to capture an exact moment of the day. He discovered that the same objects in different light have a different mood. He often painted the same scene at different times of the day, each time using different colour themes. Monet dabbed the paint on in short strokes of strong colour. He has used oil paint and you can just make out the texture of the paint because he has layered the pigment on in thick textured marks. He accentuates the colours of the sky by using the idea of silhouette and places the stacks against the light.

 

  I like this image as it gives a calm, happy feeling by conjuring memories of summer evenings in the countryside. I think the soft pinks and blues in the shadows give the painting more depth, while the darker blues and greens in the shadows help create a more summer-like atmosphere within the painting. The pale blues, greens and yellows in the sky also have this effect. I also think that the lighting on the hills, trees and grainstacks gives a more life-like impression to the image. However, this lighting also gives the impression that the image is slightly out of focus, giving it a soporific atmosphere.

  

Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) painted “Paris Street, Rainy Day” in 1877 using oil paints.

Caillebotte was a French painter, member and patron of the group of artists known as Impressionists, though he painted in a much more realistic manner than many other artists in the group. He was noted for his early interest in photography as an art form.

Due to the inheritance from his parents, Caillebotte could afford to paint without the pressure to sell his work. It also allowed him to help fund Impressionist exhibitions and support his fellow artists and friends (including Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, and Camille Pissarro among others) by purchasing their works and, at least in the case of Monet, paying the rent for their studios.

 I like the style of this image – the tall buildings; the light reflecting off the wet umbrellas which draws your eye to the umbrellas; there is a sense of calm even though the number of people on the street suggests they are busy with getting on with everyday life despite the rain. The expressions on the faces of the front two people portray a feeling of being fed up of yet another day of rain.

I think the shadows and dark coloured reflections on the ground emphasise the rainy day element of the painting. There also seem to be small puddles forming between the cobbles, showing that it has been raining for some time, resulting in the cobles being more prominent within the painting.

I think the exaggerated perspective is meant to emphasise the sheer size of Paris streets. I also think that the people on the street look busier because they are more spaced out than one would expect which makes it easy to imagine that in just a moment, everyone in the painting will have moved and nothing will be the same.

 

Allen Jones

In 1999, Allen Jones (b 1937) created “Dance” using Lithography.

Lithography is a chemical process where the image is drawn onto a stone plate with a special grease-based crayon. An oil-based paint is stuck onto the stone with a sticky substance and then passed through a printing press with a piece of paper. The image is then transferred to the paper and colour can be added.

 

 The square edges of the orange against the yellow gives a suggestion of a door through which can be seen a couple dancing. This suggestion of a door and the idea of a curtain created by the blue material, gives a feeling of perspective and depth to the image. The yellow also gives the impression that the dancers are in the spotlight.

I like the colour in this image and the way that the black adds texture and shadow to the material. However, the image itself is not the sort of thing that I would stop and admire. It gives me a feeling of danger and makes me feel like I’ve got my guard up – I am not sure if it is the figure which seems to be sneaking off somewhere or the reddish orange or even the combination of the two, that gives me this feeling.

Tom Davidson

Tom Davidson (b 1956) used lino cutting to create “Highland Loch”.

I like this image as its simple shapes and blue-grey colour creates a complete sense of calm and tranquillity. The range of tones in the image creates a real sense of depth and distance.

The fine lines used for the trees, in the sky and on the hills creates an eerie/haunting atmosphere within the image. The lines used to create the ripples in the loch make the image more life-like/realistic as a whole. The small, dark islands give a feeling of loneliness and isolation creating a mysterious atmosphere.