"Self-Portrait Dedicated To Leon Trotsky", Frida Kahlo, 1937

Frida Kahlo was born in the Mexican suburb of Coyoacan in 1907.  Her paintings were shocking at times, but mostly reflected her own turbulent life.  When Frida firsat began painting, she did so with oils.  Her pictures mostly were self-portraits and still lifes.  She fell in love at the age of 21 to Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera.  They soon married and survived many things together, such as infidelities, the pressure of Riveras career, a divorce and remarriage, and Kahlo’s poor health.  Frida and Diego traveled to the United States and France together. 

Frida Kahlo had her first solo exhibit at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1938.  She had her greatest success beginning in the 1980s when she published numerous books about her works. 

The painting I chose was a self-portrait of herself that she dedicated to Leon Trotsky.   I really enjoyed all of Frida Kahlo’s work, so I just picked this one because it was simple.  Frida looks do elegant in this painting, but very relaxed at the same time.  She did not seem like the person that had to be all done up to go out.  The painting is almost like she is standing on a stage or somewhere with curtains. 

The most interesting thing that I read about Frida Kahlo was that she did not orginally plan on being an artist.  She was a polio survivor and at the age of 15, she entered the premedical program at the National Preparatory School in Mexico City.  Her training ended shortly though because she was hurt badly in a bus accident.  During her time of recovery is when she really got into painting.

https://classes.uaf.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_60839_1%26url%3d

The artwork I choose was done on a canvas in 1993.  I choose this artwork because it reminded me of lounging out on the beach, which is one of my favorite things to do.  The trees remind me of palm trees and the houses remind me of the little beach houses along the beach.  The artwork is very bright and it seems to pop.  It really caught my attention and made me look at it several times. 

http://www.africaserver.nl/virtual/exhibitions/antognoni/

Julian Beever is an English artist and he was famous for his artwork on pavements.   Beever gives his pictures a 3D illusion.  This projection that he uses is called anamorphism.  When looking at several of his works, I could not believe how real they actually appeared to be. 

Julian Beever, Chalk Raft, This chalk raft was created for the Charleston Festival in the UK. 

Julian Beever, ‘Push the Boat Out’

Julian Beever, Drawing for Aveeno, This artwork was done in Union Square, New York. 

Kurt Wenner had an international career and started his love for art in 1982 in Rome, but was recognized for his talent while in his teenage years.  He was also inspired by anamorphism and created his illusionist paintings starting in 1984.  Wenner fuses the visual patrimony of the past with twenty-first century imagination.

Kurt Wenner, Perseus,

Kurt Wenner, Echo & Narcissus,

Kurt Wenner, Zoroaster,

All of the artwork from both of these artists were absolutely amazing.  I could not believe how real everything looked.  I personally wish that I could either witness the artists in action or at least have the opportunity to view some of their works, which I know will be hard to do because it is on the sidewalks and does not stay for long.  I found it hard to find the years of when the paintings were made, but I did find all the names of the paintings that I chose after a lot of searching. 

Sources:

www.timotca.org

www.kurtwenner.com

Dorothea Lange was a photographer that was funded by the Farm Security Administration. She liked to portray the plight of American farmers, sharecroppers and migrant workers that were devastated by the Depression in her photographs. Her work influenced the development of documentary photography. Lange was a natural photographer in the truest sense because she lived, in her words, “a visual life.” (http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=d_lange)

I found Migrant Mother so appealing because it was so compelling and touching. The mother looks so tired and worn out. She appears to be under a lot of stress with trying to take care of two children and provide for those two children. The mother looks like she is thinking, almost like she is trying to figure out what more she can do. Their clothing is ragged and torn. The mothers gaze is haunting and truly shows the hardships of the Great Depression.

I personally like the Realism visual art because I can put myself in the paintings and relate to them since they seem like they are actually real.  Impressionism, on the other hand, is not precise to detail, which I find very unappealing.

For example, lets compare and contrast a painting that is Impressionist and one that is Realist (Monet-Impressionist, Millet-Realist):

Claude Monet, Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of June 30, 1878

“The Gleaners”. Jean-François Millet. 1857. Musée d’Orsay, Paris

The first thing that I see when I look at Monet’s painting, I see that it is blurry. Nothing seems real in the painting and is not interesting. However, if you look at Millet’s painting, you can see the real sensation in it. It has a sensation that you could be one of the people in the painting. The people seem so important and it reminds me of old times when people worked hard on the farm, everyone helped out.

I would first like to start with a brief history with the beginnings of Beethoven’s life.  Beethoven was born in Germany, but had a career in Vienna.  He was a piano prodigy and had a successful career as a composer by the time he was 30 years of age.  Beethoven actually started losing his hearing when he was in his 20’s.  He was completely deaf by 1815, but he did not let that stop him and continued to compose.

Ludwig van Beethoven wrote the 5th Symphony in 1804-1808 and it was written in C minor.  Beethoven took several years to put the 5th Symphony completely together and he had finally performed the 5th Symphony in Vienna’s Theatre an der Vien on December 22, 1808.  Beethoven directed it himself.  

Beethoven’s 5th Symphony was written in four movements: an opening sonata, an andante, and a fast scherzo which leads to the finale.  This display of the movements is a good example of how the rise of the middle class had effects on music.  This piece of music was also very recognizable, but serious at the same time.  The music draws you in from the moment it starts.  It has its suspenseful moments and its slow, serious ones. 

I really enjoyed this Symphony when I was growing up.  In my elementary music class, I had the opportunity to listen to it a lot.  I also joined band in about the 5^th grade and by the 7^th or 8^th grade, I got the opportunity to play Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony in a concert.  However, sadly I did quit band, but I will never be able to forget how much I enjoyed playing that Symphony.  I also find it so fascinating that he continued to compose such amazing works even when he was deaf. 

The name of this piece of visual art is Adam and Eve.  It was engraved by Albrecht Dürer in 1504, after he had to have seen a picture of it somewhere.  He painted this piece of art in Nuremberg.  This piece of art is from the Northern Renaissance. 

Dürer was fascinated with ideal form, which is an idea that the perfect human form had to correspond to a system of proportion and measurements.  He then painted then picture of Adam and Eve, which displayed the first man and woman in almost the exact symmetrical idealized poses.  The picture portrays the innocence of Adam and Eve, but once they ate the forbidden apple, the innocence was gone. 

This painting is breath taking.  It truly reveals the starting of life for all people.  The painting goes back to the beginning when Adam and Eve chose to eat from the forbidden fruit tree.  This symbolizes humanism because Adam and Eve were the first humans.  The only thing that they were told not to do by God was to not eat from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge.