snproden

Art of the Great Depression  On October 29th, 1929, Wall Street traded some 16 million shares in one day, causing a catastrophic event that sent the industrialized world into economic chaos. Meanwhile, people had been migrating west, establishing farms in the grasslands, and naively churning up the land with shallow root systems in areas where rainfall was scarce. Shortly after the stock market crash, dust storms began to arise in the Midwest, resulting in further loss of homes and livelihoods. These hardships impacted millions of people, giving rise to the Great Depression. President Hoover, who was in office at the time, struggled to respond effectively to the crisis. However, when Franklin D. Roosevelt won the next election by a landslide, he began implementing the New Deal —a series of policies to combat economic devastation and rebuild America by creating jobs for its citizens.  One significant component of the New Deal was the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which f...

 Romanticism vs. Post-Impressionism

Art and Science  Neoclassical art emerged in the 1760s and continued until approximately the 1840s. It partly arose as a reaction—a revolt—against the Rococo style, which had grown increasingly popular. More significantly, it was fueled by a burgeoning interest in science and its rapid advancements. Theories and philosophies concerning the universe, its forces, and the nature of personal freedom and existence began to gain prominence. Additionally, the discovery of the ancient, buried cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii greatly inspired artists across various disciplines during this period. I personally love science and immediately started searching for science and art. I was thrilled to stumble upon George Stubbs. He was commissioned to illustrate the fauna from the Captain Cook voyages. I could not find anything related art of Alaskan animals, but I did discover this beautiful rendering of a horse called Whistlejacket. George Stubbs  Whistlejacket  c.1762 oil on canvas...

The Choices We Make:  a Baroque Analysis A Boy and a Girl with a Cat and an Eel c irca 1635 possibly made in the Netherlands by Judith Leyster Hanging in The National Gallery, London, England The Boy and Girl with a Cat and an Eel caught my eye immediately. It was one of the first paintings I saw from the Baroque period that had people smiling, and they were children at that! I felt like I had just stumbled upon these two mischief makers and caught them in the act of their mischief.  The boy’s half smile gives us the impression he is contemplating going through with his misdeed, checking the adult to see if he can get away with pushing those boundaries.  How angry or stern does the adult look? The consequence could depend on their demeanor. Should he dare? The little girl even has some mischief, though she appears to be pointing out that they won’t do it! But the gleam in her eyes and smile say otherwise. They definitely will, just when we turn away and are no ...

  The Seven Sacraments Rogier van der Weyden,  Seven Sacraments Altarpiece , 1445–50, oil on panel, 200 cm × 223 cm ( Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp )      There are so many beautiful pieces of art from the Renaissance that it was hard to choose a piece to discuss. As I clicked on image after image, I stopped clicking when the Seven Sacraments appeared on my screen. What first drew my attention was the depth and texture of the picture. It almost looked as though it was part painting and part sculpture. In the middle panel hung the Crucification of Christ in a cathedral-like setting. The room stretched back behind him, giving such depth it made me wonder if it was somehow 3D when viewing it in person. I began researching the piece and discovered more details in the painting the longer I looked. I was hooked. Here was a painting that mesmerized one instantly. It is not a painting to glimpse at and move on, but to take time to get lost in the details, viewin...