I will begin with comparing and contrasting the art of Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas… And Gustav Klint, Death and Life.
Kahlo’s, The Two fridas,
Is under the balance section of this chapter. The Two Fridas are interesting due to the different dresses and colors: The left one standing out more for me due to it is lighter and ties in to the white clouds background more. The skin tone is also lighter in the face probably due to the artist wanting to reflect the German heritage side of her. The veins / arteries connection is also accented by the clouds breaking up between their faces, as well as the hands. I am curious about the difference with the seat showing to the left, but it may be the artist wanted to do more connecting with those colors that are in the white dress. I sense an artist intention to help viewers move clockwise through that part of the bench going from bottom left, up and over to the upper right where I was drawn down again due to the darker heavy colors of skin and dress etc. That movement helps to create balance. I liked the exposed hearts that add an extra attraction that makes this artwork unique and provocative.
Gustavs’ Death and Life
Are under the asymmetric balance section, although the heavier and narrow death figure to the left balances out the wider and lighter life figures to the left. There is movement and flow, again upper left over to upper right, down and then back over the bottom left and up again to the top left. The artist does this through the heavier and thicker cross below the skull head. There are also the macabre similarities between this and The Two Fridas, but the differences in one to one figure ratio with Two fridas compared to the 1 to 7 figures ratio with Death and Life create the asymmetric balance. Also the mixture of so many different shapes and colors with Death and Life also create asymmetry.
I love both for the easy to understand, yet deeply meaningful statements they equally well deliver through design.
I also enjoyed Edouard Manet, A Bar at the Follies-Bergere:
For its variety and the barmaids expression. Her expression says ‘I want to be out there’, or,’ I want to be elsewhere’…but it definitely does not say, ‘I want to be a barmaid right now.’ I enjoy the mirror effect and the contrast between the far away noisy party in the mirror and the quietness of the barmaid’s expression. I wonder (forgive the going out on a limb) if all the bottles in front of her are like the noisy crowd and chaos of social life as Manet sees it , compared to the flower in the glass, who may represent the barmaids calm inner, Manet’s inner self really, that is introspective and the mood that predominates. The fruit as well, may just be his generational bent to put them in, or it may intentionally be there to help the flower(s) on her and in the glass represent a natural and authentic existence as compared to the superficial and mask wearing one represented by the lights, crowd, and action in the background. I wonder if it is Manet himself staring at the barmaid and seeing this great painting in his head. The balance is there with the two round white lights and the two images of women: And I also wonder if Manet refers to the front of the person seen represents one side of the personality, the back represents the different aspect of our nature. Maybe he is standing there wondering if she is really bored and tired of it and wants to go, or if she (maybe really his battle inside) wants to join in the fun and the frolic, but doesn’t know how to overcome her (his?) shyness. Oh, I know I am probably reading too much into this, and it may just be what I am projecting out that represents me, but it is what comes to mind. Also what comes to mind is the very bright woman facing the barmaid seen at the left side of the painting under the bright light ball. I wonder if he purposely put both there to show that the barmaid is really looking at her, and maybe in another world of thought as he is standing there waiting for her attention. She seems to be looking in that direction.
But the variety and drawn attention to the barmaids eyes and expression, right in the vertical center, does attract my attention and desire to know more about the situation, wanting to be in her head and wanting to be there to watch the crowd as well. Manet has succeeded in getting me to want to be experiencing the moment with her.
To compare and contrast, I also liked Hans balding Grien’s, The Three Ages of Woman, and Death.
Why did he want to include “Death” in the title? Wasn’t it already clear that’s who it is holding the hourglass? And why have death naked too, along with the beauty? Wasn’t it enough to have her naked? And why is death a warmer color than her? These are just a few questions I ask when I see this painting. The idea of it is very interesting and for that reason alone, I like this artwork. But the macabre look of Death, the way he reaches up over her with the hourglass and has the older women pushing his boney arm away, and the way he made the child to be so tiny and short…these have me intrigued and glued to staring at its raw unique way of representing this common scary thought that we all want to ignore and push away. Maybe the older woman hasn’t yet gotten her chance to live and Death is paying a visit too soon? So the similarities of the above two works: With this one, like the other work, the older women and Death are heavier in color and the child and young woman as lighter help to balance and the scarf connects the horizontal much like the above barmaids bar table and the alternating dark / heavy with the brighter / lighter colors. I also think the woman in both have the multiple sides of a woman thing going for them. They both have variety, a conflict going on, and a ghost like presence in them as well. The differences are the alarming mood the latter has compared to the slow mood the former gives off. They both tell a story in the moment, and they both have me asking questions, but they differ in that I want to be in the barmaid, and at the Follies Bar, but I do not want to be in the woman who’s Death seems to be so close at hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment