Artists Videos

I chose to watch the videos that examined the works of individual artists. The first one was Matisse and Picasso video. It compared the two to show how opposite they were in their ideas. Picasso was impulsive and born in to a family interested in art, Matisse’s family thought it was scandalous to be interested in art. Matisse painted real images, whereas, Picasso used imagination and memory for his works.
The Dance at the Moulin de la Galette referred to the artist Renoir. His work was done in 2 sizes using idealism and exhibited fun. It was about what happens on Sunday at the Dance Hall. This piece romanticizes the actions and was sold at at a record price.
A Sunday on Ka Grande Jatte, done in 1884, discussed the work created by George Seurat and his use of dots. I was amazed at the results of arranged dots of color in a pattern to create this picture. It revealed that the monkey in the final piece was added to the original after viewing x rays showed no monkey. The video also showed how the original work was just the riverbank, grass and trees. The 48 characters were added and re arranged a little at a time. The painting was about prostitutes. I learned french words that meant flesh or fish, what was she fishing for? and what millions of non blended dots of color can become.
The last video I viewed was Expressionalism. This showed the ideas and techniques used by several artists that influenced many in the future. Edward Munch was pessimistic, Franz Marc was a "Blue Rider", Ernst Kirshner opposed tradition, created "The Bridge” group and Anselm Kiefer used textures and geometrics to create his works, explaining one must have knowledge in history to understand his art.
I enjoyed learning more in depth about the various artists, especially Renoir and Seurat. The text explains only briefly some of the accomplishments, the videos goes into their whole life and art work in detail, as well as their death.