Reflection

If you could do one of the projects again, which one would it be and why?
If I could do one of the projects that we did in class again, in would be the self portrait, because I loved working with color. Color is my favorite aspect of art. You can do so much with different colors, such as expressing emotion and illustrating the passing of time and light. I also would take more time and pay more attention to details and colors.


Of all the artists you've researched, which one do you think is most interesting?
The artist that I think is most interesting is Mary Cassatt. I chose her painting Elsie in A Blue Chair for my portraits blog because I thought that the way she painted the expression in the little girl's face was interesting and different. I thought that it was fascinating how she mainly painted women and children, and focused so carefully on how they were feeling while she was painting them. You can tell from her paintings that she had some kind of connection with the subject of her paintings. All of her portraits are slightly different from "normal" portraits. The people in them are doing other things, or just thinking, but none of them are just sitting and having their portrait done.

Works Of Art I know

Tara Donovan, American
My First Impressions:
I thought that it was interesting how, from far away, this looks like something completely different than when you come up close and see what it is actually made of. I first saw this when I went to the ICA last month. It reminds me of coral or seaweed, but to others, it looked like a sandcastle. I think that the artist left it unnamed for this reason, so people would use their imagination when they saw this artwork.

What I've Learned:
Tara Donavan makes sculptures out of everyday objects, such as buttons, scotch tape, plastic straws, cups, and toothpicks. To make her art, she uses hundreds or thousands of the same objects. She tries to make the her art look like things you find in nature.

Works Of Art I know

Marcel Duchamp, French
Self-Portrait in Profile

My First Impression:
I though that this piece of artwork was very interesting, because it's a different way of looking at a self-portrait. Instead of a detailed painting with colors and an actual face, it just shows you the artist's profile, which makes you think about the person, more than just showing it to you would. You can also get some sense of the person's feelings just by the profile. To me, the man looks depressed, because of the way he's tilting his head. He doesn't look happy.

What I've Learned:
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist who tried to change the way art was thought about, and change what people thought was "art". One of the things he did was take a urinal and call it "Fountain". He made sculptures, painted and took photographs. He made things called Readymades, which were basically everyday objects that he altered and called sculptures.

Works Of Art I know - Portraits

Mary Cassatt, American
Elsie in a Blue Chair

My First Impressions:
The main element of this painting, I think, is light. The little girl in the center seems to be glowing with the brightness of her dress. I think that the artist was trying to show the innocence of the little girl, using the color white, which is often used to symbolize innocence. The girl also looks bored, as if she has been sitting there for a while, posing for the picture while wanting to play, or be somewhere else. I think that this is an interesting way to paint someone, since usually, when you are doing a portrait, you are trying to make the person look good. This might mean that the artist knows the little girl very well, and is having fun painting her, and making sure that she captures the girl's mood.

What I've Learned:
Elsie, the little girl in the painting, is Mary Cassatt's niece. Cassatt was one of the few female impressionist painters.She was born in America, but travelled in Europe and loved France, so she moved there and lived there for most of her life. She went to school at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She never got married. Her favorite subjects for her paintings were mothers and children.