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Paintings

October 3, 2020

How to Read a Painting

Painting-art is special and something which has mystified the world for decades. How…

Paintings

January 19, 2020

5 Famous Classic Paintings of Women

Why are so many beautiful women preserved in art on canvas?…

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August 17, 2019

Why Study the Arts and the Humanities?

What follows are my own reasons to study the humanities, with a…

Painting-art is special and something which has mystified the world for decades. From classic painters such as Van Gogh to modern artists like Banksy, arts have been adorned. It continues to grow in popularity also but unfortunately, reading a painting is not easy to do. Viewers can love what they see but miss the entire meaning behind it. For those who don’t understand much about art, they can be left intimated by the painting and embarrassed they don’t grasp the concept. Fortunately, there are ways to help you read a painting. So, how can you understand and read a painting?

Take a Good Look and Absorb the Details of the Painting

Art doesn’t have to be gorgeous to standout. It doesn’t have to be a painting of a beautiful meadow to have quality behind it. Painting-art can be good because of the amount of detail and effort put into it. So, you want to read a painting, well, look at it and see what the true subject of it is. Absorb the details – not just the subject matter or main focus of the painting but the entire picture. What do you see? What is the story behind it? Look at the subject matter, the use of colors, and the realism of the object.

How the Painting Speaks To You

Forget about what the artist is trying to capture, only they will know the true meaning behind a painting; however, it should speak to you. What does the painting say to you? What is your interpretation of the painting? That’s what you should be focusing on when it comes to reading painting-art because it’s your reflection of what the artist is trying to convey. It doesn’t have to be right or wrong, just your thoughts on the artwork. There will be symbols or objects that grab your attention so use them to understand what the painting is saying to you.

Style and Reaction

Think about the style used in the painting-art. There are many different styles; some offer a classical or traditional style, such as from the renaissance period. Modern artists often move away from classic scenes and are into bright and bold captions that are thought-provoking. Every artist has a style and should be appreciated. There will be artists that recreate every detail so vividly that it looks like a scene from real-life while others haven’t got that eye for detail. If you want to understand or read a painting, it’s essential to look and appreciate the artist’s style whether you like it or otherwise. Think about how the painting made you feel and your initial reaction.

Appreciating the Arts

Art is unique to every artist and every viewer. It’s fascinating just how much reactions a simple painting can provoke but that’s the point. Artists want a reaction; they want to see how viewers appreciate or interpret their subject. It’s strange but that’s the power of art. Reading and understanding a painting can be a totally unique experience for every individual. How you interpret painting-art may be different from others but you can appreciate it so much more. Read more about painting arts: https://www.britannica.com/.

5 Famous Classic Paintings of Women

January 19, 2020January 19, 2020

Why are so many beautiful women preserved in art on canvas? There may be a lot of reasons for their portraits, but most viewers will agree that such performances are captivating in the appeal of the subject, as well as in the story behind the painting and her life. Edgar Allan Poe wrote there was no such a tragic subject to write as the death of beautiful and interesting women.

The famous women paintings reviewed here reflect those that society might overlook for their tiny lives, or in the case of celebrities, omit their obvious features. Therefore, because of their potential to be ignored in art, they deserve a second look. When you consider famous paintings of women during earlier times, some fascinating portraits come to mind.

Whistler’s Mother (1871)

Whistler’s Mother was painted as oil on canvas by American artist James McNeill Whistler. It was firstly titled arrangement in Gray and Black: The Artist’s Mother. Currently, the Musee d’Orsay in Paris owns the art-painting, while it has traveled briefly in the USA in past years. Some unverifiable legends attend painting. One is that the subject of the original portrait did not arrive on time, thus the artist’s mother took her place. Another is that Mrs. Whistler first had to represent the portrait, but tired, she sat for the rest of her painting.

The Mona Lisa (1502)

The Mona Lisa is a great example of the style and influence of Da Vinci’s art. In 1516, Leonardo Da Vinci took the painting from Italy to France when he served the French king, Francois I. The king bought the painting and also kept it in Fountainbleu until it was later transferred by King Louis XIV.

The family portrait of an unknown woman “Madonna Lisa” or “Monna Lisa” with a touch of the smile can be that of a Florentine or a courtesan woman. Other mysteries surrounding the portrait are the two columns on each side of the woman, which are believed to have been later additions of the copyists, with scenes of unparalleled landscapes on both sides of the subject, in the background.

The Creation of Eve (1508-1512)

The Creation of Eve is part of the wonderful masterpiece of Michelangelo Buonarotti, the fresco on the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican in Rome. Commissioned by Pope Paul III, the finished ceiling was greedily defended by the Pope, while society, in general, declared it scandalous, because of naked figures in unbiblical poses. The successor of the Pope ordered that the figures be covered preferably, or that private parts of the body be covered. The Sistine Chapel remains a Renaissance mock-up of biblical art that continues to inspire viewers now.

The birth of Venus (circa 1483)

The birth of Venus is the representation of Sandro Botticelli of the Greco-Roman goddess Venus who comes alive in a shell dragged to the shore by the gentle breeze, personified as zephyrs. It is believed that the model for the portrait is Simonetta Cattaneo Vespucci, a beloved lover of Giuliano di Piero de Medici. Botticelli loved Simonetta also, who served as a model for some of his paintings.

Girl in a Chemise (circa 1905)

Girl in a Chemise by Pablo Picasso, later celebrated by Cubism and abstract modern art, represents one of his favorite themes, that of the people of the street or the marginalized of society. This well-known portrait shows a thin young woman who looks fragile and possibly sick. Her chemise barely covers the body of the girl, despite her slim and unhealthy appearance, the artist describes her as desirable.

The above portraits of fascinating women, famous and dark, remind us of the mysterious nature of femininity and how difficult it can be for artists to completely understand it by capturing their themes in art-painting. Those conversed above did a wonderful job of recreating the women of their times so we always have them with us. However, we remain a little insecure about specific nuances, gestures or objects in these classic portraits that display us so much and yet reveal so little. See more: https://www.artsheaven.com/famous-classic-paintings-of-women/.