Art 101 Mid Term Introduction

The works of art I chose all have Political or Social Order themes.The first piece of art The Death of the Earl of Chatham uses implied contour lines to lead you eyes directly to the Earl whom you might have had a harder time finding if they were not there.The implied contour lines(83), from the people looking at the Earl and the light and shadow or the chiaroscuro(92) to make the earl the positive shape(89), (even though he doesn't really stand out) in the painting. Copley uses brown monochromatic colors(97)in this oil on canvas painting. He uses the light from the windows and the shade to lead your eyes to the world in this asymmetrical painting. The setting of the painting takes place in what looks like a meeting room .This painting looks like it has a political theme because of the meeting area where the death took place. It looks as though these are all business men or men of power of some sort.

The next painting, the Emancipation Proclamation is an oil on canvas painting. The artist, A.A. Lamb, make the lady on the chariot the positive shape(89) in the painting, or the shape we perceive as dominant. Lamb uses value(92,96) to make the horse, chariot and rider stand out, the varying from light to dark, in the painting. He used mostly cool colors(95) to paint this painting. He also incorporated an atmospheric perspective(113) in this painting obscuring the distant objects with what looks like dust clouds from the chariot. This painting has a political theme because the emancipation proclamation freed all slaves which was one of the problems which the north and the south could not agree on.

The painting Country Dance shows the Social order side of the theme. In the background there is a black "maid" that was not included in the festivities . You can tell this by the type of attire she is in . The dancers have on formal clothes while he/she has on a apron. I found this painting interesting mostly because when I looked at the fiddler, I couldn't for the life of me figure out where his legs where. The artist, Martin Ferrell uses horizontal lines in this painting and after close inspection, I couldn't figure out if this family was white or black.Ferrell uses mostly cool colors(95) except for red to create this painting.

The next painting Nonchaloir (Repose) also portrays a social order theme. The figure in the painting (89) is painted in such a way to show status, including her attire and surroundings.In the chair she appears reclined with her feet up and her hands across her lap, as though she is royalty without a care in the world. The gold hues on the furniture also follow that implied approach. The silkiness of her dress is shown by using value(92, 96) to show the light reflecting of of it. John Sargent uses cool colors(95) in the painting, which gives the painting a very relaxed feeling.

The last painting Interior by Horace Pippin also shows social order. You can see the differences between this painting and the last. First of all this family is black, in a one room home, which serve as bedroom, kitchen, living, dining and bath room all at one time.You can tell that this family doesn't have much wealth because of the cracks in the wall and attire being worn. The warm colors(95) used to create the rugs on the floor give implied warmth to the house which it otherwise might not have. The little boy holding the baby caught my attention in this picture because of their size, in comparison to the lady in Nonchaloir (Repose).Pippin used complementary cool colors to paint the rest of the house and a hue of white to create the effect of light on the walls. The painting portrays how a black family lived in the 1800s.