San Diego Museum of Art

A special exhibition is closing in a week...

The Invention of Glory
Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries
Closes September 09, 2012

If you wish to view some of the "finest surviving Gothic tapestries" in person, perhaps you can take the time to visit the museum before the exhibition closes. If you do go...have an employee sign your admission ticket and write down the name of your favorite artwork and take thorough notes to DESCRIBE the artwork. Pay attention to elements and principles of art. Pay attention to WHAT is being shown.

Viewing the World Through an Artist's Eyes

This week we encountered the elements and principles of art in AP Art History class. The cover of the Scholastic Art Magazine features Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. Ironically I read an article about Van Gogh from Mail Online this week that suggested he may be color blind.

This got me to thinking. We view history from the eyes of those creative people who have visually documented history. I have always contemplated bias that may be included in artwork, like in literature. I had not considered the idea that the artist LITERALLY may see differently than the general population. This makes me approach the art I see in the future with a different lens. I will now factor in this angle when I look at an artist's color choice. Perhaps this article will open up a discussion about other artists and artwork.

The line between art and science is often blurred. Artists understand optics and how the eye views colors, an understanding that helps them create visually and intellectually pleasing images. Artists understand the science of binders to get the most from the pigments they used. Today ... conservationists understand scientific processes to conserve/restore works from the past.

FIRST ASSIGNMENTS

Now that you read the Introductions in Volume 1 and 2 ... AND have your workbooks...

The following is the homework for this week AND next:

ACTIVE Read Chapters 1 and 2

Complete Workbook Volume 1:
Introduction (NOT discussion questions ... those will be assigned separately when assigned)
This will be torn out and turned in on Tuesday 9-4-12
Answer Discussion Question #2 in paragraph form. Upload to turnitin.com by NOON 9-3-12

Complete VOLUME 2 Workbook Introduction ... pages 11-12 (terminology) Keep in your workbook. I'll collect the full workbook so you have the rest of the page to complete later.

Complete Workbook Chapter 1
Discussion Question #3 (in paragraph form AND upload to turnitin.com) by NOON 9-3-12
Complete workbook pages to turn in on 9-4-12

Complete Workbook Chapter 2
Turn in pages on Friday 9-7-12
Complete DQ 1 and 5 in paragraph form (upload to turnitin.com by MIDNIGHT 9-6-12


Thursday in class I will give you the password and class ID to register for turnitin.com.

Welcome to AP Art History 2012-2013

I look forward to working with you this year! We'll travel through time and across continents to learn about what unites us a humans. Some basic themes include:
Basic needs of food, clothing, shelter
The desire to love and be loved
People interacting with people and people interacting with nature
Man's role in creating ... and manipulating nature
Man's interaction with his environment
Man's control over/companionship with animals
People working and playing
Religion
Politics
Economics
Architecture
Painting
Innovations ... New Technologies
Portraits
"Green" Building and "Eco Friendly" concepts
Power

People are people. We'll see how and why humans created over time and across continents.

Homework tonight:
Bookmark the blog. Join the blog as a follower.
Read the introductory chapters in BOTH volume 1 and Volume 2 of the book.

Homework due FRIDAY:
Read Chapters 1 and 2
Sign up on turnitin.com (passwords given out in class on Tuesday)

One of the first UNITS we will explore that is NOT in our book is American Naive Painting. The image on this post is from the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. It is part of the temporary exhibit that we will explore online.
Robert Peckham
The Hobby Horse, c. 1840

Watching the Olympics ... Pondering SPORT shown in Art

Competition is a natural part of human existence (and in the animal kingdom too). I am enjoying watching the "Games of the 30th Modern Olympiad" on NBC right now and started to think about images of sport and athleticism that have been shown in art in the past. Granted, current images from covers of Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine, and Wheaties Cereal come to mind; but I was thinking back to the HISTORY of the Olympics.

One of the first instances of sport I think of is the relief carving of Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions, from palace complex of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh. (Image Below)

The ANCIENT OLYMPICS are thought to have started in 776 BCE. The Greek culture produced sculpture that showed the people's admiration for the youthful, athletic male form. Seated Boxer is an image that comes to mind from the ancient Greek culture. It captures a moment where an athlete is waiting for his results. This is not a moment of competition, rather a moment of waiting POST competition. (image below) The TV screen captures this moment as male and female gymnasts await results in each of the events. The LIVE tension is evident on the current Olympians' faces. The tension and physical exertion are evident in the ancient sculpture. The Blanton Museum on the campus of the University of Texas Austin has a collection of plaster casts of Greek sculptures. Look through the many examples of athleticism shown in these models.

Impressionists like Degas depicted preparation for sport in his images of dancers and dance rehearsals. His 1789 painting, the Dance Lesson is a horizontal composition showing the different activities that consume the dancers as they improve their techniques (image below)

. We see conversations among dancers, frustration in a lone dancer with her face in her hands, and concentration in a group of people in the background. The preparation for competition or recital is evident. This painting and more by Degas can be seen at the newly reopened French Galleries at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

The George Bellows exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (now through October 8, 2012) contains many images of men engaged in sport. Numerous scenes depict boxers in New York City, at a time when public boxing was illegal. An athlete himself, Bellows decided to give a public view to the sport that had to go "underground". He kept the sport alive in the manner in which he was able.