Natasha Jones

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was an American artist and key figure in the Pop art movement.

Roy Fox Lichtenstein was born on October 27, 1923, in New York City. He was the first of two children and his father was a real estate broker and his mother was a homemaker but had trained as a pianist. She exposed Roy and his sister to museums and concerts, and Roy showed interest in art from an early age. In his teenage years, he’d regularly visit the American Museum of Natural History and MoMA. He was also a fan of Jazz music and played piano and the clarinet. Roy studied at Ohio State University and some of his artistic influences included Rembrandt and Picasso.

Roy Lichtenstein’s career as an artist took of when he imitated images from comic books and advertisements from the 60s. He was known for his comic strips imagery and rendered his work in a style that mimicked the printing process of newspaper reproduction. One of the ways Lichtenstein incorporated this style was through the use of Ben-Day dots, this gave his work a more mechanical look and became a key part of his new style. He had a way of transforming images by getting rid of excess detail, reducing colour palettes to simple primaries, and heightening contrast.

Lichtenstein was definitely one of the most innovative artists of the twentieth century and changed the American art scene. He was also a very prolific artist, creating over 5,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, murals and other forms of art. In 1995, Lichtenstein received the National Medal of the Arts. He passed away on September 29th, 1997 at the age of 73.

I like his work as I’m a fan of comics and the pop art style. I like the bold colours and repetitions of dots and patterns. I also really like the thick outline and the fact that he sticks to a limited colour palette while still creating something bright and eye catching.

Works Cited:

https://lichtensteinfoundation.org/biography/

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79665

Expressionism began in Germany, and came about during a period of widespread anxiety and growing disconnect from the world, along with a lost feeling of spirituality. It was also a reaction against Impressionism and academic art. The movement spread across Europe and later turned into Abstract Expressionism. Each country had its own group of famous painters. In Germany, it was Kirchner, In Russia it was Kadinsky and in Austria there was Kokoshka and Shiele.

Two very well known expressionist painters are Edvard Munch and Vincent Van Gogh. They were both very influential on expressionist art, using distortion of form and strong colours to convey yearning and feelings of anxiety. Expressionism was about what came from within the artist rather than a depiction of the external visual world. This changed the standard for assessing the artist’s work, because now the quality of art was based on the artist’s feelings rather than an analysis of the composition. Many expressionist artists used swirling brushstrokes and exaggerations in their depictions of subjects, which conveyed the emotional state of the artists during a time of anxiety. Artists would often paint the modern day world with alienated individuals, which was a psychological by-product of recent urbanization.

One of the most famous paintings of the time was Munch’s The Scream.

Throughout his career, Munch focused on scenes of death, agony, and anxiety and painted portraits that were emotionally charged and distorted. In his painting, the scream, Munch depicts the battle between the individual and society. The inspiration for this painting came to him while walking along a bridge in Oslo. He describes the scene: “the sky turned as red as blood. I stopped and leaned against the fence…shivering with fear. Then I heard the enormous, infinite scream of nature.” The painting doesn’t show reality for what it is but rather the way the artist perceives it, we can see that this is the artist’s emotional response to a scene. And he captures the theme of individual alienation, which is exemplified in many other work of the same period.

Van Gogh was another expressionist, and one of the most famous artists of all time.

The painting Starry Night shows a dreamy interpretation of the artist’s view from an asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence. The beautiful colours and swirling patterns draws the viewers in and it is believed that the cypress tree and the sky represent the connection between the earth and the heavens. Starry Night is an icon of modern art.

Expressionism wasn’t limited to paintings in Europe. It was an international movement for all art forms, such as in architecture, literature, and performance. After World War Two, an abstract form of expressionism developed in America, known as abstract expressionism.

https://www.britannica.com/art/Expressionism

https://www.theartstory.org/movement/expressionism/

https://www.vincentvangogh.org/starry-night.jsp#prettyPhoto

The campaign for the women’s suffrage movement began before the civil war. In the 20s and 30s, the majority of states have extended the franchise to all white men, regardless of how much money or property they had. It would be much longer until women got the right to vote.

During this time, all sorts of reform groups existed in the States, such as religious movements, moral-reform societies and anti-slavery organizations. Women often played an important role behind these organization.

The women suffrage movement then later took off in 1848, at a women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Together, woman suffrage supporters educated the public about women’s rights. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton among many others started petitions and lobbied congress to pass a constitutional amendment to enfranchise women.

Women of the movement wanted to pass reform legislation, but seeing that many politicians wouldn’t listen, they realized that in order to achieve reform, they needed to win the right to vote. Soon enough, at the turn of the century, the woman suffrage movement become a mass movement.

In the 20th century, two organizations came about from the movement; the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and the National Woman’s Party (NWP). NAWSA was lead by Carrie Chapman Catt, and they took campaigns to enfranchise women in individual states, and lobbied to pass a woman suffrage Constitutional Amendment. The NWP was a more militant organization, and was under the leadership of Alice Paul. They took more radical actions, like picketing the White House, in order to convince Wilson and Congress to pass a woman suffrage amendment.

Because of both the NAWSA and NWP activism, the 19th Amendment, enfranchising women, was finally ratified. This was one of the most significant achievements of women in the Progressive Era.

The 19th amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, and on November 2nd of that year, over 8 million women across the United States voted in elections for the first time.

Works Cited:

https://www.womenshistory.org/resources/general/woman-suffrage-movement

https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a leading artist of the Impressionist movement. He was born in Limoges, Frances and began as an apprentice and porcelain painter and studied drawing in his free time. He initially struggled as a painter, but later helped launch Impressionism in the 1870s and was one of the most famous artists of the movement.

Renoir came from a humble family and moved to Paris sometime between 1844 and 1846 and lived near the Louvre. Renoir became interested in art as a teenager and focused on porcelain although he also took free drawing classes at a city-sponsored art school, which was run by sculptor Louis-Denic Caillouette. When Renoir was nineteen, he started studying other artists’ work at the Louvre. He enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1862, which was a famous art school. Renoir also became a student of Charles Gleyre, and at his studio he befriended three other young artist: Frederic, Claude Monet, and Alfred Sisley. And through Monet, he met other talented artists such as Camille Pissarro and Paul Cezanne.

In 1864, Renoir was accepted to the annual Paris Salon exhibit. He showed his painting “La Esmeralda”, inspired by Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris, and then displayed a portrait of William Sisley, who was the father of his friend Alfred Sisley. With his works shown in the salon, Renoir’s profile as artist grew, yet still he had troubles with making a living. He was always looking for commissions for portraits and depended on friends and mentors, sometimes staying at their studios or homes.

In 1867, Renoir met seamstress Lise Trehot, who became his model. They became romantically involved and had a child although Renoir never publicly acknowledged his daughter. Renoir took a break in his work in 1870 since he was drafted in the army, but became ill so he never saw any action during the war.

In 1874, Renoir along with his friends, Pissarro, Monet, Cezanne and Degas decided to show their works on their own which became known as the first Impressionist exhibition. The name of the movement derived from the critics’ review, where they called their works “impressions” rather than traditional finished paintings. Another notable feature were the brighter colours they used and different types of brushstrokes.

Renoir died in 1919’s and his work would later inspire other artists such as Matisse and Picasso.

Down Below is a famous painting of Renoir’s which also happens to be a favourite of mine. Most of all, I like his handling of light and shadow, and the way he creates a lively atmosphere which looks typical of a warm, sunny day. I like the subject matter and the way details diminish and fade into the background. Overall, it is the bright colours and warmer tones which I like the most and this is something that is exhibited in impressionistic paintings.

Here’s another work of his that I like, Woman with a Parasol. As you can see, the two figures in the painting are done in a simplified, abstract manner. Again, this piece has a Summer feel to it because of the bright, warm colours, and this is something that I wish to achieve in my own painting.

Works Cited:

https://www.biography.com/artist/pierre-auguste-renoir

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) connected Canada coast to coast and played an important part in the nations development.

As part of the Confederation in 1867, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were promised a railway to link them to the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. British Columbia joined later in 1871, with the condition that a railway would be built in the next 10 years.

The construction of the railway was a long process and not much progress was made while John A. Macdonald was Prime Minister. In 1880, a group of Scottish businessmen took over the project, and in 1881 the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was incorporated with George Stephen as its first president. Still, they were facing difficulties and construction was slow progress. William Cornelius Van Horne became the new manager and construction would resume through the prairies and mountains. The Railway was completed in 1885 and connected Canada by its coasts.

There was a lot of discrimination which surrounded the construction of the railway. Land was taken from indigenous people and although negotiations were made, they were controversial and unfair.

The working conditions for the CPR were very dangerous. There wasn’t much of a work force in British Columbia at the time, so Chinese workers were used for the construction. The working conditions were dangerous and little pay was offered for excruciating work. Chinese workers only received $1 a day, and despite their meagre salary they were expected to pay for their food and camping gear. Since they couldn’t afford more nutritious food, many workers developed scurvy from lack of vitamin C. White workers did not have to pay for the same items and were paid more money ($1.50-2.00). The hardest of tasks were assigned to Chinese workers, such as blasting the tunnels through rocks. As a result, many workers died from landslides and dynamite blasts.

Over 15,000 Chinese workers helped build the railway and an estimated 600 died. The very same year that the construction was done, a head tax was introduced which stated that Chinese immigrant did not have the permission to vote.

The Canadian Pacific Railway played a major role in Canadian History and it is important to acknowledge the injustices that many of the workers faced.

Works Cited:

https://www.cpr.ca/en/about-cp/our-history

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-pacific-railway

https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/settlement/kids/021013-2031.3-e.html

James McNeil Whistler was an American born artist of Scottish-Irish ancestry. As a child, Whistler spent time in St. Petersburg with his father who was a civil engineer. He returned to the United States to attend Military School but he would later abandon this to pursue the arts instead.

Similarly to other artists of the time, James McNeil Whistler was fascinated with Paris and adopted a Bohemian lifestyle. He appreciated the French modern movement and realism and was inspired by painters he knew like Gustave Courbet, Henri Fantin-Latour and Francois Bonvin. Whistler’s work exemplifies realism and he was also drawn to the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which had begun in England in 1848.

Whistler moved between England and Paris and we can see his love for the sea through his oil studies and watercolours. He later painted the River Thames when he lived in London and exhibited his work in Paris which caught the attention of Charles Baudelaire.

Whistler received a lot of praise for his painting Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (1862) which was shown at the Salon des Refuses in 1863.

I am not entirely sure how I feel about this painting. I find it interesting how Whistler went for a minimal colour palette and like the way he added subtle patterns to the white backdrop. However, I think that the model looks stiff and find the juxtaposition between the white dress and fur carpet unsettling and uncomfortable to look at. The tone is also a bit dull but I do enjoy the attention to the fabric and folds.

I like the painting above, Milly Finch, for its expressive brush strokes and bold colours. I like the pose of the woman because she appears to be more content and relaxed and this feels more natural than the typical poses found in other paintings at the time. I like how certain parts are more detailed for emphasis while the rest is left unfinished. We can also see the influence Japanese art had on this piece; for example, the style of dress, the fan, and oriental patterns on the couch.

Apart from paintings, Whistler also did etchings and works in watercolour as seen above. I like the way he handles the medium.

In his later years, Whistler felt as though his work did not keep up with modern movements. When impression became the style of choice for many artists, Whistler still focused on painting small studies of towns and seascapes as well as painting from nature. His etchings and lithographs also weren’t very popular as he only produced a few in colour which were popular at the time. Overall, his work was quite successful and he was a well respected artist of the 19th century.

Works Cited:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-McNeill-Whistler