Responding To Artwork

 

 

In order from Left to right:

Ivan Albright; Follow Me; 1947 lithograph; 41.275 x 31.115 cm

Albert Bierstadt; The Marina Piccola, Capri; 1859 oil on canvas; 140.97 x 217.17 x 13.34 cm

Andō Hiroshige; Maisaka Station from the series: 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road; CA. 1835 multi-colored woodblock print; 26.03 x 38.1 cm

Batuz; No. 131; 1982 dyed pulp on board 391.16 x 177.8 cm

Charlotte Spaulding Albright; Untitled (Branches over Stream); CA. 1908 platinum print; 16.51 x 11.43 cm

Lorraine Archacki; Quake; 1981 oil pastel and ink on paper; 53.02 x 55.88 cm

A.  Follow Me by Ivan Albright made an impression on me because it resembled the style of drawing that I do. It is interesting how the lower half of him is made up of intricate intertwining lines to from almost a cover of sorts. IF you look closer though, you see there is more to the work such as a chest and a goblet with a bottle of wine in it. What truly stood out to me was the intricacy of the work itself. The Marina Piccola, Capri by Albert Bierstadt made an impression on me as well.  What made an impression on me with this work is not one thing, but the whole of the work. From the use of light, the landscape, the motion given to the seas and the wave it is breaking on the rock, the place itself which is Capri and the simple depiction of activity there.  The size of the work also impresses me because he was able to fill the entire canvas with supreme detail. 

B. One of the works that I felt a connection with was Maisaka Station from the series: 53 Stations of the Tokaido Road by Ando Hiroshige. I felt a connection with this work because I love this style of art work among other things. I love the feel of the natural theme of the work, the serenity represented in the colors of the water/bay and the mountain jutting from the water and the seamless relationship between them. This work evokes emotion from me that is pleasant and content and that is what drew me to this work. Another work that I felt a connection with is No. 131 by Batuz. I don’t know what intrigues me about this work but I am just drawn in by the depth of the color and then lost in its subtle changes from darkest to lightest, relatively speaking. Whenever I look at it I find myself directed to the center rift by the alternating color and then I follow the rift through the work and back up the colors. This piece does not have very many things to look at but it has great depth and it is calming to look at.

C. A work that I wish to know more about is Untitled (Branches over Stream) by Charlotte Spalding Albright. I want to know why she didn’t give her work a name, why she choose that spot in particular, what propelled her to create a print of that spot. All the questions I have for this work relate to where and why whether it was a question mentioned above or one of the many other questions I have. I also have the question of what a platinum print is, for I know what a print is and what platinum is but I cannot see a reason for specifically using platinum or why it was specifically mentioned. Another work I have questions about is Quake by Lorraine Archacki. I want to know what it was created about, was it an earthquake as its title could possibly represent? Could that be a building on the left in the corner or sorts? Are those cracks in the work representing a separating of an earthquake or just a representation of the motion of shaking? I have these questions and many more I wish answered for sure. I am always interested in the reasons behind why a work of art is created.