Activity #13 Moods and Styles

LATE ASSIGNMENT:

The content of Daybreak – A Time to Rest is representational in that it is capturing life in “the visible world, in a likeness in which we recognize” (Getlein, p. 29), Jacobs however, represents these moments in life in an abstract manner. Jacob approaches abstract in a recognizable manner. That is a viewer of his pieces for the most part can look at Jacobs work and decipher the artist intent. With Daybreak, it obvious that this is a human figure taking a nap, a “break” possibly concealing himself/herself within the surrounding foliage. Jacob’s form, the visual aspects such as shapes, lines and colors used in this composition are consistent with several art movements of the 20th Century. The movements are fauvism, expressionism, and cubism. “Fauvism lasted for only three years, however it impacted modern art tremendously by removing the constraint from artists to use colors that replicates the real colors of the natural world”, (Getlein, p. 520). The Fauvism influence can be seen in Lawrence Daybreak, by the deep orange-yellowish hue of the sand. “Expressionism, which the emotion and inner vision of the artist is expressed rather than the exact representation of nature”, (Getlein, pp. 518-519) is also prevalent in Lawrence’s pieces. Although Daybreak is the artist homage to a not so favorable time in African American history, slavery and struggle for freedom, the distorted lines, shapes, and colors that are used illicit emotions of happiness. Lastly, slight influences of cubism can be detected in Lawrence work. “Cubism introduced by Pablo Picasso and George Braque takes forms of the visible world and fragmented them into geometric shapes that are drawn together to make a whole and presents an image with its’ own logic”, (Getlein, pp. 522-524). In Daybreak triangles and circles dominates the piece. There are implied triangle created by the foliage and the large feet in the foreground, that directs the viewer eye to the focal point, the human body. A combination of circles are used to create the massive feet, possibly swollen to imply the tiredness of the human body, hence the subtitle of the piece, A Time to Rest.

Like, Lawrence’s Daybreak – A Time to Rest, Perilous Nights by Jasper Johns is also abstract in style. However, Johns piece is at the other end of the spectrum for abstractness, in that the artist starting point in unrecognizable. The piece is so nonrepresentational that it gives the viewer no definite point for which to begin interpretation. This art form “nonrepresentational or nonobjective takes abstraction to another level, that almost removes it from the visible world”, (Getlein, p. 33). Perilous Night exhibits influences from cubism, dadaism, and surrealism. There is much more cubism inspiration in Perilous Night than in Daybreak, in that Perilous Night color palette is restricted to basically three colors and the patterns in which the portrait is created. The paint strokes appear short and blended in some areas. Thus, Perilous Night is representational of the cubism movement with its palette, technique, and its utilization of geometric shapes. “Characteristic of dadaism, Perilous Night reveals the creativity, spontaneity and relentless of the artist not to be categorized”, (Getlein, p. 528). Johns use of objects on this encaustic piece and the organic shape, that resembles a handkerchief in the lower right side of the piece gives the work additional dimension to what would have been just an dull portrait of squares and rectangular. And finally, Jasper John piece is definitely surrealism in that he combines touches of collages, cubism, and dadaism, all precursors of surrealism, which allows the artist to release all inhibitions, and create from the subconscious (Getlein, p. 529).