Lessons from Art History
Art History is now over and I'm sad. I really enjoyed it. I'm not making a career out of art, but knowing so many artists including my dad, I have a much deeper understanding of their craft. I'm also glad I took it because a good part of it was the art of Ancient History. Right up my alley.
So...here's what I learned in art class:
1. Never, ever, ever take Art as a compressed course. It's not that I couldn't do it because I could. I just feel so cheated that I could spend as much time analyzing as many images as I would have loved to. To that end, I've decided NOT to sell back my book and read it more closely at my leisure.
2. I really don't like The Renaissance. Sorry to all the art lovers out there. The art itself is interesting but to me, due to the fact that it was such a large movement, it appears like all the art is cookie cutter. There are variations of course, but it starts to blend together after awhile. There are certain standouts that I'm interested in only because they stand out.
The only artwork I really love during that period is the Byzantium "icon style" paintings. Duccio's Virgin and Child is gorgeous. We have a good collection of it in our very own Allentown Art Museum.
I am also in love with Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa (which is technically Baroque) and Michelangelo's Pieta.
Mona Lisa? Meh.
Sistine Chapel? Meh.
Albrecht Durer rocks my socks. His painting of The Hare was something I loved as a child.
3. Gothic art and architecture rocks. Period.
4. Baroque and Rococo? Meh.
5. Neoclassicism rocks my socks as well. I like Jacques-Louis David.
6. Romanticism? Too flowery. Blech. Pre-Rafaelites? Right on.
Surprisingly enough (especially to me) I really liked Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Fauvism.
I still hate abstract and Pop Art. Jackson Pollack makes absolutely no sense to me. And while I'm there, I do a better job than he does when I paint my walls and use a floor canvas to prevent drips.
There it is. My foray into art. What a great time even though all the tests were essay. Blech.
So...here's what I learned in art class:
1. Never, ever, ever take Art as a compressed course. It's not that I couldn't do it because I could. I just feel so cheated that I could spend as much time analyzing as many images as I would have loved to. To that end, I've decided NOT to sell back my book and read it more closely at my leisure.
2. I really don't like The Renaissance. Sorry to all the art lovers out there. The art itself is interesting but to me, due to the fact that it was such a large movement, it appears like all the art is cookie cutter. There are variations of course, but it starts to blend together after awhile. There are certain standouts that I'm interested in only because they stand out.
The only artwork I really love during that period is the Byzantium "icon style" paintings. Duccio's Virgin and Child is gorgeous. We have a good collection of it in our very own Allentown Art Museum.
I am also in love with Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa (which is technically Baroque) and Michelangelo's Pieta.
Mona Lisa? Meh.
Sistine Chapel? Meh.
Albrecht Durer rocks my socks. His painting of The Hare was something I loved as a child.
3. Gothic art and architecture rocks. Period.
4. Baroque and Rococo? Meh.
5. Neoclassicism rocks my socks as well. I like Jacques-Louis David.
6. Romanticism? Too flowery. Blech. Pre-Rafaelites? Right on.
Surprisingly enough (especially to me) I really liked Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Fauvism.
I still hate abstract and Pop Art. Jackson Pollack makes absolutely no sense to me. And while I'm there, I do a better job than he does when I paint my walls and use a floor canvas to prevent drips.
There it is. My foray into art. What a great time even though all the tests were essay. Blech.