Analysis Essays - Painting, Vincent Van Gogh, Free Essays

Analysis Essays - Painting, Vincent Van Gogh, Free Essays Analysis Analysis In this brief essay I will be analyzing two works of art and criticizing the way artists organize their works of art, as well pointing out what attracts people to specific pieces of art. Art now a days can be seen or found virtually everywhere you look and go whether it?s on something small such as a soda bottle used as a form of advertisement or as big as a building using art as a motive behind its architecture. No matter where we go we are influenced by art on a day to day basis. One of the pieces of art that I choose to analyze because of its visual significance to me was American Gothic painted by Grant Wood in (1930). The medium of this work of art is oil on beaver board and it measures 29? by 24?. I found myself attracted to this piece because the realism that the artist puts in to the works of this art piece. It seems to me that Wood is highly influenced by the realism art movement of the fifteenth century in Germany. This art piece also shows a lot of realism in the faces depicted in the painting it almost makes you wonder what is going on in their heads. The man?s face on the painting almost portrays a sense of anguish or some type of agony. The woman in the painting seems to be looking away almost as if she?s embarrassed but at the same time sad. It is said that the farmer and wife in this painting were actually Woods hometown dentist, and sister posing for the painting. One of the things I noticed from the painting is the subtle colors Wood uses making the lighting in the painting seem very simple yet soothing to look at. Another area that I noticed from Woods painting is the house in the background. The house seems highly influenced by the gothic era as you can notice the windows of the house have a gothic touch to them as well as the pinnacle that is sticking straight up out from the top of the house. The second art piece that I chose to analyze is Vincent Van Gogh?s The Night Caf? (1888) the medium of this art piece is oil on canvas and it measures about 27? by 35?. This art piece is very visually striking and loud because of the vivid colors Van Gogh chose. Another item that I noticed about the painting was its texture. It seems like it is very thick and it looks as if it forms ridges that you can touch and feel. He made the painting seem like he used acrylic instead of oil because of the thick texture. The light value in this art piece also seems very bright because of the vivid colors he uses. Some of the colors he uses don?t seem to match with each other yet he finds a way to make them flow with each other for example the roof and walls are the exact opposite, but he uses a red and green hue on the billiard table and floor to make the whole painting flow. Also what really caught my attention on this art piece are the artist?s abstract figures and objects they almost look wav y but you can make out what they are. I also observed that the artist almost put what seems like a special emphasis on the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling because he makes it seem like the light coming out is extra bright yet flickering. I chose to analyze both of these art works because they were the most significant to me. Both of the paintings seem to be very far ahead of their time especially Van Gogh?s Night Caf? because of the way he used vivid colors and the way he layered the oil pigment on the canvas making a nice texture out of it. I also found woods American Gothic very interesting because of the way the painting looks. It looks subtle but yet it has some gothic influence to it. Both artists seemed to be way ahead of their time because of their painting technique.