Jack Witt Art 200X Blog

The Art of Traditional Chinese Painting Traditional Chinese painting is an ongoing tradition that is similar to calligraphy. It is done with colored inks and a brush. These works typically showcase exquisite line work. Today we will learn about this art style by looking at the work of three artists each from a different era. This scroll was done by Han Gan around the year 750. It is titled "Night Shining White". This work is monochromatic, but not all works of this style are. It shows fine line work and shading on the horse's front and legs. There is a great expression on the creature's face as well. This gives the piece energy and mood. In Chinese Painting, animals are not meant to be anatomically correct, but rather hold a certain spiritual aspect. ( wikipedia ) This next piece is was also done on a hand scroll. Artist Wang Ximeng created "One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" in the late 11th or early 12th century during the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) (...

 Art for War in the Mid-Modern Era During the era of art that we call "Mid-Modern", there were three wars. These were World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War. In this time, art was used to influence the minds of the public. Propaganda was spread far and wide to get recruit people for these wars, the Cold War was a special case we will go over later, and spread awareness about them. Today, we will look at examples of art related to each of these wars. World War II      The first work in this week's lineup is an American icon. This is "Rose the Riveter". Rosie was a real person, who inspired the creation of this poster. During WWII, most of the men had gone to war, and the nation needed workers to keep it alive. This poster was meant to give women confidence to join the American work force. It was produced by Westinghouse and the actual art was done by J. Howard Miller  in 1942. This image gives the viewer the feeling of empowerment and unity among compatr...

New Discoveries in Science The Early Modern Era saw a lot of worldly change. World Wars I and II happened, the Great Depression killed the American economy and effected a few other nations as well. The perspective on life of most, or even all, people changed. Even with these events, that seem like setbacks in the scientific world, new discoveries and inventions were made.This week, I will highlight some very notable inventions of this astounding era. Living Art Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. This is a pretty well-known fact, but do you know that this microbiologist was also an artist? It turns out that he was a member of the Chelsea Arts Club, and in this club, he painted. He was more than your usual painter though. This man painted using bacteria in his lab! The pigments in the works below are given by different species of bacteria. These works are untitled, but were painted/drawn in with bacteria by Alexander Fleming around the time he made his breakthrough discover...

Romantic Era Art  During the Romantic Era, there were numerous styles of art that were popular across the world. They varied greatly, which goes to show the differences in taste among people. Today, I will talk about Art Nouveau and group of Romantic painters called The Hudson River School Painters. These two are similar, yet distinctly different. The first style that we will look at is the art of The Hudson River School Painters. Their art always featured landscapes. They saw nature as symbolic of the resources and opportunities that America had. This inspired them to celebrate it in paintings. This group was formed at a time when many other American artists were traveling to Europe to learn the styles of past famous artists, but The Hudson River School Painters were only interested in America and the Manifest Destiny. Hudson River School Painters Works This striking work, Kindred Spirits , was painted by Asher B. Durand in 1849. The two men in this painting are Thomas Cole, who's...

Science and Art in the Classical Era      The Classical Era brought major changes in art, science, and politics. This blog will focus on the advances made in the two former items. Some very clever and influential scientific minds were born in this decade. The relaxed attitude that people were attaining at this time encouraged these minds to develop their ideas, and spread their discoveries.    Highlights of the Classical Art World There were two styles of art that were prominent during the Classical Era. These are Rococo and Neoclassical. Rococo began in the early 1700s, was most popular around 1775, and was replaced by Neoclassical art around 1785. The Rococo style was very fun and pretty, with pastel colors, angelic figures, and themes devoid of violence and negativity. A type of painting that was popular among Rococo artists was the fete galante. This particular style can be seen below. It focused on people in fancy dress enjoying peaceful settings, such as g...

Baroque Art What are we Seeing in this Piece?      Today, I present a stunning piece of baroque art done by the famous Rembrandt. Below, you see "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee". It depicts a part of the Bible where Christ and his disciples are on the storming sea of Galilee. Done in 1633, this work is a strong representation of the trademark contrast of light and dark and drama that Baroque art is so well-known for.     There is both peace and chaos in this work. Everything we see contrasts these, as the light shines of the fearful faces of the disciples, and Christ, who is at peace, is in the dark. The wave crashing over the side also adds emotion and depth to what we see and feel in this piece. Art Elements     The rays of light raining down from the sky give us both line work and contrast. Their lines run perpendicular to those created by the boat's mast and rigging. The contrast is between these rays and the darkness of the clouds and water. Thes...