Guernica by Pablo Picasso

In this work Pablo Picasso combined Synthetic and Analytic Cubism with several more traditional symbols. This stylistic choice reveals Picasso’s intense dislike for war and brutality. The painting was created in response to the bombing of the town Guernica during World War Two. The painting almost completely lacks all color, with variation solely in back, gray and white. The lack of color is in keeping with the theme of death and dying. The painting is divided into three sections. There is a central triangle with a rectangle like shape on either side of it. The bottom part of the triangle reaches from a dismembered and decapitated soldier to a woman running vainly. The horse, which is almost in the center of the picture, represents the death of civilization while Liberty, portrayed by a woman carrying a lamp, attempts to save it. Hope is seen in the combination of an eye shape with a sun directly above the dying horse. Religious motifs are seen in a woman dying at the far right in a gesture reminiscent of the crucifixion and a woman holding a dead baby in her lap in a pose reminiscent of the Madonna at the far left. A Minotaur is also depicted. The minotaur became the representation of modern tyranny for Picasso. Although the shapes are seemingly disconnected and varied they are all connected through the distorted cubist shapes. The sharp angles add to the sense of despair and brutality. The mutilation of the human form is shown both through slashed feet, eyes twisted out of their sockets and disfiguration into sharp, unrealistic shapes. The paintings use of cubism is ultimately used to portray the inhumanness of war and tyranny, its total alienation and disregard of human life.

Impression: Sunrise by Claude Monet

Claude Monet’s Impression: Sunrise captures the essence of the impressionist movement of the early nineteenth century. Monet was mainly a landscape painter who seriously studied light and color. He, along with other Impressionist painters, did the majority of his work outdoors. The term “Impressionism” was coined after a critic negatively reviewed Impression: Sunrise. The painting’s sketchily applied brush strokes and unfinished appearance, meant to translate the transient effect of nature’s perpetual shifting, was criticized and became some of the major characteristics of Impressionist paintings.  Monet used the “broken color” technique to show that the orange sun in “broken” into individual brushstrokes when reflected in the water. He uses this same technique to portray the silhouetted boat. The brush strokes appear to be hurried yet extremely deliberate. The shapes and colors meld together. Monet focuses far more on translating the effect of the scene rather than on accuracy. Unlike prior paintings, he is not attempting to make a copy of nature, but using it as inspiration. Monet’s obsession and intense love for nature and light is clear in Impression: Sunrise. The smoke rising from the ship pipes, the copper colored sky, and bright orange sun give the viewer a sense of the view. The shapes do not need to be exact, for the color shapes the form.

Time Smoking a Picture by William Hogarth

William Hogarth’s work focused on satirizing the fussiness, pretensions, and overly ornate esthetics of the Rococo period. His father spent three years in debtors prison after his Latin-speaking coffeehouse went bankrupt. This influenced his strong opposition to hypocrisy, social injustice, and academia. Rather than engage in the craze of copying the old masters, Hogarth developed his own unique style which was both humorous and critical. Time Smoking a Picture is a prime example of his desire to point out the ludicrous nature of Rococo trends. In the etching Time is blowing his smoke from his overly long pipe into a painting. This is a pun on “smoking” a picture to make it look older than it actually is. Time is sitting on a plaster cast with the head broken off. This is Hogarth’s way of showing his preference for simpler, minimalistic, modern design. The inscription at the bottom of the etching also supports Hogarth’s belief that people should look to nature and themselves rather than at the past to determine how they felt. Time’s scythe also rips through the canvas. At the top of the frame Hogarth inscribes in Greek “Time is not a clever craftsman, for he makes everything more obscure.” To the left is a jar of varnish, referencing the practice of varnishing to artificially age them. Time is depicted as a “fraudulent art dealer” whose desire for money drives him to destroy art in attempts to make a profit. This is indicated with the phrase in the right hand corner “As Statues moulder into Worth.”

Self Portrait as Saint Paul by Rembrandt van Rijn

Self Portrait as Saint Paul reflects the shifting attitude of the famed artist. He portrays himself as elderly and humble rather than as the successful, pompous bourgeoisie artist of his earlier years. The painting maintains the rich coloring and drama created by contrast in light that was typical of Rembrandt’s work; however, the painting has a more resigned air to it. Saint Paul’s sword, his traditional attribute, is barely visible. The worn book that Saint Paul is holding, on the other hand, is extremely dominant. Rembrandt intentionally places the viewer’s attention on the less aggressive aspects of the man. He looks up from the book, with his shoulders slightly shrugged. This adds to the sense that he is a defeated man. His slightly tilted head in conjunction with with Rembrandt’s loose brushwork emphasize his sagging cheeks. Rather than giving Saint Paul the traditional halo, he paints a yellow band into the cloth hat he is wearing. This merges light and color in a non-typical way. As an aging artist, Rembrandt places his own experiences and weariness with the world into those of Saint Paul. The man pictured looks far from heroic, rather he looks defeated and weighted down. This painting features a dark backdrop with a lighter, glowing light on the subject. This creates a dark surrounding plane which Saint Paul seems to emerge from.