Narrative Art, Tradition and Modernity, and Art and Everyday - Paper Example

(1) Narrative Art

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Narrative Art refers to works of art, paintings, sculptures among others, which tell stories about a specific, cultural, social, political or historical activity. Narrative art often derives its themes from religion, culture, trade and even hunting (Isbell, 1979). The pictures that are often depicted in these works of art can give valuable insight into the activities that a certain ethnic and even pre-historic communities took part it. In one picture, the story of society is portrayed. Narrative Art also presents some elements of poetry and emotion. Narrative art, evoke emotions, inspire deep thought, sparks imaginations and capture universal truths (Isbell, 1979).

A piece of work that can be considered the Epitome of narrative art is The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo di Lodovico. Michelangelo in this work was able to capture the biblical narrative of creation. In this piece, he depicts the first man and the Almighty God. God breathes life into Adam, and he gains the gift of life, being able to talk, walk, eat and hear. This is a universal theme in the world. The creation of Man even in some different religion often narrates of an almighty being who breathe life into man ("Creation of Adam by Michelangelo also known as The Sistine Chapel ceiling", 2017).

The Creation of Adam is part of a series of paintings, which the artist worked on, narrating different stories and important readings from the Bible. Among other important themes that Michelangelo painted include, Gods Creation of Earth and the Fall of Man from Gods grace. These three were larger classes of the series that consisted of nine different episodes. All episodes came from the book of Genesis. The entire series contained approximately three hundred images ("Creation of Adam by Michelangelo also known as The Sistine Chapel ceiling", 2017).

In the Creation of Adam, God is portrayed as an elderly, white-bearded man. He is wrapped in a white cloak to the right of the image. His right arm is stretched to the left of the painting, where it meets that of Adam. Adam is depicted as a naked man seated on the left side of the image. In this frame, the story of mans likeness to God is captured. Adams body seems to mirror that of God both in physical form but also in image. Their hands do not touch. This perhaps is a depiction of how Adam has not received life. God is yet to breathe life into Adam.

(2)Tradition and Modernity

From time to time, there are periods where there are a universal embrace new forms of painting and new themes in their works of art. Pablo Picasso is one such Renaissance artist, as he always seemed to dive into new genres and address controversial issues in society. Throughout his career, Pablo Picasso often made sure to experimenting with some of his work being famously termed works from the Blue Period or Rose period ("Pablo Picasso - Paintings", 2017). In these instances, he explored several different themes and styles in painting that seemed to be forgotten at the time. Looking at some of his work depicts tradition and modernity. The balance between, traditional themes and styles from new and experimental perspectives and approaches ("Pablo Picasso - Paintings", 2017).

Among some of his piece that tradition and modernity are both advanced and challenges were in his 1907, Les Demoiselles dAvigon painting. This painting was among the first after the rose period. It depicts five women naked. Unlike the traditional use of oil paint and scenic context, Pablo went ahead to create these images through a flat panel of different shade paints ("Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 | MoMA", 2017). The splintered faces on the images were styles that he borrowed from African sculptures. It is in this image that his experiment with Cubism as a style for painting became widely used through the 20th Century. The use of different planes and even African elements made Pablo and his works radically deterred from traditional European styles ("Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 | MoMA", 2017).

The picture is set in Barcelona, in a brothel on Avinyo Street. A closer look at the images reveals that Picasso did not paint these women proportionally. Other than certain elements from African art, he also used Iberian styles for three of the women. They all seemed disfigured and out of place when looking at the picture first. The Iberian element was a testament to his culture and the artistic style from Spain. His ties to Europe and traditional styles can be seen in this way. Still, the image was one of the most surreal expressions of both modernism and tradition in art. ("Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 | MoMA", 2017)

Modernism speaks to the capacity of an artist or work of art to apply futuristic styles and tackles themes that came into perspective post-1970. The use of certain paints and painting styles often sample artistic forms from Neoclassical and traditional perspectives in art. Looking at some of the works of Pablo Picasso can clearly indicate the value of modernism in advancing art and tradition in linking certain pieces of art to their traditional context. More than that, the painting discussed was among the first in a series of a new painting style with which the artist was experimenting.

(3) Portraiture on Social realities

One of the most known of Leonardos artistic work is the The Last Super painting which captures the moment after Jesus Christ said one among his disciples would betray Him. This picture is a painting on one of the walls in a refractory at the Dominican convent. Leonardo did the painting in between 1494 and 1498 while the culture of painting on wet walls was fading of thus painting on the drywall a style known as a secco (Bambach, 2015). The Leonardo da Vinci work of earth fall under the theme of social realities as it depicts a situation in a social setting. Portraiture on social themes is meant to depict a mutual consciousness agreements on the prevailing social conditions.

The emotion and tension are illustrated by the wave of emotion among the disciples. It reveals there is a tension and wonders of whom among them had betrayed Christ. Leonardo achieves to describe the emotion of the room by installing a scene of order on the organization of room as well as the dining table. Christ falls in the center of the halo like the design of the room. It draws the attention of the views to him more than anybody else in the setting. The disciples are arranged in four sets of three people. Given the picture has a longitudinal alignment. Thus the grouping is exemplified by the disciples posture and gestures.

Judas, the betrayer in question, is set apart by his posture and shadowed face. This is shown by the apostles on the right-hand side face Jesus Christ by turning their faces left towards Jesus, the apostles on his left-hand side are captured with their faces facing the right side to make eye contact with Christ. Judas is set apart at this moment since he faces the opposite direction. The impression is made is that he is looking away to avoid making eye contact with Jesus Christ possibly because he had betrayed him ("The concept of social reality," 2013).

Another famous piece of art is the portrait of all times, which portrays Lisa wife to Francesco Giocondo. The portrait is known as Mona Lisa. The painting carries an aura of fascination. The soft lighting achieves this in the portrait. To avoid contours on the canvas, Leonardo uses a technique known as sfumatofumo which translates to smoke. The striking fascination is achieved by Lisa being portrayed to look into the eyes of the viewer and the rest of her body subtly facing the opposite direction. This creates the sense of arrested motion. The half smile also achieves the fascination that Lisa draws.

The background to the image is a river winding between rocks. This related directly with Leonardos perception of nature, which was everything is filled with movement and energy. The detail of the portrait is a depiction of Leonardos genius at its pinnacle since he accomplishes illustrating the scene of Lisa making eye contact and almost turning away after establishing a personal connection with the viewer.

(4)Art and Everyday

Art on the daily life is often meant to critique the cycles of life on an everyday basis. A typical caption of this is the The Supper at Emmaus. The painting is a caption of two Disciples of Christ who invited a stranger to have supper with them. While they began eating and the stranger broke the bread the eyes of the two apostles opened, and they realized they were seated with Christ who had resurrected. He then vanished out of their sight. Caravaggio did the painting in the period between 1571and 1610.

The painter's goal was to give the sensation of witnessing a miracle and a historical revelation of prophecies that Christ had made before ("Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio: Analysis, Interpretation," 2015). The painting captures the flash of time when the disciples realize whom they had invited to have a meal with them and later his disappearance. The painting draws the attention of the view leading them to relive the moment and assume what their experience would have been had they been either of the disciples and witnessed the miracle. Subconsciously were are struck by shock and astonishment as though were also on the scene. At the background of the painting, innkeepers are captured in gapes and incomprehension of the events.

This painting is a representation of eventualities during the highly tense times for Christians. It captures the moments in life that wild and hard to comprehend. There the food on the table is a representation of the basic needs that ate unanimously experienced by human beings. This also draws our attention to presences of powers that surpass our understanding thus explaining the historical eventualities to Christians as depicted by Caravaggio. He depicts the nature of human beings being subjected to majesty and lifetime experiences that they account for. Strange occurrences in each and everyones life, when strangers or people who initially we showed kindness turn out to be the very ones whom we beseech to assist us.

References

Bambach, A. (2015). Leonardo da Vinci (14521519) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Mets Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Retrieved 11 March 2017, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm

Creation of Adam by Michelangelo also known as The Sistine Chapel ceiling. (2017). Aaronartprints.org. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from http://www.aaronartprints.org/michelangelo-creationofadam.php

Isbell, C. (1979). Narrative Art in Genesis. J. P. Fokkelman. Journal Of Near Eastern Studies, 38(3), 216-217. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/372745

Pablo Picasso - Paintings,Biography,Quotes of Pablo Picasso. (2017). Pablopicasso.org. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from http://www.pablopicasso.org/

Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907 | MoMA. (2017). The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 12 March 2017, from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/79766Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio: Analysis, Interpretation. (2015). Visual-arts-cork.com. Retrieved 11 March 2017, from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/supper-at-emmaus.htm

The concept of social reality. (2013). Stage two. Retrieved 11 March 2017, from https://stagetwo.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/the-concept-of-social-reality/