Romantic Musings 10
We had a presentation by a friend of the prof’s on “Romanticism and Painting”. This probably would have been useful to me…if I hadn’t gotten the same lecture back in OAC art.
Errr…and there was other stuff. Like the fact that the “handout” she gave us was straight out of the same textbook I used in OAC (grade 13). Or the fact that I’m relatively sure I know WAY more about “The Oath of Horatii” than was presented in the lecture.
So what was I doing during the lecture? I was on my wireless card, surfing Wikipedia, looking up every artist and painting she brought up so I could get a decent resolution look at them (I hate slide projectors). I’d forgotten how much I loved Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”. It’s a NICE painting. Lady Liberty in the middle, with this kid with a pair of pistols on one side and a middle-class looking gentleman with a rifle on the other. It’s a powerful painting, one that really brings up the spirit of the French Revolution rather than its rather messy reality.
I like “The Oath of Horatii”, though. It’s a father holding three swords to his sons who are about to go off and fight for Rome. They reach out to swear an oath on the swords in the service of the State while the women against the back wall cry. It’s a very solid example of three-piece composition. The sons, the father, and the women. The lines are very straight with a lot of strong verticals, which suggest the strength of and solidity, not to mention the static moment-in-time feel, of this solemn moment.
Thank you, Karl Mustoe. I still actually remember most of my art history. And they say you forget all about high school.
Errr…and there was other stuff. Like the fact that the “handout” she gave us was straight out of the same textbook I used in OAC (grade 13). Or the fact that I’m relatively sure I know WAY more about “The Oath of Horatii” than was presented in the lecture.
So what was I doing during the lecture? I was on my wireless card, surfing Wikipedia, looking up every artist and painting she brought up so I could get a decent resolution look at them (I hate slide projectors). I’d forgotten how much I loved Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”. It’s a NICE painting. Lady Liberty in the middle, with this kid with a pair of pistols on one side and a middle-class looking gentleman with a rifle on the other. It’s a powerful painting, one that really brings up the spirit of the French Revolution rather than its rather messy reality.
I like “The Oath of Horatii”, though. It’s a father holding three swords to his sons who are about to go off and fight for Rome. They reach out to swear an oath on the swords in the service of the State while the women against the back wall cry. It’s a very solid example of three-piece composition. The sons, the father, and the women. The lines are very straight with a lot of strong verticals, which suggest the strength of and solidity, not to mention the static moment-in-time feel, of this solemn moment.
Thank you, Karl Mustoe. I still actually remember most of my art history. And they say you forget all about high school.
posted by Derek the Bard at 9:45 p.m.
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