ART HISTORY

Monalisa

Mona Lisa , a well-known painting that painted by famous Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci .It is believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1506. Now,it’s owned by French Replubic and it’s display at the Louvre Musuem in Paris. I believe that many peoples in this world wonder why this half-length women portrait painting will become famous.

I think that the main factor why this painting will become famous is because of the popularity of the artist , Leonardo da Vinci . Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath who interested in many areas such as invention , painting , architecture , science and so on. Leonardo da Vinci had been regarded “Universal Genius” or “Renaissance Man” because of his keen curiosity and vivid imagination.Other than Mona Lisa ,Leonardo da Vinci also created many famous painting such as The Last Supper , The Virgin of the Rocks and Lady with an Ermine. He had lingered over Mona Lisa for four years and then he left it unfinished. After he moved to France , he continued to paint Mona Lisa. Beside that, the another reason that Mona Lisa will become famous is because of it had been stolen . After it had been stolen, it featured the headline news of daily news so that every resident of France started to interest about this painting.The theft accident will became famous because the police cannot find any clue about the location of this painting and it had been disappear for two years after the thief revealed himself . Moreover, Mona Lisa is famous for its optical illusion . Sometimes,when you look at the painting you will noticed that Mona Lisa is smiling but sometimes it is not . This happens because the shadow scheme of the face created by a technique that created by Leonardo da Vinci himself called Sfumato.Beside that, its eye lashes and brow also using this technique so it look like does not exist.

So this is some story about Mona Lisa’s fame. I believe that the mysterious of Mona Lisa will continue be revealed by the modern technology and it will attract more people to know about this painting.

Portfolio (Vincent Van Gogh) 1.1 RATIONALES The artist that we have chosen to study is Vincent Van Gogh who was a post-impressionist painter in 1853-1890. He was largely self-taught, but absorbed the inspiring lessons of Impressionism during two years in Paris. He is a highly skilled painter and was suffered from multiple mental illness. Vincent Van Gogh was committed to developing a unique style. His dramatic brush work and vivid expressions produced many great painting. The reason why we choose Vincent Van Gogh to study is because he was one of the artist who is having a dramatic life and he poured all the emotions that he has experienced into his paintings. We think it was good for us to do research about him. It is because we can learn many things from him other than the painting skills but also the moral values that he has. His life was grim and desperate struggle against poverty, hunger, alcoholism and insanity but his is still continued his hobby, painting until the last moment of his life and didn’t give up even he was met many trouble to continue painting such as lack of money and misunderstanding by others. The second reason that we choose Vincent Van Gogh to study is that we were so curious about why he didn’t successful being an artist at that time even he is so talented. Vincent Van Gogh produced more than 2000 artworks, including 900 paintings, 1100 drawings and sketches in his 10 years career. However, he sold only one painting during his lifetime and couldn’t be a successful artist even after he died. By the way, he has his own unique aesthetic and style but at that time people consider his aesthetic as ugly. Other than that, because Vincent Van Gogh had a history of social disfunction, so he couldn’t build up the celebrity within the art world that would be necessary to fetch high rates for his works. The third reason that we choose Vincent Van Gogh to study is that his paintings are very dramatic. Every piece of his paintings has his own story inside. Other than that, at the beginning, he produced many careful piece of artworks and they are very impressive but when he was suffering from multiple mental illness his painting was becoming more scribbled and simple. This became one of the reason that we want to study about him as it means the painting style will influence by the human’s emotions too. There are some of the famous work of Vincent Van Gogh include “Starry Night”, “Sunflowers” and “the bedroom at Aries” were produced according to his expressions and emotions by using the color and distinct brushwork. 2.1 Artist’s life / social background Vincent Van Gogh was a post-impressionist painter whose work, notable for its beauty, emotion and color, highly influenced 20th-century art. His artworks, “The Starry Night”, “Self-Portraits”, “Wheat Field with Crows” and others now are mostly known as the famous art paint series. He’s considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, although he remained poor and virtually unknown throughout his life. Vincent Van Gogh was born the second of six children into a religious Dutch Reformed Church family on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. His father, Theodorus van Gogh, was an austere country minister, and his mother, Anna Cornelia Carbentus was an artist whose love nature. His five uncles were successful art dealers. His father often talked about art with them. And because of this, Vincent Van Gogh grows in a religion and art background. Since Vincent Van Gogh was a kind-hearted, he threw himself into his work with selfless fervour, interpreting Christ’s message to “a gift to a poor” so literally he even gave all his warm clothes away and almost eat nothing. His superiors appalled by his “excessive” fervours. They were also dismayed by his appearance which they felt was brought disrespected on his calling. Once again, Vincent Van Gogh was dismissed and this made him angry about his religion thus started to turn his mind into arts. Van Gogh felt that his arts stabilized his spirit. In 1885, Van Gogh began work on his first painting which is “Potatoes Eaters”. His brother, Theo believed that his painting would not well-received in the French capital, where impressionism had become the trend. Although, Vincent Van Gogh decided to move to Paris but it showed up Theo’s house uninvited. But then, he was welcomed by Theo into his small apartment at March 1886. In Paris, Vincent Van Gogh first time saw impressionist art and was inspired by their colour and lights. He decided to study with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Camille Pissarro which was the famous French painters and others. But while Vincent’s art progressed rapidly, he stuck out among the urbane Parisian. He drank heavily; he had a bad temper; he shouted when excited about something; and was incapable hiding his opinion. After 2 years in Paris, he declared: “I will take myself off somewhere down south”. In Paris, Japanese art inspired him to begin his study in eastern philosophy to enhance his art and life. As he imagined the south if France to be French equivalent of Japan, he moved to Arles. He boarded a train to Arles in February 1888 and rented a house which was dubbed the "Yellow House" for its citron hue, and began his works with happiness. As usual he was overworking, but he felt secure and full of hope. He was ready to embark on a project he had long desired and wanted Paul Gauguin to be the first to join. Gauguin was reluctant at first, but when Theo offered to pay his fare, he finally agreed. Paul Gauguin moved into Yellow House in October 1888, but he disliked the town and was being irritate by Van Gogh’s untidiness. Within a month, they have arguments frequently, and one night, something happened to Van Gogh’s self-control. He threw a glass of absinthe at Gauguin and later threatened him with a razor. Gauguin was leaving him with anger. Overwhelmed with regret after attacking Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh cut off his right ear and put it in an envelope and gave it to a prostitute. The next day he was committed to Arles hospital and he started to experience his horrible internal fight. Vincent Van Gogh decided move to Auvers after the people of Arles signed a petition saying that he was dangerous. Then he was placed in the care of Dr Gachet, an amiable eccentric. Vincent painted steadily, and seemed at first to be in a very good condition. But early in July a trip to visit Theo in Paris caused him anxiety. Theo worried about the money and explained funds would be short for a while, Van Gogh’s depression deepened sharply. On people of Arles signed a petition saying that he was dangerous. Then he was placed in the care of Dr Gachet, an amiable eccentric. Vincent painted steadily, and seemed at first to be healthy and in good spirits. But early in July a trip to visit Theo in Paris caused him anxiety. Theo worried about the money and explained funds would be short for a while, Van Gogh’s depression deepened sharply. On July 27, 1890, Van Gogh’s walked to a nearby wheat field which is “Crows over a Wheatfield” that he painted on 1890 and shot himself in the chest with a gun. He died on 29th because his wound not treated properly. He was 37.

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