Sunday 1 November 2015
Essay
In this essay I’m going to talk about old traditions
and tools used in the 19th century that some are still practiced
till today or sadly disappeared from our culture.
Luzzu
The Maltese Luzzu always played a big part of our
tradition and heritage especially for the Maltese fisherman. This unique boat
is thought to have originated from a time when the Phoenicians had control over
Malta because of their boats similar design and structure to the Luzzu. We can
see this in the image below where a Phoenicians boat usually ended with
double-sided hull just like a Luzzu ‘both ends are similar triangular ends’.
Some of the Phoenicians boats also have a pair of eyes at one end of their boats.
 |
| Figure 1 (Oocities.org, 2016) Phoenician ship |
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| Figure 2 (Original Source) Taken at Mellieha Luzzus 16/1/16 |
One of the most
interesting things about the Luzzu are the pair of eyes on the front of the
boat. In the elder days these eyes believed that they represent and offered
protection against evil spirits and safe travels while at sea to the fisherman.
These eyes originated from the Egyptian beliefs called the Eye of Osiris or the
Eye of Horus.
 |
| Figure 3 (original source) Taken at Mellieha Luzzu eye 16/1/16 |
 |
| Figure 4 (Landofpyramids.org, 2016) Eye of Osiris |
The Phoenicians depended a lot on travels overseas and
therefore they had some of the best structural designs of that time. Fisherman
still use it because of its stability and reliability. Important not to mix
with the Kajjik which is like a smaller version of the Luzzu but it doesn’t
have a double-ended hull.
The traditional bright colours of the Luzzu are green,
blue, red and white or yellow, while the eyes are usually different from a boat
to another followed by the design of the eyes which give out each Luzzu a
unique character.
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| Figure 5 (Original source) Taken at Spinola Bay Luzzu restoration 14/1/16 |
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| Figure 6 ( Original source) Taken at Spinola Bay Luzzu eye 14/1/16 |
Today apart from fishing the Luzzu is being used as a
tourist attraction where people from all over the world are coming to see for
them self’s and go aboard on one of these boats. Alto the Luzzu is very old it
is still very famous till this day. Here are some examples on how this boat is
influencing artists and designers.
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| Figure 7 (Original source) Taken at Spinola Bay Luzzu warps (tberfil) 14/1/16 |
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| Figure 8 (Ltd, 2016) Luzzu design on car |
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| Figure 9 (Luzzu, 2016) Goose egg Luzzu design |
The Maltese Cart (Karrettun)
The Maltese cart was a very old method of
transportation to carry large objects, goods and large stones for building
walls and old houses.
 |
| Figure 10 (Original source) Model of a Maltese cart (Karrettun) |
A cart was all handmade and it took time
and good craftsmanship to build one. It was made from metal and strong hard
wood such as beech (fagu) and ash (fraxxnu) so the whole cart was very heavy.
It had two wooden wheels at the back, two long horizontal strips. Between them
depending on the size of the cart were connected vertical strips and at the far
end there were two more strips crossing each other which were at a higher level
than the vertical strips so the objects on them would not roll over when they
would be on a down wards position.
 |
| Figure 11 (Original source) Hub and strips of Wheel |
The wheel was usually made from six too five strips
that were connected to a circular wooden frame from one side and a hub (buttun)
in the centre. Finally they would heat up a piece of metal strip and put it
around the wooden circular frame and because they always made the metal smaller than
the frame, when the metal cools down it would shrink back in size and tighten
up with the frame and this helped to make the hole wheel stronger.
 |
| Figure 12 (Original source) Hub |
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| Figure 13 (Original source) Hub |
The size of the cart depended on what it was going to
be used for. So if to carry large stones and rocks for buildings it would had
to be a big and strong cart pulled by a strong horse or a mule (baghal).
For smaller carts usually used to carry small amounts of goods were pulled by
Donkeys. Some of these small carts were painted blue, green or orange and were
decorated with warps (tberfil) design as they were used to sell goods back then
in the streets.
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| Figure 14 (Original source) Wheels |
Sadly after cars and other vehicles for transporting
things come to Malta everybody started stopping using these unique Maltese
carts and they soon disappeared.
References:
Images:
Landofpyramids.org, 2016. The Eye of Horus ***. [online] Available at: <http://www.landofpyramids.org/eye-of-horus.htm> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].
Ltd, A., 2016. Luzzu car. [online] Times of Malta. Available at: <http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20151002/local/luzzu-car.586625> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].
Luzzu, M., 2016. Maltese Egg Art Luzzu |. [online] Original Malta. Available at: <http://originalmalta.com/product/maltese-egg-art-luzzu/> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].
Oocities.org, 2016. Phoenician Ships. [online] Available at: <http://www.oocities.org/CapitolHill/Parliament/2587/ships.html> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].
Information:
Airmalta.com, 2016. Maltese Luzzu: A tradition surrounded by superstition. [online] Available at: <https://www.airmalta.com/destinations/malta/blog/detail/maltese-luzzu> [Accessed 18 Jan. 2016].
Lanfranco, G., 2004. Hajjitna fl-imghoddi. Rabat: Wise Owl Publications.
Ms Abela Design
Task 1 research
For my research I visited a museum about art and design on Saturday 24th of October, 2015 in Belt Valletta (south street) called National Museum of Fine Arts by Heritage Malta. I’m going to discuss about five different furniture of design.
Title : Chest of drawers
Designer : unknown Italian
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
This 18th century chest drawer was one of the first piece of furniture that caught my attention with its geometric rigid lines and the small square shapes in the second and third drawer. The type of wood is veneered with walnut and orange wood. The size of the drawer is height 82 cm, depth 49.5 and width 79.5 cm. There is a feeling of stability and equality in the lines from right to left. The first drawer is different from the rest and although the “star shaped” shapes in the second and third drawer have some value to make it look like more three dimensional, the first drawer has all of the three colors of the drawer all together. Black to dark brown and light brown. The dark and light brown are the drawers natural color.
Personally when it comes to my musical art project I don’t intend on using any symmetrical and geometric shapes or patterns apart from musical instruments such as a guitar and the chords etc. I see music as something that is fluent and goes with the rhythm of the song. Here is a sketch that I drew of what I mean.
Title : Chest of Drawers
Designer : Unknown French
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
This walnut drawer was designed and made in the 18th century with a height of 94.5 cm, depth 62 cm and width 129.5 cm. Unlike the first drawer this one has circular shapes and sides and unlike the first one that’s all flat and has the drawn shapes and elements on it while this one was carved to shape those three dimensional textures. Again there is a sense of stability in the design it’s self. What I really liked about this drawer was the wavy motion of the drawers. It creates that easy flowing movement. This is the same movement and feeling that I feel on music. This inspired me to draw curved and wavy musical chords for my project.
Title : unknown
Designer : unknown
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
As you go up to the second floor of the museum you will immediately notice the sculptures and the ornaments but what I really liked about all of this was the lion because of its fine sculptured features. We see a lot of sculptures such as a lions on peoples front porch of there house and sometimes I don’t even notice them but when I see them in museums and other sites like this one I appreciate them more especially when I know that they are old. In fact the palace is one of the earliest to be built in Valletta as it served as residence to successive Knights of Malta and then in the 1760’s it was largely rebuilt by a wealthy Portuguese Knights Ramon de Sousay Silva. Also in the early 19th century it was home to the Count Beaugolais, a relative of the King of France. Back to the lion, the most part that has detail and texture in it is the hair of the lion. Lines can be found forming the hair and the staircase. The staircase is very smooth and very well made. What I noticed too is that the lions face has a lot of characteristics with the one of a human face. The eye brows, nose and those lines that appear on the forehead when someone gets old and even the expression on the lions face is somewhat human-like. Maybe the artist was trying to show us that “humanity rules all” since in the wild the lion is known as the “king of the jungle”. These are just my thoughts and opinion. The design of the staircase and the hair of the lion has a lot in common with the famous whip lash from Art Nouveau where there's those curved lines and forms and that inspired me to draw them once again for my self.
Title : Writing desk
Designer : unknown Italian
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
The reason that this 18th century wooden writing desk caught my attention was that star shaped symbol on it. The size is height 83.5 cm, depth 63 cm and width 109.5 cm. That same symbol is also on the first drawer that I talked about during this essay. On the drawer the symbol was under the keyholes and now it’s on the surface of the table and if you look closely the pattern of the lines are forming a geometric angle which is creating movement by pointing to the symbol and the symbol is in the middle of all of it. So in both furniture that can be the same artist is showing great importance to the symbol. Since the palace was the home for the knights of Malta I thought maybe it’s the Maltese eight pointed cross but the points and lines don’t match. The sense that I don’t know what the symbol means for the artist it is making me curious but I know for sure that it was of great importance to him/her. There are a variety of tones of brown on the surface. This table is even more alike with the drawer because it has geometric shapes such as the rectangles and it’s all flat. Although I said that I won't be using any or at least a lot of geometry in my project, the symmetrical patterns of the surface of the desk really inspired me to work with geometric shapes and patterns for my own personal drawings.
Title : unknown
Designer : unknown
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
What I really like about this wooden desk is the symmetrical balance from right to left. The surface is obviously smooth since it was probably used to write or place something on it. Although everything is symmetrical there are no geometric shapes just organic. Vertical and curved lines were used to help with the design. The design of the desk is not something you see everyday because the legs go inwards beneath the surface. The way that the legs are curved they are creating a flowing wavy motion and again here is the same movement in want to create in my work. Personally I'm not a fan when it comes to figure art and design but I really liked the proportion of the length of the face and that inspired me to draw exaggeratingly proportionated narrow and long forms.
Task 2 research
Art Nouveau
Started in Belgium in the early 1890s Art Nouveau was an international influence that spread in France, Spanish, American and British art and design. It was mostly practised by young painters and designers because it was considered as a modernist movement. This is because Art Nouveau was based on the idea to create a new style of art and design where no influences of any historical events laid.
Artists that were influenced by this movement had to look back at there origin of there own culture. This movement consisted of simplicity, nature and organic elements. Nouveau was influenced by a number of movements such as Rococo (France), Egyptian art, Gothic revival, Celtic art with its patterns, Japanese art with its flattened space, the Arts and Crafts movement by William Morris with his idea to create new things and to promote the return to hand-craftsmanship and independent creativity and an other obvious big influence was nature.
In the 1900s there were few countries in the West that were not influenced by Art Nouveau. It was adopted by a lot of artists such as architects, furniture makers and designers, jewellers and graphical artists. The main focus of artists was to create new and creative things which this movement was driven by. The fact that this movement was very famous and we’ll known by everyone at that time ever people from different cultures and countries gave Nouveau different names. Art nouveau in Britain and Glasgow, Nouveau or modern style in France, Sezessionstil in Vienna and Austria, ‘Stile liberty’ in Italy, Modernist in Spain, in America it was considered to be part of the Arts and Crafts movement and Jugendstil not Germany which means ‘young style’ because of the link with the activities of young painters.
Many of the art and design works had similar elements like the use of a lot of organic shapes, curves and absence of straight lines. Many other works were inspired and have insects, birds, swans, dragonflies, peacocks and shallows. A very famous deportation is called whip lash. This is a sort of curved sharp line that gives the impression that it’s trying to free it’s self from some invisible force. In a metaphorical way it can be associated with what Art Nouveau is really driven by and that’s the intention continuity to break it’s self away from any traditions.
(Ticket of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society by Walter Crane, England UK 1890, Victoria and Albert Museum London)
Tate.org.uk, 2015. Arts and Crafts. [online] Available at: <http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/arts-and
crafts> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Collections.vam.ac.uk, 2015. The Galahad | Voysey, Charles Francis Annesley | V&A Search the Collections. [online] Available at: <http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O15895/the-galahad-wallpaper-voysey-charles-francis/> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Vam.ac.uk, 2015. William Morris & Wallpaper Design - Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/w/william-morris-and-wallpaper-design/> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
For my research I visited a museum about art and design on Saturday 24th of October, 2015 in Belt Valletta (south street) called National Museum of Fine Arts by Heritage Malta. I’m going to discuss about five different furniture of design.
Designer : unknown Italian
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
This 18th century chest drawer was one of the first piece of furniture that caught my attention with its geometric rigid lines and the small square shapes in the second and third drawer. The type of wood is veneered with walnut and orange wood. The size of the drawer is height 82 cm, depth 49.5 and width 79.5 cm. There is a feeling of stability and equality in the lines from right to left. The first drawer is different from the rest and although the “star shaped” shapes in the second and third drawer have some value to make it look like more three dimensional, the first drawer has all of the three colors of the drawer all together. Black to dark brown and light brown. The dark and light brown are the drawers natural color.
Personally when it comes to my musical art project I don’t intend on using any symmetrical and geometric shapes or patterns apart from musical instruments such as a guitar and the chords etc. I see music as something that is fluent and goes with the rhythm of the song. Here is a sketch that I drew of what I mean.
Title : Chest of Drawers
Designer : Unknown French
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
This walnut drawer was designed and made in the 18th century with a height of 94.5 cm, depth 62 cm and width 129.5 cm. Unlike the first drawer this one has circular shapes and sides and unlike the first one that’s all flat and has the drawn shapes and elements on it while this one was carved to shape those three dimensional textures. Again there is a sense of stability in the design it’s self. What I really liked about this drawer was the wavy motion of the drawers. It creates that easy flowing movement. This is the same movement and feeling that I feel on music. This inspired me to draw curved and wavy musical chords for my project.
Title : unknown
Designer : unknown
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
As you go up to the second floor of the museum you will immediately notice the sculptures and the ornaments but what I really liked about all of this was the lion because of its fine sculptured features. We see a lot of sculptures such as a lions on peoples front porch of there house and sometimes I don’t even notice them but when I see them in museums and other sites like this one I appreciate them more especially when I know that they are old. In fact the palace is one of the earliest to be built in Valletta as it served as residence to successive Knights of Malta and then in the 1760’s it was largely rebuilt by a wealthy Portuguese Knights Ramon de Sousay Silva. Also in the early 19th century it was home to the Count Beaugolais, a relative of the King of France. Back to the lion, the most part that has detail and texture in it is the hair of the lion. Lines can be found forming the hair and the staircase. The staircase is very smooth and very well made. What I noticed too is that the lions face has a lot of characteristics with the one of a human face. The eye brows, nose and those lines that appear on the forehead when someone gets old and even the expression on the lions face is somewhat human-like. Maybe the artist was trying to show us that “humanity rules all” since in the wild the lion is known as the “king of the jungle”. These are just my thoughts and opinion. The design of the staircase and the hair of the lion has a lot in common with the famous whip lash from Art Nouveau where there's those curved lines and forms and that inspired me to draw them once again for my self.
Title : Writing desk
Designer : unknown Italian
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
The reason that this 18th century wooden writing desk caught my attention was that star shaped symbol on it. The size is height 83.5 cm, depth 63 cm and width 109.5 cm. That same symbol is also on the first drawer that I talked about during this essay. On the drawer the symbol was under the keyholes and now it’s on the surface of the table and if you look closely the pattern of the lines are forming a geometric angle which is creating movement by pointing to the symbol and the symbol is in the middle of all of it. So in both furniture that can be the same artist is showing great importance to the symbol. Since the palace was the home for the knights of Malta I thought maybe it’s the Maltese eight pointed cross but the points and lines don’t match. The sense that I don’t know what the symbol means for the artist it is making me curious but I know for sure that it was of great importance to him/her. There are a variety of tones of brown on the surface. This table is even more alike with the drawer because it has geometric shapes such as the rectangles and it’s all flat. Although I said that I won't be using any or at least a lot of geometry in my project, the symmetrical patterns of the surface of the desk really inspired me to work with geometric shapes and patterns for my own personal drawings.
Title : unknown
Designer : unknown
Venue : National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta
Date : 24/10/2015
What I really like about this wooden desk is the symmetrical balance from right to left. The surface is obviously smooth since it was probably used to write or place something on it. Although everything is symmetrical there are no geometric shapes just organic. Vertical and curved lines were used to help with the design. The design of the desk is not something you see everyday because the legs go inwards beneath the surface. The way that the legs are curved they are creating a flowing wavy motion and again here is the same movement in want to create in my work. Personally I'm not a fan when it comes to figure art and design but I really liked the proportion of the length of the face and that inspired me to draw exaggeratingly proportionated narrow and long forms. Task 2 research
Art Nouveau
Started in Belgium in the early 1890s Art Nouveau was an international influence that spread in France, Spanish, American and British art and design. It was mostly practised by young painters and designers because it was considered as a modernist movement. This is because Art Nouveau was based on the idea to create a new style of art and design where no influences of any historical events laid.
Artists that were influenced by this movement had to look back at there origin of there own culture. This movement consisted of simplicity, nature and organic elements. Nouveau was influenced by a number of movements such as Rococo (France), Egyptian art, Gothic revival, Celtic art with its patterns, Japanese art with its flattened space, the Arts and Crafts movement by William Morris with his idea to create new things and to promote the return to hand-craftsmanship and independent creativity and an other obvious big influence was nature.
In the 1900s there were few countries in the West that were not influenced by Art Nouveau. It was adopted by a lot of artists such as architects, furniture makers and designers, jewellers and graphical artists. The main focus of artists was to create new and creative things which this movement was driven by. The fact that this movement was very famous and we’ll known by everyone at that time ever people from different cultures and countries gave Nouveau different names. Art nouveau in Britain and Glasgow, Nouveau or modern style in France, Sezessionstil in Vienna and Austria, ‘Stile liberty’ in Italy, Modernist in Spain, in America it was considered to be part of the Arts and Crafts movement and Jugendstil not Germany which means ‘young style’ because of the link with the activities of young painters.
Many of the art and design works had similar elements like the use of a lot of organic shapes, curves and absence of straight lines. Many other works were inspired and have insects, birds, swans, dragonflies, peacocks and shallows. A very famous deportation is called whip lash. This is a sort of curved sharp line that gives the impression that it’s trying to free it’s self from some invisible force. In a metaphorical way it can be associated with what Art Nouveau is really driven by and that’s the intention continuity to break it’s self away from any traditions.
 |
| Figure 1 (Vam.ac.uk, 2015) Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) ‘Job’ 1898 Colour Lithography |
An example of the use of white lash can be seen on how the hair of the woman in the poster is curled.
 |
Figure 2 (Musee-orsay.fr, 2015)
Emile Galle’ (1846-1904)
Vase 1900
Multi-layered glass, marbled and partly hammered outer surface, glass marquetry and wheel engraving.
Height 24.5; Width 15 cm
Paris, Musee d’Orsay
|
Inspiration from the natural flora and arts and crafts techniques. Use of organic shapes and earthy colours.
References :
Vam.ac.uk, 2015. Study Room Resource: Art Nouveau - Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/study-room-resource-art-nouveau/> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Images :
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Emile Gallé Vase. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/decorative-arts/commentaire_id/vase-7197.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=846&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=843&cHash=2179e4a112> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Vam.ac.uk, 2015. Study Room Resource: Art Nouveau - Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/s/study-room-resource-art-nouveau/> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Arts and
Crafts movement
Started around
1880 by an English artists called William Morris the arts and crafts movement
was the main source of inspiration and influence for the aesthetic movement and
Art Nouveau. Some of the first works of this movement were by Morris in Britain.
 |
|
Figure 1 (Vam.ac.uk, 2015)
William Morris
‘Trellis’ woodblock printed wallpaper
Made in England 1864
Museum no. E.452-1919
Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
Later other works
influenced by this movement started appearing in America and Europe before
finally it spread to Japan and became Mingei (folk craft) movement. Morris
first was in a movement called the Pre-Raphaelites which then this inspired him
for the idea of the arts and crafts movement in 1861. Not until 1887 when the
movement took its official name From the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.
Morris was an English educationist, theorist, writer, lecturer, artists and
designer. Just like art Nouveau, he was inspired from nature and John Ruskin which
the Pre-Raphaelites were inspired by.
The purposes
behind this movement were to educate society like Augustus Pugin wanted, to
raise design at the same level of art and to fight against the mass production
of that time. Morris believed a lot in equality and harmony in society but when
it came to hand made products, they are usually always much more expensive then
manufactured machine-made products so low and middle class people of that time
could not always afford to buy such products and Morris tried a lot of things
to solve it but never actually managed to and that really worried him. Another
very important purpose behind this movement was the concern of losing the craftsmanship
for the products made by hand.
A great inspiration
for Morris’s wallpaper was the Acanthus leaf which can be seen in a lot of his
works.
 |
|
Figure 2 (Vam.ac.uk, 2015)
William Morris
‘Acanthus’ wallpaper
1875
Museum no. E.495-1919
Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
 |
|
Figure 3 (Collections.vam.ac.uk, 2015)
Voysey Charles Francis Annesley (1857-1941)
Wallpaper Made in England 1899
Color Machine print with mica on
paper
Credit: Given by Morton Sundour Fabrics Ltd Museum Number: CIRC.263-1953 |
Figure 4 (Vam.ac.uk, 2015)
(Ticket of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society by Walter Crane, England UK 1890, Victoria and Albert Museum London)
References:
Tate.org.uk, 2015. Arts and Crafts. [online] Available at: <http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/arts-and
crafts> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Vam.ac.uk, 2015. The Arts & Crafts Movement - Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-arts-and-crafts-movement/> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Images:
Vam.ac.uk, 2015. The Arts & Crafts Movement - Victoria and Albert Museum. [online] Available at: <http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-arts-and-crafts-movement/> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Art Dr Caruana
Task 1 Research
For my research I visited a museum about art on Saturday 24th of October, 2015 in Belt Valletta (south street) called National Museum of Fine Arts by Heritage Malta. I’m going to discuss about five different art works between the 18th and 19th century which I’ll be describing the formal elements, principles and feelings that the works them selves create.
Information about the museum and it’s collection.
- A lot of the works in the museum belonged to the knights of Malta.
- Before they became part of the finest arts collation they were decorations for the palace and Auberges for the knights and some items in the museum were used in churches by knights.
- The fine arts collection started of from donations in the early 20th century.
- The first proper fine arts section was established in 1922 in the and then National Museum of Fine arts.
(Image taken by me)
Caesar Attard born 1946
Caesar Attard born 1946
Pregnant Madonna
Oil on Canvas
This was the first painting that caught my attention because the way the colors are blended and over lapping into each other and the movement caused by it. The color blue is usually used when the artist wants to create that cold and kind of depressing feeling. In fact the expression on the pregnant Madonna face gives that calm but at the same time sad emotion and once again even the colors blue and light yellow can give that peaceful and calm sensation. The way that they are blended into each other. Personally I prefer using warmer colors such as red and orange. Every color sends of a different feeling, sensation and emotion, I believe that what kinds of colors we prefer most they can reflect a lot on our character and the way we feel. Again I really liked the fading in colors and it inspired me to experiment with sketching. 
(Image taken by me)
Louis Ducros 1748-1810
Louis Ducros 1748-1810
View of Grand Harbour
Mixed media on paper (211 x 128 cm without frame)
Probably one of Ducros finest works is the view landscape of the Grand Harbour from Senglea point which is from that look out post on the right hand side of the painting. The style of this master piece is romanticism (late 18th and early 19th century).On the ground there are groups of figures and Maltese boats. When I see work like this, I really appreciate it because it’s a realistic depiction and it representing and gives us an image and idea of Malta in the elder days where today it’s almost impossible to see a view like this in Malta. Even when I look at the sky and see that light-blue and fades almost white and the few clouds reminds me of that typical Maltese weather in Autumn. The position of sun was behind the watch post from how the shade of the boat and the building is positioned. Also Senglea point (The Grand Harbour) is located in the east of Malta and the sun was on the right hand side so that means that at that time it was sunrise because the sun comes up from the east.
(Image taken by me)
George Fenech 1926-2011
George Fenech 1926-2011
Seascape
Oil on canvas
82 x 70 cm (without frame)
Unlike the Grand Harbour this seascape is a typical seen during summer months near the sea here in Malta. Compared with other colors the yellow rocks are the brightest. Fench was focused more on the view rather than detail and texture. It's an impressionist work, even the brush strokes are still visible. The reason why I chose this work is that it reminds me of summer and makes me fill relieved with solid colors and environment such as this. This is one of those cases were cold colors such as blue has that peace of mind feeling. This has inspired me to draw and paint solid colors.
(Image taken by me)
Thomas Lyde Hornbrook
British painter, 1780-1850
Thomas Lyde Hornbrook
British painter, 1780-1850
View of Entrance to Grand Harbour
Oil on canvas, 199 x 85 cm (without frame)
Like the painting of Ducros this is a landscape of the Grand Harbour. Again we see floating ships, people and a lookout post on the far left of the painting. Unlike Ducros work, Hornbrook had a total different approach of the emotions of this work. The women and man on the left seem to be pointing to the ships which are almost swallowed by the sea. The weather and clouds to the right are dark which give a sign of something angry and powerful just like the sea. Mother Nature is reminding us who’s really in charge here. She plays with the ships like there toys and no one can do anything about it. This is a winter-ish seen. The main focus of the artist was on the texture of the sea with the froth of white when the waves hit the shoreline, also there's that organic form of the waves. This helps the viewer to picture the scenery and movement in the water.
(Image taken by me)
Agony of Christ in the Garden of Olives
Frank Portelli
Oil on Canvas (20th to early 21st century)
102 x 102 cm (without frame)
Although its not an abstract, its still a very tough work by Portelli to understand the true meaning behind it.The colours are mostly dark cold colors such as blue. Colors describe our own character and the way we are feeling so they help us to express our selves. So I can understand stand why the artist used such dull colors especially blue here because from the title it’s self how the story goes in the bible of Christ and the Garden of Olives. Again from the colour them selves it makes me feel sad. While all the figures are blue Jesus is painted the green and his background in red to create contrast and an emphasis compared with the rest of the figures. The artist split the Canvas into two, on the right hand side there are three figures painted blue just like the name right above Jesus. There is hardly
any symmetrical balance or pattern here because of the artist abstractel way to narrate the
story in the form of art. According to the bible Jesus was accompanied by St. Peter, St. John and St. James and they feel asleep while Jesus prayed. I really liked all the random shapes, forms, lines and colors together. It has really inspired me to work on my project with collages and stencils.
any symmetrical balance or pattern here because of the artist abstractel way to narrate the
story in the form of art. According to the bible Jesus was accompanied by St. Peter, St. John and St. James and they feel asleep while Jesus prayed. I really liked all the random shapes, forms, lines and colors together. It has really inspired me to work on my project with collages and stencils.
Task 2 research
Realism
Realism or as some refer to it as naturalism is an other word that means to draw something as it really is rather than adding that artificial side to it. Although not every artist liked the fact that some Realists work were glorifying the ugly it was quite the style in the late 1840’s and in the 19th century. Realism started from a group of intelligent and talented people of that time such as writers, artists and intellectuals that discussed problems of there time like politics, social issues, the latest artistic trends and news about art. Before the Realism art movement began in France after the Third Revolution in the 1850’s, Realism was expressed in other ways such as opera style of Verismo which means “realism” was a Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers, literary Realism, theatrical Realism and Italian Neo-Realism cinema.
Jean Desire Gustave Courbet was a very famous artist who led the realist movement in the 19th century for French art. He was strictly dedicated to the realism style. At that time Courbet and other artists that supported him were considered as regions because they rejected Romanticism which was very famous at that time with visual artists. In the late 1840’s and early 1850’s Courbet worked on paintings that had to do with workers, peasants and often on a grand scale traditionally for religious or historical subjects. He was more interested in landscapes such as seascapes, hunting scenes and still life’s then political figures of that time.
Here are some of Courbet’s greatest realism works :
Figure 1 (Khan Academy, 2015)
Gustave Courbet
The stone Breakers 1849
Oil on canvas, 165 x 257 cm
These two working figures are representing the theme its self of realism of how much life was hard back then. One of them is lifting a stone and the other one that is on his knees breaking and pulling out the stone from the ground hence the name of the painting.
Figure 2 (Courbet, 2015)
Gustave Courbet
The artist’s Studio 1854-1855
Oil on Canvas, 361 x 598 cm
(Musee’ d’Orsay, Paris)
The artist’s Studio 1854-1855
Oil on Canvas, 361 x 598 cm
(Musee’ d’Orsay, Paris)
Also known as “A real allegory summing up seven years of my artist and moral life” is one of Courbet’s finest and hard to understand masterpiece. Many have different ways on what the forms in the painting might mean but basic explanation of it is that the people on the left side represent everyday life, political figures such as Napoleon the Third sitting down and poverty. On the other right hand side the figures are representing famous figures such as artists and in the centre of the painting there is Courbet him self sitting down on a chair and with a confident look and pose is painting a landscape of nature.
Realism inspired other famous artists like Honore’ Daumier.
Figure 3 (Musee d'Orsay, 2015)
Honore’ Daumier (1808-1879)The Laundress 1863Oil on WoodH.49; W.33.5 cm
Again here the woman is represented the reality and how life was at that time.
References :
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Realism. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/courbet-dossier/realism.html> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Images
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Search. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=2364> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Courbet, G., 2015. The Artist’s Studio - Gustave Courbet - WikiArt.org. [online] Wikiart.org. Available at: <http://www.wikiart.org/en/gustave-courbet/the-artist-s-studio-1855#supersized-artistPaintings-191981> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Honoré Daumier The Laundress. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/the-laundress-2232.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=841&cHash=fea14cba8e> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Khan Academy, 2015. Courbet, The Artist's Studio, a real allegory summing up seven years of my artistic and moral life. [online] Available at: <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/realism/v/courbet-the-artist-s-studio-1854-55> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Realism. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/courbet-dossier/realism.html> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Images
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Search. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/search.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BshowUid%5D=2364> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Courbet, G., 2015. The Artist’s Studio - Gustave Courbet - WikiArt.org. [online] Wikiart.org. Available at: <http://www.wikiart.org/en/gustave-courbet/the-artist-s-studio-1855#supersized-artistPaintings-191981> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Honoré Daumier The Laundress. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/the-laundress-2232.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=841&cHash=fea14cba8e> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Khan Academy, 2015. Courbet, The Artist's Studio, a real allegory summing up seven years of my artistic and moral life. [online] Available at: <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/realism/v/courbet-the-artist-s-studio-1854-55> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Khan Academy, 2015. Khan Academy. [online] Available at: <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/avant-garde-france/realism/a/courbet-the-stonebreakers> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
The Pre-Raphaelites movement
The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of artists and literature writers that struck the world of art and poetry with new and fresh ideas in 1848. The first three members were John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt and Dented Gabriel Rossetti. Later other artists joined such as Christina Rossetti, George Meredith, William Morris and Alegernon Charles Swinburne to formally what they called the Pre-Raphaelites brotherhood. Like the realists of that time the P.R.B for short were considered as a rebellious bunch because they went against the academic teachings of art of that time.
Known as the Mannerism movement which gained it’s most popularity in the 1520’s was a style of art that based it’s ideas on Raphael and Michelangelo Buonarotti’s works. The P.R.B hence the name was against this movement because the Pre-Raphaelites believed that Raphael in particular had been a source of influential corruption upon the teachings of art. The P.R.B based there works from a famous English artist called John Ruskin who was a great figure of inspiration to almost all around the world in British, American and European art. His religious beliefs played a big part of his ever day life and art. Again just like the realists the P.R.B discussed specific subjects such as problems and situations that society and the world was facing like emigration and prostitution which was a big trend in that time and they also discussed about popular figures such as religious reformers.
They also talked about the medieval past at a time were king Arthur ruled. All of these subjects were discussed in the same group but known as the inner group and all of there ideas were recorded in the Pre-Raphaelite Journal called ‘The Germ’. Rossetti later kept things going and the fact that students continued following the foot steps of Ruskin young students started having fresh ideas and so the P.R.B movement split into two and they were called the symbolism movements by Edward Burne-Jones and the Art and Crafts movements by William Morris.
Until the end of the 19th century the influence and inspiration from the P.R.B was still felt in English landscapes and photographic artists such as Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) and Roger Fenton (1819-1869). Apart the Arts and Crafts and symbolism which were born from from the P.R.B an other movement was inspired in the 19th century called Aesthetic Movement.
Figure 1 (Victorianweb.org, 2007)
“The Pre-Raphaelite Meeting by Arthur Hughes after a drawing by William Holman Hunt. 1848. Scanned image and text by George Park. Landow”
“The Pre-Raphaelite Meeting by Arthur Hughes after a drawing by William Holman Hunt. 1848. Scanned image and text by George Park. Landow”
Figure 2 (Tate, 1874)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Proserpine 1874
Oil on canvas
Dimensions of frame: 1605 x 930 x 85 mm
Presented by W. Graham Robertson 1940
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Proserpine 1874
Oil on canvas
Dimensions of frame: 1605 x 930 x 85 mm
Presented by W. Graham Robertson 1940
Like a lot of the P.R.B works the Proserpine is very symbolic. The name it’s self is originally the name of a goddess which was the Empress of Hades. The posing figure in this work was actually William Morris’s wife Janet. Like the goddess who was a ‘prisoner’, Jane was a prisoner in her own marriage with Morris. According to some he was a cold husband and she was very unhappy.
References :
Musee-orsay.fr, 2015. Musée d'Orsay: Pre-Raphaelism. [online] Available at: <http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/overview/actualites/pre-raphaelism.html> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Images
Tate, 1874. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 'Proserpine' 1874. [online] Available at: <http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rossetti-proserpine-n05064> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
Victorianweb.org, 2007. "The Pre-Raphaelite Meeting.". [online] Available at: <http://www.victorianweb.org/painting/whh/drawings/26.html> [Accessed 12 Dec. 2015].
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