art history

Venus of Urbino . Titian. c. 1538 C.E. Oil on canvas IDENTITY OF WOMAN UNKNOWN; SENSUALITY, BEAUTY; GAZING DIRECTLY AT VIEWER; ALLURING, HAIR FRAMES BREASTS; FLOWERS ACCENTUATE SOFTNESS TITIAN IS A VENETIAN; BORROWED TECHNIQUES FROM FLANDERS; USED OIL PAINT RICHNESS OF COLOR; THIN LAYERS OF OIL PAINT, TRANSLUCENT USE OF CHIAROSCURO; SOFT DIAGONAL CURVE; FIGURES IN BACKGROUND BALANCE THE PAINTING; SUCCESSFUL COMPOSITION TINY FEET, LONG TORSO; FEMALE NUDE EMERGES IN THE RENAISSANCE

Adam and Eve . Albrecht Dürer. 1504 C.E. Engraving. STYLIZATION OF NATURE; CURIOUS AND AWKWARD DEPICTION OF HUMAN BODY; THEIR POSES REFLECTED CRANACH’S BACKGROUND IN PAINTING THE NOBILITY EVE LOOKED SINISTER; ADAM INNOCENT; HAIR CONNECTS HER TO THE FOLIAGE BEHIND; THE TREE

Birth of Venus . Sandro Botticelli. c. 1484–1486 C.E. Tempera on canvas. MOST ICONIC IMAGES OF WESTERN ART; FIRST FEMALE NUDE IN RENAISSANCE BESIDES EVE; NON-CHRISTIAN; COLLECTION OF THE MEDICI; BOTTICELLI DEFIES NATURALISM COMMON IN THE RENAISSANCE STYLE; LINEAR PAINTING, FLOWING HAIR, WAVES, AND DRAPERY

Woman, I. Willem de Kooning. 1950–1952 C.E. Oil on canvas. Took a number of years; surface consists of layers and layers; many textures; drippy/thin, thick/matte; his objective was not a finished product; process; quick brushstrokes; brushwork calligraphic, muscular, tough; garish colors; brilliant oranges, pinks, yellows; olive green feels really dissonant; artist is one of the central abstract expressionists Sacred art brought back to the 20th century, made profane; takes eroticized/sexualized images of women; overwhelming in size, fills canvas; artist had been trained in a traditional way; aggressive and energetic; bulging eyes, bared teeth; improvisation.  Great fierce teeth, huge eyes; blank stare, frozen grin; ambiguous environment; thick and thin black lines dominate; influenced by all kinds of female nudes Large bulbous breasts; satire on women; slashing of paint onto canvas; jagged lines create an overpowering image