Brookes Blog

 Non Western Blog  The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (1831) The Great Wave of Kanagawa was created by Katsushika Hokusai in late 1831, during the Edo period of Japanese history. This is a woodblock print, which was a really popular art style during the Edo period. " The Great Wave  is a visually dynamic print with fully saturated blues and extraordinary contrast. Spectroscopic analysis shows that to achieve this, the printers did not simply substitute the exotic Prussian blue for the traditional (and duller) indigo. Instead, they mixed the two together to create a bold outline, and printed one pigment on top of the other to darken the bright Prussian blue without reducing the intensity of its hue." I chose this piece because I love the ocean, so when I seen it I knew I had to do this one. I love the detail on the wave, and how you can see the little drops of water so clearly. The blue going from darker to lighter as you get towards the top of the wave add...

 My Take on Post Modern Era Art God, Law by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1981) God, Law was created in 1981 by Jean-Michel Basquiat, in New York. He was an artist based in New York, and part of a graffiti group called SAMO, where they tagged many parts of New York, specifically Lower East Side of Manhattan. " The painter and graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat was famed for his works that critiqued inequalities in society as well as colonialism." This piece is symbolic, showing a scale with God and Law on each side. The dollar sign below the scale shows a world where law and religion are influenced by material wealth. He created this artwork with just pencil on paper, and is in street art style, to resemble graffiti. All of the markings on the background of the paper give it the sense of street art and graffiti. The paper being kind of a yellow tan color also gives it more of a street art style rather than it being on white paper. I personally like this piece, even if it is not a...

 Early Modern Era and the Influence of WWI The Ending Of War, Starting Home , by Horace Pippin (1930-1933).       The Ending of War, Starting Home , was created by Horace Pippin during the Early Modern Era. He made this painting after coming back from war. He started to paint to cope with losing his right arm. He made this piece in 1930-1933 and it shows the image of war through his memories.      "The artist started working on this painting nearly fifteen years after he returned to the United States from serving in France in World War I. Wounded in his right arm while fighting as a member of one of four African American regiments to see combat, Pippin had turned to painting to help his process of recovery. This image of combat, fear, and surrender condenses terrifying episodes he had documented in his wartime journals—events he later said “brought out all the art in me.” The frame, which shows weaponry and helmets, further heightens the poignancy...