Prints

Screen Print by Andy Warhol
Photo from Wiki Commons

Woodcut
I chose the woodcut print entitled Savage Breeze by Helen Frankenthaler. She is an “Abstract Expressionist, distinguished by her inspiration in nature.” She uses the wood grain to aid her artwork, giving it texture and interesting coloring due to the adsorption.  

Etching
Edward Hopper was able to create his piece, American Landscape, with incredible detail and use of line due to the process of Etching. Etching does not require a great deal of depth in the hand of the carver because an acid wash aids in depth.  

Lithography
Emil Nolde’s Young Couple is an excellent example of lithography. The oily surface of the image creates a print with the same visual value as a crayon drawing. The couple’s clothes are able to have texture due to this type of printmaking.

Screenprint
Wide Light by Josef Albers shows the crisp lines that can be attained through screenprinting. Rather than carving a surface, artists are able to create sharp-lined stencils and apply them to a screen- making their works focus on geometric shape.

Italian Renaissance Paintings

An artist's best friend
Photo from Wiki Commons

Fra Angelico's Annunciation (c. 1438-1447) is a fresco, a painting on a plaster wall, within the San Marco Monastery. Frescos show true talent of the artists considering the limitations of the medium. Frescos require much planning and speed. They must be completed in one day, and can create visible seems. Many colors, blue in particular, are difficult to manipulate because they do not work well with the lime plaster.

The Crucifix by Giotto (c. 1290-1300) is a Proto-Renaissance piece comprised of gold and tempera on panel that hangs in Santa Maria Novella. The paint is created from ground pigments mixed with a vehicle of egg yolk or whole egg, thinned with water. It was extremely popular amongst Greeks and Romans, prior to the fourteenth century. The reason so many artists used tempera is because it is extremely durable, can create brilliant colors and is not compromised by oxidation.


Nativity of Jesus (c. 1573) by Giovanni Battista Naldini is an oil painting which was commissioned to be put in Santa Maria Novella. Oil painting consists of ground pigments combined with a linseed oil vehicle and a turpentine medium or thinner. There was a gradual shift from tempera to oil paint in during the Renaissance. Oil allowed artists to blend colors, paint on larger scales, and take a longer amount of time to finish each work.

Unfinished Nudes of The Renaissance

“Figure Study: Reclining Nude Male” by Pontormo Photo from ARTstor

“Study of a Nude” by Timoteo Viti Photo from ARTstor

“Bust of a Headless Semi-nude Man” by Lorenzo di Credi Photo from ARTstor

“Six studies of men, nude or draped" by Leonardo da Vinci Photo from ARTstor

The theme of this curation is “Unfinished Nudes of The Renaissance.” I chose this theme because I find unfinished art studies fascinating. It is interesting to see what the artist chooses to omit in the study and then later adds into the final product. What shading is necessary to capture the essence of what will become a finished work? I find nudes particularly interesting because the artist has no drapery to focus on. There is nothing to get in the way, or distract from capturing the human form and sketching the essential focal points.
The first piece I’ve chosen is “Figure Study: Reclining Nude Male” by Pontormo, c. 1535-1537. This piece is red chalk on paper. The face and hair are loosely sketched, while there is focus on the back of the kneecaps and back. There is an obvious outline of the figure, keeping it from looking realistic.
The second piece is Timoteo Viti’s “Study of a Nude,” c. 1479-1523. The medium is black chalk with touches of white on paper. This piece contrasts the last in that the shading is very loose and quick. The definition of the body is still captured, but the sketch seems to be much faster and less controlled.
The third piece is “Bust of a Headless Semi-nude Man” by Lorenzo di Credi, late 15th to early 16th century. The medium is silver nib, heightened with white on pink colored paper. This drawing is more refined than the two previous. The white accents give the body a look of fullness and liveliness. The focus is obviously on the contours of the collarbones.
The final piece is a series of sketched by Leonardo da Vinci entitled, “Six studies of men, nude or draped.” They are done in pen and brown ink over a first drawing in lead point. The figure in the upper-center is disproportionate. The strokes of the pen are clearly quick and free. This is the most obvious study, rather than a sketch to be modified later.