Viewing Art with a Critical Eye

Viewing Art With a Critical Eye

Thesis statement: Fine art is more than just something "pretty" to look at and is necessary to help to understand the human condition.

Historically, artists recorded history and their inner most thoughts and dreams visually, as a tool for communication or to convey a thought, meaning, or message. Art has been used over the ages to tell stories to the illiterate, for propaganda to coerce compliance or insight anger. We are constantly bombarded with art on a daily basis, such as graphic art from businesses and advertisers. Today, almost everyone can read, and we have photographs and/or digital images to visually record history. So, now, what is the purpose of fine art and why is it necessary?

In my case, in all honesty, art has always been a personal journey of discovery. I had always excelled in the creation of art. It was the one thing for which I had always received complete and total acceptance, and for which I never really had to work or deserve, for that matter. That is not to say when uninspired, it was not difficult to create a work of art. However, no matter how uninspired, or unhappy, or disappointed I was with the art project I had created, I had consistently received glowing responses. Although, I attended a public school, which is probably the reason. But, I digress. I have always received enjoyment when confronted by the creation forged from another's true inspiration, such as the impressionism works of Claude Monet.

Monet had the ability to see color and capture it correctly, such as the peach tint of the clouds early in the day, or the way a body of water reflects the sky and the shadows of the trees along the banks, or the way the sun shines down through the trees on the ground. He does this with the exact color that our eyes truly perceive. Or, maybe, I just have the same type of retinal receptors as Monet, I do not know. I do know, however, that photographs cannot capture the exact degree of color that our eyes can, like a rainbow, for instance. You can see the rainbow in a photograph, but it just does not have the same color intensity as was perceived by our eyes, first hand.

For the assignment, to chose one piece of art from the text, I chose Claude Monet's The Artist's House at Argenteuil, 1873. Oil on canvas, 23 7/8 x 29 1/8 in. (Sayre 40) (Monet) http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/16554?search_id=2 I have a copy of this painting in my home and I admire it frequently. This painting depicts the east side of Monet's house, with beautiful, colorful landscaping, his wife at the front door and his daughter playing. Due to the shadow cast by the sun, it appears to be in the afternoon. I love the beautiful, decorative, white and blue pots running along the